ABOUT

About Martin McCann @ SCCC

Where in my Simple Plan is Thwarted

I arrived in the hallowed halls of SCCC in the Fall of 2008 with the Simple Plan of learning Flash. Flash only. It took until Summer of 2009 for me to finally be enrolled in the much coveted Flash class. I got everything out of it I wanted and left nothing on the table. But that’s just part of the story.

Where in My Complicated Plan is Developed

Actually in order to take Flash I would need a few pre-reqs. And since I also was committed to finishing the Web Design Certification Program, I flushed out my curriculum to include all sorts of interesting subjects. After the first evening in my first class of that first quarter I hatched my Complicated Plan of becoming an instructor.

Where in My Complicated Plan is Implemented

My greatest strength is my skill and talent with Photoshop, having used it for the past 15 years. I used this knowledge to illustrate my projects and assignments that required imagery (and quite a few that didn’t). I wasn’t just cropping and pasting, I was developing all new thematic images unique to each assignment and project.

Where in my Complicated Plan is Exposed

At the end of Spring 2009 (on my birthday) I meet with my mentor Sensinkula. We discussed the effort that I had been putting into my imagery. He asked if he could use my work as examples in his class. It was then I realized my Complicated Plan had been exposed. I confessed that my motivation (aside from a 4.0) was to be asked that very question. He then asked me the question that would make my Complicated Plan a success.

Where in My Complicated Plan Comes to Fruition

I was being recruited to teach Photoshop. My Complicated Plan had come to a close. Successfully…

Enough about me …

Where in My Inspirations Lay

Visual Artists

• Leonardo da Vinci
  • The Renaissance Man with all the crazy skills needed to be a true Creative Genius.
• Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
  • Ever stared at a single brush stroke in awe of its simple elaborateness?
• Vincent van Gogh
  • Among other things, Starry Night sends shivers of Prussian Blue up and down my spine whenever I gaze upon it.
• Claude Monet
  • I walked by and took a mere two second glance at a painting of Claude’s that was hanging in the Chicago Art Institute. It was then that I truly understood just what all the fuss was about.
• Andy Warhol
  • How to make money while The Factory makes your art …brilliant!

Musical Artists

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • Piano Concerto #21 in C Major – ’nuff said.
• Paul van Dyk
  • Defines Trance.

  If there ever is a mash-up of these two composer it will be in my play-list forever.

Culinary Artists

• Graham Kerr
  • At 5 yrs old when other kids were watching Sesame Street I watched the Galloping Gourmet.
• Gordan Ramsey
  • If You Can’t Handle the Heat Get Out of the Kitchen!
• Anthony Bourdain
  • Kitchen Confidential is spot on – indicative of my Salad Days.

Literary Artists

• Terry Pratchett
  • Clever, witty & intelligent – the only author of whom I anxiously await their next novel, willing to buy it new in hardcover.
• PJ O’Rourke
  • A conservative marinaded in satire and scotch, observing the irony of human existence on this planet.

Con Artists

• See Andy Warhol ;-}