Bleh...

I've got nothing to show over this break. NOTHING!!! Except a half baked idea for a video game and a story I've started thinking about. I've got some sketches made, but that's about it. :( Tomorrow I might do something about it.

Just checking in!

You must go buy a copy of Kazu Kibuishi's "Amulet: The Stonekeeper" as soon as possible. Beautiful art, engaging writing, I was wanting to turn it into a video game. Good stuff.
I've been so lazy, I need the semester to start back up again so I can return to a schedule of productivity.
*edit*
Woo, I have the first printing of the book!

Huzzah for arts!

First of all I'd like to thank everyone who put in a good word for me. You know who you are. I couldn't have done it without you. :)
Secondly, I'd like to thank the artists from whom I took images to create this collage. Jen, Chris, Kazu, and Carson are all amazing artist and I hope to one day meet them and tell them how much their work has both inspired and encouraged me.
The painting was displayed at the UTD Arts Fall Festival and comes down on the 9th (Sunday), so if you haven't already seen it in person or seen it displayed, make sure you head down there soon and check it out.

Painters! A Product That Delivers

...is exactly what I discovered this week. "The Master's" Brush Cleaner and Preserver is a nifty little compound that, as the lid promises, "Keeps Brushes Like New." I had recently bought a few Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes, but seeing as how these are really fine, expensive brushes, I was hesitant to use them unless I knew how to take proper care of them. I researched the subject and found that there are special cleaners, so I took another trip down to Asel's and discovered this little wonder. It even promises to restore brushes!
So I put it to the test and found that it doesn't lie! I cleaned all my brushes and even restored hard oil brushes from the beginning of the semester that I thought were useless! While it didn't completely restore the shape of the neglected brushes, the bristles are now clean and soft and ready to touch the canvas again.
Look at all those clean brushes! (And no, they are not paying me. They should, though.)

The Contract

This is the final project for my Intro to Computer Mediated Communications course. Not completely happy with it, but proud that inking is done 97% with brush! (#4 round red kolinsky, I think) For more information on the horrible truths about modern copyright laws, check out Lawrence Lessig's lecture on free_culture.
Click on the images to enlarge.

(8"x10" in on bristol)

Voila!

This is a photograph of the finished painting. I hope people like it. It seems to be getting a fair amount of applause from the people at school. To think that at the beginning of the semester I didn't like to paint...


I plan to make some more paintings of original images soon. I am going to be teaching myself watercolor painting over the break, hopefully. I've failed miserably at it before, so let's see how it goes.

It's a Thanksgiving Day Miracle!!!

So the most exciting thing to happen over the Turkey Break was the rescuing of 5 puppies. Regrettably, the 6th of the litter had not made it by the time I arrived where the puppies had been abandoned. Rescuing them and then nursing them (which was the hardest thing I've ever done) was a highlight of this year.
My little brother video recorded the adventure and put together this very...creepy?...video.



My sister now owns one of the puppies. It's weird, though. Having nursed them, I feel responsible for their ultimate "destiny," for lack of a better word. Anyways, I hope they survive.

What do you want to be when you die?

I found this very entertaining video showing the many facets of th business of death over at The Fabulist. I decided that when I die, I want to help the environment, so just bury me as soon as possible with no preservatives in a cardboard box in my local forest.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you,

The Baron!


As he surveys his barony, he remembers the old land, his would be Baroness, whom he lost but in his memories. This is home now, Baron, this is home.

I'm almost done!!!

Click to enlarge!!!

Just a few more contour lines for the background and the Ellis image.

The Studio!!

HUZZAH!!!

I am getting the kitten!! ^_^!!!!!

Sad day...

I'm not getting that kitty. But I'm looking for another one.

I'm getting a Kitty!

Meet my future kitten! I'm picking him up tomorrow! It shall be a happy day!

Don't tell my apartment complex!

Painting's Progress!

I didn't do much tonight, but I'm getting close to almost done.

An actual painting!

This is a photograph of a work in progress. It is a 24"x30" painting of a collage of several images I found on the internet. Credits for found images go to Jen Wang, Kazu Kibuishi, Chris Appelhans, and Carson Ellis! This is being painted for my foundations of painting course.

I'll probably post another update tonight after another bout of painting! This is actually funner than I thought the final project was going to be.

DANG IT! I missed SketchCrawl Again!

Okay guys (ESPECIALLY YOU, ATEC PEOPLE!!!), I want to organize a meeting for the next SketchCrawl. If you don't know what it is, go to their website and see. If you like to draw, fancy yourself a drawer, or just like to doodle stuff you see, this is for you!
Since we missed the latest SketchCrawl, we have about 2 months to organize one for the Dallas area! What does this mean? It means that if we want to participate in this world wide event, we need to know who out there is interested. ATEC (or AP or AH) people, you would probably enjoy doing this! And if we can get a group to just hang out and sketch during the next sketchcrawl, that would be amazing (and probably really fun!).
I know this is fed to my facebook notes, so if any of you ATEC (or other art majors) are interested, leave a note comment (here or facebook) or send a message. If there is any interest, we'll start a facebook group.

This one's for you...

Tess! Today's was written around the premise of drawing Tess's hair. I like how it turned out, but constructive criticism is welcome. This is the second Last Chance. Tess, I hope you like it!

Le yawn. It's bed time. I'll post this to DA tomorrow.

Photos, for a change

Some recent peekatures. Drawings from Starbucks signs I did. My favorite is the Italian Roast one. I drew VENICE!

Kinda the daily?

Here's two to think about...

The Daily 007, from 6/10/07

I like this one still. This is a smaller version of a previous project. I should get the large one completed...

Hurray, I got it done by the time I said I would. Today I used brush and black india to ink the strip. My hand shakes too much, and thus I have squiggly lines. I need to work on steadying those hand muscles. Today's also taken from an idea I had last fall. Here is today's Daily:

This week I might be doing a five day long narrative, depending on whether I get it written out today or not. If not, expect it for next week. I'll try my best.

That narrative sucked.
Oh, by the way, I've started adding the text I originally wrote on the facebook.