Shiz just got real

So before I even start this post, let me just say that I didn't hear back from Calarts until Monday! As in....yesterday (it's 12:00am on Wednesday, same difference lol) And last week was hellllll. So let me dive into that real quick.

Basically, every day was torture not hearing back from Calarts. It was really stressful and I didn't sleep well for a while. On Wednesday I had a nice little break test driving some Audis with one of my buddies, and the car salesman who was super chill and basically let us drive to the beach. He was also probably the most attractive guy I've ever met, so it was like a double win (yes I'm gay). Anyway, that only served as a distraction for like 3 hours, so I went back to being all meh.

By Saturday I had given up hope of hearing back from them anytime soon, so I chose to go to the Air Show with my Dad and sister, but first we made a pit stop at his old co-workers place. He's retired and he basically lives on a farm. Beautiful place though. Also there was cool old western stuff like you see in movies like down the dirt road.

The "Airport." People apparently fly in on private jets and stuff there.

My dad and his co-worker in front of an abandoned shack. It was pretty tight actually.

Also this McDonald's had a white horse on it. What.

The next day, I had to go to this awards ceremony/graduation thing for my sister's old childhood friend. His parents started this ambassador's program for young men/boys and it was an event just recognizing them. Also, an interesting surprise near the end, Malcolm-Jamal Warner came to speak (Theo from the Cosby Show). He was pretty funny and a nice surprise. 

You can't see him well but that's him. 

Other than that Sunday was a crummy day. I was cranky that morning due to being woken up just a bit too early, no food to eat, and the food I did eat at the event was.......eh. I got home and didn't do crap, I just half assed some Drawing I homework. I escaped for a bit to get ramen with my buddy Alex, the same one I went test driving cars with, and I felt SO MUCH BETTER. I started getting turnt in the parking lot for no reason. Then we drove to Gravity Hill with some other guys and called it a night.

THEN THE NEXT DAY.......I woke up as usual and did my thing. But as I was walking to class once I arrived at school, I, on a whim, decided to check my email. I was shocked to see an email from Calarts sitting patiently in my inbox, in my head I was like "shit...it's happening" but I clicked on it anyway and the first word I saw was:

"Congratulations..."

Not gonna lie, I teared up a bit. Then I emailed my old roommate Shan and told him, and we both spazzed over text about it for a minute or so. I was sooooo happy. It didn't even sink in until like....today lol. And I'm still processing it.

....OMG I'M GOING TO CALARTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (temporarily)

Weird thing is, the more I look at my "portfolio" the more I'm like.....huh? Calarts has high standards, and my stuff was not that great, I can see tons more flaws now. But whatever, it's not competitive from what I heard....but they don't let everyone do it, so I'll give myself a little credit.........but still, I need tons of work lol.

I won't even talk about today. I left my Life Drawing class early because everything I drew sucked. Which was weird because I tried doing gestures with blue pen today. And I in no way think they're "brilliant," but I think they're better than what I was doing before.

Eh. Now that I look at them they're actually just whatever.

So yeah, that sums up my week. Had to wait a full, stressful week to hear back from Calarts. But at least I got in! At least...for the summer lol. Baby steps. So yeah, my mom was super happy, and I'm glad I got in, so it shows her I'm improving...or something lol. Idk

Also yesterday this happened...

Lol, my cousin goes to school near my house and her car died. We had to hotwire it. Told my mom about Calarts like right after this happened haha. 

So yeah. That's my life right now. I also just watched Hitch for no reason. Anyway, till next update! :D

Calarts Animation Residency Portfolio Summer 2014

So...hi. I literally just emailed in my portfolio submission to Calarts. And I'm actually pretty nervous now, since there's nothing I can do about it.

I was pretty indecisive before regarding what to put in and what to leave out, but over the past couple of days I just grew tired of stressing and just sorta went for it.

Anywhoozers. This is what I sent in, in order:

First piece. Besides that damn hand, I felt like it was the strongest life drawing piece I had. I know her head's too big, and the lighting sucks big time....but I like it considering I'm still new to this (minus the hand...crap).

Drawing of my sister. She was difficult to capture mostly because she kept moving and having to re-position herself. But I'm glad she helped me out. I also used colored pencil because I felt it would look better colored....and it does I guess. Didn't bother shading though.

My last life drawing piece. I almost didn't send in this one, but I found it at the last minute and figured it couldn't hurt. I know they like to see gesture work, so I just sorta threw this in. 

Okay...I had no access to an animal whatsoever, and I didn't discover this until yesterday morning. So I drove my sorry ass to the park and drew DUCKIES. Because I was desperate. Also I suck at drawing animals anyway, so why not do ducks? I was at the park nearly an hour sketching these guys, which sucked because it was hot and bugs were everywhere. I only had like 5 pages of drawings, and after that I just cut my losses and went home to work on other stuff. This was the best page I guess. I only really like it because I threw in the lady at the bottom feeding them.

My self portrait. Holy hell, this was a painnnn to set up. I actually had a lot of fun doing it. I sat in front of a mirror for an hour or so and just drew my expressions. I figured my old self portrait was too stale for Calarts, so I wanted to make myself look more animated. I won't get into the details of how hard it was to color these in photoshop, but I had to use some weird methods to get it to look like this (i can't use photoshop very well). But overall, I'm happy with how it turned out. 

My character design. This one was surprisingly difficult. I wound up making three character designs, this one included, and funny enough, this one was my LAST choice originally. I'll post the other two another time, but I ultimately went with this one because I felt that he was the most original out of the three and he had the most attitude. I kinda liked the other two better, but they were kinda stale and nothing you haven't seen before. Although I almosssstttttt went with Squirrel Boy (you'll know who that is later). Anyway, so I went with this. I'm mildly disappointed with the character overall, mostly because I feel like he's weak, I thought after two months of training and "arting" every day that I could do better. He's certainly a slight improvement of my past character designs, but I really intended my this to be my ace in the hole......and I don't think it is. lol

So that's my portfolio in a nutshell. I'll let you know whether it gets accepted or rejected. I should know within the week.The wait's still gonna be torture though. Meh. >.>

'Till next timeeee

Impending...something.

Greetings, people of the internet. I'd like to start out by saying I'm kinda screwed...at least I feel like I am, in reality things aren't nearly as bad as I make it for the most part with regards to my artwork, but let me back up just a teeny bit.

Basically, my little 5-6 page portfolio for Calarts' Animation Residency Program for the summer is due in like two days, and I feel like all of my work sucks. Basically, it includes two life drawings, an animal drawing, a self portrait, and a character design. So let's just go over what I feel about my pieces.

Life Drawing piece 1: It turned out okay. Lighting is shit. And I screwed up the left hand to all hell.

Life Drawing piece 2: Lighting non-existent. Eyes too small, and it's clear I can't foreshorten to save my life.

Animal Drawing: Non-existent at this point.

Self Portrait: Too muddy. Not enough light/dark contrast. And honestly, that could all be forgiven if I hadn't made my eyes look like hamster eyes.

Character design.: Slightly disappointing. I thought I could do better. I wound up drawing three, and I finally decided on one today, which is unfortunate, because I feel like this character was one of the weaker designs, but he had the most personality and he was the most original. I'm basically hoping he cancels out at least some of my weaker pieces in this currently-not-finished-portfolio-but-not-really-it's-only-five-pages.

I'll post all of my crap drawings later. Oh, also, it turns out Calarts sent out acceptance letters to some people. I just joined AnimatedBuzz.com, so that's how I know.

Anyway, yeah.....I was really nervous about getting in to this summer program, but now I kinda just wanna send in my stuff and get it over with. Not worth all this stress.

Oh well. 'Till next time.

Delayed Update

....Yeah, okay, I know this update is late but whatever. I kept procrastinating, and then I actually planned on updating last night but my internet wound up getting all screwed. So anyway, UPDATES:

1) So remember that Life Drawing class I got? Admissions wouldn't let me take it because I didn't have the pre-req. SO, I had to find this guy named Greg Gilbertson, who's apparently the department chair of the Art Department, and get him to sign some form giving me permission to skip the prerequisite, Drawing I (which is stupid because I'm taking it now anyway but whatever). Got that all sorted out and now I'm in the class for realsies, and I love it.Lots of homework though.

2) I've been drawing for my Calarts submission for the Animation Residency Program, and it's been stressing me out....I really hope I get in. In my Drawing and Life Drawing class though, I've continued to get positive feedback on my work. In Drawing I we anonymously posted a drawing of a shoe on the wall for critique (it was a still-life assignment) and the class and my teacher said mine was wonderful and my composition was great. It was flattering...especially because I wasn't really thinking whilst doing it. But yeah, it felt good. :)

3) Did I mention how much I've been drawing? Holy hell. The sucky part is, I'm still doing like 70% cartoon work still. Mostly because I'm too lazy to go out to the mall without Murphy, my drawing buddy. So, I'm just gonna dump some of what I've been doing...it's A LOT, and most of it sorta sucks, but I've gotten better since these drawings........a teeeeeeeeny tiny bit. I'll post some of my Life Drawings next time.

And on that note, off to do homework for those classes! YAYYY!!!! ...........lol. meh

Gesture studies

Some more gestures

lol

meh

I would color this, but my sketchbook bleeds really bad.

Okay, you can't see it, but on my way home one day I saw THIS...

Over a hundred grown people in suits walking together to nowhere. It was just really odd because that NEVER happens in this area of my hometown. It's like seeing a Dodo or something.

WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE??