Inspiration, New tools

What a better way to start the week than to watch videos by someone who inspires me. Bert Monroy, a hyper-realist artist, has great videos on lynda.com. Take a look at his incredible artwork.

His philosophy is that he creates paintings that make him feel good. They don’t have to be perfect, but they help him express himself.  I find that this is what motivates me in terms of cartography.  It’s important for me to do work for others because I learn so much.  But I enjoy making maps most when I’m the driving force behind them.

So… I’m also really into the latest and greatest technology.  It is part of what makes work fun.  On Friday, I got the new CS5 Creative Suite after watching Mordy Golding’s Lynda.com videos about the new features.  This is the best Ilustrator upgrade in a long time, and I had ordered it awhile ago.

And… to watch lynda.com video tutorials, what better than to do this on a 3G ipad?  Right now, Lynda is interviewing Bert about the new bristle brush in Ilustrator CS5.  It looks great on the ipad.

In regards to the ipad, I think I’ll use it for web browsing, watching videos, MotionXGPS, and checking email, but not so much for writing. I’m not even bothering to put music on it since an iphone works fine for this.

Finally, last night was the Bicycle Coalition’s Annual Meeting.  This is a great event – always inspiring.