jai guru deva om

Ah...

2009-12-22T10:00:36Z

Nothing says holiday season more than playing New Super Mario Bros Wii into the wee hours of the morning (*rimshot*) and your legs are cramped from sitting too long, thumbs sore from intense button pushing, and eyes watery from staring at the screen. 'Tis the season!

oh my goodness.

2009-12-21T07:30:10Z

Christmas shopping with my mother isn't worth it. Everything on my wish list is unacceptable. And it's not like I'm asking for a $600 camera or a new car or something ridiculous. And even then it's not like I'm begging for these things, I was asked what I wanted, so I gave some answers. Geesh!

Me: "Oh, I want new fuzzy slippers because mine are 5 years old and super flat"
Mom: *disgusting face* (she hates the fuzziness of them haha she also claims they are "fine" when in reality they are dirty, matted and practically worn into the ground)

Me: "I kind of want new sweat pants (from VS)"
Mom: "It's not like you're going to wear them to school. (I'm still going to wear them...) Besides, this is a... *sheepishly* underwear store."
Me: -_____-;

Me: "A new pair of boots would be nice"
Mom: "What are those on your feet? You already have a pair!" (keep in mind that I own one pair of boots, sneakers, and sandals, while my mom owns like 15 pairs of the same black heel in slight variations)

Gah! I know it's my mom just being... my mom, but damn. Sometimes I wish she could be one of those moms who shop at the same stores as me. I know it's creepy when moms and daughters dress alike, but I wish she would be a little more with the times so we could shop together without me getting so frustrated.

Well...

2009-12-19T04:30:38Z

So while I might have been kind of fired from my part time minimum wage job, I did really well in all of my classes. And seeing as all of my classes were art related in some way (either studio type courses or art history), I know that's what matters. My knowledge of artists is even broader and have a bunch of drawing and photo techniques under my belt. I know it's "easy" to get good grades in an art class, especially over chemistry classes for example, but to me this just means that I'm meant to do what I'm doing. I took my classes very seriously and never skipped a day, so I'm glad all my hard work paid off. I don't plan on blending smoothies or serving orange chicken for the rest of my life, but I do intend on staying in the art field.

When I'm bored, I take pictures out my window.

2009-12-19T01:33:20Z

This picture doesn't do the sky justice, but the sky was seriously glowing!

So being the dork that I am, I signed up for ONTD_StarTrek's first ever Secret Santa! I got a user who's a fan of Spock, so I decided to make her a pillow. Even though the corners are wonky, it was a ton of fun to make. The gold insignia started fraying so I had to take it off :( But for the back of the pillow I found this adorable gold-speckled fabric at Joann's that reminded me of the galaxy. How appropriate.

I'm actually seriously considering making some more pillow and selling them on Etsy. Maybe $25 shipped just because the design hand sewn and time consuming, hopefully not too bad considering Urban Outfitters sells pretty simple throw pillows for twice the price. Then again, it's Urban Outfitters... anyways. It would be kind of a neat side project and I already have a few ideas brewing in my head, including a couple Andy Warhol and Beatles inspired designs. Also, if nobody buys them, then hey. I'll have a bunch of fun pillows for my own bed!

Decisions, decisions...

2009-12-10T02:06:27Z

So after thinking a while about what camera I want next, I may have decided (quite a feat for me!). Since I can't afford a Canon Rebel or even a used G9, I might go with a used Olympus DSLR. Now, I would only buy it to use until I can save up enough for a XSi (or whatever they come up with next), so I don't plan on buying any other lenses for it. I know I can just put the money for the camera towards a Rebel, the one I want is $310 used (in excellent condition) and from a reputable used camera website. It's still $200 cheaper than the XSi and still cheaper than a used G9, so it's a pretty good price. It's only $100 cheaper than the XS, but it would take me a long time to save an additional $100. Also, the good thing about the Olympus (I want the Evolt E-410 or E-510) is that it's tiny! That way I can have the portability that I like about the Canon G series, but still get some high quality images.

Edit: Maybe even better - used Canon XT body for $230... my brother also has the XT and says he doesn't use the kit lens. Even though my point and shoot is only 2.5 years old, I'm itching for a new camera!

I don't know if I mentioned this...

2009-12-09T13:07:34Z

... but someone brought it up during critiques yesterday so I thought I would too.

For my birthday my brother got me a signed book by the author of Perry Bible Fellowship. It's a pretty crude comic at times, but it's extremely clever and I literally laugh out loud (or gasp) at every single one.

End of the quarter!

2009-12-09T10:00:23Z

I have to say, this is probably one of my favorite quarters yet. My two studio classes were the best - since the classes had around 15 students, it was so intimate and everyone kind of got to know each other. Even my Art History lecture only had about 70 students.

Anyways, I'm seriously blown away at how much I've improved in just one quarter. I truly have a grasp on aperture and shutter speed now, and developing a roll of film is like second nature. I can draw value and know that even shadows have reflected light. Ten weeks ago I didn't even know what reflected light was. I went from doing warm up gesture drawings on newsprint to photorealism and still lifes. I honestly never would have imagined.

Now that I'm done with class, I think I'm going to start uploading my work and keeping track of my progress.

Crap...

2009-12-08T06:46:44Z

Running out of juice and it's not even midnight.

Come one self, not even 24 hours and you have almost an entire month with no school or work! I want to take a nap but I know I might risk sleeping through the whole night so I just have to stay awake and hope that I don't crash randomly during my final. Of course for my drawing final I had to choose two glass vases for my still life, which are a bitch to draw. Yay.

lulz Duchamp.

2009-12-08T00:16:12Z

Duchamp has a work entitled, "L.H.O.O.Q." When each letter is read individually in French, it sounds like "Elle a chaud au cul," or roughly, "She has a hot ass."

Ha. So many French puns in my Art History class.

Call me crazy, but...

2009-12-04T00:29:49Z

That is one sexy camera. It might be slightly more affordable than a XSi right now, maybe even more so if I opt for the G9. Plus, I won't look like a creepy pedo by carrying around a huge body and lens everywhere.

... WHAT THE HELL?

2009-12-02T05:30:14Z

Is this real life?? Seriously, I need to know because I'm running on four hours of sleep.

So I FINALLY finished my photorealistic drawing at 7:00am, and got to school. When it was time to put up our work, I was feeling self-conscious about mine because I thought it was rushed and not very good, especially since so many of the other drawings were impressive. The girl next to mine had a ridiculously detailed and photorealistic drawing, one of the best, so I was pretty intimidated. But people started to pass by mine, and started talking about how good it was. I kind of brushed it off because I thought they were just being nice. But someone even took a picture of mine, which is flattering.

Then it was time for critiques. The first words out of my instructor's mouth when we came to mine were, "Now this is the one that blows my mind." I'm still in shock. She raved about the texture and somehow got on the topic of Thomas Kinkade, but she praised my work. She even said she would be willing to excuse the subtle creases in my paper (one thing she is super picky about) because she liked my drawing so much. The TA even said he had trouble telling the photo and the drawing apart. (LIES I SAY!) And when they were going around after assigning grades, I overheard excited whispering and "I KNOW, RIGHT?"s. It's a good feeling knowing you impressed your experienced drawing instructor.

While I'm still kind of confused as to why so many people liked my drawing (and I swear I'm not just being modest), it's nice to know that art is something I can be fairly successful at. It's not something I just decided to major in because it's "easy," but maybe something I've always had potential for. Ever since I was little I knew I wanted to do something art-related when I grew up, and things like this reassure me that this is where my heart and passion truly lie.

Of course I had to end my emotional high by losing my original photo that I worked off of! It's just a couple black and white photos printed and taped together and it's better than losing the drawing, but still. How careless of me :( I went back and looked for it, but couldn't find it. I like to think that someone found it and kept it, a way for me to share my art with a stranger. On a completely unrelated note, my momma bought me a herringbone jacket at Macy's yay. Also, Starbucks' Peppermint Hot Chocolate is dangerously delicious. Overall, not a bad day at all. Time for leftover blueberry cream pie, then bed. :)

:|

2009-12-01T06:11:11Z

I am really starting to resent this piece of shit drawing that ruined my Thanksgiving weekend. I poured countless hours into it, couldn't go black friday shopping because of it, left the house once all weekend because of it, and it still looks far from photorealistic. At this point I'm BSing... I honestly don't care how accurate it is because I know I'm not going to get an A. It's already ridiculous that she made us by 32" paper for a drawing that's about five inches wide (and wants us to keep the rest of the paper pristine), and even more ridiculous that she expects us to draw photorealistically after ten weeks in a basic drawing class. I've spent easily 20+ hours on this damn thing and now I'm stuck doing the hardest part: cement. I need to try and replicate every single goddamn speck. I'm at the end of my rope and ready to give up. I'm already tired as hell from a long day of work and class, have to go to the car dealer early in the morning, and now this.

LSDKFJLSKDJFLSDKJFWOIERLDSKNLSKDJRLKSDF. NOT HAPPY.

PHOTOREALISM FTL.

2009-11-25T00:14:26Z

For the next drawing assignment, we have to do a photorealist drawing of.. well, a photo. And it's the biggest pain in the ass. Each section of the drawing is done in quarter inch squares, and to make matters worse, today it took me three hours to almost finish two columns (maybe 20ish squares total). And I barely made a dent in the drawing. I'm about to PULL MY HAIR OUT. My instructor also said the only way to get an A on this assignment is if she can't tell the difference between the photo and the drawing. Psh, talk about high expectations for beginner students.

Anyways, I got my free(!) Star Trek art book from wired.com today and it is GLOOOORIOUS. I'm going to go grocery shopping for Thanksgiving right now but I can't wait to flip through it when I get back. <3 SO AMAZING.

RUDE.

2009-11-19T05:12:51Z

So today in photo we had lab time for the full class. Near the end I went to pick up the photos that some other students had dried and found my 11x14 all crinkled (apparently someone managed to get the huge ass piece of photo paper stuck in the dryer... I couldn't even do that if I tried) and another one of my photos inside of the dryer. Whenever I dry photos I always fish out the ones that get stuck, and I know that people usually offer to replace photo paper when they ruin photos while drying them, it's just common courtesy. Especially since the large photo paper is so damn expensive. I heat pressed it though, and managed to get it fixed somewhat, but still. Also, 20 minutes before class ended, almost everyone else had left, leaving the 3 remaining students (myself included) stuck with drying all of the photos in the water bath. They didn't even ask or tell us they were leaving. I felt really bad for my photo instructor because everyone just kind of left, and I could tell that she was a bit offended and hurt. I felt really bad because she's so ridiculously sweet and approachable. :(

oooooh boy.

2009-11-17T02:52:50Z

I have the answer to my DSi dilemma: bye bye DSi.

A 50 count box of 11x14 photo paper? $60.
EFF. I opted for the $13 10 sheet pack today, but damn. Photo and drawing are sucking my bank account dry. It doesn't help that I will probably need to go back for more.

But on the bright side, I went to Target and Bath and Body Works and ironically shopped my sorrows away. I wanted so many things in Target but I just had to keep walking. *tear*

EEEEEE DILEMMA

2009-11-15T17:34:05Z

It's expensive (and well... and relatively "unnecessary") seeing as I could put the money toward much better things, but I WANT. I've been drooling over the metallic blue for the longest time, and I couldn't get the ice blue bundle last black friday. Hm.

ecilart @ 2009-11-07T10:32:00

2009-11-07T18:37:02Z

John Mayer + quiet mornings + overcast, contemplative skies = the perfect peaceful saturday.

Luckily this weekend I don't have much to do (except for a couple art projects but nothing major) so I can spend it shopping, and planning for next weekend. The calm before the storm. 8) ... Actually I don't know what I'm doing for my birthday, so um, if you have any ideas throw them my way kthx.

BIIIIITCH.

2009-11-05T02:12:58Z

So guess who decided to put her photographs next to mine on the wall today for critiques? I mean, of all the places of the room, they were RIGHT next to mine. The balls, I tell you! I was there easily five minutes before her. And to make things worse, her photos got critiqued before mine, so during hers everyone talked about the theme of "no" and prohibition, and when we got to my photos, there wasn't much left to say. At the end of my critique, my instructor was like, "Funny how we had two in a row." She even asked at the beginning if we did this on purpose. HELL NO. UUUUGH WTF.

PS. What the flying eff keeps going on with my LJ layout? It's driving me nuts. One of these days I'll upload the images myself, but damn. All I see are hundreds of "bandwith exceeded"s.

ecilart @ 2009-10-29T20:34:00

2009-10-30T03:43:08Z

I'm tempted to hang my work from my drawing class up on the walls.

And it's most definitely not because I'm egotistical, because I'm far from. I'm just amazed at how much progress I've made in a mere five weeks, which is roughly ten classes because we only meet twice a week. I went from struggling to make accurate negative space shapes, to learning how to cite for accurate proportions, to creating still lives with depth and volume. The one thing I am struggling with, however, is keeping myself from comparing my work to others'. Whenever we walk around and take a look at our peers' work, I always freak out that mine is different and therefore "wrong" or "bad." Gotta work on giving myself more credit, especially since this is my first time in a drawing class and I'm definitely improving, which is what matters.

Anyways, I still don't know what to do about my photo project and the deadline is approaching. What should I do? :(

HELP PLEEEASE

2009-10-29T01:20:27Z

I have a dilemma.

Today in photo I was happily making prints, when all of a sudden I see a photo like mine in the developer bath. My theme is "repetitive act," and I was going for repetition of "no" - no parking signs, no u-turn signs, no skateboarding, etc. Later on in the day I was drying photos and looked on the racks and saw a contact sheet that also looked eerily like one of mine. They belong to this girl in my class who kind of gets on my nerves and doesn't understand personal space. Anyways, I'm not going to point fingers because it could just be some happy coincidence, but I still find the whole thing suspicious. Regardless, I don't know if I should:

1) Stick to my idea and deal with the fact that someone in my class has essentially the exact same concept as me. Keep in mind that these are going to be critiqued.

OR

2) Finish my third (and possibly fourth) roll with a new theme. I still want to stick with repetitive act, but maybe go around shooting houses in Irvine (a la Bernd and Hilla Becher). The idea of repetitive act is that by looking at them you get the point (hence why I wanted to repeat the word "no"), but I'm not sure if a bunch of houses would really add up to one idea. I guess it kind of stems from the idea that Irvine is so suburban and everything starts to look the same, but I'm not sure if that would come across clearly.

The project is due one week from now so I have time if I push it. I don't know though, I would hate to waste all the time I spent shooting and developing the other two rolls.

"These are lovely, BUT..."

2009-10-27T23:14:53Z

Ahh it's so hard not to take constructive criticism personally sometimes. When you spend hours and hours on a simple charcoal still life, you want people to like it, but when the shadows and highlights aren't all that accurate it kind of sucks. It also sucks when your pictures get used as the class example for what not to do. Definitely killed the high I got from doing well on my Art History midterm. 8( I am, however, loving working with charcoal because it's my favorite.. I just hate how ridiculously messy it is, especially at larger scales.

:T

2009-10-17T19:24:41Z

I hate hate hate being told what to photograph. I wish at this stage I could just experiment with black and white film and have fun with it. I absolutely love film and the whole developing and enlarging process, but I don't like that I have to take certain types of photos. I suppose it's to ~expand my horizons~ or whatever, but I'm dreading having to take self-portraits. I'm also not sure how to shoot a theme of "intimate life," when the only examples given included naked people having sex. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that, but it's definitely not my style. I need more direction when it comes to assignments like this. 8[ If only we could shoot whatever the hell we wanted... then I wouldn't be so stressed, ugh.

The kind of sucky part though about B&W film is that it's, well.. black and white. I'm so used to considering various colors and palettes in my photos, but that's no longer be the case. Since the viewfinder is also in color (duh, but you know what I mean), I often forget that I'm in B&W until I print and realize the shot doesn't look as cool. :(

lol silly Canadians

2009-10-13T23:05:48Z

Me: “Welcome, how can I be of assistance?”

Patient: “I think my son has Liza Minnelli!”

Me: “Liza Minnelli?”

Patient: “Yes! I think he has Liza Minnelli!”

Me: “Um…how did he contract it?”

Patient: “He ate the raw chicken on the counter! I’m telling you, it’s Liza Minnelli!”

Me: “Oh, you must mean salmonella.”

Patient: “No, I mean Liza Minnelli!”

Me: “Right, then. The doctor will see you now.”

(The doctor sees the patient’s child and tells her that it is salmonella and not Liza Minnelli. On her way out…)

Patient: “I still think it’s called Liza Minnelli.”

:|

2009-10-13T06:50:56Z

Today's drawing assignment was the first one I actually struggled with.

The first was just a gesture and contour drawing of a pile of shoes, the second was a negative space drawing of flowers in a vase, but today was cross contour of a plate of fruit. And it took me a decent amount of time to finish. I don't know what it is, but I just couldn't find the lines to make the fruit look three dimensional. I did my best and it looks alright, but man. I do not like cross contouring. :\

On a brighter note, we developed our rolls of film in photo today! We had to put our film onto the spool things in complete darkness, which was not fun because 1) I'm not a big fan of the dark, and 2) it's hard to use a can opener and cut film straight across when you can't see anything, even though your eyes are open. It takes a while to get used to. On wednesday we're going to make contact sheets and start enlarging from our negatives... exciting :)

I have band rehearsal tomorrow and no work until friday. Hopefully this week is a lot better than the last.

HOLY SHITTT

2009-10-13T01:30:47Z

Screw homework, I think I'm going to be making gifs out of this epic video all night long.

I LOVE THIS CAST SO MUCH OH MY GOD. <3