I hate to be a drag- but there is little focus on excellence across the board. [...]]]> Like Yiro’s picture to the left- A lot of you guys have no focus. Yiro did it on purpose for an artistic effect… But I suspect when painting or photographing with your life, you guys are probably looking for more clarity.

I hate to be a drag- but there is little focus on excellence across the board. I don’t even just mean in class… I mean in life. Everyone expects everything for nothing, and to do whatever they want with no consequences for their actions. It’s absolutely an epidemic in the US. Mediocrity is everywhere. I see it when I go out to local shops and restaurants, and especially in schools- from both students and teachers alike.

I don’t know who to blame. I’m not sure it would do any good to point it out anyway- because falling into mediocrity is a choice. You get to choose how high your standards are set for yourself. You get to choose if you’re amazing or not. You get to quit when YOU choose to quit.

Sometimes students get frustrated at their grades… but it’s not because they disagree with them- but because they just want a free pat on the back for mediocre work. Even that confuses me.. If you haven’t done your best- and someone says “wow- that’s excellent!”- why would you accept that as a compliment? YOU know it isn’t excellent. YOU know you didn’t do your best. so what does it matter if someone else says it’s great if you know it really isn’t? You quit before you gave it your all… no matter what anyone else calls it. So you’re OK with getting props for junk? How will you ever be more than you are? Only an absolute narcissist would be happy with that kind of treatment.

And the reverse is true. Who cares if you get a “D” on something you poured yourself into and did your best? If YOU know you did your best- then you can rest in that. So maybe you’re not a digital artist or a mathmetician or a scientist or a doctor. You tried your best- and that’s all you can do. It doesn’t reflect anything about YOU that it wasn’t up to another person’s standard… It just reflects how your WORK measures up to their standards. But if YOU tried your best- then YOU win. Maybe that vocation isn’t for you. Maybe you just need to practice more and learn more. Maybe you needed to learn where your weaknesses are and now you know. But it’s nothing to loose sleep over.

Be your own judge. Excellence takes time. Spending a couple hours on a photoshop document is NOT a lot of time. Excellent work takes a dozen hours or more. It takes the patience and excellence that is never satisfied with “good enough.” It keeps going until it’s just right. It’s about not stopping until you simply can’t pick out anything that’s not just how you’d want it in your work.

And this is not just about digital art. This is about life. Dancing. Cooking. Housework. Saving the planet. World peace. Being a teacher. Being a student. Being a Parent. Being a child. Being a friend…

It’s about BEING.

This is about life. What kind of grade do you deserve? What makes you any better than anyone else? You want to be treated like you’re special… What do you DO to deserve it?

I choose not to participate in the games anymore. I refuse to be mediocre in my own life. I refuse to accept it in my lab. You may get out of here with a D if you do the bottom limit of what’s required- but that will be the best. If you want higher than a “C” in here- you need to earn it.

This week- Finish your Certiport contest entry. DO NOT rely on what you already know. Learn something new to incorporate. I am giving you about 10 hours to work on this one project- I expect that your entry will reflect 10 hours of work- half of that should be new things you learned on your own. HERE IS A LINK TO TONS OF PHOTSHOP TUTORIALS TO USE. It is a great resource to get started on your trip to excellence. Of course, if you were really committed to it- you would not need me to point out the way- you’d be on it already.

UPDATE: I’m being called to the floor by students saying I don’t ever show you guys any of MY work… So I will complete a weekly assignment also- and I expect that your projects should reflect the time, effort, and energy that mine display. HERE is my first entry. Tutorial inspired, then tweaked to what I needed. Done today in one class period. Not finished, but a good start.

HERE is number 2 for the day… done during the next class period. If I can do these in 90 minutes, you should be able to knock ‘em down in about 2-3 hours, easily. I’m just following the simple directions on the tutorial pages and making modifications to suit my own image and my own style. I also often mix up things from earlier tutorials in the newer ones. Easy to do when you’ve done a bunch and have some great ideas! (Updated image after more work)

Another day, another image… I’m NO LONGER accepting excuses about how the more complex looking projects “take too long.” I have no more than 4 hours in any of the images here so far… And I’m just experimenting (with the same ideas, I know) with different textures and images. Next week I’ll go for a different “feel.” But If I can do three in as many days, you can do one in five.

Tech 1′s are prepping for the test. Most of you [...]]]> Ok- So I’ve decided to move toward a weekly post here with daily updates like my inspiration, The Mac Lab. I can’t keep up with a full post, especially with all that’s happening with the lab and with the testing. So here’s this week’s post, exceptionally late.

Tech 1′s are prepping for the test. Most of you are done with Digital You and are working on the review videos. Many are already testing and we have over 20 people certified already this year. Keep it up. Remember that as we spoke earlier, things will soon change and your commitment to working and being creative in this class will need to be demonstrated. We’re going to be exploring the Elements and Principles here soon in class and that will help you understand what ugly is.

Tech 2′s have been doing better since the turn of the quarter. Typographic portraits are starting to happen and looking good. I’ll post more next week on all of this. I’d love to see more people demonstrating the excellence shown by Brian Ms in this incredible self-portrait!!

Over the last few days I’ve been thinking a lot about excellence, character, and the meaning of life. I’ve been thinking [...]]]> We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
~Aristotle

Over the last few days I’ve been thinking a lot about excellence, character, and the meaning of life. I’ve been thinking about the program here, my history, even recent events in my life and the people in it. I think this was all triggered by an email I recieved from another teacher earlier in the week that said “Not everyone is as skilled as you- not everyone can teach the way you do.” I completely disagree. Everyone CAN do what I do. I’m not especially creative or skilled. I’m not especially smart or talented. I just do the extra. (thanks JessicaGy)

I’m Tenacious. Like Louie above, my strength lies solely in my tenacity. I never give up and I don”t accept defeat. If I say I will do something, I do my absolute best to do it. If I forget or fail, I accept responsibility and do whatever I can to fix it. I care about who I am- not what others think about me or who others think I am, but who I really am… who I really want to be. I’m not talking about being cool or popular or liked. I’m talking about looking in the mirror and being proud of who’s there.

I have had some incredibly hard situations to deal with in the last few years, both personal and professional. But in the face of some difficult times, I simply kept moving on. It was incredibly challenging at times- even painful at times- but I decided to not give up on my own character. My own commitment to excellence. And looking back, I won.

Am I special? Sure I am. But not because of some special magical power or natural ability. I’m special because I keep trying. I get up after falling down. I don’t stop until I’m finished. I don’t accept the minimum for myself.

What about you? Are you living for the moment or for what matters? Are you trading your future for temporary fun? Are you trading your amazing future vacations from a job you love for short mental ones in a job you don’t (school is your career right now)? Don’t waste time. Look forward, not down. The goal is ahead of you, not under your feet.

All this talk of work and sacrifice and excellence- does that mean that you won’t enjoy the here and now? Absolutely not! You simply have to learn to love the here and now. Find your passion. Find what you love. Think about what you might want to do- because no matter how bad you think school is- it’s better than living with your parents and wearing a paper hat the rest of your life taking orders from some high school kid who is focused.

Everyone has to pay their dues. It’s now or later. I can tell you that now it’s cheaper and easier than later, but you have to make the decision. You can’t choose not to pay- the scales will be balanced someday.

Carpe Diem, everyone… And don’t take the shortcut… take the scenic route and have something to look back on for your trip.  More to come on this whole theme soon!

Today I want everyone to register at www.certiport.com. If you have a login from last year, please just log in and check to be sure you remember your username and password. If you’re new, please make your login your firstname with the first and last letters of your last name and your year of graduation your login. (Mine would be robsz87- Rob SchwartZ, 1987). Use your school student number as your password. This way we’ll all have the same login format and we won’t forget it!!! If you choose not to use this method, that’s fine… but DO NOT FORGET your login! You’ll be using it for the next few years! If you use myspace or facebook or AIM daily, you can use that login… but make sure it’s just something you won’t forget.  We’re going to pretest early next week and then CT1 will go through the lessons and hopefully everyone will be certified by Halloween. After that- it’s smooth sailing!