... Do I belong here? What would my family say? What am I doing? "Create a Post", the new forum says. What do I say...?
Standing at the threshold of the huge gates titled, "Middle Years", looking back over my shoulder at my life as a creative... having shackled myself with the awkward label "artist" in early adult life (how else do you communicate to people that you just want to Make Things...? Slap a label on it, they say! I only ever wanted to be left alone to make things... draw, paint, stare at the clouds, design, sew costumes, garden, learn, read...etc etc etc...everything...), I've felt like I am always wandering along in the weeds on the side of the road... sometimes wandering into the cool shady forest at the edge of the path, often distracted by rocks and flowers, but never really able to walk along the known, dry trodden paths that wind or go straight through the towns, fields and forests. When it was time for people to go to college, to choose What They Wanted to Do With Their Lives, I ran into the fields. I hung out with the horses there, while they grazed, thinking that someday, 'it' would come to me - The Knowing What I Wanted to Do. Well. It didn't really work that way. Maybe it has in parts in the last few years, but it's now 'too late' in a way. Mostly... the 'what I want to do' just doesn't match the modern world of business and the need for a 'secure' income. So. What does match? What does one do now? I have a feeling that I'm not the only one asking this question.
Let's see what is in this 'new land'
You all seem like a nice lot, Hi! : ) I am learning Ruby. Nice to meet you : )
(Above artwork is mine, based on a painting from a French medieval manuscript. Apparently knights fighting snails was a thing back in the day...I feel like a knight fighting snails sometimes)
Top comments (5)
I’m on a similar path. I found creative coding (music or visual) to be a great way to get into coding. Good luck and have fun!
I am not sure what creative coding is.... ? Thanks: ) Best of luck to you!
Creative coding is using code to create things that could be called expressive rather than functional. As a visual artist, the obvious place to start would be to use HTML and CSS, and, instead of making pseudo-commerical applications, work on making art and designs. This will help you start to think "digitally".
With Ruby it will get more complicated, but once you have a bit of a handle on the fundamentals you could look at libraries like gosu or mottsu which will help you make interactive graphics / games. If you have musical interests, Sonic Pi is a great platform that is written in Ruby and provides a developer experience similar to Ruby.
Very good choice, welcome to the world of coding!
Ha! Thank you!