So I introduced my neighbors twelve year old son to Blender today and he went ape shit over it. I’m certainly no instructor myself, I just let him tool around with it and helped him to do what it was he was trying to do. Anyway he posted a video to YouTube and I was thinking maybe some of the Blender heads 'round here might be so kind as to supply some positive reinforcement in the form of a few thumbs up on his video…
Starting is easy. OCD is common.
Staying firm in dedication and with slow advancements after are the hardest things in youth making it the greatest challenge obscured within self. Loosing thoughts, dreams then continues on to procrastination and finally to ‘just waiting for something to happen’ (Godot) if self-discipline is absent.
Relying on outside confirmation is soothing, tho often times misleading, creating mental/psychological dependence (after a while, making it a ‘must’ from a ‘need’ for rewarding system in materialistic existence).
Help him strive in being aware, also not to let the ‘outer thoughts and opinions’ (too influential) ruin his inner mind and peace. Calm and patient.
a penny of thought
While I certainly appreciate the advice, I’m not trying to keep him interested in Blender. His parents are going through a rather nasty divorce. It doesn’t look like he ever receives any positive feedback on anything he does from anyone in his life, as a result he has some pretty low self esteem and is developing some rather violent tendencies. I was just hoping to help boost his self confidence a bit because I really really really REALLY think he could use a compliment.
The best nonviolent outlet for pain for me is art, next to that is exercise,
Blender can be healthy, so can hacky sack, break dancing, parkour and its healthy for the ego, and the body.
… and releases dopamin. Activities are far better then enclosing mind in virtual/parallel universe(s).
So… Sadly… had such a hunch.
So in short… what i meant, don’t let him be your one-night-stand-pity-f**k. Apologies for such phrasing and stance. For what you see and understand you need to take responsibility or walk away blaming universe for proving the Sad World.
He is an intelligent person starting to create it’s own individuality (forget about the standard of an adult at 18) it starts at about 9-12 and defines mostly around 12-16… then it’s growing in wisdom and waiting for eternity to come… experiences he’s having now will stay with him forever.
Point him to, as proposed above, amazing experience of art, this great life on Earth and astonishing society all over!
Compliments grow within.
I have posted encouragement!! Regardless of the path, effort and appreciation of what you have accomplished is important. Remind him that he needs to give himself approval. Art has always been a haven for me, may it prove helpful to him.
(“Just sayin’ …”) I am not entirely convinced that you can … or should … meaningfully intervene in the cold reality of his parent’s divorce …
@Paulhart2:
Much appreciated, good stuff!
@Sundialsvc4:
You know what, I had something longer here earlier, but decided to remove it because it occurred to me I probably shouldn’t be posting so much about someone elses private life so… Their father asks my girlfriend and I to watch his kids from time to time. The two boys became interested in the fact that I program games so I installed Blender on one of their laptops. I never discuss the divorce with the kids, I don’t talk about politics or religion with them, and do my best to avoid those subjects with their father. I just thought the eldest could use a little pick-me-up.
happened to me when i was 9 and nobody talked with me about the “crazy stuff” (death, sex, religion/politics…) tabu-buuuu… while i was craving for some common mind, reason of thought, but haven’t had the patience to read ‘fat books’ and ‘tiny letters’ when i wanted to play and just having small intellectual excursions would mean a lot… after a while, all i realized was, adults are fearful, apathetic morons and hypocrites (emperor’s new clothes)… at least in 99% of cases
generation after… still, nothing changed
Actually I don’t really agree with much of their father’s views, I don’t think he would appreciate me talking to his children about my views. I mean if they asked I’d be honest with them, but they’re not really into that type of thing anyway. Mostly they like talking about Shopkins, Skylanders and lots of poop jokes.
how is weather like :eyebrowlift:
It’s been pretty hot lately, upper 80s lower 90s, so I get pretty sweaty riding to and from the pantry. Today brought some much needed rain to cool things off and moisten the dry ground.
it,s cool to introduce people,s to new thing,s so thy change the sad line of life the live and forget about the what,s bother them i show,d my brother how blender,s work and now all he do is just work on blender day and night
I agree alf0 and BPR. Thanks all for the thumbs up and encouraging comments! He’s really enjoying Blender and now his sister wants to play around with it. They asked to see something I had done and I happened to have a Mustang render on my phone “whoa, how many cubes are in that!?”
His brother didn’t believe me, he thought it was a photo of a real car until I showed him a picture of the model in Blender.
this is nice how children think, “whoa, how many cubes are in that!?” yeah there are some renders that i cant believe that thy are actually 3d model,s 3d world have improved very fast to a high levels of details
I think all kids can benefit from having stable, caring adults in their lives who aren’t necessarily their parents. Props to you and your girlfriend just for being there for the neighbor kids. At their age, someone simply acknowledging their existence is huge and you may never know what one thing you might say or do will impact them deeply. Thanks for taking care of the children.
Yes, well I don’t know about the stable part…
Think of it like… everything flows, even earth spins, life goes on… that’s the stable part 
VS written in stone, an illusion
Cubes = voxels 
About weather, i didn’t meant it literally - was a bit satirical, since it’s common issue for conversations around here. We are all saving environment by playing ignorant, forwarding responsibility on to others: “guilty should take care of…” … yet we are all to blame, consuming “greed” on discount - 99% off life.
@CD38
Agree, we all take care of children. Helps in keeping us alive, caring and open minded.
Oh haha. Yeah the weather does seem to be the old standby, probably because it’s one of the least offensive topics and not likely to start a brawl since it’s a subject, for the most part, we can all agree on. “Looks like rain.” “Yep.”
I remember when I was in elementary school art class one day the teacher asked me to pick up this wet paper towel on the floor and throw it away. I said “oh that’s not mine.” She said, in an annoyed tone, “well it’s not mine either, but I’ll throw it away.” Learned a good lesson from that, whomever put it there isn’t claiming it and it’s not going to clean itself up so…
I think that the best thing to counsel a child is that, while others can provide feedback, and while feedback should be carefully listened to, some part comes only and uniquely from yourself. That being said, “kids don’t necessarily think that way (yet),” and “adults think that way much less than they let on.”
The most difficult thing to realize about stuff like CG is that it is “a craft.” Thanks to the Internet, you’re always going to see stuff that’s much better-looking than the stuff you (yet!) know how to produce. But, suggest: “instead of ‘envying’ it, ‘study’ it.”
An assignment that they often give in courses that teach audio recording is to take a commercial song that you enjoy and try to reproduce it exactly. By comparing your work against a standard, you teach your ear to hear differences.