Hey everyone !

gepalex here on dA just opened a chat where we welcome every MacThemes members. No forums limitations, as it is a chat. Please join !! [link]

See you all soon

I recently released an Extra Pack for High Tech, in which I wanted to include high resolution wallpapers. I want to tell you how upsetting that story has been for me.

I was interested in some images to work on, one for each color (Blue, Orange, Green and Red). I first asked for an image that was at interfacelift.com, Rockefeller’s View and asked the author, Dominic Kamp, if I could use it and work on it. A few hours later, I had an answer saying that there will be no problems to use it and release it, provided that he is credited. I developed this wonderful wallpaper in four versions. So thanks a lot, Dominic !

I’ve also been searching around for pictures on flickr to make some wallpapers that would fit to my icons and did write four mail messages to the corresponding authors. But with these images, it was not that easy, and I want to tell you why, as this is the point of this document.

I had a positive answer from the author of the red one, who said that it was okay to use it and that he liked the idea. When I asked for an image superior to 1920x1200 px at least in order to make the aforementionned wall, he said he was really confused, and didn’t understand why I could need such a high resolution file for just a wallpaper, and that if I wanted to use it, I’d have to pay a £150 fee, and sign a contract.

Well, I immediately answered that I understood his point of view, but that I was not ready to pay such a price to release a project that had always remained free and for the only pleasure of sharing, and in which I’ve put months of work.
About the other images, I simply didn’t have any answers so far...

But the fact is that I was quite disapointed. I’m not trying to judge anybody and the situation is quite normal after all, I should have expected it. But, I just don’t get it, why people in this world are so serious ? Why do they think that taking a picture, so wonderful it can be, deserves so much money ? I must admit, friends, I don’t understand why people are so attached to money rather than to the reason why they do art.

Hey everybody !

I think it's time to make a little "assessment of the year" !
Since I started deviantART, in may, 3rd 2008, 68 of you watch me. But many of you watch me since I created the High Tech Rave-Up icon style. And it's increasing !
So first of all, I want to thank you all, who commented, faved and watch !
High Tech Rave-Up mac icons have had 107 comments, 246 and it's the most viewed deviation, with currently, as I'm writing, 17 239 views according to dA stats... not talking about the windows version !
Also, many thanks to [link] in particular for suggesting it for the Daily Deviation, AND, as I forgot in the first release of this entry, thanks a lot [link] who was the first to feature my work on GuiPulp.com, a wonderful site that you should all visit many times , and who's still there, following the blue lines of my creations !

As many questions were asked about the continuation of the Rave-Up style, I'm currently making the applications set, which takes a lot of time and has been delayed due to some problems I met in my design studies. I'll post a preview of the app set soon, and release it asap ! Thanks for considering the making time !
Be advised that Rave-Up is not only an icon set, but an overall style that I want to develop for the entire Apple software universe, with system set, docks, stacks, applications set, iPhone theme, and maybe some graphic user interfaces for iPhone and Mac... and it takes time !

So thank you all for your support, and please stay tuned !

Wake up, world !

I'm bored. SOCIETY ! For those who have seen Into The Wild, Sean Penn's first movie as director, you'll know what I mean. I think about all the people in the world, suffering of hunger, moral and economic misery. I've seen myself people suffering about poverty, but I have to say that in majority, people in that case seem to smile quite more than in the "developped" countries. I've always wanted to change the world, but today I think that the worldwide crisis is moral rather than financial. The problem is happiness. It's a science, and I don't think that it is very different from one dude to another. But we totally forgot that this is the only goal in life : be happy. I don't care no more about excessive materialism and consumerism.

Today I'm bored of all that. I'm seriously thinking of getting out of this place, out of this state of mind in which people have forgotten to live. I wanna drive me outta this daily shit, and born again, because I'm feeling too much these bad vibes. My heart is torn, but I'm only a dreamer, I don't wanna let the planet die, but it's beginning to be "too late", and maybe soon I'll be breaking this inner suffering and go pay a visit to my conscience, wherever that could be, and respect it once and for all, far from the world of money and false values.

100 deviations ! Time's passing... ink's dripping, inspiration's fading away, weed's consuming, inspiration's getting back, ideas are kidding around, love's becoming stronger and stronger. No matter if we take the time to live ! We, artists, have to be inspired all the time. But precisely, we ain't got no time ! Each week is the same process : running and running ! The system wants us to be as quicker as possible, making quantity rather than quality, creating a plenty of work out of nothing. Gotta learn to match quantity with quality, being in a creative mood every time ! That's what they want from us. But an artist has to take his time, observing reality in order to represent it in a different and original angle, that nobody would have seen or thought before. After all, the artist is a human, reaching for happiness. However, the system is invading the world of creation and image.

But I'm seriously reconsidering. My life's cool, I have no problems, I'm happy doing what I do because I chose it and I don't regret it, except that my brain and my conscience are refusing the purpose of all that I love doing with my hands. I want my life to be that way, creating and creating, no matter the tools used or the places where I stand. I want to create, to live in my own universe, to interact with other people, to be open-minded. We have the bloody chance to make a dream out of our lives, and I have that feeling, right now, that something bad is growing.

I don't know where it comes from, if it is our generation, our civilization, but all this is becoming quite strange. It's like we're forgetting the heart of our acts ! Why are we doing that ?? That's the question, now ! Come on guys, what the hell are we doing ? We work for industries, chaos, pollution, creating ads for the damn leaders that drove us in such a nightmare... but we still can love what we do. Because art is hope. However, we gotta realize that in this world, few are the people that can be such opened out with art. This is a chance, and while writing, I can't say if I wanna live all my life that way, comfortably numb... doing my things on a wrong way while people are dying at the other side of the earth.

We're able to communicate so well at this time, but we're still so far one from another. That's my weakness, that's my deal, and I want to share it with you. I want to know if you feel the same way I do, and how do you react if this is your case...