A rite of passage for anyone learning Blender, here are my results from the Beginner Blender Donut series from Andrew Price on Youtube.
Into New Territory (Blender 3D)
I’ve been spending some time recently teaching myself how to create in 3D software. While I’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible and how everything works, I’ve already managed to create some things that I’m proud of.
Here is a short cinematic and some still renderings from one of my first projects, following an online guide to create this fantasy sword scene.
Palm Springs Dreaming - Animation experiment
Here’s a little illustration/animation experiment I worked on during a week of non-stop rain here in Antwerp.
While reminiscing over hot desert nights in California a couple of years ago, I got to practice working with the graph editor in After Effects to add better easing to my animations.
Album Art: Spotify Playlist Covers
When I’m struggling with ideas on a larger project, one of my favourite things to do to distract myself and recharge creatively is designing album art for my Spotify playlists. This is something I’ve been doing on and off since I began my ‘year playlists’ back in 2016.
Each year on my birthday (September 15) I start a blank playlist, to which I add songs that I’m enjoying throughout the year. I love how they’ve become a sort of musical time capsule of my life. For example my Twenty-Seven playlist is particularly moody and melancholic, whilst my Thirty playlist is full of campy disco and more upbeat songs. (My undying obsession for Fleetwood Mac weaves its way through all of my playlists.)
I find designing these to be a great design exercise for me- the stakes are low, it’s just one small square tile and most likely I’m the only one who’s ever going to see them. But it’s a great chance to try and distill and idea or ‘vibe’ into something and it gives me such a sense of fulfilment every time I upload a new cover.
If you’re interested in the eclectic mess that is my music taste, you can find me on Spotify here.
My Quarantine Quest to Become Star Baker (with my recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies you will ever eat)
This whole lock-down experience has paradoxically left me feeling bored and wanting to do something creative, while at the same time a bit too overwhelmed to be working on anything too serious or vulnerable.
Combine this with binge-watching last year’s season of The Great British Bake Off and you have me turning to butter, sugar, flour and eggs for my creative release.
I’ve used the extra down-time to try making long-process baked goods like eclairs (which I filled with an orange and cardamom creme patissiere that I could have literally just eaten from the bowl with a spoon, it was so good), a Parisian Opera Cake which had me layering various sponges and buttercreams for hours to get that perfect store-front look, and everyone’s quarantine favourite- sourdough bread, which I think I’m finally starting to get consistently good results from. It’s been a lot of fun and a great way to pass the time, while still feeling like I’m growing (not just my waist-band!)
But while these have all been following other peoples’ recipes, last week I also pulled out one that I can happily call my own- my recipe for chocolate chip cookies. This is a recipe that started with something I found online years ago, but that I have tweaked and perfected over the last decade or so, to the point where a batch of these cookies never lasts longer than a couple of days (and it makes a LOT of cookies!)
So here you go. If you’re interested in baking, or just eating, what I can happily endorse as the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten, the recipe is below. They’re all kinds of extra, and you need to let the dough rest for 24hrs before you bake them (trust me) so a bit of planning is required.
Please let me know if you bake these- leave a comment, or reach out on my instagram, where you can see a step by step breakdown of these cookies in my story highlights.
On your marks, get set, BAKE!
Alistair’s Best Choc Chip Cookies
Ingredients
380g plain flour
225g butter
225g dark brown sugar
150g white sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t bicarb
1/1/2 t sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 t freshly grated nutmeg
1 T vanilla extract
1/4 t almond extract
1 whole egg + 1 yolk
250g dark chocolate*
250g milk chocolate*
*Don’t use chocolate chips! Rather, buy solid blocks of chocolate and chop them up yourself- it will give you a much more interesting texture and you’ll get those big “OMG” pockets of chocolate when you bite into them.
Method
Make browned butter, by cooking it in a saucepan, stirring occasionally, until it browns and smells nutty. Watch carefully so it doesn’t burn. Remove from heat and add a couple of ice cubes to stop it from cooking and add back some of the moisture that was lost during cooking.
In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, salt, baking powder, bicarb and nutmeg
Pour in the melted butter and mix until well combined
Whisk eggs, vanilla and almond extracts, then add to the main mixture. Beat the mixture until glossy and smooth.
Add flour and fold it through until combined
Roughly chop the blocks of chocolate and fold through the mixture
Divide the dough in two and roll each half into a log wrapped in baking parchment
Refrigerate for 24hrs (Don’t skip this step! If you have to, bake a few now, but save some of the dough for tomorrow and you won’t regret it!) The dough will keep well in the fridge for about a week, but it also freezes great. I usually chuck one log in the freezer for later, and one in the fridge for the next day
Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 170ºC.
Unwrap the dough and slice the log up into even circles. You can use a scale for this if you want to get OCD and ensure even baking
Roll these into balls and set out on a baking sheet. Gently squash them down with your hand. Sprinkle with a little sea salt.
Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown, but the centres are still a little pale
They will be super soft once you take them out of the oven, but will set as they cool, so try to hold yourself back for a few minutes!
Friday Finds 14.9.18 - The Day The Earth Smiled
“We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure, but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world. To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the devil.”
– Jack Gilbert
On July 19, 2013, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft ducked behind Saturn and snapped 300-odd photos looking back towards the sun. The above shot is the composited mosaic of 141 of those images.
It was also only the third time that Earth had been photographed from the Outer Solar System- you can see it as the bright blue dot in the top of this image. NASA called the image- “The Day The Earth Smiled.” I love that!
In a time where politics and victimisation seem to be tearing humanity apart at the seams, it can be helpful to zoom out and see the beauty and wonder that unites us.
“We must risk delight.”
After two decades in space, Cassini flew it’s last mission one year ago tomorrow. On the 15th September 2017 (which also happens to be my birthday) it burnt up in Saturn’s atmosphere, in order to keep Saturn’s moons in pristine condition for further exploration.
Friday Finds 7.9.18
I've been working on a couple of projects recently which have reiterated to me the power of collaboration, when it comes to creative work.
Many people who know me would have heard me rant about how much I hated group projects at school, because the other kids would ruin them. But it has been really illuminating to re-evaluate my stance as I get more into film work- which is by nature a team sport.
The euphoric rush of having the right crew come along to support me as I realise a creative vision is like nothing else I've ever experienced. And on the other side too- using my unique perspectives and talents to help someone else create what is in their head- opens up whole new spheres of creative potential (without having to carry the lonely responsibility of being the director!)
Anyway, I saw this video the other day and was really inspired by how these two supposedly opposite groups of musicians could come together and create something so uniquely beautiful in just three hours.
Enjoy!