Minor Minor

Haven't updated in a while (what like, 3 days or something?? crimanittley!!)
So here is a funny picture, that makes me LOL so.

Bedtime now, uh huh uh huh.

Critique Results

So my first critique of the semester was yesterday. Here's how it went down!

I was anxious as all hell, and found myself pretty awkward around the two others who were also putting their work up. I realised: I've forgotten how to interract with people. Luckily it got better as the day went on.

So I set up my stuff in a somewhat organised manner, brought supplimentary materials, as well as the felt version of myself.

I chatted a bit with Nick as well as he was one of the first to filter in. Apparently, a couple years ago he would suffer copious amounts of anxiety, to the point where he also found it hard to leave his house (though not in the agoraphopbic way, which is the same as me). I suggested we meet up some time for lunch or something and have a chat, also about collaborating on something. I truly admire and respect and connect with Nick, so I would love to be able to work with him.

I wound up being the first one up. I was really amazed by the suggestions that came in. First off, one girl suggested a type of paper to use, which is also apparently a cheaper paper (rejoice!). she also asked if I did any watercolour...and I said yes, and I wasn't sure if that's what I wanted to do in order to be able to make larger works, because watercolour paper (cold press, which is really the only watercolour paper I like to use because the warping doesn't look nearly as bad) kinda bothers me. Others commented on my use of coloured pencil, and one girl, Brooke, seemed to really like it and encouraged me to keep using them. She said there was something basic and childlike about coloured pencils whcih lended that quality to my drawings. We also talked about framing options, which I am personally the most excited about. They suggested I frame pictures, not necessarily with traditional frames, but using polymer clay or other objects and setting them around certain images to put the images into context. I thought this was SUCH a great idea, because the idea of traditional framing personally bores the pants off of me.

I told them about how I had researched Lincoln, and how I felt like when I was reading his letters time had folded in on itself, and though so many years have past, things are essentially the same. How one can connect with someone from so long ago. I told them that I felt like Abe was sort of my buddy, and I wanted to create this world where he could have fun and be carefree. There was a unified, "OHhhhhh" from the group. Because apparently before that, they were detecting a perverse quality to my drawings. LMAO. I must be one disturbed lady!

But they also thought that including the letters Lincoln wrote would be a good idea....maybe framing photocopies of the letters and keeping them seperate from the fun happy world, just to give my work more context. I'm still not sure how to go about this. It seemed a general consensus to keep them seperate and more serious. Someone suggested putting them into a book, and I really like that. But I also like the idea of them framed. I hve a lot of work ahead of me. LOL.

Jack also said he could imagine the drawings as an animation (unfortunately which I have no patience to do. I remember long, long nights in my animation class. hahaha), and then Bernhard said that I could create a series of images and place them sequentially to create that visual rhythmn of animation. I really liked that idea as well! Also in general everyone thought it was a good idea to mix the styles of my drawings. For instance, my cutesy ones with the more minimalistic little mini mes. I like this idea too because this way I don't get bored doing the same type of character over and over. As for my felt, Bernhard suggested I also incorporate some of the felt pieces :)

Twords the end, Bernhard said, it seems that the only rule is to go strange. LOL. That is right up my alley!

Now the issue is we all have to pick an area where to put our works for the grad show at the end of the semester. It seems like we're all not entirely sure where we want to go. So it's going to be a bit stressfull until everyone's settled into the right spots. Brooke suggested we wait for a month, for people to produce more work, so we each have a better idea of our space requirements.

Well, I'm not sure which direction to go in right now. I may just stick with the marker on kent drawings, smaller ones probably, since I don't have the money to buy paper or frames or anything just yet. I also was thinking of making some small polymer clay toasts with different toppings....jam, jelly, peanut butter, butter, and smiley faces. Hehehe.

Off I go to do some work!

Pancake Time!

That was one huge fucking pancake. Also Camp 100% pure maple syrup. Not featured: Sting's Balls.

I know I know, the stovetop is so dirty. I aint Martha Stewart!

YAY!

Here are the pictures of my other two drawings, completed :) Pictures are a bit crap because my camera battery was dying so I was hurrying = blurryness.

Ooh la la! It't got a background! And of course, it's a rainbow. I also considered a flying carpet. Next time.

This one is blurry. Boo! But you get an idea of the detail involved. Abe is looking like a mix between Rory Gilmore and Mr. Bean.

Ah, much better. Even more on the detail. I'. really happy with how Abe and his accessories turned out, as well as the cupcake and candies in general. How do you like Abe's sexy lycra shorts?

Bit of a closeup on my character's side. I absolutely love the way the socks turned out. Grey enough but not so much that they look dirty. That thing on the right is meant to be Bubble tea, but I couldn't get the tapioca bubbles dark enough due to the excessive layers of wax. Urgh.

Hahahaha I just now realized, I never added the pupils to either sets of eyes! Makes this gaze look somewhat scary.....

My third drawing :D I love love this one so! I love the colours and the delicate-ness (delicacy isn't the right word, right??). I also have to say, baby Abe with chocolate around his mouth makes me laugh!

Better view of this one.

Extreme Closeup! You're welcome for the lame Wayne's World reference. This drawing was lined with copic multiliners, filled in with my glorious copic markers, and detailed with prismacolour pencils on Kent paper. Looks much better with pupils, too.

Hahahaha....why do I keep making Abe look like Mr. Bean?? I guess if noone knows it's Abe, Mr. Bean is a good alternative though. Couldn't ask for a better one, really! The velvety texture of Abe's stovepipe hat is due to the relatively rough prismacolour shading. Gives the hat a bit of tooth.

I'm very happy with how his little outfit turned out. I love the mustardy colour. I originally wanted it more like a baby chick yellow, but the mustard turned out nice I think. I also opted to kep the background just a colour field because I didn't want to complicate it too much and detract from the characters.





That's all for now. Next post.... MASSIVE PANCAKE.

Ooh you're in trouble, girl!

Well, today is my first critique of the semester. I've been feeling so anxious about it. Not anxious about my abilities or the quality of my drawings, but more about what people will think of them. Though Jack told me, "Fuck em". I know that's the attitude I should have, and from time to time I do have flickers of boldness. I just can't help feeling a sense of nakedness. These are things that come purely from my heart. This is art as therapy. So it's a frightening proposition to put these types of works up for display in front of art school people whose job it is to tell you what you're doing wrong.

Vulnerability.

This morning I got a call from Yvonne from the office. Luckily I sounded lucid enough to give the impression that I was actually awake at 9 am (damn that The Help book, keeping me up!). She told me that Merrin contacted her about me not having been there for 2 weeks. I explained to her why, that I've been seeing the counselor, etc. I said that Merrin was probably worried and she said that, yes, Merrin sounded concerned. I feel really fortunate, at least, to have people in my school who seem to genuinely care about me and notice when I'm not there. Merrin especially is so kind.

So that's where I am this semester. Completely behind the 8 Ball, anxious as all hell, a bit ashamed. But I've never felt such an overriding sense of sureness about what I am doing, at least not since the Fritzl era. The best thing is that it's regarding my goofy little drawings. I feel confident that in the end, I don't care if it's not seen as fine art and I as not quite an artist, as art itself has become such a self-serving, gigantic cliche. In reality I should be pretty happy that what I'm doing wouldn't exactly BE considered art ;)

I do want to mention that a couple nights ago Chris pointed out a show called The Happy Prostitute on tv to me. It looked LOLtastic, but he had to sleep, so I watched it in bed and wound up having a dream that I wanted a house so badly that I became a prostitute at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch. LOL. Nice.

Things have been going pretty damn well for Chris, and I am so happy for him! Drifting Through is coming together, and the dude Chris met regarding being the bass player, Dase, impressed Chris big time. News just in this morning, Dase contacted Chris and told him he loved the demo songs. So they will probably all play together on Sunday. So much beard power in this band. Hahaha. Billy Mays would be proud. Chris is also going to be meeting up with another band some time this week (Wednesday? I forgot when...O_O) and he's pretty stoked about that. I've heard some of their songs....really beautiful and dreamy.

Chris dad comes down this weekend, and it's Rachel's birthday, so we'll probably go out to dinner somewhere. Their dad only gets to stay a DAY. Which is massively lame. But he may have to be back sooner than he thought since Drifting Through may be playing a show in light of the Poison City big shows :)

I'm listening to Duncan Sheik. I haven't listened to this music in quite a long time. It's so fun hearing these songs again and anticipating the bits in them that hook me. Chris downloaded all of his albumns for me so I've got a lot to reminisce over!

I'm anxious to speak with Janyce, as she recently lost a dear family member and I hope that she is hanging in there. If you're reading this, where's that email???!??? ;) No I don't blame you, my last email was LONG..hehe.

Posting pics in a moment....Tootles for now!

Oops...

I forgot to post pictures. It's evening now though, so I'll take some snaps tomorrow and post them up :) Hopefully I'll finish my third drawing tonite so that I can post pics of that up, too!

Chris is at a show tonite, meeting the possible bass player for Drifting Through. I hope that he's having a good time!

I was meant to work on my drawing but I got diverted and watched Sixteen Candles instead.

We had a bit of a weird day. We went and got Chris' new pedal, then off to Seb's to drop off a wonky amp and for Chris to make a trade with his guitar that Seb wanted back. Seb's girlfriend and kid are both really sweet and nice, and though initially I was nervous to talk to them, we found we had a bit in common so that was really cool. His daughter, Kasey (sp?) showed us a worm she found that she named Slimy and he kept trying to escape his little container. They also had a pet rat that she pulled out of the cage and put on her shoulder. It was beyond cute seeing this little girl working on paper dolls with a white and brown rat sitting on her shoulder. People really, truly fill me with awe sometimes!

On the drive home, Chris and I were talking about music (as usual! haha). It lead into a conversation about my strange nostalgia for the olden times, 50s and 60s. He said something that really made me smile...that my love for those times is so genuine and pure, and he sensed that about me since he met me.

Photo above is one of Miss Marilyn Monroe that I've never seen before. So cute!

I got the urge to listen to Tiger Army now. hehe. Also I should get going and work more on my drawing before C Man gets home.

<3! the world is amazing!! haha <3

Hm..

EDIT: Fixed! Hoorah!!


I just noticed that my posts show up on the day before I posted them. This is probably cause it's set on American time.... So the day I actually make these posts is the day AFTER the one listed. OY. I'll hafta see if I can fiddle with the settings to fix this.

Updates and Neti Pots

It's been a while! It feels like only yesterday since I made my last post...*tears*

I finished my second drawing today (Sandwichham Lincoln) because I realised that I shot myself in the foot and cannot really add clouds to the background as I hoped. I tried oil pastel, which just wasn't opaque enough, and permanent white gouache but it looked really terrible and out of place. So I'll have to leave the clouds out.

I've started on my third drawing. Instead of doing another big one, I'm opting to do at least two smaller ones because I don't have a good quality paper for the big. The paper I used in Sandwichham Lincoln is very obviously bad when one takes a close look. But the smallers ones, I'll be using Kent paper, which is big with manga artists. It's kind of like a more refined, thinner bristol board, and marker takes beautifully to it (it winds up with a lovely watercoloury type mottled affect, but small enough to not be in the way and even enough to not look splotchy). I decided to try with my markers this time as that way I won't have to deal with 15 layers of waxy prismacolours. This way the prismacolour detailing I add will not scrape off other layers of prismacolour.

I also like the idea of having a couple smaller ones. It'll give everyone a better idea of the theme I'm going for (since the first two are relatively different), and it'll be more fun for me to qork on two seperate drawings.

I'll be posting pics of the finished Sandwichham Lincoln possibly later tonite.

The new one I've begun involves me with Abraham Lincoln latching onto my side like a baby. I'm holding a bar of chocolate with a bite taken out of it, and Abraham is gonna have some chocolate mess around his mouth. Hahahaha. I intented originally for him to be popping his head out of a shopping bag but that didn't work. Possibly for my second one though :)

In other news, it's been about 4 days since I've used my neti pot. I got a terrible, awful headache last nite just before bed, and woke up with a horrifying migraine this morning. I've taken advil and used my neti pot today. But during the 4 days, I thought to myself, Jelena, use your neti pot. The last time I had a long stretch between uses, I suffered a terrible headache and told myself to use it every day so I wouldn't have to suffer another one of those headaches because of my laziness. Well, apparently I forgot about the pain, and now oh boy do I remember! It's amazing how much a little plastic nasal irrigator can help someone like me who has dysfunctional sinuses.

So my lesson of the day. And if you get headaches often, and wake up with a stuffy nose, and have a hard time smelling things, and have post nasal drip, do yourself a favour and buy a neti pot! It's very simple to use. Strange at first but if you do it right you don't feel a thing, and the more you do it the quicker you get at it. And it really works wonders!

Here's what mind kinda looks like...
I went with Chris to Highpoint yesterday, where we made a mad dash to get all the things we needed. He picked up his copy of The Bigs, a baseball video game, I went to Priceline to get some more makeup (which I lost last weekend....*sob*) and get confounded by mascara options. Then we went to Big W where we bought some books. I got a new one called "The Help". So far I really enjoy it! The characters are brilliant and so believable, and it's genuinely interesting and fun to read. I recommend it! I doubt it'll be long before I have to buy another book :)

Progress!

Some updates on my projects...

Firstly, I finished my Abe portrait. After spending more time on it, I quickly realised that if I worked the paper over any more, it would disintegrate. So I darkened up the background a bit (leaving it plain pink to keep it simple) and removed the edging tape to reveal the nice clean margins. What a thrill! I'm glad it's done with....as much as I do love it and had fun doing it, I was so tired of looking at it. It was like reworking a math problem over and over.

Here's some photos of Abe completed!

I love the smiley button :D

Overworked turkey neck....damnittttt.. I need better paper. I guess it does make it look old. haha.


Before and After....better or worse? you decide.

After removing the drawing from the foamcore backing I had it taped to, a creepy embossed image appeared. Hahahahaha!

I started a new drawing yesterday, about double the size. My goal is to finish this one and hopefully start and finish a third one by critique on Monday. This probably won't happen, but it's good to dream. Here's some photos of the new one!

Oh hello! It's a cartoon me with Abe Lincoln. In a sandwich. Chris declared it must be titled Sandwhichham Lincoln.


I'm going to turn his little shorts into spandex ones...with little white stripes down the side, and probably red. And the cupcake in the foreground will either be erased and replaced with his stovepipe hat, or more cupcakes will be added.


Cool angular myspace-like closeup of me. And the ever present smiley face. hahaha. I am way into smiley faces. I'm contemplating some rainbows for the background of this drawing.

Oh My...

I want this, so badly, that I may cry.



What I have instead:

Abraham Lincoln's eyes...

are gray.

Like mine.

Shit to the fuck YES.

Oh...so THIS is what being productive is like.

More work on my Abe painting. This little A4 sheet is becoming quite a task. It made me begin to wonder....maybe I shouldn't go TOO large. I know what'll happen if I do...it'll take me 7 years to complete all the detail.

BUT I know they're gonna want to see some large works, so, I'll roll up my sleeves and suck it up like a good battered spouse.

On top of that.....to fit in all the things I want, A4 will just be TOO small. I can only get the prismacolour tip so fine before I have to start drawing with colour particles and a microscope.

At least I got to bond more with an AFI albumn I haven't listened to much. Wow wow wow. Please, don't let Crash Love suck hairy nuts.

So I'm pretty anxious about tonite. Meeting a bunch of new people. But on the plus side, it could be fun. I also got the idea that I may need people to model the stuff I make for Cuddletown, so if Lachlan's girlfriend seems cool I may consider her to do it :) If she wanted to, of course!

Speaking of Cuddletown ;) I've found a supplier for cute little giftboxes, and they're at good prices and I love the colour options. so I'm gonna go with them and make an order within the next couple of weeks. I'm still researching labels/business cards/stickers options...there are A LOT. it's kind of overwhelming..and their file specifications kinda boggle my mind....vectors? outlines?? WTF NO. but I'll sort through it. somehow....*sniff* :)

Felt and Honest Abe

Here are some of the things I've been working on! WOOO!

My first felt attempt. It was meant to be a cookie, cause all I had was brown felt at the time. I glued the chips on... and I tried to add the face with puff paint but I hated it so I tried to peel it off and we can see how that turned out. LOL.

My second attempt. I wanted to make a daisy, then decided I'd just make a smiley-face/sun. For a smiley face, it sure doesn't look too happy. Hahaha. Apparently, it's very hard to sew by hand a nice circular shape.


These will be out of order now because I don't really remember. Haha. This is my baby carrot. The camera makes it look neon, i'm not sure why. It looks way brighter than it does in person. But, I like it. hehe.


I think the toast was probably my third....and the pickle soon after. They both have pins attached to the back so that they can be worn or put on a purse/backpack.

Yay! It's my tooth fella! I really love how he turned out :D I used some pretty new washable markers to trace the outline, then washed it off afterwards. He looks so fat and content! Geez my eczema looks terrible...!


I made this one for a good friend of mine! He likes apples. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to send it to him any time soon. But it was fun to make. I added the detail on the leaf but then glued it on the the body. and the stem was made into a loop for the steel ball chain. This isn't very sturdy exactly, so maybe I'll have to invest in some stem-coloured ribbons in the future.


Here's my first portrait of Abraham Lincoln. I wasn't sure if I could draw him from pictures, but I think I did a decent job. This isn't finished, I need to add a lot more detail. From here I'm going to make a few more portrait tests and then move on to a bigger and more complicated endeavour :D


Detail of Abe's face. This done in watercolour with prismacolour detailing. I need to find out what colour his eyes were. I just kinda made up the hair colour. haha. I'm thinking of adding a wallpapery pattern in the background.

Stuffed Animals, Nigerian Scammers, and Pyramid Schemes

So I've been meaning to update. I took some photos of things I've made of felt, so probably tomorrow I'll post them up as I have a late class.

The above picture is of Chris covered by our entire collection of stuffed animals. The collection has expanded somewhat now since the picture was taken about a year ago, to include 5 of the same border collie which we call the the Arfbuckle Scammers because everytime we go to the mall, they try to get us to buy another one of them. We've even mixed up all their names.....Thelonius, Plato, Archimedes, Sophocles, and who knows who the 5th one is. hahaha. I need to seriously make them little nametags.

So anyhow...I've almost been swindled into joining what appears to be a total scam, Dubli. It's a reverse-auction website that, for a site that claims to be the next big thing in ecommerce actually doesn't have much of any product I would buy. Or many others would, for that reason. Besides snobs who like to have ugly-ass louis vuitton handbags.

OK to be entirely honest, I wasn't buying it. A friend of my mom's told my mom about it, and she being completely computer illiterate, promptly gave me the woman's number . and I, being the good daughter that I am (hah!) called the woman the next night. Mostly because I KNOW my mom would just pester me about it in a couple days time. she called me especially to tell me about it....which is a red flag for "this is too good to be true" cause obviously she got over-excited.

From there, to be nice, I wound up watching a webinar (how clever...a web seminar! haha...oh joy....) for over an hour. well actually, I was reading Dubli scam information while listening top the webinar and periodically checking to see the powerpoint, which, for something meant to be professional, often had misspellings and other grammatical errors. To think, today's episode of Jerry Springer was called, "1 hour of your life you'll never get back", but at least that provided some entertainment value.

I'd like to recall a humourous story about my parents, when we were still in AZ. I noticed one day that they were smiling alot and were being a bit secretive. They called me outside onto the porch to have a talk (oh great...is this about my weight again?). That's when my dad let me know that, apparently, we were in line for a HUGE windfall. He told me not to tell anybody. Well, come to find out, the windfall was nothing but a faxed Nigerian scam, claiming that my dad knew someone who died in China and wanted to pass his riches down to us. When I asked my dad who this person in China that died could be, he didn't really have an answer... LOL. MAN, were THEY disappointed when I told them that they were totally getting duped.

It kind of makes me angry that there are people out there scamming others who aren't familiar with technology enough to have an email account continously spammed by Chippendales newsletters and Nigerian scams (they get creative sometimes, don't they?). My mother's first and only contact with a computer was when I installed a slots game her friend bought for her, and she spent more time trying to move the cursor 1 inch than actually playing. and serious, what is the point of computer slots when there's no chance of coins falling out of your monitor and into your lap??


Which leads me to the question...

Procrastination Station

Whenever I need to sit down and do work for school, I find myself suddenly deciding that I need to clean everything instead. I finally think, OK, I'm ready to sit down and confront the possibility that I have lost any talent I spent 10 odd years developing, I just have to pee first. And then brush my teeth, and then use my neti pot. And while I'm at it I really do need to wash the towels, and clean up the bathroom. And try another test polymer clay piece. And naturally come online to post a new blog.

It is clear I need adhd medications...

Surprise Friend

So I was just sitting here in front of my computer and I see something move up near my forehead...I'm staring at it as it's slowly moving down, thinking it's a bit of my hair with a small tangle on the end...I move back slightly and realise it is a small black spider with delicate little black and transparent legs sliding down its little spidery thread.

And it freaked the living hell out of me!

My instinct...squish the damn thing...but then no, there's no reason to do that. I grab a sheet of paper and get it to land onto it....then it realises it's not in Kansas anymore so starts galloping across the paper...so I freak out some more...it falls onto the carpet....I miraculously manage to find it amongst many small black specs (I really should vacuum soon...), get a container, trick him into it, and cover it with the paper. Outside for you!

Sammy

This is Sammy
(and my Josef Fritzl pillow...but that's beside the point)

He is pretty much the cutest thing I have ever known, and I want to plug his blog that my boyfriend and I set up :)

It's basically a picture blog of Sammy in different places, being cute and silly.

Sammy Can Has Adventures

And here's my boyfriend's blog.... hehe. I love him so!

Chris Has Opinions On Everything

Well hello!

This is the first serious blog I've had for quite a while now, and I'm excited to really dive in:)

I've been mulling over the idea of starting my own small business for some time now, and I read that having a blog is an important aspect of such an endeavor.

So I'll be posting my works-in-progress, ideas, problems, random leavings, and etc here.

My goal is to attract others into my unique world of the bizarre, funny, loveable, and ridiculous. I want to create items that will always remind you of the precious and overlooked, of the joy in life, sometimes the sadness, the unknown, and always the beauty.

Hehe....well... It seems I created a bit of a mission statement there without meaning to. I guess that's what's at the heart of what I want to do. I feel like I am always struggling, on the line between reality and the metaphysical. Usually reality wins, and I can't help but wonder, how many are out there that feel this way as well? We burn through our days, we don't think about the wonder of existance, and meterialism in global society leads the soul to feel starved. I am tired of this attitude, of the physical being everything. I want to try my best to create love and good energy through the things I make, to put a more positive light out there. If I can heal my heart through creative means, then I hope I can help others as well, to dream :)

obligatory test post!