achoo

These are some Wolf Suschitzky photos that I dig. Some filler content.

Now that it is getting cold, staying in a warm bed is such the better option.

Low food stock. Went to Trader Joe's. Got seaweed snacks, Mac n Cheese, milk, salad, apples, bread, juice, candy cane joe joe's....I love them seaweed snacks. I should try wrapping it around rice.

Oh, speaking of Trader Joe's: news just broke that it is coming to Silverdale! It will occupy the old Circuit City. It doesn't have the construction permit yet. That will be excellent! No more Fred Meyers or Ralph's Red Apple. Cheaper, better, slightly Communist(because they pretty much only have their brand, so if you want four cheese sauce, you either get it or you don't) groceries for all! So great.

The new season of Misfits started. Excellent first episode. Glad that the character Nathan, who ended up being immortal, got hauled out of the coffin he was accidentally put in when they thought he died in the last season. Hehehh. Community was funny. Fringe was okay. It is building to something great though.

Had some mac and cheese. And salad. And tea. My teeth are feeling better.

Not the most active day. Tomorrow I'll do some stuff. I don't like drawing portraits straight from photographs. Yoga. Return some books. Or renew them. Yeah probably renew.

Put up my Christmas list on the right side of this here blog. Sweaters and socks and a camera with more than three megapixels.

I have the snuffles. Boo. Need to stay warm. Think I'll get into bed and read.

vanity, it ain't so bad

Ohh I've had so much sodium and carbohydrates today. Totally going to gnaw on vegetables tomorrow. And fruit.

Got up at 9, like some sort of miracle. And had a nice relaxing start. Except I rushed my makeup and the eyeshadow slid off in like an hour. It always comes off one eye. I think I need a primer or something. What's the point of going to the effort, if it just comes off? I wonder if it is connected to my occasionally watery eye that happens when I ride to school. It's annoying. I don't know what irks it. But yeah, establishing a base to show off my efforts. I went from nice bronze shadowed eyes to a minimal look during lunch (simple fix, just rubbed the eyeshadow off). But I had my lipstick in my bag, so I threw that on. Makeup is fun, when it works.

Anyway, enough about makeup.

Animation had a lecture about modern animation that utilizes loops and spot animation instead of animating whole chunks. We studied some Astro Boy and Ren & Stimpy. I had no idea that Ren and Stimpy were supposed to be a cat and a chihuahua. Heh. Helped Dom with his crossword. Had a corn dog and some potato wedges and sprite for lunch (didn't feel like my usual burrito). After lunch we did some more in AfterEffects. We learned how to animate a bouncing ball and to change the frame rate in motion paths and the scale and flex of certain things. Slipped on a pool of water in the commons during break. Just landed lightly on my knee. Bleh. We looked at our lip syncs. Mine looked really small compared, but I think it was the only one that was rendered to proper scale. That is: mine was two megabytes in file size and everyone elses was about 150. For 3-6 seconds of animation. Yeah.

Our final assignment is an animation of our choosing. Naturally we are to use the techniques we have learned in class. I'll probably do something hand drawn with the peg bar. I was thinking maybe doing a mock makeup tutorial or something. I think it would be fun and humorous. One half my advice, one half my failure (a few weeks ago I jabbed my eye with a makeup brush). Needs some more thinking about, but basically the parameters are "fun". Maybe make a little looping track in garage band.

We got out early. I wandered around. Got some Pellegrino and Smart Puffs and sunflower seeds. Went on the internet. In Advanced Illustration it was portfolio review and "look up inspiration for mailers" time. For Print Only (http://www.underconsideration.com/fpo/) is a really cool site that showcases some spectacular print design. I think I'll work with folding some more...hmmn.

Oh, also during lunch I picked up a small wire bound sketchbook and a new (not yet exploded) .01 micron pen. I intend to fill it up entirely with portraits (it's only 24 pages). And once it is full, I'll turn it into a poster. Amazingly, from the first drawing at 6pm, to the last at around 11 pm in Yur's, I amassed ten portraits! And good ones too. I mean, they should be good...I'm doing my thesis on them. I did Beth, Cotey, Madeline, Karen, Dom, Jon, Mel, James J., Diana, and Kristen. I'm really happy with Kristen and Jon's. Dom also drew me in my sketchbook. Pretty cool stuff.

So yeah, we went to Yur's. As usual. I had one beer. Dom, Jon, Karen, Kristen, Mel, Jim, James J. Leo, and Danny were all there. Some stayed longer or were in other booths. Kristen accidentally dropped her umbrella behind the booth, and when Dom was helping fish it out, he found a plastic bag full of beauty samples! There were little toner samples, moisturizer, cleanser, and so much more. Karen thought it as gross, but since they are still sealed and no sign of tamper is evident, we kept them (we meaning Kristen and I, and Mel grabbed a handful as well). Score! I pitched in on some fries, James got some tots. A nice lady came over to see my drawings and said how good I was and when I said I was working on a portrait project, she said "good you should do this for your work!". It was nice encouragement and also that she talked to me out of a table of about six artists. I also pointed out what everyone else was doing. James and Dom were collaborating, as was Karen and Kristen.

Walked home with Kristen. Now I'm just chilling out. Literally. It is cold. It isn't supposed to go above 55 for a while. Have my heavier blanket though, and everything is snug. I'll just finish watching Terriers and then tuck in to bed. I'm cutting down on some of my regular internet haunts, and it has opened up a lot of free time. And by free time I mean "reasonable sleeping hours". I need to be more proactive in getting up and getting on with things.

booyah

My new alarm works. It works really well. Had a slow start, but the morning was very successful. Had scrambled eggs with the last of my onion and some hash browns and tea. Delicious. Then I got to filling out the rest of my writing. I went down to the basement storage and hauled out my sweaters and coats and long johns and an extra blanket. Didn't really intensely go through my clothes, I'll do that over the next five days. Showered, dressed, and went to school to scan. I put on my white heeled pointy boots. My power boots. For confidence. Scanning and dropping the images into my slide show didn't take all that long. Chatted to Jon and Mel and Dom a bit.

In class I volunteered to go first. My reading directly from an essay presentation ran about eight minutes. My main critique was that I went too fast. I need to get on that poster that gives a feeling of the thesis, because right now I don't have any solid images that give the feeling of the poster. The sketches for the project part are not how I want to do it all. But Martin said my flow and articulation was good. I need to figure out my slide pacing a little bit. I think the process explanation could be improved. But right now I am in an excellent place to be with two weeks to practice. Need to get to note cards. Need to get that poster.

I think I've done more on my animation than was due. And nothing is due in Professional Practices! I think it might be an early night or something. Whaaaat. Who is on top of it? I'M ON TOP OF IT!

Also Karen's Davy Crockett poster looks great.

We were unable to get through everyone's slide shows. Jon's had font issues, but it was good. He is doing a sort of fantasy horror journal from the 19th century. Nicole's ran 20 minutes. Jennifer's was pretty solid last week, it was just more improved this week. Dom has changed his thesis up totally. Which is good, because all he wants to do is draw and he should do that. Jeff is doing propaganda poster design. Chase needs more artwork in his, because he has an amazing portfolio of concept design. Sivonna's is tidying up nicely. She is doing character product design. Think Hello Kitty but with a one eyed owl from space instead. Leo is doing fear of technology. Looks good. I totally hijacked Tyler Stout as a style influence from him. Hhahah. Anyway. Kevin is doing a thesis about a sort of religious perception about what it means to be a man. Something like that.

I also think I need to talk more about mantra. I have a lot of talk about free posters. Not enough about what they are about. I'll do a video practice some time.

But yeah, I feel really good. In a good place. Hopefully this feeling lasts.

Yoga was smaller than usual. Got home, realized that I left my wallet behind. Rode back and it was in my studio. Rode back and on the way home there was a GORGEOUS 57 Chevy Belair. It was a thing of beauty. Shiny. Great looking condition. Some day...some day I will have one. It is a good goal to work to. I'll learn manual! (I don't even care if they are good cars to drive).

Back home, I watched Raising Hope and Glee. Well, I watched them on my computer. Kristen was asleep on the couch and Tabitha was doing something on her laptop in the kitchen. So didn't feel like watching the television. Great episode of Glee. And Raising Hope.

I can't believe it is 11:26. I have nothing due that I'm aware of. I probably won't be dead tired, like I usually am, tomorrow!

slide show doodles 3

Sketches for my thesis slide show.

Sharpie and micron.

slide show doodles 2

Sketches for my thesis slide show.

Sharpie and micron.

slide show doodles 1

Sketches for my thesis slide show.

Sharpie and micron.

muffins!

Feeling tired, so I think I might take the "read a chapter of Packing for Mars and go to bed early route" instead of staying up. I was pretty productive last time I woke early on a Tuesday.

Had some oatmeal and tea. Watched Bored to Death. Traded my alarm for one that worked at Ace Hardware. Now it reads time like it ought, and doesn't count forward in five minute intervals. It was cold and went and I was under warmed. Thankfully I have a coat in my studio for such under prepared occasions.

Dropped a DVD off in the library and went to the computer lab to work on my animation. The lip sync actually went pretty well. I think there might have been a way of doing it without having 28 layers of images, but I didn't know it. Then I wasn't sure what was due, so I exported all the frames as images, and traced over the outlines of the key images, and copy and pasted them into the sync of the animation and put that to the bit of Somewhere Over the Rainbow that I had to do. This is easily summed up, but it took a long long time to do for just four seconds worth of animation. But I'm happy with it. I'd like to show you but the video has the song in it, and the song is copywritten...yeah. I'll export a version without the song.

My stomach gurgling for food, I bid adieu to my illustration buddies and went home. Finished my leftovers, gnawed on some salami, ate an apple. Watched House and Lie to Me and worked on drawings to be put into my slide show. Little cartoons and title text. Gotta scan and color those in tomorrow. Also have to work on the proposal writing stuff. Feeling weirdly tired though, so I think sleep is the best option right now.

Oh, Tabitha brought over some great pumpkin chocolate chip muffins that her mother made. They are FANTASTIC! And the perfect thing to consume because my teeth are tender from all the sugar. Once agan.

sytycdaaaannnce

Daylight savings time! Now we get more sunlight. Gets dark at 7 instead of 6. Whoo!

Woke up at 8am for some reason, but I guess that was actually 9pm. Got up. Ate a scramble and drank some tea and watched some stuff. Worked on writing. Showered. I'm cruising through the bullet points pretty good. I don't have the links between themes yet or corresponding slides, but it is coming along. Just gotta get the language and length down. It is at about four minutes right now (the thesis part). It needs to be double that, but I'm not done writing and polishing. I have three weeks to polish. But there is a lot of grime to get through.

Anyway, ma and pa visited Sylvia out in Beaverton and then hopped on the max and streetcar back to my neighborhood. I wrote for a bit more and then got dolled up for the show. We walked down to the max stop at the train station and hopped the green to the hotel. Dropped stuff off, grabbed some good at Burgerville. Yum! I don't eat a lot of burgers.

At 6:30 we walked the couple cold blocks down to Rose Garden Arena. There wasn't a standing line like the last time we saw So You Think You Can Dance. A half minute in a queue and we were in.

Even though we were a bit back, the seats were still good. We were on a more slanted section, so no chance of a blocked view. Also the seats were comfy this time. Speaking of time, it passed quickly and the show started before we knew it!! This tour show had less of the filler chatter and was dance dance dance all the way through! There were some jokes and stuff, but overall it was the routines we love and full of great dancers who were very fit. I hooted and cheered for Kent and Robert. They did my favorite routine (and moms). All in all, a fantastic time! Ma got me some cotton candy and then had to tell me to stop eating it because I was getting hyped up on it. It was a great night that totally took me away from the worries and stress of thesis. And it was nice to see the parents, especially as I might not be able to make it home for Turkey Day.

We walked back to the hotel, I watched a minute of Walking Dead on their cable. I love the show, but it wasn't a good part to turn to. Said our goodbyes, and I grabbed a cab that was waiting outside. Didn't feel like trekking from China Town to Nob Hill on a Sunday night.

Got back. Put on my jammies. Watched Walking Dead. Watched Boardwalk Empire. Have Dexter and Bored to Death waiting to be watched. Sunday is the main night, there isn't much television throughout the week (House, Lie to Me, Glee, Raising Hope, Community, Fringe, Terriers...yeah think that is it). I think I'll have some tea and watch Dexter and tuck in for the night.

Tomorrow I am going to school to work on dubbing in AfterEffects. Oh joy. Should swing by Ace Hardware and exchange my clock on the way there. What else do I have to do? Thesis slide show...animation...have a reading I have to do. I don't think there is anything in Advanced Illustration that is due. But yeah, when I'm done with animation (or when I get too mad to work) I'll come back and slide show it up. I don't feel rushed though. I've made good progress and need to keep fluid about it. Verbal practice and question asking and answering will fill it out as well.

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).

grrr mad, but whoo party

Blogging now, because I'm going out later and don't know when I'll be back.

Set my alarm, but this magical 9:30am alarm never seems to register because I woke up, looked at the clock at 11:12 and went "CRAP!" and bounded out of bed. Showered, ate some toast. Then I was off to see the Animation Show of Shows at Cinema 21. A free showing of animation.

It was cold, but I had my mobius scarf. The animations were AMAZING. The show itself was put on by an animation producer, Ron Diamond, who travels the world and puts together a great "best of" animation roll. I didn't catch the name of a lot of the shorts, but there were some brilliant ones. One was narrated by Tim Minchin, I enjoyed that one. "Angry Man" was disturbing, sad, and so complex in its all together. There was stop motion meets Kent Williams piece that had my jaw dropped through it. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. A lot of the shorts were like that. So unusual and beautiful. Pure art.

Then it was over and the Brothers Quay short was cut. Boo.

Went back. Ate some scramble (eggs and ground beef). Chilled. Went down to get a drink for the party. Gotta bring something for the hosts, and I'm not feeling up to cooking something (seeing as how the brownies are a bit stiff). Then I went to the computer lab. And realized I had left my guide at home. Again. What a dummie. And again I tried to go it without. I struggled for a long time, getting more and more pissed off. I should have just gone home, and gone back. But by the time I realized THAT I was too mad to be much more productive. I'm not a fan of technology. It just wouldn't do what I needed it to, and it pissed me right off.

So I went home. I'm behind on my sacred list. A better Trillian would take a breather and not go out and resume work. However I am not a better Trillian and really want to have a fun night. So I'm going to do that. And Sunday and Monday will be work days. Be at school. All days. In the lab. Working. Listening to stuff. Slide show, animation, computer printing, drawing.

spray and wait

In Oregon, you have to sign a form and get your drivers licence number written down before you can buy spray paint. And they keep it locked up. I just needed some black to spray my nerf. I accidentally said "I need it to spray some stuff for Halloween!" and when I realised what what I just said implied, I was quick to ad that it was for nerf. And since I got the kind that adheres to plastic, I think the guy could tell I was telling the truth.

I left my yoga clothes at home, but my jeans were stretchy enough for all the yin yoga. I went to the computer lab and struggled with AfterEffects. I had totally forgotten the instruction and I had left my instruction book at home. Tomorrow I will coop up in the lab and animate until I have to get ready for the party. I did finish my portfolio mailer instead. And it looks much better. So Sunday is all thesis day, as I don't have to worry about portfolio.

Went home. Went to Trader Joe's. Got some butter, eggs, lettuce, apples, frozen gnocchi and Gorgonzola (I'm lazy), beef, and flavored fluids. Came back. Mark and Kristen worked on their Harry Potter (Mark didn't want to be Arthur Dent anymore, BOOO!!) and Katy Perry costumes. I made brownies that didn't turn out. And spray painted my nerf! It took a while because each side needed about 15 minutes. Sprayed it about five times. Once on each side, and once again to tidy it up. Will probably spray it some more tomorrow. On the last time I accidentally locked myself out of the apartment (I was spraying it on a brown paper bag in the courtyard) and had to knock on the window to get let back in. Hahah. But the gun looks great and my costume is FINISHED! I'm so excited.

Now I'm just staying up looking at awesome movie posters.

I love my new comfy sweater.

Tomorrow I have obligations at noon, so that keeps my sleep schedule respectable! And with that done, I should be ready to work on stuff. Just go to school and animate and all that.

Since we don't pay an electric bill, we can have a space heater running all day. Wheee. Cozy apartment. It keeps everything a lot warmer than the rattly system in the building.

formaldehyde face

Thursday: designated bunking off from responsibilities day.

Ate my oatmeal (need to make another Trader Joe's trip). Watched They Live for costume prep. Went to William Temple House for costume finishing. Picked up a shirt that works better than the one Karen is loaning me, as well as a tank, two belts, and a super comfy gray BDG hoodie. Always something good at William Temple. No glasses though. So we walked to Goodwill. No sunglasses there either! We shared some Skinnidip frozen yogurt because neither of us have had it. I got about four brain freezes. Then we went to Walgreen's. They had some "close enough, can't be bothered to look around more" glasses. It's weird, the shirt I got is XXL but it fits pretty well. Maybe it is designed to be tight, so someone like me who favors loose shirts would buy it larger.

It was misty rainy. Went back home. Did laundry. Ate a tuna sandwich. Watched a hilarious episode of Community. And made a four day work list. It isn't so bad, so long as I keep to it. And there is plenty of room for "chilling out".

Put on my costume bits. It is looking good. Just need to spray paint the gun and I am ready to kick some 1988 butt at BT, Karen, and Phil's shindig. All the cool kids are going, sure to be a riot.

Friday. Go to Trader Joes. Go to Ace Hardware and get spray paint. Paint gun. Yoga. Animation. I don't know how much animation I will do, but I will get a start on it.

Saturday. Go to the special animation showing at Cinema 21. Some of the shorts may be up for Oscars. Finish up animation. Halloween PAAARTTYYY!

Sunday. Work on the portfolio (get it finished, shouldn't take long). Work on slide show (eek should take a while, I'll bring my audiobooks with me, almost finished with The Strain). Work on the write up for my thesis. The page or so about it.

Monday. Print my portfolio. Double sided. Tricky. Work on slide show. Work on pieces for advanced illustration.

Tuesday. Turn in stuff. Work on advanced illustration some more.

Wednesday. Turn in animation. Relax. Turn in piece and portfolio. Relax some fore.

Thursday. Do nothing. As it will be Thursday again, before I even know it.

had some fun, still have to do the work

Another school week draws to a close. And another five days need to be strategically planned.

But first, animation! I got a good night sleep and was not exhausted through the day. Go me. No tea either. We had an After Effects demo for the first chunk. I accidentally got my cursor changed into a different function and that set me back. I got the animation sorted, but I'm not a fan of the program.

Got me some Quizno's for lunch, and then chatted with Samala and April. It is so weird not knowing AT ALL what the other class is doing. Unless we talk to them.

Back in class was a sound lecture. I'm not so enthused about sound. I'm not a good listener. Also our next assignment was handed out. I'm a little confused about it, but I'll track down the assignment sheet. Manipulating frames or something or other. After break, it was critique time! There were some really cool things. Tippi was phenomenal. We saw mostly all of everyones, so I kinda forget a lot of it. Class ended.

Break time! Went to the class room. Sketched. Scanned. In class it was the portfolio review by three non-PNCA editor type people. We set up the portfolios and chilled for a bit. We broke up into three groups, and the three reviewers would swap. Kristen, Beth, Karen, Madeline and I were one group. Karen had a brand table set up, Beth had a print out, Madeline had a nice binder with inserts, and Kristen had a plastic portfolio with inserts. And I had my fold out.

From the review I learned that I still need to do a book type portfolio. For meetings the folder just isn't professional. I need to edit and make it more cohesive. They liked the format and all three agreed that it would be a more exciting thing to receive in the mail. So I know how I'll edit it. Mostly cutting out a bunch of stuff, and making some things larger. Might edit the gratuitous self portraits (there are more than enough, but that is me being silly and I should be professional). Sucks that I'll have to do a book after spending this much time on the fold out, but hey! I have the mailer already finished.

They loved Madeline's, as they should. They were a little baffled but encouraging about Karen's. Beth and Kristen's got some organization comments but they tended to like them. All in all, pretty good. Class ran late.

Dom, Karen, Josh, Janessa, and myself went to Yur's for a beer. I spaced out while Karen and Dom talked about Star Wars and tattoos. Went home. Can't be bothered to come up with proper lists. Animation something something, slide show, finish up portfolio, Halloween costume finishing touches, uhhmmm that other thing?

fda agent sketches

sketches for an illustration for an article about an FDA agent dude.

viva terry!

''

Just a little promotion for my buddy Terry. He is pretty rad.

love love love raising hope

Woke up, woke up with good time to spare. Forgot to hit the snooze once and then lost all that good spare time I had built up. Dang. Oh well.

Showered, put a hat over my hair, dashed out the door one layer too little, grabbed the spare blazer in my studio, and went to student council. The yoga intensive was tabled. I got some free food. And then meandered about for two hours waiting for the print lab to open up. It was crowded and the print lady (JP left) looked frazzled. I got some paper that I may not end up needing.

It was cold but not so rainy.

For the first half of class Martin talked more about client negotiations and what is to be expected for next week. It is slide show time. It is getting the focus week presentation together time. HOLY CRAP IT IS GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER. And I don't vlog, I should vlog more. But not now. My hair looks gross.

Anyway, during break I went and printed my portfolio for the review. I bought some of the paper they had on hand in the lab, but I accidentally put one sheet in backwards, so it didn't print as nice. But it is just for review. It isn't the final portfolio. For that, I'll spend a little more time and intention. Martin dug it. We talked a little more one on one. Things are good in my mind. He hasn't expressed any concerns. I just need to make brilliant art.

Class ended and I dropped my stuff off at the studios. Chatted with a snuffly Karen. Then yoga! Lots of leg stretches and stuff. Then some balance. Class wasn't as jam packed as last week. It even got out a little early, so I powered back home and caught Glee! That episode had a lot of hype, so the part I was unfamiliar with (Meat Loaf cameo!!) gave me the most excitement. Still, good episode. Those this season doesn't have much plot to progress. Kinda spent it all in the first one. Then two back to back episodes of Raising Hope! I love this show so much. I laughed heartily.

Now I'll do some sketching and get to bed at a reasonable hour. I'm tired of being dead all Wednesday long.

cabinet of curiosities

For most people, being done by midnight would be sort of a late night, but for me it is perfect! I can get up, go to school, and have a comfortable amount of time to do all my stuff (in theory). No worries. I'm so freaking set for things! Yeah!

I even accidentally slept in. I was awake at 10, even got out of bed to get a glass of water. And then I got back in bed...yeah. This non twin bed will be my undoing. Three years of just decent sleeping has been replaced by near perfect sleep. Yeah.

Had my standard four parter breakfast. I almost have the timing down perfectly. Turn on the kettle, put the bread in the toaster but don't put push the lever down just yet. Fry up the bacon. Beat the eggs while the bacon is cooking. The water should come to a boil some time, so make tea. When the bacon is almost done, toast the bread. Remove bacon and drain the fat. Scramble eggs. Put eggs next to bacon. Toast should pop up. Butter toast, put next to bacon and eggs. Remove tea bag. Enjoy and be sated for a long while.

Now I am out of bacon. And eggs. Blah.

I drew the cover for my portfolio, it could use some perfecting but it works as a better place holder for now. Wrote up the text as well, but I ended up not using it. Partly because Georgia worked fine once I tweaked it (unclear what the type Georgia looks like? Well it is what I use for my blog. I love it). But I didn't have time to scan it all in before the Print Portfolio meeting.

Every year the print department puts together a print portfolio. It is open to anyone who has (or is enrolled in) done a level 300 printmaking course, or honorary invitees like Lacey who makes beautiful reductive woodblock prints. Anyway, this year I decided to take part. The meeting was for size and theme. It was decided to be 10"x10". You can get six prints out of one sheet of standard printmaking paper, which is good when it comes to buying enough paper to do an edition of, say, 45. The theme was whittled down from cabinet of curiosities, aquatic life, chronology, body parts, and botany to cabinet of curiosities. A pretty good theme, really open to interpretation. Exciting!

Oh did I mention the rain? Yeah, I got nice and wet on the way down to school and not a minute later when I emerged from the studio, where I stowed my bike, it had stopped. Drat!

Anyway, meeting over I googled how to get from PNCA to Madeline's. Luckily the 77 stop was close. So I got on that, transferred to the 12 on Sandy. It was raining again and I got nice and wet while getting my umbrella out. Boo. I prematurely hit the stop button and apologized to the bus driver for jumping the gun. It had stopped raining for the walk to Madeline's. Last Movie Monday I went to, I was in shorts and my leg was gnarly from hitting the pavement, and it was sunny on my way there. This time it was dark, and cold, and three layers were not enough. Madeline made me a quesedilla. I wasn't expecting to arrive on time, but I did.

The movie was Aliens, which is a great action film. I nibbled on M&Ms and kicked back and enjoyed the film on her amazing television. Great great movie. Dried off. Madeline gave me a lift back to school (where my bike was). I also asked if it would be all right if I Trick or Treated with her on Sunday, and she said YES! Whoo! Yay for friends with younger siblings.

I scanned the portfolio stuff in, and dropped it into InDesign. Printed it out. Liked how it looked. Adjusted a couple things. Liked it even better. Left the library at 11:40. Talked to Jon at the front desk. Went home. Whoo! Done!

Tomorrow I'll go to student council, so that means getting out of the house before 1pm. This will make Wednesday a little easier because I'll probably be tired enough to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Whoo! These five days went by fast. Probably because I did something each day, instead of doing a lot of nothing. I need to list what needs to be finished for my costume. Glasses and spraypaint the Nerf for sure.

portfolioeeooeeoo

Daydreaming in the morning is my favorite hobby. I can doze for such a long time, just thinking. It is really nice. But then I have to get up and get on with it.

It rained pretty much solid all through the day. I miss the pitter patter of it on a roof, but it does make a nice sound on the courtyard outside. During my next free five days, I must swap out my wardrobe. It would only be a days chore. Need to get out my rain pants. And my winter coats. Bah. So yeah, I got waterlogged going to and from school. Thankfully the commute is half as long as it once was, maybe even 1/3's as long.

The heating system in my apartment is scary. It rattles throughout the whole place. More of a shudder really. I'm not used to it yet, so when it comes on it disturbs me for a few seconds before I place what the noise is. It also plunks.

Went to school around fourish. Documented my shirt packaging (which is now pretty mangled, it really wasn't built for longevity) and shirt. Went to the illustration computer lab and resized and reconfigured my portfolio. I got there realizing how much work I was actually missing that needed inputting into the portfolio. Background textures mostly. Need to do another 11x17 print out to see how it looks. But it is almost there I think. It looks a little informal though...and it feels very repetitive. Oh well.

Worked for hours, and my tummy got really rumbly. At 8:20 I packed it in, slogged through the rain to Chipotle (feeling lazy) slogged back. Packed up and rode home. Pants were pretty darn soaked. Bleh. Thankfully my apartment keeps warm and I have sweaters aplenty laying about. I'll have more once I swap out my wardrobe. Made a list of what I need to do for the next couple days. Right now I have to decide between relaxing for the next couple hours and being really productive tomorrow, or being sort of productive right now and sort of productive tomorrow morning. I want to finish up my portfolio design before the print meeting. It just needs stuff put into it at this point, so I need to make what needs to be put into it. Will it take an hour? Three? Hmmm.

Well, that is all I'll write for tonight. Time to watch Boardwalk Empire.

that that is is that that is not is not is that it it is

Oops looks like I forgot to update last night.

Friday:

Slept in. Way in. Crawled slowly out of bed. Just did the morning thing, killing time till yoga. Yoga came. It was only three people and Fawn, but it was some good stretches. Lots of peaceful structured breathing. Afterwards I talked to Cherish a bit. Went back to my apartment. Had the last of my breaded cod and salad. Then I remembered that there would be food at the illustration party. Darn. Oh well. Got dressed up slightly nicer. Put on my white boots and headed out to Martin's Studio. There was a show up of the teacher's work. Martin, Annie, Chad, Kurt, Ryan Bubnis, Zachary something something, and the others. There was soda pop and wine and seniors and juniors and freshmen. The latter two I barely recognized any out of. It was a little awkward. Lots of small group chit chat. I chatted with Kristin and Ryan and this kid Evan and Dom and Tippi and Martin and Chad and Annie. Lots of people. It was fun. I stuck around till 8:30 and went home. Then I was like "crap it is 9pm on a Friday night, I should go do something" but then I didn't. Staaayed in.

Saturday:

Animation day! Well, animation night. Anyway, got up a little earlier. Had my usual huge breakfast. Eat a big breakfast, and your metabolism gets started on a high note!

Puttered around till 5:30. Still need to tidy my room up. It is getting really crazy. Well not REALLY but it needs some tidiness in its life.

It was starting to rain when I left. I got to the lab to find the room locked (obviously, they wouldn't leave equipment that free to students, especially when there are not good cameras) so I went to grab my animating supplies. Got some tape, plexi, ink, put some mineral spirits in tupperware, and brushes. TJ had come by security and got it unlocked by the time I returned. Hurrah! I taped down my plexiglass, and got to work.

I did four failed starts (or was it just three?) before my final one. TJ also did a lot of play with moving sand about under the light. I did a face, but the movement was not fluid at all. I did another face and it was also not fluid, though it had some nice bits. Then I just started playing with abstract line, and that turned out pretty good. I did the animation and then thought about what it was conveying, and I came up with decay. I could have animated the different parts for a lot longer, but the textural quality I dug. Pretty happy with it. It is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Clean up was intensive. Wiped everything down with mineral spirits. Got lots of black smudges all over the place, and I rested my arm in the ink more than once. Still, it looks cleans. And TJ's animation is looking good.

It was quite wet when I emerged. Lots of rain. But I also saw the notice that the theme meeting for the print portfolio is on Monday at 5:15! I should so be there and get in on that. I'll get so much awesome art if I participate.

Went home. Tabitha and Kristen were preparing to go out on the town. They were all sparkly and stuff. They also called a cab to get to the club across town. Pretty smart, seeing as how the weather still sucked. Daring girls to go out with no sweaters.

What did I say I had to do tomorrow? Oh yeah portfolio work day. Go to school, work in InDesign, document my shirt. Monday is print portfolio meeting day and then movie night. Before that, maybe print my portfolio out, so I'll be pretty much set for Wednesday night. Well, still need to do thumbnails for the Bear Deluxe assignment. And maybe an illustration for the fold out for my portfolio. And stuff. But that can be done on Monday, because if it folds out again, that won't require any extra design....the other sides are what need the design. And I'll do that tomorrow. Yeah!

decay

animation - decay from Trillian Spencer on Vimeo.

deer tick: their tee shirts had poor designs

My ears are ringing. Whoo. Anyway, slept in. Way way in.

Had my usual huge breakfast of toast, eggs, bacon, and tea. That is the way to go, don't you know? So I had that, watched some stuff, put up my feet.

Tabitha came over for her and Kristen's usual Thursday Thesis day. Tabitha got signed with a modeling/acting agency! And something else as well, but yeah! She is all signed and stuff! How cool is that? Hopefully she gets cast into Leverage and then I'll have an excuse to watch that show that films in Portland and calls in Boston and holds me up in traffic with their filming from time to time.

Norman Klein was giving a lecture about the history of the moving image. So I went to school for that. Got some books from the library and sat with Cotey and Tippi. It was a good lecture and he was much more accessible to listen to than to read. It was a little too short and he couldn't quite delve the depths of his content.

Went home. Ate some pasta. Watched Community. Mel called me and said she had an extra free ticket to see Deer Tick at Crystal Ballroom. I'm not familiar with Deer Tick at all, but a free show is a free show, so I changed and put on some makeup and scooted out the door. Biked past Harmony and Peter and said hello. Parked outside Mel's place and off we strutted.

We arrived during the first act, so I treated her to a beer in thanks for the invitation and we chatted about stuff in the little balcony area. Second act was good enough. Lots of shaggy long hair and plaid. We moved down to the floor and got closer to the front of the stage. It wasn't crowded, but it wasn't empty either. I draped my coat on a side bar thing, and kept it in sight.

Deer Tick was fantastic! No idea who they were. Sort of folk, sort of rock. The singers had great voices and the songs were well varied. There were two guitarist, a pianist who was also able to play the sax and the lead singer/guitarist could also play the piano. There was also a drummer and bassist. And most of them were very cute! And very talented. I bopped and moved and whipped my hair about. I'm close to finding a signature Trillian dance move, even if I dance like a dork. There were two tall gingers that hit on Mel, which is totally barking up the wrong tree in more way than one. Neither hit on me, so that was fortunate, I guess? Anyway. It was lovely. Lots of variety in music. We departed during the last song to avoid the crowd. Got home at 1am.

Whee! Tomorrow is yoga and then illustration party. Whoo whooo!

b is for broadside, and breakthrough

In Yur's, talking with Karen and Dom about the immense struggle that is thesis, I had a format breakthrough, and it was this: it isn't the zine that is attracting me, but the act of unfolding a piece of art work. There is something about interacting with art in that way that really makes me go "whoo!" It stirs something in my thought process, much in the same way that the knowledge I'll be silk screening something makes me look at the art I'll be doing in a different way. So a broadside is a type of large printed poster that is used to proclaim something. It is a nice format that is getting use in stuff lately. I need to do more research, but this falls in line with that massive comic I did two years ago, but also speaks to the small printed projects I've been doing. But it is a poster, and posters command authority. And on the OTHER SIDE I will print something that is more image centric. So it will fold out and one side will be a large image poster and the other will be more text, with image. Or something.

But this format has got me excited. I think I might have backed off from doing a poster because it will be so close on Karen's posters. But it will be totally different materials and use of the format. But that is getting ahead of myself.

A breakthrough. I had one! AWESOME! Now I need to take another wave of research.

But back to the start of the day. Horrible night sleep. Woke up at 8am, and pondered getting up, enjoying a breakfast with several cups of tea. But then I managed to fall asleep and then I got up at 10am and rushed and grabbed a pop tart and left. Yeah.

We watched some Caroline Leaf animations. Beyond talented lady. For lunch I had a corn dog and some nibbles of potato wedges. I mostly sat in the studio and tried to stay awake. Bleh. Loaned TJ my PVA glue. Back in class we split and critiqued. Mine went well enough. Tippi and Emily's were insanely spectacular though. Tippi went to town with cut outs from Vogue pattern catalogs and old home and gardens, and Emily made tea bags shuffle like no other. Really good stuff.

We took a break. Came back. Finished the Hedgehog stuff. Got our next assignment, which is animating painted movements. Like pushing a malleable material around and animating that. Sand, clay, paint...there are a lot of options. I think I'm going to hijack some monoprint ink. Cherish gave me some plexiglass so booyah. It is a big thing of plexi, but I have it. For some purpose now. Whooo!

After class, I worked on my portfolio a little bit and the portfolio assessment. I went and printed it out on just the standard 11x17 copier/printer in the library. Returned. Class started. Our next assignment is actually from real art directors! And if they like our work, we might get legitimately printed in Bear Deluxe, Park City Magazine, or some doggie blood donation thing that I don't really care about because I'm going for the article in Bear Deluxe that has to do with this FDA official. Karen is doing the doggie thing because she gets to do some wiener dog art. Dom is also doing FDA. Competition!

Anyway, break time. I got some Safeway Sushi and Pellegrino sparkly water. Then we came back and critiqued portfolios for an hour and a half. That went well. And then class was over.

Karen and I went to Yur's and girl talked about stuff. I had a soda. Dom joined us and we thesis talked. Then we left Yur's. I went home. And now I am home.

Tomorrow there is a lecture at school that should be about something, then Friday there is yoga and an illustration party. Saturday I booked time in the animation lab. I booked time later in the evening, but I'll probably show up at like 4. All well fed and ready to work till I am done. Sunday is open. Monday is Madeline's movie night. Aliens! Then Tuesday comes around again.

Have to finalize my portfolio, so Sunday will probably be a "I'm going to school to work on my portfolio and won't leave till it is printable" day. But yeah, have the next five days pretty squared away, which is nice. I'll be productive, instead of lame, but there is ample time to kick back.

tumbling along

Joined Tumblr. Because I can. It is image sharing and stuff. I'm at: trilltrillian.tumblr.com It won't be art specific, just images I like and all that. Yup.

I was about to have oatmeal and tea for breakfast, and then I remembered I could have three slices of bacon, three eggs scrambled, tea, and two slices of toast. So I had that. It was so filling and good and I ate at the right time, that I was sated for most of the day. Hurrah!

Went to school in nervous, but high, spirits. For the first hour Martin gave us the run down of our next phase. Basically the next phase is working on getting the slide show together to present at the end of November/early December so that we can propose. This is in part nailing down the blurb, and figuring out inspirations, and ordering it, and all this stuff. It is a lot of stuff. And this is it pretty much. We need to start deciding. Then it was optional one on one meetings. I opted to meet with Martin. I wanted mostly to talk about how to connect the depth and the art. He encouraged me that, when it comes to talking about the thesis, to start with the meaning and message and then go into the medium. "I wish to reflect the dynamics and intricacies of friendships through non precious posters and zines" as opposed to "through non precious zines and blah blah blah". Keep it in the front. Also we talked about how best to example my art, and the idea that zines might be a bit low rent (my words) for how brilliant (Martin's words) some of my work is, and can be. Martin encouraged me to work large, like posters and tabloid format. It might be a better direction, because then that opens up wheat pasting and public dissemination, instead of personal distribution. I could still do zines, but larger work commands more authority. It was a really good conversation, and Martin's enthusiasm for the quality of my work brings me up.

He has been a very good encouraging teacher these past three years. Do I want him for thesis mentor? I don't know. Maybe. Way back when, somewhere in my blog, there is a recording of our first meeting and initial impressions. Over time there is some documentation of whatever teacher/student relationship has formed. And this holds true for pretty much everyone I've met in college. Teachers, students, MFAs, alumni, and so on. It is all here and can be tracked. Chronicling things keeps me in a more positive mind about people, because if I am going to interact, I might want to report, and I want to report something good. Obviously I can't like everyone, and just because you are not here doesn't mean I don't like you. But I want to like you and talk about how much I like you. I want to promote positivity the best I can, because it helps me be positive. But some people just grind my gears. But my thesis isn't about gear grinding.

Yeah.

After class I went and got a 4GB USB stick for thirteen bucks. What a deal! Can't find my other one. Not lost, just misplaced. Talked to Daniel Williams and Heather. Someone wrote up an "I saw you" about Daniel, trying to fish for a coffee date or something. It was silly how nice they thought he looked. Daniel is nice, but also isn't nice. In his own Daniel way. Not an insult. He is a self admitted ass.

Yoga was full of people. 15 may not seem like a lot, but when everyone has to lay out on a mat, it gets full. Good stretching. Good posing. Good yoga.

Went back home. Chilled. Snacked. Joined Tumblr. Now to do some homework and then get to sleep. Or try to get to sleep. Stupid one day a week I HAVE to be out of bed before noon.

monday blues

Picking at my skin. Argh. The ocean salt scrub is still keeping it really nice, save for the occasional breakout every couple weeks.

Another lack luster day. I really fail at productivity. I continue to fail at it. Who thought part time was a good idea?

I need more tasks. I need to assign myself stuff. Get to the ideas that I have, because I have them.

Oatmeal. Left overs. Yum. Didn't tidy. Didn't organize. I'm having clutter Stockholm syndrome.

Watched my telly. Talked with Kristen. I need to make a list of research points and the ideas that I want to connect my art to. It just doesn't seem as complex as it should be. Like...it needs more. My thesis I mean. I'm not in the depths enough and the project isn't so intense. Martin did suggest posters. Expanding is an option. I like hitting it on multiple fronts.

If only people didn't keep bring up how awesome the Odd Owl poster is. It's like "you did really good, so keep doing that" and I know I did, but honestly I didn't plan the design out too intensely. It was luck that the feather on the leg lined up in a blank area of text, and I knew for contrasts sake that one layer should be fine lines and the other thick. You just can't replicate certain kinds of thought.

I just need to read some literature on the ideas I want to go on. Ideas of friendship, and why women can be so evil and bring other women down, especially friends. I still love my friends. A whole bunch. But friends can also be worse than enemies. Or something.

I dunno. See what Martin says tomorrow.

poor faye

I woke up to a text message sent from someone I don't know. It was an image of the figure I have on my keychain in the bark of a tree. I got this keychain from Japan. It is a keychain from the show Oh! Mikey, and the figure is Mikey. Anyway, I didn't recognize the number. All I knew is that someone who has my number has my Mikey and sent me a picture of it. Quite the mystery.

So I had some poptarts and some water and got to wasting my day, like usual. I glanced at stuff I needed to get done, but I didn't do it.

Took out the trash. Popped some fish in the oven for a late lunch.

I later found out that Mark and Kristen had found Mikey and it was Mark's number that had sent me the image. I got my Mikey back. I need to superglue it to its fastener. This isn't the first time he has come off.

I decided that, instead of watching it like I usually do, I would catch the Mad Men season finale at Gypsy, which is a bar one block away. I arrived and had a drink and sat in the corner. I moved to a table when it came on and during the commercial breaks I chatted with a ginger and a well suited man (who won a costume contest that I missed). I ordered another drink and some dinner and put my feet up and enjoyed the heck out of the Mad Men finale. It was good. Not as gasp inducing as the previous episodes have been, but it was good. The people filed out when it was over and the well dressed costume winner came over and asked to buy me a drink, and I said sure. So we stuck around through the encore and talked. His name is Christian. At midnight we were kicked out so we migrated to Coffee Time and talked some more. A really nice fellow I must say.

Anyway, as it was Sunday Coffee Time closed at 1am. I gave him my number and called it a night. I hope he calls. There was that other fella I was seeing but there wasn't a spark and so that didn't really develop. You know how it is.

A really good night. Made a new contact, watched a show with some people, ate some good sushi (bar sushi was better than sushi place sushi, though not better than Origami Sushi).

Tomorrow I shall crack open a book or something.

hamburger helped

Rolled out of bed. Made myself some delicious bacon and eggs and tea for breakfast. Watched Terriers.

Went down to school and hung out with Karen for a bit. Girl talked. Went down to Chipotle for lunch, but I didn't order anything. After that I did my animation for class. I'm on top of it! No rush or worry or having to find a station to work on later in the week. Hurrah!

So I got to animating my rings and watch. In terms of objects that represent me, these mementos do a pretty good job of it. I kept pretty solid to the drawn increments that were part of the assignment. Which helped keep the speed the different rings rotated at constant. I dig it. Listened to The Strain some more. Onto the 7th disc, out of I think 11. Sweet!

Went back home. Went to Trader Joe's. Got some beef. Did the dishes. Made Hamburger Helper. I was curious and wanted to try it out as I never had it growing up. It wasn't anything too special but it made for a filling dinner. I wanted to make brownie mix as well but we are out of butter. I'm real healthy tonight. Ha.

Got caught up on QI. I really want to watch Vanishing Point.

I should have gone out and done something. Decided against going to Matt's birthday. Ho humm.

Time to eat an apple and crack open Packing for Mars. Space travel is interesting but it is spending a lot of time on psychology and gravity. I just want to know how they poop in space!

family mementos

Family Mementos from Trillian Spencer on Vimeo.

making some plans

Uhm today. Yeah. Another lazy day. Went to school for yoga but found it cancelled. Boo! Oh well.

Took a walk to Fred Meyer. Half way through The Strain now. Got some hot dogs and bacon and eggs and other stuff. It was a brisk walk, but refreshing.

Loafed about a lot.

God I'm really bad at productivity.

This whole "no assignments this week, just think about stuff okay?" thing...no good.

Maybe I'll get off my duff tomorrow and go down to school and animate. Would give me an excuse to listen to more audiobook. That would be swell. Need to think of how to make my animation assignment a self portrait. OHHH! I could highlight and animate my trademark jewelry. The symbols of the connections to my family. The watch from dad, the ring from auntie, ring from great grandma, ring from cousin. Yeah! Hmmm. Ideas are good.

Tomorrow night is Matt G's birthday. That might be something to do.

Looking forward to bacon and eggs for breakfast tomorrow. Eat that! Go animate! Feel good about stuff. Yeah.

Also need to document my teeshirt.

kitsap grrlz

Mom is in Hawaii! I want to go to Hawaii! Not fair.

Anyway. Thursday. Designated recovery day. Slept in. Ate some gnocchi and Gorgonzola from Trader Joe's. Caught up on Fringe. Season 3 is awesome! All odd numbered episodes take place in the alternate universe where Olivia from our universe is brainwashed to think she is that Olivia. Even numbered episodes have the evil Olivia infiltrating in our world. It is awesome. The episodes have the standard fringe science arc but the added mystery of the two Olivias. It is great.

Community was excellent. Hilarious. The actor who plays Troy has fantastic timing.

Kristen is getting almost better. She washed dishes and I dried. I tied up my room a smidge.

Didn't do much but I have a good idea for what I want to do for my animation. I should get on that in the next couple days, just so I don't rush it and get all stressed.

Oh yeah yoga tomorrow! Gotta remember that. I had to forsake yoga on Tuesday for animation. There was no way to do both and have reasonable time left.

Amazing how I was all "yeah join a gym!" two weeks ago. Where did that enthusiasm go?

I want to go somewhere warm. There is a gap in my window that lets in a perma draft.

survival!

Don't know why I'm still up but okay, here goes.

Got up. Got to school. Had to scan and print. Realized I forgot what I had to print at home. Dang.

Anouck gave a lecture and we watched some Frank Mouris films. Our next assignment is a found object self portrait. Don't quite know what I'll do for it, but I'll figure something out.

Got my picture from home and scanned it and grabbed some Chipotle. It was delicious. Kelly and I had a good conversation about eating a burrito with a fork to protect the integrity of the tortilla and how just shoving it in your mouth destroys the form. Yeah. Back in class we broke to critique. After sleeping on it, my mermaid animation turned out well. The stress was messing with my mind I guess. Yeah. After critique was break. TJ and I chatted about food preparation. Back in class we looked at the first half of Hedgehog in the Fog using our scene breaks downs to analyze it. Even pouring over the film shot by shot, it was still amazing to watch. After that we did a group reading of sorts. Like, we all read the same paragraphs and then talked in groups and then presented the core ideas. It was one of those heavy worded things. Then the writer got on some tangent about how good public transit makes poor people even poorer. It was an interview so it had a lot of ideas, but was light on details.

With class over, I gathered up my package design and headed to the computer lab to work on my portfolio. It actually got thrown together pretty well. I'm forming a good base to start from. Karen and I giggled and joked while waiting for class to start. In class we glanced at our projects. Not really a formal critique again (which I like, because at this point it is sort of too late). They liked my shirt. Kristen gave us a lecture on how to face problems when we get stuck in art making, and then gave us an InDesign demo and then it was work time. And I got some good progress! Have some stuff to do by next week, including getting the better print resolution files into the file.

I chilled with Karen in the studios afterward and then at 10pm we went to Yur's for a quick drink and girl talk. The design cronies were there, as were some print people. Jim joined us later on. I just had one drink, kept it casual. At 12:30 I biked home. Whoo weekend! Need to do better about getting a jump on things. But first I think I need to tidy apartment. My room looks like a disaster area.

the stony silence that stops hearts

24 hours! Homestretch!

I lagged in the morning but I ended up just having the perfect amount of time to get everything done and not be rushed. Got to school at 11:45am ish with thermos, pop tart, and apple in hand. Scanned stuff. Photoshopped stuff for about an hour. Listened to The Strain. Gave Dom some feedback on his album sleeve. Got seven photoshops for my "thesis mood display" thing. Not like...composition...just images that give a feeling of the thesis. And stuff. Yeah. Went to Utrecht. Bought a sheet of chipboard. Cut it down. Got to my studio and realized I should have bought two sheets of chipboard. Didn't have time to get another sheet, so I just cut up the back of a used sketchpad. Perfect! Glued my boards together so they made a nice little display set. Wrote out my thesis statement on the back of one of them. And got to class.

All through class hung the air of tension and terror. When Martin is serious, you can feel it. The joking stops, and things get serious and silent. Iskra and Martin are quite the pair. Both are very adept at shoving the blade right into your heart through the ribs. They don't waste time making veal; locking us in cages and feeding us milk while we grow fat and weak and tasty. One person didn't do the board correct (it was really far off from correct) and Martin just told him he was unprepared and should take it down. Naturally I volunteered to go first. I got a pretty good review I felt. The main question was cohesiveness of style.

What also came up:

-playing to my strengths (they were not keen on the ink wash images)

-being as considerate of type as I was of people (Iskra called some of my text "embryonic")

-"I can say that because I know she can draw really well" (Martin in regards to a gasp uttered when he was not in favor of some of my drawings)

-being really conscious of how lines and things depict emotions and stuff

-more comments about my handwriting placement not being up to stuff

After class I asked Iskra for some advice on how to improve the emotional quality of large blocks of text. Normally when I do letting I spend hours doing 6 letters. Doing paragraphs is something else entirely. Tips were to consider negative space and what goes on beyond just the shapes, to study comic artists who do hand lettering, to write with a tool I love, to think of it as texture when it comes to image composition, and other stuff. It was good feedback. Just need to develop my message a bit. This week nothing is due. But I want to practice lettering and read some self help. Need to nail this fish to the wall while it is still flopping, if you get what I mean.

Beth did well. Nice rough sketches. She is responding to dance movements and stuff.

Nicole's idea has changed to some cool mirror stuff.

Kevin's idea isn't about faith anymore. It is about masculine art, but doesn't look at all like my definition of masculine art (but it did have a gun in one of the paintings).

Sivonna had some nice pattern and stuff. She is working on a story that ties into a product line. Quite cool.

Jennifer is making some paper dolls about the female figure and stuff.

Jon's civil war monster survival journal "mood" images were insanely awesome and emotive. Loved them.

Dom's stuff was good. He is doing a guide to urban explorers. Like a how to guide to making books and brewing beer and just hands on stuff he has learned over his life time. Cool stuff.

Leo's images were brilliant. Not much could be said. He was quite clear and knew his direction. Iskra made a point about how saying "like" makes you sound really noncommittal it brings down your whole presentation.

Madeline had some lovely concept work for her children's story. I think that will be beautiful. She is a Corel Painter master.

Jeff had some awesome poster stuff.

I think that is everyone...yeah. It was a good critique day. Very direct, very quiet. We did stick up for one another a bit. Interjecting a "well do you mean this and not this, because the wording is..." and so on.

After that I went to animate. It looks alright. The movement is really jerky. I think I went too small with the paper puppet. Oh well.

Stopped by Safeway to get Kristen some cold medicine. Poor girly is really sick.

Watched Raising Hope. Worked on homework and watched Glee. Great episode! Worked on more homework. Going to finish up homework and drink sleepy time.

thesis mood images - 2

Quick photoshopped "mood" images for my thesis. Rough, informal concepts that give a feeling.