[Me News]
University is finally over for the year and that means a breath of fresh air, and me hopefully, finally having some time to myself. Life’s been her usually ‘exciting’ self with me. I’d share, but whining online isn’t really my scene; It’s totally soooo un-fetch. And by “un-fetch” I mean juvenile. I’d rant about kids using the internet for virtual pity posses, but ranting isn’t really my dig either. There have been some very nice moments in my recent history of course, and that’s all fair game for the internet. 3.5 GPA by the way. I’m a little disappointed but I’ve only got myself to blame so no whining about that either. 3.5 isn’t that bad anyway I guess.
It’s spring up here in Canada, and everyday it’s smelt different and delicious outside. Today smelled like oranges, yesterday smelled of hickory smoke, day before was roses (which is strange since no roses are up yet) and the day before that was cut grass or something. That last day may not be right, but whatever it was, it did make me think of fresh cut grass…even though our grass is just turning green now. Tonight smells like hyacinths. Same story with not many flowers being up yet and this being impossible (though hyacinths come up early early spring anyway). Maybe it’s all in my head or I’ve just been (un?)lucky enough to walk into huge clouds of perfume every time I step out side. This is all dandy though, since it’s been a nice spring experience. Also, songbirds waking you ever morning is beyond fantastic. I missed them in the winter and I’ll miss them if they aren’t a phenomenon when/if I move.
Did I mention we’re having an unnaturally chilly May? How chilly? Snowing chilly. It’s snowing. Right. Now. I’m worried that if I blink, I’ll have missed spring and we’ll have jumped right into summer. That’s the thing I love about Canada-land though; the weather is always so unpredictable. I do get all four seasons at least. Sure, the seasons aren’t in equal servings, but every four years or so, they even out. And baring death by freezing, Canadian weather isn’t too dangerous either. Don’t get me started on Canadian wildlife though. Friendly woodland critters snuggling up to your tuque, don’t seem so friendly when they can easily kick your face in.
The little fleurettes of green in all the trees are quite darling to look at. Forgive my french, but the word is much too appropriate. It’s like the trees are already blossoming, and I guess they are in one sense of the word. Still, I can’t wait till more flowers actually come up. I fully intend to practice my paltry photography skills. Also, back with the image of les fleurettes, I keep thinking of Ezra Poud’s imagist poem:
IN A STATION OF THE METRO
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Quite a charming image isn’t it? Even if different readings of the poem can lend to a more sinister air, both are relevant and rather appropriate. I don’t think I’ll get into poetry analysis today (or maybe ever in this blog), but if the ‘haiku’ tickles your fancy, I’d wouldn’t hesitate to recommend looking up further analysis of the thing. Pound isn’t my favoirte American modernist poets but he’s not bad. And who knows, maybe this summer is a good couple of months for poetry immersion. I might even link some more in later posts.
A long overdue haircut finally happened to me too. More on the silly events of that later. For the record, I think it’s shorter than it’s ever been. Short short pixie cut.
[Sketches / Art bit]
I haven’t forgotten my webcomic but I’m currently so horrified with the paltry quality of my art that I just can’t force myself to post the more recent pages. Note that there are more recent pages. Give my fragile ego a little bit to get over myself, and we’ll be good to go. Concurrently, while I try to garner a little more time for myself, I’m also trying to get back into the groove of drawing/painting/ and just art in general. Maybe when I get back into the swing of thing, my comic won’t look so stiff. No promises though. It still might take me some time to get used to the comic medium.
Any-hoo, here’s some sketches I did trying to get some late night drawing practice in.
I would call this lady an ‘alien’ but that’s hardly polite behavior, now is it? She’s a relatively unimportant minor character from A Paper Flower Carnival. I Just felt like doodling her, because being an extraterrestrial [more like Extra Special amirite? -- no discrimination on my part] means that I can make up her culture and mode of dress and all that. Lots of liberties to me. Don’t you just love not being wrong?
Her name is Ümlautie. It was a hard choice on which vowel to put the umlaut, and it’s really still up in the air. I’d like to point out by the way, that she’s got ever vowel except Y in her name (a Y would have looked stupid… bit now that I think bout it, might look sort of cool with an umlaut). Since her colour scheme is white and old lady pinks, I was always calling her ‘Roza’ in my head. Digression but, I had a hardy Italian naighbour named Roza – (married to Tony and with two kids named Camilla and Carmen respectively — loved the names of everyone in that family!) – who would call me “Anna”. I would have stuck with Roza too, if it wasn’t the same amount of syllables as Tisha (and both end with an ‘A’– not a pretty lexicality). Tisha is a (huge joke of a) character, and he’s a whole bunch blue. Their babies would be purple or something.
Anyway, the red sketch was done last night and the black one on the lined paper, was done maybe 5 months ago in an English course. Both sketches were done using those fabulous 4 coloured Bic pens from France.
Points on Ümlautie’s design:
- Those weird swirly patterns on both sketches are supposed to remind me to get some visual research on those coral fish. Shame on the artist that doesn’t collect proper visual research!
- She doesn’t have large / elf / animal ears. The bigger shapes behind her head are essentially bits of her nun’s wimple.
- She has a heavy circular pattern going on, dots in her eyes, and even has an umlaut-esque headress sort of thing (I pretend they’re antennae for catching radio frequencies when her life as a nun gets too boring – it isn’t – and her nun life is boring).
- That isn’t a mask, its more a fleshy cartilage like tissue extending from her face; the same sort of biological tissue from her lower half. I drew it too red and too far separated I’ve decided. (more a note for me than anything else) .
- No that isn’t a piercing and yes she’s overdressed for a nun (in my canon).
- No she isn’t a ‘priestess’, she’s a nun. That’s different. Nun = boring repetitive devout life, Priestess = running around barely dressed fighting ogres and being sacrificed to volcano gods.
- She’s from a place called Tebit Lamdala. Yeah. Don’t even get me started.
- Shut up, I can’t draw symmetrically, leave me alone.
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And because this post lacks hot topless babe, here’s a sketch I’m working on right now of Alice. I know her colour scheme, I know how I want to clour this and in what traditional media… I just don’t know what to colour the roses. BRB, praying to the colour wheel god.
Don’t get too excited about this sketch though, I completely slaughtered a copy when inking it. I’m really really rusty at this whole art gig. I’d making drawings in the most uneconomical fashion imaginable. … Maybe I should make tutorials on how not to go about your art business.
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