buppy

Illustration Drawing Club had its first meeting. Robin and Karen met at my place and we all walked to the Union Station together. It was a sunny and beautiful day in Portland. A little chilly but not so bad. We were about 15 minutes late but only Jen was there and she was already drawing. We all migrated into the station and Jen went off somewhere to draw the ticketing area while the three of us took up a chunk of the bench. I drew this little boy with a blue Popsicle smear for a mouth and gradually worked up to drawing all his surroundings. I switched colors and was generally really happy with how the thing as a whole turned out. A hour whizzed by. We moved outside for a bit. I treated myself to a hot dog. Daniel showed up and had cookies to share with us. Samoa's. That's right. It's Girl Scout Cookie time people. I love me some thin mints.

Tired of drawing the train station, we migrated to The Pearl Bakery for lunch. I just had a soda and Jen went to get a burrito. She didn't return. Karen, Robin, and Daniel all had sandwiches. Robin's cousin Abby showed up. I bet her before. I remember that I made a big ice cream mess of myself last time we went, she didn't.

We went to the Museum of Craft or Contemporary Craft Museum or whatever it is called. They had this massive installation of crochet and beading. It was a massive structure. There were stars and owls and a giant pelican constructed out of the material. Very labor intensive and beautiful. Upstairs were some drawings done with thread on fabric. Very nice. The museum was very careful about having lots of DO NOT TOUCH signs and a lady that kept a careful eye on Karen's proximity to the sculpture.

At around 2 we split ways. Abby and Robin hit the town, Daniel went to work, Karen and I walked back to the Goose. I worked on cleaning the apartment, more laundry, more cleaning.

Katie's friend Amanda is in town. I think that was her name. There is an A in it. We met and visited. It was groovy.

The day creeped by. Now it is time to get ready and head to Union Station once again.

a little day

Outlined and knocked off a chunk of my comic script. Not the best but still a nice amount of progress. It is good to know just what I will be doing with this chapter. Also that Mamet book is helping.

I didn't really do much today. Slept in. Ate chocolate and noodles.

Munchkin is in the process of being reinstated. At 8:30 I migrated to Robin and Diana's. Chelsey and Kristen joined us tonight. Whoo. And Amanda. We sat about and chatted for a while. Then we moved up to Karen's and Diana and Phil joined us. We explained the game as best we could and it went pretty well. Kristen came close to winning and I was going to win but Amanda transferred the monster to Phil and he won unexpectedly. Natalie also stopped by and we all told jokes and played "would you rather".

The night simmered down and eventually it was just Phil, Karen and I talking about Harry Potter and movies and creating epics.

Not a busy day but Fridays are sort of a relaxation day. Getting over the week and all that. Yeah.

pink nails and pug dog tails

Oops, almost crawled into bed without blogging.

I was very successful on the math homework. Expected values? Yeah I got them. There is a test in a week. Review on Tuesday for those who want it. I shall sort through the homework and if there is anything I'm still confused about, I'll go for the review. Otherwise, I think I got it.

Then I pretty much passed out in the library for two hours. I didn't get a good night sleep. It was very restless and I was stuck in that waking/dreaming limbo. I read Tekkonkinkreet and just lay there for a while. Munched on Ritz and Trader Joeyos. Talked to Jen. The four hours went by very fast.

Critique went fast. There wasn't much discussion. It's hard to say stuff when half the people are still getting used to the technology. The next assignment has to do with illustrations from some short prompts. I think it will be fun. It is a nice class to be in.

Once home I worked on designing the reduction block. Now that I know how to layer, I need to think of more creative ideas than grass and clouds and sky.

End of the week. Tomorrow I MUST WRITE SOME SCRIPTS. Have to do it before Saturday night because Llyw is visiting again. I'm really well caught up in all my classes except for that darned script. I have two pages described and it wasn't so hard to do, I just need to open the file and throw myself at it.

Best wishes to Nathalie. Get better soon, but not so soon so that we don't get a chance to pimp your cane.

Traeger Joe's

Waking at 10 is lovely. So wonderful.

Today was sunny. Bonafide sun. I didn't really need the extra layer at that time. Wow.

Printmaking kicked it right off with a critique. Augin's howling wolf was well received. This cute bird was cute. Phil's woodblock of a woodblock was trippy. Devin had some nice lines. Brandon wasn't finished. Bre's wallpaper looked old. Diana's robot was still glossy. Junko had a lovely green. Patrick's was very bright and one of them hurt some classmates eyes (this was brought up in the critique). Mine was well received. Some people did a floating image in their field of color so registration wasn't so badly needed. Mine was all over the place. Next round of prints, I will have to be more careful. We are doing a reduction print, which means the layers will be made as I carve from the block so it will be one on top of the other and all that. I will start by practicing in photoshop. Do a sketch and then take it into photoshop and color it with layers, each one a copy of the last and only being able to subtract from that. It is hard to explain. We have three weeks.

For lunch I had a small salad and a smoothie from Laughing Planet. Healthy healthy! Karen joined me. We sat in the park and enjoyed the sun. The rest of lunch was served in the library. Diana hovered. I read some Mamet.

Yoshi showed us a little slide show about reductive printing. I looked up the address of a place to buy silk screens. Want to get mine ahead of time so I can practice a little bit. Karen and I might go on Friday morning. Printing takes so much money. Actually, not the woodblocks so much but getting that 22x30 screen (or whatever size it is). This Club Coordinator job will provide me three figures at the end of the semester. Sweetness.

We got out a little early so Karen, Diana and I walked to Powell's. I just wanted to draw people. After wandering with Karen while she searched for books, we parked it in the coffee shop. I was very happy with the multicolored scene I drew. I have free time tomorrow, maybe I'll scan some of my sketchbook. I walked back through the dusk by myself. Yoga is just for Trillian.

And yoga is also for like, 10 other people. It was a huge turn out and there were like five dudes there as well. Not dudes that are interested in me, if you get what I mean. I still can't balance but my joints are getting more flexible. Back into the bend of things.

I swung by Trader Joe's on the way back home. Toilet paper, canned food, cereal, chocolate, pasta, and other things. Oh shoot, I forgot to buy bagels. I need to stop buying lunch in the Pearl District. The amount of work I have this semester puts me in a position that I don't think I would be comfortable trying to find a job. I don't think I could take the work load of both of them, and that is being said before I start cracking down on my comic pages.

Jason Traeger was in TJ's. We chatted a little bit. The lady who wrung me up went to PNCA. We talked about Morgan Walker.

I like the ride home from Trader Joe's. After the ascent to 21st, it feels like such a breeze the rest of the way.

Finished my math homework up. Painting my toenails pink so I have something fun to look at during yoga. Watched Girl with a Pearl Earring. Had some Trader Joe-O's for dinner. Oh boy, I'm up way too late now. But it's still not so bad because I can get around seven hours of resting in the bed time. It isn't that hell of 6:30 alarm, 7:00 get up, 7:45 out the door. I don't know how I did it so diligently for three semesters. Blimey.

School is a lot of work. The stress and challenge got me last finals. Now is the point where I really have to work for it. Show up. Do the work. Think. Study. Know. Eat chocolate.

And here's a shoutout to Auntie Celia. You are awesome!

I'm doing good shopping

Comic Class was delayed for a week so now I can take some time to really focus on my really behind scripts. I've been very dedicated to reading my Mamet and I have been learning a lot. Doesn't say a thing about how to write scripts but oh well. Well it probably does, I'm just not there yet.

Math was uneventful. The calculator on my phone only allows a certain number of digits so I had to borrow Karen's for some of it. We went over homework and he introduced the expected value when it comes to things like the lottery and insurance. The class is only an hour and fifteen minutes long so we are not really able to cover that much.

I emailed some people about club stuff and talked to Michael and got a room schedule so I can tell people what places are available and when, in case they wanted to start a club. My prints had been moved to the bottom of the drying rack but they were in good shape so no biggie. Karen was eyeing which ones to claim for herself. She is very grabby when it comes to prints. SHE NEEDS TO GIVE ME A PRINT. SOMETIME. YOU KNOW. KAREN.

Read Mamet in the library.

Student Council was quick. We brought up the concept of a Prom, anti-Prom, Morp, Ball, Gayla or whatever. Just a nighttime dance party shindig at the school.

I just followed Karen around for the rest of the break. Chilled in the print lab, talked to people, meandered. Time passed by.

I started over on my Peep Show illustration. Still, all those hours spent drawing them didn't go to waste. I needed that practice so when I simplified it, they still came out looking like they did. I'm very happy with the final product. Karen tapped on my shoulder and urged me to talk instead of listen to stuff. Probably because she didn't have her headphones with her. Joe, the teacher, is really good as swinging by and giving little maybe tips to improve your piece. Like offsetting the color and adding a dotted gradient in the background. He gives tips but lets you tweak it for your own desires as well.

Karen and I hung about for a bit, working some more. I was on a roll so I was able to get mine done. The print lab was full of my classmates finishing up their prints at the last minute. Praise to me for working hard. Harder than I needed. Got piles of prints up in here, what what!

I walked with Karen back to the Goose. That is to say, I took my bike on the streetcar like a chump and went back that way. I could have ridden it back, but I didn't.

Ate the leftovers and some insanely bland pasta. Worked on my script and outline for my comic. Tomorrow is a longish day. Critique, new technique, and yoga!

Peep Show

Finished digital illustration of David Mitchell/Mark and Robert Webb/Jez from the BBC's Peep Show.

About three hours worth of work with tons of practice so I can get them to look like who they are supposed to.

Photoshop.

moore

Oh what a lovely sleep I had.

Illustration was, for the first half, going over our ideas for class projects. Mine was the whole illustrate someone elses silly suggestion concept or do editorial illustrations centered around our classmates. Some of the other suggestions were much more in depth. It was a fairly relaxing first half. We had an early lunch and I grabbed a couple apples, some ritz, and a super marked down thing of fruit jellies from Safeway. I mostly read to myself for the break and Karen joined me near the last half.

Our model was one I had never had before. Her name was India and she went to school with Robin. Small world. She had some nice poses but wasn't so skilled at holding them. The classmates were rather critical of her on that front and made several snide comments. I didn't think that was nice at all. I combined charcoal and ink in my drawings, just to give them a little extra flair.

I shared my fruit jellies around. They were a big hit.

After class, I napped in the library. Napped for a good hour by accident. I didn't know I was that tired but the chair does suck you into a nap state of mind.

Finished my prints in record time. The black rolled up the nicest but all of them printed a little smudged and crooked. My registration device was crummy. Will have to do better next time. Brandon was finishing up his flat colors as I was surging through my details. No more chipped off my block.

As I cleaned, Jim came in and we chatted a little bit. He was wearing like 7 layers and I was in a mear 3 (and the outer was my leather jacket, which is fairly light).

Gabe made chilled noodles with not really spicy chicken and delicious sauce. I worked on my math homework while we watched The Champions. The Champions is a show from the 60's about three agents who get super powers from a monk, but the powers are not really that super. Sort of better hearing, extra strength, and quick healing. Basically any super power that only needs a sound effect and a zoom to indicate its use. It is campy and fun.

Another day ahead of me, another week, more work, more more more.

behind, on track, not ahead yet

Four hours on my feet in the studio means I am 2/3 done with the second half of my print. Joy. I arrived at around three and found some stuff on the press. I loitered elsewhere for about 20 minutes and when it was apparent that the person who left the stuff wasn't coming back, I moved it off and began printing! I went easy on the pressure and it came up quite nicely. I put an orange on an orange for a monochromatic scheme. As I was working, some bits chipped off. I carved more. Sucks that my block is crumbling as I work it.

You have to clean everything twice in the print studios. Have to clean the glass before you use it. Clean the tools before you use them. Everything needs to be cleaned before you can use it because the last person didn't do a good enough job.

I went to Hot Lips for a late lunch.

Augin (I think that is her name) was also printing. She had a wicked howling wolf print. She got all of her editions done in less time than it did for me to do two.

The second came along a lot faster. Also I figured out that I was rolling it in a weird way and that was why the carved areas got ink in them. I was rolling it so the brayer would go into it because of the stripe pattern. The piece came up much cleaner when I figured that out. Duurrrr. The second print was violet on a red orange. Uhm, cross complimentary colors? Who knows, it looks awesome though.

Got home at around 7:20. So much work. Chilled for a long time.

Karen and Adam came over for House. I drew them for this weeks figure studies.

I'm behind in my comic. The script is the hardest part.