Here's a little thing I finished working on last week. It was originally formatted to be a two page spread for my book, which was going to be 8x8, but I have since changed the format to 6x9, which didn't take a lot of work, and actually looks much better. Its nice to be working digitally again. My father bought me my tablet as a high school graduation gift, so its always been special. But for some reason MECA and its staff were against the use of digital work for my first few years here, so I stopped working this way. Now I'm back and working away with a vengeance. I did the line art traditionally, and colored it up cell-style.

I admire the painterly styles of some digital artists, but I've been unsuccessful with it myself, so far. I plan on giving it another shot. But speaking of painterly, my boyfriend gave Comic Book Tattoo for a Christmas gift this year; its filled with some pretty amazing digital comics by various artists. Its also huge, and loaded with inspiration. Apparently all the comics are based off Tori Amos songs, but I'm not really a fan of her music. The book is definitely worth looking at anyway.


On an entirely different note.
I'm spending an awful lot of time in the studio lately, and though extremely tiring, I'm beginning to realize how much I'm going to miss it after graduation. I realized that the studio and the people in it, my friends, some of the most amazing people I've ever met, are the reason I was meant to go to MECA. I've become so jaded and so angry with the school and everything about it, that it is amazing to finally see the good in it all. Was it worth all the bullshit? If just for the little moments in the studio that stick out in my mind at the end of the day, then yes. It was.

Hey guys. Its been a rough start to my last semester at MECA. Lobotomy Bunneh is trying to keep me happy and positive by giving me lots to keep me busy, but my head wont stay out of the dark. The people at MECA make me want to scream. Students, faculty... The people in the offices don't know their right from their left. They've taken to actually harassing me to get their money, which was paid in full last monday, and yet, I just received a brand new bill for the exact amount of my last two payments. I would like to go down to the offices with the wrath of hell on my side, but you get more honey with bees, or something like that.
The students (most Illustration and Graphic Design kids excluded here), just make me angry. I am astounded by how many people claim to be open and original and declare themselves free thinkers when their minds are actually locked so deep in a box of their own design that they can't remember what it's like to care about someone else. I am amazed at how many people succumb to the "we are art students, and there fore we are different, original, and worthy of a special kind of attention" mentality.

I need to remember to go to my old high school to get my old transcripts. It's SMCC applying time. :)

I read a lot over winter break. It made me immensely happy, and it readied me to start writing my own story, for my thesis. I used to be a big writer. I almost went to school for writing. I'm rusty now, since I gave it up shortly after my father passed away. Writing was always something therapeutic, but it became something that just reminded me of everything in my life I wanted to forget. So I stopped, and now I've started again, so I'm sure I will make plenty of errors. That's fine.

I started my reading binge with Water For Elephants, by Sara Gruen, a love story set on a traveling circus show, with one of the best endings I've read in a while.

Then I got into the spiritual, and picked up Buddha, by Deepak Chopra. I am constantly soul searching and trying to find myself in religion, being raised alongside religious beliefs, but never having quite come to terms with it. So Buddha was pretty amazing to me, as it told the story of Sidartha and then some, as the story of a man, and not of a god. I reccomend it to anyone in the same boat with religion as I am.

After that I decided to finally read some of my boyfriends Kurt Vonnegut collection, and I busted through Galapagos, and Cats Cradle in about three days. Kurt Vonnegut has a way of being delightfully funny in places where most authors would have chosen a more morose point of view, and he didn't want me to put his books down. I am a sucker for wit, and for anything to do even mildly with the future or with science, so Kurt Vonnegut is a perfect fit for me. I'm reading his Slaughter House Five, at the moment.

I took a break from Kurt before the semester started, and I read the newest book from Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book. It was reminiscent of young adult fiction, and it felt like Gaiman wanted it to be a much longer series, but it was still pretty amazing. They included some fantastic illustrations by Dave Mckean which were actually pen and ink drawings, something that's kind of rare for him. It might not be the best book to start with if you've never read Gaiman before, but its a must if you're a fan.


So it was pretty eventful winter break, as far as my reading went. Now I'm back and working hard on my thesis, and trying to decide what I should do for other projects, and have no time for reading more. I've built a little pantry of snacks and teas in my studio and plan to spent most week days in there getting as much done as possible. Hopefully I will remember to blog about it. ^_~