Positivity, Perfectionism and Purity. Now with 100% less purity.
I meant to do this yesterday, but it turns out, I had to do it today so here it is.
My December desktop looketh thus:
I am particularly tickled by the iPod icon this month. Yes, I know, I'm easily amused. It's a feature, not a bug.
I am extremely happy today because yesterday evening around 10 pm I finished my assignment for "Drawing from the Imagination" which is due on Wednesday. That leaves me the bulk of today and most of tomorrow to finish up the hayoooge assignment for "Chiaroscuro" which is due on Thursday and about which I am, well in the interests of positivity let's just cop to "under enthusiastic." Mostly because it's in charcol, which I hate using for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is because it gets my hands dirty right down to the pores. The whole "workin' in a coal mine" chic has never appealed to me.
The way the assignment for the "Imagination" class is turning out made me happy. I spent a lot of time thinking about it and drawing out thumbnails for it and generally fussing with how I wanted it to look. This is our final assignment in that class so it has to incorporate everything we've learned so far: perspective, light and shadows, human figures, clothing, reflections etc. But of course, as with anything, composition is king.
Soren thinks I'm fairly strong compositionally, but I tend to think it's an area where I need work. Because I'm a perfectionist, most likely. If any of you know of any books which deal with composition which you'd recommend I check out, I'd love the recommendation. I've looked at a few, including the one my prof. recommended we get, and they're kinda "ehh" for the most part. It's an exciting subject rendered utterly blah and lifeless in the hands of a didactic teacher. I want to see a composition book that has some "Pow" and "sizzle" dangit!
But back to Christmas, which is where my mind keeps going even though I try very hard to reign it in and be Mr. Responsible Student.
I tried to get in on Cyber Monday last night after my work was done, but by the time I finished it turned out that it was no longer Monday in most of the country so all of the "holiday codes" I entered to get special discounts or free shipping went "Kerplonk, kerblooey" when I tried 'em. So I didn't get in on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday this year. Poopies! I also (yesterday's post notwithstanding) haven't yet been to a Mall. This is something I'm hoping to rectify this weekend, Lord willin' and the sadistic professor doesn't tag us with some interminable project due in a week.
Herself has hinted that she may do something of this sort, so we're all going into class on Thursday in a kind of flinchy mood. I'm hoping that she cuts out the middle and says that we have some interminable project that's due in two weeks and thus, I'll have some down time this weekend to get my Christmas groove on.
In the meantime, though, I've got lots of LJ and internetty Christmas goodness to tide me over. Like this, which made me laugh out loud:
On the twelfth day of Christmas, archanglrobriel sent to me...
Twelve dogs drumming
Eleven elves piping
Ten comics a-leaping
Nine comedians dancing
Eight vampires a-costuming
Seven costumes a-painting
Six muppets a-drawing
Five gra-a-a-aphic novels
Four puer aeternis
Three nancy boys
Two new romantics
...and a puck in a factory.
This meme nailed it in one shot. This is, in fact, the kind of 12 days of Christmas I would produce. And someday I hope to have designed an appropriate Christmas card to express just that. This year, I have designed -no- Christmas card, so I'm not sending any out. Sad face. But really, starting around December 1st, my LJ functions as a 25 day long Christmas card (with music and pictures and dancing weasels!) so I don't feel too bad about it. Next year I'll do better, if only because the whole freshman overwork phenomenon won't be such a surprise to me.
So in the interests of functioning as today's edition of the Rob's Christmas Card To All Of You, I give you this: (especially for lonespiritwolf2 since I know that Emmet Otter is one of his favorites):
Bloopers from Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas
Click to viewI think "Hubba Waaah!" may be a new phrase I use from now on.