prolific-polymath

[prolific-polymath]

2019 Mid Jan Review

Introducing Ranjeeta!

I finally get to share this! The second elephant I designed for Elephant Parade is part of the travelling herd that were travelling Asia last year! The design on 'Ranjeeta' is based on the brightly painted Indian trucks. Not only was the design painted on a full baby elephant-sized sculpture, there are smaller replicas available to purchase. I bought one and it now sits at home, back in Teesside!

Also found out that my elephant design appears alongside Indian Fashion Designer Manish Malhotra!

Lino Printing

After the success of the custom Sauce Christmas wrapping paper, I have decided to do more prints. The printing plate I cut looks great, but it isn't printing well on the paper I bought.

I have ordered more paper and will hopefully get better results on the second attempt.

Codepen Talk

I did my second talk ever in front of my work colleagues, C4Di members, hull uni students and other people interested in tech. It was an edited version of my original tech talk I gave for Sauce, but much improved I felt.

A few people came up to me afterwards with questions and thoughts on it which was good. I'm hoping to work on a follow-up talk in the next few months.

PlaceToPlace

I went to see the PlaceToPlace  exhibition at HumberStreetGallery on its opening night. It's part of the Liverpool Biennial's tour and includes work from Annie Pootoogook, Suki Seokyeong Kang and Inci Eviner.

Ferens Art Gallery

I went to the Ferens Art Gallery this morning for the first time. Nice to see work by some old masters, but I still preferred the early 20th Century art more.

#WeMadeThisSpring project maker day at Kardomah94

It was nice to take a break from digital work to get my craft on at the #WeMadeThisSpring project. They are making spring garlands to wrap around the city of Hull in the spring. I made some card and foam flowers to begin with. I will build on this to make something more impressive.

The beginning of the year has started off as expected. However, I would want the last part of January to be more productive.

[prolific-polymath]

Photo by Yong Chuan on Unsplash

2018 End of the Year Review

A lot happened this year creating a big change to my daily routine. But I managed to carry on developing existing skills while finding new interests.

What I managed to do this year

Biggest thing to happen this year was move to Hull to work as a Software Developer.

I continued developing existing skills

I carried on learning JavaScript and WordPress and did a Daily animation GIF project in October.

I was introduced to a lot of new skills this year

I did my first ever tech talk, even though I find public speaking scary.

I learnt more about using hardware, in particular Arduinos.

I learnt how to use React and React Native to build web and mobile apps.

My writing has improved so much this year.

My 100 Daily creative short stories was a good project to start with. Even though I haven’t finished them yet, I am definitely a much more confident writer.

I managed to write outlines for an anthology of animated short films too which I hope to put into production soon.

I also have three children’s books loosely written out. I could do with more research before continuing work on them.

What I plan to do in 2019

- Develop existing feature film outlines

- Finish animated short film anthology

- Lino Printing, aim to design one print a month

- continue learning more about Arduinos, and create a matrix gif player

- continue to get more confident with public speaking

- learn Sonic Pi to produce music through coding

- complete the final drafts of children’s books

- learn to play electric guitar

- learn Unity to build games

- learn to knit

I am aware that I have way too many interests, and I don’t expect to complete everything listed here. But I’m still going to try. 

Watch this space.

[prolific-polymath]

End of August to End of December Review 

It's been quiet here on the blog. I got out of practice of updating it regularly with what I've been up to. Like I said in my last blog post, big changes have taken place. 

I got a job as a software developer. 

This is such a big thing to happen to me as I didn't think I would be in this position until a few more years down the line. I get to work at Sauce Consulting Ltd. They are a great team of people who I am learning a lot from. I'm working on a great mobile app for Mood beam, which is a great first app to be working on. Despite the challenges, I'm loving what I have managed to do. I have surprised myself. 

The building we work in has so much going for it. 

Working at the C4Di. 

Sauce is based in the Centre for Digital Innovation. It houses other digital startups and hosts lots of events which I have been attending since being here.

Codepen Hull is a meetup for developers with talks by members of Hull's digital community. I am doing a talk on SVGs in React in January 2019. 

Design meetup is similar to codepen but for designers. The last one had a different format with a talk first followed by a workshop. Would like more of these in the new year. 

Hardware meetup is an informal meetup where people bring in their hardware projects that they have been working on. It's inspired me to start working with Arduinos and build robots for fun. 

I moved to Hull. 

So Sauce is based in Hull. I didn't have any strong views about Hull before moving. To everyone who thinks little of it, you might want to visit. THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON HERE. Since becoming the city of culture in 2017, it's really embraced putting on a show.

Freedom Festival 

On the second weekend of being in Hull, Freedom Festival happened. Free arts festival with over acts performing all over the city.

See highlights here: https://vimeo.com/307846672

British Science festival 

Hull hosted the British Science Festival which meant there was plenty of cool events I was able to attend, including a free ticket to see The Deep.

Art shows 

There have been various art shows happening around the city at Humber Street Gallery, Form Shop, Paragon Arcade. I have yet to visit the Ferens Art Gallery.

Humber Mouth 

As part of Hull's annual literature festival, the library had Hull's premiere of Lily Cole's short film 'Balls' and even had a Q and A with the director and producer.

In October, I worked on a daily animated gif project, #Hallowtween2018, which featured Day of the Dead inspired skulls. The animations were then projected onto the windows of a shop called Form on Humber Street.

Hull Print Fair 

In November, Humber Street Gallery hosted Hull Print Fair which was a great chance to meet local artists selling their wares. I'm hoping to be able to sell my work as part of the event next year.

I Did a Tech Talk 

Something that has been encouraged at Sauce is for developers to share their knowledge on something already know or have been learning about. I volunteered to do a talk on SVGs and Animation in React Native as it would be useful for the app we are working on. My codepen talk will be a revised shorter version of this talk.

Make Noise 

Through investigating creatives in Hull, I discovered an organisation of young women who are trying to make music safer and more inclusive for women. I've attended a few of their workshops: Gig Poster making, Digital DJing and Guitar pedals. I'm looking to continue doing more of these in the new year as well as learn how to play electric guitar.

Hull at Christmas Time

Urban Legends 

Another cultural event to happen in Hull was the Urban Legends light shows that happened around the city.

See highlights here: https://vimeo.com/307847261

The Hull School of Art and Design had an open studio evening where you could meet with the artists currently studying there with their work on display. It was a good opportunity to meet new artists as well as conveniently bump into existing friends.

One of the last creative things I worked on this year was produce some wrapping paper for Sauce's Secret Santa. It was the first time I had been able to successfully print a lino cutting as an adult away from the education system. I'm planning on doing more linocuts in the New Year after the success of the wrapping paper.

That's it for now. I've got one more final blog post, listing all that I have achieved this year and what I expect from 2019.

[prolific-polymath]

Mid August Review 

I've been busy with BIG things. All shall be revealed in the next blog post!

Daily Short Creative Writing 

I haven't done any new writing yet. But that will change soon in the second half of this month once I've settled into a daily routine. 

Web Dev 

I've started Complete ReactJS course. I'm enjoying it a lot so far. It covers most of the things I've learnt on Codecademy and FreeCodeCamp. 

 I've finished the first week of lessons on FutureLearn Web Analytics course.

 I've finished the design for my Animation portfolio. I'm in the process of converting it to WordPress.

[prolific-polymath]

End of July Review 

Well, things have happened since my last update! Things which I can't say right now but will be revealed next month. 

Daily Short Creative Writing 

I haven't done anything new yet! There hasn't been an incentive to finish the drafts. 

Web Dev

I've continued learning ReactJS as well as finishing the Digital Skills: User Experience course on FutureLearn. 

I've started the Web Analytics course on FutureLearn. 

I've recently discovered Sonic Pi, which is a live coding music synth. I'd like to dedicate some time to playing around with this soon.  

Animation 

I have no plans to work on any animation over the summer.

[prolific-polymath]

Mid July Review 

Oops! Missed two months worth of updates! I've been busy with other things besides my creative digital projects, (mainly weddings and other family events!)

Daily Short Creative Writing 

I haven't had a chance to work on any of my first drafts! But I have finished the main blog where I will eventually be hosting them. I want to design a store page so I can hopefully sell novels as digital files in the future. I have been getting ideas for what my first novel will be about. I'm just roughly planning it out in my head. I'm not sure if I'll be able to work on it any time this year. It will depend on how my web developing career works out.

Web Dev 

I've just finished the SuperHi WordPress course. It's given me a lot to think about with how I go about putting WordPress websites in future. It's given me more confidence when working with WooCommerce which I hope to put into practice very soon.

I've been learning ReactJS. You can read more about this on my dedicated developer site here. I have been experimenting with it on codepen.

Feature Animation Project 

My feature animation project is on hold for a while. I've been getting more ideas for short film work instead. I'm working on whatever gives me momentum at the moment.

[prolific-polymath]

Photo by Pim Chu on Unsplash

End of April Review

I'm glad this stressful month is over! A lot of stressful things happening in the background have taken my focus away from my creative endeavours. The month of May will mark my return to my writing projects!

Daily Short Creative Writing

I haven't even looked at the stories since my last blog post. But I will be making an effort now to add more and edit them.

Web Dev

I have been experimenting with WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads. Just trying to work out what is the best way to incorporate them into my custom themes.

Feature Animation Project

This has not been my priority so I still haven't been working on it since last time. The plan is to assign an hour a day to work on it for the next month to see if that helps iron out the roadblocks.

This is all I can say for now.

[prolific-polymath]

Photo by Clément H on Unsplash

Mid April Review

I feel like the first big chapter of this year is over with finishing the #100DaysOfCode challenge!

Daily Short Creative Writing

The first drafts of 100 short stories are complete! Some are definitely better than others. I'm now going to be spending time on refining them and making sure they hit around 5000 words so they do qualify as short stories and not flash fiction. Rewriting is part of the writing process and it's a skill that will improve my abilities as a successful storyteller.

Web Dev

The #100DaysOfCode challenge has been great for improving my web development skills. For the next chapter, I want to learn more ways to optimise my workflow.

I have started to use CodeKit for my personal websites and using SaSS to speed things up. I want my current personal website projects to be up and running by June.

Feature Animation Project

Again, haven't had the time to work on my feature so far this month. There are other things happening behind the scenes that I can't share yet that will keep me busy for the rest of the year. Can't wait to share!

[prolific-polymath]

Photo by Sebastian Muller on Unsplash

End of March Review

Alot has been achieved in March as far as web development is concerned. Everything else has suffered a bit but I expect that to change once my #100DaysOfCode finishes on April 10th.

Daily Short Creative Writing

I'm spending on average 30 mins a day working on this. I'm finding it harder and the stories I'm producing less inspiring to write.

Web Dev

I have slowly but surely been making progress on my personal websites:

- animation portfolio (to host my animation portfolio separate from my web)

- 2 smoking pencils website (to host my daily writing project and future writing work)

- Idle House website (details about the animation collective I've set up)

I've also been looking into building themes using woocommerce and EasyDigital downloads plugins as a way of building onlines stores for myself and prospective clients.

I have been learning to use Bootstrap 4 and I will use it in future website builds.

Feature Animation Project

I haven't had time to work on this project since last time of writing. Again, once I have completed the

#100DaysOfCode challenge, this should free up time to work on this.

[prolific-polymath]

Photo by LUM3N on Unsplash

Mid March Review

February came and went! There wasn't really any new developments. Just a continuation of my daily routine.

At time of writing, I have done this so far this year:

- 76 Short stories of varying lengths

- 1 feature film outline

- 7 feature film ideas

- 3 animated short film outlines

- 5 Children's story book ideas

- 1 children's series idea

- Updated my personal website: www.prolificpolymath.com 

- Built first iteration of a new website: Female Music Producers

Daily Short Creative Writing

The writing has been suffering, mainly because I haven't been prioritising it as much as the web development. I have had a few short stories which I want to develop further into novels or even screen plays. Some are only a few paragraphs which I need to spend more time on.

Web Dev

I've been going through tutorials trying to find a particular way to display my work on my animation portfolio.

I've also been researching ways to optimise my workflow. I want to put what I've learnt about SaSS into practice.

Codekit looks like a good way to organise and optimise my files.

Feature Animation Project

I haven't started writing the script yet. I did however do an Introduction to screenwriting course, which I would recommend if you don't have a clue about writing a screenplay or are out of practice.

The Save The Cat website looks like a really good resource for helping people write.

I've been looking at screenwriting software options, so far Slugline looks like an affordable option.  

Things I'm going to continue working on:

- continuing daily short creative writing until I reach 100 days. Then work on seconds drafts to improve them further.

- complete 100 days of coding

- website for animation portfolio

- website for my daily writing project

- website for animation collective Idle House

- update 'Illustrated Optimism theme' to use for an illustration project that I will perhaps start in September.

[prolific-polymath]

Photo by Ali Inay on Unsplash

January Review

The end of the month is a good time to look back and reflect on what I've achieved so far this year.

Daily Short Creative Writing

I'm pleased with how the stories are coming out. Some are much stronger and easier to write than others. All of the writing needs a second draft at least before I decide to share any of them. It's given me confidence to write generally, not just prose, but also screenwriting too.

Web Dev

I've made some progress on improving my understanding of JavaScript. I hope to maintain this level of dedication throughout February too.

Feature Animation Project

I've decided to call it a day on my Patreon for my feature film project. I might start it again once I get to animation stages but that isn't going to happen anytime soon. I wouldn't feel comfortable starting something I couldn't finish animation wise which is why it's important I get the writing completed and that I'm happy with it. I will continue to work on the project, I just won't be too focused on sharing it's progress right now.

Other News

Secret things are happening that I can't post about yet until hopefully next month! Keep an eye out!

Follow me on twitter (@SundeepToor) and instagram (@prolificpolymath)

[prolific-polymath]

Photo by designhorf on Unsplash

1st month nearly over . . .

I'm starting to get busier now. I will have to look at my routine again and move things around. Breaking up my day into smaller chunks seems to work better for me. I might try breaking my time down into 30 minute sessions and see how that pans out.

Daily Short creative writing

My daily writing project is proving to be a good exercise for idea generation. Some are definately better than others and need to be developed further when I get the time. I would like to build a website to host them eventually.

Web Dev

Got the basics of JavaScript covered. I will probably be spending next week just testing these fundamentals again before I continue going any further. I'm also planning on going through Wes Bos' CSS Grid course next week. I also want to be working on building/ finishing websites before February.

Feature animation project

The ideas that I've had have been developed further but I'm no closer to creating any concept artworks or animatics.

Other news

The collective has come up with a theme to produce narratives based on. I'm really excited about it.

Thanks for reading!

[prolific-polymath]

The struggle

I have found this week to be a bit more of a struggle when keeping to my routine.  Despite this, I feel like I've achieved ALOT in just two weeks, even if it doesn't show much online. There is a lot of ground work being put down that when I look back by the end of the year, it will be my most productive year to date! I can't wait to look back at what I've finished by the end of this month even!

I still need to play around with my daily routine, break down the hours so I'm more focused. If you know you only have an hour to work on something, it tends to focus you more I find.

Daily short creative writing

I think my writing has got better. I'm less intimidated by a blank page. I write a few lines about what I want to achieve and start writing from there. Might allow myself some time to revisit past pieces and edit them further.

Web Dev

I struggled a bit with JavaScript closures, something that I will have to revisit. I've made sure I've done some coding or read up some theory everyday to make sure I don't forget anything.

Feature animation project

One idea that I've had for it has been developed further and feels like a much stronger concept for a film. But it also comes with complications. There are things that I need to deal with sensitively, so it's going to take time to get a first draft down. I've also had another idea for a feature with is much simpler, fun and creative which I might persue further as I think I will get to the animation stage quicker with that narrative.

Other news

I've decided to start an animation collective called Idle House. I did try to do this before but it didn't go in the direction that I wanted. I'm gonna try again but with a different approach.

Thanks for reading!

[prolific-polymath]

Photo by Warren Wong on Unsplash

My first blog post of 2018!

I've decided to write a weekly blog discussing progress on my creative projects and what I have learnt about myself so far.

There is a definite time and place for everything. 

I am more productive during the hours of 9.00am - 12.00pm and then 3.00pm - 7.00pm. These hours seem to be the best time for idea creation, so I've been moving my projects around to suit these times. I now do coding in the morning, and writing in the evenings, with a gap for any other tasks I need to do. The middle hours would be best for something like animation which I haven't been able to start on just yet.

Daily Short Creative Writing

I've managed to write something new every day so far this year. They vary in length, genre and audience too. They aren't great yet but it's a good start to becoming a BETTER writer. 

Web Development

I feel A LOT more confident now with CSS flexbox so I won't have to keep googling things about it! I've also started Zell Liew's Learn JavaScript course as I want to be confident enough to code my own JavaScript components from scratch without googling it!

FEATURE LENGTH ANIMATION PROJECT

After the initial walls that I hit coming up with the idea of what to do, I haven't been able to get very far. I think I need to watch a few more movies and take some lessons from them before I give myself too much work to do. I've got some basic plot points written down, but there is still tons of work to do yet before I can think about designing characters or animation. You can follow a more detailed progress report on this film on my patreon.

OTHER NEWS

I've pitched on some animation projects which will hopefully keep me busy for the rest of this month.