The Merriest Time of Year

Hello, all!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday season.  Or at the very least, survived it without killing anyone.  To all my fellow retail workers, congrats on making it through.  It's hell, I know. 

Things went pretty well here in Laurieland.  I found my art journal.  *joy*  I really should get more organized, as it seems I lose everything I come in contact with.  But some part of my brain tells me that if I were more well kept, my art skills would decline.  No, that doesn't make any sense, but when have I ever claimed to do that?

The best part about the Christmas chaos being over is that I'll be able to get back to my art.  I just haven't had the time for it lately.  Another bummer.  And I've got a few swaps and trades backing up.  Yeesh.

Got a netbook thing from the parents.  Very exciting.  An acer aspire.  Clearly it is aspiring to awesomeness, and it has succeeded.  Now I've just got to find my wireless router at home.  And we're back to the losing things, again.  Though, it technically isn't lost.  Just not unpacked.  After three months.  Heh....

Anyway, art updates to follow.  The 7 Days of Presents swap I was doing at AFA is finished now, and I'll throw up a picture of my loot.  I pulled some high ranking artist for the swap and I'd say I got some pretty epic drops.  (nerd!) 

Alright, 2010 looms.  So happy new year, and all that.  I'm not a big new year person.  As far as I can see, people use it as an excuse to drink.  To me, being awake constitutes that (jk?).  However, I hope the new year brings all kinds of niftiness and things for everyone.  Except the people that suck. 

My late night ramblings are over now.  Later.

Old School

I haven't felt all that inspired lately. I've still got this lingering cold that drags on and on. I don't feel all that horrible, just miserable enough to be pouty and non productive. Sucks. Especially this time of year. I also have misplaced my art journal. Shocking, given my standards of cleanliness. (HA!) I'm sure it's around here somewhere, but it's a bummer. Anyway, I thought I'd take a slice of humble pie and showcase my crude beginnings. This drawing was one I did in High School. Probably 1999 or 2000. I did a bunch of faery drawings for my friends, and this was one I remember being quite proud of. Look at those ankles! Oh, it makes me laugh.

The presents came in the mail!!! It was a very exciting mail day. I don't' get to start opening them until Saturday, but still. They are soooo pretty. Amy and I are gonna set up Christmas around the house tomorrow. Once the tree is set up with all the gifties I'll take a picture. I do love Christmas. Even though everything gets insane all over the world, I love it.

My parents got their tree, too. Seven feet. Seriously. The thing is huge! That's like, over 2 meters. (Thank you Unit Conversion on my cell phone.) I decided to call the thing Brutus, since he's so big. Every year I give the trees a name. Usually some sort of classically sounding name. Last year was Mercutio.

I wonder where my journal ran off to....

Zombie Picinic

This was a piece I did as a birthday present for a coworker. He loves zombies almost as much as I do, so I drew a zombie date for him. I think it's very romantic.

WoW Portrait

This piece was commissioned by a gal at AFA as a Christmas present for her hubby. I was a little concerned at first, 'cause me an armor haven't played that much together. But I like the way it turned out. The original image was a little too big for my scanner bed, so it cut off part of it. 9x12, india ink and artist markers.


I'm sick again, which is totally lame. At least it's not the flu this time, just a cold. Still. I haven't been sick all year long, and now twice in...well, I don't remember. But it's something like a month. And at Christmas, when there's tons to do. Not to mention Dragon Age to play. mwa ha. ha.

No news is....good news?

I hate sleep. I really, really do. I find the need for it utterly unfair. It's such a waste of time! Think of all the things one could accomplish in all the hours spent sleeping. Such a waste....of course, I usually have very strange dreams, which probably adds to my dislike of sleeping. Oh well...science has yet to aid me in this.

I don't have a lot to update. I finished a present swap I was involved with at AFA. Well, I finished the presents for the swap and got them mailed out. I do hope everyone likes their gifts. I think they will. Oddly enough, the one I was most concerned about turned out to be my favorite. Go figure. For those not familiar with present swaps, as I was not, essentially you join a group of people and make presents for one another. In this particular swap, I made 7 large, 7 medium, and 7 small or stocking stuffer type gifts for the persons in my group. I totally cheated, as Amy, my roommate, was one of the persons playing. I haven't finished her gift yet, though I technically have until Dec. 23. I like to think that I put my artistic energies into the other gifts. They're something I hope to sell on etsy, come the new year. So I really hope people like them.

Oh, yeah. That's going to be my new year's resolution: selling my art on etsy. I figure I have this skill I've worked a gagillion years on, I might as well make some money off it, right?

Cheers!

Art Journal Love

So I've been playing around with an art journal lately. Y'know, just doing art for my own sake and for fun. I've been working in a sketch moleskine, 5"x8". I've also been exploring mixed media, which is basically a Godsend. As a figure artist, I really hated coming up with backgrounds that were interesting but didn't detract from the image. Not really fun when you're just working with a pencil. Mixed media is the cure to the boring background disease!

So, when I first heard of Suzi Blu, all I really knew was that she didn't really understand facial proportions. (I later learned it was I that didn't understand the Whimsical Style.) I thought she was a 60-something housewife who took up art as something to do to fill the time. Boy was I surprised. So I started checking out her youtube videos and grew a little enamored, I must admit. Though stylistically I don't think I could ever successfully manage whimsey, I've learned a lot about freedom and exploration in my art. It's been a fun discovery process.

Here's to more mixed media joy in the future!

New Apartment

So, the moving is nearly complete. Which is exciting. Well, not so much the moving, but the being done moving. I really, really hate boxing and packing and hauling and living out of the boxes. But the new apartment is so thrilling I don't mind that much. We'll be out of the old apartment by Saturday and then we can start settling into the new one! Huzzah!

I haven't really had any time at all for art, which makes me very sad and grumpy indeed. I miss all my art supplies. I can see them...in the bags and the boxes. Oh, art supplies...le sigh.

Really?

Look at me being all presumptuous! Yet another artist spouting text into the ether. But who knows? Maybe you'll care what I have to say. Or you'll like how I say it. Or maybe it's just me, talking to myself. Well, I do that in real life, why not here, too?

Best part of today: I found a bag full of three (almost) complete sets of alphabet stamps at the thrift store for $7. Just four missing letters, but all in all, not a bad haul. I'm just starting to play around with mixed media and this find was serendipity in a bag. Mixed media is incredibly liberating, and certainly not what they teach you in school. I love it!

I've also started an art journal. I've never really done one before, not with the intention of making the whole thing be a...journal of art. The concept seems a little foreign to me, which is stupid, but there you have it. I'm really pretty dumb at times, at least when it comes to myself. At least I always have friends who are there to point out my dumbness to me. It's a fun process, though I'm still trying to figure out what works for me and what doesn't. Yay process...

That's it for now. I have to work in the morning. I'd rather make art.

Things I Did Today:
Shopped with mum at Goodwill (found stamps and pretty bowl); finished two ATCs, background for mixed media painting; worked more on making a necklace.

Go me!