Minor Irritation

I did have this cool daily-quote contraption set up at the bottom of the page, but it's the same quote every day. So that's gone. Off to find a decent one...


Art will come soon. Seriously.

Back to Normal

Mom came back on Wednesday, so things are returning to normal. I can now buckle down and do my work without worrying about what the little things. Moms must have a built-in reminder system, because I can't remember to do certain things like take food out of the freezer to defrost but mom remembers millions of things like that. I'm going to be a social hazard when I go to university. DX


I had the opportunity to do a quick sketchy a couple of days ago:

I think it's probably the most 'realistic' I can draw. Again, I'm a complete sucker for profiles. It's actually a guy I'm quite pleased with, for a change. I do hate his ear; I can't draw ears to save my life. I'm hoping to work on that watercolour sketch soon. Most work on the art front has ground to a halt, loathe as I am to admit it. Any free time I have is wasted watching House M.D. reruns, or sleeping.

Speaking of House M.D.: the 'new' episodes are coming out at a slower rate here than in North America, so we just watched the first episode with the Kutner-Thirteen-Taub-Foreman group. Amber got cut last week. Thanks to the copious amount of spoilers, and because I'm weak when it comes to them, I now know what happened in the finale. I can't believe Amber died. I'm on tenterhooks about Wilson and House's relationship, I hope it doesn't get too rocky. Their friendship is the main reason I watch the show. They're so wonderful to watch interact! I hope the next season comes out soon. ;_; Although I read somewhere that they're already filming it, so that's a good sign.

Sun, Jazz and WORK

Seriously. I have so much work.


But I'm not going to go there.


I love smooth jazz to an unhealthy degree. I don't care what song or artist as long as it's smooth jazz. I listen to it while I work, especially English, it's really mellowing and helps me focus. There's this great live feed for download at Sky.fm that can be opened up in Windows Media Player. It's just non-stop bliss. There's also a link right to the forums where people far more jazz-savvy than myself discuss the merits of each song. I'm never in philosophical enough of a mood for that, but it's amusing to read people's thoughts.


It's also sunny outside today. There seems to be an overcast front rolling in but that's England for you. We've had nothing but clouds for days, which doesn't seem likely to change much but it's nice to see some blue sky every once in a while.


Mom returns from her Canada house-hunting on Wednesday, and I think we'll all be glad to have her back. It's been pretty furtive when it comes to meals; there's been a lot of microwave action. We might try for an actual cooked dinner tonight, that should be interesting. Plus we all miss her of course. I'm glad she's coming home soon, but I'm apprehensive about house verdict. Most of the places she had viewed are duplexes or triplexes, since we could do with an ulterior source of income. However a lot of the tenants don't seem to be taking good care of their quarters, and the landlords don't care. She said that the conditions in some houses were horrible.


No offence to anybody who rents, but some of the tenants that were mentioned sound like parasites. Once they've got their teeth into a spot you just can't evict them, because they've got more rights than you do. I imagine it's going to be an eye-opening experience. I hope we get some nice, quiet little old lady tenant who pays promptly and doesn't die until we've paid off the mortgage. Like Duplex, except without all the annoying aspects and ergo attempts to kill her.


I hope to get that painting done soon so I can post it here. I would post the collages I did for Art over the weekend, but I had forgotten that Mom took the digital camera with her and I have no other means of photographing them.

Oh, yeah...

I forgot to mention that I've added two link lists, on the right hand side there. The first is a whole bunch of websites I shamelessly stalk, on a daily basis. The second is a list of all my favourite webcomics. I'll most likely add to both lists all the time. If you're bored, check them all out, I highly recommend 'em. (Although I warn you, enjoyment varies with your taste. There's a fair amount of slash content in both lists.)

OMG - and news

I have a brand new piece of art in the works! It should be done end of this week or beginning of next week, depending. I had an epiphany whilst experimenting with watercolours on backing board. I dropped all of my art to start it, actually. I've just got to paint it so it should be easy enough to complete. I'm really happy with it. It's using the same manga-inspired style end up with when I sketch. It's easier than me trying to make people look realistic, I can never get it right.


I may end up taking a picture with the digital camera, it's a bit too long for the ol' flatbed I think.


Me, my sister and Grandad are all doing fine without mom. She's left for a week to go size up properties in Canada. We're going to try and move back, we've all had enough of it here. I'm a little apprehensive. We have a lot of boxes of crap to sort through and we'll only be able to take the bare minimum back with us. What with all my schoolwork and sorting stuff out I'll be pushed to find any spare time. Plus I've got the deadline of June 28, as that is when I fly to Canada for a visit. As it is, I may well end up not using the return flight and just stay at a friend's house until the rest of my family comes over, but we'll see I suppose. I think I'll miss the Land Rover more than anything, although I suppose our extended family count as well. XD


Off to do the art that I ignored yesterday, now!

Trompe L'Oeil Painting

Yeah, so this isn't a sketch by OH WELL. I've been super busy with schoolwork recently... essays and other overdue stuff is piling up now, and I have a lot of art to finish every week in order to complete the course in time. Let me tell you - online school is hard. I'll admit that it does have perks, like being able to give yourself time off and all that jazz but in the end, you live your life in one room pulling ridiculously long shifts six days a week to keep it under control, with no human interaction and severe lack of Vitamin D. I've never felt so unhealthy. [/whining]

But it's almost done! I only have a few more weeks left and then I am free. (Till next year, but at least that's in a 'bricks and mortar' school.)

This is a Trompe L'Oeil oil painting I did last month. The whole point was to try and make the objects look as realistic as possible, so the observer thinks they're looking at a photograph. The key was to use a shallow depth of field by placing the background very close to the foreground, to make it easier for shadows etc. I stacked the entire Harry Potter series behind a little cat ornament. I'm actually quite proud of it, but it took ages to do.

I'll probably be back with more old art stuff soon, since I fail at new sketches.

The Deal

'Kay, so I've decided that I'll aim for at least one sketch a week, and try and increase that when summer rolls around. I have a lot of homework piling up now that we're getting into May and I need to focus on that, not posting on this blog. I'm also into writing stuff right now, not drawing, so the updates will probably increase when I hit another drawing phase. I get those fairly frequently so that should be okay.


I also am going to convert this blog into an art blog instead of just a sketch blog. So with that in mind:

Photographs from a 'Rule of Thirds' assignment for Art. I feel like I've posted something more substantial, now. :3

Get Well Soon

Aww, bless. It's a kid hugging a tree. (And no, he's not a dendrophile, for you pervy people out there. XD)

So the story behind this is quite simple: I like trees. I can't stand it when I see a tree that someone has obviously attacked for no good reason - ripping branches or bark off, for example. This happened to the pictured tree, and the kid gave it a Band-Aid (it's the thought that counts... >>) and a hug. Try to ignore the sucky anatomy and soak up the warm fuzzy feeling that you (hopefully) get from it.

I only have a few more decent(?) sketches from the archives, so I need to get my butt in gear and draw something new. I'm aiming for next week. YOSH!