Finally, time for work.

So I have finally got my room back in order. It's all freshly painted and sparkly! I told my mother I wanted to paint the room back to something more neutral to make the room feel larger and move around some furniture. That ended up leading to painting all of our bedrooms and then also getting our carpet ripped out to put in wood flooring. This meant I was not able to return to my room for three weeks. It was a long time not having a place to work on anything.

The end result pleases me though! The desk is something I may or may not keep the way it is- but I think we may find a better/wider desk than the one that's here now. We'll see...

(I have my eye on one o_o)

In other news, my young hamster tried to escape one night- and failed. But it was funny watching him try! He got so close to making it free! He's such a rascal~ Trying to escape like he's got somewhere to go. Maybe it will wear off as he gets older. The other hamster, Ice Monster, is over a year old now, so he's enjoying life, sleeping, eating, and ignoring the fact that he has a wheel to run on. He just lounges on it now-a-days. Oh lazy hamsters.

And I made some awesome ramen for myself the other day! It was so good!!! I guess enjoying the simple things in life are pretty good sometimes. ♥

Livingstone.

I rarely read manga. My usual time-waster is watching anime. In response most people tell me, "the manga is better." So recently I have been actively trying to start reading manga. I do love the artwork of many manga-ka, but for some reason it's hard for me to get into reading it. Sadly, I must admit, I don't read that much and I haven't for a long time. The last novels I read were by Ryu Murakami and Poppy Z. Brite back in high school.

So in my attempt to be a better (and more literate) individual, I am trying to find manga that I want to read. I love ghost stories or stories of the dark, paranormal oddities, based on reality or completely made up. Another requirement is that I must really love the artwork.

In my search I found Livingstone. It was a fluke purchase at Books Japan in Atlanta when we were leaving to come back to North Carolina. I randomly purchased this phonebook for the artwork on the cover. Livingstone is a really cute but grim story about destiny, souls, and the people and events that manipulate them. Definitely check it out! I've enjoyed reading this one so far!

Repaint!

I'm currently in progress of repainting my entire room and getting it re-carpeted. It's a rather big change and will hopefully help me with being more organized and just in general getting on track with work/art/life. I will eventually need to sell a ton of my clothes so I can buy a new computer. This laptop seems to be getting to it's breaking point thanks to me using it as my main computer. My running giant memory-eating Adobe programs on it doesn't help.

But for now, I am currently working with Askew Magazine- an American Japanese Rock/Lifestyle magazine that is just starting up! I hope to gain a lot of experience from it and also do something I love to do.

I'm traveling down to Atlanta one more time this month- tomorrow with my friend Dusty. We're going down for Anime Weekend Atlanta. I'll be possibly manning the Animazement booth down in front of the dealers room when I feel like it. My friend Violane is running the Yaoi After Dark panel, I assist by making badges for her and otherwise attend the craziness. I'm looking forward to using the time as more of a vacation from all the paint fumes welling up in my bedroom.

The ocean, maybe.

I started another new piece! I doubt it will be done to print for Dragoncon, but it might if I feel like bustin' my ass tonight.

I've been watching a lot of Miyazaki films the past few weeks. His films are really extremely impressive from both the entertainment standpoint as well as an artistic one. Some of the things he does are really inspiring and sometimes makes me wish I went into animation. Though I know how hard it is to do animation and make it- it's nonetheless pretty amazing.

I would like to draw characters that inspire stories and I'd like to do what I can, not being a writer myself, to inspire writers. Other artists and writers are the ones to tend to like my work the most, and that is probably one of the best compliments I could get. For people who know and love art to enjoy what I do really makes me happy. I hope that one day I do work that reaches more than just artists and writers though!

But for now, I am happy and I hope I can do more in the near future to expand on what I already have. ♥

I've gotten older.

Today is my 23rd birthday! I decided to make mint cupcakes with chocolate icing! They turned out great and beautiful.

It's my friend Dusty's birthday tomorrow as well! So we are going out tonight to celebrate both of our birthdays together. It's always fun when you can get together with all of your friends every once in a while. There will be eating and dancing and drinking. ♥

Anatomical addiction.

I have a great appreciation for anatomical illustration. I recently purchased these items and thought I would share the awesomeness of Etsy- an online craft and supply community where artists can sell their arts and crafts online!



My first purchases were from etsy seller, Sushipot. I have loved her work for a long time and finally got myself a pair of gorgeous pendants! They are made of poker chips and vintage illustrations! I can't wait to get them in the mail! Sushipot also has gorgeous ornaments that I will probably end up buying a little later. They have awesome little spikes all around them!



Another thing that I have lately been getting into is artisanal soaps. I recently purchased a Rosemary and Peppermint Soap made by Burt's Bees and loved it. So I'm going to try out some of Sweet Petula's Halloween (La Nuit) Shea Butter Soap! It's main note is amber combined with myrth, vanilla and eqyptian musk! I can't wait to try it!

Time machine gone wrong.

I finished my newest piece! I'm extremely happy to get it done! I will start selling this print at Dragoncon in two weeks! I'm excited I get to go to a comic convention again! ♥

H.naoto, you make my heart melt.

So, it's no big secret that H.naoto is one of my favorite fashion brands, by far. I seriously have ended up as some ridiculous collector, and if I haven't I probably will be.

To the left is a new one from his Dark red rum line. I just love the texture, layering, and coloring of everything he does!!! Sadly most of the sizing for his line is small by American standards since most Japanese girls tend to actually be pretty small and thin. But thankfully there are definitely a few awesome pieces here and there that have reasonable sizing! So for those of us who are not twigs, we can partake in Naoto's awesome art as well!

Below is a piece from the Gramm line! It's one of my favorite vests out right now! It's so adorable and unique! The back of it hangs down at the hips! I love the buttons and the assymmetrical quality of the design. I will definitely end up purchasing this one!

H.naoto Official Site

The art of finishing.

It's hard to finish a piece sometimes. In fear of messing it up or it not turning out quite right I tend to draw out the process longer and longer as the pieces I work on get more and more complicated. I'd like to work quickly and efficiently but it's a tough thing to do. But I want to improve and move on and get better.

Here's something I've been working on for a month or two now. I keep coming back to it hoping I won't fuck it up too badly. Here's the piece- still in progress but getting to the last stretch before it's done.

I hope that in the end, every piece I work on makes me learn something about how to do it better next time. I've been trying to incorporate more complex poses, mechanics/machinery, perspective, and all that goodness into my work from now on. I guess making each piece more dynamic--

I hope I succeed.

Though I still need to work on my color- which evidentally isn't as good as it could be according to college professors that saw my work and anonymously commented on what was good and bad about my work overall. I need to keep that in mind--

Well in the least, I'm getting there! Just another 100 years of practice...!!!

*p.s. I'm sadly kind of a slob when it comes to a work station- I totally work on stuff on my bed instead of my desk. It's weird and not good for my bedding-- ^^; I'll eventually change this habit when I reorganize my room a bit.

It's early, but late.

I'm awake. And it's 5:30 in the morning.

This is my first entry in this blog of mine. I'd like to fill this with things that I love and enjoy and would like to share. Things from my travels, my art, my collection of clothing and toys, and more. I spend a lot of my time drawing, scowering the internet for PVs and watching Japanese drama and movies. I attend anime conventions, selling my artwork and meeting new people. I travel when I can and enjoy being in new places. I hope that this blog will serve a lot of functions, and maybe even organizing my own life a little for myself. I hope to make some new friends and maybe even learn to articulate myself better than I normally do.