I went to a drop-in critique group the other night run by the SCBWI. It's the first one I've ever been to and was VERY helpful. I've been at an impasse for a long time now with my Becky story. I just couldn't figure out what to do with it.
Now I have some ideas on where I can take it. I don't think it will be smooth sailing quite yet, but it looks like the storm is starting to pass.
SCBWI
Notebook Reflections
I've been contemplating getting a laptop lately. With my new job I finally have money coming in and can afford one. I've decided to use it as motivation to write. When I finish the plotting on SMT I can buy a laptop. Until then I'll have to go without.
Anyone have any laptop recommendations? I don't want to spend too much much. I'll need something that can do word processing, connect wirelessly to the Internet and run Adobe CS3. Feel free post suggestions in the comments.
News and A Picture
So big news - I have a new job! I'm not sure yet if I'm going to like it or not; I just started. It's a great opportunity, one that I can build a career on.
Also finished this picture the other day, I really like how it came out. I can see it as an illustration in a children's book. Can you?
And finally, we still have snow in our hills.
Updates, Updates and More Updates
It's snowed again last night - very cool.
As you may have noticed I've given the blog a new look, complete with new header, template and sidebar additions. I'm really happy with it. Let me know what you think.
So these are the paintings that I mentioned the other day - I'm not very happy with how they came out. The penguin was meant to be a bookmark, but the colors came out to flat for me, I wanted them to sparkle.
The bird picture looks okay, but its more of a doodle than anything else. You may recognize the 2 birds on the left of the painting from my bio picture, the goose is a new addition.
I've really been getting a lot done lately and have even started working on SMT again. It feels good. Expect for changes and additions to the blog layout.
Snow, Art and other stuff
It's snowing here. Not here, here. Not in the valley, but on the hills surrounding us. It's probably snowed 3 or 4 times in Silicon valley in the last 30 years. I remember the first time, when I was in Elementary School. Our babysitter at the time was so excited she drove us up to the snow. People were waiting in long lines of traffic, just to play in small 2 meter by 2 meter patches of snow. By that time in my life I had already been skiing and wasn't too impressed with all the hub-bub. Though I did find everyones excitement over so little snow amusing.
I tried painting today, but couldn't seem to get into the groove and wasn't too happy with the results, though I will still post them once they dry. I was too impatient to get the painting done just so that I could check it off my too do list. NOT a good way to paint. I think I'll just sketch for now and see where it takes me.
Random Sketchbook Pages
Sorry for the late post, but yesterday was VERY busy and I didn't get home until late and then I had some life changing decisions to think about. I can't say anything yet, but I may have something to report later today. Until then here are some random sketches from my sketch book.
Becky
Becky (that's not it's actual title I haven't come up with one yet) is a children's book story that I have been working on for a while now. I came up with the idea for Becky's story a while ago and like my poetry, most of it was written in one sitting.
I'm not sure what prompted the idea but even now I still really like the story, which is frustrating because I can't seem to finish it. The problem is that no matter what I do I can't seem to fit Becky into 32 pages of story, the industry standard. It's one of my goals for the quarter. What to do with Becky?
I'm thinking about sending it out 'as is' and seeing what kind of response I get. I'm sure eventually something will come to me, but it's very annoying.
Payoffs
It's funny, this blog is actually motivating me to do more art. When I sat down to do today's post I couldn't think of anything to write. I tried looking at my list of topic ideas, but it didn't help. And then I thought, "Hey, I have stuff waiting to be painted at home. I'll finish a painting and post that." And all because I wanted to post something, this blog is paying off in unexpected ways.
Update: Well my afternoon and evening turned out to be far more busy then I thought so no painting. I'll see if I can finish it tomorrow and upload it then.
Waterproofing Watercolor
A while back I made these bookmarks with the plan to eventually sell them. They're really easy and fun to make and you get a ton of unexpected effects.
The only problem with them is in order to get the really bright and bold colors you need to use concentrated liquid watercolor, in this case I used Dr Ph Martin's Radiant Concentrated Watercolor, and concentrated liquid watercolor will run and stain when wet.
After thinking about it for a while and searching the Internet for a solution I decided to try sealing the watercolor by spraying it with some kind of coating. After p
icking the coating, (Krylon's Crystal Clear) I produced some test bookmarks and sprayed various coats of Crystal Clear on them.
After they dried I covered half of the test bookmark and applied high pressure water to the other. You can see the results in the picture. I was pleasantly surprised that even 1 coat of Crystal Clear sealed the bookmark enough that the watercolor did not spread or stain. I'll definitely be making more bookmarks.
Goals 2008
When last you saw me, I was getting ready for Christmas and finishing up a bunch of paintings from the list. I thought, with my time off from work I'd be able to finish the list, instead I hung out with visiting family and friends. Oh well, I'll get to it eventually.
I've been thinking a lot about my goals for 2008. I want to...
- Improve both my drawing and painting skills.
- Finally finish SMT and start sending it out.
- Send out Becky.
- Work on my portfolio.
- Eat healthier.
- Get outside more.
- Talk more with family and friends.
- Start making money on my art.
- Work on the blog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
