PsycDesigns

Yup. Moving right along

2011-12-22T15:44:00.004-05:00

Got some updates.

Things Are Happening

2011-11-03T21:17:00.004-04:00

Some art that's in the works. I've had a rather rough dry spell. Lots of doodles, but here are some actual pieces I'm working through. There are also two paintings happening, which I'll put here once I've got some lighting going.

ZOMBIE - FIn

2011-04-02T16:43:00.002-04:00

Finished~

Leap

2011-04-01T19:25:00.004-04:00

WIP for Junior Art Review. _{Killmeknowohgodjustkillmenow.}

EDIT: Final Image...for now

Mareep~

2011-03-23T18:49:00.003-04:00

Another Pokemon Vector. Done for fun, though this one was much faster. I have a few more in the works, but we'll see how long it takes me to finish them.

Hazama!

2011-03-22T16:13:00.003-04:00

Hazama from BlazBlue! Two versions of this because his actual Sprite colors mean there is an assault of GREEN! Done rather quickly. I'll probably be cleaning this up before making a full print of this.

Tokyo Manga and Anime Ban

2011-03-21T12:53:00.003-04:00

To all of you Manga and Anime lovers out there,

In light of recent events, Japan has been struggling. The death toll is high, and eveyone's heart is broken for those who have been struck by this tragedy. What I have to pass on next, to me at least, represents the next wave of destruction. Before I get into this, I need to clarify at the core, this has nothing to do with Anime and Manga. If this were any other mass ban, I would be just as horrified. Don't get me wrong, I love it death but I'm more concerned about the absolute restriction of media that this represents. When a culture starts restricting its media to this degree, bad times are ahead. Think the book burnings of the Dark Ages.

Tokyo Manga and Anime Ban

I am appalled by this. I love media. Morally, I know that not all media is good media, and there are a lot of questions raised by the sheer amount of it that the current generation is being exposed to through TV, the internet, Magazines, Comics, etc., but this is not how you handle the situation. Banning the material isn't going to stop its influence. This Ban is going to kill an entire Sub-Culture that has greatly influenced Art, Video Games, Movies, almost everything of the current generation not only in Japan, but around the world. Personally my life would be so different without the influence of Anime and Manga. It was one of the catalysts to get me really into the nitty gritty of art, not to mention its how I became connected with most of my friends now.

I'm in shock. My mind still hasn't processed the Natural Distaters in Japan, and now this Cultural one?

This is going to have deep ramifications, mark my words.

P.S.
Commissions for Japan are still on. They will stay on for a long, long time. Let me know.

More Personal Art

2011-03-20T21:02:00.003-04:00

Something I'm working on in time with Processor. ZOMBIE.

My crazy British gal who thinks the Zombie Apocolypse is comming. I plan on developing a fighter with her in it.

Personal Art

2011-03-18T14:36:00.004-04:00

Meh my Junior Art Review is comming up. Lame. This means I actually have to submit my 'best' work that has never been shown in a gallery before. It must also be part of my concentration as an Art Major.

Most of my work has been shown in a gallery.

Most of my work doesn't fall under my concentration.

I am freaking out a bit.

Here are some WIP shots from what I've been doing to get this shit done.

Okamiden!

2011-03-10T22:42:00.002-05:00

Yea, finished a print!

Pokemon Vectors?

2011-03-07T23:44:00.003-05:00

Hey, so I was in the mood to draw some Pokemon, and my friends suggested I do Froslass. Being all cool, I did a vector version and now I'm wondering whether or not I should do a series.

Thoughts, concerns?

Pokemon (c) to Nintendo.

Jill Valentine Update

2011-03-05T12:00:00.004-05:00

Remember that sketch I did of Jill? I am so totally working on the final version of that. Occasionally I need to remind myself that I'm a digital artist...

Rough Colors

I still have a lot of work to do, but its progress. I hope to get this done, and possibly do another image of Jill depending on how well this one comes out. Woo guns!

AB Update

2011-02-21T15:55:00.005-05:00

Some sketches for AB. I've updated the Master Post with these, but I'm going to post them separately as well (mostly for backup).

Chie Satonaka From Persona4 (Atlus Games), Jill Valentine from Resident Evil (Capcom), Ezio Auditore from Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), Faith from Mirror's Edge (EA Games), and finally Cole from inFamous (SuckerPunch).

Dead Island

2011-02-17T09:54:00.005-05:00

To all of you Zombie fans out there, there is a new player in the Zombie game field: Dead Island

This looks so good~ I hope its everything in this trailer and so much more.

AnimeBoston 2011

2011-02-16T16:06:00.017-05:00

Official word is that I am going to AnimeBoston this year. Exciting right? So I have some plans this year of what I want to get done. The list ranges from prints to bookmarks to random items. We'll see how far we get.

Fandom List:

- Baccano

- BlazBlue (1a, 1b)

- Catherine

- Cowboy Bebop

- Darker than Black

- DRRR!

- FLCL

- Full Metal Alchemist (Brotherhood)

- Okami (1)

- Paranoia Agent

- Persona Series (1)

- Pokemon (1)(2)

- Resident Evil (1)

- Shin Megami Tensei: *

- Trigun

Also I'm moving from DeviantArt. The website is no longer what I want to be associated with, so now I'm going over to Artician.

See you later~

OkGo

2010-11-11T14:18:00.004-05:00

Alright so this isn't my art (obvisously) but it must be shown. OkGo is one of my favorite bands for a few reasons, not the least of which is their crazy music videos.

If you haven't seen these, you need to.

Toast StopMotion: Last Leaf - OkGo

Rube Goldburg Machine: This Too Shall Pass - OkGo

Violinista

2010-11-09T21:26:00.003-05:00

Feeling Inspired tonight. A bit of fanart for a very particular fandom with a very particular detective. We'll see how far this goes.

More Figure Painting

2010-11-09T11:04:00.003-05:00

Still doing Figure Painting. Here are the current pieces.

Painting the Figure

2010-11-01T20:32:00.003-04:00

Yay figure paiting! My first Oil figure painting. Took about three hours, with a few breaks in between. Technically this isn't the final version, but I totally forgot to take a picture of it before I left class today. The colors don't translate well unfortunately. I can only hope that they become more vibrant as the painting dries. We were supposed to continue the figure paintings over several classes, but I made the executive decision (supported by my Professor of course) that this is a completed painting, and nothing else needs to be done.

Nature vs Manmade WIP

2010-11-01T20:27:00.003-04:00

My current Drawing Project, in three steps (thus far). The piece is roughly 5' by 3', and its entirely in charcoal. Still needs some work, and I seriously need a camera. No joke, this is pathetic.

Hitoshura~

2010-10-14T23:21:00.004-04:00

Naoki aka the Hitoshura from Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne~ I love drawing him, but its so hard. I think Nocturne is my favorite of the series so far. I love all the games, but damn I cannot ever step away from Nocturne.

WIP shot since I should probably sleep now (not mentioning that I slowed my computer down to a crawl with dAMuro).

Naoki/Hitoshura and Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne are copyrighted to Atlus/Atlus USA

P.S. So looking forward to Catherine its not even funny.

New Approach to Still Life

2010-10-14T14:10:00.005-04:00

So my painting Professor, in his continuing attempts to change our perspectives on art, has decided that our view of still life is too limited. We think too narrowly of it, not giving the genre the love it deserves. His response to our close minded thoughts is to force us to create a narrative within our still life that is of significant personal meaning. Mine has many meanings, I hope you find a few of your own.

Just started this last night. Very early stages, only two colors on the canvas at this point.

First WIP shot:

Musical Oils

2010-10-06T22:29:00.004-04:00

Today in Oils, we had what my professor calls a "Blow Out Day". That's code for, "Trust Me, I'm Not Really All That Insane, This All Has a Point".

He started us out by painting blind (aka, eyes closed) to crazy music. We were not allowed to choose colors, just brushes. He ninja'd more colors onto us as the session progressed, and told us to rotate our paintings every now and then. There was even a portion in which we were forced to use our non-dominant hand to paint for a bit. I guess its not terribly strange, at least we didn't have to spit on anything this time around...

We then played Musical Canvas. You play Musical Canvas much like you play Musical Chairs, except you go from one canvas to the next with the music instead of from one chair to the next. The catch? Instead of taking chairs/canvas away and the like, you have to paint on other people's work, are forced to use very specific colors, often must paint blind, and are subjected to the whims of whomever is leading the game. The rectangular section in the middle of the painting is fron a piece of newspaper I had taped over the canvas.

Finally, we painted one last piece. We were allowed to look at the canvas, use any colors we wanted, and paint in whatever manner we saw fit. The catch? We had to paint with the canvas on the floor. Since that is no where near challenging enough, the Professor also doused the canvas in Turpentine. I am most proud of this one.

The moral of the story? The Professor was trying to change our perception, force us to experience painting in new ways to breathe life anew into our work. Also it was a lot of fun.

I have an insane Painting Professor. I love him dearly.

Done but not Done; Still Indecent Though

2010-10-04T20:41:00.003-04:00

So I had to cave and hand it in today. Not my usual standards of pencil work, but I had no choice in the matter. I'll have to deal. My stuffed animals now once again reside on my bed instead of a box. I guess that's consolation enough...

I really need to get an actual camera again. Mine is sitting all broken and sad. o_o

Indecent pt2

2010-10-03T13:49:00.002-04:00

This piece will kill me.

Crappy Cellphone image is crappy.

Digital Figure Drawing

2010-09-30T20:57:00.004-04:00

Hey I did figure drawing today! It was a casual thing, and we roped some poor sap into doing it. He actually was an experienced model that we've worked with before. Great fun really. He started to hum the Mario theme when he got bored.

I tried to do some color experimentation here. Ignore my copy pasta signature... I forgot to sign the first three. >.>;

1 Minute Per Pose:

10 Minute Pose:

20 Minute Pose:

40 Minute Pose:

Digital Work

2010-09-28T08:17:00.004-04:00

I think I've found a bit of a time slot to do some digital work. Which is great because my main secret project depends on it. I'm doing Rozzers' Colour Scheme Challenge Meme from deviantArt. Its quick a wonderful exercise.

Sneak Peak!

Scandalous~

2010-09-27T20:14:00.004-04:00

On top of my painting class I also have a drawing class. Its been really interesting, mostly because its based off of the movie The Five Obstructions by Lars Von Trier. Its a bit artsy, but well worth the time for those of you so artistically inclined. Oh its also in German (yes with subtitles, my German isn't that good).

The most recent project has been one centered around texture. I think I'm having a bit too much fun with the subject matter. WIP, pencils, stuffed animals.

Oil Paint!

2010-09-22T20:40:00.005-04:00

So I'm back. Back to school, and back to work. Which is always so...troublesome. Couple that with almost-crippling tiredness and a bug that won't go away and you get a sad artist. As a note, my internet has been odd since I'm technically on the 'temporary' internet here at school. I have to get things all straightened out to get back onto the network properly. Until then, expect things to be spotty at best.

Good news is that I'm in an oil painting class now. Look I have proof! (excuse crappy pics, I only have a camera phone at the moment)

My first attempt. We had to paint a simple form using only two colors and white. I had my DS. Yup. >.>;

This is technically the third oil painting project: A landscape painted Ein Plein Air. Yea the color balance is crap. Apparently camera phone + direct sunlight = bad. I'll take a better photo once the colors are more dried and I fix the issue in the right center area.

And this lovely thing is my current project. A griselle still-life, glazed over with color. This is only the first glaze of many, and hopefully by the end I'll have a more impressive piece. I'm still unsure of the display angle though. I paint it tilted like the first image, though am considering displaying it like in the second image. As a side note, all of those items are what float around in my bag on a normal basis. XD I'm an odd duck.

Working Away

2010-06-02T17:30:00.002-04:00

Ah so I'm back on my computer. It died, and magically fixed. A very good thing considering the actual fix would be $330. So, I've been drawing again. Here's what I've been working on for the dA 'Picture yourself in Wonderland' Contest. Hopefully I'll get it done in time.

Macabre in Color, 3

2010-05-24T21:02:00.003-04:00

So, end of day three. Here's where I was. @_@ So much left to do still.

But the good news is that I finished them. :D Now for the crappy cellphone picture of them. Well, they're all crappy cell phone pictures. These are even worse! *camerafail*

I'll be getting some better images soon. Once I kidnap a camera - wielding person...

Macabre in Color, 2

2010-05-22T19:04:00.005-04:00

Ah, after 5 hours of painting. @_@ I have other work I need to do so this is all I can get done today. Looks like I need to pull an all-nighter tomorrow to get this done. D: Here are two WIP shots for each painting. The top one is further along, because I started it first. So much work to do still.

Here's a shot of my studio space. Its part of a larger room that I share with 8 other people. This is my little section. As you can see, its messy. Surprise. :P

Macabre in Color, 1

2010-05-21T18:31:00.004-04:00

After all that test work, those sketch paintings, and thumbnails, I can finally start. Here's where I am now:

My iced tea is there for size comparison. They're 3' by 4' canvases. I hand made the stretchers, and pulled the canvas myself. Considering my small stature, it was interesting. There's some blood hiding beneath that gesso...^^;

So this is how I start my paintings, a light charcoal sketch done with vine charcoal. That way I can plan out what I want without affecting the canvas too much, and without getting things mixed into the paint. D: I decided to keep the basic composition of the indoor scene, but make an outdoor setting. It'll be fun. Yes I know my sketches are nigh-incomprehensible.

Painting Sketches~

2010-05-20T18:52:00.005-04:00

Here are the final set of sketches for my painting final. I solidified the color palettes for myself, but am still flipfloping on the background. I need to figure that out today.

Figure Paintings

2010-05-13T19:12:00.003-04:00

Yea. Just some figure paintings done for class. I'll take better pictures tomorrow. When I say I though, I really mean my friend who actually has a camera.

Remember that sketch of the creepy woman in a dress? Yea, here are the color palette tests for the final paintings~

More WIP on Tahmir~

2010-05-10T15:23:00.006-04:00

Ah so I'm still working on that character portrait. Here's where most of the work has been poured into. Still a lot left to do, such as finish up his figure, fix the lighting...and that chair.

This guy was my character. A sneaky bastard named Tahmir. You'll get more about him later. :D He's part of the Hellfire Cult, or the so-called 'Evil Group' for the game. Oh such irony....

On an unrelated note, a sketch for a painting I'll be doing this week. :D

XMen/Mutants and Masterminds FanComic of Doom!

2010-05-05T15:23:00.005-04:00

Hokay so this is pretty obvious but the daily self portrait thing kinda (really) crashed and burned. I have my reasons, I already ranted about them on

2010-04-23T22:13:00.001-04:00

Day 5: 4-23-10

Picture of Health

2010-04-22T19:43:00.001-04:00

Day 4: 4-22-10

I feel odd today...

Journal 3

2010-04-21T22:25:00.001-04:00

Day 3: 4/21/10
These Hands...

Sorry its so late today, I'm not feeling that great.

Journal 2

2010-04-20T13:10:00.004-04:00

Day 2: 4-20-10
Avatar

Journal, ala Psyc

2010-04-19T16:54:00.003-04:00

I recently attended a talk with Suzanne E. Szucs and felt inspired by her project, Journal, In Progress.

So, I decided to attempt something similar. A self-portrait a day for as long as I can stand.

Let's see how this goes. o_O

Day 1: 4-19-10
My Drawing Face

Dada CD

2010-02-22T16:00:00.002-05:00

Alright, I know this isn't directly my art nor is it something new, but I find this extremely intersting an fun so I'm putting it here.

This is a digital art exercise called Dada CD's. You follow these steps to make some awesome CD covers. Just as a note, this involves stealing things off the internet, so as long as you keep it as a fun exercise and not as a selling point you shouldn't catch too many flames off of this.

Instructions
1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random... ”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to "Random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop, or something similar, to put it all together.

5 - Post it here or just keep it to yourself, your choice.

My own CDs comming soon~

Dusting this off

2010-02-17T16:06:00.000-05:00

Alright I finally have things to post about. This is being transformed into my personal art blog. Let it be known that all things that are here are mine, and my own opinions. Love it? Awesome. Hate it? Fuck off.

Blue is so in

2009-05-30T21:17:00.002-04:00

After a strong suggestion from a cool guy at AnimeBoston, I decided to cave and finally buy a nonphoto blue pencil.

Its fun~ I'm really enjoying using them, and the whole 'doesn't scan or photocopy' thing is really cool. :3

Go check 'em out.

Col-Erase Non-Photo Blue Pencil
(this works too -> Col-Erase Light Blue Pencil)

Senior Art Presentation

2009-05-14T19:24:00.002-04:00

The Senior Art Presentation in the Forman Gallery was absolutely amazing. All of the artists had beautiful work, and pushed the idea of art and how art is presented. It was truly a visual treat to walk through the gallery and see what the seniors had decided to present for everyone. My personal favorites were Gilian Barr’s work, Nicole Totaro’s work, and Emily Gilbert’s work (I apologize for any spelling mistakes, my notes got smudged).

Gilian Barr’s work was what initially drew me into the gallery. I became mystified by her projection project. I was drawn to the swirling colors, images broken up by the reflection on the mirrors. The idea of the work was to take color, and display it in such a way that the actual colors physically affected the viewer’s mood. Instead of these colorful animations being projected directly onto the white surface, they were projected onto a set of small mirrors board, which reflected the animation onto the white surface. This broke up the projected image, no longer a series of moving lines but now an experience of the color and motion. What was the most fun about this particular presentation was the interactivity of it. I spent quite a while just staring at the changing colors, slow blues and greens to the fast paced reds and yellows, only to change the mirrors and start the observation over again. I felt the physical affects watching the colors. It was amazing. Gilian’s presentation really submerged the viewer in the experience, making one consider just how much color impacts our life.

Nicole Totaro’s work was also incredibly interesting. There was an experience, walking into her walled off section of the gallery. It felt like walking into a space that was meant to be sacred, and private. Though the actual images the space was built around weren’t terribly impactful for me, the space itself was. I was mystified by the replication of altar space. Everything from the candles, to the bread, to the glass that was the same red tint as the glass found in churches. The pew was the most interesting for me, personally. For a moment, I couldn’t get myself to believe it was an actual pew. I spent quite a few minutes just staring at the pew, trying to wrap my brain around how the heck she got it there. Nicole’s concept was also very interesting, combining the vices and the virtues into the same being. Parallels drawn were thought provoking, such as Wrath and Faith especially since the two have been so entwined with each other in recent times. I enjoyed the touch of the prayer cards and the floor map, though I felt the inclusion of the ‘vices’ cloaks in the room was a bit much.

The last, and certainly not least, was Emily Gilbert’s work. I absolutely loved her work. Each photograph was impressive alone, with excellent compositions and just beautifully handled, but to see them arranged in the space was wonderful. I absolutely adored each character’s outfit, and appreciated the effort to give each character a unique yet fitting costume. Each detail from the chair, the pocket watches, the hat pins, and the tea sitting out and becoming stale and moldy was just perfect. I happened to be visiting the gallery with a friend who had been there earlier in the week, and she exclaimed “Ugh, it wasn’t that disgusting before”. Hearing first-hand the reaction to the time-based aspect of Emily’s work was a treat. Being a fan of the books Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll I enjoyed the set up and the constant references to the books, specifically the first one. The entire environment encouraged the viewer to look at each picture both individually, and as a whole piece, while guiding the viewer through the room. I absolutely love the false door. It makes us wonder what is on the other side, even though we know we cannot pass through. It makes us yearn to open it and walk through, to return to Wonderland. Truly, Emily’s presentation was inspiring.

Overall, the gallery was wonderful and quite fun to walk through. Being a freshman, this was the first review I was able to go to, and gave me a better idea at what a final project for art is. I am defiantly looking forward to next year’s presentations.

To Pose or Not to Pose...

2009-04-30T10:09:00.002-04:00

As you've probably noticed, I've been putting a lot of artist's resources onto this blog. It makes sense since I myself am an artist, and I'm sharing the fruits of my laborious searches.

Today's site to share: Pose Maniacs

Now, it doesn't initially seem like that big a deal, but trust me, it is. This site is an English translation to a well established Japanese site of a similar name. The premise? A site full of anatomically accurate 3-D rendered models in different positions, at different angles, for free. The site has 12 pages worth of common poses that can be viewed at just about every angle with an adjustable camera angle. What else could you want? The site even has faces and hands now.

Do you feel the worth of this site yet? No? What if I told you it even has drawing exercises like the 30-second Pose Challenge?

Still no? How about having it on your iPhone?

Seriously, check it out.

Scrap House

2009-04-30T09:46:00.008-04:00

Recently, I attended a movie at my college called Scrap House. It was a documentary by Anna Fich created in 2005, detailing the creation of a house made completely from, well scrap. The house was made in honor of World Environment Day hosted in San Francisco around the same time.

The rules of Scrap House were simple:
1) Must be completed in 4 weeks.
2) No new material can be bought to build the house. Everything must be salvaged, with the exception of nails and screws.
3) The finished house must not only look great, but also comply to San Francisco's building codes which are some of the strictest in the States.

The head of the project was Building Inspector Laurence Kornfield, the main architect was John Peterson, the Scrap Guru was Flash, the Structural Engineer Han Bruskuvich, and last but not least John Pollard was the Contractor.

Scrap House itself was an insane idea to begin with. The plans were to build a modern two story house with 21 foot ceilings, a project that the team would of been lucky to finish in a year. They had a month. Not to mention they had to rely on the junk yards of San Francisco to fully build and furnish a house.

In the end, the result was a beautiful house. It was modern, gorgeous, and inspiring. Every part of the house was thrown away by someone else, yet all the pieces were beautiful and far from broken. It really makes one reconsider how we think of our trash. The amount of material that the US alone wastes in a year is astronomical. Did you know every building project buys 5% more windows than it needs? This alone results in thousands of dollars worth of unused, perfectly good double-paned glass that ends up in a landfill somewhere. Not to mention the amount of building material that is tossed when we tear down houses to build new ones. This team built an absolutely huge house, for next to nothing just by calling around and actually reusing what so many throw away.

Movies like this really make you think. Are we truly trying to recycle? Are we really taking every opportunity to actually use the raw material that we spend so much money trying to attain? Building projects of this caliber are far from impossible for the average person to imitate. Scrap House isn't the only project of its kind either. You'd be amazed at the amount of alternative housing options that are out there, that not only cost thousands less but are better for the environment.

We as a race cannot keep wasting the amount of resources that we do, and expect to be able to continue to live on this planet. Already our resources are running low, and our planet is dying. Its not irreversible, but it will be soon. If we want to continue to be able to breathe, we want to start rethinking how we live.

One man's trash can be another man's house.

Artanatomy

2009-04-23T11:03:00.005-04:00

As an artist, I'm always looking for new references and new ways to improve my art. After a while though, Google-ing different expressions and emotions become tiresome. Thankfully, a company in the UK created an interactive program that can be manually adjusted.

The program is called Artnatomy. Though the program itself, is a pay to use program, a free version is available online that works just fine. Each part of the face can be individually manipulated to create new expressions. There are also preset expressions that can be adjusted, so if you're looking for a specific emotion its there for you.

Its not a replacement for an actual model, or for that miraculously fount Google image, but its reliable and a great reference.

Check it out~

(free version, just in case you get lost)

Hotel 626

2009-04-23T10:27:00.002-04:00

Do you want horror? Do you want interaction?

In this world of new video games and constantly upgrading technology, it only seems fair that the world of online gaming would follow suit, and up the bar.

And up the bar they did.

Hotel 626 is one of the few corporate sponsored online games that holds its own against the independent internet game creators not only in graphics but also in game play. Usually, when a major company makes an internet game to advertise, they look gorgeous but are almost child-like in gameplay. The reverse is usually true as well, the independent game creators have horrible graphics but amazing gameplay. In Hotel 626 these two aspects are not only happily wed, but new ideas are thrown into the mix.

Its recommended to play this game with a webcam and microphone, but you don't need them. Also, a phone to be contacted on is a good thing to have. You never know when someone important is calling...Oh, and check in begins at 6pm, so you might have to wait a bit.

Turn down the lights, turn up the sound, and be prepared for one awesome ride.

Nine

2009-04-05T12:03:00.001-04:00

Albany Museum of History and Art

2009-04-04T16:49:00.002-04:00

I went to the AMoHA today. I wasn't terribly thrilled with the $8 entry fee, especially since the museum itself wasn't terribly large.

The place had a nice atmosphere, though I was a bit disappointed at the lack of diversity of the art work. Most were historical, and more specifically directly connected to Albany history. The pieces themselves were quite beautiful, well painted, and delicately sculpted. The time period ranged from Ancient Egyptian work, to the present day.

I found myself most intrigued by the 17th-19th century section. The museum had quite a selection from the Hudson Valley Collection, and focused on American artists. A nice change considering most lauded pieces from that time period are French, or at the very least Eastern European. The piece I spent the most time with was "Le Chavalier Bayard" by Baron Carlo Marochetti done ca1840. A beautiful bronze cast sculpture of a knight astride his mount upon even ground, standing roughly 3.5' x 2'. The piece had such a wonderful presence that I found myself encircling it quite a few times. Even without reading the synopsis, I knew that the knight was a man of noble character, simply from standing in the sculpture's presence. Baron Marochetti certainly portrayed the man, Pierre Terrail as 'Bayard the Good'.

I would definatly recommend spending some time in this museum, though I do admit I was hoping for a little more bang for my buck.

Tegaki E

2009-04-02T10:42:00.002-04:00

Alright, so here's another site that I constantly frequent.

Its kinda connected to that whole oekaki thing I talked about last time. Its called Tegaki E. Its just like a blog, except instead of typing, you draw. All kinds of people can use it, and all it requires is Flash.

Lots of fun, and a great way of expressing yourself just a bit differently than normal.

Oekaki Boards

2009-03-19T11:33:00.002-04:00

In my previous post, I mentioned a public drawing board where people can go and draw online and instantly upload and share the image with others on the board. This is by no means a independant, or unique occurance. These public drawing boards, also known as oekaki boards, are the perfect place to go to kill some time and share some art. They are very addicting, and if a good board is found, can be frequented for years.

There are countless of these boards on the internet, catering to all kinds of styles, subjects, and skill levels.

Things to consider when you're picking a board:
a) Activity - there is no way around this one. Either the board is hopping, or its dead. I prefer a more active board, where at least 2 oekakis are completed a day. Anything less than this leads to absolute boredom (at least for me). There is nothing wrong with a slow board, but don't expect much feedback on them. Also beware boards that move too fast. Some are so fast that your image is off the front page in a matter of minutes after being completed. Find a good balance.

b) Skill Level - pay attention to this! You don't want to accidently post on a board that is way above your personal skill level. Not only will your art be removed in a flash, you'll become the target for being absolutely shredded. Also, you don't want to end up posting on a board thats far below your skill level either. You'll never get any constructive feedback, and you run the risk of being flamed to death. Take this will a grain of salt. If you want to post with the heavy hitters and give it a shot, go ahead. You might just stumble on a board that has friendly people who will help you grow. If you want to post with the newer users, that's cool too. Help them learn, or just feed your ego for a while. Just realize the context of it all yea?

c) Theme - most oekaki boards have a specific theme. Some are fanart boards, while others cater to a specific subculture. Always check the theme before you post. Most themed boards are pretty strict about content, so unless you want your art removed and your account deleted, read the rules.

d) The Rules - Seriously, just read them. Every board has its own set, and usually they're there for a reason. Unless you're a troll, then you deserve all the negative consequences.

e) Personal Preference - Keep in mind, oekaki boards were originally meant to be fun and a place to draw/doodle. Try a board out, and if the community is too uptight for you, just leave and vise versa. With the amount of boards out there, you'll be able to find the right board for you. So even if your first choice wasn't a great one, keep looking until you find that perfect match.

Popular Boards:
- 2draw
= Great place to draw. Features Lascaux Sketch, one of the best online drawing tools out there.

- Oekaki Central
= Great for all skill levels. Good community, though has a high turnover rate.

- NeonDragonArt Boards
= Great for most, though its users tend to be younger with a lower skill level. Also a very high turnover rate.

- Suta-Ratio Oekaki
= Great community, has different boards for different skill levels and a friendly staff.

- Bakaneko's Oekaki Boards
= Good community, just very anime centered.

- Endless Oekaki
= Another great communtiy. Also anime centered.

Watching the Dragon

2009-03-19T11:19:00.002-04:00

Jessica Peffer. A young woman who has acheived internet fame and glory after years of having a sucessful website, and a few abandoned comic projects. From interent star, to a popular How-To-Draw author Jessica Peffer aka The NeonDragon has had a huge influence on the internet art world.

Her website, NeonDragonArt has been a staple for countless budding artists. From this homepage, you can find her personal portfolio, her free online tutorials, the archives of the now dead TimeScapes, a very active forum, and finally the public drawing boards. The most active sections of her site are the forum, which recently had to be completely revamped to hold all of the people who frequent it, and of course the public drawing boards. The drawing boards are a place where small, purely internet pieces of art can be created by anyone with a quick enough internet connection and a Flash download. Artists of all ages, styles, and skill levels are welcomed to draw, chat, and genarally have a good time.

Personally, I have been using Jessica's artwork as a learning tool since I began drawnig seriously. I even found printed out NeonDragon tutorials from 2000. She has been a huge influence, and even inspired me to tackle the world of digital art. To this day, I follow her activity on her LiveJournal blog, Neon Dragon;s Supa Big Exciting Journal That Holds the Key to Universal Harmony. Here, one can keep up with her current drawings from sketch to finished piece, and even watch an upstream of the entire process live.

Her work has been inspiring me for years, and I intend to spread the word of her work as far as I can.

A World Without Media

2009-03-15T10:57:00.003-04:00

Media. We all complain about it and the effect it has on society. Almost everyone I speak to wishes the news wasn't so grim, or wants magazine adds to be less provocative. Have you ever thought about what the world would be like without media? To take the US, and take away every kind of media, leaving only bound books in libraries. What would that be like?

Imagine this:
There is no news. No way for the government to communicate with the populous except for written books. The skies are free from billboards, advertising, and no posters line the streets anywhere. People walk around, speaking with each other to find out new information. Word of mouth is the only advertising anyone can employ, leaving countless events unknown. Information passing is stunted, current events encompassing events that happened months ago at the earliest.

The Bad:
There would be no way to actively protest or support anything. By the time news hit the street that a law was going to be passed, is when it is already enacted. As much as we hate advertising, how else would we know what was out there beyond going out to find it. The only way we would know what was happening in other countries would be to actively search for it, or physically go to the other country. If something went wrong, we would have to trust our government completely to handle the situation, and to accurately tell the public what happened. When public officials run for office, the public has to trust what they here and see for themselves, and nothing else.
People would be easier to fool. Without a constant stream of information coming from multiple sources, would we be able to pick out the lies from the truth?

The Good:
With no news, there would be no bad news. There would be no constant stream of information to change and affect how we think. There would be no pressure from the media to fulfill an impossible ideal. There would be no confusion about who to trust, and what to trust. The decision would be simple, to trust books or to trust other people. Our minds would be free from the constant bombardment of imagery, and our streets would be free from the obnoxious billboards that line the sky. Stress would be greatly reduced, for the world would move much slower.

Would you trade knowledge for peace of mind?

Crazy Origami

2009-03-02T16:00:00.003-05:00

Recently in another art class, paper was a media choice. Normally my interaction with paper is drawing on it, painting on it, and/or making a paper airplane. Never did I really consider its worth as a media in itself, until one of my professors showed some crazy art using solely paper, and maybe some glue and scissors. I started getting curious. What else was out there?

The two art styles I found the most interesting was high level origami, and paper sculpture. I've been trying a few different techniques recently, and finding it quite fun. I personally love origami, just because I am so mystifyied by how much can be done with just folds~.
Here is some link love:

Beyond the Paper Hat:
Richi89
Shuki Kato
Chad Killeen
Joseph Wu

More than Snowflakes:
Peter Callesen
Jen Stark
Clive Steven
Paper Forest

When all else fails, google it. ;3

Concept Art

2009-02-21T22:52:00.001-05:00

So, if one does art, how does one get noticed?

It's all about getting out there right? Putting your art out for the world to see, and for someone to find. That's the ultimate goal, being found. Someone out there in the great wide world is looking for some image to use, for someone to hire, and we have to wave big flags and say "Here I am!"

Through my seemingly endless journey through the interent, I have seen many sites that are for the sole purpose of showing art off. The one I find myself going to most is deviantArt, though I find it to be more of a place to socialize then to be employed. That's the problem with a lot of sites of this nature, it seems that no serious employers frequent them. In all honesty I can understand why, but that doesn't solve the problem does it? How do we know if what we're posting will be seen?

One website that has thoroughly impressed me in its professional nature is ConceptArt.org. The website itself is essentially a huge forum. A place where artists go to seriously discuss art, and its a place to be noticed. Though the intent of the website seems fairly limited to artists who hope to become concept artists, any type of artist can join. The site itself is used mainly for displaying finished art, displaying unfinished art, and showing the pages of your sketchbook for people to see and give you feedback for.

ConceptArt has a huge advantage in the sense that the main users of the site are people already in the business. Also if you actually follow the site and are active there, a lot can be learned.

I've got an account, how about you?

Auditorium Plug

2009-02-18T13:59:00.002-05:00

Exploring the internet is a past time of mine. There are days when all I do is link hop from one site to another, and hope to stumble upon something cool. Thankfully, I had a successful journey.

Games on the internet are the saving grace for a bored person on the edge of losing their sanity. Almost everyone has a favorite game site too (mine is LazyLaces), and they trust their game site to give them new exciting games on a regular basis. Though this is not always true, we can dream. In my never ending search for new games, I found a potential holy grail of games: Auditorium.

Auditorium is a music puzzle game that both pleases the ears and the eyes. You are given streams of color that you can manipulate with icons the level gives you. When the color passes over the target area, music plays. It truly is an awesome experience, and the best way to understand what I mean is to go give it a shot.

Happy Playing~

And so the madness begins....

2009-02-11T14:57:00.001-05:00

I declare this blog officially open~!

This blog will be for art created by yours truly, and also for general art/media discussion. Also, this blog will be for my Art213 class, therefore there will be school related information here. Not to say its boring informatoin or anything, quite the contrary actually.

This will NOT be for my life. If you want to know more about that, then I wonder about the amount of extra time you have...