So, I know I haven't been the best at updating, but I have been working on the web some. I am creating a portfolio for all my work (traditional and digital). I'm almost done. I need to create a website section of the portfolio and write my "about me" and then I believe I'll be done. I will announce the URL here when I release it to the public.

Sorry for falling off the face of the earth but senior year is just as intense work-wise as junior year so I don't have extraordinary amounts of time to be online. I am taking a graphic design class this year, so maybe with my free time I can do some designing or coding.

I'm hoping to do something with the site layout again. I'm tired of this one and I feel like I've improved some from the summer. Plus I now have access to Illustrator. Maybe I can make a kick-butt vector of some sort, we'll see. Oh, and, the site is back online. I have fixed the problem. I won't go into the details.

Lastly, I have implemented a rudimentary spam filter system to my comment system (coded my muah) because of the exorbitant amount of spam that is plaguing my poor database. (I literally spent 45 minutes deleting spam from the DB.) You now have to enter a randomly generated number in order for your comment to process. I'm very proud of myself btw. This is the first steps toward me learning PHP for realz. For too long I have relied on my brother! Hopefully this will work though. I will monitor my database this weekend and see if it helps.

Hopefully I will revive myself. Stay tuned for more?

Edit: (9/28/08) I am well aware that the site besides the home page is down. My host changed my site's server and something must have gone funky in the process. I will try to resolve this as soon as I can but I am bogged with school work so I don't know when that will be. Sorry for the downtime!

And you thought I wouldn't keep my promise... I'm back again with another update before I leave for a few days of vacation. Nowhere exciting. I did a little maintenance recently. Fixed an error with the tutorials preview box and the description for the tutorials page was wrong, so I fixed that. Just little stuff. Anyway:

First, there is a new layout up called Target Practice. It features a bullseye. Whoo. You should still check it out.

Secondly, I added (again like I promised) another Photoshop tutorial. This one is a little more advanced: How to make crumpled paper. And no, it's not just crumple paper in your hand and viola. It's making realistically crumpled paper in Photoshop from nothing. Pretty neat and nifty.

Lastly, we have a new link exchange: Aesthetics Designs. Welcome!

I am going to try to update once more before school starts again for me in September. I'll try to make it a more epic update. I still have a lot of summer work to do though, but I will try. Until then.

I have returned in the middle of the summer with many new things. After many weeks of vacationing and surprisingly, designing, I have released the new Illumination Version 3: Dandelion. I was having serious major design block for the site. And unfortunately, school enveloped my soul for a few 6 months. I literally created 5 or 6 half-designs for the new layout and didn't like any of them. Finally I thought of a concept and came out with this one. It took me until summer to do it, but at least I had time to accomplish everything. The dandelion was in fact drawn by me and the pattern in the background is me too. I decided for this layout to do something more simple than trying to make it have texture and detail and such. I also think the colors are very season appropriate. Nothing to dark or flashy, very mute.

Just a small note before I move on - I did some fancy (not really) coding with the menu for Firefox using CSS drop down menus. But naturally, they don't function at all in IE without using some Javascript hack, which I refused to do. So, I do know the menus are displayed in IE. Also, I am aware that the update heading is different in each browsers. Another little fit IE pulled. I was really pissed, believe me. But, I just have to deal with it.

Now to the new stuff! First off, I have a new layout out for download. It's a Div/CSS layout called A Perfect Fit. It features some gears vectored single-handedly by me. It's very colorful. I had fun playing with the colors in the coding styles.

Secondly, I have added 3 100x100 Avatars. All are pictures taken by me during my visit to Colorado this year. Of course the words of the first are from the Wizard of Oz and the second are from the Robert Frost poem The Road Less Traveled.

Lastly, I added a new Photoshop tutorial called Creating Seamless Tiles. I had recently just learned the technique to make seamless tiles and decided to make my own tutorial to share with you wonderful visitors. Title is pretty self-explanatory. Visit the tutorial for more information. On the subject of tutorials, I have a line of ideas for tutorials, many graphic ones. So, be on the look-out for more.

Well, I do have some stock graphics lined up so I can start making modest once-a-month updates again. I am also going to try to open up another site or two for my own personal use, which might deter a little from this site until I get them up and running. Not to worry though! I also want to thank all my affiliates for sticking with me during my disappearance. I really didn't want to update without anything to add and I didn't get a chance until June. Thanks to anyone who still visits as well. You are truly awesome. Enjoy your summer.