::new art: stevie nicks commission | nicole sketch

Y'all may remember when I posted a pics of the Stevie Nicks piece in progress. Well I finished it about a month ago, so now you guys can see how it turned out. The other sketch I did of my younger sister at the Wafflehouse. I think it turned out rather well considering I was shading with a mechanical pencil. :P

Enjoy.

Sorry for the lack of updates you guys. I've been busy w/ school. Two days a week I've got three studio classes that are 2 hrs 45 min. a piece. That's lots of fun, lemme tell you. Actually, the classes aren't that difficult. They're just long. But the good thing is that it's a pretty laid back atmosphere. For example, in figure drawing, we get a break every 20 min. when the model needs a break. I'll try to get some of those drawings up. There's too big for the scanner so I'll have to go w/ the digital camera once more.

The season is about to change, so a redesign should be up sometime soon. . . .sometime. . .

Fall Semester 2003: art supplies is raping my funds, figure drawing initiation

It's three days into the first week of school and everything is going pretty well. Monday started off horribly, because of complications from Sunday night that spilled over into the wee hours of the next morning. But all is remedied now.

On the other hand, school supplies is killer. I feel for the people that have to work and pay their own way through college. Just yesterday I spent almost $300 on textbooks, and today bought $80 worth of supplies from the art store (I got a 25% discount though.) I can't believe the most expensive thing on the list was a friggin' technical pen--$25. So I'd better get my money's worth out of this stuff.

I'm also taking figure drawing this semester, which means that tomorrow I get to draw a nude female for the first time. That should be fun. :p

slumber party inks

::new new art: slumber party inks

Who knows, maybe I'll even have slumber party colors in the near future. ^_^

slumber party & 7000 hits

::new art: slumber party

I think it's a fun way to celebrate 7000 hits. Thanx for all your support. =)

Niceville & Eglin AFB

Hi guys. I'm writing from a computer in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express in Niceville, FL. I thought I'd get some drawing done while I was here, but it looks like that's not going to happen. . .other than working on my commission. But it's really nice here. The family, Jamaal, and I went to the beach and chilled. Before that Jamaal took me on a little tour of the flight line at Eglin Air Force Base. Some of the fun was taken away by some ignorant Air Force guys wondering if we had a permit for the camera we used, even though they announced over the radio that Jamaal would be escorting me around there, before we went over there. "We didn't hear anything about it," says this big black guy w/ freckles. I must point out that a radio was no where in his vicinity. No duh, you didn't hear it.

But I took pictures of them just standing around pretending to work. I'll have some post the pics when I get back home. ;)

movie experience: Bend It Like Beckham & Tomb Raider II

Last weekend, Jamaal and I had the most interesting experience at the movies. For the longest time I had been wanting to see Bend it Like Beckham but I never got around to going to see it. Eventually it was out of theaters. But then Pirates of the Carribbean came out, and the girl starring in it--Keira Knightley--was also in Bend it Like Beckham. So they rereleased the movie, I think to make more money, cuz it got good reviews and all that.

So, we're having a good time watching the movie. It's funny, and the story is just starting to go somewhere, when at a serious plot development point, the movie shuts off. So. . .long story short, after about 40 min of the incompetent teens working at the movie theater messing around w/ the projector, they can't get the movie to come back on. However, the manager gave us all a rain check to see another movie free w/in the next 30 days. But we also got to see whatever movie was playing at the time for free. We ended up seeing Tomb Raider 2. It was ok. . .much better than the first one at least. I think there were way too many close-ups on Angelina Jolie's lips.

So, we got two free movies out of the deal, but I still don't know what happened at the end of Bend it Like Beckham.

Crimson fan art

::new art: crimson - a character from an online rpg.

I wanted a change of pace so I decided to draw someone elses character. It looks ok, I guess, except for the fact that it looks like she's floating in the air. She's not.

summer class finale & yard work

Well, I'm done with my summer classes. I had my last exam in public speaking yesterday. The prof let us grade our own tests, so by my calculations I made about an 83 (he goes back and adjusts the score up or down). Not as good a grade as I wanted, but it's pretty good considering how I bluffed my way through some of the answered. Honestly, who reads the textbook anyway?

For anyone who's interested, I made an A- on my final project in 3D design. Hopefully I'll make an A in that class, and raise my GPA a bit. It's not really low in the first place, but I like to stay in range of the Dean's List.

I had to work with my dad today, and it was absolutely exhausting. He does lawn maintenance and cuts down trees. After the first yard we did, I was ready to be through. See, he makes me edge around the yards, that where you used this machine--an edger, go figure--and you go and around where the grass meets the sidewalk and it trims it up all nice and pretty. However, it's better if you have a lot of upper body strength, which I don't. So I'm all achy and stuff, and my dad wants me to go back out working tomorrow. :/

self portrait, Artgyrl history

I've drawn another self-portrait, but the concensus is that it doesn't really look like me. It seems that when I actually try to draw someone that looks like me, it doesn't, but when I draw, say, artgyrl, she looks more like me than my supposed self-portrait. . . hmm. . .

So, therein lies the dilemma. See, Artgyrl started as my online personality/avatar. Then she developed into a character of her own, with only a few of my character traits, such as artistic ability, intelligence. . . and hot looks (j/k). But you get the picture. Anyways, she's not me, as a lot of people have come to believe. She's her own person.

But anyway. . .here's the pic. You be the judge of the actual resemblance. I'll slap some colors on when pretty soon, so hopefully it'll look more like myself after that. :/

movie experience: POTC

Yesterday afternoon I went to see "Pirates of the Caribbean" with my older sister. It was a lot better than I thought it would be. Johnny Depp is great in practically any role, and Orlando Bloom was his usual hot self. Now that I think about it, the movie reminds me a bit of "The Three Musketeers." You know, the one starring Keifer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Oliver Platt and Chris O'Donnell. . .? Well, Orlando Bloom's character reminded me of Chris O'Donnell as he portrayed the young D'Artagnan. I guess it was the whole head-strong-young-lad-trying-to-prove-himself-andcome-into-his-own-while-at-the-same-time-trying-to-live-up-to-his-father's-example thing.

Well kiddies, only one more week of school left. (woohooh!) Then I get a little break before school starts back in the fall. :( Oh well, you can't have all fun. But I'll finally be taking some major specific courses, such as Intro to Graphic Design and Typography.

Tomorrow I've got my final speech in public speaking. It's supposed to be an entertaining "after dinner" speech, and I'll be bringing my younger sisters in as visual aids. ; ) I'm just going to talk about the annoying and insane things that people say about us. For example, they think that my and my little sis, who is six years my junior is my twin. So that means I look like I'm 14, sixteen at the most. Yeah. It gets on my nerves just a bit.

Art Progress: 3D models, Stevie Nicks, Chloe

I thought I'd clue you guys in on what I've been working on as of late.

First off, I've got my final project for 3D design. We have to make a self portrait up to 18'' tall. So we've been working on miniature models of what we want to do.



I'm also working on a commission portrait of Stevie Nicks. Here's what I've got so far:



Oh, and here's a drawing I did of my baby cousin for my aunt as a gift to my uncle. He was quite pleases with it. However, the photograph doesn't to justice to the original piece.

Photos: wedding, itsy, china garden sign

I've taken alot of pics over the past couple of weeks. . .

Sunday night I got all dressed up for a wedding.


actual size
This spider made a home right above the door to my 3D design class


Is this not the most ghetto name for a restaurant? They have really good food, though. :p

Hello kiddies. . .

Well, I bombed on the speech I mentioned in the last entry, making a C. But today I had another speech. We had to give a special occasion speech (i.e. eulogy, acceptance, presentation), and I did a lot better on this one. I chose to do a eulogy, and little did I know that a eulogy isn't just for funerals. It's the general name for a speech given to praise or blame someone.

Right now I'm working on a commission for one of Jamaal's co-workers. It's a portrait of Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mack(sp?).

As for the comic. . . it's coming along slowly, but surely. =)

booo. . .it's 2:00 a.m., and I've got a speech today that once again I've ill-prepared for. It's dealing w/ affirmative action. . .such a controversial topic, so much I could say, but I've only got 5 minutes. And it's not good to rethink your speech plan at the last minute. I'll just stick to my original idea, and if it goes to terribly, I have an opportunity to redo the speech Wednesday.

Madelyn's litter

Almost two and a half weeks ago, my dog, Madelyn, gave birth to eight healthy puppies (hooray!). Sadly, Madelyn developed mastitis. Consequently, we have to ween the puppies early. Madelyn has to be separated from the puppies completely, so see will stop lactating and the infection will go away. They were supposed to nurse for at least another week, but the vet gave us formula to feed them, and we started them on puppy chow. I was surprised at how quickly the puppies took to the new food, but they can't get enough of it. However, it's a big responsibility having to feed them every four hours. . . but they're so darn cute that it doesn't really matter.



The puppies are super muts. Their dad is part rottweiler and some kind of husky/wolf dog; he's got white-blue eyes, but looks mostly like a german shepard. We don't know what the heck Madelyn is. She's a pound puppy. But we love them all. =)

madelyn


max

gymnastic girl sketches

I had a great week spending time with my sweetheart. But fear not, I actually managed to sketch some things while I was with him. Last Thursday we went to a cheerleading gym where Jamaal's best friend, John works. I saw the girl walking around, stretching, and fixing their hair after doing a tumbling passed, and I did a few sketches from that.

gym gyrls | lil gym gyrl

The comic is coming along slowly but surely. I need a lot of references to work from since I have mostly experience drawing people and nothing else. But this will be great practice for me. I'd give y'all a sneak peek, but then I'd be giving away a lot. ;)

Character designs

::new artwork: character designs - tuan | dhani | carmen & rita

I can't believe it's already been two weeks of school. Time is sure flying. Everything is going pretty well. I had my first speech. It had to be informtive/teaching, so I did my speech on how to draw using a grid. It was ok, I guess, but I had trouble with the visual aids. Oh well. Still I liked the handout I did, so I think I'll post it here when I get a chance.

Drawing a comic is hard. : /

Fine art update and Public Speaking

Lots of new artwork in the fine art gallery. My mom was cleaning up and found one of my portfolios containing a lot of the art I had done for my AP Studio Art class in high school. My bristol pad was also in there, so I was glad to have that again. I took the time to add descriptions of all of the artwork in the fine art gallery, so you can get a bit of insight into the art process. I hope you take the time to read it cuz it took a long time for me to make all those pages. . .

Today is the first day of summer classes at USA. My fist class was Public Speaking at 8:00 a.m. I actually loathe public speaking, but I've learned to get used to it, since it is a required course. ::sigh:: There are only ten people in the class, but there are some interesting characters, and my instructor, Mike (he says even his grandkids call him that), literally wrote the book on public speaking, so it should be fun.

I'll have some more character sketches a little later.