the News I mentioned before

I'm preparing for the Society of Illustrator's show. I'll submit what I can. I can't promise winning anything spectacular but I want to be at least prepared to meet art directors that will be present. That means I have to get some kind of fancy list of contacts if I were to, ahem, put myself out there.

That means business card and some kind of website. I still only have my Behance but now I made a Facebook page as well. It's super new so it's quite bare at the moment, but it's there and up for messages from anyone who also has a Facebook.
So please, check it out here!!→  ★★★★★

Now that this blog is connected to my more legitimate sites, I think personal and non-art posts will have to cease eventually. I want to change the layout for the site as well. That will also come eventually. 

I hope you all have a fantastic New Year. This has been quite an eventful year for me; I've had my soul-crushing downs many times, but I've also had some really nice experiences I thought I could never achieve. It really only feels like it was yesterday when I was writing a similar new year's post.

 Don't lie, you know after a while New Year's feels exactly like this.

I won't be available for contact after this point, so onwards, to 2014!! 

back to basics

Not sure why, but this blog title reminds me when I had actual TV and would watch Barefoot Contessa at that time of the day when I get bored, almost everyday. Anyways.

I'm certain I didn't get to talk about this guy yet, but I consider him one of the reasons why attending SVA is worthwhile for me. Because I know nothing about my own art, my other instructors told me, based on how and what I like to paint, I would benefit greatly from taking a technique class taught by a maestro of portrait painting.

I enjoyed this class so much. There is not one time when he speaks and I don't stick my nose into the business, and I leap out of my spot in excitement whenever he has a painting he made to show as examples on how to improve what we can do. It wasn't difficult but keeping up with the methodology is necessary. This is a early to mid-noon class but once you start, you don't stop and results can be surprising.
Unfortunately I have a children's book illustration class overlapping this class and because my career is steering more that way, priorities, priorities.

Well, here's a 90% portrait I did, done at the end of the semester.

I also have a full-body painting as well.  

**Careful, there's nudity beyond this point. 

the unfamiliar ceiling

So recently, I caught the cold my sister had and it was the most exciting week ever; if one considers being barely able to talk and being  generally all around uncomfortable exciting.

Winter break's finally here, but thanks to some circumstances I think there's no way I can enjoy it. I'm just so anxious thinking about things and over-thinking more things. Just how vulnerable am I supposed to let myself be and not get hurt?

Well anyways. I fully enjoy the amount of metal CD's my school's library carries. Not sure if SVA gets the CD's via donations or what, but if that's the case, I want to know who's that awesome fan who's kind to spread the metal love. And it's just not CD's of the Big 4 and something lame like Slipknot; there's genuine stuff, such as Death, Sepultra, and Dio.

I totes picked up this Mastodon piece for looks. 

And because I did want to take advantage of Coastal Scent's Black Friday 50% off everything sale, I got my rear into gear and got me concealer that I really needed, and decided to throw in a spanking new set of brushes. I love Coastal Scents and their great prices!

I really haven't been posting as much artwork as I would have liked. I've been neglecting everything: schoolwork for non-school work and housework for schoolwork. Of course there's personal issues as well. I suppose hibernating can temporarily solve these problems but at the end of the day, it just proves that I'm not as responsible as I think I am, haha.

感謝祭・・・。

To be honest, I believe there's hardly anything to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I suppose my humidifier is nice though. I used to think the humidifier won't really change things for me much until I started nose-bleeding out of nowhere a bit ago.. that's when I thought I should probably take action. It's nice to not have the insides of my nose to be bothering me now.

Like my senior year of high school, it seems like the very same kind of angst and self-doubt from four years ago is back to haunt me in my senior year of college... and to remind me everyday that I'm no winner, in every aspect of my life and personality possible.

Well. After much unneeded consideration, all there's left for me to do is to continue painting or something. And shopping, how I love shopping. Coastal Scent's got a 50% everything for Black Friday and a CD I'd like is 10% off until December. And baths. And champagne.

Speaking of which, every trip to LUSH is such a traumatizing experience; I understand the staff are required to sell, convince, sell to every costumer that walks in, but PLEASE. When the costumer is stating clearly she/he wants to shop alone, leave them alone! I had one staff tail me around the already tiny shop, no breathing space at all, especially since she kept shoving products under my nose as I'm already checking out others. I had to grab what was closest to me and RUN for it rather than y'know (and ironically), enjoy shopping for products that's supposed to help me relax.

Only a little bit more until the semester is over. It crept up on me again; whoops, look at all this stuff I have to do but didn't do...

I'll write that report

...but today is not that day. It was different but I haven't gone to a show I haven't had fun at.

I'm just going to drop this off here since I did pretty much finish it. 

Unfortunately my time-management remains poor so work from other classes are falling behind. I'm hoping it gets a lot better next semester, as I again... built my own hell when I picked my own classes.

I also have to say that I had yet another disappointing Halloween, like the last three years; it was all because of not surprisingly: school, and I would conveniently have the longest school day on Halloween, or a night class that I couldn't be out enjoying the night life.. I have 360-something days left to plan next year's but I'm just too bitter because I hoped it do Halloween one last time before I sell my soul to paying off student loans.

As the more uneventful my life gets, the more shows I'm inclined to throw money that I don't really have at. Which reminds me I already have two events planned for next year. That's something at least.

Unfrequently unasked questions

 That class that I took that was only half semester turned out the be the class I was most interested in. It also makes you wonder why studio classes, although really are meant for producing work, never, ever mention a hint or clue on how to profit off your work; not even as a casual conversation.

Because I want to talk about other artists' work as a fellow artist, the cool dude who taught this business course is this guy. Super nice person and his graphic stuff is great.

Anyways, the last assignment was to make a promo card. Working primarily in oils now, it only makes sense to make a oil piece that reflects a portfolio also mostly consisting of oil pieces.

It came out so well I kind of regret doing this on flimsy canvas board. It's by no means a final; the original painting and card definitely need more work done on them.
I wanted to feature my lovely OC/mascot and hint to clients that I don't shy away from dark themes while keeping up with fantasy themes influenced by both classical Renaissance and contemporary style.

Don't quote me on that though... I've been told by some people that the best work you make as an artist comes long after graduating college. Business can be fun when you're a artist since it's less formal and you're kind of required to have a personality.

wicked webs we weave

Earlier this week I finally went and saw the doctor for those crippling stomach pains I mentioned before

According to the doctor, it could be one of three things: 1)stress, 2) reactions to certain foods or the changing weather, 3) virus. I was prescribed some tablets and I haven't really been feeling problems since taking them which is good; I was really hoping it was not serious to the point I needed surgery.

It's just so stupid.. myself and what I got myself into. Again the way my schedule is, I thought having one class everyday may not be a problem, but it really makes things worse for me time-wise.
I also just realized, having been in the Honors Program for three years I finish all my humanities credits but I have to make up the studio credits in one year. Plus I really do spend more time commuting to/from school than being in class for many days. It's just such a time-consuming process; I already have enough school work as it is but when I need to do other adult-responsibility things, I've got no energy or time to get to it.

Instead of enjoying my last year as a student and all the benefits I get from it, I'm just scrambling day by day by day to get my homework finished (if I get it finished at all).
 
All I want to do instead of spending hours hunched over a flimsy, obstructive table painting.

by Elizabeth Shippen Green.

I'll be getting those Wednesdays off soon, even though all I'll really be doing is just homework (and if I'm really feeling like having having fun, laundry and housework!) on that day for the rest of the semester. ww My grades sure hell damn better be good considering my current lifestyle.

And yet not a moment all too soon I write another post. It feels like late October weather-wise; I already started spotted some trees changing color. Will probably have to break out the flannel soon and my feel are already icy just by walking from my room to the kitchen!

I'm so drained from the schedule, and so is my wallet. The class I switched into is probably the most expensive class I'll ever take, as well the most brutal, classwork-wise... Though my pop-book class may be more irritating for reasons I won't state here. I really don't feel like a college senior, which I heard is rumoredly the most "fun" and "laid back" year. I ain't feeling it.
On top of my anxiety, I've been having crippling stomach pains for almost two weeks; as if my eating schedule isn't already always-fcked by said school anxiety. It's to the point where I'm terrified of eating or else face cramps strong enough to knock me off my feet. The pains got so severe that I was woken out of my sleep from it, and spend a good while moaning and trying not to puke. Now that my sister's got a cold it's inevitable I'll get it too since we share the same room and it's happened once already.

Also I finally gave Ensiferum a listen during the past weekend.

Accurate, but no IRL sieges though; I'd quit school and just be warrior if that really happened

Now I know what other CD's I'm adding to my Xmas list. I never realized how awesome it is to have the physical music in your hands, now that I can actually afford some with my grown-up money. Plus it's nice to have backup when your computer/iTunes crashes...

JUMALAUTA

SCHOOOOOL UGHHHH

Yes yes, I should be grateful and love school and all that, but I just can't help but get 2495843 knots in my stomach when ever I have relating, for, and from school. Sometimes it's not even the workload, it's the people. I think the reason why I liked working in the office than going to class is because in the office, that young adult/teen-drama doesn't really exist, but college students take their highschool behavior with them.
That aside, I'm think going to be switching one of my classes. This class requires me to get up early for yet another morning class and lasts six hours, with another three-hour class right afterwards. But I believe it's worth it; I much rather take a class that improves my technique so I can paint what I love better, than to take a class that the only guideline is to "do the assignment, if you have concerns too bad."
Brutal stuff coming up.

But I have to say I had a pretty good birthday this year. Last year's was pretty awful; that but I guess the cynicism turned out for nothing. I got quite of bit of gifts, not to show off but I think they're definitely better than last year's.

not pictured: ticket to yet another live showklsjdf

On my actual birthday my family tried to surprise me with some tiramisu, but I ruined the surprise myself. ww It was still nice though. 

I'm still more or less in summer vacation mode... I'm hoping I can snap out of it and get down to business since it is my last year. I can't even concentrate writing this blog, haha.

It's another painting!

Probably the last one I can squeeze in before class starts.... So soon ughhh ;A;

And no, I didn't get to anything that I was planning to do this summer, again orz ~ That must be what life is like when you're god-awful at multitasking like me and have actual jobs.

But I have to say this summer was quite nice. I got to meet some nice people at work and learned lots. I didn't go out much since I'm always either sleeping, working, or being lazy but when I had fun, I had fun. I have some things I really need to take care of though, like updating my ID at the DMV.... and making accessories for my Halloween costume.

But before that, the painting in progress.

I really love that nail polish while I loathe navy blues on clothes. I should remove it soon. 

It's called "Phallic" by Illamasqua.

Let's see how much I can get done before September rolls around...  Thinking about it, I actually HAVE improved my painting skills since freshman year at SVA, especially in painting technique.

Oh no, Ben Affleck is the new Batman.

Wintersun @ Irving Plaza 8/8/2013

Oh god this show was seriously amazing. One of the best I've gone to because I lucked out but then I suddenly got all the luck back. I promised myself I see Wintersun again and I'm just so happy to be part of their first headlining tour in North America.

I don't work on Thursdays at this internship so I did as what I usually did on my live day. I wasn't sure if this Wintersun show was going to be as big as when they opened for Eluveitie (which sold out because of Wintersun, not Eluveitie) so I wanted to get there early. To my surprise I was there early enough that I can still see the venue's sign from my place on queue. My 晴れ女ness worked out well because it rained when I got on the train and stopped when I got out and rained two minutes before I got into the venue.
Also, I have to state that I'm not a big fan of recording at concerts because I like to enjoy the show rather than focus on recording. But I thought I would try something new this time and I made the last minute decision to my camera out of coat check and bring it with me.

I'm dreaming of a land of Snow and Sorrow~

That's a Wintersun song. Only two more weeks from tomorrow will I see them again!

Seriously, it's just too hot which is why I haven't been painting at all. I need a stupid canvas but it's just too hot to go out into the city. It took me forever to decide to get masonite or a cheap canvas but I finally decided with the latter; at least the edges won't scrape as easily. I just hope I can put it in my profile despite materials.
I've been a bad illustrator eh? :| It's already the end of July and I've done since Crimson was doodles!

I spent a good amount of this month hating everything moreso than usual. Like:
•How at every meal I eat until bursting and then feeling fat,
•How it's near-impossible to not buy food that isn't without some kind of carb when having to eat out,
•How businesses are flat-out ignoring my emails/calls when I want to buy something from them or want to use their services,
•How my skin, no matter what I do hates me back and rebels against looking not-diseased,
•How PoupeeGirl, which I've been playing since 2009 is possibly shutting down soon,
•Not having money for anything (and I said I wanted to buy stuff lol)

I don't know why small stuff is really ticking me off lately. I'm still hanging onto the positive aspects of this internship, but goodness are the people I work with are really dense at times. I won't write about that here though, tempting as it is.

Now, let's relax and listen to this guy sing enka.

It's been over two years since my favorite band broke up, and while I don't associate myself with the music nor fandom anymore, I sort of remembered why it was my favorite band after this video.

Does your favorite band's drummer own at singing?

an illustrated blog post

I was reading a blog that I liked and the owner talked about this book called Cherry Coke by Outa Uni. It was pretty much a visual illustrated diary and it was mostly about the author's shopping finds and other fashion related things. So I tried doing the same.

 It's hard to see what's going on, so follow the cut for close ups!

it's another hot day~

Happy July 4th. Feels like I haven't been around here much. I feel like all my recent days pretty much only consisted of going to the office and melting in my chair as there's no AC. The only thing I've learned at my job so far was the true meaning of wearing skinny jeans in hot weather.

So I celebrated my day off today, my way.

Or alternatively, a picture of what's really going on!

 The movie's called Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, if you're wondering. I like it quite a bit. Jay aka Jason Mewes sparked my usual fetish attraction to white guys with long fair hair, but that's not the whole reason why I watched it. It kinda reminded me of Half-Baked, which I watched with my sister late one night. Both are luzly.
I'll be reading Kevin Smith's stuff when there's nothing to do at work. I try to draw too, but it gets so hot in there I just usually try to stay as still as possible to keep myself to overheating any more.

I'm doing a bunch of art stuff at the same time hence the dry period.. and the little doodle up there. But I'll be updating with more genuine things soon, I promise!

Update time~ (slightly NSFW)

I have a few things to talk about but as art being a priority, I'll announce that I have finally finished my only painting I was working on since my summer break started.

I present to you, "Crimson."

Better than nothing, but I'm slightly upset at how darn slow I am. I currently have two other sketches done for (hopefully) future paintings. Unfortunately whether or not I'll get to finish them is another story.
I'm slightly nervous all my sketches for future paintings are starting to look the same, especially in the composition department. I was never good at dynamic angles but eh... =/

On a art-related note, a couple weeks ago I visited ye ol' Met Museum for Punk: From Chaos to Couture. I have some sketches but they're not that great compared to my McQueen's Savage Beauty ones from 2011. Of course I'll post them, along with a mini report.

And for not so art-related things: I like my current internship so far. I'm not being paid a much, but then again it's near impossible to find an internship that pays like a regular job. The perks: I have my own mini cubicle, I get to eat, I get to use the bathroom, I'm allowed to dress nice. Best of all, I don't deal with whiny kids. My computer has a functioning headphones jack, and my cubicle is by the window so I stay cool even though the AC is broken.

Want to know what I got from my first paying week?

I'm pumped to see them again! I was so certain I wouldn't see any concert before I started class but it was such a lovely surprise when I came across their Facebook announcement for their first headlining US tour. Can't wait~♪ Who knows, I might even join their contest to have dinner with the Wintersun guys...

So...If I was asked if I rather be doing this internship in the city or be working at the other place close to home, I pick the internship. My lady boss seems to like me so if I put this internship down on my resume, I'm hoping she'll agree to be my reference. So yes, I'll werk it.

dakfndkafda

It was time for me to say farewell to my computer. It was about years old and contained a lot of files, music and pictures I can now never get back. At the apartment, the power goes off abruptly pretty often which didn't help, so it's a mix of my hard drive dying from age and the constant power surges frying it.

Well. I'm half in a state of shock and slight despair, and half "well, I guess it means a new start...." alll my music is goneee flkdjldsl

Right now I'm on this ancient laptop that is really hard to press some keys and smells extremely undesirable. ):

Everything is shit now lol. When can I hang out with people and have a life again?

Life is flashing before my eyes..

I can't believe it's halfway through May already. I feel like all I did was go to work, run around until my back/ankles give in, go home and it's magically 2AM when I crash... And no, I do not enjoy my job, hehe. But people are just so incompetent, spoiled and rude, it makes my blood boil and I wonder how on earth they are able survive with the way they treat others.
Seriously, almost broke down in front of everyone today...

Enough about that. I barely have time to paint because I'm constantly being called in on days I'm supposed to have off, or some newly hired person decides to never come back, so I'm left to deal with their work.

This was what I was able to rustle up with the little time I had. I knew time management for the things I want to do over the summer would be difficult, but I didn't expect impossible!

And for my confession of the day: I've been watching Kuroshitsuji lately. I avoided it like the plague before because it came off as something specifically geared for yaoi-crazed otaku fans. It's not bad from what I see; it's interesting enough for me to want to continue watching.

As a sucker for gothic/victorian/art-deco styled illustrations on top of EGA and EGL fashion, Ciel Phantomhive is the character of interest for me. There, I said it!

EDIT: To heal my aching heartby reading stories of unreasonable customers on the lovely fyeahretailrobin, this [conveniently and surprisingly relevant]gem came up.

OH THIS WAS GLORIOUS AND I SNORTED TOO HARD HAHA. 

Albeit busy, I'm doing a lot better with the productive summer (art-wise) now then I did before.

出来た～

Finished my junior year last Thursday. At this time of the year I would usually be counting down the days to my summer break, write a list of things I want to do and so on. But for some reason this time, I wasn't up to do anything like that as it really didn't feel like the end of year.

I've also landed my first real job which is real news if you know me...but I'd like to get my paperwork settled when I get it before I consider it a job, or else it would just be volunteer work, which I can't afford to do anymore. What I really want to know is what days I have off because as explained in my last post, I also can't afford to not be productive.
My hours aren't that long for now, but I also wonder how can do the other things I want to do over the break: make jewelry to sell on Etsy, make clothes/Halloween costume, study for driving permit and hopefully take lessons, and still have a social life.

I'm definitely still working in oil, and I'm gearing my portfolio to a fantasy/portrait path. I'm still amateur at Photoshop painting, but I really want a portfolio that contains both traditional and digital medium. I can't wait to paint me some ethereal beauties and mythical animals.

 I'm working on it~ ♪

Last assignment. Everyone was so burnt out by the thesis project, we needed something fun to do: Draw posters for the Macy's Flower Show. I don't know if this is a yearly thing but this year's theme was India, hence the elephant-Buddha and orchids.

I grip my pens hard, and my hands were pretty sore. 

My class took a trip to the show itself as well, pictures under the cut.

on "Biting off more than I can chew"

I'm a collection of bad habits. Staying up late and then oversleeping, not eating and overeating, not buying myself necessities and buying stuff I don't need and of course procrastinating... but I guess my real habit is half-assing.

Grab a snack/ drink, this gets real wordy. 

No longer posting.

...April fools. But if you're wondering why it's gotten a bit quiet and where I've been off too, it's because everything annoying, frustrating and inconvenient happened at same time. I'd like to put heavy emphasis on the word "everything." And at the same time!

I've gone through an entire school day on an hour of sleep before, but when you do that while spending the several days prior painting until 6-7AM, you think/say/do funny things.
But honestly, having class registration, thesis, honors program work and other stuff needing to be done in the span of two weeks... is not funny.


But it's done. Finally. Kind of. The point is, I submitted my thesis on time though my thesis was technically denied and not even wait-listed. I'll see if it goes up on Wednesday when I come by the gallery to inspect the installation. It still may not even be hung up, but at least I tried. I feel like I should explain myself and what happened exactly but I suppose that should go up in another post, but even then... that might be inappropriate because it gets personal.

With that out of the way, I can finally focus on my finals for other classes. But what I really want to do is sleep for a few months and listen to some David Bowie music. 

Not my thesis, but a little doodle I did over spring break. I would like to do more of these.

GLAD☆彡

This post is about yet another trip to Kinokuniya. Kino's still carries Kera magazine, which is good enough for me but I find it fascinating the gyaru magazines like Ageha and EGG are still around. I do like gyaru style; it's stylish yet has the capacity to worn as everyday wear unlike most street fashion, where it can more than often come off as costume-y.

 tl;dr, I bought my very first gyaru magazine, and an issue that comes with a little gift inside!

 THIS is what caused me to impulse-buy. A pouch designed by GLAD NEWS, one of my favorite Japanese brands. Actually, this pouch is a collaboration of GLAD NEWS and Sakurai Rina, the famous gyaru model on the cover of this issue.

My experience with Ageha? I like it! I appreciate that little section on contouring. There was a section that what looked like, "A Day With a Ageha Model", where it was basically a photo diary of what a gyaru model would do on her day off, and the grand total of her expenses for the day. I sure would like to have a similar day, all while looking like a million yen.. and spending it too.

I have a lot of pink x black things. But ho ho, how well these colors do go together.

Also, there were other books I wanted to get: Taisho Kimono and My Wonderful World of Fashion. For some reason, the latter sells at $20+ at Kino's but is more than half price cheaper on Amazon... Amazon's cool like that.

And because I don't want to write up another non-drawing entry, I'll just stick in here another recent purchase of mine.

My very first Dr.Martens. Stupid site got me the wrong model... I wanted the pair that had a zipper on the side for easy putting-on and taking-off but now I'll have to spend an eternity messing with the laces... oh well. =/ That's what you get when you buy resale.

some games

It feels like I've haven't been posting much as of late, but it's still the usual same-old, really. As as student you just study all the time and when you graduate, you work all the time, yeah?

Gonna do something different today and talk about a recent pastime of mine: dress-up/fashion games. PoupeeGirl is my boom obviously but sometimes it gets boring when updates are slow and I really need something to procrastinate with. 

Erté Elegance
The Art-Deco inspired-artwork is lovely and the style is similar to the work of Aubrey Beardsley, but without the creepiness. With the Art-Deco style in mind, it's also easy to make Japanese-inspired looks. I think it's definitely a kind of dress-up game you won't get bored of after one go. I would like it more if had more hairstyle choices.

Game of Thrones/ The Tudors
These two are really similar so I've put them together but also a good game; lots of options. You also have the option for creating more than one doll, male or female in one sitting which I think is a rare and awesome feature. If you ask me, I prefer the background options in Game of Thrones. (And no, I've never watched it.)

Mega Lolita
Since this game is designed by Rinmaru Games, layering clothes (and hair!!) is an option, which I think allows for bigger variety of looks. It's best to stick with solid colors in this game since the "lolita" prints are laughable when you know what real top-grade lolita prints look like but overall pretty good.

Lord Stevan

While the color scheme is pretty monotone the artwork is pretty okay! It gets pretty fun once you get to the accessories but there isn't much option for the guy's features. You don't see much guy's dress-up games around and when you do, they're usually terrible, but this isn't one of them. My dress up here.

I've played lots more than the ones listed but that's all I'll write about for now. I've played enough of these to tell whether a game is good or not. Other than that, they're sometimes good for inspiration. I'm by no means a ~gamer girl~ but the lack of competition is relaxing :P

Stars & Pearls

How is everyone faring with the blizzard aftermath? If you ask me, NYC dramatized this whole snowfall and this is nothing compared to, let's say, what Sweden usually gets.
Just thought having a foot or less of snow was really nothing to get worked up about.

No drawing today. I know I'm super busy, but I'm unsure what's taking up so much time because... I don't really do anything. But there's jewelry I made instead.

I made this for Jenelle, who made the earrings at the upper right. I wanted to make something that had her taste but still incorporated my style, which are the necklaces on the left.

Right now, I'm exasperated at how expensive CDJapan really is when a defunct band's music isn't even available on iTunes. Not like I would've been old enough to purchase music via a credit/debit card back then, but this is seriously ridiculous!!!

On another side note, I'm excited to make this tonight.

That's all for now, thanks for reading.

Braving the cold

I don't really tweet on Twitter anymore but I do check the feed.. which had been flooded with nothing but 雪雪雪雪雪雪 for the past two weeks or something. It was nice to see some 雪 of our own since it seems to make the cold a bit more excusable.

But some time ago I scribbled yet another doodle in my notebook during class. I was creating some winter dresses that some Tudor elements mixed in with my own style.

 The Tudor thing is not really apparent here but this one came out the best out of the three I drew, I think. I was satisfied with it since I wanted it to look out from another time period.

Still contemplating whether I should take this sketch further and make a more finished version in the future. It's tempting but I'm afraid of messing up the sketch!!

Stay warm, everyone, at least until we get another whack winter heat-wave.. again.

missed my pens

I realized I've been drawing pretty much nothing than my thesis, which I already want to set on fire and throw out the window. Intervention was necessary.

So I tried to do some stuff similar to Aubrey Beardsley's style. He's one of my favorites. His style is dark with hits of Japanese influence and some Art Nouveau flair.

It's been ages since I used my Sakura pens. They were quite dusty, but usable still much to my relief. I drew my picture and scanned it.
I also used a handy Photoshop action called "make scan into lineart" from my sophomore digital coloring class to color. Unfortunately it's been too long since I used this process, so I did some unorthodox ways to haphazardly (very incorrectly) make the whole thing work.

If this looks familiar, then I don't have to say more.w I can't say that I'm proud about how this came out, but it was refreshing to do something else for a change.

I often don't like how my inked works come out, and I like them even less when I try to color them. I'm not sure if it has to do with the Photoshop process from that class because it often makes my drawing so irreversibly choppy, ruining the handiwork I've done beforehand, or my scanner is just that good at screwing up everything. BLAH!!

I'll try to do some more pen-work in the future, and I'll provide both the color and uncolored versions.

part 1-3 of 8

This always happens. There's so much I want to do outside of school and when I finally get that time, I end up taking vacation time for granted, and then I'm back in class kicking myself for doing said things. This was a habit that's been with me ever since I was five or something.

But I'll have you know that it's not like I was totally unproductive doing my two-week break. I barely finished three paintings.

As usual my actual skill is wayyy below par than what my mind actually envisions. I was told that it looks good so far, and the style is consistent. I guess it's not so bad then?? lol \o/

あけおめ！！

Welp, another year gone by. The thing about holidays, new years and what not, is that they're anti-climatic, and then there's pretty much nothing when it's over. But 2012 really flew by, like all the other years before it.

 

I stopped getting Christmas gifts many years ago, so when I got a package from my friend Jenelle, I was super excited. Gifts are cool but gifts are great when the giver knows your taste, hehe( ´艸｀)

I got a cute penguin plushie, a scented strawberry cupcake necklace with a recipe for strawberry shortcake cupcakes, a mango Burt Bee's lipbalm and the best of them all: earrings she made and a book on Japanese goth aesthetic! ♥

The book is really nice; I've always wanted to know the names of the artists who make such beautiful illustrations and now I know. What I like about the book is that it's also short and sweet; just the right amount of photos covering each of the basic fundamentals. 

I've posted it before, but Jenelle sells the same kind of jewelry and accessories that you in the photo. Her etsy is MochiOni. She makes really cute things, so check it out!

I hope everyone is able to achieve something great this year, experience something better than last year and all that good stuff. Here's to 2013!☆彡