7 weeks of figure drawing class...not a lot I'm pleased with. Frankly I'm just really sick of doing it, and also hearing the same shit over and over again for years on end. When do they teach me structure?? I've been a bad art student and only going to class, no weekend workshops for me.

So it's October and I bet you all are wondering "Meri, where are those super amazing drawings you promised us over a month ago???"

The answer is: I don't know.

Have I apparently dropped off the face of the blogging planet?

According to my standards: yes.

Don't ask me why, or I will disappoint you again my friends. My mind is scattered today and I feel lost for words so I will be brief.

I really love it here at LCAD. Laguna Beach is super pretty, as long as you pretend there aren't all these other people here around you. The school is full of awesome teachers and legit classes. The weather is downright pleasant at worst. I like it here, and I don't want to move again, so I will not be putting together anymore entrance portfolios. I am staying.

What do I seem to be doing these days? Cutting a lot of things out in photoshop, and arranging lots of rectangles in illustrator. I'm sure the actual art bit will come eventually. But I am learning things, mostly. Well, not in figure drawing (big surprise) but everything else is worth my time. Oh ho ho, don't even get me started on figure sculpture. It hurts my brain.

Let's not even mention the going to the beach every weekend, preparing for NanoWrimo (which will be epic and decent this time around), looking for job (had an interview with coldstone today), cooking, cleaning, exercising several times a week, and someone who makes me feel like a stupid shy blushing little 13 year old girl again, not that that's much difference from the stupid, shy little 19 year old that I am. Whoops, already did.

BUT I have managed to do a bit of art here and there, so enjoy what you can, if you can:

1. Because I am a dork and have decided to fangirl hardcore about something because The Hunger Games is so totally worth fingerling about. Finnick4life!!! <3 So here is some fan art, for the first time ever. NEVER BACKLIGHT ANYTHING AGAIN.

2. Because the idea of Raindance Maggie is so sexy I can't help but draw a super implicative pin-up.

3. Because astronauts are cute AND NO I AM NOT A HIPSTER. But I am apparently a noob who types in all caps and talks to myself. Yea...it's bedtime.

pretty art things up and coming

so!

I got done with my summer job and vacation, got a new mac, and moved out to california, where I will be starting school at laguna college of art and design in just a few days. I had orientation yesterday and not only did they have spectacular catering, but I also met quite a few cool people and staff as well as saw the campus and got all the loose ends squared away.

I am so ready to start drawing again, this small hiatus/art block of mine has gone on for waaay too long but being back at a school makes me so excited to start things up again. And this year I actually get to start animating! Woohoo!

So expect pretty art things in the near future.

druheeng ah meez yew!

I can't seem to draw anything, for the life of me, since I got back. I hate it! I really want to do stuff, but I just can't! I feel like a lack of private work space is partially accountable for this (i.e. I have no desk anymore, besides the tiny pink and white one meant for an 8 year old...) but also my daily routine is so fucked up right now I can't seem to get anything in order. So I guess this is what an artist's block feels like.

IT SUCKS.

what do I dooooo?

Throwback

Well I'm home again. It's weird to be back. I miss all my friends back at Sheridan, and I miss my room too. It was so much bigger and well organized! My room here is a mess, as is my life.

Anyways, let me tell you a story.
Once upon a time in 8th grade I had these characters I drew, and I had personalities for them, and a whole world set up (they were basically just geometric shapes with faces) And I had this notebook in which I wrote up whole scenes and scripts about stories that took place, and I had an overarching story about taking over the world involved even.
Anyways, this notebook became lost to space and time somehow, probably because I was making it around the time my parents got divorced so it was very tricky, especially with all my stuff because it was moving all over the place all the sudden. And now I greatly miss that notebook. Because I am convinced that everything I wrote in there was completely hilarious (as I thought at the time) and it is probably some of the funniest stuff I've ever written (probably not) On occasion I start thinking about it and go on a man-hunt to find that notebook, but I always fail. It's probably been thrown out, but I can't quit looking, because there is such a multitude of STUFF in both my houses that its just impossible to give up hope.
Today I thought maybe it got mixed in with the schoolwork boxes my parents kept (unfortunately they did not keep one for the year I wrote it, due to the divorce) but I checked my 7th grade box anyway. I did not find it, but I did find all the art projects I did that year. Oh what fun. They're pretty bad. But here are some self portraits I did in the middle of my 13th year of life that might entertain. All I remember is that we had to do them ON a mirror. Tricky.


Sad part is...I still have all those clothes.



Anyways, here's a portrait I did for class awhile ago. Proof that being hungover makes you try new things because you're really not even thinking about it. It's not perfect, but I liked my color work.

Anyways, I hope to one day find that notebook and laugh at how awesome I was (seriously, 8th grade was an amazing year for me creatively speaking) In the meantime I can keep myself entertained with all the other things I wrote (I'm a writing maniac...I'm sure my blog doesn't help disguise that at all) and hopefully write more things. I'm becoming increasingly interested in comedy. Although I've never found myself a very funny person. I'd like to work on that.

Mermaids! For Snowboards! Yea!

My final 2d project. I was just having fun with these.


Anyways, I've kind of been neglecting my 100 themes challenge in lieu of trying to finish everything up for the school year. Basically everything is due this week. Bleh.

ALSO I'm a little unsure of what I want to do next year.
I want to go to LCAD, but my Dad is telling me I need to commit to a school and thus give up hope on Calarts. So it's either go to LCAD or stay at home and hope I get in. Which is not really a guarantee, especially because I find it more difficult to progress in my work without an artistic infrastructure around me. So...I don't know. I've been stuck on this for awhile now. I'm about 75% sure I'm going to go to LCAD. I will apply to Calarts no matter what, and if I get in, well, that can be another battle. If I don't, I can stay where I am and be happy, right?
It's just hard. I think LCAD will be a great school, but it's Cal fucking arts, pushing students to their fullest potential. You get to make a film every year. And all the fucking guest lectures! And all the companies that come just to Calarts, every year....sigh...I can't just forget about that so easily :/
BUT I do want to get on with my life, and start working hard and being in animation and stuff. Oh man, I am SO TERRIBLE at big decisions.

100 Themes Challenge- Week 2

9. Doom- see comic here. Warning: Very awkward if you know me. Also very large image.

10. Garden
11. Sadness
12. Confusion
13. Freedom
14. Inevitable
15. Idle...hippies are idle right?
16. Vampires....living in Canada has made me pretty much look like a vampire.


In other news:
I got accepted to Laguna College of Art and Design. With some money. Yay.
I decided not to appeal my Sheridan portfolio. I talked to a student and she said I just didn't have it...oh well.

I'm not sure what next year brings. I might go to LCAD but my Dad wants me to commit to a school and the only place I want to commit to is Calarts. So I may take a year off but that idea scares the poop out of me because I really like being in school and can't imagine anything else.