New schedule

Figured I might as well post what my new schedule is for school, seeing as I did it the first time.

Monday 6pm-10pm Concept Development

I'm hoping this class will help me with throughly developing ideas, which in turn means I won't give up on an idea just cause I can't flesh it out more.

Tuesday 1-5 Typography

Not especially looking forward to this because it isn't calligraphy, it's all computer generated wording, which bothers me, but oh well. I need it, so I'll do it with a smile.

Wednesday 1-5 Color Application

AKA Painting techniques apparently. Though I got Rocco which a professor I've heard everyone likes, so I'm looking forward to that.

Friday 8am-12pm Computer Science

No Idea what this is...We'll find out...

MULTIPLES

some people can't, apparently I can. Post twice in one day that is.

anyway, here is what I did in my illustrator class, in order of how we did them.

This was a project using word prompts to illustrate the word. She preferred if we didn't use the actual word in the design, so I strayed from doing so. The prompts in order from left to right:
Scale, Negative and positive space, pattern
Balance, Tension, Playful


Bamboo:
We had to follow a tutorial for this one, just had to make bamboo. Sounds simple enough but it was actually really....involved. And the only reason it looks so rasterized (choppy around the edges) is because this was saved bigger but made smaller to fit here.



Website design(Mid Term):
We had to do a front page for a website about ourselves. I kinda just threw this together because the teacher wasn't specific enough. The image is a picture of myself that I traced in Illustrator. Full vector image. Everything on the page I did on the computer. Click the link for this one, it's too big for the page.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b333/Ninjaotakumaster/MYOWNWEBPAGE-1.jpg

Fruit Bowl Extra Credit:

This was where we learned how to use the Make 3D tool in Illustrator. Probably took me 30-45 minutes to finish XD



Resturant Logo(Final):

We had to come up with a restaurant name, logo design and concept. I made up a sushi restaurant which was retro-modern, a place where locals and tourists alike would go. The Koi fish S was drawn on the computer with a tablet using the brush tool, then filled with gradients for the color version and solid black for the B&W version. Click the link for this one too.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b333/Ninjaotakumaster/Resturant_Logo_by_Vermilion_pt2.jpg

UPDATING IS FOR DUMMIES

Thank goodness class doesn't start until the 12th. Though I just got my grades;

Layout: A
Film Appreciation: B
Illustrator program: A
Design Basics 3D: A
Sociology: A

GO ME! :3

Anyway, I should have some art up soon, some secret santa stuff, stuff I'm working on for fun, etc. That is IF my mom's scanner decides to stop being a bitch.

"Post up three memories. One of your oldest, one of your fondest, and one of your scariest (or if you don't really have a scary memory, something random'll do just fine!). Then tag a few people."

#1. sticking my money bank key in my bank...Didn't open it up for about 2 years

#2. Disney Weekend with Jeni

#3. Spider the size of my hand crawling in my helmet (which was on my head at the time)during a horseback riding lesson

What I got:
~200 bucks spending (pronounced: savings) Money
~Flat iron for straightening my hair
~Iron Man DVD
~Hulk DVD
~Hand made Necklace from friend
~Alphonse Mucha art book
~"Steve and Me" by Terry Irwin
~Ancient civilizations and cultures book (YAY reference material....700 pages worth!)
~16 GB I-pod
~Special Edition Mystery Science Theatre 3000 disc set
~Crystal angel in treasure chest with my name on it
~Watercolor pencils
~Wooden travel set of paints, pencils, etc
~4 pairs of comfy socks
~2 pairs of sock-shoes (also comfy)
~2 pairs of bed time slippers (one is pink butterflies, the other are sock monkeys. The sock monkeys currently reign supreme in my footwear)

and finally, the top 2:
~Sister-in-laws old I-Mac with OS X on it. Now I just gotta bug Leah into DLing Adobe suite for me onto my discs :P
(this next one(s) made me cry)
~One ticket to see WICKED at the Gershwin Theatre in New York City and dinner for 2 at an expesive steakhouse on Broadway.
~ Round trip plane ticket to NYC and Back.

My mom bought the ticket for me and the dinner for two. My Tia Devi (thats Aunt Debbie for you white folks)bought the plane ticket for me. She's totally who I wanna take to dinner with me before I go to the show.

My Dad, mom, grandparents, my whole family(family includes friends!) made this Christmas unforgettable. Times like this make me miss living at home and seeing my family as often as I wanted. I was truly spoiled in that aspect, living in Ft. Lauderdale has shown that to me. I miss everyone dearly whenever I leave. But, I'm doing great in school which is why I'm there. I know I'm going to do great things, just gotta get through school first...


SO! holy shitake mushrooms, this was an awesome christmas! Hope everyone else had a great Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa or whatever it is you celebrate!

MERRY CHRISMAHANUKWANZUKKAH!

first night closing at work

long story short

Leann+grill that has seltzer water on it=hot water burns on right hand (drawing hand for those of you that don't know).

Grill cleaning is the first thing you do in closing shift, I still had to finish everything else. An hour worth of cleaning. Best part? I close again on Thursday. I think I'll sell tickets.

LEANN vs. GRILL AT BOWLING ALLEY with his partner SELTZER WATER. THURSDAY THURSDAY THURSDAY! BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW.

In all seriousness, it really does hurt (thank god it isn't blistering) but thankfully, because of my first aid training from lifeguarding, I knew exactly what I needed to do. Also, typing all this out with my left hand is hard. I have to keep my right hand in cool water to keep the burning sensation away. Doing nearly 100 panel tomorrow for lauout class is going to be fun....holding a pencil is going to be fun... :D I took a couph pill that SHOULD put me to sleep so I can ignore this pain, at least till tomorrow, which by then it will have subsided I believe.

I'm going to spread rumors about the Grill at school so no one will play with him anymore.

Just wondering...

Why is it that everytime I hear a republican say "Obama is pro killing babies" I want to shoot them?

I don't mind them making the accusation, I know about the bill or law he voted on around 4 times to leaglize something about killing babies already out of the womb but if the only reason you are against him is for this..."Infantcide" I think is the word, then look at the other issues. Yes, Obama is pro-choice, which for many people comes down to OMG, HE KILLS BABIES, STOP THE EVIL MAN! But when it comes to other things such as healthcare, our dwindling economy and small business help, etc. What do you think? If you honestly belive McCains plans for all those are better, then vote for him. I'm not trying to sway you to vote McCain or vote Obama, anything I say here won't change your mind (and if it does, you are weak willed mentally...bring me cookies.) I'm just saying look at ALL the facts, not just abortion.


Palin has been senslessly killing wolves in Alaska as part of a "population control" which is complete and utter bullshit. End of Story. The wolf population is up, which means that their prey population will go down. Thus, the wolf population will go down and the prey population would go up. Then the cycle continues, it's the natural order of nature. Going through and shooting 14 baby orphaned baby wolves in the head point blank, after killing their mothers or packs, is wrong. I for one, am the kind of person who values human and animal life at the same level. Not everyone feels this way, and I know this. But to say that killing baby animals is right, is incredibly wrong.

Also, Palin had it passed as a law in Alaska that women (or men) who are raped have to pay for their testing, medicine, and psychological evaluations. Those all cost a lot of money, ALOT OF MONEY. In most states, it's paid for by the sate or local legislature. Otherwise, many victimes of rape can't afford for testing, even something as simple as a pregnancy test, or a morning after pill or care, should the woman be impregnanted by the rape. When this was later brought up a little before or after Palin was named as running mate for McCain (I can't remember which) she basically went "woops! Did I do that? *ctl-alt-del* " Cause I betcha anything, Joe six-pack wasn't happy to find this out shortly after his mom, sister, wife or daughter was raped and couldn't afford the proper care. Maybe they could go to Russia for help, it is right next to Alaska after all. Not to mention that that kind of law would just force desperate women into more back-alley type abortions, rather than being able to afford going to a proper clinic, getting psychological help and medicine. I'm pro-choice, call it what you will, but I am.



Killing babies is wrong.
Killing animals for false reasons is wrong.

OUR economy is bringing down the GLOBAL economy. Do people even understand that? The US is affecting the rest of the WORLD because out economy has been steadily declining over the past four years. Recently, it got worse, quickly and we are experiencing a recession. I think Obama can change that, I truely do.

And to all the republicans, voting McCain simply because of the abortion issue: May the Fetus you save be Gay.

Sorry for the scatter-brained train of thought, but I had to get that off my chest...even though it might not make sense...to anyone...I don't talk politics much because my train of thought is too crazy...that and I hate talking politics.

First Week is over

Film Appreciation: Monday 9-12

Class started out with only about 5 people including myself, and grew to about 12-15 by the end of class. It's small but I like it, infact I LOVE IT. This class is sooooo much fun already. We have to watch movie clips in class, discussing key points in camera angles, how the scene was shot, dialouge, etc. We watched the opening scene from Swordfish this past class, which is probably one of my favorite scenes from the movie (next to the one of Hugh Jackman shirtless in a towel). There is a film festival down here which is actually about a month long I believe. We are going to that and possibly other feild trips to see movies currently out in theatres. There will of course be tests and stuff, but so what? I literally have to sit down and do nothing but watch movies as homework, which means I'm going to be looking for more foreign films (one of the key discussions coming up is the difference between hollywood and other countries movies). Any Suggestions for movies? I'd love to hear them! Also, it TOTALLY threw me off how many foreign people were in this class. And it wasn't just this class, all my other classes have people from Clumbia, Sweden, Japan, Germany, Peru and so many more. It's so cool to be able to meet all these people and learn about their cultures.

Design Basics 3D: Monday 1-5

My Final is on the beach. I have to make a kite fly. If I fail this class or get anything less than a B I'm gonna cut my own foot off. Of course it seems easy now, but chances are later it wont be, and there is more to building a kite than I know (I researched it now, just to see what I might have to do). The Professor is funny, keeps me laughing through class. I made a few friends in this class alreadym they sit in the same group of drawing tables I sit at. There was this other girl infront of me who had CRAZY awesome hair. It was Half shaved on one side and spiked upward, and it was bright blue, which contrasted with her black hair. I would never do that with my hair (it isn't POSSIBLE) BUT MAN IT LOOKS COOL!


Computer Graphics: Thursday 1-5

Due to copyright laws, they can't call this class "Illustrator 101", because they don't own the title of that program, so it's called computer graphics (though I'm just gonna call it Illustrator, the other crap is too long to type and I'm lazy, as we all know). Anyway, our teacher wasn't in class that day (She's Jewish and it was a holiday for her) so we had a sub. He is a working graphic designer (he showed us some of his stuff. IT WAS AWESOME. That and he was another funny teacher that kept me laughing in class) and told us about how he prefers illustrator now to photshop even though he used to use ONLY photoshop. In the long run, for his feild, illustrator is better because it's vector based, so you can blow up the picture to the size of a building and it wont become pixelated. Then we had class work, learning how to use the anchor points of the system, making curves and circles, yadda yadda. Then we got the homework which was to outline different shapes the teacher made. I finished it all yesterday in class since I don't have illustrator on my computer. It's actually a fun program, once you figure it out. Don't worry Joyce, I'll teach you when I come home for visits.

Intro to Sociology: Friday 8-11

To any of you who went to Bishop Moore High School and had the absolute pleasure of having Mr. Saulpauh (spelling?) as a teacher, turn him into a short woman, and you get my Sociology teacher. She has SO many stories from her life (she's lived in Iceland, Germany, Africa, France, USA, Turkey and a bunch of other places and she marched in the civil rights movement!) She can talk like there is no tomorrow but really, in sociology, that's great, because there is ALOT to cover. We are going to be watching a bunch of documentaires (including "The Devil's Playground", one that I've seen before about Amish people, it's worth checking out in my opinion) and doing a lot of discussions about difficult subjects (Racism, sexism, Feral Children, Patriotism). We got to see this clip of Jimi Hendrix playing the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock and in the rifts he was simulating the sirens of ambulances and bombs dropping from plans, his stand against the Vietnam war. It was amazing, look for it on Youtube, just search Jimi Hendrix Woodstock Star Spangled Banner. This class surprised me and I'm REALLY looking forward to it.

Layout: Friday 1-5

My teacher in this class is very soft spoken but the class seems fun. It has to do with how pages are put onto pages, how posters are made, etc. All about how to form a good Layout design. It's also to teach us about rendering and such (our first project is using grey tone markers to render pictures of different people, objects and textures. The funny thing about this class is, there is me and one other illustration student, one advertising student, one for graphic design and the rest are photography, which I think there are about 10-12 photography students there. One of them is actually a working photographer, he's just back to finish his B.A. This is the class that besides Illustrator class, I think I will get the most out of. I'm looking forward to it, but just worried more so about what we will have to create. It's definently going to push my imagination around.

Other News

I dyed my hair red! No, not super red or even Lindsey-Lohan-when-she-wasn't-a-crack-whore-red. It's kind of a drak Auburn color. Aunt Karen did it for me after she finished Emily's hair ( Emily went to a dark brown, it looks so good). I think it looks good. I've wanted to change my hair for a while now, and I'm happy with the results.

Comedic Gold?

I can't get my stupid new header to fit....

ohwell! Just something I did out of boredom and need for a header, yeah it's supossed to look bad.


Man, I love that face, cracks me up everytime to see it. XD

Ft. Lauderdale living

The first of many posts, now that I'm down here and I promised to update as much as possible for my stepmom and dad (especially while he is in Japan) and for my friends and family who read this. Firstly, list of classes I'm taking this semester

Computer Graphics: Thursday 1-5
Design Basics 3D: Monday 1-5
Intro to Sociology: Friday 8-11
Layout: Friday 1-5
Film Appreciation: Monday 9-12

All of them are in the main building besides sociology which I can just walk to if I really want to (which I will in the winter, but not in the summer, too dang-gone hot in Florida! I don't wanna walk into class all smelly!) Orientation was Yesterday and it was alot of the same stuff I heard at the open house (infact I think many of the speeches were the same ones given that day XD) But the speech from the lady in charge of Student affairs makes me wanna be more involved, like be a student leader person, help out other students, etc. But that wont be this semester, I don't know if I could handle that, 5 classes and a job (once I find one). I got my Illustration kit and HOLYCRAP it was heavy to carry that sucker around all day. It came with a 250 GB harddrive which made my inner electronic geek giggle. Only problem is that my current laptop doesn't have enough power to power it. Once Joe gets my actual laptop fixed, that one will have the power to make the harddrive work. It also came with many other things (prismacolor markers, paper, straightedges charcoal, etc.) but the Harddrive made me giggle the most.

Living with my Aunt Karen and Uncle Joe is just too much fun (until I told them I'm voting Obama T_T ). Karen is a housewife, so her, my cousin Emily who is also living here and I hang out all day, watch movies talk, it's a McBlasty-blast. We make dinner every night and them being on weight watchers has helped me alot with my weight lose. That and I'm walking Ollie and Annie (the Dogs) with Karen every morning when I wake up (2 miles every morning!). I've gotta get on my wieght training though...and start swimming in their pool. The food has been SO GOOD though. I got to make them my stir fry which they liked, but we also made fruit parfaits, grilled peaches and I learned how to make scones from scratch! It's so easy it makes me wanna bake more, hehe. Aunt Karen is so funny (AND SHE LIKES MUSICALS) I'm always laughing in this house. Today she had her recipe club meeting (which is where she taught us how to make Scones) and I met some of her friends from her church. Tomorrow I'm going to their Singles Movie Night to meet some people in the area, cause Lord knows I need some kind of social life down here :P

That's really all I've done so far in 3 days. School starts on monday and I couldn't be more excited and terrified at the same time. This weekend should be fun too. Gotta get my car tags renewed, doing that tomorrow before the weekend. Who am I kidding, I'm probably just lounging around the house all weekened scared outta my mind from school. XD

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMM 21!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

long time....again

Man, I really need to keep up with this.

News update: Hurricane Ike is missing Florida THANK GOD.

School is getting closer and closer and I'm growing more nervous by the minute. Mostly financial problems, waiting for my financial helper to email me back with the new plan, but for it to work, my mom would have to take this INSANE parent loan, so I wanna see about me taking more in my subsidized loan (or unsub, I can't remember which) so she (or my dad) don't have to take this ridiculous loan. But ever time I talk to my admissions person, I get more and more excited and stop worrying, which for me is bad. Unless I'm worried about something, it won't get done, which is why I work better when I procrastinate (which is a horrible habit that WILL be broken) or under pressure.

Also, I need to finish a commision from my friend for her husband. Painting of a mermaid, simple, BUT NOT. The pose is making my wrist hurt. Anyway, nothing else going on, today is my last day working security, then im life guarding for the rest of september and orientation for school is beginning of october. fun times.

I'm still alive

Haven't done one of these in a bit. Nothing really to update on. This weekend is the open house at AIF, super excited. Getting everything together for them. Drawing more, as usual. Still need to get a new charger for my laptop so it stops being all dead.

My mom's cat Max loves my mice....a little too much. It worries me. Working all wekk, 9 hours a day (yay overtime) and all I do is hand out badges and sit on the internet XD. Oh, and there is a radio, so I can listen to CD's or a radio station. Good times. I have drawings for this place, they just aren't done because I haven't finished them and they aren't on this computer so it's not like I can upload them right now.

Um...yeah, nothing else has really happened.

Wall-e

Did a review for Wall-e, the new pixar film. Decided I might as well post it here.

I've been meaning to do this for forever and a day now, and seeing as I'm avoiding anything about The Dark Night till I see it this weekend (hopefully), I finally decided to sit down and do this one.

Spoilers ahead fyi, though I'll try to not give too much away

First off, Animation=drooltastic. Like, hoooooly crap. Lighting was done extraordinarily well, and the amount/detail in textures blew my mind. My favorite part was probably when they were showing the captains of the ship, how they went frm real humans to the cartoony ones we see in the movie. I don't know much else when it comes to 3D animation, but I do know this is some of the best I've seen in a while (YAY PIXAR)

The story itself is adorable and how they conveyed human emotion through the robots was moving. It's one of the things I love about animation and why I considered it for so long as my career; the abilty to make none living things seem human, to allow the audience a connection with the character on an emotional level. There are times in this movie when you really feel for Wall-e or Eeve. While yes, this story does have a lesson and there are no undertones about it (PIXAR slaps you in the face with it from the beginning), it's done in such a way that it isn't like a little kids show where they recap it at the end
Kids show host: So kids, we all know how important recyling is now, right?
Kids: YEAH!
Kids show host: Then lets all recycle now, YAY!

If you're a normal kid, chances are you wont catch the undertone, but teens and up will definently see it.

Now onto my favorite part, THE ENDING. No, not the actual end, THE CREDITS! Being an art student, I was required to take Art History I and II. Art History I went from cave painting to medeivel times, just before the renaissance. Art History II went from Renaissance to the 1970's ( I forget the name of that art time XD) If you wanted to learn anything beyond that, a Modern art class it what you needed. Wall-e's ending credits takes a particular style from each Art time, and uses it in the credits, going from cave painting, to pointilism (pointilism is THE DEVIL BITCH to do, too much color theory involved for my liking) to impressionistic and ending in the digital age (pixels), the only reason I believe they went no further than that is because the movie was done in the next big step, 3D animation. The credits made me giddy like a little girl, just ask Salerek or Skwerly.

Overall, anyone and everyone will enjoy this movie. Go see it on the big screen before it comes to DVD. The DVD is sure to be on my wishlist.

Memories...

ALL ALONE IN THE MOOOOOOONLIIIIIIGHT

I'm such a dork.

Anyway, so I was thinking back to my childhood for some reason the other day and remembering the silly things we used to do (by we I mean my family and friends). Since you who are included in the 'we' read this, I thought some of you might get a kick out of these and see if you remember them.

1)Disney adventures:
My dad worked at Disney up until I was about 15 I think and even today he works there in the winter, around Christmas time. Anyway, having a dad who can get you into Disney anytime made for a fun childhood and many trips to the castle of a huge frickin Rat. One time, I think I was about 13 or so, I can't remember, but it was just me, my brother and my dad. We were taking back roads home as usual. The day was fun and we were all tired. I was riding shotgun and PJ was in the back. We had just gone by one of the spots that the fireworks are shot up from
when we went over a speed bump. I don't know WHAT I was thinking, but as we went over, I completely spazzed out screaming "OHMAHGAWD WE'RE GOING OVER A SPEED BUMP!" and returning to being calm when the speed bump was gone. It was one of the first times I remember my brother laughing so hard at something I did that he looked like he was about to pee. We did it a couple more times together before or dad was too freaked out by it (or just tired of us doing it) that we stopped.

Another time, it was me, PJ (brother) and Heidi (sister) at Rat-world and our dad had just finished a show that we were watching. After PJ and I had been doing the drum beats together with the closing song of the show, we got to meet some of the musicians and dancers. A preface to this is that growing up, if our mom wanted to get our attention, she would do this LOUD whistle, which always caught our attention. Anyway, we are sitting there, talking to our dad when PJ and I hear this whistle. Now, logically, we know our mom isn't at Disney. But sure enough, when we heard it, both our heads popped up like ground dogs looking out a hole in the ground, just looking for our mom. Our dad couldn't figure out what we were doing, but when we explained it to him, he just laughed. We are now our mother's Pavlov dogs.

There were many other funny things that happened at Disney, but I can't remember them all and there isn't enough space for them.

2) Heidi is funny:
I swear, I have the funniest family ever. PJ can always make me laugh, My mom is clever and I'm sarcastic (shuddup, it's funny, not obnoxious) and Heidi has her moments. She is probably one of the funniest. Firstly, seeing her now, she reminds me of how I act up in front of my friends.

Once, while PJ was driving us along with his ex and her sister to a theme park or our moms job (I don't remember) and we passed by a building where white smoke was coming out of a pipe. The car had been quiet for a bit and suddenly we hear Heidi exclaim "WE HAVE A NEW POPE!" and it took a moment for all of us to get it, but we were all busting up laughing from it.

Another time, I was getting my oil changed and Heidi was with me. I also decided to get a new air filter that day so they had to call out the number for someone to get it.
"I need a 2-93485" and before he could say air filter, Heidi exclaimed "HIKE!" and I couldn't stop laughing.

There are many more times with her, but again, not enough time for all them.

Anyway, if there are any funny times you remember, comment with them. I wanna hear them!

Oh internets...

I knew thee well...

I haven't had internet at home for a while, so I'm finally at work and able to check things, get things and watch things (Vague much?). Getting things together for school, as usual. Talking to people at both AIF and UCF trying to get things done, as well as moving back to Orlando, little by little I'll be bringing my stuff back into my moms house.

Almost done with VCC (thank god!) and just making more pottery everyday.

Heidi spent the past week with me which was tons of fun, and I'm glad she had fun too. Joe, my roomie, took the whole house out for seafood last night (her final night in Titusville with us). Lobster and rock shrimp for me, Heidi had Scallops and Crab legs. All over it was a fun and busy week. That and I'm starting my Diet....okay, not a diet, it's a lifestyle change, but diet is such an easier (and smaller) word, lol. Am I lazy or what?




I was bored while waiting in the Campisi health center loby, so I decided to see how many muscles I could remember correctly...um....I don't think I technically got any of them right, lol, but it looks good!!

I can't be trusted alone in pet stores...

Especially the ones that sell pets.

As you read in my last journal, I had to go to the pet store to get a rolley ball and bedding for Dulce my mouse and litter for Holiday my cat. Well, when I got Dulce (pronounced Dool-say) she had recently been with a cage mate, who died about 2-3 months before I got Dulce. She originally belonged to a friend who no longer wanted her, so I took Dulce. Mice are typically social creatures and get attached to their cage mates. I noticed that Dulce had been eating more (she's a fat little mouse now) and not running in her wheel as much and it really worried me a bit. So whilst at the store getting bedding for her cage, I saw them. The BUCKET of mice! Okay...not really a bucket, but it was a fish tank FULL of mice. Jeezy Chreezy! SO MANY MICE!!!!
Anyway, I stood there watching the mice, running around (with each other) sleeping (with each other) and eating (with each other) and I really started to feel bad for Dulce. Here she was, all alone in a cage, getting fatter by the minute and seemingly depressed as hell when at my disposal are 10 unbudgeted dollars (it was orignally 20, but half went into savings)Mice are 2.50 a pop. I could get her another mousey friend and STILL have money left over...heck, I could have gotten her THREE more cage mates and still had money left over for like...a soda or something. Long story short (too late) I got two more mice, for Dulce...yeah, it's ALL for Dulce, I get no pleasure from more pets WHATSOEVER.

Their names are Copa and Cabana (girls of course, I don't want any breeding going on, that's the LAST thing I need...two more mice were probably the last thing I needed a couple of days ago but NO MATTER, moving on!)

Copa is a black and white mouse and very adventurous. She was the first out of the two to go down the tube from the 'loft' of the cage to the main compartment where food and the running wheel are kept.

Cabana is all orange with a small white spot on her forehead and red eyes. She is my siesta mouse, you can handle her all you want and she doesn't fidget about nearly as much as Dulce. She also likes to nestle in small nooks (i.e. the inside of your elbow) and she falls asleep. She reminds me of Flower from Bambi, how they are constantly sleeping and barely move when you wake them up.

Dulce is orange and white, kinda like a creamsicle. Ducle means "sweets" in spanish, so I thought it was cute. Dulce is very....jittery, to say the least. She will run away from your hand if you try to pick her up, but once you have her, she doesn't really run away, she just explores.

Copa & Cabana have adjusted well to their new surroundings and I find them sleeping together all the time. Dulce is close by, normally only a few inches away, sleeping by herself, though I have seen her with C&C recently. Oh, and they eat from each others mouths too. And Dulce is using the running wheel again!

In all, I'm glad I got them, cause I know Dulce is happy now.

Holiday on the other hand...he doesn't mind them, he just hates that they are getting more attention than him. For the most part, they crawl on or over him, Holiday ignores it for about 5 minutes, before moving away and lying back down, then the mice find him, he gets aanoyed and moves, the mice follow. It's a different kind of "cat and mouse" game.

I love my pets :D

Sleepy sleepy

Yeah, yeah, no right to be sleepy when you slept in till 10:40 but I was up late doing art again which nowadays is my only reason for staying up. I get the drive and can't sleep because of it. Oh well, I'm up now and FINALLY have a day off to get stuff done (so I'm procrastinating being productive by writing a blog, LOGIC!). Checklist for today is:

~clean and detail inside of car (Check! I did this yesterday so I wouldn't have to do it today)
~laundry (too much laundry, this is gonna take all day)
~Organize room (um....impossible. Just cleaning before I move out and starting to get boxes)
~Go to pet store (need more litter for Holiday and more food/litter for Dulce and a rolly ball for her also so I can clean her cage without watching her at the same time.)
~Mess around more on photoshop (have some WIP's[Work In Progress] I need to finish, including this one:


~Cook food (I gotta decide if I'm cooking or buying something simple like hamburger helper)
~ Stop at bank to deposit money for mom (health insurance and cell phone bill)
~oogle at AIF's website again
~Make sure everything is ready for next week when Heidi visits (clean sheets and such)


SO! That should be fun
Also, I saw Wall-e, the new Pixar/Disney movie and ooooooooh my god! Not only was the story line adorable and funny, this is how cartoons USED to be made. There isn't much dialog between the robots, save fore the occasional "wall-e" or "eeeeve" coming out all static sounding. This story is told by the music (just how I like it!) and expressions of the robots are through movement and "facial" expressions. The lesson of the movie cracks me up, especially how it is shown. The rendering in the movie was awesome (though in the space ship everything was smooth so textures weren't terribly abound) and the ending credits (this might only make sense to people who studied art) goes through the times of art, starting with cave paintings, then Egyptian, eventually going to impressionism and pointillism and ending in the digital age. All over, I loved this movie and want to see it again, and will continue watching it when I own it.


IN OTHER NEWS:
Ninja Gaiden II is so pretty and makes me want an xbox 360 JUST for that game. I watch some gameplay and sweet jesus, it had me drooling. More checklist:
~ Save up for xbox360 and ninja gaiden II
~get Mac laptop for art
~Finish Guiter Hero II

Photoshop

Lately, I've been trying to get the hang of photoshop, coloring, making clean lineart, etc.
I'm finding that everything you do on there takes TEN MILLION steps before you get what you wanted, but, after doing it about 5 times, you have the steps memorized and you can do them quickly. My latest excursion in photoshop-land resulted in this:(the resizing on this site makes the picture blurry)



I don't know how I feel about it, it's tiny and cute, but the layering process just about killed me. I'm so much more used to Open Canvas 4.05 in comparison to Photoshop CS3. There, when you layer one color on top of another, the colors blend a bit, giving a good basis for shadow (this is Open Canvas in "multiply" layer mode) But in Photoshop you have to select the color and find a darker shade which goes well with the first color, but they are in completely different layers! The result looks the same (except that of course, Open canvas imitates watercolor and photoshop has a more flat acrylic or gouche (did I spell that right?) feel to it.

I guess it's really just a matter of me getting used to it and learning everything I can about the program, no matter how much I miss Open Canvas. Haha.


IN OTHER NEWS:
Went to Ringling on Wednesday with my dad and step mom. Holy Crap. Like....there are no words for how much I love that school. Who knows, maybe it's just cause it's an art school and I'm so used to community college or UCF and feeling like there isn't anything there for me, now I've seen a school that has EVERYTHING I want and it's like some kind of sensory overload.
But, my dad and step mom went to The Art Institute of Florida (Fort Lauderdale location) and looked around for me and got information (which really is a great help, I just don't have the time to go many places with summer school and work and all that jazz) and my dad said he really liked it more than Ringling (he said it seemed less snooty, I think I was able to ignore the snootiness of Ringling because I was too flabbergasted at everything they had to offer). So I checked out the website and looked into their illustration program curriculum.

Holy Crap!....AGAIN!!! Another school which has what I want and FOR less. If I went to Ringling I'd be getting a major in illustration and visual development. Art Institute (AIF) has everything from Ringlings major and minor I'd be taking, crammed into one degree (save for a few classes, which I'm sure I could take as electives or something). AIF also doesn't start till October, which means I can still get in for fall (the big thing with Ringling is I couldn't get in till January AT THE EARLIEST and even so, I'd be a half-year freshman in January.) I'm obviously leaning towards AIF now, but for some reason, Ringling is still in the back of my head screaming "hey! what about me?!?!?" I guess thats normal, considering how long I've been talking about and thinking about Ringling.

Whatever will be, will be, and it will all turn out for the best.

JUST KIDDING

Decided to throw at least SOMETHING up here, so I doodled some fanart of the movie Ratatouille, one of my favorites. Seriously, Pixar Studios has changed the animation industry like nobodies business. And how they treat their employees on a daily basis is a testament to how a business can keep so many of their people on board, the turn over rate not being all that high from what I hear.

Wooo!

Man, never thought I'd have one of these...

After seeing my Step mom's journal, along with many other artists that I admire also keeping blogs, simply updating with doodles, ramblings and rantings etc I finally decided to take my shot at this. Mostly this is for those who are interested in knowing my day to day life, as well as a drawing exersize of sorts for myself. If I draw at least one thing everyday, specifically for this, then it should keep my "creative juices flowing", per say. That being said...I have no drawings for you today....


Well, I think we can all see how this is going to turn out...