35: Self portrait hw

For homework was a figure drawing assignment. I couldn't get anyone to model for me...but I do have a full-length mirror in my room.

Normally in Life Drawing class, we are not allowed to have our phones or cameras out. (Understandably  and rightfully so.) Unfortunately, I am not able to take in-progress shots. Since the model this time is myself, I figured I'd take the opportunity.

I started with vine charcoal. Just loose gesture drawings, trying to get the main masses down -- the head, ribcage and pelvis. Fleshed those out then added in the furniture.

First off, I realized the head was way too small. The left arm was too long, so that got shortened. The neck given a little more fleshing and the left leg fixed up. The boobs were also kind of lop-sided....fixed that! Just minor changes. Once I was satisfied with the over-all proportion, I went back in with a harder charcoal stick for the outlines. Defined the right arm a bit more, as well as the right knee.

Left the head pretty much un-touched for now. Started putting in some mid-tone shadows.

Finished! I wasn't sure about drawing in the face but I figured I might as well. I decided to leave the furniture lighter and more unfinished to keep the figure as the focal point.

34: Figure Drawings 2

So I've been seeing my Physical Therapist for a week now. My leg hasn't really changed much but my arm seems to be getting a lot better. They've been massaging it with an ultrasound machine which has reduced the swelling a lot and given me a wider range of motion. Hopefully this means I'll be better even sooner!

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An hour-long sketch from Life Drawing class tonight. This is the first one where I've had time to go back in and put some shading in. I'm not altogether satisfied with it, though. The pose was difficult for me and I feel that even though the proportions are correct and the line drawing is acceptably accurate, there is a lack of....movement...of...uhh...life in it.

33: Figure drawings

Work done for my Life Drawing class. It's nowhere near finished, though I doubt I'll be able to work on it again. I'm one of those people that really need a reference. I can't just draw off the top of my head. Unless I can get someone to model the same pose and have the same body type/size/shape...yeah, I'm most likely not working on it anymore.

Before the drawing above, I'd spent about 3 hours frustrated. Before this class, we had done sketches from a hanging skeleton. I'd memorized how the skeleton looked and was imagining how the model's skeleton looked underneath her skin and flesh. I would first sketch out how I visualized her skeleton looked, then drew the flesh around it.

All of these came out wrong. The torso was alright, but the pelvis/hips/butt region looked....off somehow.

I spent a long time staring at these and doing more and more sketches trying to figure it out. Then I realized where I was going wrong. I had been drawing from a skeleton, though a real one, that was hung in a way that the human body is not.

I was imagining the model's skeleton the way it would have hung. I was drawing the hips as if the head of the leg bone was hanging an inch below the socket....the way the skeleton's leg hung from a wire.

It took another half hour of sketching till I got it right. After that, we got a 45 minute block to draw one pose. the result is the first picture of this post.

What do you guys think?

32: Sketches

I was looking over the archives of this blog and just realized how personal it has become. My intent originally was to have someplace to post my works in progress, sketches, experiments and other pieces that aren't finished enough to post at my other art sites. It has quickly turned into a place for me to vent and unload my thoughts.

I...ah...apologize to anyone who reads this and expected a different beast. Haha!

Some sketches, though! I've found that doing these quick ink sketches when I first wake up help to loosen my arm for the rest of the day.

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So my parents were able to talk to our neighbor across the street, a really nice retired old man, and he has agreed to give me rides to and from school, as well as to and from my physical therapy appointments. We are paying him a small fee but really, its amazing that he's taking so much time out of his day to help someone completely unrelated to him.

I'm going to stick out this week and see how it goes. So far, its been a lot easier on me than last week. Just cutting out the commute really makes a difference!

31: Skelly ton

A quick shot of my skeleton sketches in Life Drawing class. My first couple were absolutely awful and have been destroyed!

A quick self portrait made for the profile pic of my new Tumblr blog. Yes, yes. I made a Tumblr. We'll see how long I can go updating it. LOL

(If you're curious, its over at stuffi.tumblr.com)

30: Worst Week Ever

I've had the most awful week. I've been agonizing over the decision of dropping the entire semester or keeping at it.

The first day of school was dandy until I started getting tired near the middle of the day, then it was excruciating on the way home. The next day, I woke up swollen and sore all over but decided to go to school anyway. As I hobbled home that night, cars honking at me as I tried crossing the street, I started crying. I was hurting all over, my leg was throbbing worse than it has in weeks and everything was sore. I cried all the way home and for a good 2 hours after that on the phone with Micah.

The next day, I woke up unable to move. Even lifting my head hurt. Everything was so painful and my leg was still swollen. I desperately called up some friends, and they were amazing enough to give me a ride to school and back. Just cutting out the 2 hour commute did was amazing. It hurt like hell to move but it was much mroe bearable.

The last school day of the week, I woke up still hurting and swollen but got ready for school anyway. As I stepped out the door and hobbled towards our gate, all the soreness and pain made themselves evident. I started getting panic attack just thinking about the rest of the day. I started crying uncontrollably again, went back inside and just collapsed in bed, crying until my parents came home.

Then came the mental anguish of trying to decide what to do. I love all my classes and I want desperately to take them. I lucked out and got them with the best teachers available. Plus, I really don't want to be set back even further than I already am. However, the commute and pain prevent me from doing my best. When I get to class, my arms are so sore I can barely mold my clay. My right arm, still unhealed and even more painful from the commute, can barely draw. I get home and sleep right away, not waking up till its time to leave. I've had no chance to do any homework. I worried that even if I were to tough it out and keep going to school, I'd do badly in my classes anyway.

29: Worst Day Ever

Yesterday was absolutely miserable and I don't expect today to be any better.

I walk a lot faster with just one crutch so I figured that would be all I needed. A few hours in and I was so exhausted, I was walking at a snail's pace. My messenger bag, which is normally a breeze to carry around, hurt my back so much. I think it was the funky angle I have to walk due to leaning on the crutch. Today I'll be trying two crutches. Its  a slower walk but I don't get as tired because I can lean on them.

The commute was the worst. Crossing Long Beach Blvd and Carson was awful. Huge streets with impatient drivers honking at me the entire time.

Yesterday, I did all of it in the daytime because a friend gave me a ride home. I'm terrified of the commute tonight. Urgh. Taking that week or two off school is starting to sound a lot better.

28: Frustrations and a new haircut

I'm not ready for school to start on Monday. I feel like I've absolutely wasted this entire summer. I wasn't able to do any of the fun things I had planned, neither was I able to plan anything new. (Except for RENT. No way was I going to miss a chance of a lifetime.) I wasn't able to go shopping for school supplies, either.

Mostly, I'm terrified about applying for art school. This has been something I've had planned for a long time but now...I dunno. The bills have started coming in for the accident and although my parents have promised to pay for my education, I am terrified they won't be able to afford it. We are nowhere near rich and finances have been very strained since the deaths of my grandfather and aunt last year.

I haven't been able to work on my application portfolio at all. I was hoping to take my time off for summer to work on it. Now I'm faced with the possibility of having to drop this entire semester if my arm keeps hurting. I really want more than anything to transfer at least by Spring 2011 but that's starting to seem unrealistic.

I'm incredibly frustrated. After high school, I had a solid 4 year plan for college. Within the first semester, I picked up the wrong friends, skipped classes and basically wasted time and money. I spent 3 years taking classes I didn't need and failing the ones I did. A year and a half ago, I finally get my act together and I'm so so so very close to finishing up my core classes. I feel like I work so hard for a year and a half and get so much accomplished...but in the space of just one summer, I'm falling behind again.

Keeping motivated is hard. Its really easy to slip into a loathing, self-entitled depression. I feel like I've been such a burden to Micah and my own family. I hate having to ask for help for simple shit like making food or even getting into the shower.

At least my leg is healing a lot quicker now. It still gets swollen and throbs painfully, but I only need one crutch to walk for short distances. I seem to heal in spurts. I'll go a week or two with no improvement, then suddenly one day I wake up and I'm less swollen or I can put a little more pressure on it. Its those good days that keep me going.

To cheer myself up, I decided to get a new look for school. I was getting tired of the old shaggy cut and my roots had grown in horribly. Normally I dye it myself but I can't really do it one-handed. I came up with this look that everyone said was going to be a) impossible. b) horrendous. I think it turned out to be neither! Haha!

I went to the Mojave Barber College here in Victorville. I got a student barber, Joseph, who was incredibly attentive and tried really hard to make sense of my non-nonsensical ideas and vague descriptions. I felt bad for the poor guy. LOL After a lot of fussing and test runs and people coming over to give advice, we got the cut done. The instructor came over and offered to do an all-over rainbow dye job. Not an offer I can turn down!!!

I'm really excited about the new hair. The best part was all the people freaking out, thinking the barber was messing up. Then there were the people asking why the hell I was doing this to myself. Haha! I've never been to attached to my hair. No matter what I do to it, it grows back. If it doesn't, I can get wigs...or sport a bald look. LOL

My favorite were the children. There were 4-5 kids playing around, staring at me whenever they thought I wasn't looking. At one point, this little girl shyly came up to me and said "You look cute." Put a smile right on my face.

27: Apprehension & brush pens

I am absolutely terrified of going back to school. I can move around a lot these days but crossing the street is absolutely horrific, even with Micah holding my hand the entire time. I can't imagine how the commute to school is going to be like. I know I have the option of taking the first few weeks off but I think that would do more harm than good. I'd be so behind in all my classes.

I'm just so freaked out and anxious about this. I can't think straight and keep getting panic attacks. AAARRGHHH!!!

Sorry you guys. I just needed a place to let it out.

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Micah and I visited Little Tokyo last week. It was exhausting walking around on crutches so I spent most of it sitting in the middle of a very tourist-filled courtyard while Micah wandered around. Lots of silly tourists asked to take pictures with me. I think they assumed I was in cosplay? That's why people have green hair, right? Haha!

Anywho, in a small gift shop with random stuff, I picked up a brush pen. I love drawing with brush pens but haven't yet found one that's waterproof. They also have felt tips that get worn blunt in about two days of heavy use. This is awful for me since I draw almost constantly. For $1.99 though, it wasn't a bad deal.

I was complaining about it on my Facebook when Dylan Horrocks (of Hicksville comics) mentioned the Pentel GFKP. Unlike the cheap felt-tip brush pens I've been buying, this has individual nylon bristles that make up the brush tip. The ink is waterproof (india ink, I believe?) and refillable. It's incredibly cheap compared to the Kuretake Brush Pen I was looking at in Blick's last year. (I was told at the time that it was the only other type of brush pen available on the market.)

I'm planning on ordering the pen off e-bay the next chance I get. These have great reviews and seem to last a while. Totally worth it in my mind.

26: Sketches and mustaches

An exhausting day but one I needed. Met up with some friends in town I haven't seen in a long time. I have the bad habit of waiting till the last minute to do so.

Howard and Micah at Seattle's Best

Mustaches!

And I got my very first mini-comic printed!

25: Rectifying the lack of art

An update on me: My leg is increasingly better though I will still need a cane to walk for the next few weeks. My arm hasn't improved much. I have a wider range of motion but it hurts pretty much constantly now. The pain has also spread from just my elbow and forearm down to the back of my hand. I should be seeing a physical therapist soon, though, so here's hoping they can figure out how to fix me.

I haven't been doing too much drawing/painting lately, what with the arm and all. Here's a few sketches from the past week though.

Met up with an online friend for the first time. Also met her boyfriend.

Turns out she's not an axe murderer! LOL

Micah and I are regulars at the Seattle's Best near our house
 

Some ATCs I'm working on for trade

24: On Art Theft Online

With me going on and on about posting my art on Tumblr, the most common question I've heard from friends is "Aren't you scared of putting your art online? What if someone steals it?"

First off, art theft is an awful thing to do. It is the swiping of someone's creative work, emphasis on work. Stealing any piece of art means also stealing the person's time and energy spent making the piece, their emotional and physical stress of thinking up something original, their possible financial gain from the piece, and their joy of having made it. A little on the extreme and emotional side? I think not. When someone's work is stolen, this leaves a sour taste. This person may opt to never again post their work, show their art to anyone, may even be so crippled with fear that they stop making art completely.

However, I believe there is a distinction between art theft online and art theft in the "real world." Art theft from a museum or gallery or your rival's locker in art school is clear-cut. It is a consciously malicious selfish act, it is an obvious crime with clearly stated laws broken. It is an act with selfish personal gains; financially by selling a rare or expensive piece, esteem in passing off a work of genius as your own, or maybe even just spite.

Art theft online is not always so clear. Many have internalized the ideal that the internet is practically a hippie commune. Everything should be free to share and if it isn't, then the person/company is evil. Once something is put online, then it is free for all. The person uploading it should have known better or should have expected it by now. This is propagated by free data that, in the past, would have cost a premium to access. (For ex. newspaper archives, medical information, pornography, music, television etc.) Whenever a company tries to institute a paywall, there is immediate derision followed by failure. (See article on Newsday's subscription attempt.) Others simply do not know that it is etiquette to attribute an image, song or video to the original creator.

Another difference is the outcome of art theft online. There are definitely instances where art is stolen for financial gain (ex. John T. Unger's firebowls). There have been (rumored) instances of chain companies (clothing stores and the like) stealing designs for mass production.  The majority of art theft, however, doesn't result in major losses. Most art thieves are kids in middle school who see a drawing of a fairy or a vampire, post it in their blog to share and forget to link to the creator. They may print the image out and say they drew it. In comparison to "real world" art  thieves, this is a mild case of un-educated misjudgment.

It is at this age that educational systems should be teaching people how to write essays with proper bibliographies, annotations and the results of plagiarism. On the part of the artist, there should be friendly but many reminders that works posted are created and owned by an individual. I think there should also be an encouragement for people to share the work by posting on their blogs, Facebook or Twitter....with a link to the creator. Make it easy for them. Provide the link in text form, have your website URL on the image itself.

Personally, I do not worry much about art theft. Mostly because my work is of an auto-biographical nature and it is difficult to pass off work like that as made by a different person. Also because I like to subscribe to the positive, even naive, side of art theft...if someone thinks your work is good enough to steal, make something even better. I like to think of it as not being naive but rather choosing not to be afraid of making art at all.

23: I'm a chatterbox today

I'm not gonna lie. Tumblr seems to bring out the hipster in me. Haha! Whenever I try to think of a name, I come  up with the fluffiest aesthetically-inclined-yet-devoid-of-content stuff. So far, I've got:

* FromMyHands
* FingerScribbles
* Stuffiate (already taken)
* Stuffidrew (most likely what I will go with)
* Whatiate (also taken)
* Lookatthisfuckingdrawing (can you tell I was getting frustrated at this point?)

Why aren't I going with something simple like my name or Sheikasaurus Rex? I think its the anonymity. I've begun and abruptly left behind many blogs in the past. If this one ends up on the scrap pile, it won't have my name attached to it. There will be no dredging up of old forgotten works, comments and photos.

Unlike others I know, I'm not bogged down by the idea of "Oh, just another thing thing to log in to and keep track of." I am endlessly fascinated by new blogging platforms, social networks and forums. Couple this with a need to ramble on random topics and I'm left with a long trail of abandoned accounts.

I think what appeals to me most about Tumblr is the very same thing that I love about Blogger: the connected-ness (Yes Matt, it is so totally a word!). The ability to re-blog something (similar to re-tweeting an interesting post or link) and to "Follow" blogs by others. I've been finding some amazing Tumblr blogs lately (Tumblogs?) that I want to bookmark and comment to but I can't. Best of all, is the community Tumblogs. These are blogs with a theme (like Eat. Sleep. Draw and Fuck Yeah Moleskins) where you can submit your posts to a pool of others' posts. Similar to Flickr groups but more accessible, I think.

Some favorites so far:

* Indistinguishable from Magic. A Tumblog by Aaron Diaz (webcomicker, creator of Dresden Codack) where he shares sketches, drawing demonstrations and really interesting comic tips. http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com

* P.S. I made this. A Tumblog where the writer looks to fashion magazines for the latest expensive clothes/styles/accessories and makes it out of the simplest things (ex. paper towel tubes, plastic bottles, ribbon, duct tape etc.) She's practically the McGuyver of fashion and DIY! (Did that reference just age me? Yes. I loved watching McGuyver as a kid. Shaddup!)
http://psimadethis.com

* Lunch Bag Art and Lunch Bag Dad. These two dads pack a brown-bag lunch for their children everyday and turn them into amazing drawings/paintings. I would have loved something like this as a kid.
http://lunchbagart.tumblr.com and http://lunchbagdad.tumblr.com

* Fuck Yeah Moleskins. A collection of peoples' moleskin sketchbooks.
http://fuckyeahmoleskines.tumblr.com

* Eat. Sleep. Draw. A drawing/art tumblog open to all.
http://eatsleepdraw.com

+ The hundreds of inspirational Tumblogs. I end up clicking through hundreds of peoples' blogs in the space of a few minutes so its hard to find just one or two.

22: Musings on blogging platforms

I've been doing a lot of reading, researching and comparing of  blogging platforms lately. Mainly because I'm trying to find the best home for the comic, but also to keep up with what's going on in the technological world.

I've been with Blogger a long time simply because, for a while, it was the only free platform. Then I got to know it inside and out. I could customize it endlessly and learned HTML in 6th grade just so I could write up personalized templates for it. Blogger feels like a comfortable old apartment. It's pretty run-down, has a few creaks and leaks, its nothing like the fancy new lofts going up everywhere....but its mine and I'm used to it.

WordPress holds no appeal for me other than the ability to use ComicsPress. From what I've seen, this is THE theme and platform for webcomics unless I go through the trouble of creating a site completely from scratch. Almost every webcomic uses ComicsPress and common opinion seems to be that it is a pain to set up but is smooth afterward. Until a different platform is made, I will most likely be moving my comic to WordPress. My biggest concern is that I will miss the inter-connection of the Blogger webcomickers I've come to know and love. There's a whole slew of top-notch artists still using Blogger and I love the ability to "Follow" them and have them show up in my RSS reader.

Lastly, Tumblr has been intriguing me more and more. I'm violently opposed to anything new, so initially I despised Tumblr and the idea of micro-blogging. It seemed to me as an excuse to just re-link and re-post random crap from the internet...and a lot of tumbleblogs are just that. There are a few, though, that are pretty interesting and some with original content. The ease, both in visual aesthetic and in posting, of images is what hooked me in.

I think I'll be making a Tumblr account soon. Perhaps make a Tumblr just for posting daily sketches. I love that I can host files directly on Tumblr, so no more uploading to Photobucket then linking. I will most probably keep this Blogger for my lengthy ramblings and musings.

21: Photography ramblings

In a previous life, I was a photographer. I did some freelance work for small-time newspapers, some editorial work for local magazines, and worked in a portrait studio/lab. An old friend messaged me today asking for advice since he's recently become interested in photography. I figured I'd copy my rather lengthy response here.

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Ahhh! Those aren't "the basics." Most people spend their entire lives trying to figure that out what makes a good angle and whatnot.

With photography, you have to learn the rules, learn the systematic techniques, read your camera's instruction manual backwards and forwards, follow the numbered directions, the mechanical recipe of a "good" photograph, all the un-creative boring stuff. Once you've got that down, then can you figure out what rules to break and what directions to ignore to make something completely original.

Stepping away from my little highfalutin rambling, here's some specific tid-bits that come to mind right now:

1. The quality of the camera does not = the quality of your picture. The "lil thing" you keep in your pocket will be just as good as an expensive camera in terms of angles/composition/visual aesthetic etc

2. Frame the picture IN CAMERA as close as possible as what you want the finished picture to look like. (as opposed to taking a picture then expecting to crop/edit in Photoshop later.)

2.5. Frame the object/subject as tightly as possible. Zoom in. FILL the frame with the object. Even if the picture is of a landscape, a deserted horizon, a tiny object in a vast emptiness...I don't care. Basically, every single space of your frame should be part of the image...as much as possible, nothing empty or useless meant to be edited/cropped out later.

3. Composition > angle. Don't confuse a fancy/crazy angle for a good composition. You can come up with an angle no one in the history of photography has ever used before and it would be pointless if the composition was lacking. Vice versa, the most amazing photographs are composed beautifully and taken with the most mundane angles. (Some people would even say that a fancy angle is just compensating for poor composition.)

3.5. Learn the basic rules of composition. Rule of thirds, rule of diagonals, triadic composition, use negative space, figure-ground confusion, framing etc.
Some useful links:
http://www.galitz.co.il/en/articles/composition.shtml
http://digital-photography-school.com/rapid-composition-how-to-compose-a-photo-quickly
http://www.digicamhelp.com/taking-photos/advanced-techniques/composing-photos/

4. Learn photography terms/tools. Not everything...just the most common and important. A good starting list:
http://www.arecintophotography.com/blog/photography-tutorials/common-photography-terms-and-usage-examples

5. Use as much natural light as possible (unless it night-time. Then use a tripod or stead your arm/body against a wall/railing/table.) When shooting indoors, use light from a window/door/etc. Indoor lights leave an un-natural yellow/blue glow and using a flash over-exposes everything and leaves harsh shadows.

6. LOOK at photographs. LOOK at good photographs (this is subjective...but a general idea of what is considered "good" is a start). LOOK at bad photographs. Compare and contrast.

7. TAKE PICTURES. I cannot stress enough how monumentally important this is. Photography really is one of those things that you learn just by doing. Specially in these days of digital cameras where you can take hundreds at little to no cost. Think of it in these terms: You have an unlimited number of amazing photographs inside you just waiting for you to take them....but you only get ONE per 100 shots you take.