nicocohayek

I love dA, and I love the fact that I've been 11 years shaping my designs and skills based on my experience here and what I learned from so many talented individuals that I eventually met and remained in contact with. As the likes of Instagram, Eyeem, and Facebook take over media, my activity on dA has lowered significantly especially when responsibilities over the past 10 years have grown tremendously. 

However far I strayed from dA, arts and photography were never discarded; they remained an outlet to breathe among life's troubles and obligations, and I am grateful to find serenity, passion, and a sense of achievement when I come up with something. My recent attraction was into astrophotography, a field so wide as the universe itself, took me to remote places and nocturnal peace like no other. Nothing beats the open air in the open wild after being walled in an ever-demanding career. 

I surely hope to update my gallery and share some of my photography, the field that was always on my mind but never realized until I took the decision to invest in it, and it surely paid off. I cannot regret not going into it earlier; the good thing over the years was going into so many domains and learning so many new things that massively contributed to my knowledge, experience, and network. 

Good luck dA. You'll always have a sweet spot in my heart for being an everlasting hub of inspiration and exposure.

There comes a time where you can't just abandon the place that you considered as dear as your home. While we grew up, our works of art reflected our age and maturity that we basked in through the submissions, showing how small we were and how we ended up the way we ended up.

Personally, I couldn't let go of dA, the place that aroused my artistic enthusiasm for many genres and movements, and I've come today to clean up the chambers of my watchlists and collections and re-orient dA to cater my new endeavors.

Alot of has happened since my last journal. I'll stick to the artistic side of life, though.

I had the chance to move to Miami, the greatest place on Earth apart from the occasional level 5 hurricanes. Living alone for months gave me the opportunity to channel my focus on my goals and ambitions, and night after night, I saw myself looking at Infographics as an outlet for my passion for data and graphics.

My passion took me further: User Interfaces and evolved into User Experience (UX), and before you know it, I'm creating my own app

I can't say my artistic growth has been organic at all, rather radical at best. The paradigm shift was always the result of "Why not?" attitude. After all, we're all meant to challenge ourselves by trying something new and getting out of that delusional comfort zone.

I hope everyone's doing great here. Stay awesome!

After a year+ long away from dA, I'm glad to say: It's good to be back!!

During my break, I wasn't really away from arts. I used this period for inspiration and redefine my abilities and priorities, and focus on specific subjects rather than randomly trying things. Of course, every strategy has its pros and cons, and for the moment, my vital senses are pointing at a new direction, and I'm supporting that.

As for the updates:

_ I'm taking photography courses to, well, improve my photography skills
_ I started playing World of Warcraft, and I can guarantee it will drain your time away. I owe most of my inspirations from there, though, because of the multitude of worlds and the superiority of graphics and the environmental effects.
_ I started focusing on the earth elements, mainly water and fire, both in photography and through digital renderings.

A number of renders and photo shoots are underway. I'm exploring new techniques and it's really an amazing feeling to feel thirst for art and being blessed with inspiration and creativity.