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. :/

Imaginism Studios

The way that I see it, this studio...is awesome. I've been following their blogs and stuff through a website for a few years now, and it's incredible just how amazing they are. The main guy I think his name is Bobby Chu. The studio is Toronto Canada. I feel like all these amazing artist are in Canada.

Like ktshy (internet name). Her stuff is brilliant and awesome. Check it out. http://ktshy.deviantart.com/

Or like Bryan Lee O'malley who wrote the comic book sensations Scott Pilgrim! Also incredible....and Canadian...

But to the point. Imaginism Studios...they are just too cool. I mean...look at his stuff!!

It's APPA. Who doesn't love Appa? (And for those who are unaware, Appa is a flying bison from the hit TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender. But how could you not know that?)

This is titled "Beam Me Up Scotty" What's not to love?

Winnie the Pooh Winnie the Pooh...Cuddly Fuzzy...What are the words?

They also have did the designs for a good number of the characters from the Alice In Wonderland movie from last year! I'm not exactly a big fan of the movie, but the visuals were indeed incredible.

Sooooooooooooo detailed...Just looking at the art is so motivational. I don't know what to do with myself...I've seen over live-streaming videos works in progress come to life with incredible detail that seems effortless...it's scary!

Bobby Chu does these online classes where he gives a topic out over his feed and people have to draw it in a hour or two. Limited time frame is the point. And then he chooses which one he likes and he'll give them a the piece he was working on at that time as well. Sometimes it will be guest artists who are well known for the their styles in movies and such. They've had Chris Sanders who was worked on Lilo and Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon, and others I can't remember. (But that last one blew me away.) Oh and the guy who directed/designed for Ice Age. Meh. But anyway, there is a huge following...it's great..:P

Here's the Blog! http://imaginismstudios.blogspot.com/

And this is so brilliant as well...

Well...Good night. :)

One Day One Sketch

Page 16 Sketch

So THIS was completed today.

My tribal warriors look AWESOME. WHAT.

I really am in love with the staff. But to get to the point. This, was completed in one day of work. It doesn't seem like a lot. But it is to me. I'll need to trace this on to my good paper and then ink it, but it is progress. If I can do one of these each day for the next week, I'll have 9 pages in detail sketch. Then inked (because I won't want to stop) and then sorta colored. Still waiting on that...

Detail stinks, but I must learn to love it. Learn to love it....learn to love it. Guh.

MOTIVATIONAL POSTER.

It's a little sad because I'm not doing crew anymore....but the message is right. :D

In Other Fabulous News...

Finished with inking that second page. Which isn't really the second page because I'm not doing these in chronological order at the moment....Perhaps later.

BUT. Here it is.

I think it looks pretty snazzy.

As I was looking at it though, I thought to my self, "Hmmmm...I should add some building in the background over the treeline."

And if that isn't a great idea, I don't know what is. But we'll see if that actually ever happens.

In other fabulous news (heh, my title) I was flipping through the book Marley has lent me and it brings to attention my need for a color pallet. Hurrah. I have one page that actually has color. But will those colors work for other pages is the question? I will find out in a month. Need to have 12 pages complete No matter what. :/

Looks super cheery right? I love it. For serious. My brother doesn't like the dragon's colors though....hmmmmmmm. I'll probably ignore him.

But as I was saying, the book Marley lent me brings to attention the importance of a color pallets and the importance of how I want to color the piece. I probably will finish this with simple shading, but I have to keep value in mind as well (contrasting colors, lights dark, the works). It also has some neat tips on character design.

Now I need to get moving.

Sooooo Behind It isn't Even Funny. Ha.

So. I have been lost on the road of life. It....is not a pretty road to be on, but it is twisty and turny with many forks in which people tend to end up in ditches if they follow. But it is probably....OK for me to come out now. Stop slacking. Stop being lame in general. GET INKING DONE. I have to have twelve pages (AT LEAST) done by May. I got a month. ONE MONTH. GOTTA GET-A-MOVING.

Frustration.

One word to describe my current and continuous state of mind. I feel....the need for rant. But since I have already provided a little tiny one (that is all about my faults and failures with little detail) I will instead provide a list.

• 3 Sketches this week
• Finish Inking 2 (at home)
• Photograph/Scan works in progress
• Look through Book given to me by Marley (lovely girl there)
• Go to that Fuzzy Publishing website (you know, I think it is actually called something else, but for the life of me I can't remember) and do some research on the type of publishing they provide. (It's not self publishing)
• Get Colors on One more Page. 
• Meet up with In Shik Lee (Perhaps she'll be nice and firm and tell me to move my butt)
• Finish Research for Rain Warrior Design (and upload)
• Research squirrels.

The Drawings Are coming Along

So to show people I actually indeed am doing things, HERE are some pretty  pictures.

Sketch of a Page (I forget which one)

Inked Page

The Coloring for this last one is pretty much done (need to do some shading) but I think I will leave it incomplete until all the inking is done so that I can make sure the color schemes are compatible on each page. :) The Dragon was fun.

Clarrification

It has been brought to my attention that people may find it odd that I am working on my project during my art class. Due to this confusion, I feel the need to clarify some aspects for some people.

This year I am talking an AP Art course. This requires that you complete 24 works by the end of the year to be submitted for evaluation. Twelve of these pieces will be in the Breadth Section. A section where the artist is supposed to show their ability and diversity with works. Either with media or with the subject the works consist of. The other twelve pieces are part of the Concentration section. The concentration is where the artist takes an idea and creates a series of works that follow this idea. For this, I am it as an overlap. The theme I am using is the story for my book. The story about the over-imaginative little girl who has adventures when she walks home from school.

Twelve pages from my illustrated book will be part of my AP Portfolio. You must understand, my story is not 12 pages long. Nor is it merely 15. My story is, as of now, over 30 pages long. And I still feel their are gaps in my story board I may fill in later. So I am not double dipping. I will be working the same amount on each page and I will choose my favorite and most well composed for my portfolio. But this is an art project, and I am doing more for WISE than I am for my AP Art, which is extremely important to me.

I hope that clarifys some things.

I'm being productive. I swear.

Sooooooooooooo.

I really need to get a move on. I finally redesigned my character.

The girl was like this first:

First Design (This is a girl. Just FYI)

I actually liked the design...but it wasn't going to work with how I wanted my story to go. :/

So here is a redesign (IN COLOR!!) that I like more. She has freckles. :D

It works a lot better. I'm not sure about the colors (I had lots of issues) it seems too bluuuuuuuue. Ah well. still I got it down. I upload designs of the father and squirrel this weekend. And perhaps of the knights in the story. I am not looking forward to drawing armor. I better get references.

Does anyone have name suggestions?

Barry Deutsch

Next week I've been informed that there is a graphic novelist (Barry Deutsch) that is coming to the Ithaca school district. I was originally informed by Mrs. Gergley. I thought I would have to go to Fall Creek Elementary to meet up with him. Turns out he's also coming to the high school, which is awesome. I can more easily talk to him this way. That is one thing to look forward to next week!

I finished the character (re)design for my story, I'll upload that later today, after I edit it on the computer.

Other wise...I need to get a start on the sketches for each page. I need to think logically from now on. Yessssssssssssss. Planning...

MOTIVATIONAL POSTER!!!

I feel better already. :)

The Plan...

By plan I mean "What I hope I will accomplish within this set amount of time."

The set amount of time being...two weeks.

So what shall I do for the next two weeks? I have a feeling, that actually deciding on a story would be helpful. If fact, in order for me to get anywhere with this, I need to write that story. Shoot. I still feel queasy just thinking about it.  I still feel I have no sense of plot! What am I going to doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo....?

Well. I best get to it. There really isn't any point in waiting. I should just go and read some articles on writing stories or explore some of those websites I found when I was making my Bibliography (that thing was SIX pages long). It actually looked very helpful. Ah ha. Here it is. It is extremely crappy looking, but...I read some of the articles. They were very helpful.

So...I should write the story. "What story?" you might ask? I shall answer...."I have no idea."

Which...isn't completely true. I have a story idea. But it seems rather dark.

The general gist of it is that there is a girl who has lived underground and secluded her whole life. The place she lives is either a science facility or some cave. It depends on how badly I want there to be a clear 'bad guy'. One day, she either escapes to the surface or decides to explore. As a girl who has spent most of her time alone, she is completely unable to relate to anyone in the city. The city will either be extremely technologically advanced or they use magic in a way that it very common knowledge and basic. She will notice she has none of this "magic" (if I choose to go that root) and she'll feel that even if she were able to relate to the people in that world, she would be shunned for being different. The closing argument for her to stay away will be her discovery that in this upper plane....there is no water. No pure water. The society has discovered a way to hydrate themselves, but what can no longer be found as just H2O. This bothers her because she has a strong connection with water. Down in the cave, it was the source of her joy and wonders. I might add that she has some actual magical connection. She won't realize that she does have magic when she chooses to return to the cave. There she will continue as she always had before...perhaps in the story she can make a friend...hmm....

Anyway, I need to get the fine details put down on paper. Perhaps I'll upload it here. Actually...I like that idea, that way I can get feedback.

And now I am supposed to include that I am supposed to talk to a person about said topic. Hmmmmmm...I'm not sure who I want to talk to. I could talk to Anne Mayzer, but I don't really have any contact information on hand, so I'll need to ask my parents. I think I'll do that as soon as I have the story written. Which means I should get it done sooner....hmmm. I could also, perhaps, talk to In Shik Lee. She is a teacher at TC3. My brother had her, and I took a water coloring class with her a couple summers ago. She's a lot of fun. I think she would be interested in helping me. Though she is probably someone to consult about the actual drawings, rather than the story. It might be best to leave her for later.

But anyway, that is what I hope to have done by the time two weeks have passed.

Now see what inspired me for this story idea. I drew it last summer, I still haven't really finished it. :)