The Mark Williamson Creative Universe

A Universe Within.   A year of blogging.  Five days a week.  The Power and Thrill of Naming Things.  Sketchtopia.  Clayland.  Comics.  Memes.  Creative Tools.  Writing Tools.  Work Tools.  Sundry items from dinosaurs to cartoon avatars. Lessons Learned Got better at drawing Came up with creative ideas that I still use I enjoyed revisiting past creativity (Clayland and Sketchtopia) Put ideas into reality, even if mildly Now, I'll be moving in a different direction.  I want to focus my free time on novel writing.  This may not be THE end to the blog, but it is AN end. Ideas Moving Forward Maybe a blog post once a week with a focus on bigger and more polished posts Or perhaps an e-newsletter along with the blog post Some of the blog content may be turned into short picture books The future lurks in the distance, ruminating on possibilities Thanks for joining.  Here's to paths trod and choices made. "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."      -G. K. Chester

Closing Sketchtopia.   The year inches closer to completion.  As I've already noted, I have decided to wrap up this phase of my blog.  Like I did for Clayland, for this last episode of Adventures in Sketchtopia, I've curated a sampling of what's left.  Enjoy. High tier threats:  Plasma Phoenixes (Top Left), Fusion Dragon (Middle Left), Avatar of Death (Middle), Avatar of Insanity (Bottom Middle), Avatar of Pathology (Middle Right), Avatar of Rage (Bottom Right) Sentient Plant Sketches:   Various aspects of an intelligent, ambulatory, alien plant species. Vampiric Assassins:  Base form (top page), Battle-ready forms (bottom page) Alternative Sketches: Hungernaut (top page), Shadow Ogre (bottom page) Mysterious Figure: Masked figure with tonfas.  Spined projectile and spinning blade weapons appear alongside. Exotic Enemies:   Space Demon Pikeman and Ragark Various Demons 1: (left to right) Pit Fiend, Ornithomockery, Battle Brute, Flanged Horror Various Demons 2: (left to rig

All In.   "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines! Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover!"       -Mark Twain "Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist.  Children already know that dragons exist.  Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed."      -G. K. Chesterton "Might as well go after the dragon."       -Jordan B. Peterson Every wish you could do X?  Fill in  X with anything you like.   Do it.  Don't wait.  Try now.  Try poorly.  Don't wake up not having tried.  Fail.  Exhaust all options.  Go out swinging. Here's what I've tried already.  Write a book.  Publish a card game.  Release daily blog posts.  Release weekly YouTube videos.  Bible in a Year. Here's what I'm aiming at.  Publish a book.  Start a company.  Start a newsletter.  Catechism in a Year.  Continue rai

Leveraging Stockpiles of Knowledge...   Growth mindset is a bit trendy.  Likely means that it is overstated.  But that doesn't mean nothing about the concept is true.  Wishes and thoughts don't make for growth.  Design not default.  Plan. Bible-in-a-year was a success for me (first year, listened via podcast; second year, read family Bible).  I already learn in pieces across my days, but there are a few bigger ticket items I'd like to do.  Here are some scaffolds for 2023.  Study programs to keep the learning going. Astrophysics Textbook in a year (1000+ pages, so 3-4 pages a day) Exercises from book each week Reward myself with the top astronomy news every Saturday morning Bioinformatics Overview infographic Read wiki of all major topics Find and run open source exercises Put together a flash drive of software tools Create a training video  Writing (a la James Scott Bell) Reading a James Scott Bell book every month Write down major points from the book Practice the points

Farewell to Clayland.   I've come to the end of the year and have decided to wrap up this phase of my blog.  I thought I'd make it all the way through my clay figures.  However, I kept on finding more.  So, for this last episode, I've curated a sampling of what's left.  Enjoy. Elemental Titans:  Nature (small), Nature, Lightning, Earth, Air, Fire, Fire (small) Swordsmen and Colossi: The Demon Hunter; Crystalsaw Swordsman; Enalgimation, Edge of the Unknown (Dawn Colossi); Oni Cyclops Faceless Fighters: Magmacloak Striker, Potion Master, Bone Walker Faceless Fighters II: Blade Dancer, Stoneward Defender, Tome Guardian, Sunrise Mage, Twisted Spell-sword, Orb Sorcerer, Archetype Mage Varied Defenders: Dust Ninja, Hero of Clayland, Interchangeable Stock Warrior, Unstoppable Avatar  Enemies of Interest:   Sandstone Blood Tornado (Fusion), Two-Headed Ogre, Lightning Brigade, Primal Minotaur Thousand Worlds: Bioforge abominations (top), Guroki Grunts (bottom)

It's the most drawable time of the year... To close out 2022, I'm swinging back to my Summer 2022 Theme .  Avatars. Here are some runner-ups: Supergrinch Advent Advocate Light Brigade Elf-tastic Ghost of Christmas Past/Present/Future Twelve Days of Christmas Incarnate The winner?  Christmas Ninja.

Suit up.   This is a semi-random collection of drawings from different projects.  The unifying factor is that most are well armored and expressing rage as a dominant emotion. Scrapmetal Bulk-zombie:  A large, undead monster with ragged pieces of metal attached to its body.  Hard to miss.  Harder to stop. Tactical Wights:  More intelligent than zombies.  Masks cover the rotting, lower halves of their faces.  They can strike at a distance or deal deadly damage up close.  A cleric's worst nightmare. Buring:  An alien species from the Thousand Worlds.  Vaguely amphibious, it rides a four-legged steed equipped with augmented senses and prefers to attack up close and personal with twin blades. Pteryx Guard:  Heavily armored in overlapping, lightweight plates and a crested helmet.  Depending on the guard, uses one of three styles of blade. Hungernaut:  Orgre-like monster whose power grows with his hunger.  Can break through a solid wall with one attempt if hungry enough.  Lives to fight a

Up, at 'Em, Repeat...   I've noticed that difficult tasks take more than one attempt to accomplish.  For example, I usually have to struggle, fail, despair, and struggle again--at least three times--on automotive repairs. Having the mindset that a worthy task requires multiple events is heartening.  Keeps despair at bay.  Chip away at the task, attempt by attempt, like carving a marble statue.  I call it the Iterative Cycle .  Here are some ideas to keep the cycle going. Overestimate Attempts Guess the number of attempts needed (ex. three tries to locate spark plugs) Add one to that number Make Mantra Come up with short phrase to keep the Iterative Cycle in mind (ex. "cars take several tries") Repeat the mantra when a challenge arises Have a Plan Put together a folder of a commonly occurring challenge (ex. car oil change) List the steps and tools needed Have handy when challenge arises Get Hand Dirty Fast Start right away with first attempt (ex. open the hood and poke

Gear up, mount up, aim the cannon, charge!   I have a variety of army figures from some school project.  What they were supposed to be for, I no longer remember.  The figures remain.  Each color has an infantry figure, calvary figure, cannon, and leader. Bonus: Spherical Cat, Spherical Bat, and Living Taco

Kayaking down sheer whitewater ideation... Getting into a creativity flow-state doesn't happen on its own.  You have to work for it.  You gotta' want it.  You gotta' chase it.  Here are some tools I use.  Try one or two on for size.  If the flow fits, run with it. Wellspring of Inspiration: Looking at creative project to immerse myself in ideas Game cards are an excellent galley of inspiration An instruction manual or game artwork book is also an imagination trove Widespread Story Sampling:  Reading the kinds of books I'd like to write Kids books are a low-key start One can dream... Dedicated Brainstorm Time: No deadline or finished project required An empty notebook and a quiet corner; only thing missing is coffee A daydream session coupled with a meandering walk; where will the road take me?

Fairyland gone wrong.   Creatures out of fairy tales.  The old ones.  The ones where the danger is real and hard lessons are learned.  Mixed with a bit of Monster Manual. Shadow Guard:  A living shadow stationed outside dungeons and lairs.  Can materialized momentarily to strike with a bladed arm. Shadow Ogre:  Cloaked in impenetrable darkness.  This ogre made a deal with dark forces in return for night powers. Amorphous Leech:   Several order of magnitude larger than a normal leach, this massive invertebrate is skilled at leaching both life and magic from a unwary adventurer. Razor Imps:  Their tempers are assharp as their bodies.  Living, flying, blades with a penchant for malevolence. Mind Mole: On the ghostly side of the spectrum.  Burrows into the minds of its prey like damp soil. Magic-Attuned Bog Wump:  Can sense magic a mile away.  Sets up environmental ambushes against inexperienced mages. Carnivorous Kobold: Multiple rows of teeth.  Endless hunger.  Will attack and consume an