User:Wapcaplet

License

Allmy contributions to Wikipedia, in any form, are licensed as follows:

	Multi-licensed with any Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License
I agree to multi-license my text contributions, unless otherwise stated, underWikipedia's copyright termsand theCreative CommonsAttribution Share-Alikelicenseversion1.0and2.0,and the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike license version2.0.Please be aware that other contributors might not do the same, so if you want to use my contributions under the Creative Commons terms, please check theCC dual-licenseandMulti-licensingguides.

Licensing rights granted to Wikimedia Foundation

I grant non-exclusive permission for theWikimedia Foundation Inc.to relicense my text and media contributions, including any images, audio clips, or video clips, under anycopyleftlicense that it chooses, provided it maintains the free and open spirit of theGFDL.This permission acknowledges that future licensing needs of the Wikimedia projects may need adapting in unforeseen fashions to facilitate other uses, formats, and locations. It is given for as long as this banner remains.

These licenses apply retroactively. If you find any of my contributions that are not specifically licensed according to the above, please feel free to fix it for me, and edit the description page to match the above license(s).

If you'd like to discuss any other form of licensing, justask me!

Bio

Real name: Eric Pierce
Email address: gmail wapcaplet88

I give you this barn star for all the incredible ilustrations you gave to wikipedia. Thanks all of us to you. --Alexandre Van de Sande17:54, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I grew up nearDecatur, Illinois,briefly attended college atBradley UniversityinPeoria, Illinois,and eventually graduated fromBowling Green State UniversityinBowling Green, Ohiowith a degree incomputer science.Got married in '01, moved toColorado Springs, Coloradoin '03, and had a baby boy in '06. I now work as a software engineer here in the Springs. Some of my interests includeLinux,computer (and non-computer) graphics, music and musical composition, andLEGO.I like to playAxis & Allies,Riskanddisc golf.

I have a certain affection for the diverse Wikipedia articles that I have contributed significantly to, from theGreat Pyramid of GizatoKing Crimson,from theHSV color spaceto theM-209cipher machine. I've found that writing for Wikipedia has sharpened my skill with precise, unambiguous prose, and has given me practice in making a technical narrative accessible to a general audience. I'm only an amateur writer, though, and a poor researcher; my specialty, at least in regards to Wikipedia, has been the art of illustration.

How I learned to illustrate

I've had a lifelong proclivity for drawing that naturally extended into computer graphics, beginning with my first computer experiences on theTRS-80andApple IIc.I remember writing dumb little programs, little more than a bunch of graphic commands, to draw boxy 80x25 graphics of things likeTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.I was briefly obsessed with the firstApple Macintosh's paint program, which a co-worker of my dad had. My next computer, aTandy 1000 HX,taught me how to use a 16-color paint program, and write more dumb little programs for randomly drawing gradient-shaded colored spheres. Next, it wasPOV-RayandGeoWorkspaint on a 386, Fractal Design andAdobe Photoshopon a 486, and nowBlender,GIMP,Inkscapeand others on myAthlonrunningGentoo Linux.

It is only in illustrating for Wikipedia that I've really learned how to illustrate. Here, I have complete creative freedom, but there are a number of other constraints to consider. In order for an illustration to work for Wikipedia, it must be simple enough to be legible at low resolution; it must communicate information in a way that complements the accompanying textual description; it should not be language-dependent. Having worked within them for a while, I believe these constraints can only make illustrationsbetter,and I think I have become a better illustrator because of my experience here. Theappreciation and recognitionthat I have received for my illustrations is the best reward I could ask for!

Automobile diagrams

I've created apartial 3D modelshowing the internal parts of an automobile usingBlender.I've neglected the project in more recent months, however, and very few practical illustrations ever came out of it. If you would like to pick things up where I left off (or are just interested in getting ahold of the model), let me know and I will gladly email the Blender scene file to you.