Eibborn! My half of our trade is done! :D



Eib balancing a laptop on his nose while doing a handstand. :D I dunno, I thought it was cute. And if you look closely, the screen on his laptop is the main page of the Sabrous website.

Tried some stuff out on this as far as coloring goes. I was tried to just loosen up and let my painting get a bit messy. I think it turned out pretty good. Also playing with pens. I've found I really like my Staedler chisel-tip and Micron brush-tip pens. They make for some really nice inking.

Hey, so remember last month when I said I'm going to do an art dump once a month? Well, I'm keeping to that. So, hey. Art dump time!

( An alien, a time traveler, and a lot of unfinished sketches )

I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving. Waaaant tuuurkey

Never drive 800+ miles in three days if you can avoid it.

Grandfather's funeral was... nice. My dad put it together, so it was less a standard religious thing and more just everyone telling funny stories about the guy. I liked it. I think it was the best funeral I've ever been too, since it was more the celebration of life then mourning of death.

My sister found her old copy of the soundtrack for Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and gave it to me. We listened to it in the car, and I've got to say, it is one of the most intense and metal soundtracks I've ever heard. Also, slowly but surely, I'm gaining more and more old BB swag for cheap.

Sink's leaking in my dorm faucet pretty bad, I'm thinking of calling maintenance to come and check it out on monday.

I want to watch Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Day of the Locust back-to-back and then write a paper on the use of the grotesque, the surreal, and the deconstruction of the American Dream presented in the two films.

However, I think that watching them back-to-back would be so much of a mind-screw that by the end of DotL, I'd be reduced to a whimpering ball cowering in a corner.





...I also want to write a paper on framed narrative and the use of children as a symbol of innocence and imagination in The Princess Bride, The Adventures of the Baron Von Munchhausen, and The Fall. Because I'm just that lame.

Most of you know that I play Terry McGinnis/DCAU's second Batman over at trans_9. I've been playing there for over a year now, and perhaps the only real problem I've had (besides rp commitment issues which I've done a pretty good job of getting over) is finding good user icons. I've found a few here and there, but since the show has been over for six years, and the fandom is pretty much dead, finding decent pre-made icons is pretty hard. I've made most of my icons myself.

And that what this post is for. As of now, I have about 30 icons that I use between my two rp journals, and more that I've made but don't use. And I'd like to share them. To give a hand to other Terry rpers out there that need icons.

( Icons )

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Here, have some art with ZOMBIES!



And if you're interested, progress shots can be seen here.

So, I wrote a quick, spontaneous short story. A short piece from the journal of a doctor that's trying to survive in a zombie apocalypse. Though, hopefully not as stereotyped as one may think. Read under the cut:

( Slouching Towards Bethlehem )

The title is from the last line of Yeats's "Second Coming", which inspired the story. That, and zombies just seem to be everywhere this year. There's the Blackest Night comics event... T9 is running a zombie invasion plot... I felt like getting on the bandwagon. Also, it gives me a reason to finally use my 'zombies' tag again.

On an unrelated note, it snowed today. All these NM desert-dwelling kids were shocked and freaked out at the early snow, but as someone from CO, I'm used to snow by Halloween. It finally feels like October to me.

Now that I'm trying to get into comics, I've decided I need a job.

Decided to update my default user icon. I've changed by glasses, hair, and location since making that old one, as well as got a pair of goggles. But I kept little dragon.

But, yeah, just alerting people, because I'm not sure if everyone is like me, but when I see a new icon on my flist I tend to be a bit confused at first. I may just be weird.

Mainly, I wanted an icon that showed me actually smiling. The old one was too... 'broody angsty'.

Also, GOGGLES!

Since the first time since the second week of school, I finally feel like I'm not drowning in homework. It's... a really, really nice feeling.

So, like I said, I went back to CO over the weekend. It was... a lot of driving. And I mean a lot. But, it was also fun. I got to hang out with a friend of mine, and give my kitties hugs. I found out a friend of mine is going to be the Queen of Hearts for Halloween, which is an awesome coincidence, since I'm going to be the Mad Hatter. Too bad we'll be 450 miles apart :/ Maybe we can talk our friend in Chicago to be the White Rabbit and we can all be Alice in Wonderland characters together... while apart. I missed getting to hang out with another friend, who turned 21 today, whose birthday I was going to help celebrate early, but I couldn't get a hold of them at all. Which sucks.

I have kind of missed CO. The seasons actually flow right there! I've been so confused about what month it really is down here, because it feels like it's still August. Back home, it was chilly, the first snow of the year had already happened, and most of the trees had lost all their leaves. That, to me, is a normal October. Only last week did the trees down here start to change color, and it's still getting into the 80s some days. THIS IS NOT RIGHT. Though, it did rain today. That's... fall-like, I guess.

I also got my hands on a few comics these past weeks, which I'll probably talk about soon. I've also been working on my SEEKRIT PROJECT. Design phase is almost done, and I'll probably start the actual thing sometime this week. I'm working really hard on it, and it should be really interesting, so keep an eye out for updates.

Back from Denver. Had fun. Went shopping with my Goth friend. Bought books.

I have more to say, but I am really tired. I managed to got back to NM two hours earlier then I expected, though, which is good.

I need to finish an outline for my Western Civ midterm and study for my geology midterm. Civ is a take-home test due wednesday. Geo is in class tomorrow morning.

Oh, and I got googles. Sweeet.

Going home for a four day weekend. Driving all the way. 450 miles. Need to leave soon.

Whee.

Whoot, Artemis Fowl graphic novel 2 is out! That was my favorite book in the series, and I love the design of the GN (especially Holly's design). Though, they did leave a preeeety big plot point in the first GN (well, small for book 1, important for book 2), so I'm not sure how they'll get around that. But, yeah, I may just order it off Amazon and have it shipped to me. Or wait until I go home for fall break and get it from an indie shop in Denver.

Though, my first thought when I found this out was 'Sweet, more icons for Holly's rp journal!'

Exactly what the title says! I'm thinking of doing a sketch dump once a month from now on.

( Aliens, Steampunk, fan art, and one very angry cat under the cut )

In other news, I finally finished the Zot! Black and White Collection by Scott McCloud. It had some problems, but I really liked it. The conflicting ideologies of strict science and loose imagination where interesting, without be contrived or a bit science versus magic/religion/whatever plot. I also really loved the focus on the mundane - I've always dug looking at normal people doing normal things in a epic setting, because it helps me relate to the characters. Sure, I wanted to know what Zot was up to, but I could relate to Jenny's yearning to be in the perfect alternate earth and trying to deal with an idealist in a world that doesn't live up to their standards. The art could be better, and sometimes the story is a bit scattered, but it's definitely a good read.

So, my sister can in to town for a couple days, and we wandered around town and hung out. She also made me finally go to the comic store a few blocks down the street from the college. I've been meaning to go there for a while, but was kind of embarrassed to admit that I don't really read any comics. But the guys at the store were really friendly and nice, and talked me into picking up some Green Lantern comics and reading Blackest Night.

They also made my fucking month. How?

Because they sold me something that I've been wanting for a year.

Something that's kind of rare and hard to find.

That's been out of production for six years.

A Batman Beyond action figure... for $7.

Fuck YES I am going there again.

ETA: Photo!



I didn't realize it until I took the picture, either, but I put Batman right next to my Canned Bat from Carlsbad. :B

So it takes me until I'm nearly 19 and trying to figure out how to say 'My favorite animal is the fox' in Spanish to realize that Zorro is literally The Fox in Spanish. And I've been a Zorro fan since I was, like, eight. I guess I'm just used to vigilantes dressing up like the animal they're named after.

...Though, that does sort of explain why I like Zorro so much...

Hey, look, an alien.



A DEC, to be exact.

Why? There's a reason, but I'm not telling yet. It's for a seeekrit project.

And it could just be me, but aren't those blue toes just adorable? <3

This is just cool.

From the article: Scientists today announced the discovery of the oldest fossil skeleton of a human ancestor. The find reveals that our forebears underwent a previously unknown stage of evolution more than a million years before Lucy, the iconic early human ancestor specimen that walked the Earth 3.2 million years ago. [...]

The fossil puts to rest the notion, popular since Darwin's time, that a chimpanzee-like missing link—resembling something between humans and today's apes—would eventually be found at the root of the human family tree. [...]

Ardi instead shows an unexpected mix of advanced characteristics and of primitive traits seen in much older apes that were unlike chimps or gorillas [...]

All previously known hominids—members of our ancestral lineage—walked upright on two legs, like us. But Ardi's feet, pelvis, legs, and hands suggest she was a biped on the ground but a quadruped when moving about in the trees.

Her big toe, for instance, splays out from her foot like an ape's, the better to grasp tree limbs. Unlike a chimpanzee foot, however, Ardipithecus's contains a special small bone inside a tendon, passed down from more primitive ancestors, that keeps the divergent toe more rigid. Combined with modifications to the other toes, the bone would have helped Ardi walk bipedally on the ground, though less efficiently than later hominids like Lucy.

Check out the rest of the article, too - it's really interesting. There's also some artistic interpretations of Ardi, and an interactive page about some of Ardi's specific skeletal features.

Way, way cool.

So hey, funkicarus did a post on the art supplies they use, and turned it into a little meme. So I'm going to ramble about what kind of art stuff I prefer to use.

Paper

I will really use just about any paper. I'm really not picky. Most of my drawings are done on normal white printer paper, mainly because it's pretty cheap, I have easy access to it, and since it's 8.5x11 in., I can put a stack in my messenger bag easily and it won't weigh my bag down. It's also small enough that it can fit on a standard size scanner. However, it's not very good to use if you're working with watercolor, because the colors bleed and the paper warps. I still haven't found something that I like for watercolor - I've tried card stock and custom-made heavier papers, and while the paint will look good, inking tends to come out really bad.

I've used sketchbooks before, but tend to not be too comfortable with them. I prefer the spiral-bound books, but will look for the top-bound type instead of side-bound, because then I can turn the page sideways easier. My main problem with sketchbooks is that they don't always fit on my scanner, and when they do, that huge stack of paper plus the binding makes it so the top of the scanner can't lay flat, and it allows outside light in, and that can mess up your scanning. I hate book-style bound sketchbooks because if the drawing is near the side of the page, you'll get a shadow because you can't move the page before it out of the way.

For canvas for my acrylic, I've been using pre-stretched and treated canvas - I'm not sure about all art stores, but the one I went to in CO sold these in various sizes, which were really nice because I didn't have to do any work. I've never stretched my own canvas and am kind of worried that if I did, I'd mess it up.

Pencils and Pens

For pencils, I use .07 mechanical pencils. Brand doesn't really matter, but I do tend to like ones that come with a soft grip, and nice erasers. I tend not to use the erasers on mechanical pencils too much, but use them every once in a while. However, I usually tend to use click erasers - y'know, the ones that are a stick, and that everyone always jokes reminds them of a penis - for working with penciling, because they're smallish, and I have plenty of control over them. I don't like using larger erasers for pencil work, because I almost always wind up erasing more then I wanted to. However, I do use larger erasers for erasing linework after inking - for that, I favor a latex-free Staedler eraser - it's very smooth and doesn't take much work to erase lines, even heavy ones, so there's less of a chance of rubbing through or ripping your page (I'm not sure if this is a problem for everyone, but it is for me).

As for pens, I mainly use Microns. I tend to use a range of sizes, all rather equally. I like changing up the sizes depending on what I'm working on - 005 and 01 are used for hair, facial features, and other small details; 02 and 03 are used for a lot of in-between lines, usually clothing and bodies; and 05 and 08 are used for borders, backgrounds, anything that needs a really large, thick line. Microns are nice to use - they're cheap, they tend to last a while, and they lay down ink pretty smoothly. However, my favorite pens to use are Staedler technical pens, sizes 0.25, 0.35, 0.5, and 0.7. These pens are incredibly nice. The ink is incredibly smooth, they handle nice, and they last FOREVER. However, they can be kind of pricey, so I tend to save them for when large projects.

I'll also use Micron Brush pen and a Micron graphic pen if I want to do brush-like work. These aren't really brush-pens, as they don't have actual bristles, but they work nice enough for what I want them to do. I don't like actual brush-pens or brushes for inking, as I tend to have shaky hands, so it usually doesn't come out right. Also, in the past I've tried using nib pens and dipping ink, but I'm terrible with them and tend to get ink all over the place, so I've stopped using them.

Colored Pencils

I use Prismacolor Premier Pencils for most of my art. I've also tried using Eagle pencils, but other then that, I haven't really experimented too much. Prismas are good for what I need them to do, and I'm constantly changing around how I use them - early on, I was all about the blending, now I'm playing around with hatching. Prismas are nice, and can put down a really smooth color is you work with them right. I've been using them literally since grade-school, so I'm pretty attached to them, and haven't really spread out. There are a few problems with them, though. The first is that the lead is soft and breaks really easily (their website says that the leads are hard, but they're lying), especially if you're using a crappy sharpener. Make sure that you want to use these pencils that you buy a nice sharpener, because it'll make everything a lot easier. I'd suggest trying out a range of hand-sharpeners and using the one that works best. Electric sharpeners can work, but it can be a lot harder digging out broken lead from electric sharpeners then it is hand sharpeners. Prismas can also get kinda pricey if you use a large range of colors. I personally have a 72-count box of pencils, which cost about $70 (it's about a dollar per pencil in the US), and there are at least 10 pencils that I hardly ever use. You can buy prismas individually, so I'd suggest getting a few colors you know you'll use over buying a huge set that you might wind up only using half of.

Paint

When it comes to paint, both watercolor and acrylic, I am really not picky at all. I've gotten really nice results with cheap crayola watercolors, as well as nice tube watercolors. I currently use a set of the little pigment-pallet that is slightly more up-scale from Crayola, but was still pretty cheap. (I can't remember the brand, and I'm not sure where the box is right now, unfortunately) It's got the primary colors, a few secondaries, two shades of brown, and black, as well as a small tube of white. I can pretty much blend anything I need with this, so I'm happy with it. It came with a sable-hair brush (a sable is a type of marten) which is really nice. Animal-hair brushes work better then plastic brushes, so I'd suggest investing in some (funkicarus knows more about this then I do, so check out the post linked about for more info).

For acrylics, I'll use just about anything. I haven't got a preferred brand, I just use what works. The main thing I look for in paint is that it isn't watery - as in, when I lay the colors down, it's solid, and the canvas (or whatever I'm painting on) doesn't show through. I've used Basic brand paints, which have really nice white, red, green, and purple, but terribly watery yellow and blue. So I have a huge mix of paints, and I'm not even sure what all they are. Another thing I'm picky about is that it has to be in a tube - I tend to mix paints right on my brush, so if I have to scrape paint out of a little jar so that I don't wind up mixing colors in the base paint, I get a big annoyed. It's sort of like how you can't stick the knife you used for jelly in the peanut butter jar before you clean it, because it isn't allowed to get mixed. Having tubes of paint instead of jars keeps this from happening. Same thing about the brushes - animal hair works better, check out funkicarus's post for info on that. I have a mix of brushes from different brands, in different sizes and shapes, so again, I'm not too picky as long as it's not plastic.


So, there ya go. My traditional art supplies. As for digital, I use Photoshop Elements 3 and a Graphire 10x8 tablet. I've used Elements for so long that the interface for normal Photoshop confuses and angers me, so I stick with what I have, even if there are less options in it. As for my tablet, I prefer the larger ones because it's closer to the size of a normal sheet of paper, and I don't have to fuss with the tablet-to-screen size ratio as much. The Graphire is nice, but I've used it pretty heavily, the stylus is dying, and some of the pressure points are messed up, so I might upgrade to the Intuos (or however it's spelled) soon.


Any other artists that watch me? What kind of supplies do you use?

Scored 95.5 out of 100 on my first geology exam.


Fuuuuuuck yeah.