Sunday, November 13, 2011

Simply Caramel

Sorry, no caramel here. I'm just really bad at making titles.

Despite what my previous post would lead someone to believe, I'm in my third month of my last year in high school. How exciting! And so very, very stressful. School, friends and family are keeping me rather busy. Not that I mind; it's nice to feel so involved. It's amazing how rewarding it feels to see that you're exactly where you wanted to be four years ago.

On track to graduate? Check. Comprehending the material being taught? Check. Starting senior project?

Whoops.

I'll start in January, I promise! I still need to talk to my hopeful mentor, but he'll be so honored I can't possibly imagine him saying no.

That aside, everything is on track. Even my maturity, believe it or not. Looking back, I can't help at cringe at my previous behavior. I'm not sure why, but my brain just seems to work better these days. My grades are where I expect them to be; some needing improvement, others fine as is.

Do you know how much it costs to graduate?

Way too much.

I'm getting stressed by thinking about it, so I'll skip that for now...

This year has also brought me a new inspiration. It's a musician called Voltaire. He's fan-freaking-tastic. Every song is a story, and every album a story book. He's a bit hard to describe, as he's very different.

Oh, yes. I almost forgot. I got Art Student of the Month, something I've dreamed of since I was a lowly freshmen, for the months of October and November. I get to display my artwork in a display box. All by myself. My first solo-show (Haha!) Due to technical difficulties (Johnstone locking the key inside the display case, requiring a spare to be made, which took all of October) I get to display my art for November as well.


I had been proud at first, but it's died down due to some... less than desired reactions from my friends. Really, hearing "She only picks her favorites" makes me feel like a success. Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.

Anyway, it seems I'm frustrating myself. On a happier note, I got to make my teacher climb in the box. That was fun. And, through the entire mess, I created a pretty good relationship with the lady who deals with all the money. So that's a plus.

Ah, well. I'm done for now. My mind is on other things, like zombies. Hopefully I'll update toward the end of the month with pictures and updates from my sister's wedding.

Bye now.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Into the Chaos

Vacation has ended. Classes have started. The biggest year of my high school career has finally arrived.

And it all begins with me jumping around like an elementary schooler because I got the seminar I wanted.

Yeah. That was pretty awesome. Not only did I get the seminar I've wanted since my first day at Waca, my best friends also got that seminar. All was well until my schedule was handed to me.

"Um... what?"

It didn't even make sense. I was missing two periods, and missing two "required" classes. Both of which I couldn't take without giving up one of my IB courses. Sofi, Salud and I were all complaining about our classes when my dear friend Rita came over to us and took the cake.

Her student ID said she was in 11th grade.

Yeah.

She wins the FML contest.

My second week back is close to ending. I'm still not used to the schedule; I have to look at the class times in every class. Every class is wonderful, though. I got exactly what I wanted.

1st - IB Biology
2nd - Anthropology 2
3rd - Modern Culture & Literature
4th - IB Math SL 2
5th - IB Art
6th - T.A 
7th - Creative Writing
Seminar - Johnstone 

With the new school year came a new obsession enjoyment. I finally gave in and watched Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji). And I fell in love found a new favorite character. 

Grell Sutcliff

I got a new binder that needed a picture on it. o3o So I drew a picture of Grell. ;D I realize it's not very good, nor original, but it still makes me happy. :3

(I meant to post this months ago, only to now realize it was still just a draft. fml)

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Art: Cancer of the Heart

It's been a while since I've posted something. In an attempt to get Stein to update his blog, I told him I wouldn't post anything until he did...

Obviously, I failed. I just like talking to myself too much.

Onto art related ranting.

I've found that art is a way of life rather than a characteristic or trait. The artistic community that comes with this way of life? It's freaking awesome. Abstract and beautiful. Recently, my art has been going into a whole new dimension. I'm no longer doing fanart for my friends; my art is beginning to have actual meaning. Although, it's rather... depressing.

It revolves around cancer, of all things.

I take an IB art class. I was so excited to start, I finally had the freedom in art I've always wanted! It sounded easy to me at the beginning of the year. One critique, twenty pages done in my art book a month. During our first year in IB art, we're supposed to find a theme. We need a vague idea at first, so we can explore that, lead us into something deeper. Oh, and, the anime/manga style is a bit of a no-no in IB art. Sucks for me, huh? I felt hopeless, thought I was going to have to drop out of the class because I just... wasn't feeling it.

And then I found Camilla d'Errico ( www.camilladerrico.com ). Her work revolves around industry and animal rights. Guess what? She's an established artist, and her style is that of anime. That was enough to inspire me. She works in acrylics, mostly. But she also works in pen and ink. Her piece, "The Arms" is what set me off in the direction of cancer. I thought of what those arms could mean, other than being controlled.

What if it was cancer given a form?

And thats what I do now. Currently, I'm working on environmentally caused cancers, specifically smoking. There are so many things I can do with that. The piece I did for March was the first of this. Most of my twenty pages were full of those ideas. My teacher loved the pages, told me she feels as though I'm 'taking off as an artist'. The sense of accomplishment from this is almost overwhelming, I can't remember feeling this good about myself in a long time.

My teacher also thinks I could start my own Anti-Smoking campaign. Perhaps I'll see about this in the future? Anywho, heres something I've been working on the past few days. I'm not sure if I'll turn it into the critique for this month, but I do like how its turning out. <3


I give cancer form with pipes connected to my girls' heads. The pipes are, to use a quote from my Figure Drawing teacher, "one with the hair". This means you can't get rid of the pipes without losing the hair. You know... chemotherapy?  I didn't like her shoulder blades, so I ripped that part of the paper off. This isn't even close to being done. I used Prisma Color Pencils, and a pen. Er, and a regular pencil for all the icky gray areas. This looks 1000x better in person. ><

Alas, I have nothing else to talk about, since I just found out that Camilla d'Errico will be a few towns away from me April16th-17th. 

<3

Monday, March 28, 2011

Babies and Maple Syrup

My sister, Ashley, has gone into labor. Granted, she's only dilated 1cm currently, therefore not hospitalized. I spend the remainder of my spring break in anxiety. I missed the birth of my nephew, I have no intention of missing the birth of my new niece. This may mean I miss school, or even get taken out halfway through the day. Enough of that, though. The more I think about the more I begin to hyperventilate (Hahaa...).

Onto things unrelated to the birth of my second niece.

You see, I'm a huge fan of Hetalia: Axis Powers (Or is it Axis Powers Hetalia now? Or was that before it got dubbed? Ah, danggit...). It's an anime about personified countries. It follows the characters/countries through major events in the world, such as WW2. Currently, my favorite characters in the series are Russia, Canada and America. Being the good little fangirl I am, I took it upon myself to learn how to draw them. I haven't gotten around to America yet, but I have made a reference sheet for Russia and Canada. Russia was easy.

Have any of you tried to draw a maple leaf? Like the one on the Canadian flag?

I fear the people of Canada may sue me for defiling their national icon.

Everything was going fine until I tried to draw the leaf. Who'd have thought it was so hard? I still can't get the dang thing to look right. 

Heres a look at what I've accomplished:


The first picture is Russia (Ivan Braginsky), the second Canada (Matthew Williams). You can see a few of my crappy attempts at the corner of Matthew's page... uhg. Stupid leaf. Since these are reference sheets for myself, the figures on the left of each paper aren't... original. I basically copied pictures the artist published, so I could get a feel for the characters. Everything else, I did myself. Especially those maple leafs.

...I hate the maple leaf.

It's about time to bring this to a close, since I have school tomorrow. And a sister in labor.

Oh, anxiety.

<3

The Thing I'd Never Do

I started a blog.

[Enter gasping audience here]

Ahhh, yes. The ramblings of nothing from someone who, really, has nothing to talk about (I repeat myself for effect). And this is just the introduction! Whomever decides to read this, I apologize. Don't waste your life, do something productive like... finding the cure to cancer?

Anywho.

I suppose I should use this space to warn anyone what they're in for, if they were to read the things I have to write. First, I'm a nerd. Specifically, an anime/manga nerd. Some would call me an 'otaku', but when you know the true meaning of the word, it just doesn't seem to fit. Second, I'm an artist (hence the name of the blog). I'll more than likely be posting pictures of my art, whether it be for input or simply to show what I'm working on. Third, I have no intention of writing properly. I realize it's 'wrong' to address the reader, buuuuuuut I plan to do so. Granted, I doubt there will be many readers. Finally, I tend to type only half of what I'm saying. The rest, which is still in my head, I think I've typed or that you all will understand (since you're all in my head, right?).

Well, I'm out of rambling. So I think I'll end this here.

(And if you haven't noticed, I'm comma happy.)

<3