Just got home about half an hour ago. Really long day. But it didn't feel like a long day, actually I feel great. I am on top of things and working hard. Still, spending thirteen hours at school? That makes for a very long Friday.
The day started with rain. At first I thought "dang" but then I remembered I have my rad rain pants and so the journey wasn't that bad.
My comic lit class, the conversation is mostly dominated by one guy. He knows what he is talking about and is really into comics but doesn't let up for the other people that often. We talked about McCloud and I spoke up a couple times. During the break I talked to Trevor (the teacher) about the imagination creating horror and how that makes it that much more effective when utilized in films (instead of just showing all the gore). Then we watched a video about the history of superheroes, as we won't be studying any superheroes this time around. Cool, if a little cheesy, video. Didn't know how much went on during the ages of superheroes. Wow!
Then during my hour break I completed a print. It ended up pretty cool; it was a blue black print on the paper and that works a great deal better than the warmer bone black ink. I could have done a second but I didn't want to rush it so I checked my email and went off to work.
I keep thinking I am forgetting to do something at work because I always finish up my tasks super early. I sweep, I scrub the bathrooms, I check the paper towel and toilet paper levels, I change out the trash...I must be missing something? Anyway, it gave me time to read Crooked Little Vein. Yeah, Ellis should stick to graphic novels. It isn't that bad but it isn't this magnificent feat of a novel. It is almost funny but not quite. I'll see how it finishes.
Then I spent an hour and a half in the print lab. I had to replace the blanket in the press and the pressure was off so my first print was a little light. The second was much better but still a little wonky. The blue black ink is giving me issues...or maybe my hands are really oily. But anyway, I am ahead on my printing so that is really cool. I only needed one proof for next week and now I have four (three blue, one brown). Well...one of them is light so it is more like three. But still, three. I am on top of things! Yeah!
Jim also called me and set me up to be part of a focus group. So that is cool. Jim works calling people and asking if they want to be in focus groups. It is paid as well, booyah!
After printing and the focus group call I headed off to movie night. It has been moved down to just one movie now and they are actually good movies. Tonight’s was Basquait. It was really sad and the lack of music seemed to detract a little from the film but overall it was very touching and I wanted to cry at more than one point. And you can't go wrong with David Bowie.
After the movie Jack and I went to Urban Grind and I grabbed flavored steamed milk and we chatted for a while before departing each others company.
I rode home, made myself some spaghetti and sauce, and now I am kicking back to watch Lost.
I left at 7:45am and returned at 9:20 pm.
hi
Friday, February 8, 2008
fear & frustration
Today was...difficult. I did the assignment for Modou somewhat wrong. The first part was right but I didn't know the second part also had to be done on the same sized paper so I have to redo that. I do not like doing assignments wrong when I attend class and pay full attention. Not at all. He is also not above saying what he thinks, calling you out, and humiliating you in front of the class. I wasn't outright humiliated but it still wasn't fun being told I was wrong. He said worse things to other people ("You came late so this is no good.") but I'm still distressed about it.
We did still lifes and then we were told to find the animals in the things we had been drawing. I saw a scorpion/whale/platypus/anteater all in the same teakettle. And Ibanez and a camel in this fancy silver teapot. I forgot how to draw most of those with any sense of realism so really only the chubby platypus turned out. Modou liked them so I guess I passed.
I walked Lindsay to work and swung by Powell's to pick up The Time Traveler’s Wife. Yay for having lots of copies and a few on super sale.
Didn't spend much time at home. Ate Trader Joe's cheese puff and watched the new Lost episode online. Pretty good start, interested in seeing more. Very mysterious with the Charlie and parachuting person stuff.
I met with Lennie about studying abroad. Belgium does not have a summer program so I am going to make Pont-Aven in France my main focus. It seems cool. We had a great meeting concerning my options. Yeah I'm rather pissed at PNCA. They seemed to punish me for registering early by adding a first unit of Illustration to this semester. I will be here for three years but my last year I will probably be part time. Right now I am looking at studying abroad in Belgium at Hogeschool Sint-Lukas for a semester in my Junior year. This is something I have to think about now so I am not leaving it to the last minute. Like I am doing with France.
After the meeting I quickly wrote up my still life sum up for painting, grabbed a bite to eat, and hobbled off to class. Well not so much hobble as shove my way through the throng of smokers.
The final touch on my still life was to add a background but the wash looked horrible so I am not so keen on it. I think it looked best three-fourth of the way complete. Oh well. Happens. Sat between Jen and Karen and we had a fun old time in the back row singing songs and exchanging words.
The weather was just horrible enough that Lindsay and I couldn't be bothered to leave the apartment for First Thursday. Karen came over and we drew and chatted and I added an idea to Lindsay's idea book. I made gyoza which was enjoyed thoroughly.
Karen left and then I noticed the time and remember I had yet to write my summary of Understanding Comics for class so here I am blogging late at night after staying up working on that. I'll be tired tomorrow and I have a fair amount lined up to do:
Comic Class!
(Printmaking probably)
Work!
(more printmaking probably)
Movie night!
Leave at 7:45 am, get home at 8:30pm ish.
We did still lifes and then we were told to find the animals in the things we had been drawing. I saw a scorpion/whale/platypus/anteater all in the same teakettle. And Ibanez and a camel in this fancy silver teapot. I forgot how to draw most of those with any sense of realism so really only the chubby platypus turned out. Modou liked them so I guess I passed.
I walked Lindsay to work and swung by Powell's to pick up The Time Traveler’s Wife. Yay for having lots of copies and a few on super sale.
Didn't spend much time at home. Ate Trader Joe's cheese puff and watched the new Lost episode online. Pretty good start, interested in seeing more. Very mysterious with the Charlie and parachuting person stuff.
I met with Lennie about studying abroad. Belgium does not have a summer program so I am going to make Pont-Aven in France my main focus. It seems cool. We had a great meeting concerning my options. Yeah I'm rather pissed at PNCA. They seemed to punish me for registering early by adding a first unit of Illustration to this semester. I will be here for three years but my last year I will probably be part time. Right now I am looking at studying abroad in Belgium at Hogeschool Sint-Lukas for a semester in my Junior year. This is something I have to think about now so I am not leaving it to the last minute. Like I am doing with France.
After the meeting I quickly wrote up my still life sum up for painting, grabbed a bite to eat, and hobbled off to class. Well not so much hobble as shove my way through the throng of smokers.
The final touch on my still life was to add a background but the wash looked horrible so I am not so keen on it. I think it looked best three-fourth of the way complete. Oh well. Happens. Sat between Jen and Karen and we had a fun old time in the back row singing songs and exchanging words.
The weather was just horrible enough that Lindsay and I couldn't be bothered to leave the apartment for First Thursday. Karen came over and we drew and chatted and I added an idea to Lindsay's idea book. I made gyoza which was enjoyed thoroughly.
Karen left and then I noticed the time and remember I had yet to write my summary of Understanding Comics for class so here I am blogging late at night after staying up working on that. I'll be tired tomorrow and I have a fair amount lined up to do:
Comic Class!
(Printmaking probably)
Work!
(more printmaking probably)
Movie night!
Leave at 7:45 am, get home at 8:30pm ish.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
juice lifts the spirit
Just finished my drawing homework. Lindsay had a music mix and I had a music mix. All in all, very awesome. We each drew continually for ten minutes on a piece of paper and then drew from the patterns that we found. Lindsay made a whole band, I had a couple little things but I dunno. I'll see more tomorrow...probably.
The rain on the way back was terrible. I am really out of practice for both putting a plastic bag over my seat and remembering my rain pants. Oddly enough, the rain didn't bother me in the least. Even though it was coming down quite hard I still went out of my way to Trader Joe's and made it home with a smile on my face. The smile was due mostly to the grocery run. I picked up juice! I love juice. Well it was more lemonade this time around so maybe I should say I love sweet non-carbonated beverages in large jugs that I can enjoy in any amount I desire. Safeway no longer has the juice I love. During Printmaking I decided to go to Trader Joe's so I think that thought kept me motivated for the dreary ride. I also picked up cheese puffs. Love them.
Learned two new techniques in Printmaking. Sugarlift and Soft Ground. Not sure how much I remember from either technique but once I get working on them I can write more about them. I have ideas for the Sugarlift plate and maybe the Soft Ground. Very exciting. I also managed to run off two more prints from my plate, after I etched in further detail. The waffle knit etch on the girls shirt looks GREAT. Far exceeded my expectations. The dots on the mans shirt are subtle but effective. I'm very thrilled with it and can't wait to run off a series. I did one test on newsprint with the new etching and a proof on good paper. The ink was uneven for the proof but Yoshi digged it.
Left a little early from the Goose and picked up some printing paper from the nice people at Art Media.
Comic Club had its first meeting of the year. The regular folks were there plus Jen and August. We wolfed down 5 Dominos pizzas. Tasty. I think they were mediums though. We talked about the zine and random things. Not very exciting but off to an okay start.
Printmaking takes up most of my Wednesday. I love Wednesday.
The rain on the way back was terrible. I am really out of practice for both putting a plastic bag over my seat and remembering my rain pants. Oddly enough, the rain didn't bother me in the least. Even though it was coming down quite hard I still went out of my way to Trader Joe's and made it home with a smile on my face. The smile was due mostly to the grocery run. I picked up juice! I love juice. Well it was more lemonade this time around so maybe I should say I love sweet non-carbonated beverages in large jugs that I can enjoy in any amount I desire. Safeway no longer has the juice I love. During Printmaking I decided to go to Trader Joe's so I think that thought kept me motivated for the dreary ride. I also picked up cheese puffs. Love them.
Learned two new techniques in Printmaking. Sugarlift and Soft Ground. Not sure how much I remember from either technique but once I get working on them I can write more about them. I have ideas for the Sugarlift plate and maybe the Soft Ground. Very exciting. I also managed to run off two more prints from my plate, after I etched in further detail. The waffle knit etch on the girls shirt looks GREAT. Far exceeded my expectations. The dots on the mans shirt are subtle but effective. I'm very thrilled with it and can't wait to run off a series. I did one test on newsprint with the new etching and a proof on good paper. The ink was uneven for the proof but Yoshi digged it.
Left a little early from the Goose and picked up some printing paper from the nice people at Art Media.
Comic Club had its first meeting of the year. The regular folks were there plus Jen and August. We wolfed down 5 Dominos pizzas. Tasty. I think they were mediums though. We talked about the zine and random things. Not very exciting but off to an okay start.
Printmaking takes up most of my Wednesday. I love Wednesday.
Professor Plum, in the Drawing Room, with a Revolver.
Clue Night was super fun! We were not playing it exactly right the first couple times and so the games went really fast. Tabitha is a crazy Clue player! She won most of the time. The last two games I had figured out 2/3 of the crime but she always beat me to the last one. Tabitha and Chelsey (I have been spelling it Chelsea, when it is in fact Chelsey. Whoops) did not come with a costume but the rest of us made up the difference with sheer awesome.
Jim was Colonel Mustard, Kristen was Mrs. Peacock (though seemed more Madame Rose in her execution). Karen was Miss Scarlett. Karen made us smoothies and I made some cupcakes which were enjoyed muchly. I employed the same use of self decoration that went over so well at my birthday. Diana had essays and Robin was sick so they couldn't make it. Mel was there for about 2 minutes, she had other things to do I guess. Oh well, maybe next time.My Professor Plum outfit consisted of high waisted dark blue Jon Valdi trousers (courtesy of Auntie Celia), suspenders, a purple top, a sash tied into a bowtie, novelty glasses, brown pointy shoes (also thanks to Celia), and a drawn on stache. Oh yeah, I was rocking.
Okay, on with the rest of the day. Lindsay was sick so she couldn't attend class. Also six other people could not attend class so it was just eleven people total. Most of the time we drew painfully boring still lifes and spent a few minutes each continually drawing on this one big piece of butcher paper. I brought in my bear rug, expecting to talk about culture and use it as an example, but we never brought the subject up. Not the most interesting class but not the worst. The next few weeks seem exciting.
Riding home was hell. My art travel tube is a pain to go anywhere with because it doesn't really stay secure on ones shoulder. It kept sliding down my arm along with my shoulder bag and I had to keep stopping, in the rain, to adjust it. I really hate that tube, most of the time it just isn't worth it. Need to figure out how to make it not be such a horrible contraption. I was right pissed off when I finally returned home. But once I settled in, all was well fairly quickly. I baked cupcakes for tonight and chatted with Lindsay. She just had a random short illness it would seem. Hmmn.
Painting was of a still life of our own choosing. I put together freaky fish, Zaphod, Sluggy, my pink necklace, and Fab 1 into a little composition. I only managed to fill in most of Fab 1, half the necklace, and freaky fish. The fish looks awesome but I am a far cry from being finished with it. Really I just wanted to get home so I could become Plum and enjoy Clue. We had a brief look over of our still lifes from the past week. My white one looks pretty nice actually, I might have a future in this watercolor business (ha yeah right). Next week we will be moving on to gouache. Joy.
The second ride was easy peasy. Put on my costume, grabbed the cupcakes, and hauled it up stairs to get my game on! Yeah!
Monday, February 4, 2008
our culture, our bearskin rug
I made a bearskin rug tonight. It represents our(Lindsay's and mine) culture. Well, really it is a sheet of left over butcher paper cut(by Lindsay) into a bear shape and sharpied partially by her but mostly by me to look like fur. Actually, it is pretty damn fantastic looking. I am going to bring it into class tomorrow. I hope I don't chicken out and don't show it.
Art History is fantastic at 11:00 am. I can't believe I survived it at 8:00am for a whole semester. Blimey. Learned a great deal about the slow shift into more realistic art.
During lunch I went to the Pont-Aven lecture which was cancelled. Lennie gave a brief synopsis anyway (one person who was going to talk about it wasn't able to come). I think I will apply to it as well. There might not be a Belgium summer program.
I printed out my forms and corrected images for my digital portfolio. Be a great deal easier if I had photoshop on this computer but I left my disk at home. Oh well.
Went home and relaxed for the rest of the day. Tried to watch some of Lynch's Inland Empire and I became really lost just 15 minutes in and it is a three hour movie. I will give it another shot tomorrow.
suddenly a nap appears
I am nearing 200 posts worth of (almost) daily blogging. I think once I get to the one year mark, that will be really something.
Lazed about for the start of the day. I started watching some of David Lynch's video shorts. Really strange things. I wonder why he isn't brought up more in my textbooks and classes. I put a thin blanket over our ugly couch and draped one of my bed sheets over my book shelf. I think I was having a Christo moment.
I started reading Epileptic and then decided to take a nap. Then before I knew it, it was 6:30 and I had not taken any photos. I had to reformat the memory stick because it was set up for a Mac but once I got that out of the way taking pictures of my portfolio was a snap. Now I just need to correct them in photoshop. And now that I have the images, I can upload more art and make this an actual art blog!
After photo taking, Lindsay and I sat down and had another talk about culture for our class. We have been having many talks and we are still not quite there. After our talks I wrote up my essay for Art History that is due tomorrow(an ungraded essay).
This School Week in Portland:
Mon: Pont-Aven summer study abroad lecture during lunch
Tues: Clue Night
Wed: Return of Comic Club
Thurs: Meeting with Lennie about studying abroad
Fri: Return of Art Film Night
And all through that I have lots of stuff to sort out for studying abroad.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
bag it up
Collage and game night at Karen's went long. I got home at around 3:00am and decided to just go to bed instead of pushing myself to stay up later and blog.
Anyway, yeah. Hanging with Karen is so fun and awesome. She had a great place and the company is awesome. Smaller crowd this time. When I came over Robin and Karen were watching the new Pride and Prejudice, the one with Keira Knightley. It was really pretty but it didn't grab me. Plus it seemed like Mr. Darcy was stalking her. Jim came over after the movie was done and we sat about chatting and munching on food. When it got late we started to play Payday and that ended up being really fun actually. Karen has a great deal of really old games. There was also more talk of the upcoming Clue Night and a general comic making collective outside of the club.
I didn't get around to taking photos; those will be done today. There was a get together for the Goose Hollow people that Karen was hosting as part of her RA duties. These girls made some comment about the Styrofoam plates that were there for use. Something along the lines of, "Don't they know we are art students?” After those girls left I broke out the Apples to Apples and we played for a good two hours. I met some cool new people and we had lots of fun.
After I helped Karen bring the leftovers back to her place we went out for a walkabout. I saw a cute guy on the streetcar and we talked a little about comics but his friend showed up and royally blew it. We checked out a mediocre record store and then went to Powell's. Mostly I wanted to see if a couple reference books were cheap there but they were not. I did find a great book about people, their bags, and what they keep in their bags. The book itself is a bag. I loved it and ended up getting it. The book is really well designed and I have been showing it off as much as I can.
Took a little break after hanging with Karen to grab some eats. James came by and dropped off the comics I had lent him and I gave him back the ones he had lent me. Nice little trade off. I ate some left overs and lounged, completely forgetting to set up for taking photos. Oh well. Karen called me and so I went up and had lots of fun. I promise staying up late won't become regular. It sure is fun though.
Anyway, yeah. Hanging with Karen is so fun and awesome. She had a great place and the company is awesome. Smaller crowd this time. When I came over Robin and Karen were watching the new Pride and Prejudice, the one with Keira Knightley. It was really pretty but it didn't grab me. Plus it seemed like Mr. Darcy was stalking her. Jim came over after the movie was done and we sat about chatting and munching on food. When it got late we started to play Payday and that ended up being really fun actually. Karen has a great deal of really old games. There was also more talk of the upcoming Clue Night and a general comic making collective outside of the club.
I didn't get around to taking photos; those will be done today. There was a get together for the Goose Hollow people that Karen was hosting as part of her RA duties. These girls made some comment about the Styrofoam plates that were there for use. Something along the lines of, "Don't they know we are art students?” After those girls left I broke out the Apples to Apples and we played for a good two hours. I met some cool new people and we had lots of fun.
After I helped Karen bring the leftovers back to her place we went out for a walkabout. I saw a cute guy on the streetcar and we talked a little about comics but his friend showed up and royally blew it. We checked out a mediocre record store and then went to Powell's. Mostly I wanted to see if a couple reference books were cheap there but they were not. I did find a great book about people, their bags, and what they keep in their bags. The book itself is a bag. I loved it and ended up getting it. The book is really well designed and I have been showing it off as much as I can.
Took a little break after hanging with Karen to grab some eats. James came by and dropped off the comics I had lent him and I gave him back the ones he had lent me. Nice little trade off. I ate some left overs and lounged, completely forgetting to set up for taking photos. Oh well. Karen called me and so I went up and had lots of fun. I promise staying up late won't become regular. It sure is fun though.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
living spaces/storing spaces
I was eating pizza with Lindsay and Karen called me up all frantic wondering where I was. I didn't know I was supposed to be anywhere but there was apparently a shindig/collage party going on so when I had my fill of pizza I went up. We hung out into the wee hours of the mornings, making jokes and collages and talking about theories and things.
It was gray and somewhat rainy all day. I was prepared with awesome rain pants and plastic bags so I didn't get soggy or even cold (those rain pants are seriously warm).
When I got home after work and my comic run we sat about and talked and we did some moving about. She had to reorganize her room to accommodate a large scale painting she will be working on throughout the semester. I wanted more room so I asked if I could move my book shelves into the living room (she moved her hula hoop light structure into the living room as well) and she said yeah so I moved them on out and stacked them. Now our place looks eclectic and lived in. I hate to say it but I am actually starting to like Goose Hollow. We might be taking a trip to Ikea in the near future to pick up some bowls, a stand for a lamp, and maybe some more shelves. I really like our living room and now my books are more accessible. I'm not worried about Ibanez and my books. It is too formidable for him to climb and he doesn't claw books.
Work went by really quick. Actually I think I might have forgotten to do something because I finished up so early. Didn't do anything eventful. A new refrigerator was bought, it seems chill enough. Mike now has a studio and some of the new people are starting to move in. The MFA's are as awesome as ever. I finished reading Understanding Comics at the end of my shift. Scott McCloud is officially the type that can't do and so he teaches. Some good concepts and he lays them out clearly but he hasn't really applied them to himself that much. Oh well.
Illuminating Manuscripts went by fairly fast. Most of it was just the teacher talking but I think we are still getting into the class and so once we get around to the actual comics it will be more interactive discussion based. Had a chat about McKean and Gaiman with a girl in the class who is currently sporting an old hairstyle of mine.
I went home for the break between class and work and ate oatmeal and drank cocoa and chatted with Lindsay about things which are not fit to share in this space.
After work I made a run to Floating World to pick up the remaining "textbooks" for class. Happily, an anthology, an independent publication, a trade paperback and three issues came in at only $50. Jason gave me a discount. The frequent customer awesome rad person discount. Also the Alex Cahill comic for the class came in the mail. The only thing left is From Hell. Lindsay said she really likes this class because I bring home all these cool comics to read (she has discovered that I lend out from my library quite generously). The bike ride up Jefferson was really hard; it felt like I was towing fifty pounds up the hill.
Tomorrow is a luncheon for Goose Hollow PNCA people and I will also be photographing my work. I need to assemble a digital portfolio if I want to study abroad this summer. I have a great deal of stuff I will need to do all next week pretty much. Well, lots of forms, letter of interest, and a portfolio. I really want to do this so I will find the time to do it. Belgium, UK, Ireland, maybe possibly France (even though I have no real interest)...HERE I COME!! (hopefully).
It was gray and somewhat rainy all day. I was prepared with awesome rain pants and plastic bags so I didn't get soggy or even cold (those rain pants are seriously warm).
When I got home after work and my comic run we sat about and talked and we did some moving about. She had to reorganize her room to accommodate a large scale painting she will be working on throughout the semester. I wanted more room so I asked if I could move my book shelves into the living room (she moved her hula hoop light structure into the living room as well) and she said yeah so I moved them on out and stacked them. Now our place looks eclectic and lived in. I hate to say it but I am actually starting to like Goose Hollow. We might be taking a trip to Ikea in the near future to pick up some bowls, a stand for a lamp, and maybe some more shelves. I really like our living room and now my books are more accessible. I'm not worried about Ibanez and my books. It is too formidable for him to climb and he doesn't claw books.
Work went by really quick. Actually I think I might have forgotten to do something because I finished up so early. Didn't do anything eventful. A new refrigerator was bought, it seems chill enough. Mike now has a studio and some of the new people are starting to move in. The MFA's are as awesome as ever. I finished reading Understanding Comics at the end of my shift. Scott McCloud is officially the type that can't do and so he teaches. Some good concepts and he lays them out clearly but he hasn't really applied them to himself that much. Oh well.
Illuminating Manuscripts went by fairly fast. Most of it was just the teacher talking but I think we are still getting into the class and so once we get around to the actual comics it will be more interactive discussion based. Had a chat about McKean and Gaiman with a girl in the class who is currently sporting an old hairstyle of mine.
I went home for the break between class and work and ate oatmeal and drank cocoa and chatted with Lindsay about things which are not fit to share in this space.
After work I made a run to Floating World to pick up the remaining "textbooks" for class. Happily, an anthology, an independent publication, a trade paperback and three issues came in at only $50. Jason gave me a discount. The frequent customer awesome rad person discount. Also the Alex Cahill comic for the class came in the mail. The only thing left is From Hell. Lindsay said she really likes this class because I bring home all these cool comics to read (she has discovered that I lend out from my library quite generously). The bike ride up Jefferson was really hard; it felt like I was towing fifty pounds up the hill.
Tomorrow is a luncheon for Goose Hollow PNCA people and I will also be photographing my work. I need to assemble a digital portfolio if I want to study abroad this summer. I have a great deal of stuff I will need to do all next week pretty much. Well, lots of forms, letter of interest, and a portfolio. I really want to do this so I will find the time to do it. Belgium, UK, Ireland, maybe possibly France (even though I have no real interest)...HERE I COME!! (hopefully).
Friday, February 1, 2008
Shins & Cups
James Mercer gave a live acoustic performance at PNCA tonight. It was at 10:15, after a long lecture about how the army is screwing over the environment, among other things. I am not the biggest fan of The Shins but it was a lovely performance. There was not a large amount of people so it was very close and respectful. It was more about a man and his guitar than this famous musician performing. I was out late but it was worth it.
The Focus The Nation lecture was depressing, as most environmental and army speeches tend to be (or at least make me feel like they are). Some valuable information was given but I didn't write it down.
Experiments in Drawing was spent in part drawing cups (either our favorite cup or other peoples favorite cups) and in a short review/critique. I need to stretch my imagination a little more. I'm still on the fence about the class but I am for sure not dropping it. It is as tricky as I make it; as experimental as I make it.
I went home to relax. I fell asleep reading Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics.
Painting class was spent doing a white still life, as in finding the color in white objects. The class goes fast, too fast. I haven't finished a painting yet. I mix very slow.
After class I worked on my reading response for Scott McCloud's very boring book and I worked on my plate a little. I grabbed something to eat from Urban Grind and then I sat down to listen to the depressing talk.
Very busy day, it will be nice to sit back tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
tea time: fact or fiction
Whoo! Long day spent in the print lab. Got to school right on time, even a few minutes early. The first hour and a half was spent mostly in demonstrations of cleaning, etching, and printing.
I retained more information than I thought. After lunch I finished cleaning my plate and carbon transferred my drawing onto the plate. The etching really hurt my hand. It required more pressure than I thought it would and the needle kept slipping. Some of my lines are far from perfect and some are pretty awesome. The hair on the guy turned out pretty fab. I stayed a little late and managed to produce a test print. It needs some more work, probably work I will do tomorrow. I'm very pleased with how it looks to be turning out. With some more work it should be a real piece!
In the middle of class Yoshi boiled some water and informed us it was tea time. Seriously. I heard there was a print lab tea time... I had pomegranate tea.
During lunch I went to a meeting about Global Studios and studying abroad. Some of the information was muddled but from what I gathered I can go study abroad this Summer. I just need to find a school, fill out some forms, and apply by February 12th. So yeah...under two weeks to do a lot of stuff. But I can do it. The schools I am interested in are:
Chelsea College of Art & Design (UK)
University College Falmouth (UK)
Burren College of Art (Ireland)
Hogeschool Sint-Lukas (Belgium)
Hogeschool Sint-Lukas and CCAD are the ones the school already has programs with. I'm going to go for it.
It was raining pleasantly as I went home. Need to get into the habit of having my rain pants with me.
I'm sort of watching Life of Brian in the background. Ehhh. Not Monty Python's best.
I retained more information than I thought. After lunch I finished cleaning my plate and carbon transferred my drawing onto the plate. The etching really hurt my hand. It required more pressure than I thought it would and the needle kept slipping. Some of my lines are far from perfect and some are pretty awesome. The hair on the guy turned out pretty fab. I stayed a little late and managed to produce a test print. It needs some more work, probably work I will do tomorrow. I'm very pleased with how it looks to be turning out. With some more work it should be a real piece!
In the middle of class Yoshi boiled some water and informed us it was tea time. Seriously. I heard there was a print lab tea time... I had pomegranate tea.
During lunch I went to a meeting about Global Studios and studying abroad. Some of the information was muddled but from what I gathered I can go study abroad this Summer. I just need to find a school, fill out some forms, and apply by February 12th. So yeah...under two weeks to do a lot of stuff. But I can do it. The schools I am interested in are:
Chelsea College of Art & Design (UK)
University College Falmouth (UK)
Burren College of Art (Ireland)
Hogeschool Sint-Lukas (Belgium)
Hogeschool Sint-Lukas and CCAD are the ones the school already has programs with. I'm going to go for it.
It was raining pleasantly as I went home. Need to get into the habit of having my rain pants with me.
I'm sort of watching Life of Brian in the background. Ehhh. Not Monty Python's best.
sketch for an intaglio plate (#1)
Photo of a sketch to be made into an intaglio plate. (Change to the design is a possibility)
Swade, Jake Allen & Henley
Just got back from Karen's. We sat about watching Scrubs, working on homework, eating chocolate, and just drawing and gossiping as art girls do.
I have my sketch all done for Printmaking tomorrow. It took me longer and I had more frustration with it than I thought I should have. But the expressions are great and I can't wait to translate it onto my plate and start printing.
Today started off fairly fun. It was raining in the morning so I decided to wear my rain pants. It was not raining as I biked with them but I still looked pretty damn cool. We were meeting at Work Sound, which is Modou's gallery that he curates for. The gallery is in East Portland, so I had to cross the Hawthorne bridge. I left at about 7:50 and arrived at 8:15. He didn't show up till about 8:40. The outside was very very cold and the inside seemed even colder. It was painful to sit and draw. The assignment was to draw from observation from the pieces and from those sketches produce an original work to show by next class. Well that is what I THOUGHT the assignment was so I just did quick sketches to get some of the parts I liked about pictures across. However the assignment will be to go over the sketchbook drawings that we did, and not any original piece. It is a shame because I had an idea for what I wanted to do for the assignment. I think I might get a start on it anyway, just so I have something to show with my rudimentary sketchbook drawings.
The ride back was hell. What was downhill one was was up back and I was freezing cold. Some parts of my body warmed up but my toes and fingers were in considerable pain. I just slumped in front of my computer when I got back, turned on the heat, wrapped myself in a blanket, made some cocoa and watched some movies. I watched Drugstore Cowboy in the background as I made my Internet rounds. Maybe I would have liked it better had I paid attention. I don't think it has aged well, it was probably edgy when it came out but now it is commonplace. I also watched Death to Smoochy. That is a delightful movie. Edward Norton is adorable and mostly everyone acts really well, even Robin Williams. Nice dark comedy.
Eventually it was time to return to school. I packed up my painting supplies and rode out into the late afternoon. Class was uneventful. We painted a still life to practice color mixing. I am slowly getting it. Emphasis on the slow. There were enough tables this time so I didn't have to share with Jason. Raved about Fire on the Mountain to him and I think he thought I was asking him out...oops.
It was raining profusely during our snack break. Luckily I had but a plastic bag over my seat. Unluckily I had left my rainpants at home because I doubted it would start raining again. By the time I had to leave it was only a soft rain, nothing too horrendous.
When I got home I discovered a new pet in our home. A venus fly trap. We have been having problems with flies so hopefully the little guy can do the trick.
I relaxed a bit. We cleaned and scrubbed our place a bit. Then it was time for me to go visit with awesome Karen and the crew (Chelsea, Kristen, and Robin).
I have my sketch all done for Printmaking tomorrow. It took me longer and I had more frustration with it than I thought I should have. But the expressions are great and I can't wait to translate it onto my plate and start printing.
Today started off fairly fun. It was raining in the morning so I decided to wear my rain pants. It was not raining as I biked with them but I still looked pretty damn cool. We were meeting at Work Sound, which is Modou's gallery that he curates for. The gallery is in East Portland, so I had to cross the Hawthorne bridge. I left at about 7:50 and arrived at 8:15. He didn't show up till about 8:40. The outside was very very cold and the inside seemed even colder. It was painful to sit and draw. The assignment was to draw from observation from the pieces and from those sketches produce an original work to show by next class. Well that is what I THOUGHT the assignment was so I just did quick sketches to get some of the parts I liked about pictures across. However the assignment will be to go over the sketchbook drawings that we did, and not any original piece. It is a shame because I had an idea for what I wanted to do for the assignment. I think I might get a start on it anyway, just so I have something to show with my rudimentary sketchbook drawings.
The ride back was hell. What was downhill one was was up back and I was freezing cold. Some parts of my body warmed up but my toes and fingers were in considerable pain. I just slumped in front of my computer when I got back, turned on the heat, wrapped myself in a blanket, made some cocoa and watched some movies. I watched Drugstore Cowboy in the background as I made my Internet rounds. Maybe I would have liked it better had I paid attention. I don't think it has aged well, it was probably edgy when it came out but now it is commonplace. I also watched Death to Smoochy. That is a delightful movie. Edward Norton is adorable and mostly everyone acts really well, even Robin Williams. Nice dark comedy.
Eventually it was time to return to school. I packed up my painting supplies and rode out into the late afternoon. Class was uneventful. We painted a still life to practice color mixing. I am slowly getting it. Emphasis on the slow. There were enough tables this time so I didn't have to share with Jason. Raved about Fire on the Mountain to him and I think he thought I was asking him out...oops.
It was raining profusely during our snack break. Luckily I had but a plastic bag over my seat. Unluckily I had left my rainpants at home because I doubted it would start raining again. By the time I had to leave it was only a soft rain, nothing too horrendous.
When I got home I discovered a new pet in our home. A venus fly trap. We have been having problems with flies so hopefully the little guy can do the trick.
I relaxed a bit. We cleaned and scrubbed our place a bit. Then it was time for me to go visit with awesome Karen and the crew (Chelsea, Kristen, and Robin).
Monday, January 28, 2008
deep fried
Oh boy. Oh wow. Lindsay called me asking if I had any plans tonight and I said no so she invited me out for Hot Wings. We hopped on the Red Line and transferred to the Yellow line. Matt and Andy boarded at the same time we did and we chatted a little. Amazing I am now running into people I know.
We arrived at Fire on the Mountain and ordered up our meal and took a seat. The live musician was starting his night right as we settled. First up was the large order of deep fried tater tots. We horfed on those for a while and then came the buffalo wings, half spicy and half sweet. Our pace slowed as we wolfed the food down. More and more was stuffed as our face and hands got messier and messier. Right as we were starting to settle, the grand finale showed up: deep fried Twinkies. Oh god. It has been two hours and I am still immobile and lethargic. We both ate the whole Twinkie! Each! We had one each, and we finished it in its hot and gooey glory. Uuuuhhhnnn... We had lots of fun chatting and stuffing our faces and riding back and forth.
Art History lasted all of 20 minutes. Jim, Diana, Sandra, Jack, and Pete are in my class. It is really full. The teacher remembered me and singled me out as the one who suggested No Country For Old Men to her...and then she said she found it really grim and dark and creepy and thought she might have missed something because I loved it. So yeah...she singled me out as maybe a bit psychotic?
I checked out some books and then went home. I finished Twin Peaks and first of all Spanish subtitles showed up out of nowhere covering the subtitles for the backwards talking. They spent 15 minutes in the Red Room. Dale is possessed by Bob. Audrey might be exploded. And that is it. No more Twin Peaks. There is a movie out but it is a prequel. Who wants a prequel??
Uhhh oh maaan. That was too much. And I will be riding 7+ miles tomorrow. Going to the East Side!
We arrived at Fire on the Mountain and ordered up our meal and took a seat. The live musician was starting his night right as we settled. First up was the large order of deep fried tater tots. We horfed on those for a while and then came the buffalo wings, half spicy and half sweet. Our pace slowed as we wolfed the food down. More and more was stuffed as our face and hands got messier and messier. Right as we were starting to settle, the grand finale showed up: deep fried Twinkies. Oh god. It has been two hours and I am still immobile and lethargic. We both ate the whole Twinkie! Each! We had one each, and we finished it in its hot and gooey glory. Uuuuhhhnnn... We had lots of fun chatting and stuffing our faces and riding back and forth.
Art History lasted all of 20 minutes. Jim, Diana, Sandra, Jack, and Pete are in my class. It is really full. The teacher remembered me and singled me out as the one who suggested No Country For Old Men to her...and then she said she found it really grim and dark and creepy and thought she might have missed something because I loved it. So yeah...she singled me out as maybe a bit psychotic?
I checked out some books and then went home. I finished Twin Peaks and first of all Spanish subtitles showed up out of nowhere covering the subtitles for the backwards talking. They spent 15 minutes in the Red Room. Dale is possessed by Bob. Audrey might be exploded. And that is it. No more Twin Peaks. There is a movie out but it is a prequel. Who wants a prequel??
Uhhh oh maaan. That was too much. And I will be riding 7+ miles tomorrow. Going to the East Side!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
figured out something today
Slept in till noon again. A decent time. Watched Twin Peaks and just messed around. Didn't really do much. At all. Slowly have to get back into the work ethic for school. I didn't get out of the house till after 5, and that was only a quick grocery run. I'm trying out this fizzy yogurt in a tube. It is actually really tasty. I like my yogurt in tube form, and not chunky with bits. Anyone who knows me knows I do not like bits. It was also consumed to get the hideous taste out of my mouth.The taste caused by when I figured out what off milk tastes like.
Jim called me around 6:30 and I met him halfway and we swung by Boyd's real quick and I picked up a hot beverage and he a cinnamon roll. Then we went back to my place and hung about and gossiped. Had a nice little visit and talked about comics and going back to school and how crazy the teacher Morgan was. Lindsay shared her two cents on that crazy teacher subject. He left with my Animal Man comics (in borrowing form) at about nineish and I kicked back.
I think, if I have time, I would really like to reread The Fountain by Aronofsky. The art is beautiful, I have been shuffling through it recently. So if I can't read it, I will just study it.
Ibanez has taken over the living room with his cardboard and paper play area.
I drink your milkshake
Just got back from a late evening with Michael. We saw the last showing of There Will Be Blood at the Lloyd 8 and we chatted for a long time afterwards.
The movie had a rather unsatisfactory ending but I don't think there could have been one. The movie started really well and the first hour was magnificent. There were some amazing and tense scenes and some of the work with sound and music was beyond brilliant. I hope it is nominated for acting, directing, sound, and costume awards. As it had a fairly small main cast the actors had to be really strong and Lewis and Dano were. Daniel Day Lewis had a performance that reminded me of Gangs of New York, not so much a copy but very similar in acting the characters differing types of brutality. Paul Dano, for being the age that he is and having the number of roles that he has, showed subtlety...very subtlety. I don't know what I can say. I don't think I have fully digested this movie yet. Very shocking and real but I began to notice the Cigarette Burns as the movie went past the hour and a half mark. A different story, that is for sure. I like living here as it enables me to see different things.
The theatre we were in was MASSIVE. There looked to be enough seats for 500 people. Outside of Wall-E (probably the same theatre I was in when I saw it) I have never seen anything so big.
Hanging with Michael is nice. He isn't in any of my classes and probably won't be for the rest of our stay at PNCA. Kind of sucks but we are very good about finding time to hang out.
Today was spent loafing and not doing anything. Slept in till noon. I talked to Jim on the phone for a bit. Watched some Twin Peaks. I am almost done with that series. It is getting very interesting and I don't want it to just end in a few episodes. Bah!
Tomorrow I will work on my design for my bronze dry point and read my "text book". Nothing major really. Probably watch a movie and some TV. Might meet up with Jim for coffee (well, a warm beverage for me as I don't drink coffee).
The movie had a rather unsatisfactory ending but I don't think there could have been one. The movie started really well and the first hour was magnificent. There were some amazing and tense scenes and some of the work with sound and music was beyond brilliant. I hope it is nominated for acting, directing, sound, and costume awards. As it had a fairly small main cast the actors had to be really strong and Lewis and Dano were. Daniel Day Lewis had a performance that reminded me of Gangs of New York, not so much a copy but very similar in acting the characters differing types of brutality. Paul Dano, for being the age that he is and having the number of roles that he has, showed subtlety...very subtlety. I don't know what I can say. I don't think I have fully digested this movie yet. Very shocking and real but I began to notice the Cigarette Burns as the movie went past the hour and a half mark. A different story, that is for sure. I like living here as it enables me to see different things.
The theatre we were in was MASSIVE. There looked to be enough seats for 500 people. Outside of Wall-E (probably the same theatre I was in when I saw it) I have never seen anything so big.
Hanging with Michael is nice. He isn't in any of my classes and probably won't be for the rest of our stay at PNCA. Kind of sucks but we are very good about finding time to hang out.
Today was spent loafing and not doing anything. Slept in till noon. I talked to Jim on the phone for a bit. Watched some Twin Peaks. I am almost done with that series. It is getting very interesting and I don't want it to just end in a few episodes. Bah!
Tomorrow I will work on my design for my bronze dry point and read my "text book". Nothing major really. Probably watch a movie and some TV. Might meet up with Jim for coffee (well, a warm beverage for me as I don't drink coffee).
Saturday, January 26, 2008
eye of the tiger
I plungered a toilet in the studios today. It wasn't really stopped up for long so it wasn't totally disgusting. Sort of an average day of work, a little dustier and dirtier than normal, but it didn't take me long to get in the swing of things. And I finished most of one of my new "textbooks" during the downtime after I completed my tasks but still was hanging around.
My Illuminating Manuscripts class, which was the shortened title, is nothing about actual Illuminated Manuscripts. In fact the full title is: Illuminating Manuscripts: Comics, Strips & Graphic Novels. It is a class in which I buy and read comics and talk about comics. Huzzah! Booyah! And it is 300 level and there are some cool comic people that I know of in the class. The teacher seems really cool and the selected readings are pretty cool. A couple anthologies, Understanding Comics (of course), a work published by a PNCA grad, Persepolis and the very awesome From Hell. I am really excited for the class. We will also be doing a comic of our own in the end. Very cool.
As Trevor, the teacher, was sick we were let out early. I went to Powell's to get the books that would be mass printed and probably cheaper as it would have used copies. I picked up Understanding Comics and Sexy Chix(a female anthology which I read today). Also I picked up a paperback I have always been meaning to read and at the price of laundry, I went for it.
Went home and ordered From Hell used (very expensive tome) and the PNCA one I ordered direct from the source. I emailed Jason at Floating World Comics and put in an order for the remaining ones. Have to support my guy.
Sexy Chix had some great shorts but some of them just seemed caught up in girly novelties. As if being a lady you HAVE to make lady stories and you can't just write a story. I will probably form better opinions about lady writers as the class goes on. I look at my bookshelf of comics and out of all the Western ones, and out of 25-30 writers(not including the Flight anthologies where surely there are more ladies) the only females are Becky Cloonan and June Kim. I haven't even read June Kim's one. Is it bad that I have so many male written comics? Am I required to support my gender or can I just enjoy a story?
Anyway, after work was time for relaxing and then Karen, Robin, Chelsea, Kristen, and I went to see Persepolis. Today is the first day it was out. We got there about half an hour early and it was good that we did. It didn't really sell out but it was super full. I must say I loved the movie. I was taken in and moved and I even cried a little. It was simply beautiful and it really did convey the comic well while still leaving parts out. The comic is a must read if you decide to see this movie and I think everyone should see this movie.
Rose Bond mentioned if a movie bores her, she notices the cigarette burns. Ever since she said that I have seen the cigarette burns in the film and the shake as the movie transitions to the new roll. Only No Country For Old Men and Persepolis have brought me so in that I did not see them.
After the movie we hung out at Karen's. Robin made fried bananas and we played Apples to Apples. Chatting went long. Like till 3:15 am long. Sleeping in time.
I know how Art History is and looking at my schedule I am sure I can do this semester no problem. I have three art classes that require work and two reading classes. One is mostly done in studio (Printmaking) and the Painting class seems along those lines. I have no idea what to expect from Experiments in Drawing.
My Illuminating Manuscripts class, which was the shortened title, is nothing about actual Illuminated Manuscripts. In fact the full title is: Illuminating Manuscripts: Comics, Strips & Graphic Novels. It is a class in which I buy and read comics and talk about comics. Huzzah! Booyah! And it is 300 level and there are some cool comic people that I know of in the class. The teacher seems really cool and the selected readings are pretty cool. A couple anthologies, Understanding Comics (of course), a work published by a PNCA grad, Persepolis and the very awesome From Hell. I am really excited for the class. We will also be doing a comic of our own in the end. Very cool.
As Trevor, the teacher, was sick we were let out early. I went to Powell's to get the books that would be mass printed and probably cheaper as it would have used copies. I picked up Understanding Comics and Sexy Chix(a female anthology which I read today). Also I picked up a paperback I have always been meaning to read and at the price of laundry, I went for it.
Went home and ordered From Hell used (very expensive tome) and the PNCA one I ordered direct from the source. I emailed Jason at Floating World Comics and put in an order for the remaining ones. Have to support my guy.
Sexy Chix had some great shorts but some of them just seemed caught up in girly novelties. As if being a lady you HAVE to make lady stories and you can't just write a story. I will probably form better opinions about lady writers as the class goes on. I look at my bookshelf of comics and out of all the Western ones, and out of 25-30 writers(not including the Flight anthologies where surely there are more ladies) the only females are Becky Cloonan and June Kim. I haven't even read June Kim's one. Is it bad that I have so many male written comics? Am I required to support my gender or can I just enjoy a story?
Anyway, after work was time for relaxing and then Karen, Robin, Chelsea, Kristen, and I went to see Persepolis. Today is the first day it was out. We got there about half an hour early and it was good that we did. It didn't really sell out but it was super full. I must say I loved the movie. I was taken in and moved and I even cried a little. It was simply beautiful and it really did convey the comic well while still leaving parts out. The comic is a must read if you decide to see this movie and I think everyone should see this movie.
Rose Bond mentioned if a movie bores her, she notices the cigarette burns. Ever since she said that I have seen the cigarette burns in the film and the shake as the movie transitions to the new roll. Only No Country For Old Men and Persepolis have brought me so in that I did not see them.
After the movie we hung out at Karen's. Robin made fried bananas and we played Apples to Apples. Chatting went long. Like till 3:15 am long. Sleeping in time.
I know how Art History is and looking at my schedule I am sure I can do this semester no problem. I have three art classes that require work and two reading classes. One is mostly done in studio (Printmaking) and the Painting class seems along those lines. I have no idea what to expect from Experiments in Drawing.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
a theory about free will (and probably not a good one)
Painting Techniques is off to a running start and that is grand. The class has one person too many and so Jason and I shared a desk (it worked out because he is left handed so we were not bumping elbows at all). We made little transition squares where we went from complimentary color to complimentary color with a gray in the middle. It took me the better part of class to get it to work but I didn't feel really rushed. After we finished we were to do a still life where we mixed colors to get it on the first try as opposed to layering. The skin color for the doll turned out nice but after the collar, it fell apart. It looks to be a fun class, fast paced and lots of work and getting use of the materials I pay so dearly for. Jason and I whispered back and forth at our desk. The rest of the class was stone silent for whatever reason. Also the classroom had a heater WHICH YOU COULD TURN ON!! And get this: it worked. That is really rare at PNCA.
We had a little synopsis of our drawings in Experimental Drawing class. We just gave a brief rundown of which each one was and how we came up with it. There was no critique and no one laughed at me choosing Robert Downey Jr. for chaos. Boo. No critique followed. I think it was mostly because Modou didn't like the assignment that the other guy had given us (clearly not his assignment). Then we talked and talked. Talked about Art History, Art, and History. We introduced ourselves and we had trouble understanding some of what he said because of his accent. I feel sorry for the German exchange girls, they don't speak English that well and neither does Modou (well he speaks it, just with a thick thick accent). And next class we are going to his studio. Rock on. The classroom was freezing cold. I had all my layers on and still I was shivering.
Between classes I went home, ate some MORE gyoza, relaxed, watched the rest of Kill Bill vol. 2, read a little, and then scooted off early so I could buy still more art supplies. I had on leggings, pants, legwarmers, 3/4 length tee, tee, hoodie, pea coat, and a scarf...I was still cold. The only time I was warm enough was when I was in the class with the working heat.
I forgot yesterday was Michael's birthday. We Aquarius' have to stick together.
I finished Persepolis and have moved on to Epileptic by David B. It has a great style and lots of French theories about stuff. One of them was Raymond Abellio talking about free will. He (is quoted as having said in the book) said, "Our free will is circumscribed, it accounts for 1% of our deeds. Great political men or artists manage to achieve a higher percentage of free will." That bit got me thinking about free will and choice.
I define free will as choice but when you think what we have to choose from, our options are still limited and decided based on needs that come from situations beyond our control. We can choose what we eat, but we can't choose eating as a requirement. We have to consume something or we will die. And even then we have to choose based on what our body needs: protein, vegetables, etc. We are restricted based on the needs that just being human requires. I can pick out what I wear but unless the fabric and piece was made just for me, someone else picked the design and style and replicated it on mass. I can choose, but the selection, however massive it is, was already picked out so how much choice to I really have when there is still some limit? To have complete free will you have to reject everything that would be required. Having something required means there is something expected and mandatory about ones existence and then how much free will does a person have if they are born with all these things they have to do to maintain their human body. To reject everything you are required to do would mean you would die. Free will is compromised by just being human.
Or is just having a choice enough to be considered free will, even if what you pick from is predestined?
We had a little synopsis of our drawings in Experimental Drawing class. We just gave a brief rundown of which each one was and how we came up with it. There was no critique and no one laughed at me choosing Robert Downey Jr. for chaos. Boo. No critique followed. I think it was mostly because Modou didn't like the assignment that the other guy had given us (clearly not his assignment). Then we talked and talked. Talked about Art History, Art, and History. We introduced ourselves and we had trouble understanding some of what he said because of his accent. I feel sorry for the German exchange girls, they don't speak English that well and neither does Modou (well he speaks it, just with a thick thick accent). And next class we are going to his studio. Rock on. The classroom was freezing cold. I had all my layers on and still I was shivering.
Between classes I went home, ate some MORE gyoza, relaxed, watched the rest of Kill Bill vol. 2, read a little, and then scooted off early so I could buy still more art supplies. I had on leggings, pants, legwarmers, 3/4 length tee, tee, hoodie, pea coat, and a scarf...I was still cold. The only time I was warm enough was when I was in the class with the working heat.
I forgot yesterday was Michael's birthday. We Aquarius' have to stick together.
I finished Persepolis and have moved on to Epileptic by David B. It has a great style and lots of French theories about stuff. One of them was Raymond Abellio talking about free will. He (is quoted as having said in the book) said, "Our free will is circumscribed, it accounts for 1% of our deeds. Great political men or artists manage to achieve a higher percentage of free will." That bit got me thinking about free will and choice.
I define free will as choice but when you think what we have to choose from, our options are still limited and decided based on needs that come from situations beyond our control. We can choose what we eat, but we can't choose eating as a requirement. We have to consume something or we will die. And even then we have to choose based on what our body needs: protein, vegetables, etc. We are restricted based on the needs that just being human requires. I can pick out what I wear but unless the fabric and piece was made just for me, someone else picked the design and style and replicated it on mass. I can choose, but the selection, however massive it is, was already picked out so how much choice to I really have when there is still some limit? To have complete free will you have to reject everything that would be required. Having something required means there is something expected and mandatory about ones existence and then how much free will does a person have if they are born with all these things they have to do to maintain their human body. To reject everything you are required to do would mean you would die. Free will is compromised by just being human.
Or is just having a choice enough to be considered free will, even if what you pick from is predestined?
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
my apologies to Mr. Fry
Done with my 9 drawing conceptual experiments in drawing assignment before midnight. Booyah! We had to draw what our idea of 9 words was. Sorta like the final collage for 2D design but with only two days to do it and 7 more things to do. Here is what I did:
Strong: a picture of Dad's hands because hes an awesome dude who is very strong in many ways.
Bright: a portrait of Stephen Fry
Elegant: a fashionable lady with pearls
Subtle: drawn words that read "everybody makes misteaks"
Chaotic: Robert Downey Jr. in ink that I've blow to make it run all over the place
Smart: some contour drawings of eye glasses
Beautiful: an assortment of colors because color is beautiful
Formal: a stencil outline of a man in a suit (taken from a photo of Peter Sarsgaard)
Expressive: just some crazy ink lines
So yeah, it is sort of obvious stuff right now but my mind isn't warmed up enough to say "this dot here shows the intelligence that makes up smart". I am most happy with the Robert Downey Jr. picture.
Fun and filled day. Got out of bed perfectly okay but I did not enjoy the lukewarm shower (probably the water is chilled from the subfreezing temperatures). Bike ride there wasn't so bad but the elevator halfway up the hill is broken so that first morning climb up is horrid.
I only have Printmaking: Intaglio & Lithograph on Wednesday, it also runs from 11:00-5:00 (with lunch). Class started a little late as we were waiting for people to show up. Yoshi, the teacher, chatted with us a bit and I talked with Rachel (who was in my digital tools class). I showed off my switchblade comb. And then we got down to it. He went over the syllabus and talked about objectives. We breaked for lunch early (but still it was only an hour). I sat with Karen and...tall dude who I met in the comic club's last meeting..uhh Matt maybe. Oh and a nice lady who is in my painting class, she was there as well. I shared my banana bread with said dude and we talked about stuff and comics. Before I had gone to pick up a package mom had addressed to the school AGAIN. The package was filled with awesome art goodies which were oooooed and aaaahhed over during lunch. And as it was the last of my gifts, that means it is time to make thank you cards!
Class restarted on the dot and he explained how to make and prepare plates. We cut up a couple 6"x9" plates and got to work buffing and smoothing and removing the scratches from them. That process, which still isn't really finished for most of us, took us the rest of class. I will just have to work around it. I think I will really like this class. We are allowed to pick whatever we want for our images that we print so I will finally be able to produce real work in my classes.
After class it was getting dark but I had errands to run. Swung by and bought some brushes, watercolor paper, and etching tool and some sketchbooks from Art Media. My eyes bugged when it rung up as $81 and they were kind enough to let me void the transaction and trade the brushes for ones that DIDN'T cost $30. The $40 supply run then seemed cheap. Bah.
Swung by Safeway and got some soap and sandwich bags and then went home. It was now fully dark. Relaxed when I arrived home, made the Internet rounds and ate dinner with Lindsay at our table (something we have never done before). After dinner she put on a shuffle of her music library and we got to drawing our homework. About four hours of fun and drawing later we were done. Whooo!!
Awesome second day, I must say.
Strong: a picture of Dad's hands because hes an awesome dude who is very strong in many ways.
Bright: a portrait of Stephen Fry
Elegant: a fashionable lady with pearls
Subtle: drawn words that read "everybody makes misteaks"
Chaotic: Robert Downey Jr. in ink that I've blow to make it run all over the place
Smart: some contour drawings of eye glasses
Beautiful: an assortment of colors because color is beautiful
Formal: a stencil outline of a man in a suit (taken from a photo of Peter Sarsgaard)
Expressive: just some crazy ink lines
So yeah, it is sort of obvious stuff right now but my mind isn't warmed up enough to say "this dot here shows the intelligence that makes up smart". I am most happy with the Robert Downey Jr. picture.
Fun and filled day. Got out of bed perfectly okay but I did not enjoy the lukewarm shower (probably the water is chilled from the subfreezing temperatures). Bike ride there wasn't so bad but the elevator halfway up the hill is broken so that first morning climb up is horrid.
I only have Printmaking: Intaglio & Lithograph on Wednesday, it also runs from 11:00-5:00 (with lunch). Class started a little late as we were waiting for people to show up. Yoshi, the teacher, chatted with us a bit and I talked with Rachel (who was in my digital tools class). I showed off my switchblade comb. And then we got down to it. He went over the syllabus and talked about objectives. We breaked for lunch early (but still it was only an hour). I sat with Karen and...tall dude who I met in the comic club's last meeting..uhh Matt maybe. Oh and a nice lady who is in my painting class, she was there as well. I shared my banana bread with said dude and we talked about stuff and comics. Before I had gone to pick up a package mom had addressed to the school AGAIN. The package was filled with awesome art goodies which were oooooed and aaaahhed over during lunch. And as it was the last of my gifts, that means it is time to make thank you cards!
Class restarted on the dot and he explained how to make and prepare plates. We cut up a couple 6"x9" plates and got to work buffing and smoothing and removing the scratches from them. That process, which still isn't really finished for most of us, took us the rest of class. I will just have to work around it. I think I will really like this class. We are allowed to pick whatever we want for our images that we print so I will finally be able to produce real work in my classes.
After class it was getting dark but I had errands to run. Swung by and bought some brushes, watercolor paper, and etching tool and some sketchbooks from Art Media. My eyes bugged when it rung up as $81 and they were kind enough to let me void the transaction and trade the brushes for ones that DIDN'T cost $30. The $40 supply run then seemed cheap. Bah.
Swung by Safeway and got some soap and sandwich bags and then went home. It was now fully dark. Relaxed when I arrived home, made the Internet rounds and ate dinner with Lindsay at our table (something we have never done before). After dinner she put on a shuffle of her music library and we got to drawing our homework. About four hours of fun and drawing later we were done. Whooo!!
Awesome second day, I must say.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
exciting/exciting/bummer
Had my first day as a Sophomore. First day after turning 20. And Heath Ledger is dead. I can't believe he is dead...it doesn't seem that long ago I was watching him for the first time in 10 Things I Hate About You. Blimey.
I woke up at 5am and for whatever reason I thought it was 5pm and I got out bed ready to start my day. Then I figured out what was up and promptly went back to bed.
Regular morning. Made myself a peanut butter sandwich and rode my bike to school. CRAZY COLD. Saw some people I knew and some people that looked lost.
Modou, my drawing teacher, had some flight delays so he wasn't there to instruct us the first day. A sub of sorts handed out an assignment and then at 8:15 we were off. I bought some supplies at Office Max and hung with Lindsay and Karen for a bit before eventually riding home again. Kicked up my feet and watch Late Night with Conan O'Brien online. I was browsing a forum when a thread popped up announcing the death of Heath Ledger. Just...how?
Ate some more gyoza for lunch and headed off a little before 3:00 for my painting technique class. The class was full up with some familiar and new faces. Karen is in my class, as is Jason, a Junior who transferred from CCAC. The teacher switched from Cleaveland to Annie something. She seems nice, even if she doesn't enunciate. It seems to be a fast paced course so that is good. It lasted twice as long as the drawing class and afterwards I picked up some things from the library and headed back to Goose Hollow again.
About six miles I rode today, and it will probably be a regular Tuesday/Thursday distance amount.
I worked a little on my assignment for Experiments in Drawing but I am really tired so I think I am going to curl up with a book and go to sleep early tonight. Watched a little Kill Bill vol. 2 earlier on. Yeah, I like the first better but this does have some fun moments.
I wore longjohns under my jeans, my new waffle knit shirt under a tee shirt under a hoodie under a peacoat. And even with my awesome mobius scarf, I was still cold. BLIMEY!!
I woke up at 5am and for whatever reason I thought it was 5pm and I got out bed ready to start my day. Then I figured out what was up and promptly went back to bed.
Regular morning. Made myself a peanut butter sandwich and rode my bike to school. CRAZY COLD. Saw some people I knew and some people that looked lost.
Modou, my drawing teacher, had some flight delays so he wasn't there to instruct us the first day. A sub of sorts handed out an assignment and then at 8:15 we were off. I bought some supplies at Office Max and hung with Lindsay and Karen for a bit before eventually riding home again. Kicked up my feet and watch Late Night with Conan O'Brien online. I was browsing a forum when a thread popped up announcing the death of Heath Ledger. Just...how?
Ate some more gyoza for lunch and headed off a little before 3:00 for my painting technique class. The class was full up with some familiar and new faces. Karen is in my class, as is Jason, a Junior who transferred from CCAC. The teacher switched from Cleaveland to Annie something. She seems nice, even if she doesn't enunciate. It seems to be a fast paced course so that is good. It lasted twice as long as the drawing class and afterwards I picked up some things from the library and headed back to Goose Hollow again.
About six miles I rode today, and it will probably be a regular Tuesday/Thursday distance amount.
I worked a little on my assignment for Experiments in Drawing but I am really tired so I think I am going to curl up with a book and go to sleep early tonight. Watched a little Kill Bill vol. 2 earlier on. Yeah, I like the first better but this does have some fun moments.
I wore longjohns under my jeans, my new waffle knit shirt under a tee shirt under a hoodie under a peacoat. And even with my awesome mobius scarf, I was still cold. BLIMEY!!
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