Wif a li'l bi' o' luck!

SO! I found a rather great Sherlock model! It just so happened to be the guy who came to model for my painting class, in a bizarre turn of events. So not only did I get to take some pictures of him, but I got to paint him for 12 hours of class time!

And here it is! Now, try to reserve judgment, I did my best, and these are just pictures I took with my phone-- the first picture is a bit truer to the actual colors.

I still need to finish the shirt and fix up the background. My oil painting skills are still not where I'd like them to be, but I feel like I've improved tremendously since I last tried. Or at the very least I enjoy it a LOT more. It could have something to do with listening to Harry Potter 7 while painting...

Also, even if I haven't been producing any new pieces for the Sherlock show, I sketch him ev-er-y-where! In my notes for other classes, on the church programs, and of course in my sketchbook. I feel like I'm getting to know him rather well, even though he varies slightly from sketch to sketch.

I hope you know it.

Ya know, to be honest, there aren't many T shirts I'm willing to spend more than about $10 on. (Exceptions include Johnny Depp featured as a pirate, but little else.)

So I know it's a bit rich of me to ask people to vote for my T shirt design that will end up costing around $15 or so.

BUT.

YOU CAN ENTER TO WIN THIS T SHIRT FOR FREEEE!! So cool, right? Winners are picked at random, and you only have to enter your email so they can send you advertisements for their products, but guess what? You can cancel those as soon as you have or haven't won the T shirt!

So. Just sayin'. You really have nothing to lose by helping me to earn money off of my art, which will not only give me the spring-board funds I'll need after I graduate, but help me and others believe in themselves.

Vote here.

And here are some behind the scenes pictures, since you took the trouble to be kind and read this:

Final "Seal" design. I wanted it to look like a stamp,
with a bit of wear and tear from all the times its been used.

Original sketch. I always tend to make my faces really long, especially the noses.

Thanks! And more to come VERY soon on Sherlock!

T Time!

I've been horrible about posting, but things are about to pick up!
First, let's take a gander at my options for a T shirt design challenge for Threadless: "You Are Beautiful."
I wanted to have a design validating the wearer's beauty, give them a sort of seal of approval to give them confidence. And since Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty, who better to approve someone's beauty?
What do you think, honestly?

So which do you like? 1, 2, 3, or 4, respectively? Is the writing of the word "Beautiful" alright, or a little too wonky to go with the rest?

Also, here's a closer look if you wanted to see the seal in detail:

I'm submitting this design either late tonight or tomorrow! I'm excited to see what happens. If nothing else, at least I know how to use some tools in Photoshop a little better, and it was fun to design. :)

And keep tuned, more Sherlock project stuff to come soon!

Refreshing Sherlock

Alright. I have a very long discourse about why I really dislike the versions of Sherlock characters that are upright jerks, even though they're generally entertaining to watch.
But dang.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman? Please, sir, I want some more!

Over the past couple of years, I've really been dissatisfied by most TV shows. So thank you, BBC's SHERLOCK. Yes, we've had the script you're using for over a century, but the craft and method used to portray it is stunning.
Even though Sherlock is still a jerk. And I'm probably going to use this show as evidence for my BFA show that nobody these days [or ever, really] seems to want to pay attention to Doyle's portrayal of Sherlock's heart, as shown in the stories by his high level of courtesy.

But anyway, the point is I wanted to share how I got a little carried away with my simple sketch while listening to scriptures the other night...

Pay no attention to the list in the corner....

So it's a bit off-- aha! I caught myself. I'm not going to tell you what I think is wrong with it.

You figure it out, Sherlock. ;)

Good Ideas

For my class about professional business practices for illustrators, I was required to read this book, Linchpin by Seth Godin. I so regret not getting it on CD earlier! There are some particular details I didn't entirely agree with, but its overall message is one of hope and has such a can-do attitude. Here's a short review on it I did for my class, if you care to hear my opinion:

            What an insightful book. It sometimes felt sort of similar to having the sheets ripped off of your bed on a cold morning, or being un-blindfolded to see a really bright day, or even like ripping off a Band-aid. It was startling at first, and a bit unpleasant, but it’s ultimately a good thing. There were a lot of things Seth Godin talks about that I had never thought of before, like the “lizard brain” or the “resistance,” and I thought they were interesting and important to talk about.

            Honestly, there were some points in the book that I felt he was a little bit off. Like when he talked about perfection and our tendency to strive towards “defect-free”. I got the impression that he was saying we don’t need to even try to head in the direction of “perfect,” that it’s pointless and wrong. But that may have only been fleeting, because the other things he says about that are spot on with how I feel. As a perfectionist, I constantly have to remind myself of my Grandma’s phrase, “They’re not going to shoot you in the morning,” and my favorite Mythbusters quote, “Failure is always an option.” It is such a nice thing to give up trying to have a perfect result and instead focus on being perfectly diligent in my attempts. Wasn’t it Einstein or someone famous who said that failure only comes when we stop trying? And I agree. We need to strive to do things perfectly, but it’s more in the trying than in the result.

            I also loved what Godin said about the power of gifts. Everybody needs to hear that part specifically! Especially being LDS and being taught again and again about service, this idea really resonated with me. It’s so fascinating to me that Godin recognized that it’s the people who sincerely give first that become successful later on. And I really liked that he also said that we’ve got to be willing to share our talents instead of being afraid of rejection, which is probably most of the reason I very rarely give my art as gifts.

            In all, Seth Godin had wonderful things to say, even if I didn’t completely agree with every detail. I loved his positive outlook on life, on the hidden genius in everyone, and on the future and how we can become a successful part of it. It gives me such high hopes.



So there you have it!
I hope I keep posting stuff here even though I no longer have a class requiring it. I think I will. I've been surprised at how much I like it. :) Thanks to you, Reader, for making it fun.

Last Lap Around the Corner

I can't believe it.
I am give-or-take three finals away from being finished with my second-to-last (ish) semester in school.

Here are a couple of things I'm happy with from this semester:

-Some stuff from my character design class, like the series of emotions for Eilonwy's character, Fflewddur Fflam, and my final lineup. (below) I feel like my skills in being able to come up with and draw characters of my own have grown a lot. No matter the grade, I feel like I've accomplished a lot.

-The children's magazine article I wrote for my English class. It wasn't the hardest assignment, but I actually really enjoyed it, and I got to write about something I care about and something interesting: the art world that was damaged by Nazi Germany in WWII, and how Hitler had tried to become an artist himself, etc. I didn't know the extent of said damage to art and more importantly Russian and Polish people until I watched The Rape of Europa in my art history class sometime within the past year or so. More people need to know about that. Look it up, rent it from your local library-- it's important to remember.

Apparently, literally a couple of things are all that sticks out because I can't think of much else on the same level as these two.



Anyway, how about that game Clue?
Our family has so many memories with that beloved board and its pieces. We played again for the first time in a long time on Saturday and had a blast. I was the first to make a final accusation-- as usual, I was just barely wrong. It was Professor Plum with the lead pipe in the kitchen, if you were wondering, and I was banking on Mr. Green in the dining room.



For some reason, I feel like there may be a connection here with Sherlock Holmes that I can exploit for my BFA project, and not just because its detective work. We'll see.

Another fun game memory (of a memory game, coincidentally): HUSKER DU!!

      
I totally just stole from the internet, P.S.

Except that our set's cover-up pieces look more like a chess board's bishops than the checkers-ish ones on this cover. Husker Du apparently means "Do you remember?" in Danish. For some reason, the box always reminds me of my grandparents' red shag carpet, velvet walls, black leather furniture, and sparkly asbestos-ish ceiling. Oh and don't forget the creepy mirror in which I thought my cousins could really see Bloody Mary.

I'm telling ya, these things pack a LOT of memory for me. What about you? What are your favorite game memories? Night games? House? Puzzles?

My Mind Rebels at Stagnation...

The reason for the title is two-fold:

First: My proposal for concept and space for my final BFA show was all accepted!!
It will be in April. I may have previously mentioned that my subject is Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. I love so many of the films and versions (like House or The Mentalist) and I've loved listening to the original stories as I work.
Aside from the obvious favorite of Holmes being outsmarted by Irene Adler, my favorite story so far has been the guy who dresses up in makeup and costume to look like a beggar. I absolutely didn't expect that at all, and it was a marvelous revelation.
Anyway, once I comfortable with what I'm doing for my BFA, I'll tell you all.

Second: Even though my mind is fried right now and I just want to not worry about grades, I know that in two weeks I'm going to be really bored if I don't get something productive to do. Luckily, I have this thing called a BFA show coming up that should help my nerves stay nice and frayed until after April.


As far as art goes... I'm in the middle of new projects for all art classes, so there's not much to show, but I'll tell!
--I've sketched out my character lineup for my Character Design Final. They're characters from The Chronicles of Prydain. Left to right: Orddu, a witch; Doli, a dwarf; Eilonwy, a sort of tomboy princess; and Fflewddur Fflam, a king who'd rather be plucking his harp.

--I want to do a Christmas card for Zions Bank (this is all just kind of hypothetical here for the purposes of the class) featuring the ghost of Christmas Past reminding us all of what's important, to go along with Zions' tagline: "We haven't forgotten who keeps us in business." I haven't digitized my sketches for that, so you get nothing!

--I've been working on a moray eel makeup design. We poured the two-part foam molds last class-- it was incredible!! I really love learning about his stuff. Again, no pictures yet, though some have probably noticed all the moray eel pictures on my "Specific Projects" board on Pinterest.

Well, until next time, ciao!