Dig, Dug, Dang!

I've been staying with Violet's parents over this weekend, so I've been forced to work in pencil only for the time being. Speaking of which I should mention my appreciation for a couple I met on the train to Haymarket. One Colin and Elizabeth, who bought from me a couple of quick portraits I done of them as a souvenir of their trip. I hope the castle wasn't too draughty!

I feel more like an archeologist than a pencil artist at the moment. I've unearthed a number of sketchbooks which have remained dormant on the discarded level of my bookcase in the corner. They hold dates like '2005-06' on them. This is history. Not only history, but my history. The evolution of my ideas and the lines my hands crafted once.

A great many of them are unfinished. And this is where my work begins, and the point of this entry finds itself. I must learn to finish what I begin. This is the lesson I have seeking to learn. I lack the patience to see a task through to its' completion. I came up with a character who is the personification of such a trait. He is the antithesis of all that I am.

If you have ever reached that point in an endeavour, where the interest wanes and your attention begins to split under the pressure, then you know where I'm coming. If you want to deal with this, then you're going where I want to be. So I've been going through these sketchbooks, and adding the lines which need to be there to achieve things like clarity, and lose the ambiguity of diminished focus. To some part of my mind this has become blasphemous. 'What are you doing!? These are snapshots of how you were at that time! Why the hell are you ruining them!' I feel like some heretic in the halls of my own making, scrawling on the walls, 'WRONG!'

I'm not doing it to all the drawings, that would be counter effective. Only those which deserve that something, that drive. This has led me to the creation of a To Do Folder. So much more than a list, it contains the items in question. They're not prioritised yet, they have no order, I jump between them. I'm wondering if this is a way of working which suits me. Project hopping, like a frog on electrified skittles.

So far I have finished 0/16.... getting there!

Something to share with you

Enjoy.

Flying the flags, invisible banners

I thought I would mention as an update that I was working on the header of this blog, the frogboy image that I crafted for my 3rd year end of year presentation. Hopes you all like it. Working on the trasnparency of it so it blends in nicely.. getting there I feel, see how it works out with more tinkering.

More updating to come I feel.

Which day suits?

I've been thinking. Should I pick a day in the week in which I sit down and write a blog post, perhaps twice weekly at most. That way I'll have an appointed date in which I -know- I'm supposed to update this. Then updated outwith that, with important information I feel is neccessary?

So which days do you reckon it should be? Cast your votes now?

Monday / Friday?
Tuesday / Saturday?
Wednesday / Sunday?

Who will keep the dreams?

~

Not many of you read this, this I understand. The world would not make sense if you did. I'm writing this from atop an art paint box slash pop up easel conversion, riddled from lidl for who knows how much. I got it at christmas I think, and I've hardly even used it. Now I have to worry about overheating the paint inside as my laptop struggles through almost tangible perspiration, to continue working.

So in the time between posting before and posting now, I've moved from one room to another, one city to another, one bed to another, and into better company. But since then, I've still been trying to look for paying work.

To keep me otherwise busy I've been modelling possible assets for this coming
4th year. Utilising my maya skills to conjure new and untested works, shown here.



This is Cadeaux, a metaphorical musician and one of the cast of the tragically epic inner workings of my mind. Now when I say, she is a musician, I mean she plays,



A cello.

Both of these models are still in the rough stages, but it is nice to feel like I'm motivating myself into using Maya for personal use. Once you get over the thought processes for creating what you see in your mind, it really can become quite enjoyable. The only thing I could compare this to is driving, even though I can't and never really have.

It would be a novelty to be able to animate Cadeaux playing the Cello, sometime during this summer, all going well.

I've been reading and following a book called the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. It has an interesting creative endeavour and as I delve farther into, I would probably recommend it to any creator of any kind. I bought the book for Violet for her christmas, and it's taken until now for us both to seriously consider following it. I borrowed a copy from my university library for the moment, so any abertayers can find it there, once I return it!

The morning pages is a great way of kick starting the old kanoodle, and I end up writing down creatively in the latter matters of writing. Morning pages, for reference, are longhand thought streams you just write. Simply just write what comes into your head. Whatever is bothering you, or ailing you. Even just simple matters can be written out. It's a great way for clearing the mind, try it out. 3 pages, each morning.

Also today I watched the latter part of an inspiring film called Dreamkeeper incorporating a number of folklore, along with a moral tale of re-inventing the self. Walking the red road. Taking the journey. Self sacrifice. Telling stories, and the purpose thereof. It's about life. It's worth watching.

I keep getting the itch to paint again...