I'm happy as a SQUIRREL...When I'm with Proffessor Quirrel!!

Quote from A Very Potter Musical. Brilliant.

And though it may seem random....it is very relevant. For indeed, it has something to do with squirrels. :D

If you are aware, some where in my story is a character that is a giant squirrel. Here's a glimpse.

Yes. The girl is riding the thing.

But that isn't the point. The area in which my computer is placed shares space (and a ceiling) with a family of squirrels. The skitter and scatter and stuff. But anyway. I was in the midst of working on my pictures on the computer when I heard one make lots of noise that noticeably was not coming from the ceiling any longer.

In stead in was in the wall.

My thoughts were along the lines of "Damn, it's going to die and then smell horrible." Then I realized that it was actually near an access area from our first floor....

Anyway. The point is, I figured out how to get the squirrel. I CAUGHT it. UH HUH.

Here's da proof.

It was great and soft. And adoooorable. Baby squirrels are cute. And annoying...anyway. They distracted me from my work. :/

Formatting A Children's Book Research

In searching for ways to put my book together I have found few options. Often it takes putting everything into a PDF file but no specifications on how.

http://taralazar.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/picture-book-construction-know-your-layout/

This article I read addresses some of those issues, but it goes more into how to make it visually appealing.

The article talks about balancing illustrations and the words, but also mentions examples of books with solely illustrations to tell the story.

This other article dictates why it is so hard to find things on formatting children's picture books. http://stason.org/TULARC/writing/misc-writing/1-6-How-do-I-format-a-picture-book-What-about-illustrations.html The reason being, that most people who submit children's books for publishing send in the text first and then get assigned an illustrator once the story is signed off.

This is frustrating.

What I will have to do is either mess around in page maker or make the physical book by hand. I'm feeling that this may be the better option now...

Out of the Rut

Today, I must use some prompts to do a journal entry. The prompt I choose is...."7 things I want to accomplish in the next week" because planning is always fabulous. :)

1. Finish 60% of needed sketches
2. Start inking said sketches
3. Call someone from the Family Reading Partnership about an interview
4. Look up ways to format a children's book into pdf files for Lulu.com
5. Blog every day
6. Scan and start coloring pieces.
7. Talk to someone about talking to children

And Vio'la

Weekly Review 6

How much time did you spend on your project?
7 Hours on sketching and inking, 2 On Journaling

What did you do for hands-on?
Sketched and Inked 2 pages (so far) and have two more sketches ready to be traced onto final paper.

What Research did you do?
Didn't do anything specific, just looking for reference on google. Learned how to draw a squirrel and a kangaroo. Aaaaaand I had a great idea for research that would help me with my project. Look up formatting a book. 

Did you meet with your mentor? What did you talk about?
Not yet.

Were you in class this week?
Yes I was. Show and tell and all that snazzy stuff.

What do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was?
Did journals...Came to class...Did hours...Bare minimum this week, journal and research wise but kicking butt with hands on.

What are your plans for next week?   
Complete the 12 sketches I want for may. All twelve. I only have 5 to go. Then I can ink and start coloring.  

Aaaand POOF

Ever wake up in the morning and have a great idea? And then you do something and you completely forget what it was? But you do remember that it was a great idea? Well, that happened to me this morning.

I woke up, hair askew and excited with this going through my head "Ohmigod that is the best research idea EVER! This is such a great plan!!  I can't wait to do it!!" And then I turn off my alarm and....it's gone.

No recollection whatsoever.

I read this thing that said that within a few minutes of waking up you forget most of your dream. And then withing 10 minutes you forget all of it. That is if you did start pondering on what the heck it was about the second you wake up. Like yesterday, I had a dream. I remember waking up and being like "That was freaky." and I knew if I didn't concentrate on it, I would forget it. But now I can't remember it anyway. Just that it is likely it was a scary dream and something weird happened in it.

Why do good ideas have to come to you when you dream? You will only forget them and then you feel awful for the rest of the day. Dang it.

Just some trivia, the idea for my story came to me as I was falling asleep. I decided to get up and write it down instead of forgetting it....I'm not sure if the same thing applies to that situation but...anyway.

And good news! In the process of writing this, I have rememberd enough about the dream to be able to tell that there was something about publishing involved....OH MY GOD. I just remembered it all. Thank GOD.

The idea is to look up how to format a book so that it looks professionally done. Cause that is one of the deals with Lulu.com. You have to format everything yourself and then upload it in a PDF file...that....was awesome.

I am officially dubbing this the best Blog Post EVER.

So I'll be looking that up later today. :)

Sketching Progress

Did two sketches tonight. It's looking more more likely I'll finish the 12 pieces by May. Which is good.
In general, today was good. Inked two pieces (admittedly one had very little detail in the pen-work and most of it's coolness will come with the colors) and sketched 2 pieces. The ink was very mean to me. I have some clean up to do in photoshop before I can start coloring one of the pieces. Hopefully I will completely transfer them to the final paper so I can work on them over the weekend tomorrow. I have a field trip this Friday to a Print Workshop, which should be fun and interesting but probably won't help with my project. I guess I can use it as "research". Different prospective mediums to use for illustrating a book and all that.

In other news, I have finally looked at pictures of squirrels and learned how to draw them properly. I googled them 7th period and did 5 quick sketches. Which is really the only way to learn. According to Miss Gergley, this counts as Research. Which is awesome. I shall do a journal soon dedicated solely to how I use google to get a general idea of what I want to draw.  :D

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw....Blasted little buggers are in my ceilings. GO AWAY.

But the purpose of this is to learn how to draw them, which I have (Hurrah!) and now I have to learn to draw kangaroos and then draw a cross between the two which is adorable and terrifying at the same time. Of course I may just go with a giant squirrel. Hmmmm...Things to ponder.

Communication

I am someone who takes pride in my communication skills. I can talk about certain subjects with strangers, and if I need something, I can get my message across without being rude. I feel that I can comfortably claim to be friendly and personable.

But I have the most trouble initiating the connection. Whether if it's by email, phone or in person. I find it so hard to actually go up to somebody and say "Hello." Usually it is someone else who imitates it.

That is a little bit of a problem for me...I need to contact people. I'm not even joking....it's so baaaaaad.

I am in desperate need of interviewing people. I know who I want to interview. It's just...I can't pick up the phone and force myself to actually try and dial the seven little numbers.

It gets worse every time someone doesn't pick up and I have to leave a message. My messages are always....odd.

But anyway. I need to get over this. Four weeks ago.