And then she found an amazing book...

I've been long overdue for a new blog post, so I guess I’ll go ahead and get on it now. Quite a few things have happened in the last… Wow, has it really been 3 weeks? Jeez, I’m horrible about keeping a schedule, huh? Anyway…

One of the coolest things that happened was that I got to mean a guest speaker named Rafal Olbinski when he visited MSU earlier this month. He’s a painter/illustrator from Warsaw Poland and he’s pretty much awesome. Part of why I was so excited to visit his lecture was because he himself actually started off doing engineering architecture but switched to painting at a later date. Beyond that, he gave me hope that as an artist getting a late start on my education, nothing is lost. Olbinski didn’t actual come to America, where he gained notoriety, until he was 37. And here I am freaking out about being just barely over 30 when I plan to graduate.

I actually got to meet him and gushed a bit to him about how he is my inspiration. How does he react? With graciousness and humility, that’s how he reacts. I want to be all these things when I’m older!! Basically what I’m trying to say is that if you have some time, you should really go check out his work which you can view here!

What else happened in the last three weeks? Well, I had a dog for about 72 hours, and then sent him back. He didn’t misbehave or anything, I just didn’t have the time or dedication to train an adult dog. Uuuum, I finished my second project for Metalworking. I started looking for a part time job (because I have WAAAAY too much time on my hands). Oh! And I offered to do a collaborative work with another user on deviant art!

I always find myself trying to give my own creative input when working with others. This can be good, but I also wanted to have a stab at not creative input (at least story wise) and strictly creating a visual experience of another person’s tale. She’s written a clever little short story and seems to be incredibly honored that I would like to do a black and white manga of it. I’m nervous, but it will be a great learning experience and hopefully prepare me for potential commissions in the future.

So, on to the art… I bought an AMAZING book last weekend. After a brief failed attempt to find tasteful nude photos to use as drawing reference, and by the way, where they hell are all these children on Deviantart parents at?! Anyway, I gave up rather quickly on Deviantart, ran to Barnes and Noble and found “Anatomy for the Artist” by Sarah Simblet.

The problem I have always had with anatomy books is that there are too many words! Even the artistic anatomy books have so much jabbering. This book, while still filled with good information and diagrams of the inner anatomy, is filled to the brim with human figure photos in color and black and white. So, I chose my favorite photo as my first self-study practice session tonight:

Actually, I’ve been drawing a lot of male head figures lately. It’s not entirely intentional, I don’t get to choose the subject our Drawing instructor puts in front of us. This image just jumped out at me when I was flipping through the pages. It’s a great lighting choice and one I was excited to work on. I didn’t really finish the finer detail because I was working with charcoal on a smaller surface than I’m used to. Regardless, I’m pretty happy about the outcome. I’m really looking forward to doing more drawings from this book.

Until next time!

No Pictures this Morning. Sorry!

It's early, too early to leave for class. I can't help it though, I'm wide awake. So, I decided to add a brief and, unfortunately, picture-less blog entry. I've noted a couple of things that tell me a degree in art is definitely the right choice for me. I'm sure they will continue to multiply as the semester goes on, but for now, here they are.


#1: I can't stop doing my homework!
Now, I should preface with the truth that I did put off doing my homework this weekend, but I also had to work. As previously mentioned, this current job has a tendency to drain creative energy. That being said, once I started the homework I kept saying to myself "Okay, that's all the homework I need to get done." However, I kept finding myself wandering back over to my desk to do more. It can't be stopped!

#2: I wake up without the aid of snooze button.
Most people who know me or have every lived with me know that I am the queen of the snooze button. I set at least two alarms every morning for about 30 to 45 minutes before I really need to wake up. So far, my second alarm isn't even getting the chance to chime. Obviously I hit snooze to turn the first alarm off, but after spending over 5 minutes fighting the excitement of another school day, I knew I wasn't going back to sleep and sprung out of bed to get ready.


The long and short of it is that I always hear people talk about the difference between a job and a career. A job is what you do to pay the bills. With a job you can't wait to clock out and go home at the end of the day. With a career, however, there never seem to be enough hours in the day. When you're doing what you love, it no longer feels like work. I think I've finally found the path I'm supposed to be on.

Phew, okay, I think I killed enough time blogging that I can go ahead and leave for class now. That's right, I used my blog to fill the space between waking up early and leaving the house. What of it?!