ma and pa hurray

Since pop gave me grief for writing at 3am, I'll do it at 7:42 pm! Ha!

Got up at 11. My alarm officially does not work. Need to replace it. It has served me well for probably 7 years now. It works as a clock still, just the alarm function isn't worth a hill of beans.

Anyway, had some left overs. Had some tea. Took out the trash and recycling. Did the dishes. At 2pm I wandered over to Trader Joe's and got some snacks for mom and dad (Candy Cane Joe-Joes are IN STOCK! Loooove them!). Then I walked from 21st down to 6th. Turns out it only takes thirty minutes to make the journey, so with time to spare I sat and listened to my audio book. The train came in, along with ma and pa!

Yaaay! They brought me cereal AND special apple juice. Hurrah. We maxed it over to their hotel (on the other side of the river) and dropped stuff off, and then maxed it right back. Wandered up to my studio, showed them the studios, then went to Ace Hardware where I got powertools! Specifically a power drill and a nice set of bits and a new alarm. Dropped that stuff off at the apartment. And then we went down to Melt for dinner. I had a beef dip with fries, dad has beef deep with salad, mom ordered a bunch of appetizers. And since ma had a light dinner, she ordered a bunch of dessert. Well ice cream and a cupcake. Yum. So much food.

It was raining, which isn't pleasant at all. Oh well. After dinner, we called a cab and ma and pa returned to the hotel. Tomorrow they are meeting with Sylvia earlier in the day, and then later we'll go see So You Think You Can Dance!!

Now to work on thesis or whatever.

ow my knees and fallen arches

Crap, 3:50 pm and still have some tidying up to do.

Anyway, had some chocolate croissants. Accidentally blew a fuse while blowdrying my hair. I have so much hair, it is a bother to leave wet, but I had to.

Yoga was slow long poses. My knees were shot afterwards. Bending in the library to look at DVDs really hurt. It didn't hurt during yoga, and normally when your knees hurt you stop. Tidied up my slide show. Got the influences section looking much better as well as the bit with my art. Still need to do a bunch of writing on my thesis.

I came home at 8 and got some pad thai takeout and watched Lars von Trier's The Five Obstructions. In the film Lars (a Dane) sets out these restrictions for Jorgen (another Dane) to remake this short film of his. There are five variations of the film. It is a pretty cool look into manipulating the creative process according to someones weaknesses.

Then I sort of loafed around instead of being productive. Tidied up room. Tomorrow I shall get up early and do more tidying. Parents are coming to town! Whoo!

I don't know if I'll be able to make it home for Thanksgiving. It is right before Focus Week, when I have to give the proposal that determines the project that gives me a degree (or not).

gah Lacey is so talented

I like Thursdays. They are good relaxing days. Got up. Had a scramble. Need to get some cheese to make my scramble extra delicious.

Dried and put away the dishes.

Chilled. Relaxed. Kicked it. You know, that old diddy.

Went to school for a meeting with Martin. The advising meeting, which isn't totally needed now that I'm this far along (this is more for Freshmen and Sophomores). But anyway, talked to him about thesis a little bit and looked at my animations and some pieces I've done. It went quick and off I went back home. Relaxed. Snacked. Then went to see Lacey's show at the Gann Brothers. It was her thesis show and it was one night only, but still, a thing to attend anyway. It was mostly just Karen and Lacey and I, but the Gann brothers came and went and a few people stopped by. It is sort of out of the way and November isn't the best month for First Thursday.

I left at 7:45ish, after munching on cheese, meat, and crackers. Watched another funny episode of Community. Watched Fringe. Then I watched Near Dark. Not as good as I was expecting it to be, but oh well. Now I don't know what I'll do. Tomorrow I'll clean up the place and go to yoga and write up my thesis stuff.

little harm, but not much of a foul

Set my alarm. Forgot a snooze. Woke up at 11:04. Let out some swears. Took a speed shower. Got to class at 11:25. Amazingly I didn't miss that much. Mostly complaints and issues about AfterEffects and an explanation about what the rest of the day will be. Whoo! So we talked about problem shooting, the next assignment was introduced (oh joy, two more freaking weeks of AfterEffects). We are doing lip syncing next. So one week is spent getting all the files synced, and another week is spent modifying it. We all have a part of Somewhere Over the Rainbow (thankfully Iz's version) and have to sync it to pictures of Tippi making the sounds with her mouth. Yeah. I'm not enthused. I want to draw!

We didn't critique, just reviewed the projects.

I had a burrito for lunch. Yum.

Because I missed the start, it was quite a surprise to come back to class and find that this guy, Ben, was a special guest. Ben works for Laika. Laika did Coraline. He was a sculptor for Coraline. Like, he did the tree, he also brought in an actual real doll used in the animation of the movie! He said it was worth ten thousand dollars. And he passed it around! For us to touch! He also had a box of the swappable face parts. Coraline wasn't sculpted, she was instead printed out in three dimensions. Yes, printed. Not sculpted. And had between ten and eleven thousand separate face parts. And that her mittens were hand knit with tiny little knitting needles and the cost of one of her knitted sweaters (tiny tiny thing) was about three thousand dollars. That costs more than a big person sweater! He also worked on the animation clean up for Beauty and the Beast and Mulan. He brought in one of his Beauty and the Beast sketches even. He gave a great talk about lip syncing and had a great energy all around. When the doll was being passed around, we all got really close to it. Just looked at the tiny little details. So much effort went into that movie. Five years it took to animate! And you want to know what else is awesome? Ben from Laika is a PNCA graduate. Class of 87.

But yeah, it was a most awesome talk. And when he pulled the doll out of the box, we all sort of gasped.

Then he left and we took a break. Back in class we got some more explanation of our assignment and we broke up into groups. One group shot Tippi. And the other two took images that could be used in the animation as well. My group had some props. We played with a ukulele, and fabric, and sunglasses. It was fun but I don't know how usable some of our stuff is.

Kelly gave a little demo of the program Logic. Then I went and colored my stuff and got it emailed off just in time for class. We looked at our pieces. There are some really good pieces. Then it was work time. I wasn't...uhh...productive. But I did put my name into the sheet for thesis. My blurb right now is "friendship & drawing; both are free" or something like that. Vague, but lighthearted. It gets across the points of theme and ideals. I don't need something overblown and concept heavy. People will come because they know me. And I'll be giving away a poster most likely.

After class, Beth, Dom, Karen and I made a trip to Yur's for after class beer and chat. Got some good conversation about thesis and focusing our intentions and projects and where we are from and our weird OCD habits, however mild they are. It was nice. I like routine. Anyway, went home. Got a care package with candy in it! Hurray!

Watched an episode of Mad Men with Kristen.

Need to clean apartment, start writing out thesis stuff, and blah blah blah. Tired. Not going to bother thinking stuff out right now.

FDA Superhero

Digital color for mock article illustration and spot illustration.

Digital color on ink drawings.

FDA Superhero - Lineart

Inked lineart for a mock article illustration. One large image, one spot.

Ink on paper.

senior year is brutal, turns out

It's late. I'm tired. It was a nerve wrecking day.

I forgot that I had to do a spot illustration with my main one. Needs some digital color, but I like the way they look. One is sort of like a fruit sticker, the other is larger, but has an awkward hand...err oh well.

Phone alarm went off, and I got up and ate and was really productive! I sort of got caught up on this essay that I thought I had to do but really didn't. But my slide show was pulled together. And then class started and it got pulled apart. Eerr. Yeah. It was a harsh day. Our presentation slides start with what we want to do, then our relevant influences, and finally our work. My influences we over well. My presentation of my idea was shoddy and needs specifications and development and all this stuff. I have the idea in a sentence, but I need it to last for 8-10 minutes of conversation. Specifications and all this stuff need to be fleshed out in a major way. Also need concept art. And a sample. And I need to expand the portfolio. This is what November is for. November is for finalizing and...doing and practicing. Jennifer Hayes had a great thesis presentation. But further vocalization of ideas was a current throughout. There were a lot of crossed wires in communication and nerves. It was tense and Iskra tore into us. She doesn't hold back, and unfortunately it isn't a good venue to defend yourself or come back at some of her claims. Such as some crap about books being dead in 10 years, and calling Dom's work "stoner art". We had 10 minutes a pop, and they were a jam packed 10 minutes.

I slipped Martin a note asking him to be my mentor. He laughed at the novelty of it and passed it back to me with yes circled. That is how I roll.

But yeah, class was just...not fun. But we know what needs to be done and I feel the heat to get it clearer. I know that I need to spend a lot of time writing about the different points I want to touch on. My writing thus far is really garbled. I think I need to section the ideas off and write about each one exclusively. The aspect of gifts. The aspect of friendships. The aspect of mantras. Right now I think I am saying 20 things at once and none of it comes out well.

Oh, Beth has a nice looking proposal thingy.

I stuffed sushi down my gob during break, talked to Karen, got some 50% off candy, and did yoga. Sivonna even joined! It was a good stretching yoga. Afterwards I chatted with Jon and Dom in the studios about a range of topics.

Then I went home. Drank some tea. Watched some stuff. Drew some stuff. Then several hours later, when checking the assignment specs, I realized I had to draw more stuff. I also have to bring props in for animation. Props bode well for fun having.

Thursday can't come sooner.

Looking at this piece, the proportions are all whack. Holy crap. Like, really off. The elbow is at the belt. And it is inked already. Damnit. Too late now. If I don't get it, I don't get it. Still a good piece actually, and it isn't even colored.

Also, we are going to have a New Years Party in the apartment. Mighty Boosh themed. If I'm in town, I think I'll go as Naboo. Turbans are in.

request doodle

How I asked Martin to be my thesis mentor, and how he responded.

enter the void/exit my mind

I have a long night ahead of me so I better get started.

Okay my alarm must have something wrong with it, because again I set it to an irregular time and i have no recollection of shutting it off. I just woke up at 10:50 and went "damnit" and got up.

Oatmeal and tea for me. Then off to the print lab. It was raining. Again. And it rained off and on all day. I got cold and I'm still cold. It is that type of damp that follows you. And I'm really scruffy looking, if I could grow stubble I would have it. Haven't combed my hair. Just put it up into a clip. Blaaah.

Good thing is: my portfolio printed perfectly! Double sided and everything. Printed on Moab, which was coated on both sides, and it came out on the first go. Whoo hooo!

Went to the lab. Chilled in the lab. Worked on my slide show. Got hungry, decided not to splurge on pad thai and ate some hash browns (trader joe's) and salad instead. mmm carbs.

I caught the 7pm showing of Enter the Void. Now isn't the proper time to watch a movie, as I have a lot of stuff that needs doing, but it is only at Cinema 21 for a week and I knew if I didn't get right on it, I would probably miss out. The movie was unlike anything I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot. It was bold yet muted, dreamy yet lucid. The story is a sort of mental trip after the death of Oscar. He floats around through his past life and the lives of the people around him. It leads to how he ended up getting shot and how it affects people. It is truly intense and I can't say I'd recommend it. Not because it is bad but because it is very very different and something else all together. It really exhausted me. Actually, when I left the theater and all the people milling about were in a daze, just like I was. And someone commented on how tired we all looked. I actually stumbled home I was in such a shock from it all.

And now I just feel tired and want to go to sleep and attempt to get up and just start refreshed. Get up. Work. Be productive. I have the feeling if I stay up, like I usually do, I'll accomplish nothing but internet time waste.

And I'm in such a weird state right now. That movie. Goddamn.

I've checked off a lot of my check list. The main thing is the slide show and illustration piece.

No, I think I should make some sleepytime. Read a book. And go to bed. And set my cell phone alarm. If I can genuinely get up at say, 8:30 and have breakfast. I think I can get a lot done in between 9:30 and 3:15. A lot more than I will between midnight and four am and noon and three pm.

Also Packing for Mars is really interesting. I should finish it so I can lend it to Dad. I bet he would dig it. Space travel!

portfolio mailer

mailable portfolio. designed for advanced illustration.

10x16". moab paper.

Halloween! And dressed as someone few people get

Shindig! Nada from They Live!

Well didn't get wild and crazy, but did have a good time. Mark, Kristen, and I cabbed it over to the other side. Our cabby was really nice. We were the first to arrive at 8:45. Karen was a beatnik, and BT and Phil were plaid buddies. I made my entrance with my "I came here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubble" line from They Live. Then I snacked and drank a reasonable amount.

Robin, Jenny, Uriah came. Tabitha, Mel, Melissa, one of their friends, and a secretive and surprise Cidney showed up later. Dom, Josh, Janessa, and one of Janessa's friends came for a bit. Dom stuck around. We played Apples to Apples. One of Mark's friends came, as did Adam P. There was a lot of milling about and talking and cycling around to different groups. Josh came back later on for a bit. It was a nice little night. We three, plus Andy, cabbed back. Didn't take any pictures.

I need a new camera. The one I have is 3.2 megapixels and doesn't take good pictures. Maybe for Christmas I can get 4 megapixels?

Sunday

Wasn't even hung over. Go me! Did sleep in a bit, and forgot about the chocolate croissants I left out so by the time I got to them, they had deflated a bit. Ate my food. Packed up my stuff.

Went to school and worked in the lab till it got dark. Even with the handouts, I still had problems with AfterEffects. I had to rename a bunch of files to get them to sequence. I even made a little track in Garageband. And called it that. Then I started working on MY THESIS PROPOSAL SLIDESHOW. DUH DUH DUUUH. This is the 10-15 minute proposal that I have to give in a month to present my idea for approval. It starts with the idea (broadside posters depicting the mantras I have formed about friendship) then influences and past work. It's very rough right now. It needs to get a lot more files in and I need to work on the discussion. Right now I have about five minutes worth of discussion. Of course in practice, it will expand.

It is sort of surreal to be working on this. The actual real thesis.

Chatted with Cotey and Tippi in the animation lab.

Went home at 9:45ish. Got my costume on and went to Gypsy for about half an hour and chilled with Cidney, Mel, Tabitha, Dan, Cara, and two others. They did some karaoke. Then they went to CC's and I decided that it wouldn't be good to party that hardy (and spend money, I didn't buy anything at Gypsy). Went home. Ate some pasta and salad. Chilling out. Tomorrow is printing, slide show, and drawing. Need to get up and at it tomorrow. No leaving till after 3pm stuff.

Also since printing takes time to sort out, I should get there bright and early (me, early, HAR HAR, but I'll try).