Thursday, December 17, 2009

I was owned by art school

Today is my last day of my first semester at Otis.
It has been truly awesome. I love art school and I'm looking forward to the next semester.
But honestly, art school has owned me.
I have not posted since the day before Halloween.
Which makes me sad because I like keeping updated with my blog pals. But now that it is winter break,
I'll have more time :)
And I hope to upload some of the work I've been doing.
But first thing is first, I must finish my Cal arts portfolio this winter break.
I'll be submitting my portfolio during the beginning of January and we'll see from there.
Spending a semester at Otis has put me in quite the pickle with this whole Cal arts thing.
But we'll see what happens.
I'm looking forward to next year already :)

Until then, I'm going to rest :P



Friday, October 30, 2009

Happy Halloween!

I know Halloween isn't today but Autumn is my favorite season so I'll just say it early.
This post has nothing to do with Halloween but I've been wanting to post my recent work from Otis.
I'm taking a Basic 3D class that teaches the class how to use Maya.
And we've been working on a new project every week.
So I thought I would post 2 of my recent projects. They're not the most elaborate and fantastic models :P
But I'm really glad that I'm making progress in Maya and I think my projects show that.
Here are some screen shots:




I had another project that I really liked but I forgot to save it onto my own flash drive after I turned it in :P
I'm pretty sad, because I don't know if I'll have the time to go back and finish it.
But it was a model of a contemporary/ modern room that had some Asian influence.
Sad :(


Another project that I'm working on is incorporating myself into a character from a story. The book that I chose is called Sabriel and the character that I used is Kerrigor. Kerrigor is portrayed as the Greater Dead. Which means he is a very powerful dead creature and he wants to take over the Living world.
I didn't work on it very long until I noticed that my creature doesn't look like me at all.
And also, it was scaring my boyfriend. He said that it kept staring at him.
So I decided to tone it down and start over with charcoal.
I really wanted to work with oil paint because I'm not very experienced with oil.
Maybe next time.

the photo is a bit washed out because of the natural light.
it's supposed to be darker and richer. I'll try taking another photo.



The charcoal drawing is much better. Except, I don't think it quite looks like me.
It's... prettier?


I hid the painting behind our dvd/game collection.



I thought I would include another show and tell because it's fun.
For those of you who are green onion fans, you can grow your own green onion easily!
(courtesy of Jeanette, who showed me how)

When you are at the end of your green onion stalk, leave about 2.5 inches.
and just stick it in water.
Your green onion will start growing immediately.
You will also see the roots start growing the day after you stick it in water.
In the picture, the really skinny green onion growing on the left one is new.

It's super easy :)


This week wasn't as stressful. I'm glad I had some time to relax.
But next week is crunch time. I have some pretty big projects due.

I can't wait till Thanksgiving...

Friday, October 23, 2009

Much Better

I must say that this year's portfolio day went much better!
I had the opportunity to present my portfolio to Libby Hux. She is Calart's admissions counselor.
I made an appointment with her previously about 2 months ago.
And she remembered me. Very sweet of her :)
She flipped through my portfolio and seemed to like it.
The only critique she gave me was to re-organize my portfolio. And she told me to include my sketchbook even though it's a hot mess :P
I'm really glad. Maybe too glad? I didn't hear anything negative about my portfolio.
Which is a good thing. But I guess it was too good to be true, so I wanted to hear some negative stuff too.
It was great though, I'm glad that it went really well this time.
I guess I'm ready to apply. And she suggested that I make another appointment with her before I submit my portfolio.

But, at the same time I'm really enjoying Otis.
So we'll see what happens.
Time is flying by so fast. When you start attending art school your weeks become 4 days long.
Seriously.

until next time!


Thursday, October 15, 2009

Rain!

Yesterday and today were my first rainy days in Los Angeles. I miss the rain.
I'm glad that it's finally raining again. I feel as if California has been going through a drought.
Also, my car needed a car wash. I parked on the top floor of the parking structure so that my car can get clean.

This Sunday is portfolio day! I'm excited to show the new stuff that I have in my portfolio. And hopefully this time, it will be a better experience. I can't believe it's been a year.
But I'm not so surprised. Time is just flying right now.
It's already the 7th week of school. I swear my weeks are only comprised of 4 days now.
Seriously, when you start art school, your weeks only become 4 days long.

I seem to be saying this in all of my posts but I'll say it again. IM SO BUSY.
I really really want to post some of my work here. And I know I'll end up posting up my work towards the end of the semester and have this super long post with lots of pictures.

I'll do my best to make a post about this year's Portfolio Day.
Can't wait!


Friday, September 18, 2009

Art School Rocks

I've been pretty busy with art school. But I'm having a lot of fun . All the things that I want to do and improve on are already being done :)
Storyboarding, character design, learning photoshop, learning maya. It's so great.
(that contemporary art class isn't so hot ... -___-, but it's still interesting!)
I'm really looking forward to the rest of the semester and see how much I improve.
Art school is so great because I'm surrounded by such talented artists. It's intimidating and inspiring all at once. But everyone is really nice and always willing to help.
I didn't want another month to pass by before I blog again :P
Hopefully, I can start posting some of the work that I've been doing in class.

Also, national portfolio day is just right around the corner. It's pretty crazy how it's already been a year.
But I'm looking forward to portfolio day. I can't forget that it's about a month away. I have to start putting fixative on my pieces!

I wanted to post a few drawings that I did a few weeks ago. They aren't from Otis, but I always want to post work to compare my progress from before.






School really is overwhelming, but in a good way. I'm really happy that I made this choice to attend Otis. I don't have much else to say :P
except that... art school rocks!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Movie Review and other thoughts

I actually have some time to make a new post today :)
I've been wanting to do a little movie review for Ponyo and Inglorious Bastards.
Seriously, some of the best films that I saw all year. Two completely different genres but both great films.

Ponyo: Again, Miyazaki performs his witchcraft and delivers another fantastic film. Ponyo, though not as epic as Princess Mononoke or Naussica, is truly a sweet story that has the same feel as Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service. It is about a goldfish/ girl who wants to become human. The story is not hard to digest at all. It is sweet, simple, and really feel good. (Good date movie ;) So I don't have much to say about it. It surely met my expectations. Miyazaki never fails to make you laugh, gasp and fall for his characters. Highly recommended :)

Inglorious Bastards: Great movie, great story, great music, great characters. Overall, great great movie! This film is very impressive. I highly recommend this movie to people who love action and quirky characters. Inglorious Bastards definitely has a very talented cast of people. I think one of the most impressive aspects about the movie is that you'll find that some actors in the movie are multilingual and can speak up to 3 or 4 languages. I don't know about other people, but I appreciate the variety :)
Another aspect of the film that makes it so great is the suspense in the movie that keeps you guessing. I think it's Tarantino's magic that makes you feel like you don't know what is going to happen next in the movie. I don't want to say too much about this movie either because you just have to see for yourself. This movie is not boring and will keep you at the edge of your seat.


Some thoughts: Recently, I've been having some thoughts about applying to Calarts. I still want to apply, but there is a part of my brain that is nagging at me and is making me think that because I am already attending Otis, Calarts would not want to accept me. I got some advice from my fellow animated buzzers and so far, 100% of them have told me that attending Otis is not a reason why Calarts would reject me. I agree, that it shouldn't matter. I guess it's because I tend to put art schools on a high pedestal and I end up thinking strange thoughts like this. I don't know much about the factors that make an applicant worthy of Calarts, but I do hope that already attending an art school doesn't hinder that in any way.

Other then that, I must go art supply shopping now. So far, I'm having a good time at Otis. I have some homework due next week. I really have to get back into school mode and remember that I have homework :P

My camera is having issues right now. I hope to resolve that soon so I can post up the work that I've been doing.

until next time!
(by the way, boondock saints II is coming out? hmmm....)

Monday, August 31, 2009

first day of school

Today was my first day of school at Otis. My first class was Media in Motion and it is a 6 hour long class with a lunch break. I never had such a long class before and I thought I wouldn't survive, but I did :P
I'm pretty excited to finally be attending an art school. It really is a different feel knowing that your peers are interested in the same things as you are. I haven't been a full time student in a year, so it's kind of a rush to be back in the flow. (Though I do miss my part time student days -___-)
I just finished buying some course books and such online and I thought I would just post a little something.
I've been pretty frazzled lately with all the moving and the hot weather. But I finally settled down into my new place in Los Angeles and I'm looking forward to settling down in art school as well.

I included my school schedule in this post. I have mostly night classes now which is something I'm not really used to. I'm still a little overwhelmed by the first day of school.
I'll be keeping this post pretty short.
I did want to do a little movie review of Ponyo and Inglorious Bastards.
Maybe even post some recent work. But I have another class to attend at 7.
And I just want to rest right now :P

I hope I won't be too busy to post later on!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Testing!

I was watching this clip from Ponyo
and damn... it's just the cutest thing ever! I still have yet to watch the movie. But this trailer has got me hyped up even more!
I don't know what witchcraft Miyazaki possesses, but he always creates the cutest characters that make you smile :)
I guess if I watch it in the movie theater it will be dubbed over with English. Usually I prefer Japanese but Princess Mononoke was dubbed really well. I think Ponyo will be too.

I've embedded the clip that I've been watching and it works! It's quite awkward on my blog and blocking some stuff on the side. But that's ok :)



Thursday, August 13, 2009

Busy Business

I know I may be repeating this a lot but... I really feel like I don't have much time to do all the things I want!
And school is coming ever closer. I'll be following a pretty busy schedule once I start school.
School sounds very exciting :) I'll also be looking for a part time job once I'm fully moved into our new place.

But I wanted to take note about the visit that I made to Calarts last week to visit Libby Hux.
It was a very good visit and I left with some very constructive feedback. Libby also suggested that I make another appointment with her before I turn in my portfolio. I'm so glad that she's super nice and is willing to help. I didn't feel like I was stepping on anyone's toes or anything.
I made some notes about my old portfolio.
- drawings were a bit too formulaic
- the sequence of the portfolio was a bit uneven
- experiment! take risks! show them who I am!
- put in some personal pieces
- most importantly... put more of ME into the portfolio!

About 300 applicants apply to the character animation program. Only about 40 - 50 get in. Will next year be my lucky year? I really hope so. I feel really good about my work right now and I also feel that I'm going in a good direction. I'm a bit overwhelmed right now because of all the work that I have to do.
So I'm going to keep this entry short.
I was rendered useless by that horrible stomach flu this week. So I gotta make up for my loss of time.

Until next time!


Oh, and I wanted to post this lovely picture of my dog :)

Monday, August 3, 2009

Moving Far Far Away...

I am currently in the process of moving to LA with my boyfriend. Living in Irvine for 3 years has really created a comfort zone and I will be really sad to move away. I will miss the area, the people, and my dance classes :(
But LA will be a new adventure and as always, I must move on. Too bad Irvine and LA are kind of far away from each other. I'm also excited at the same time because it's a new chapter in my life. Going to art school will definitely be fun and challenging. And who knows, if I get accepted to Calarts, it will be a whole other chapter as well.
I do like moving though :) Gives me the opportunity to clean up some of the junk I've been collecting. And moving into the new place will be fun too. Redecorating and such. So I am looking forward to that.
It really is bittersweet.

I have a pretty busy schedule ahead of me. So while I'm packing and such, I've been making some monster silhouettes. Or I guess I should say I'm drawing them :P
My instructor advised me to try this exercise because silhouettes read well and you don't have to worry about the detail. It kind of makes you use your own imagination.
So that's always fun.

The next time I post, I might be moved into my new place already!
And also, tomorrow I'll be meeting up with Calarts admissions counselor Libby Hux. She's going to take a look at my old portfolio and give me some feedback. I'm pretty excited about that.

Time to move on!

Monday, July 27, 2009

More Artwork

As always, I'm posting up some more artwork that I did within the past few weeks to add to the collection within my blog :)

I've been trying something different with my gestures by using the side of a piece of charcoal or conte to create shadow. But at the same time, I still have to capture the pose.
I'm really feeling it and I would like to improve.



The ones below were drawn with my left-hand. I like drawing with my left hand and I really should try it more. I think everyone should try it :)

Back to right-handed drawings


I finally finished my painting of the man with the missing head. To complete the wind chime, I used silver string. I think the silver string really adds some interest. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. It stills has some inconsistencies among the paint, but that's ok. The picture shows that the last section of the string is missing, but I added it in already.



This is my oil pastel still life of my doll collection! Do you recognize some of the critters? I'm almost finished. The kiwi doll towards the middle left is driving me crazy. -_____-



I still have yet to hear back from Libby at Calarts. Turns out, she mis scheduled a few things and we have to plan another day for this week. Hopefully everything will turn out ok.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Busy + Hot Weather = No Good

I feel like I've had no free time lately. And If I did, I had to use it to make meals so I have energy for my classes.
:P I'm either in dance class, vision 21, or doing some Chinese painting.
But I guess a busy schedule is better than doing nothing.. like I was before.

On Tuesday the 28th I'll be going to Calarts to pick up my portfolio.

At the same time, I scheduled an appointment with the admissions counselor Libby Hux to get some feedback on my portfolio.
Wow... the portfolio that I turned in is so old. The stuff that I'm doing now in class is so different from before.
But nevertheless, I'm glad she agreed to meet up with me.

I've been having a lot of fun in figure drawing. I usually do :)

Next post, I plan to post up some of the work I've been doing.

Until then, I'm going to post a picture of Miyazaki's next film Ponyo
I believe it will be out in theaters in August.
How exciting :)
:)
:)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Good-bye Chia (1994 - 2009)

Today, my boyfriend's dog died. His name is Chia and he is absolutely the cutest black chow chow that I have ever seen. I remember the first time I saw him, I couldn't stop saying how cute he was.
He wasn't a very big dog and barely passed my knees. But he is one of the sweetest dogs ever.
He would always greet me by barking and then dropping down on my feet or nudging himself in between my legs.

Chia, you will be missed dearly.
Barbecues at my boyfriend's house will never be the same again.
You are an unforgettable dog who looks like a bear
and I know that wherever you are, you will be very happy

Rest well



Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Show and Tell: Nightmare Before Christmas

I was keeping a close watch on this book on Amazon. And it so happened that art store that I usually go to had the book! I immediately bought it. It really is an amazing book. It's not just full of pictures, but it also tells the story of what the film went through. The author is also a great writer. He describes in great detail the making of the film and makes sure that you understand everything that you read.
I wanted to share a few pages from the book just in case anyone else is interested in the book.
Though... the book is kind of old :P
The book may be old, but the Nightmare Before Christmas is simply just timeless.






I also just wanted to throw in some life drawing... as usual :)
Some pieces are incomplete. I always have so many incomplete pieces :/
But they will be finished one day for my portfolio. I've been cutting off limbs again in my drawing.
And I've also been gearing towards a messier rendering of the body.
For example, the wet charcoal technique. It's a lot of fun, and looks much more interesting than just ink.
The charcoal adds a little more texture. The quality of these pictures aren't the best, but it's nice seeing these drawings up on the blog.







I am also currently working on a glass still life. It's pretty crazy but fun.
Hm... that little glass off to the side looks like it's a bit off. Or it's the camera... must double check on that!
I have so many things to do! :P


Must get to work now!

Monday, June 29, 2009

busybusybusy

I feel like I haven't posted here forever :P I wish I could post more but I've been swamped with my portfolio class.
When I signed up for the portfolio program, I signed up for a number of hours, and I'm trying my best to finish up those hours this summer. Though I don't think I can...
But that's ok, I'm going to need some advice once the Calarts portfolio deadline starts coming around.
And the reason I've been so frazzled is because I'm jumping to the different Vision 21 locations to experience the different teachers and Calarts alumni.

So I'm either in Cerritos, Fullerton, LA or Irvine..whewww....

Lately, I've really been feeling my gestures. With the help of my instructor Mike Neumann, my gestures have adopted a more animation-like style in a sense that I draw through and make everything flow more.





I've also started a short story about Jason the zombie and Piaget the Pigeon.
It's a quick story that I've added into my sketchbook to help with my organization of story.
Not really the best drawings, but I was focusing on the story, and that was already hard enough :P
I will add the rest later on.
What will happen after Piaget drops off Jason the zombie's dentist postcard?
:)

And the bottom one is just another figure gone sci-fi.
Right now for me, it's either a zombie or robot-thing. I'm going through a zombie phase at the moment.
But I'll just make the best of it :) and let it inspire me.


Speaking of zombies, I recently stumbled upon an artist named Ashley Green.
I first discovered him through the art of Metal Gear Solid. And what do you know... he has books that have zombies and robots in them :) Here

Check out his website!

Until next time!