Christmas List

It's that time of year, folks. What do you want for Christmas? What do you get your parents for Christmas? My family has started the Christmas gossip already. "I know what she's getting you, but I can't tell!" 'Tis a love/hate relationship, but mostly love because my family gets ultra jolly around this time of year.

A list has been requested, thus I shall post it here.

1. I always ask for movies for Christmas and rarely get even one. Regardless, I'll continue to ask for more, struggling to complete my test-of-time movie library. This year's titles include:

(Not the digitally remastered version!)

2. I would also like various guitar toys such as:

This device for hooking my guitar up to le computer to record.

Either and ebow or real bow to make string effects.

A guitar slide. But brass, steel, glass? I'm not sure.

3. Some legit headphones, to listen to all my movies and beautiful recordings. Either Bose or Shure brand, I think. Preferably Sound Isolation as opposed to Noise Reduction; the latter uses a microphone and batteries to inverse the outside noise and adds it to your music. Boo!


4. Zombies!!! Le board game.


5. And if wii really want to get crazy...

And...

Mouthy Experimental

A video by Peter Steineck and Hannah Delon.

Today I started my last in-class assignment for Drawing 2. Feels great! It's a 4'x4' piece all done with my left hand. So far so wonderful! Other than that -- I handed in stuff for le art sale. Nothing too spectacular, but hopefully I can make a quick buck!

Princeton!

For being their #1 fan, the Avenue Q crew gave me Princeton. I'm pretty sure it was more because Peter didn't want it, but at least they thought of me! :)

Now Princeton and I will have many adventures...watch out Sara and Marissa!

New Blog, New Work

This was a piece I made for our Illustration patterns assignment. We could just take a theme and go nuts, thus I chose space/creatures. The background is black and white acrylic paint, and the shapes are all cut paper. I really enjoyed working on it and it's probably the only piece I'm proud of from that class. Let's keep it up!

Also, I have officially started my new blog, presenting my ideas, process and finished artworks. Hopefully I keep up with it. Find it here.

As for today -- I am making a ton of art for the art sale and researching for my final drawing assignments. Perhaps I'll see Avenue Q again. I saw it last night and was completely captivated. Fantastic!

"Beat It", Process Blog

Came upon this video. Not too bad!
It just reminds me of Erin, so I thought I'd post it.

So I thought I might start up another blog strictly posting photos of my in-process and finished work as well as compiling project ideas. This could be fun, eh?

In other news -- the week has been long, but had a pretty solid outcome. It started off with a shaky F in Drawing along with the rest of the class for not following directions. But our next assignments should be pretty fun, so I'm excited for that.

Tuesday was Registration day -- supposedly the best day of the year. It's a bit hard to commit to that when you're in the last group for registering. After a bit of panic, this is what it came to:

• History of Animation
• Intro to Type
• The Writer's Workshop
  
• Stop Motion Animation (wait listed)
• New Worlds: Sci-Fi and Fantasy Writing (wait listed, but I know le teacher)
• Sound for Filmmaking

I really wanted to be in Travis' Web + Screen class, but they wouldn't even let me be wait listed. Thus, my persistence urged me to talk to Travis -- and I did. Without any reluctance he said I could be in his class and that he'd take care of any of le paperwork. Just another reason I love the Trav. When that gets taken care of, I'll be out of Type and into a more manageable class with 18 credits. 'Twill be a hefty semester, but I'm really stoked for my classes.

Wednesday I had animation and it was a short day. I have MUCH to do on my animation, and hopefully I stay on top of things. That's one thing with animation -- we have long work periods between projects and if you don't manage your time well -- well, I see why animators don't get any sleep. Later that night Carl and I had a homework sesh and I got a ton done on my illustration project.

Thursday was okay. Ideation was a typical day, but I felt good because I participated in each person's critique. I feel guilty when I don't, and the week before I remember I had said nothing about anybody's projects. I suppose sometimes I just don't have anything to say! Such is the day.

After class we went to a lecture by Alex Kirwan, who contributed to shows such as "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends", "The Mysterious Misadventures of Flapjack", and "My Life as a Teenage Robot". He had a lot of good things to say about the animation industry along with a bitter attitude towards Disney's and other studios' directions. I empathized with his opinions on Disney and their close-mindedness, and it confirmed my current disinclination to work there later in life. I have a feeling I'm more of a Nickelodeon girl, if not even Cartoon Network or Adult Swim. And the again -- I might not even want to work on a tv show but rather do independent projects or work on feature films. We'll see, kids!

Later that night Carl, Michelle, and I had another homework sesh and watched almost all of the first season of Flapjack. None of us had watched it before, but we're now in love. It's very Spongebob-y whatwith its art, humor, and general feel. It's refreshing! I'm sick of all these over-simplified, obnoxious, dumbed-down cartoons. A little texture and cut paper goes a long way!

Needing to finish my illustration, I came home around midnight, painted Space on my paper, and headed to bed for an early rise.

And that I did.
At 7 am this Friday morning, I woke up with gooey eyes that begged close. I turned on the shower and waited for it to heat up to a tolerable cold, then tried to wash the sleep off me. With a solid amount of time before class, I cut out a few more characters for my assignment and then headed out the door. Our apartment closet was overflowing with kickballs, so I returned them on the way to withdraw from my Online History of Advertising class. I was about 7 assignments behind and was nowhere near turning in my final assignments. I hadn't gotten anything out of the class and wasn't interested in trying to catch up. Thus. I withdrew. I can take another class some other time. I'm not concerned.

For Sophomore Sem we had a visiting artist: Gregory Eudclide. I had seen his work at the MCAD Art Sale last year and was mega impressed. To hear him talk was a delight. He had funny moments and valuable advice, but I was tired and it seemed to drag on. You know, it's interesting to see different artists' personalities. To see optimism and pessimism. To see someone striving for success and to see someone trying to settle and work the system. This class, though I hate to admit, was very helpful in the shortest of ways.

Afterwards I came home and glued all my cut-paper pieces to my outer space paper. I was sufficiently satisfied, and so I celebrated with some Heroes and a delicious sandwich for lunch. The college center was hosting and Avenue Q Preview, so I gathered the buddies for the sneak peak. I think the show is going to be great; it sounds REALLY good. What's most impressive is their ability to pull something like this off with such a busy MCAD schedule. Passion can make anything happen, I've begun to notice. :)

Illustration was one of the least stressful classes all year, and I think it was because I was finally proud of my work. I feel like I was one of the few people who took advantage of such a fun project and just WENT for it. And the results were there. My teacher said it was his favorite piece of mine all year, and I agreed. I suppose I'm so proud because I've cried over this class all year, feeling dissatisfied with my own work to the point of embarrassment. I hope he sees that I'm trying really hard. Illustration just hasn't seemed to be my thing, no matter how much I want it to be.

I came home tired and hungry, and am ending the day on a very lazy note. Tomorrow I'm hosting a Saturday Morning Cartoons fest in our living room for Ideation. I hope just enough people come to make it reputable, but not so many that I actually have to do anything. Wow. Talk about lazy!

This weekend I have much on my To-Do List including making everything for the art sale, documenting all my work and start redoing my website, researching artists for my drawing final and write a proposal, video the live footage for my animation, and turn in all my late sophmore sem assignments. I get excited about crossing off physical To-Do lists, so this should be a good weekend for that. It's like making a worksheet in grade school; you take it one question at a time and once you answer all of them you're done for the day! Hooray!

This is long, but I just felt like writing,
Sarah.

Final Animation Sound Clip

Below is a song clip I made for my final animation project. It was fun to make, but I feel like there still might be a few tweaks available. Let me know what you think!

I call it "My Sleepy Beginning" because it was inspired by:

• "My Girls" -- Animal Collective
• "Sleepyhead" -- Passion Pit
• "The Beginning After the End" -- Stars
  

Reza Rasoli, End of the Semester, Cartoons, HIMYM

So for a quick update on life:

I asked Reza Rasoli (blogger of Rezatron and team member of Three Legged Legs) for an interview for my Sophomore Seminar class and he agreed! I was so stoked I didn't know what to do with myself! He's the middle guy in the image below along with the other guys from 3LL. Very talented folks!


Other than that, I've been just alright. Ever since I found out I won't be going home for Thanksgiving, but rather to my grandparents' in South Dakota -- I've been a little bummed. I was looking forward to seeing my friends and to celebrate all our Thanksgiving activities together. Nonetheless, I will get to see my relatives and especially my parents. AND I don't have to do an 8 hour drive home and back. Plus there are only 2 weeks of school after that, which always fly by thanks to finals.

Speaking of classes,
I'm still kind of at a loss as to what I'll be taking next semester,
but it'll work out....

Recently I've also been watching a lot of cartoons. Not only because I've been excited about going into animation, but because it's just really fun to go back and watch shows like Pepper Ann, Rocket Power, and Hey Arnold. Cartoons just aren't as good these days! I'd say Spongebob is, but even past the 3rd season -- things went a bit downhill.

I've also been exploring cartoons as an animator.
Stuff like Russian masterworks, the Triplets of Belleville, and older Disney Movies.

Plus I watched all of How I Met Your Mother Season 4 in about 4 days.
Solid, solid solid.

HP6 Redub

"And as the ginger's true love passed by...."

"The scene became awkward as the ginger ratio rose to 2:1...."

Put A Wood On It, Three Legged Legs, Rezatron

Beyonce and Fleet Foxes


Also:
Three Legged Legs



'Tis an animation studio based in Santa Monica, CA.
I found it via the Rezatron blog,
which I stalked for zombie doodles. Check it out!

The Brothers Bloom Soundtrack

The Brothers Bloom is probably one of my favorite soundtracks now. There's something about it that I just can't pin down. It's a very longing soundtrack, filled with both contentment and dissatisfaction. It's funny, it's serious, it's genuine.

Here's a short track from it: "Double Dutch Queens" by Nathan Johnson.

Fall, Fall, Fall, Halloween!

This has been quite a lovely fall, folks! Finally October is over, Daylight Savings is over, and the semester is halfway over. The month has been a most vomitable roller coaster, but has ended atop with a great overall view of things.

For example, this house across the street from our apartment. In the summer the owners grow beautiful gardens of flowers, and in the fall they rake their leaves and keep their lawn beautiful. In a neighborhood of filth and a general disregard to upkeep, I am very thankful for this view.

Our school is putting together something for the new viewbook and they set out a whole bunch of supplies and let people go crazy. This was my solution. I was in a very happy mood when I was making this. Marissa made the 'have' part. :)

Our annual pumpkin carving contest was this last week. I knew I had to outdo last year's pumpkin, thus I came up with this zombie pumpkin solution. I turned the stem upside and carved a brain into it. I had so much fun with it, and it took my mind off of other not-so-awesome things that had happened earlier in the day. And thus I won, for the second year in a row, 1st place. I'm gonna try to make it 4 for 4 years, but the pressure is so on now!



On Halloween the girls and I hit up Chipotle for some free burritos. By the time we got them we were a bit ravenous, and after a crunched car ride back home, we devoured those burritos as if they were going to disappear if we didn't eat them fast enough. So fun!



Sara and I were a bit undecided as far as costumes went this Halloween. Thus the old headdress made an appearance once again. We acrylicized ourselves with war paint and made legit spears. Pretty baller, if you ask me.


And here's some drawing class projects. The first two are from a three part series, making a collage of a master's work then drawing a still life based on it, and then the next part is doing a figure study based on said still life. I'll post that up when I'm done with it.



This last drawing is an in-class portraiture study. It probably the first portrait I've drawn besides my own and I'm pretty pleased with it. It has a little touch-ups to do, and Ryan isn't wearing his classes so he looks a little different than some of you my recognize, but hey. I like it. :)


Other than that, classes have been getting better; they aren't so overwhelming and I'm kind of excited about my work again. I showed my illustration teacher my pumpkin and he suggested I do 3D illustration, which I had been coincidentally thinking about ever since I DID do that pumpkin. Thus I have discovered Red Nose Studios and have decided to look into 3D illustration.

Also in Illustration on Friday, I picked up my Registration packet! I was so thrilled! I came back to class all hyped up and people didn't know what to do about me. Registration time is seriously almost as good as Christmas. Especially now that I'm declared.

I haven't figured out exactly what I want to do, but I notice the required courses look SO much more fun than the other majors I was considering. As of right now I'm looking into taking Animation Collaboration, Sound for Film, and either Stop Motion or Photographic Lighting. And then I'll have History of Animation and a Humanities and Sciences class...so it's like cartoons ALL THE TIME! I can't wait. I have so many ideas it's great!

And finals are starting! We just got assigned our final in animation and I couldn't be more excited for it. It's 30 seconds of whatever we want, which is both overwhelming and freeing. It's cool to think that once I finish this, I'll be done with the class. It's also crazy to think about the fact that I'll only have 3.5 animations by the time this class is over. Sheesh! Which brings me to another point, I've been kind of picking out classes according to what I'd like to include in my Junior Review next year. It's scary to think about all that happening so soon. Sometimes it feels like there's no end in sight at MCAD, but alas, it's approaching WAY faster than we realize.

The only other thing I can think of to mention is the fact that my mom has been getting familiar with the doctors again. She's had some intense pain in her hips/legs for who knows how long. And recently she found out that her hip is broken. It's frustrating because before she was just told that her one leg was longer than the other, not that her hip was broken. And now the surgeon says it has healed, so I'm assuming it healed wrong. It's been a little trying here, thinking about it all. But I can be thankful that we now know what's wrong and that it can be fixed.

Also -- I want to write about my Ideation Class the other day.
We were having a pretty blah critique on our Language critiques. We only had a week and nobody's was particularly amazing. After a long while, we went on break with two projects left. When we came back to class, we were in a state of monotony. Then Rachel had her performance piece. It wasn't a phenomenal performance, but it definitely triggered something in all of us. She told us the story about her love affair with her violin. How she saw it in a store at age 5 and wanted it immediately. How her mom finally got her lessons. How she learned how to make words out of the notes on a staff. And ultimately, how her mom made her choose between violin and comics. And then she played us a solo piece which she said she hadn't played in 3 years -- since she quit. And then it was over.

And after a long silence McMeans asks, "So what'd you think?" Nobody in the room said a word. We wouldn't even look at one another. The mood was so heavy we couldn't even formulate words -- until Gina finally spoke. She started saying, "I know how you feel because I played Suzuki violin for 10 years too." And then she started crying. Had she not let go, I would've burst. I tried SO hard not to cry. In that moment, as I was looking around the room. I realized that we had all given up something very dear to us to get to MCAD. It sucks! And even more -- a lot of us gave up music specifically. For the first time, I really felt like other people were feeling the same things I've been feeling. I stunned me. And my throat was tied in knots. I didn't say another word during class.

And on that note,
let's get back into the things we love.
--Sarah