art history, and a story of internships

Today I've applied to my 6th internship (it turned out that I'd applied to the same one twice). I've gotten amazingly better at writing cover letters I've also contacted a couple (but not enough) places on campus about summer jobs.

Halfway through April, and I'm still at a no-go for summer.

But my backup plan, my last-resort plan, is still to work on my own art all summer and build up a portfolio. But it's a last plan. A nothing-else-goes-through plan.

Besides this, I need to finish my 3 animation pieces. Each is 30 seconds.

But I'm almost done with my art history essay, and it's not due till Thursday. So. There's some hope?

Welcome to the beginning of the end.

Finals are coming. And I have the privilege to do 3 final projects on the same day. That day is also my anniversary.

In un-finals-related news, we have been covering mirrors, reflections, refractions, glass, all sorts of fun things. We covered ray-trace and depth map shadows. The still below is from a rendering of my Thanksgiving-homework, a showcase of my work.

The bottle is supposed to have a label on it, the 'background' is cheap and not lit well, the ray-trace shadows are grainy. The bottle also doesn't have the refractions that (I think) will make it look like it has a shell rather than a thin layer outside a darker layer. And there are no bump maps on anything.

In the spare un-school-related news, I've been excitedly following the 2012 republican debate. When I registered up to vote, the card my parents got in the mail said that I'm a registered conservative. I tried to register as 'nothing' or 'other' or 'independent', I don't want to be part of a party this early in my life.

In less serious news, my hair is purple again! A skunk-stripe of purple. It's the very top layer of my hair.

But at the same time. I've been in the computer labs (loosely) from 9am-12pm, 4pm-11pm. I'm looking forward to baking cookies tomorrow morning.

netflix, netflix, get away from me.

What have I done today? What did I try to do? What did I actually do?

I watched the Producers, The Jerk, and Burton's Batman.
I did my laundry, showed, ate meals.
I started my drawing homework but ran out of paper.
I broke my plaster mold.
I wrote a blog.
I went to the library and looked through a guide to FinalCutPro.
I painted my nails and went grocery shopping.
I drew 8+ pages of story work for a film project, which I am now debating on throwing out for a simpler, more surreal dream-sequence of a film, rather than a real story. But, why can't it be a real story.
It's because the ending. The monster roars and moans, and it's my soul that it sees.

I still have the drawing homework. I still have a rough draft of a paper due tomorrow. I don't have a thesis for it yet.
I still want to see Eyes Wide Shut, but I'm having trouble finding 2 1/2 hours of free time.
But I consider movies like my studying.
But I have schoolwork.

happy valentine's day

The manifesto didn't get sent in.
Valentine's Day is coming.
And it can also be used. as a hat.
I made a film with animation in it, as in, a movement every 6 or 8 frames that come together to make a whole. I filmed it through a window and in a mirror, with the drawings out of dry-erase marker. It came out well enough for the action to be conveyed, but I don't think it's anything close to smooth. Also, I realized halfway through drawing a walk cycle that I wasn't placing the body correctly: they were too close together. So I redid it, as shown in the Richard Williams book. All 15-20 secs of animation took about 3 hours. The editing of the video took about the same time. I've gotten much better with final cut.

Subway Abstractions

Paraline drawings of... basic shapes. I really hope this was what was assigned. At least most of these were developed in the subway. Pen and colored pencil.

hard work procrastinating

I'm writing this because I'm almost done with a drawing that took me about 4 hours, with many many breaks. Maybe it took me 2 hours. It was supposed to take me 6 hours, about, but there isn't much to copying a drawing and deconstructing the figures within it. I don't even like the painting. It's also about 3 x 5.5 feet. In crayon, too, because why the hell not? I want to draw from real people.


Yesterday, I went to animation club, and it was wonderful. This is where I want to be, and I want to do so much of it and work hard at this. These are people who know what I know and more. They give reason to my existence.


Once again, I was convinced that whatever the asian station in the cafeteria makes, it's going to be good. I don't want to know why, but I always end up eating actual vegetables. Thanks, Pratt, for sneaking peppers, squash, broccoli, watercress, etc into my asian food. And also rice. I have wooden chopsticks and a ricecooker in my room, so, I guess I really miss herricks.


I sort of wish I was doing more... hopefully I'll get real busy and won't have to say that again. But I can get 10 hours of sleep a night. I'll just have to keep a sketchbook.


The first three are platonic shapes, which is my 3D course, basically. Isocahedrons, cubes, octahedrons, dodecahedrons, and tetrahedrons. Fun fun fun. My current hw is to remake the first one, slightly larger, with more interesting external tabs (all the others have the tabs hidden inside).

LCD work:
#4, Eggs and white backgrouds.
4A, Direct light
4B, Diffused light
4C, Direct, one color-aid wall
4D, Direct, color-aid wall and floor
4E, Interesting composition.


#6, a value gradient with magazine


#7A, color study of apple in windowsill, direct light
#7B, color averaging grid of that apple

song: STYX

I came from english class, and I need to write.


I like when you can feel the sharpness of the blade that made a smoothie. I like when the strawberry seeds are cut for you, and the pineapple flesh has been broken into juice and pulp. The peach fuzz has been broken down, and its texture becomes another layer. The ice that was once cubed has been transformed into cold. The strawberries become the texture's pink.


Well... the smoothies really are that good.


I just wanted to say something about working. I like college homework better than high school homework, because it teaches you how to properly manage time. I get a project and a week to do it. It's a step up from a worksheet and a night to do it, because then, you can only do your homework the night before it's due.

LCD homework, interactions of color

Value (light - dark), Intensity (saturation), and Hue (the color it is). Each small piece of paper is affected by the field color around it, which changes a property of the color. This is straight out of Josef Albers.


You can really see how each color got changed through the camera lens. I have the most trouble judging intensity, because it often looks like value.


Done on color-aid paper, which is expensive, nasty, and doesn't agree with rubber cement.


Intensity
Hue
Value

LCD and its homework.

The second day of Light, Color, Design.


I realized that it's very possible that the color problems (the assignments are set up as puzzles and problems, to be solved with color) may not scan well, photograph well, or be represented well in any way on a computer screen. That won't stop me from trying, but it's still not going to be 100% accurate.


First, these are the homework projects.
#1, 3 color-studies (not actual drawings) of the same scene, at different times of day, drawn outside. From left, morning, midday, night.
#2, A 6 x 6 grid, and text that's in relation to it. This is, approximately, the floor plan of my house, and the writing tells what the colors are for. The writing also visually contextualizes the house.
#3, A random 5 x 5 grid. This wasn't graded, because "random" is impossible, but it was used as part of the lesson.

WALL-E soundtrack.

Graduation. Shit man.


I went to the blood drive Friday, and I almost fainted, and it was scary. I get scared when my body is doing something I didn't tell it to.


I've started MapleStory. Sorry, world.


So on monday, I need to have
a first draft for the Turn of the Screw paper,
a final draft of my myth, which needs to be completed, renamed, and I need to look up things on TVtropes for story/characterization
a final manifesto, which I will put up, which will NOT be about being too harsh on myself

Spring rebirth, for all of us.

I've spent the last couple of days in stac quietly writing and drawing.


My house is like several rock concerts happening at the same time.
One little brother is singing Beatles Rock Band in the living room, and the other is playing guitar or bass and blasting Tommy or Beatles or Weird Al. No one says "a little less noise there!" because they aren't bothering anyone.


From this, I have learned that I get work done when things are quiet.
Mornings are quiet.
If A = C, and A = B, then B = C. I forget the name of the postulation.
Therefore, I will do work in the morning.


These are from March, but my scanner wasn't happy. Hexagons (distances are the same between their centers, which is interesting for game design), I was tired during stac-notes one day, and that's the guy from the Heroin seminar. He was scary.

Putting a paper online. - . . - . . - (interesting verbal cadence.)

I added my Character Study of Woody from Toy Story 2 (there is a difference in character development between the movies) as a page of A1-bqx. I think it's pretty good. It has a ton of large ideas, theories, and a considerable lack of scientific evidence. But there are always things I could do better, but that's not important.

http://a1-bqx.blogspot.com/p/sheriff-woody-character-study.html

St. Nick on the Fourth in a Fervor

Been listening to Ha Ha Tonka all day. It's like southern rock and bluegrass and I saw them a few months ago at a Ludo concert. I love listening to a rock band that can sing. Or that may be in comparison to Ludo and Decemberists. I don't really listen to music anymore.

    Other than that, I fully intend to do really well on my midterms. Not just pass, do well.

    And I don't feel part of my house anymore. I'm going away to college. I'm leaving. Soon I'll have a license to leave with that. Escape. I don't even want to sleep in my bed anymore. I spent last night curled up around my radiator.

    I haven't heard back from colleges, except for 'sign up for this thing online for such and such', and I don't know what I'm doing.

school

Today I literally got a hundred on a test. And I realized that I didn't do much for it, not as much as other kids for the same thing. I'm done with this system.
     I'm going to be a second semester senior, and I want to work so much. I want to feel like I did something challenging in high school. Not that it's not challenging. But having a month to do a project that only takes a couple of hours isn't, like, having to build dozens of architectural models in one night. Bring it on, double English electives.

AVATAR.
Well. Epic adventure, athropologist's dream, mythic story, scifi. Plus a god-beautiful planet.
I couldn't keep track of the character's names, so I called them 'Pocahontas' and 'Kocoum' and 'Priestess'.
I loved the culture of the movie. The blue cat-people, the Na'vi, worship the great tree and goddess Eywa. The army people 'worship' the Major, the father. And Protagonist is in between. I honestly wished the PG-13 rating wouldn't filter out normal things that would have happened: the women don't all have conveniently-placed beads, guns shoot people.


I do feel a bit bad that I saw a scifi epic before a disney princess movie.


Colleges have all been applied to. PiG paper is done. Portfolio is almost done. I'll have a driver's license in the next couple of months. I'll have my grandpa's old car, too. All I need to do is pass Health.

Major accomplishment checked off the list.

The People's Veto of LD 1020 (The Equality Law) in Maine.
3,769 words.
386 lines.
14 pages.
71 paragraphs.
78 separate citations within the paper.
I believe this is the latest I've stayed up this year on a weekday. I'm still a little hyper. But I'm really focused. I guess... I just sleep now. I thought I would pull and all-nighter at least once in my high school career, but I guess I don't have to.

< o (. .) o > oink oink

Everything's a game and I'm just playing. There are the games you have to win at, and the games you just play. And there's another level, when you make win-games into play-games because of the losing part. It may be the 'i don't want to grow up' mentality of seniors. I don't know. It's damn good fun.


My social skills have hit the wall of the Twilight Zone, where events from four years ago can repeat, and you have that second chance, and shit better turn out right this time.


The PiGgie isn't quite cooked. I have to describe how Maine makes a law, how the people veto that law, and make sure i prove my these. And I added an 'overdone' bar to the graph. Glad the AP Bio graph-making skills are being used.

Pork Chops.

PiG paper. Same-sex marriage in Maine. I aim for 12 pages, 15 at my limit.
This is my Pig Paper thermometer. I found another excuse for crayons. It's also a tasteless meat joke.
I think I may be taking this graduation-determining paper a little too seriously.


Outer body acting experiences. I find that the 'game' quickly turns into something too real. I was Lenny, a 36 year old man leaving my wife and child and going to the airport to leave the country because I killed at least one person (revenge). I went to an airport, and I remember this specifically, because I knew that they wouldn't try to snipe me in front of everyone. And, I was prepared to take them all out. And I had deep guilt about killing this one person, and that was sort of a drive. And I had bad posture.
I didn't snap out right away. I was still paranoid in the airport.
I don't really mind that out of all the ideas that could have happened, I was a middle-aged man. I don't believe its some deep-down gender recognition problem, but a product of all the movie protagonists and their stories.

bugzlabo

In writing my CalArts essay, I came to a wall: how can I describe myth in my life? Complete and total? Permeated my being? It's a presence, all the time, but it's not an obsession. I can think about my next meal and think about where I am in several quests in the same minute. It's not filtered as different.


This is a checklist for today.
Laundry.
Dinner.
Shower.
Post.
Type up some CalArts essay.
Copy and rewrite TEASe Me from previous post.
Come up with a couple of formats for the article.
Finish Neuroscience outline.
Type up B-Movie STAClive Commercial script.

Anyone ever heard of SimTunes? Before the Sim games of building houses and lives, there were Sim game, like SimLife and SimAnt, and SimTunes. SimTunes blends art and music by color-coding each note. Some of the example songs were pretty cool.

Sacred turkey

My grandpa did it. He ordered out thanksgiving. I was going to cook and bake and now it isn't sacred anymore. I realize that he's just 'taking care of the family', the old italian ideas, but still.

Seeing a show just takes everything out of me. Sitting still is juxtaposed against thinking frantically.

Goal for the day:

[x]  Write the start of a calarts essay. 9.15pm.

[ ]  Start outlining neuroscience chapter, copy and color diagrams.

[x]  Get the paint-pens to work. 2.50pm.

[ ]  Finish Thor vol2.

[x]  Make a pin-cushion. 3.15pm.