We all have our own story on how we became Amateur Digital Artists.

Some of us were lucky enough to have schools equipped with quality computers and the right software, or a friend whose dad had a (perfectly legal) copy of Flash/Photoshop/etc. installed on his home PC, that you got to play with. Many others, I would assume, somehow got their hands on a pirated version of their software of choice. However we got the programs, we played around with them a bit, and found that it either complimented our already active creative abilities, or opened up a brand new world of expression and finally allowed us to use our creativity to actually create things. And we continued playing, mostly without schooling on the software, mostly for fun and as a general creative outlet. We paint and manipulate, we model and unwrap, we edit and add effects, we animate and program and pose and sculpt and record and rig and so on and so forth.

Some of us are specialized in one particular field, some of us (like me) are fairly capable with a variety of different media. What makes us amateurs is not the quality of our work, because I’m sure all of us have seen many ‘professional’ works that we thought were crap, and many amateur works that are simply mind blowing. What really sets us apart from the pros is the fact that we don’t make a living from our work. Everyone has a different reason for it. Some of us make our work simply for therapeutic reasons, because it makes us feel good, because we like to create. Some of us might not think our work is good enough to charge money for. Some of us have different career, and digital art is just a hobby. And of course, there are those who would love to make a career out of their creative output, but are either not at the point yet where they can take that career path, or are currently in the process.

And I believe we can be proud of being amateurs. Sure, some of us might still think using lens flares on everything is cool, and some of us start animating without knowing any basic animation principles, or almost compulsively infringe on other people’s copyrights, but we all mean well. And as amateurs, we are on a never ending path of learning and bettering ourselves. Most of us still have a lot to learn, not just about the software we use, but about some basic (and not so basic) principles, about using our creativity effectively, about our legal rights, and maybe even how to get a little money out of our work.

Each of us dreams of making something, whether through imagery, video, audio, animation or interactivity, that will affect people. Something beautiful that you will be remembered for. As an amateur myself, I’ve often felt that help I sought from fellow amateurs has been more effective than help I got from the pros, so I created Superluminal with the intention of teaching you guys what I have learned and still am learning, and of course, to learn from your experiences.

I hope you come along for the ride.

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