Ok, that title is a bit confusing. Veronica is my wife, creative partner, business partner, and creator of Veronica Explains, a YouTube channel. Naturally, when she said she wanted to start making YouTube videos about retro technology and Linux, I asked how I could help. She is incredible and gifted when it comes to her own creative vision, so it is always a fun challenge making things that meet her expectations for her own creative work.

Veronica’s videos are put together in a masterful way using Kdenlive, an open source editor. She has used a variety of visual effects and breaks up the monotony of most tech videos by incorporating many cut-ins. That’s the part I help with! I have made graphics for several videos, whether they are static images used to convey a message, or a screen recording of a digital drawing, I have been proud to contribute to Veronica’s amazing videos. In a little under two years, the channel now has a whopping 57,000 subscribers! I’ve designed some pretty neat items for the merchandise store, which have been received warmly by the Linux community.

One of my favorite projects to work on for a visual gag has been developing a character Veronica calls “Paul Dudebro”. Paul is based on Paul Bunyan.

You know, I’m a little disappointed that not a single person has asked if it’s Paul Bunyan. I think it looks just like him. Veronica’s videos are informative, creative, and a breath of fresh air from the typical “do this now!!” language used by some creators in the tech community. I love making these little graphics to break-up the long segments of chatting.

Along with the visual graphic work that is included in the videos, I am also behind the scenes as the lighting expert, videographer, and colorist. Our home is where she records, so getting the lights arranged takes some… creative doing.

I’m proud to contribute to Veronica’s channel in the small way that I have. I cannot wait to see where she takes it!