Be Thankful for that Unfinished A

::RELIEF::

Finally a small light of free time for me this week. My increasing amount of holiday hours and projects really are pushing me. But it's good, it's a good experience non the less.
"No way better than the hard road I say."

So from the last post I definitely felt a heavy amount of pressure with school work and lack of time because of work. On top of the fact that I've been running on a max of two to three hours with my weeks and a little bit extra for my weekends. It hit me this week that the first tip I got from an adviser in terms of art classes was that; to Never fall behind on a painting class.

"woops..."

But anyways, so I sorta kinda finished that boat image. I put so much work into it. Definitely the biggest artistic challenge of my life so far. Although I didn't finish, my class seemed to enjoy it very much. Especially my teacher. Strangely enough, they hardly realized that it was unfinished, as obvious as the blotted portions were...

Here it is.
here's the original
I'm fairly happy with the turn out. It was an amazing sense of accomplishment to get the praise I got for the project. I really did put my heart into it with the dwindling hours that haunted me at each stroke of the piece. I came to class feeling defeated in that it wasn't finished and expected a B- or so. Which I would have taken Happily. But apparently it was good enough for my teacher to give me a straight forward A. Which I Did take happily.
I've been staring at this piece and getting sick of the fact that it's not done. And it will be! Once I find some free time for it. I'd love to put another couple of days of work into this painting. There's still a lot of major and minor details that I need to add. Over winter break hopefully. My friend urged me to enter it in a school contest. That of which, I will do.

--Oh and Please read--
But I can't take full credit for the image. Seeing as the caption wasn't mine to begin with obviously. The image is actually from a New York Times, dated July 31, 2005. I chose the image to paint putting my mind over the intimidating detail originally because I just wanted a painted version in my boring room.
With that said. If anyone knows the guy, or has the paper that has the guy who took it... DO tell me please. I've searched for him, or her* actually, online but to no avail.

--Thank you--

Oh and here's one more piece I wanted to post.
My perspective project for my photoshop class.
I like it... sorta. But I think the sky makes the piece very loud. My teacher said that I should have made the sky going in one direction. Which did come to my mind. I was going to have it fading back in perspective into the vanishing point. Which I'm sure would have done WONDERS. But it was late at night, with 2 hours to go before I had to hand it in... late... And it just wasn't listening to me. Definitely gave up on it.
"Bad johnny..."

I'm amazed at myself though of how sloppy I am in this class. I always make the most retarded misses in editing and the obvious mistakes I have more than enough common sense to not make... and somehow I manage to.

Whatever, I'm over it!
I got a B+ because I forgot to give him my sketch.
"how annoying..."

Oh and I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!
Be thankful Be thankful Be thankful
Because I know I am.

I'm thankful.

Half Full

I've got a lot of things on my mind these days.

I'll need some time for me and me alone.
Blog more once all of this is alleviated.


I'm afraid, I'll never be.
the man I want to be.
the man, the man I need to be.

the reason for this fight in me.
the reason for this breath I breathe.
the reason for these shedded tears.

striving for this man in me.
the man, the man I need to be.
that I'm afraid, I'll never be.

-johnnyE

Just a quick entry

I just wanted to take the time to blog, before I pull this all nighter on this photoshop project. It's due tomorrow, and I have no excuse to not have it in my teacher's lap by then. Well... technically I do; but in the eyes of my teacher, it just looks like I... "bullshitted."
For the lack of a better fitting word.

Me working a closing and two nine hour shifts these past three days days - on top of the finance test I had to take the time to study for, will mean nothing to him. And I don't expect it to. All I know is that I'm responsible to have it in his lap tomorrow and I'm going to do just that.
I hope that I can pull a good enough job with the time I have. After dealing with such a rough week I had in terms of projects and due dates, me completing this project on time will not only relieve my stress of my grade but will put me in a better position with my other projects to hand in. Which is a really good shape for me to be in right now. Really Good.

+++

Oh and I also wanted to bring up this Graphic Novel/Manga I just bought yesterday after work.
The book is called "Solanin" by Inio Asano.

I've been so into it that I'm just speeding through the story. It was a random book that caught my eye and decided to buy looking through the graphic novels section at a B. Daltons in the mall I work in. I'm halfway through the book already and so far, I'm enjoying it very much!
The general idea of the story is of a group of teenagers, with the story revolving around Meiko and her boyfriend Taneda. They're trying to figure out their place in the world questioning if there's anything more to life than ordinary nine to five jobs that you find yourself settling with because you couldn't figure out any other alternatives. The story questions the true value of happiness and in a sense, what it takes to be committed and make sacrifices.

Overall I think it's a very cute story so far and definitely something you should look into if you want a filling light reading under a slow paced story with satisfying giggles.

----------- Edit -----------

So I haven't started my project yet.
It's been an hour since I posted and I ended up eating and spontaneously deciding to read Solanin. Then I found myself unable to put it down and decided to finish the whole book. So I did.

Productive
Procrastination
is Key!

I just wanted to say that, overall the story was good. Bittersweet is the word I'd consider about it. It moved me inside a little bit; about how life works and just how things fall through in the end one way or another. Maybe not in the way you predicted it, but they fall through. It's just all on your outlook on things on the way. There were definitely parts where I connected with the book that made my eyes water.

::sigh::

I liked his book... a lot.

"There's nothing cool about these characters. They're just your average 20-somethings who blend into the backdrop of the city. But the most important messages in our lives don't come from musicians on stage or stars on television. They come from the average people all around you, the ones who are just feet from where you stand. That's what I believe."
-Inio Asano, 2008

The Sketchbook Book And The Novel To Be A Movie

So I'm blogging directly from the Nassau computer labs.

I'm procrastinating on my Photoshop project before I have to head in to work at five. I figure I'll be here a while hoping to finish off the general layout of my perspective project so why not.

The main thing I wanted to talk about is books I'm interested in looking into. In the process of looking for inspirations for my project on yahoo, I ran into a blog by an author named Danny Gregory. The latest entry was of him talking about a book he had just completed called;

An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration From The Private Sketchbooks Of Artists, Illustrators And Designers

which holds 266 pages of a... plethora of sketchbook and journal pieces from artists, illustrators and designers all around the world. The video on his blog shows a flip-through of the pieces and artworks which has me more than interested in the book. I'm definitely looking into this one!

My curiosity has also been dragged into Persepolis.

I hadn't heard much about it until my friend Moho brought it up in a conversation of upcoming films based on graphic novels and after I had finished reading his copy of Watchmen around early October or so.

Which reminds me to get my own personal copy of that book!

I don't entirely know much of what the book is really about -

Don't tell me either! I'd rather find out for myself thanks.

but I've been running into the book a lot. Reading and hearing random people talk it up and what not. So I'm definitely looking into it also as soon as I clear up my dinner plate of projects... and after my bladder stops acting up because of the medium cup of coffee I drank before my finance test today that I managed to spill with my earbud headphones...

But yes those are the two main books I'm really interested in looking into thus far. I also want to buy myself a book on Plato, but there are too many Plato books written already that I don't even know where to start with it. I just want a general book on his philosophies. So if any if you taking the time to read this far into my blog can suggest a good version of Plato, please don't hesitate to tell me. Otherwise I guess I'm on my own.

Okay, now to get started on that project!

Alleviated and Shakenly Motivated

::SIGH OF RELIEF::

So my stressful week seems to be waiving and things are beginning to look slightly brighter. Brighter in that things are starting to come along seemingly smoother. I'll keep a strong guard and focus up this time around to get myself back on my feet after my ridiculous streak of fruitless procrastination and scatterbrained nonsense.

To update on my art, the painting project I've been slaving on has yet to be finished. I put two and a half days (late night-all nighters) into it before it was due. The amount of detail the "boating docks" image carries is definitely something I underestimated. I'm roughly forty-five percent done, but here's how my progress looks like so far;

here's the original image
"I definitely underestimated the amount of time needed for this picture."

The dock detail forced a reluctant amount of focus out of me to just do the darn thing. But I'm very happy with how the dock came out. It looks like the painted version I saw in my head. The painted version that's So hanging in my room after I'm done with it. Definitely excited.
I handed it in today for a D grade, being incomplete. But my professor allows us two weeks to do a little extra on the piece for an even better grade with no deductions seeing as I handed the project in on time. A potential A that I'm confident I will get if I keep going with it as I did the past two days.

In relevant news, today being the due date of the project, another project was given a rightful birth. And little ambitious Johnny found another challenge. Take a look at the next piece I will be working on;

"It sure is a beautiful place"

I saw this picture and was instantly intimidated. At the same time though, I was in awe at the thought of a potentially beautiful painted version of the piece. So I had to do it. All it is, is me going against time. Time seems to be progressing itself to my arch-nemesis these days.

-------- A little more blogging, A little more personal-------

To take a step away from school for a bit,
something I would just love to do,
I've been really bothered by the fact that I haven't been able to work on my stories at all. Stories I wanted to work into comics to present to some of the artists in Artist Alley at Comic Con 09. But I've been told and told again by teachers that this position I'm in now, is the way a majority of an artist's career is going to be. Working with outlines set by other people rather than myself. Unless of course I was doing my own thing, but that's given.

Also, I've been considering taking a class or two during winter recess. It's definitely much more productive than spending it hanging out and working large amount of hours for sure. I'm sure I can make time for a lot of my social desires in between it all.

"I need to be much more serious than I have been.
I want this career really bad, and I haven't shown my worth to it."

I need to get on my with my spring registration asap as well. Tomorrow I'll be running a couple of personal errands. After my english class I plan to

• talk to the necessary advisers about the winter recess and my spring term.
• Head to the mall to pick myself up some ten dollar polos on sale from my job. Definitely excited for that!
• Then head to some book place to find a small little book-journal-diary thingy I can write my personal freewrites in; my poems.(I just realized that my laptop can crash any minute when my laptop froze during the startup earlier. Definitely need to get on that.)
• Then off to home sweet home. I have to take down three chapters of finance for a big test this friday.
• Hopefully then, I'll have some time to kill for some more brainstorming on what to do with my new photoshop project due this monday.
  

I need to get a better handle of the defining forces in my life. Burn that initiative and responsibility against my pensive and hesitant nature.

I'll end this one here. With a satisfied sigh of relief.

One Challenging Week Ahead...

This is me,

about to pull an all-nighter to get as far with the painting as I possibly can. I've been working on this piece all day since eleven a.m. this morning.

"with occasional... 'pit stops'... "

In order for me to get ahead of my projects, the only way is to pull an all-nighter tonight and maybe another on tuesday night... and that's a big maybe seeing as I have class from 9-3 that day. On top of having a closing shift right after.

Also, to add on to the difficulty of my task at hand.

I also have another project due this wednesday for my photoshop class. A project portraying a play of perspective and depth of field. Tomorrow my teacher wants us to spend the day creating concepts and ideas for the project.
My idea so far is of a person falling from the sky towards a city. Problem with that is, I'm definite that I do not have a fair amount of time to do the idea. So at that, I must withdraw and think up another, easier way to expand on perspective through photoshop.
Oh and I can't forget the three chapters I need to read for a big Finance test this friday.

"Isn't my week going to be fun-filled with turtles and lollipops."

Jealous? I bet you are...

One Anxious Monday

OKAY
So things are beginning to lift away from my shoulders slowly.

"Being behind in art classes is not a situation people should be in."

Especially me.
I finished my Photoshop midterm. I had some trouble sleeping last night because I was so nervous about the criteria. Nervous because I wasn't sure if I had completed it in the way my professor wanted me to in terms of the criteria. The project is a loosely based self-portrait in that it didn't have to require your face exactly. But a collage of things that represents you. I don't think I pulled it off as well as I envisioned it, but it's fairly close.

But here it is, take a look for yourself.
In class while we were waiting for him to make a drop folder, I began seeing a couple of things I missed... Like the background and the front building. I definitely should have did some color corrections on them. At least the building. They looked fairly better on my laptop than it did on the mac desktops we use at school.
"So that's a fail on my part again..."

The buildings and colors represent what I love to be around. Eye-catching hues and and bright welcoming buildings... Time Square at night as an example. How flashy and flamboyant the scenery is. It's just completely breathtaking and makes me want to strive for that place with bright lights and amazing buildings. These are a couple of the two things combined that brings out the passion in me on several levels.

The main thing I was going for in terms of what the picture represents is me, as you can see, looking down these roads for me to venture in as I progress. There are places open for me that I have yet to dive into; be it mediums, places, experiences, etc. Things that can only catalyze me to the matured artist I want to be. Represented as blank - yet to be color areas - until I can truly fill it in.

I could have done a bit more to expand on my vision.
Definately.

"Awesome and spontaneous ideas always pop up right after the deeds are done."

I'm expecting at least a B on this project.

On top of other things now is my new painting project.
That's due soon as well. I'm a week behind because I missed one class like 2 weeks ago for this project. But it's okay, I should be good with it all. Take a look at my new acrylic challenge that's about 20% in completion...


I hope I turn this into something that I can hang in my room.
I feel like a painted version with all the blues is definitely me.

Amiguously Gay Halloween

WOW
I had the Best Halloween of my life as of yet. It's amazing how one comedic franchise can bring so much celebrity attention to your day. Which franchise do you ask?

THE AMBIGUOUSLY GAY DUO!!!
We got so much love and attention last night, it was unbelievable. A taste of being a celebrity brought to us by some pretty hot set of tights and leggings. Courtesy of American Apparel.

But unfortunately things must end, and put in a fancy antique trunk that weigh's half the earth's weight for no apparent reason. This year was definitely a year to love and remember. Next year, seems like its going to have a lot of things going for me.

"Fifteen minutes of fame, you did me well"

Now back - to getting back on top of my art game.