Character Creation

Character Creation
A show by Bekka Hannesdottir and Trillian Spencer
Up for the month of November in the Charles Voorhies Fine Art Library in PNCA

short post

It's 1am. I get up in 6 hours. Lets make this quick.

Printed. Did 6 prints, tried to be abstract. Didn't really think that hard, I was out of it and sat in the other studio by myself.

Put up show. Bekka and I arranged our pieces in the single case. Looks nice. Needs a title and posters and blurb, but we got it.

Silk screened. At 4, I switched techniques. The first color went down smooth. I had to rearrange my screen and mylar three times to fit the long image. It was really hard to print it. Thankfully I don't need perfect registration. The second color isn't as presentable as I would like it to be, but I think once I apply the final image it will all come together. I'll be able to go home tomorrow and get some good rest. After Yoga of course.

Worked on paper. Then took a break and watched This Film Is Not Yet Rated, which is about how insanely arbitrary the film rating system is. Also the people who rate films and decide the appeals of filmmakers are all kept very secret and hush hush. The film hires some investigators to find out the secret identities of the raters. It's cool.

Fire alarm. It went off. Again. Stuffed Luna in Grandpa's suitcase.

Essay finished. Not really great but I don't really care. I don't understand what the guidelines are and even though he tries to play loose and breezy, it will still get red penned. Whatever.

same old, and not the same

Decent enough critique. My work needed some work. Some stuff was good, some stuff was bad. Same old.

Had Quizno's for lunch. Did reading response. Same old.

After lunch we split in half again and read our short stories out loud. Danny had some lovely mood language, Cassi's was long but had some great descriptions of a punching bag, Bryan's had it's usual charm, Robyn's had me thinking of Lutefisk, and Nicole's blew us all out of the water. She had voices and it was just lovely and a joy to listen to. She was shy so we all turned our backs to her while she read, and she knocked it out of the park.

Mine was fairly well received. The main comment was that it needed a little more, but in general they dug it.

We took a break. I photocopied my Lynch and turned it into a silk screen transfer. Unfortunately all the woodblock/silk screen classes have become silk screen (they do one technique up until midterm and then switch). Now the studio will have more people in it, and if I want to print I will have to wait till after 5.

After break, we learned about flash fiction. That is what we are doing next. Easy enough in appearance. We were all handed different ones to read and mine was from the point of view of someone with dementia. I didn't know how terrified I was of it, until I read that story. It really disturbed me and that feeling stuck.

Then I put emulsion on my screen and worked on making the other Lynch transfers. A razor was bumped in the drying room and it slashed my screen. By that I mean, the taught screen was torn from top to bottom rendering the screen useless until it becomes re-stretched. Thankfully I have two backup screens (and the one that was busted was the less favored of my larger ones). Still, that sucks. Oh well. Applied emulsion to my other screens and let them dry.

Yoga. My right hip and foot have been paining me. I rocked at yoga but in one seated forward bending pose, my leg suffered immense twinges and tweaks and general agony.

After yoga, I exposed my screens and washed them out. They look great. Hurray! Can't wait to start printing. It will be generally a small edition, for the purpose of the assignment. With time I can make more.

Went home and read Barry Sander's very depressing essay about how The Daily Show makes us passive to the horror that is the news. And all that.

Mad Men had the Kennedy assassination episode. It was intense.

working through it all

Sweet, it is 1am and I am ready to go to bed. That's a good feeling.

David Lynch: drawn. I've been staring at his face for so long that it doesn't look like him anymore though. The hand looks small. The eyes feel crooked. It's hard to say, but I'll bring my supplies and work on it some more tomorrow. I have time.

Reading Response: done. It was super short and a little confusing, but a much needed rest from some of the heavy stuff she has had us read.

Illustrations for Short Story: Done. Like the portrait more than the table, but I think they will both go together nicely.

Short Story: Edited and finalized and I like it so much more. Has a nice length and a sense of completeness I feel. I'm very proud of it, I just wish I could have illustrated it more the way I would have liked. But if I sign up for advanced silkscreen, then I will spend that time making comics and make this story into a comic.

Meetings begin next week and registration is soon to follow. I can't believe it is already that time again. I have to take the second part of Illustration II. Everything else is up in the air. I want to take Le Fig part two, advanced silkscreen, and maybe another lit seminar. I'll just see what's what on the list.

I woke up sick and that persisted. I had a feverish, almost delirious night sleep. No good at all. I had toast for breakfast, goldfish for munching, and made an early pasta dinner which I ate through the night. Drank plenty of fluids and stayed warm. I think with having about 8 hour to devote to bed time, I'll be in good shape for next week.

Next week is busy. I have printing to do and a possible date on Tuesday, if I can get my essay sorted in enough time.

Today's watch list included four episodes of the Avengers, two episodes of New Amsterdam, and Goodfellas.

illin'

I don't like being sick. Too much irregular eating has caught up to me and really weakened my body. This sucks.

Woke up with my alarm. Got the place cleaned up. Ate some oatmeal and orange juice. Called Bekka.

From around 2 to 10, we worked on art. We cut the paper, taped the paper, and drew drew drew! Our play list was: Idiocracy, Four Rooms, episode of Lie to Me (Tim Roth double feature), Chicago, and half of Repo: The Genetic Opera. We cranked our show out. Got 16 little painted pieces ready to be put up in the library. Go us! We got pizza for dinner. Mmm. So yeah, just painted all day. I felt continually bad.

Katie went out dressed as Dakota Block from Planet Terror. She looked really good. Got her hair done and everything.

Bekka left. Katie left. Now it is almost Midnight Halloween night and I am indoors and ill. It sucks. I'd like to go out and party but I don't have the energy or the health to do it. I'd rather be out having fun, but my better sense is keeping me home and miserable. Oh well. Next year.

girls go go

I woke up today and looked at the clock. It read 2:15.

Got up. Showered. Drank a big thing of tea. Watched some Telly. Katie, Luke, and I went to Leaky Roof and had the usual (plus one, Luke). Shelly wasn't there. It was a good meal and it kept me going through the day.

After than I went to Art Media and picked up some paper for the show Bekka and I are doing. Got three sheets of whiteish paper. Then I stopped by Safeway and picked up bread, cake, juice, and a huge thing of toilet paper. The toilet paper was too big to fit in my side basket, but I rigged it to stay using my scarf.

Sipped juice. Did nothing. Got my pre-Halloween costume on. It is one of Katie's actually. This waitress uniform she had in her costume trunk. I tied my hair back and put on my Gap name tag and I was ready to go. Katie was Batman again.

We went to Fez. Or some place that sounds like Fez. It had a cover, which kept out the majority of slimy Portland folk. Which was nice. I had my standard vodka & cranberry. Then we hit the dance floor. First some douchehat danced with me. I moved to a Wario pretty quick. He was nice. We took a break then returned. Dance dance danced. Danced with a guy who was in a track suit with the Hammer and Sickle on it. Said he was the Olympics. Or something. I didn't quite get it but his name was Aaron. We sat and chatted for a bit. We might hang out again before he goes back the Philedelphia. Small world though, he came with Ric who is one of the tech guys at my school. He left (with my number) and I shimmied a few songs with a German guy. Then Katie and I walked home. It was a really fun night. Aside from that first guy I danced with.

My alarm is set (I've only been awake 12 hours now, hahah). Gotta get up and work on show with Bekka. If I get done, then I may go out again.

the cold has set in

Forgot to mention that yesterday's post was my 900th. I might do something for my thousandth. That will be around, what, February?

Exhaaausted. This was a long week with a lot of late nights.

First part of class was a printing demo and explanation courtesy of JP. He told us about paper and all the different things one can run through the printer.

The second phase critique went fast. A lot of good ideas and good progress. Generally a greater volume of work and some larger pieces. It's nice to see. Martin said my piece was ready to go. I think I'll do a three transfer silk screen. If I get the ink drawing done this weekend, I'll be in good shape.

I had some of those Trader Joe's noodles for lunch but my appetite for them wasn't strong. I was hungry but I just didn't feel like eating. And I like food.

Rest of class was spent doing the digital thing. I finished early but hung around till Martin said we could leave. I like my printout. Having big work like that, it looks good.

Went home. Worked on getting my appetite back. Caught up a bit on television. Played dress up with Katie's costume box a little.

The Portland chill has come. Gloves are permanently stored in my helmet so I never forget them when I go riding. My mobius strip scarf has returned. The jacket I choose to wear differs, but sleeves are a must.

that hair

I had a really restless night sleep and that put me in a funk for the whole day. And my ears are still ringing. That's what I get for never going to shows.

Revlon can outlast so much but not a pasty and a thermos full of Billy Tea. It was weird. I applied it perfect and then by 9:30 it was almost all off. We learned how to destroy common spaces, you have to destroy it in the mind. And how late night new comedy shows wipe the guilt plate clean. Like, they cleans your mind and make you feel okay with all the horrors in the world. Hmm. Then we watched an hour of Fitscarraldo. Amazing moving. Loving it.

History of Printmaking covered some of the plans for next week (epic museum trip) and then we got into our creative writing exercises. Everyone picked a really wide selection of prints, which was great. Saw a wide variety of artists and had some good things to listen to. I was fourth to last to go. I was pretty out of it but it still worked.

I had another quesedilla for lunch. I've fallen into a bad no-lunch-making pattern. I ran out of bread and haven't bothered to buy another load. Bad bad Trillian. Diana and I talked about TV and I bought a cola to sustain me after lunch. It was cold but I didn't need my rain pants (but I had them with me).

After class I took three 45 minute naps back to back in the library. I was curled up in one of the big chairs and passed right out and woke right up in pretty even times. It was enough to keep me going through Yoga but having a near empty stomach made it really difficult. It was just Hillary and me doing it today, but that was nice. Did a variation of things and really worked our hands.

It took over an hour between getting home and eating, to get to the working point. I was very queasy. I didn't over stuff myself for my final meal of the day. Probably a good thing. I'm trying to work on my portions. I tend to eat till I'm full and I eat late in the day. The only problem is I inadvertently go long times between small meals, because I get caught up in work or napping. The lunch to after studio stretch is quite long.

But once I got paper in my lap, I drew drew drew some David David David Lynch. His hair is just amazing.

long haul

Uhg do I really have to blog right now? I am supremely drunk. Christ. Okay.

Monotype was great. I did six portraits. We did the viscosity stuff again. Olive green and red. I'm sick of red. Whooooo for spell check. Okay. I'll keep on track. Better. Okay. Yeah. Robin was picked on for liking pink. I choose to no longer pick on Robin. A girl came in, Vanessa I believe her name was, she came in and showed her monotype portfolio. It was cool. I ate a bagel for lunch with Madeline. We talked nerdy things. It was nice. I did six portraits in total for class: Robin, Danielle, Jay, Serenity x2, and Tom. The Serenity one at first looked like ectoplasm so I reprinted it. I've switched to cheaper paper. I photocopied both the Jay and Serenity one for them.

I brought Katie's Glue Gun back home for her. Then we got ready. Ready for what? The PNCA party at Berbatis Pan or Belbatis Pan or B-something Pan. Yeahhh! The Halloween party. I finished my paper before the party so I wouldn't have to do it after. Read Mom's email about her being a Lumberjack zombie and how she wants to be a part of Thrill Around The World. Go mom! Anyway yeah. Finished little assignment for class. Then I dressed up as Wenda, aka Waldo's Girlfriend from Where's Waldo. Changed pants and shoes for skirt, tights, and boots. Looked good. Katie was Batman. We missed the Max but caught the next one. I had a Cranberry Vodka, Katie had a whiskey with beer back. She had four total over the night. I finished Jay's beer and then had a drink with Mona at the end of the night. So I'm now feeling that last drink which was coasting on the tail of the beers. I danced, I ate free food, I chatted, and I participating in a costume contest. I didn't win (Katie did though). But I got pretty far along. At the end, with the heavy metal band, it was only Illustration majors on the dance floor. Oh and Katie. Jon, Janessa Josh, Dominic, this dude, Katie, and Myself. I left with Katie and we walked to catch the Max. I walked, she stumbled. I continued to talk to her, to keep her awake. She was dressed as Batman so I asked her Batman questions. Some nice guy helped me get her off the Max. Right now she is on her bed, with her alarm hopefully set to go off at 8:30am, but I can't be sure. I'm drinking water and waiting for the ringing to stop.

Bed time!

7:00am edit:
My ears won's stop ringing. The first band was some sort of cover band, the second was the scream loud metal kind but they were entertainers. Too bad most of the kids left after the costume contest. There were about 50 people there, which was almost a decent sized crowd. Could have been more but it was a Tuesday night and some people had to get up for class.

red lips, yellow pants, blue shirt

Black tea got me through. Except I dribbled on myself and now my blue vneck has a stain and it didn't wash out when I did laundry. Mild critique and then lunch. I hit up Chipotle for the all day lasting meal: the burrito. Talked to Michaela and Dom in the library a bit.

For the next hour we had meetings with either Daniela or Sara about our stories. They read them and then gave us immediate responses. Mine needed some more explanation and a proper spell check. I rearranged things on the file at school but the magic of iMacs made it so it didn't save at all. The file just vanished. Lame. If Apples are so great, how come they still have to use Microsoft Office programs?

It was a work time so I spent a long time Googling the different centuries and making a character list of immortal people so that I wouldn't accidentally overlap. Then we watched a slide show of portraiture.

After class I finished my burrito and read the first chapter of Dylan Dog. This comic is awesome. Great lines, wonderful character designs, and overall superb execution. Talked to Kim a little and then it was yoga time.

Did a lot of side stretches. My ankles didn't hold up so well.

Katie made Larb. I did laundry and watched a couple episodes of New Amsterdam. Really enjoying it, sad that it ended after 8 episodes. I'm going to finish this episode of So You Think You Can Dance and then go to bed. Yay for specials that only have dancing and no harsh competition!

Oh, it was really rainy today so I had my rain pants. No biggie. Still devoted to the red lipstick. I don't think it is going anywhere.

sketchbook Responses - 4 - Them Old Cowboy Songs

Sketchbook responses to Annie Proulx's Them Old Cowboy Songs.

Graphite and ink on cheap paper.

now the work ethic kicks in

I got up. Finished Annie Proulx's short story. It was massively depressing. Stillborn baby eaten by coyotes? Really? Dang. Then I worked on drawing and painting for many hours. Watched a lot of InfoMania and started watching New Amsterdam. It's on Hulu.com. About this guy who can't age or die until he finds his soul mate (some Native American curse thing he got when he arrived in America a few centuries ago, he is actually Dutch). It's interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed the two episodes I watched. His son is a nice character and since the short story I am working on is along the same lines, it is cool to study how they did it. Sad it was canceled.

So I worked and worked. When I sit back in my chair, I really notice the crick in my neck. It may be almost 3am but at least I don't have to roll out of bed till 10.

Blah blah blah.

Homework. I have a good pace going and I feel good about this. And for once a story won't be about barely getting to the minimum length.

field trip

Worked on Annie Proulx's Them Old Cowboy Songs. For Narrative Image. Tomorrow will be a long work day, as usual. It's hard to get into it on Saturday.

Need to do laundry. I need more underwear. I run out of clean underpants before I run out of clothes. Then again, keeping it at this number keeps me washing clothes at reasonable intervals and that I don't have to do many loads at once.

There was an illustration field trip today. All those who wanted were to show up at Pioneer Place at 6:30ish and get a free ticket for Where The Wild Things Are. Dominic & Michaela, Madeline, Kristen, Cassie, Daniel H, Kim, and a few others showed up. We played "pretend that person is Martin" while waiting. A game where you imagine people dressed in parkas and bright colors as Mr. French. It was fun.

The movie was very touching. Beautiful imagery and direction. I didn't cry but I was emotional. It was a good watch.

Ate some of the pasta from mom's package. Had to buy some milk first.

trading Japanese comics for Italian ones

Ahhh Friday. My designated do nothing day. Time to sleep in, take it easy, and let the week digest.

Katie had a job interview so we didn't get to the Leaky Roof till about 4:30. We didn't get our booth or have Shelly serve us, but the hot guy waiter. Turns out he is really grumpy and not good. It's no fun to be an unrecognized regular. Still we had a nice chat and devoured our burgers.

We walked to Powell's later on. I brought some of my old Manga to sell and got 18 bucks in credit, which I applied to The Dylan Dog Case Files. I didn't like Kevyn Aucoin's other book Face Forward. It had really bad design. Saw Barry in the store. After there we went to Spartacus, the local goofy lingerie shop. Katie was picking up some things for the Bachelorette party. A mother came in with her sons. Her sons looked no older than 13. What kind of 6th grader wants to go with his mother while she buys naughty lingerie? Weiiird.

I enjoyed a Curly Wurly on the walk back to the Goose. Been enjoying a lot of the sweets in the care package. Need to pick up some milk so I can make some of the box pasta for myself.

The lipstick stayed intact for pretty much the whole day. Now that is long lasting.

bag blogger, no biscuit

Last night Blogger decided it wasn't going to work. I kept getting error messages and a code to use to report my error. But they didn't give me any contact information as to where I should report my error. Tried for an hour and then just wrote my entry in a word document and went to bed.

* * * * *

And now Blogger is telling me I can't just copy and paste. Argh.

* * * * *

Sometimes I find it odd when Martin says the quick, three hours pieces are more powerful than the three week ones. Wore my red lipstick and it was highly complimented. The manifesto review went well. Well for me and Danny and Rachel and Kristin. Not that the others did horribly but there was some struggle. Beth and I misread the assignment and did 3 manifestos as opposed to three ideas for one. Still, I did at least two ideas for each. The David Lynch and Kaiser Chiefs were well received. Each had a clear idea to go on with. I think I’ll go with the David Lynch. Next week will just be drawing portraits of him and making sure I can represent him.

Kristin and I went to Miso Sushi. It was good sushi. Very fresh. Took a little while to get it, but it was worth the wait. Doesn’t have the funky tasting rice that Sushi Land has.

Rest of class was spent working on a photoshop project. Scanning in the language of our sketchbooks and manipulating them around and making a new image. Not painting, just collaged. Sort of slacked but Martin kept a strong eye so I didn’t entirely blow it off. He showed off R Crumb’s adaptation of Genesis. Learned some new things about classmates. Good things but nothing that is my place to write in here.

A Chipotle opened up near school and were having free burritos as a grand opening. Stood in the long line behind some PNCA people. Actually the line was half PNCA people. The free burritos were from 5-7 and classes got out right at 5. Heh.

Ate half of it for dinner. Other half will be breakfast. Caught up on my television. I’m really excited for So You Think You Can Dance. What a twist that the girl dropped out and the husband and wife got to be on the show together. Wheee. Mollee is adorable. I don’t like seeing the first people go. I think it might be one of the tap dudes. Glee had an awesome episode. Puck’s internal monologue is some of my favorite in the show.

Burger Friday is tomorrow. Have to make a comic run soon before I run out of my illustration money. Then drawing! Another 4-10 page rough draft due Monday. I can’t wait to put my red lipstick on again.

I love a red lip

Didn't get much sleep but I didn't nod off once. Amazing.

We finished the Richard Pryor stand up. And then we talked about history and trying to get from Miller's Tale to stand up. Barry credits stand up as an American invention and mentioned how many cultures don't have a stand up practice.

The first 7 minutes was spent rigging Christmas lights around the projector display. The next 20 was spent looking at this very naughty print from the 1500s. I would post it but I think that would get me another email from mom, even though it is art. It was very explicit and I heard the artist was exiled a couple times. We learned extensively about Callot and Rembrandt. Talked about Musketeers and Wishbone and how Robin is out for blood ever since she was called a rule follower.

Daniel, Diana, and I went to Laughing Planet for lunch. I wasn't starving so I just had a quesedilla. Another pal joined us and we talked and gabbed and conversed. Then went back and learned. I ran out of interesting things to say during lunch and rambled during class.

Walgreen's did not have the Covergirl type of lip stuff that I wanted. They just had the second stuff that didn't review as well. So I went with Revlon because that is what I've been using. I decided to go with a very not subtle color: Ultimate Wine. It is RED. But I think it suits me. It goes with my eyes but isn't too orange for my skin. I put it on and was amazed. Lasted flawlessly through yoga. We were in room 204. Hillary, Ingrid, Tatum, the other girl, the other other girl, and Raquel. Oh and me. A fine bunch of ladies. I did quite well. I'm amazed at how fast yoga time flies.

Got my illustration homework done. I'm not sure how I feel about the Manifesto's though. They are not really political at all. Not sure how well that will go over. I'll see tomorrow. I have Kaiser Chief song lyrics, David Lynch, and Yoga.

real hard at work here

Every Monotype class, we start with reviewing last weeks prints. My major one is under the care of Martin so I didn't get any feedback. We then went onto a viscosity technique demo. You roll a plate with a layer that is saturated with oil and then draw into it with something that removes the viscosity. Like a piece of cardboard. Then you roll onto it with a different color that is much thicker and due to the difference in viscosity, the different color will only stick where there isn't the different stuff. It will stick to where it is clean. I thought it was pretty cool and worked on two prints. The first assignment was an image with yarn, a bird, and a candle. I drew Tarryn tripping over yarn trying to get a shuttlecock (a birdie) and a swarm of birds gets in the way. Oh and she has candles attached to her head. I only drew her there because she was there. I rolled and carved into it twice to define the lines more. A lot of her face got lost because I didn't go over it a second time. But it ended up with a cool aged affect. I asked Chris the tech to sit and I drew a quick sharpie portrait of him on the back of a plate and traced into that. I removed and rolled four times before I printed. It was a cool combination of monotype and my own drawing methods. A great combination and it looked like him. I might continue with this method.

Lunch was leftovers int he library. Madeline, Bekka, Robyn, Rachel, Terry and I sat in the couch area and gabbed about TV. Terry talked about the mixed messages some of the thesis people gave him during mid term review. We all talked about Buffy and a Whedonverse all out battle and who would win (Cordelia if she never came back from heaven was the main choice). And other nerdy things.

After class I went to Nordstrom's to check out the makeup counters. Katie gave me pricing misinformation. While I loved the colors it was both twice what she said and plus five dollars. All I want is a good color of long lasting lipstick/lipgloss/lipwhatever. I've been using her kind and I like it but it is hers and there is not much left. I was polite but told them it was out of my price range (using my illustration money, but I don't want to use bloody half of it, or even a fifth). Got home and googled Cover Girl. Then I got sucked into their website. You can input all your colors (skin, hair, eye) and then they tell you the best matches. Ahg. Spent way too long deciding between Spiced Satin and Red Satin. Anyhoo, I'm going to swing by Walgreen's tomorrow between class and yoga.

Drew a birthday picture for Bekka. Katie wanted an X-Files "I Want To Believe" poster for her studio so I drew her one as a present. It's got Luna flying in the sky instead of the space craft. Katie loved it. Also worked on homework. Reading, drawing, sketchbooking. You know. I'm still doing a Bonnard print, but I think I changed it to the one of the chick with Champagne.

Lie to Me was good. Recognized Garret Dillahunt from The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford almost immediately. Very distinct but still talented. Worked on some portrait sketches.

cult of flair

There are care packages and then there are care packages. My latest was the latter. Two boxes of Pocky, two Choco Panda, two botan rice candy, three pasta box, two rice thingies, two peeps, three jars of tuna, potatoes, kitchen scrubber, cookies, chocolate, Tiger's Milk, and even more. The only thing it was missing was those fruit leather things. But still, a huge box of food goodness. Consumed half of the rice almond dish for dinner tonight. Mmm.

The narrative image critique was relatively harmless. Daniela gives us another week to work on stuff if we so desire. You know, time to include what we learned in critique and all that.

Lunch was a bagel. Looked at books. Talked to Josh and Jay a bit. Wrote up my analysis. Printed it out.

After lunch we got into two groups and read our allegory's out loud. Danny's rhymed. Kristen's was cheesy but fit perfectly. Bryan's was comic book dialogue and read in a way that he is always known for. Natalie's was recited at a mile a minute. Robyn's was a nice little tale of twins. The other group was full of giggles and guffaws and was very loud. We had to close the door.

The next assignment is about character construction. Mary, the other teacher when it comes to writing exercises, had us write character traits on sheets and pass them around till we had something really goofy. Then we had to write a day in the life of the one we got. Then we had to come up with our own one, if we wanted. Finally we took a personality test, to further put home how much needs to be considered in our personalities. Mine came up that I was neither totally neat or messy, artistic, low in patience and was a little bit mean and anxious. Err yeah.

Killed time on the Internet while waiting for 6:30 to roll around. Well before killing time I went to Office Max. Had to get a new reem of bristol paper. It's good to have a sturdy general drawing paper around. There is this type of pen put out by Paper Mate called Flair. Very specific. Danny and Bryan clued me into them. What they lack in nib refinement, they make up for with bleeding. Normally bleeding is bad, but these pens do it so evenly that you can do a line drawing and go back into them with a water brush and add fast ink washes with no clean up. Hurrah! They only came in 12 packs, so I think I'll give one to Diana now that she also has a waterbrush. I love getting new art toys.

I was quite successful at yoga today. Got into the lunges and all that. Today's class roster was: Miss Mona, Alise, Jenna, Kayla, and Ingrid. Thinking about adding some yoga manifesto to the project. There are a lot of mantras.

No rain. Made myself dinner and played with ink washes. Watched only House.

I felt really good about my appearance today. My hair was in a side part and braided at the nape of my neck, but only a couple twists of a braid. The hair that wasn't long enough to get caught in the braid hung in waves over the side of my face and my makeup was pretty superb. I felt really good. Long hair is nice but sometimes it gets so bushy.

Trobriand Marriage Ceremony - Monotype

Monotype. Don't know exact size but vertical the plate was around 22"-24".

workday (finally)

Slept in but I managed to keep a good working streak once I got on with it.

In order I:
-Read The Shell Collector by Anthony Doerr. It was quite good. One of my favorites of the non comic required reading. Created a beautiful sense of imagery using the senses beyond sight (the main character was blind).
-Finished painting for the allegory. They are okay. I should have done them better though.
-Drew sketchbook responses for the reading.
-Worked on allegory.

Still working on the last thing. It will be a long night, but I don't have to get up till 10.

The last episode of Mad Men was intense. My jaw dropped when Betty found the key. So unbelievably intense.

Nibbled lots of sunflower seeds. Ate two pasta dinner. Well two smaller portions. One with Alfredo, the other with tomato sauce.

One of my manifestos will come from David Lynch. I know that much.

Yesterday, at 2:17pm I realized that the office closes at 2:00pm. Have to wait till Monday to get my care package. Or Tuesday if they don't open before 11am.

read girl read

I had Katie wake me up at 10. So I wouldn't sleep through most of the morning and into the afternoon. It worked! Got up at 10:30. We ate breakfast (she made bacon and eggs and toast) and I introduced her to The Avengers. She was both awed and confused.

Last night I finished Doug Dorst's Alive in Necropolis. I bought it because I thought it would have tons of ghost action. In general, all the ghosts took a secondary plot it seemed. They didn't affect the town that much and the true climax of the book had nothing to do with them. Don't buy it if you want ghosts. The main character of Mike Mercer was well enough described, but everyone else fell fairly flat. It had some good moments but I wouldn't really recommend it any time soon.

I worked on my required reading for class. One of them printed at the tiniest font possible. I got about five pages in and then started to fall asleep.

Here are some awesome posters:

nothing at all

Shelly is indeed the waitress that remembers us. She has our orders down pretty good, but not our names. Soon though. Not as many fries as we are used to, but the burgers were great.

And then I wasted my Friday. Like I usually do. I have a care package that I have to wait till tomorrow to get. Mom says it has cookies in it. Talked to mom a little bit. Sorting out the Thanksgiving situation yeah.

good job Thursday crew

Left early to grab my pieces out of the locker and print out a photo. The printer didn't work (the Phaser is always breaking down or out of ink). We didn't look at the photos though, ran out of time.

Martin had to get to Seattle so the rest of class after the critique was cancelled. Just pure critique and new assignment.

The critiques went well all over. Mine went great. I put both the monotype and painting up and having both was met with high favor. It was suggested to scan them and play with balance between them (I made my "if you cross your eyes, it is the best piece ever" joke and got some laughs). The color pallet was complimented. The figures and the message was clear. No lack of voice. It was awesome. I was first up and could not have felt better. And the good critiques rolled on. Madeline's portrait was emotional and colorful and had wonderful touches. Kristen's horse and Beth's alpaca were colorful and meaningful. Danny had to leave so he didn't get a proper critique but his was lovely. Cassi B's had some nice pattern. Chase had a dynamic Mayan brawl scene. Everyone seemed to find a good sense of resoulution. Class ended on a wonderful note. The new assignment is Manifesto. Illustrate a manifesto (could also be a declaration from a song or poem or story). Tricky. Don't know where I'll start.

Played around on the net with Madeline. Talked to the library crew. Went to Safeway and treated myself to some ice cream for a job well done.

I then spent the rest of the day eating and watching TV. I made myself a penne and sauce lunch that ended up being twice as much food as I was expecting. Finished it off for dinner. So much food. So much television. End to another week. Goes fast, ya.

Self Portrait with Big Hair

Monotype self portrait.

drizzle

History of Laughter. We finished discussing and picking apart the Miller's Tale in ye olde english. Quite funny I must say, once you know what is going on in it. Talked with Bekka, Diana, and Rachel R about the water brush. Then we watched some Richard Pryor.

History of Printmaking. We talked about calling things printmaking. I was the first to bring up wanting to assign "printmaking" to work as a special term and that assigning it to something easy like a computer print out makes the term loose its special meaning. Looked at some more etchings. Started to drift off even though I had a full thermos of black tea in me (oh by the way, turns out I just left my thermos in the illustration room).

Diana and I went to Cha! Cha! Cha! for lunch again. I bought a burrito and ate a third of it. We went to Utrecht. I bought a sheet of paper for my illustration final. Diana bought a water brush.

Shared some of the chocolate Llyw got for me in Ireland. Well just shared a nibble with Robin and Daniel W. Rest of class was spent looking at prints in textbooks and talking about printing techniques and the development of them and which museums to go to.

After class I went to the print lab and light boxed my monotype onto my sheet of watercolor paper. Then from then till 6:15 I painted in the library. Ate another third of my burrito.

It was Fawn's birthday so she wasn't there to teach yoga, but a friend of hers was. A lot of stretching. My hamstrings were super tight and my right knee was as weak as it has ever been. I couldn't get up into lunges on my right side. It really sucked to be so bad at something I have done religiously for two years. But it gave me the energy to finish my piece.

Jon W got to the library at around 9ish and we chatted while I worked on my final touches. Left school at around 9:45. Should have spent more time painting but oh well. It is what it is. I wish I could combine the two images though. Each one has what the other is missing. Texture in one, character in the other.

Katie cooked a chicken and I ate a little bit of it. Made myself some tea then I TVed out. So You Think You Can Dance was AMAZING. So intense. They really want great and versatile dancers this season. Top 20 next week, can't wait. Glee reached a nice little turning point. I really want to stay up and watch some more but I should get some rest. BUT, but I only have the pre-lunch chunk of class to attend tomorrow so I don't have to be that alert. I'll watch a little bit of something.

Oh, on the way back from school yesterday I ran into Lindsay (first roommate, remember). I was going past PGE Park when I heard "Trillian Spencer!" and there she was. We talked a little till her bus arrived.

Night Beach Walker

Monotype print.

documentation smackdown

Ya like all the art I'm actually getting around to posting?

Fall has officially set in. Had to change my sweater layer that goes with my leather jacket. Went from light hoodie to thick Puma asymmetrical zip. Pretty good weight but now I need to dig out my gloves. The rain hasn't come yet, but any day now.

The first assignment in monotype was to mix up a brown and use it to create and image featuring a boat, a ladder, and a figure. Finished my little figure just in time for lunch. It was an okay image, nothing to write home about (even though that is exactly what I am doing now).

Lunch was a bagel with shmear in the library. Checked out a Philippe Halsman book. Bothered Madeline while she tried to read. Then I went and sat with Marshall and Kristen.

I decided to attempt the Trobriand piece in monotype anyway. I cleaned a huge plate, I bought a sharpie, and did the drawing on the back side to use as reference. It took me a long while to draw it. It was a lot more difficult to render the piece than I expected. I threw in some nice browns and all that, but in the end it printed a lot lighter than I expected. That is more of a pressure issue. It was hard to tell what it would look like. It got some favorable responses but in the end I am going to paint it. I'll get a new piece of paper, turn on the light box, trace the idea of it, and paint away. I'll probably just stick around at school tomorrow while I do it, just so I won't crinkle it with transportation. School week is at the halfway point already!

After class I documented all my monotypes. All of them. Some 20 pictures. Most are in the huge, unadjusted state right now. And are trapped on the school computer. So expect to see more of my printmaking in the coming weeks.

Returned home. Worked on the sketches for Bekka and mine's show. Got my four designs. Hurray!

Adam came over again. He's pretty much crashing here during his couple days in Portland. He brought chicken. Whoo. Now to go to bed, have to get up in 8 hours.

Fflur Dafydd Portrait

Monotype diptych. Portrait of Welsh author Flurr Dafydd.

workin' 11 to 8

Oof, I'm pooped. Eating a dessert of carrots and then I think I'll be off to bed.

Had a weird restless night sleep. Woke up early and it took me forever to settle down and accept that I had no further obligations.

Arrived pretty much on time. Daniella flew in from New York and brought us some Rugala from Zabar's. Delicious! We reviewed our sketches. Some had longer discussion that others. Nothing much to go into detail right now. Breaked perfectly for lunch.

Lost my appetite somehow during lunch and had to force myself to get through my sandwich through the day. Photocopied and wrote and printed out.

Rest of class was a work day. Teamed up with Rachel and Kristen and we discussed our stories. There was a verbal skirmish in the other room that I only heard half of (the loud half). We assisted Rachel in how to spice up her Rapunzel reimagining. Space 80's, flapper, hillbilly, etc. She did manage to settle on a few cool character designs. Not space 80's though.

At around 4:30, Daniella gave us a slideshow about allegory and showed us the first in Matthew Barney's Cremaster cycle. The one with the blimps. It was neat. I worked on painting my pieces. Hung around Youtubing it and wasting time till yoga.

My hamstrings are getting awesomely loose now. I can get my palms on the floor almost always by the end of class, and my downward facing dogs are boss. A good class. The healthier I am, the better it goes. Whoo! Miss Mona was in class, as was Esteban and Serenity and a girl I don't know. Small but good.

House was good. Lie to Me had Marc Blucas from Buffy. Who next, Juliet Landau? Actually that would be really cool. Adam hung out for a bit. Showed us some of his new awesome glasswork and had gifts. Had a volcano marble for Katie and a trilobite for me! It is so freaking cool.

Sketchbook Responses - 3

Sketchbook responses to Narrative Image's weekly reading. First three are for David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp. Last two are for Sorry? by some author I forget.

Ink, watercolor pencils, and ballpoint pen in Moleskin sketchbook.

Sketchbook Responses - 2 - Dame Darcy

Sketchbook responses to weekly reading for Narrative Image. These three are all for Dame Darcy's Gasoline.

Graphite, charcoal, watercolor, and marker in moleskin.

Sketchbook Responses - 1

Sketchbook responses to weekly reading for Narrative Image.

Watercolor pencil and ink done in a moleskin.

haberdashery!

It's 1am and I have to cover for three days of missed writing. Bleh.

Friday:
My suitcase ended up being a lot heavier than I expected. I also had to bring two Hammerpress posters with it (a Franz Ferdinand one that is to go to Caleb and one of Karen's Alphabet posters for Llyw). I shouldn't have brought so much art supplies. I knew I probably wouldn't use them. Sort of like a safety blanket. Those things add up.

My train seat mate was an adorable little lady named Tessla. She had a mighty snore but was otherwise sweet. Behind me was a Scottish student by the name of Rob. He was studying zoology at whatever college is located in Corvalis. He, myself, his seat mate, this sweet old couple across from him, and a knitter behind them, we all had a conversation. We came in at random times but it was a lot of fun. Talked about things to see in Seattle (Pike's Place and the Fremont Troll) and the correct pronunciations of places like Puyallup and Sequim.

Portland was gray when I left, but Seattle was beautiful. Caught the 71 effortlessly and got off at University and 43rd. Llyw left his place unlocked and I relaxed with Alive in Necropolis (I had finished my required reading on the train). We went to Shultzy's for dinner. I had a stout that I can't recall the name of (it was German) and a bacon Cheddar burger with fries. Talked about Ireland and digital graphics in televised sports.

Saturday:
Llyw is recovering from a cold, so we took it easy. I didn't think I would become sick again from his company though. Orange rolls for breakfast followed by a walk around the neighborhood. This box of stuff had been dumped in this park and I rifled through it a little bit. I found a beat up copy of Botany of Desire, so that was awesome. Played some Beatles Rock Band. I'm getting almost passable at the easy level on the guitar. Switched over to regular Rock Band. Watched some Glee and Peep Show. Hulu is the best. Dinner was Pho, but that came after a visit to the little opening celebration of the new Goorin Brother's hat shop. Llyw picked out an attractive herringbone cadet cap. Now if he only buys 7 more Goorin Brother's caps, he will get one for free.

Pho was delicious. Num num nums. We back and watched Cube, because the American Astronaut disk was scratched. I really wanted to watch that as well. Still, Cube was cool. Amazing what you can do with a single good set, a good script, and some creative film work. Very solid.

Sunday:
Breakfast was lunch and we had burgers from A Burger Place. I bagged up the leftovers to consume later on my train ride back to Portland. The 73 was late and we got to the International District at around 2:05. Train leaves at 2:20. It was a quick hop and step down the blocks and stairs but I got my seat assignment just fine. The guy who sat next to me was reading about Durer but he didn't seem all that interested in discussing it. So I just read my book.

I took the Green Line for the first time. It goes North to South through the West side, so no more walking through Old Town for me. I caught the Red Line to Goose Hollow from Pioneer Place. It was one of the new trains too, but it had really hideous colors inside. Like Dairy Queen. Putrid whites, poor lighting, way too much yellow. It didn't look that great.

Katie and Luke were hanging out. I took a little breather and unpacked and then it was straight to homework. Almost. Got a good rough draft and I'm working on my sketches. Not where I would like to be, homework wise, but I enjoyed taking some time away from school. That's all I've done for five years now. College college college college college. And I have two years left. College college.

big meanie, little thursday

Did I mention that Auntie Brynne sent me a little gift of skirts and tights? Well she did. I put on my black tights, my brown lace up boots, and my new short velvet blue skirt. It was very short. It was manageable to walk and trot in. Biking was tricky. But I managed. Felt like being fabulous. Natalie later confirmed I was fabulous.

The first batch of critiques was both harsh and good. Martin wants us to do our best and to get there he needs to be honest. My critique came at the end of class. Anyway, yeah. We reviewed our pieces for an hour and a half. Danny is doing Maori. Kristen is doing some horse tribe. Cassi and Chase are both doing some variation on Mayans. Madeline is doing uhh...something not quite Mayan. Beth is doing something to do with Alpacas. Luis is doing Mexico City youth subculture. Rachel is doing the Inu, I believe they are called. Samala is working with some Celtic imagery. And yeah, I think that is about it. Martin smiled as he commented on the thrashing he gave the other class. I think the German's have a word for that. Oh yeah. Schadenfreude.

I treated myself to Quizno's for lunch. Needed something serious to eat. Sat in the library with Kristen and looked at the Taschen book Cinema Now.

After lunch, Martin gave us a little shpeal on reference photos and for the next hour, a costume model came in and we took photos and had him pose and follow our directions. Our model was a little man with spandex and some bizarre things to wear in his tote. Like a unicorn costume. Uh... yeah. Still it was fun. Got some interesting photos, but I don't know how I will use this reference. Good to have a library of photos though. During his posing, the model consumed a banana. He stuck for a while in a stage with the huge wad of banana in his mouth. It was gross and too much for me to take and I had to turn away. I was teased and Martin joined in.

My stage two critique was: will my voice come through if I did a monotype? Why are you doing monotype? Are you attached to that medium? The cricket players are not that dynamic, there is a lot more you could have done with that concept. Probably will do the young married couple?

So my plan is to do the young Trobriand married couple. I will paint it, but use a very limited pallett. And then BAM right out of left field, I'll spend my time in monotype on Tuesday making the piece in that technique. Just to show how it would be. HA! It's time that I started figuring out how I will image make with this new medium anyway. Just playing around with it doesn't do anything for me.

I hung around after class and annoyed the remainders with my prattle. Danny and Kristen mainly. Just "look at this website" and "now look at this website" type stuff. Granted, they were cool sites. Eventually I got on my bike and went home. Harder going back in a skirt and than going to. Ate a pile of carrots and a bagel with shmear for dinner. Not the best but I keep forgetting to buy pasta sauce.

I packed Grandpa's suitcase with my hot boots, comfy shoes, and two changes of clothes. I am going up to Seattle for the weekend. Going to hang with Llyw, give him some Hammerpress posters, maybe watch a movie, probably play Rock Band, and overall have a relaxing time. I'll be back late afternoon/early evening on Sunday. See you guys then!

the (nose) runs

Woke up fine. Well no major cough or soreness. But my nose was drippy. I woke up at 5:20ish. Guess that is what happens when you go to bed at 9. Just sat in bed and read and went to shower at 6:30. Nose was still drippy. Super drippy. I left my toilet paper at home by accident and had to get through History of Laughter with just the paper from the bathroom. My nose is red and in horrible shape right now. Bleeh.

In class we finished the Galifianakis video and talked about it. Watched the Letterman confessional and we talked about the context. A lot of context.

Between classes I went to Safeway and dropped a twenty on antihistamine, ibuprofen, and tissue. It took forever to kick in, but from 1pm to right now I've been just barely snuffly. Booyah.

Printmaking was looking at artists' depictions of various Greek myths. Castiglione (or something) and the invention of stippling. Lots of Zeus and the ripple effect of him becoming that swan. It was fun. Important to recognize certain figures.

Ate half my delicious sandwich in the library. Had a small coughing fit that got a concerned look from this cute fella. I insured him I was fine and left to avoid leaving too many germs behind. Talked to Fawn, who showed me the ad she made with my black and white illustration. I'm getting a cool, hard Grant for my work for her. Booyah. I gave her the originals and all rights to use of them. I think that is fair.

Walked to Whole Foods with Daniel W. He cut his hand while working. It's got the cool dark stitches. Seems almost fitting considering his thesis is about Frankenstein. I'm starting to feel a little bit of warmth from my thesis creeping in. Finish my Junior year and then that's it. Sat on the loading docks and chatted to Sivonna. She is doing India for her illustration project.

Rest of printmaking was more of the same mythology. Our theme for our print collection has been locked down: pain & naked ladies. Because pain runs through most art through history, or naked ladies. Sometimes both or one causes the other. I think I'll do a silkscreen portrait of Nomi Malone from Showgirls.

Oh, I just remembered how to make that instant cinnamon toast spread. Cinnamon + sugar + shaking, put on toast. Mmmmm.

I missed a call at 11:06 (because I was in class) from the Goose Hollow front desk. They had my keys! Hurray! I rode home and collected them. I should make them a thank you card for being so helpful and following through like that. Maybe it would encourage them to do more of the same for other people.

Watched the Tuesday episode of So You Think You Can Dance. Nibbled on carrots (healthy eating!) and drank orange juice. Nibbled on pills to keep me not drippy.

Yoga was intense. A lot of hamstring work. I couldn't hold a lot of the lunges and my right foot started to cramp. It was rough, but it was probably better to do it than not do it. Keeping healthy. Exercise. Good eating habits. Lots of rest.

I finished my stage twos with so much time to spare. I'm still stuck between images, but I've figured out a composition a little more. Either a silk screen of Trobriand cricket players or a monotype of two Trobriand newlyweds (well they are holding the bowl of cooked yams that indicate they are wed). Finished it while watching the Wednesday episode of So You Think You Can Dance. I'm sad that the other Kasprzak brother got cut, but I see why. This new season is shaping up to be intense and awesome. Can't wait for top 20!

illness takes in

Woke up with a sore throat. Through the day it progressed into a slight cough, achey and warm body, and headaches. It was hard to focus during printmaking but I still managed some things. Played with color. The day just sort of scooted along in a haze.

Ate some microwave noodles. I'm now getting sick of them. Listened to this mix tape that Chris Peeler made me before I left for college.

Not much else to report. I'll be going to bed soon. Get lots of rest. Let my body recover and heal.

The fire alarm went off last night at 3am. It sucked.

Went to Safeway after school. Got meat and a brick of cheese. Bread and bagels. Orange juice.

I don't want to get sicker.

dialects, covered up and not

James Marsters was on Lie To Me! And the latest episode of House featured Ramachandran's mirrorbox to aid the pain felt by people with phantom limbs. Way cool! Heroes wasn't good. But now Sylar's back. Yay.

Ate oatmeal for dinner. Not very filling. Need to get food. Actual food. Next time I visit home, I should bring my big suitcase and fill it up with food.

Yoga went quick. Lot of hip openers. Light on some of the lunges. Went pretty well. Fawn loved my illustrations. On Wednesday we will sort out the moneys. I agreed to do it before she mentioned she would pay me, hehe. I don't know what a good rate would be for two little illustrations. But she does have all the rights to them and can use them however she wants. That's something.

Allegory allegory. We have to write a 4-10 page allegorical story. I was thinking about swimming and how when it is gray, you can't tell when water becomes sky. Dunno what it would mean. We did some exercises and then I got a headache. And OH CRAP I TOTALLY FORGOT TO UPLOAD MY IMAGES, crud. I scanned them in and everything. I just got caught up with making sure the yoga stuff was 300dpi that I forgot to put the images on homeroom. Damnit. I'll see if I can get them up tomorrow. Email Daniella about it.

Fflur Dafydd came into class today. She is one of five visiting writers. If you couldn't tell, she is Welsh. She had a beautiful accent. She talked about her first English novel, Twenty Thousand Saints, and how it is rewritten from Welsh but when she was translating it she decided to change characters around and all that. It sounded very interesting and almost familiar. She even sang us a few songs and played a guitar as well. Very lovely Welsh lady.

Critique went better than I expected. Had some comments about layout, but that was about it. Some real nice comics were made. Nice rendering and etc etc.

I wore my new boots. Got some oos and aahhs from some of the gals. Fawn told me that sometimes stores on 23rd give their excess to William Temple House, and that is why sometimes you find great finds there. But I don't think these are at all new. Boots and my sparkly shirt. Thought I would get the week off to a fashionable start. I'm trying to wear the things I don't commonly wear. Break the tee shirt + sweater + jeans + Chucks/Romeos rhythm I got going. Clothes clothes clothes.

Yoga Illustration for Fawn - 2 of 2

Commissioned illustration for Fawn Williams, Yoga Instructor.

Roughly 6"x4". Ink on top of graphite sketch with watercolor added for value. Used a photo of Fawn for reference.

Yoga Illustration for Fawn - 1 of 2

Commissioned illustration for Fawn Williams, Yoga Instructor.

Roughly 6"x4". Ink on top of graphite sketch. Used a photo of Fawn for reference.

sunday day

2am and right on Sunday night schedule.

Got up. Lounged around. Katie informed me she was sick sick sick. When I was close to her, I felt ill, but when I stepped away I got better. Proximity induced hypochondria. Thankfully she left.

I drew two illustrations for Fawn. Two yoga ones. One was black and white, and the other had some color. Based after some reference pictures of her. They ended up really good. I'll scan and post them tomorrow. Promise!

After a wee while I got around to my comic. Got it finished. It ended up looking rushed, even though it wasn't. It really needs a wash of some sort, but I didn't want to add a wash because I might screenprint a few copies for the family. But now it looks incomplete. Some of the stuff feels like it is hard to separate. Anyway, yeah. Doesn't look like much. Oh well.

Watched Strange Days. A Kathryn Bigelow directed film. Very intense but awesome. Mace was one badass chick. Some good action there. Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett are cool.

Productive day but not my best work.

Ran out of food again. Need to get pasta sauce. And toast.

This is a cool website for movie posters: www.wrongsideoftheart.com

pizza, hot wings, and movie. the life.

I'm starting to think these long weekends are not such a good idea. It's impossible to just get the drive to pick up the pencil. Once I get the drawing in my lap, I just get started and I'm off. Just have to get to that point. Thankfully, I have enough to do tomorrow that I won't doddle. Have the Yoga ad to do (did I mention that was paid?) and the comic (just black and white, moreso just big and not detailed) and the ever present response. Tuesday? Nothing. Wednesday? Also nothing. Thursday? Phase two. So between now and the end of the week, just one major homework piece to work on. The work load is good right now.

Jay came over for a late afternoon hang out. We split halvsies on pizza and hot wings from Bellagio's and put Science of Sleep into my computer and chilled out. It was fun. Even though she was allergic, Jay really liked Luna. Lots of purrs. From the cat. She left for homework.

And then suddenly it was time to go to bed.

let's get some shoes

Yaaawn. Woke up at noon. Mmm. Beautiful day. Oatmeal. Book reading.

Katie and I are about two visits away from being able to order "the usual" at Leaky Roof. All we need to learn is the servers name. We are pretty sure it is Shelly. When we ordered, she remarked about it being a rerun. We also have our regular booth. Five buck lunch that is very filling. I only munched on bread a little for dinner.

Afterwards we walked up to William Temple House. Katie is doing the Halloween rounds and is collecting materials to make her costume. WTH is a thrift store with slightly more variety than Goodwill. I want to be a Red Shirt but I don't quite know. I can wait a little longer. At WTH I found a pair of very hot leather boots. I've been eyeing similar styles for years but never found a pair that I liked. They fit and were not tight. I just whipped my foot onto the counter to show them the price and wore them out of the store.

On the way to Goodwill some people said they were art students and were hungry and asked us for change. We said we were also art students and couldn't spare any ourselves. Afterwards we thought of other things we should have said. Like "Oh what school do you go to?" and "Yeah we are actual art students". But the last one would have been too rude. Still, this isn't the first time someone has said they are an art student and begged for money.

Wandered back home and just hung around. The Internet went down so I watched Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (FAQ About Time Travel for short). It was quite clever and the characters were charming. It was short, but I couldn't imagine it having more story that wouldn't be excess. The Internet went down and up and down and up and down. In 30 second breaks and sometimes minutes. Not fun.

I think Issmi was performing tonight and I just realized I totally missed it. Dang! Need to support Robin, Natalie, and the dude that is in the band.

without your golden parachute

It was one of those mornings where at first you have 20 minutes and then you have 2. Still I got to school right on time.

The whole class was devoted to working on the three portraits. We met Martin in private for our first stage reviews. I almost preferred it like that. Just solid critique and direction. My first Warhol was black and white only, my second was marker, and my third was watercolor. I had to buy a bristol pad for the assignment, and since they had one in stock, I treated myself to a water brush. It's a brush with a plastic handle that you squeeze and makes the brush wet. No dipping into water. Better for painting on the go.

Everyone in the class had really top notch portraits. Only two people doubled over with their subject choice (Beth and Cassie both picked Sylvia Plath). I peeked at the other classes pile. I was the only one to pick Warhol from both classes. Danny's Noguchi was brilliant. Madeline's Kafka was endearing. I think Danny said it best when he remarked how all this assignment proves is just to do a lot of work. 5 hours and we produced three wonderful portraits. The day before? Nada.

My meeting with Martin went well. He complimented the amount of thought that I had about the Trobriander imagery. The Amish didn't really apply, but that's okay. I like the Trobriander imagery.

Finished the other half of my burrito for lunch. Talked to the Robopocalypse crew a little bit (well the remaining PNCA members).

After class I went to Trader Joe's to pick up some microwave meals for next week. I forgot my thermos in my bike cup holder. I didn't notice it was gone till I got home. Oh well. It came from Ikea, not like I was really attached to it. Now I have to do the mug + hot water from school's dispenser + tea thing, if I want pep anyway. Adding thermos to Christmas/Birthday list. It's not too early to think about it? Naaah.

Had to wait to be let in by some hapless stranger. Didn't have to wait all that long. Some AI kids let me in. Had some udon and egg for dinner. The Internet went down so Katie and I watched Showgirls. That movie is weird. All the dialogue is bizarre, the character interaction doesn't make sense, the dancing is so jerky, and through no matter what ever girl had a full cake of makeup on. It was fun but weird. The net was back when it was done.

nap in lap, what a sap!

Uhg bleg. Another late night. Thankfully I get out of bed in 8 hours instead of 5.

History of Laughter: we talked about how to read Chaucer in Olde English. Watched a little stand up segment of Zach Galifinakis. Looked at one of the MFA's installations. She had it specially set up as by invite only. And only women were allowed in the room to view the installation. Which was a compilation of Youtube videos of women laughing.

We gave our little performances about Durer's The Sea Monster. We had to write something creatively that analyzed the piece. I went first with my short rhyme about a man with a shell with a belle under a spell and towers that over power dour flowers. Eva wrote a song and performed with her piano. Antonia had a great myth about Lazlo. Robin's longer poem about sea merchants was nice. Daniel had a short play about being glad your wife was taken by a sea monster. It was fun.

Diana and I went to Cha Cha Cha for lunch. I ate half my burrito and that burrito half will be consumed tomorrow for lunch. We both were so happy to find that neither of us liked Lost in Translation. We spent some time naming directors and trying to think of other female directors. Ones that are actually good. Ravenous was directed by a lady, there is Mary Harron, and Kathryn Bigelow. I'm sure it is the type of thing that we don't realize there are so many female directors as we don't pay attention to directors of movies we are seeing for reasons other than the director.

Rest of class covered the art of Durer's contemporaries. I started to nod off. I didn't have any tea in me. I never fully fell asleep but I nodded and nodded. I felt bad about it because I really love this class. Afterwards I took a nap in the library. A two hour nap. I woke up disoriented and really confused and rambled to some poor guy about having to go somewhere. I was almost out of the library when I finally got it together and knew that it was 5:30 and yoga wasn't for a while.

I checked out Aesterios Polyp and read a few more chapters.

I didn't have as great as focus for this yoga session. I do feel my strength returning though. I'm getting better and more bendy. We did the grab-each-other's-ankles thing again.

I got home. Ate some pasta. Wrote out some stuff about Trobrianders, Amish Youth Subculture, and Yanomami. I settled on the Amish and the Trobrianders and created some thumbnails. Actually, several of the ideas and concepts I am digging. Which ever way it goes, I think I'll have fun. I'm coming to class with research and I am ready to go.

quick as

I'm behind in this essay, so I am going to make this quick.

My bike was safe in the printlab.

It was cold. We went to Froelick Gallery to check out Tom's show. Only five of us went, the rest chickened out and stayed dry.

Ate my last noodle box. I like the Pad Thai flavor the best. Chatted with Kristen and Madeline during lunch. Whoo!

Monotype was a disappointment today. We were introduced to color but I didn't know what to do (and later thought up how I should have done it). Not satisfied with what I did. Oh well.

Slacked around for far too long when I got back. Finished my short rhyme thing about the painting. Writing about comedy now. I don't want to get up in just 6 hours. Boo!

the long haul (up the stairs)

Bike was safe from 11 to 8:20. Tomorrow will be the printmaking room test. I think it should be fine. I won't be leaving the studio really.

Narrative image. First hour and a half was a critique of our thumbnails for our comic pages. It was nice how many people really loosely took the concept of sequential narrative. Natalie (not Nathalie) and Kristen both had no border between word and image. Rachel and Amanda had very solid borders. I decided to go with four vingettes concerning the aquirment of our Christmas trees. Dad and I getting a tree from the property, Dad and I sneaking one from a conservatory area, and going to Kunie's. Also a few panels of me thinking about Mum and Dad getting one on their own. It should be neat.

Lunch was a Pad Thai microwaveable noodle box from Trader Joe's. My favorite thus far (favorite of two). Crunchy mysterious things delicious noodles, good sauce. Lots of sodium but I don't give a bibble about that.

Finished up the critique and then it was time to meet Dame Darcy! I've liked her work since I was 16 (haven't actively pursued it but I always like seeing it around, it's very distinct). She gave us a pretty known already rundown of the history of art and icons. Talked about her own work. The thing that was really important was about how to get published, finding an agent, and all that. All the lectures really boil down to "work hard for a decade promoting yourself, get success in your 30's." I'm cool with that. Work hard and get good at your passion. She signed my copy of Gasoline even. It wasn't a meet and greet, so much as a little lecture. Hopefully she will return to school. She lives in Portland so she isn't all that far away.

After the break we discussed panels and gutters and transitions and things I've already learned three times over. Still, good to keep learning.

I read the reading assignment during the wait for yoga. Well I read it, and then I read three more chapters. We are reading a chunk out of Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. It has a beautiful ease about it. Pure art in every panel. Mum. Buy it, read it, and give it to me for Christmas!

Yoga was full of delightful people. At least 8 other members. One girl looked like Vampire Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. During one balance pose, where you hold onto your toe and stick your leg out, we grabbed each others ankles with our free hand and formed one long awesome chain. So cool. After class, Fawn asked if I wanted to design an ad for her. Is it to be placed in the back of a comic for this thing coming up. I said yes before she even mentioned she would pay me. I'll check out the specs tomorrow and get right on it (it needs to be drawn before the week is out, but I'm not all that worried).

Went to Safeway to buy some girly things that a girl needs sometime. And a box of mini Charleston Chews. I only got to enjoy half of it. It fell when I was riding my bike and became a victim of the pavement. This is like, the worst thing ever! Boo!

Getting the bike down the stairs was considerably simpler when I set my bags at the bottom and devoted all my energy and limbs to hoisting the thing. It rained a little during my return, but it was a nice break from the random 80 degree days.

Watched House, Lie To Me, and Heroes. In that order. Sketched some ideas for tomorrow's monotype. I have two concepts I am digging. House was a pretty good follow up to the season premier. Lie To Me was neat. Robert Knepper is the only reason Heroes is keeping my interest (oh and Sylar, he is always fun to watch).

posters: part three

Bleh.

More sleep.

More reading.

More nothing.

My back tire has been creaking. I need to loosen the brake pads. Dangnabbit.

Not sure what I want to do for my graphic chapter. I don't like to do comics about myself.

Here are some more movie posters.

lists

Well, today was a waste. Three day weekends are lame for productivity.
Slept in.
Read a little of Gasoline.
Resorted my back issues of Esquire so that they were once again in chronological order.
Watched some TV.
Miranda came over and she and Katie worked on a photo album for Tom.
Went to the store and bought dish soap, detergent, laundry soap, Febreeze, and udon. Why do cleaning supplies cost so much?
Wore my red loose printed shirt that Celia gave me oh so many years ago.

Tomorrow must dos:
Finish chapters of Gasoline and respond to them in writing and in art.
Edit my memoir.
Pick part of memoir to turn into comic.
Create sketches for said comic.

Tomorrow maybe dos:
Research more Anthropology.
Start writing for History of Laughter.
Start writing for History of Printmaking.
Think about monotype.