"Art is a simulation of life."
ReIntroduction
Hello, my name is Carmen (known by friends as Mina). You may have heard
of Carmina Simdesigner before because I've created a blog before. I
think everyone was blogging a few years ago because it was the "cool" thing to do for a while. I probably wrote two blogs and forgot about it (oopsies).
This blog is way of introducing myself as a graphic designer versus chatting about the day to day ramblings of a people watcher. Although that may make its way into this blog too.
The History
Simdesigner came about several years ago. I've spent most of my life dabbling with different types of art media (graphite, oils, acrylics, watercolor, and umm pretty much anything I could get my hands on). It wasn't until I began working with a Mac that my obsession for digital art began. Having a brother in the design industry was a bonus when I was starting out. He would let me sit in front of the computer for hours messing with Corel Paint and Adobe Photoshop in their earlier years. The transition to digital art was awesome. I fell in love with it. The concept of hitting "UNDO" alone was mind blowing.
As the software evolved, I continued pursuing the changes. I discovered a photograph scanned in at a high resolution could essentially be recreated if damaged. The vintage photo restoration obsession began. Suddenly I was digging up old family photos from dark closets and attic spaces, the older the better. I discovered many of the little tricks professionals used for photo editing the ugly out of their not so perfect models. The pen and tablet became my magic wand. Long story short, I decided to do this for a living.
The Present
Today I have a degree in Graphic Design and I can do what I love alllllll day (sounds too good to be true - it isn't). Simdesigner is my name because I use my background in fine art to recreate what I see on a digital canvas (we simulate life). As a graphic designer I use my photography, my mixed media, or even just a sketch to communicate a concept. It's a beautiful marriage of traditional and contemporary art. I have my muses too. Having dabbled a bit in virtual worlds I've met amazing people with magic wands of their own. The Simdesigner will always consider the importance of the person behind the monitor (oo..you know who you are). So many lessons learned and with great friends along the way.
What I Do
I'm an artist that will work in traditional media or digital media. If you're interested in viewing some of my work, you can see some of my traditional media on DeviantArt at Carminasimdesigner. Or you can visit a temporary site I created for kicks at Simdesigner. This site has a gallery slide show of my graphic design work (with contact information).
Well there is much more to come this time around. I'm sure I'll be posting the latest obsession in digital media, linking some tutorials for using Photoshop or my favorite iPad 2 apps. Until then, happy Blog surfing (waves).
