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Submitted by Piner 03/28/06 4:49 AM GMT
Our regularly scheduled Artist Spotlight will not be seen tonight so we can bring you the following Special Presentation "Caedes, Praetor Maximus and the Building of the Artists' Republic ".
I think that many people might find it odd that the organizer of a relatively large community of artists such as caedes.net would not consider himself an artist. Indeed, I have dabbled in photography, graphic design, fractals, and CGI, however I certainly do not consider any of my work to be worthy of the title “Art” (with a big “A”). Instead, most of the artistic work that I've created served as an introduction and familiarization with the styles and tools in the various genres. I first started making fractals with my first graphic calculator in high school (though I was thinking about it from a mathematical perspective) and then color fractals with my first PC and Fractint. Then I worked with various CAD programs to create CG images like “Joe D's Trumpet” and “Dice Infestation.” My interest in CAD was mainly due to whatever scientific drafting I may need to do in the future. Finally, my interest in graphic design is mainly a consequence of the basic graphic nature of the web. Any website, no matter how simple, need some graphic design, so when programming and creating websites it is almost impossible to avoid doing some graphic design work (unless of course you don't mind paying someone else to do it).
I do believe that I have a talent for taking a piece of artwork and synthesizing the root characteristics, forms, and techniques used in its creation. It is this talent that I believe allows me to successfully imitate various artistic styles as well as to identify and critique artwork.
This isn't to say that I think whatever artistic talent I may have is important to caedes.net in any way. The creation of an online community like caedes.net requires 10% interest in the subject (not talent) and 90% technical knowledge related to the operation of websites (some knowledge of group psychology doesn't hurt either). Pretty much all of this I've learned along the way. The “Desktop Wallpaper Index” first started when I put my collection of 200 wallpapers online and made a small script which automatically generated a set of web pages for the images. At first I started adding images as I found them or they were sent to me, however this quickly got too time consuming and I was “forced” to allow people to upload their own images. From that point on, the site has gradually evolved to what we have today.
I think that the strongest aspect of caedes.net is the community atmosphere. I have always made it a point to solicit and consider the member's opinions regarding changes and additions to the site. I like to give everyone a chance to make a difference and to decide how involved in the site's operation they want to be. In this way, each member can make the site his own and thus is more invested in a positive outcome and progress of the community as a whole. I'd say this is the main advantage that we have over other websites and the reason for our success thus far.
Development of the site has slowed a bit in the last year while I have been finishing a masters degree in Physics. Soon I will graduate and will be looking for a job. So I guess I will have more or less time for the website depending on how that goes. However, I consider the work that I do on the site a mainly recreational pursuit and therefore always find time for it in my schedule.
In the future, I look forward to expanding my artistic dabblings into more traditional media such as painting and photography. On a slightly different note, I have for quite a while been active in musical performance: first with piano and later trumpet. Currently, I'm making semi-monthly attempts to learn guitar.
Finally I'd like to thank all the Consuls, Praetori, Aediles, artists, and members for the great work and dedication they show every day. Without the community, caedes.net would not exist, and we'd all be over at DeviantArt making Anime by now. =)
caedes
