http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:Daron-Kel&section=today deviantART RSS for by:Daron-Kel en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:02:17 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/13715389/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/13715389/ Fri, 13 Jul 2007 01:50:03 PDT
Oh, one thing to share. I just read this great book; The Hidden Worlds, by Kristan Landon. It's a coincidence that she's my mother, I swear.

Actually it's her first novel to be published, it's a big deal for her, and me, and it's a really, really good read. Look for it at your local bookstore.

See you all in a week!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/9237743/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/9237743/ Sat, 01 Jul 2006 00:32:57 PDT
Mood: Pondering
Listening to: Heaven on their Minds
Reading: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing
Watching: Hairspray

Well, I've had my first revelation in a long time. Just sitting here, going through my library of photographs (Over a thousand now!) and finding that I'm not seeing too many I'm that enthusiastic about posting. I went to New York City, and left with this wonderful impression of the city. Yet, I didn't try to capture that impression in my photography. Why not? Because it didn't occur to me.

Weird, huh? So I moved on, and was looking, and had my revelation.

I'm taking pictures of things. Yes, that's what came to me, after midnight. It's how I started my month of July. Realizing I took pictures of things.

It's not so much that, as the fact that I was not taking pictures of concepts (for the most part). Take a look at Serenity in my gallery. That right there sums up everything I feel about the place I took the picture in. Then take a look at Giants in the Playground. That was a picture of buildings above trees.

See the difference?

That revelation is that more of my photos need to be like Serenity (which is my favorite photograph in my gallery). So that is my mission now, to photograph concepts. To let the camera be a portal into my soul, instead of a new manner of embodiment for popular clichés.

Welcome to the new world of my photography.

Erm...

Maybe not yet. I have to get out of Eugene with my camera first.

Speaking of camera, I am working this Summer and am going to get a Canon 70-200 F-2.8 L lens for my Digital Rebel XT. I'm looking forward to that! Sharp images, and a zoom, all at the speed of F 2.8.

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/7947773/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/7947773/ Sun, 19 Feb 2006 21:57:51 PST
Mood: Busy but Artistic
Listening to: Rent Soundtrack
Reading: Foreigner
Watching: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Well, I suppose I should start off by telling you all that I'm sorry for my little unannounced vacation. I needed some time off for myself, and was able to take the time I needed. I'm back! Couldn't be happier either. I have my 350D and am taking pictures actively, and am using Vue 5 Infinite quite a bit now. Be expecting me to start posting these as soon as I get home tomorrow!

I'm double-cast as Mr. Twimble and Womper (chairman of the board) in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, if any of you are familiar with that play. I'm having a great time with that and keeping up with schoolwork, while leaving myself time for my art.

Time to get caught up!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/7947772/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/7947772/ Sun, 19 Feb 2006 21:57:51 PST
Mood: Busy but Artistic
Listening to: Rent Soundtrack
Reading: Foreigner
Watching: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Well, I suppose I should start off by telling you all that I'm sorry for my little unannounced vacation. I needed some time off for myself, and was able to take the time I needed. I'm back! Couldn't be happier either. I have my 350D and am taking pictures actively, and am using Vue 5 Infinite quite a bit now. Be expecting me to start posting these as soon as I get home tomorrow!

I'm double-cast as Mr. Twimble and Womper (chairman of the board) in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, if any of you are familiar with that play. I'm having a great time with that and keeping up with schoolwork, while leaving myself time for my art.

Time to get caught up!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/6603062/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/6603062/ Sun, 25 Sep 2005 21:40:10 PDT Mood: Busy, very very busy
Listening to: Grease Soundtrack
Reading: Midsummer Night's Dream
Watching: Midsummer Night's Dream

I just wanted to post this journal entry to tell you all the news. I am still alive, believe it or not! I haven't been here in a while because I've been busy. Boy have I been busy. Between my last journal entry and now, I have started school, and it's a big committment. Getting those grades and making those friends is hard to all do, I end up staying at school until about five every day. My choice of course, there are really cool people there with drama that I feel like I'm fitting in with, and connecting with. I've also been preparing for auditions for Midsummer Night's Dream (I'm going for Bottom, if any of you know the play), and auditions for an a cappella group associated with one of the choirs I'm in. I've been juggling that with work on arragnements for an a cappella group (a different one) I'm planning on co-creating at my school, as well as practice for the two different choirs I'm in. Oh, and I'm going to school and doing homework too.

I have a lot on my mind right now, but I promise I'll be back here by a week from today. It's been quite hard honestly, a lot of work, a lot of fun, but not a lot of time for art. After auditions I should be fine relatively though.

For the record, Friday is my sixteenth birthday...

I'm so sorry to all of you!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/6190247/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/6190247/ Wed, 10 Aug 2005 17:07:50 PDT Mood: Packing
Listening to: Only the Good Die Young, Tufts Beelzebubs

I'm off again! Yes, I have been leaving quite a bit this Summer, this should be the last time though

I'm going to Montana for ten days, backpacking with some friends. It's going to be great, the bad part is I can only bring dispo cameras for the backpacking... I'll have the C-765 for going through Yellowstone though.

Back to that oldtime format, where I write about something that's been on my mind lately. I'll stretch that lately part a little though

Back when my choir went on tour, we had some good concerts, some not-so-good concerts, and a great concert. The great concert was at the Lake Harriett Bandshell, where we ran our set. Our set was about an hour long or so, and the crowd it seemed was just getting bigger and bigger.

We had a lot of energy, and so did the crowd. At the end, we got a standing ovation, which was our first on the trip. Coming down, several little kids asked us for autographs. They weren't used to being able to mingle with people they saw on stage. What they didn't realize was that how excited we were to be signing autographs. It was so... cool to have these little kids looking up to you. More people were there who gave us water, and someone challenged us to a game of Frisbee. Our bus was on a schedulle though, so we had to go.

This was such a great experience, because of how eye-opening it is. When you're on stage, you are a different person. If you stay that person when you're off stage, people will look at you and treat you far differently. You fit a persona of sorts which they watch and respect.

That is why I'm joining drama at my school next year, and doing a whole lot more performing than I'm used to. I'm opening my mind to those new thigns. I absolutely love being on stage, and plan to be doing a whole lot more. I highly reccomend you all try it out in some way

Good luck to everyone on DA!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/6103917/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/6103917/ Mon, 01 Aug 2005 17:24:03 PDT Mood: Ready for Action!

I posted this in the forum recently and wanted to put it here.

Alright guys, I have a plan for us to take back our community.

Yes, it is our community. Us being everyone who is a member of this site. Who are we taking it back from? $spyed? °jark? No, we're taking it back from ourselves.

I admit that, like many of you, I lost a lot of faith in the current administration when Jark was removed. I was frustrated and angry, but I tried to keep my comments reasonable. Now, here we are, and the community is in an uproar, together. As it should be. However, the community is also tearing itself down, by offensive posts at $spyed and °jark. They both say they want what's best for the community, so let's keep it reasonable, no harsh language, no personal attacks. They both see themselves as doing their jobs.

Am I saying forget the whole thing? Absolutely not. I'm saying keep flaming to yourselves, be polite about the whole thing. This has actually brought the commmunity together a lot more, but it also damaged my own faith in the community with the way we collectively treated both people on their own sides of the story.

What am I proposing? I'm proposing that you (Yes you), make a commitment. Each and every day, find a user with not that many pageviews, and comment on a lot of their gallery. Do this at least once a day. DA will become a better place if you keep doing this and keep spreading the word. Tell your friends to do this, do this yourself, and you'll be surprised. Others will do it back to you. Insted of focusing on those already well established artists completly, let's bring up some of the people who aren't well established, but should be.

If you think this won't work, I kindly request that you do it anyway, you'll be surprised how easy (and fun!) it can be. deviantART is about the art, it's about the artists, it's about community. On those people who you comment on their galleries, leave a friendly note on their user page, get to know them.

Tell your friends about this, do it at least once a day, and who knkows, we could really change things!

Please link to this journal somewhere or copy/paste the entry into your journal. Let's take back deviantART!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/6078010/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/6078010/ Sat, 30 Jul 2005 13:24:27 PDT Mood: In Shock

For those of you not in the know, only remaining founder as an admin, and coder for DA, Scott Jarkoff (°jark) has been removed from his position as admin. I'm not going to speculate as to why, but I have to say this: Jark, if you're reading this, you have my full and absolute support. To everyone else: He did not leave voluntarilly, he would NEVER back away from DeviantART. I never knew him personally (and now deeply regret that), but I know that he is (not was, is) deeply committed to the advancement of DeviantART, and would NEVER quit.

Please take a look at

and add it to your favorites.

Jark, I'm so sorry this happened, I've seen something similar happen before, and the website was never the same again. I don't know what's going to happen with DA, but I do have a couple of things to say:

Please don't delete all your deviations. This won't help much, it'll only hurt you. The petition is cool, but online petitions rarely do anything.

What you should do: NEVER let this matter drop. Don't let it cool down, don't let it fade away. Not until we have a good explination.

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/5988044/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/5988044/ Wed, 20 Jul 2005 15:49:26 PDT Mood: Artistic!
Listening to: Clocks, by Coldplay
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy
Watching: None right now

Okay, thought I should tell you all something. I'm here, and will be for a couple of weeks. Besides that, an unnamed project is coming along, and I'll have a surprise for you later today or tomorrow. Just so you all know, I am moving back into the landscape art scene for a while, and am really starting to like it again.

Sorry for not being around lately, I'll try to rectify that soon. Thanks to everyone who is reading this now, you guys rock! Time to get back to work...

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/5666055/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/5666055/ Thu, 16 Jun 2005 11:59:00 PDT Mood: Excited
Listening to: Copa de Vida, Ricky Martin
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy
Watching: None right now

Well, I thought I should explain my lack of activity on DA lately. I haven't had much time for anything, with school winding down. I had finals to study for, and a number of other things. I auditioned and got into the elite choir at my school, the Dublinairs, which will definatly be a good experience. I'm also going to join drama next year, to give myself something to do. It'll be busy, but I'll have a great time I think.

I just got up at four fifteen to do a live TV thing with my choir, the opening shot was of me. I don't know if you all know how intense TV lights are, but when the camera is no more than eight inches from your face, it's hard to watch the director and sing rapid Galic. Oh well, I was able to do it.

My choir is going on tour to Minneapolis. I leave today, in a few hours. I'm really looking forward to it, it should be a great weeklong trip.

If any of you want to see the choir I'm in perform (it's worth it), our shows start on Saturday, where we perform for the Stone Arch festival of the arts, at 12:00 Noon. Then at 5:00 PM we perform at the Basilica of St. Mary. Our next performance is Tuesday at the Hennipin County Government Center at noon, then at seven thirty at the lake Harriet Bandshell.

The last performing day will be Wednesday, when at 2:30 we perform at the Augistana Care Center. Finally, to conclude our tour, we sing the national anthem at the Minnesota Twins game at 7:10.

It's going to be a crazy week, I'll try to take pictures.

I'll see you all in a week!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/5526004/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/5526004/ Wed, 01 Jun 2005 21:36:43 PDT Mood: Can't Describe it
Listening to: Pink Floyd
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy
Watching: Happy Gilmore

Well, here I am I guess. I haven't been here in a long time, I'm sorry about that. There are comments, favorites, and watches that I'm yet to respond to as of late. I'm really sorry about that.

I've hit a little bump in the road, emotionally, and it has me pretty down. School's winding up, and I'm not sure how my Summer will be. I'm having trouble socializing with people, and getting energy to get up and do stuff. I want to do so much, but can do so little at the moment. I'm doing a lot of work for my classes, but have unreasonable expectations for myself. When those don't get met, I get upset with myself. It's unreasonable, and I'm trying to work my way around it.

Until then, i just wanted to let you all know that I'm still here, sorry for not commenting on much of your stuff. Thanks again to ~Palawan for your help, I really appriciate it.

I'm doing the best I can, and I'm coming along a little on a space art piece I have. I may post something sometime soon if you all want to see it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. My next journal will be good news, I promise. I don't like writing when I feel like this , but i have to let you all know why I've been gone.

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/5207427/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/5207427/ Wed, 27 Apr 2005 19:58:53 PDT Mood: Busy, and Glad to Be
Listening to: John the Revalator
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy
Watching: Nothing at the moment

Here I am, sitting again, writing another journal. This is a special one, to thank all of you for your inspiration and everything you've given me over time. Special thanks to ~ Palawan, I don't think I'd be this far along in my piece without your help (whether you knew it or not). Also thanks to `alyn, for the time he devoted into his art, and the time he devoted to sharing a lot about what to do and how to do it. You helped me more directly, though it was still through inspiration and your wonderful articles, thank you.

I suppose I should explain myself. I'm slowly coming out of a long period of stress and mild depression, into a reborn world. I look outside, over my should and see the trees, and can once again see their beauty and appriciate it. I'm finally moving again as far as music goes, and art-wise, I should have something for you all tonight. I went camping last weekend, and that really put most of my stress away. Even though on a hike we had to hop a barbed wire fence, heading through some farmers property. Thankfully the guy was friendly, heh. Another tangent, sorry.

Visions is more than in production. Since the last journal entry I've made about it, I've scrapped the whole thing and started over, discovering a lot more to like about space art, and appriciating the time I'm putting into my planets now, and my nebula. No more mono-texture images for you all to see, not from me.

I'm putting together the nebula, for a school assignment that conviniently allows me to work on this very project and enjoy myself doing it. I have one day left on my Photoshop CS trial, then no more textured brushes. Again, thanks to Alyn for making me realize that I don't really need them, really nice of you.

Those of you who have added me to your watch list and not recieved a thank you, believe me, I'm on the way, I'm just a little backlogged right now.

Anyway, I'm doing a lot better than I was, and should be posting something tonight for you all to see. Thanks for your constant support, I love you guys!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/5055679/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/5055679/ Sun, 10 Apr 2005 21:41:51 PDT Mood: Very Happy
Listening to: Wind Beneath my Wings - Micheal Ball
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy
Watching: Nothing at the moment

I’ve never been so happy. Really, I can’t think of a time. Here I am, typing away on my computer, when for some reason, I just thought about how lucky I am. Lucky that in the world of conflict and devastation the worst I can complain about is a heavy homework load or trouble sleeping. Lucky that not being able to write legibly without excessive effort doesn’t keep me from learning as well as I can, in a world full of computers and other technology. Lucky that the same problem doesn’t keep me from producing art. Lucky to have such great friends in my life, and great friends on DeviantART. Lucky to be out of school soon, and traveling again.

I have a lot to be thankful for, just thinking about that brings me back to my picture, “Forever.” Here I am on that rowboat, looking at the sunset. It’s amazing, isn’t it? Why can’t I appreciate those things, those sunsets that happen every day without fail? Each sunset is something in our life we take for granted. What would happen if everyone realized what we had, and ignored what we didn’t have?

In a world of modern conveniences, it’s nice to think about how sometimes, maybe it’s good for us to make breakfast in less than thirty seconds, or sit down and eat dinner outside, watching the birds fly by. What a beautiful world this is, and how much of it is taken away by modern convenience! I say we abolish this word, and everything that came with it. What if we got up earlier to enjoy our morning, instead of rushing everywhere? What a wonderful world it would be!

Had to get that little bit about life out before I got to the good stuff: Visions is going to take quite a while longer than I thought, but it will turn out pretty well (I hope). Painting in Photoshop is hard to do when you don’t know how to do it. I’m teaching myself as I go. So I’m off for another productive work session!

The file is about 250 megs now, and getting larger (Yikes!) I’m planning on having the picture combined with a landscape, like the work that Alyn does. He inspired me with his latest

After that, I don’t know what honestly. I’ll see what you all think about it. Thanks to all my friends in my life and on DeviantART, and thanks to everyone in my family for putting up with the time I take for art

Featured Deviant to come soon. I just have to go upstairs and work on my picture!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/5012106/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/5012106/ Tue, 05 Apr 2005 22:46:10 PDT Mood: Relieved
Listening to: American Beauty, Greatful Dead
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy
Watching: Nothing at the moment

Well, the third quarter is almost done at my school. This means a lot of work to turn in, but it all ends with the freedom and relaxation of a three-day weekend. We’re finishing a lot of different work, but I don’t mind. That’s just a huge load off my mind. I’m going to pull off a 4.0 GPA this term, which is always good to know.

Relaxation is something I’ve needed to do for a long time. I’m the type of person that can’t relax when there is work to be done. I try, but I can never fully leave my material responsibilities. The only time I can fully relax is when I’m camping. I come close when I’m alone and working on my art though, that defiantly helps. Problem is, I haven’t been camping since December, which is way too long for me. I need to be out there, making a fire and talking to people. The world when you’re camping is so real… I encourage everyone to do it if you don’t already.

I’m going to be able to get a lot more work done though, I just got a new chair for my room, as well as my desk cleaned off and a smaller desk added. This means I’ll have a place to come home, sit down and do work, which is something that has been lacking for me for a very long time. It’s great to be able to dedicate my time to work now! That being said, I’m working on my next piece, tentatively titled ‘Visions’. It’s a space art/Vue blend, which I’m hoping will be able to work. I’ll post some WIPs in my scrap gallery soon, so keep watching there!

Music wise… For those of you who don’t know, I’m in a choir. I sing bass there, and really like it. The choir has actually given me a lot more confidence in my life, and contributed a lot to my change of philosophy mid-summer (see my earlier journals). We’re going on tour to Minneapolis this summer, with nine performances in total. One of them is the national anthem at a Twins game, and another is a full concert for our group alone. Those trips are always fun. I really like traveling. I often get these strong feelings of wanderlust. I hadn’t been getting them lately, but today I saw a Greyhound bus and a plane, and felt strongly that I’d like to be there, about to go someplace new, learn new things, meet new people… This summer, I will. Until then, there’s always camping and homework… And of course art, which can take you to new places any time you want.

I just had to write a little, and this is what I came up with. Thanks everyone for reading this!

As long as I’m here, I’d like to point to two of my friends who I recently got onto Deviant Art here:

[link] - A great fractal artist, keeps working with it! He's also starting to work with other programs too.

[link] - He's a photographer, but he hasn't uploaded any yet. He has a great fractal gallary, and keeps getting better. If you like fractals, take a look!

They're both great friends, their gallaries are worth a look!

Next journal entry I'll start a featured section, where I feature a Deviant every entry.

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4917683/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4917683/ Sun, 27 Mar 2005 14:27:36 PST
Mood: More than Happy
Listening to: Hush, by The Maine Steiners
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy
Watching: The Shining

Well, I was away from home when it finished this time. Needless to say, on my way home I was more than nervous for the outcome of the print render of Around the Bend. It worked! It turned out perfectally, at 6000x4800, and is now avalible as my very first print! I'm very excited at the prospect of having my artwork on display now, something I couldn't even dream of two years ago.

I'm absolutly outstanded by the amount of comments my last journal entry got, and I want to thank everyone for your encouraging words! I"m really gald that the render's done now though.

I have to end this brief journal entry with a question: Out of my gallary, if you were to get one print besides Around the Bend, what would it be? This will help determine the image for the next render. Thanks you guys, the print will be up shortly, as soon as it's through quality control! Max size is 20x16. I will put a link to it as soon as it's cleared!

Oh, and on another note: I'm very, very sorry to anyone who has tried to e-mail me from this site. The address I had (daron@rpgopher.com) was hit by viruses very intensly (roughly 600 every day), so I had it locked down, and moved to Gmail. Now that I'm on Gmail, my account is daronkel@gmail.com. I'm terribly sorry for any of you who have tried to e-mail me in the past few months, I had no idea I still had that e-mail address up here. Again, I'm really sorry if you e-mailed me at all and got no responce!

Around the Bend is now avalible for purchase! Here is a link to it:



Thank you all for looking!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4889183/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4889183/ Wed, 23 Mar 2005 09:20:11 PST
Mood: Disappointed
Listening to: Maroon 5 - Must Get Out
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy

Here I was, as happy as I could be last night. My render was 96 percent complete at eleven thirty when I went to bed. That's a 6000x4800 print size render of Around the Bend. I'd already stopped the render and restarted it once, because of human error (a terrain resolution problem that had to be addressed) so having a print up was almost a reality to me.

Almost.

I had this awful feeling at about one in the morning (being the insomniac that I am) that the render still had the terrain resolution problem. I got out of bed, now expecting to see the render with the terrain resolution problem there and strong.

I was expecting to see the render at least. It wasn't in the folder where it was supposed to be. I quickly found it though, that's human error. I had changed the settings and forgotten to update where it was. So I opened it, and prepared to look at it.

It came up all black. Not like I rendered the alpha channel by mistkae, but it was all black. I checked the filesize - 640 K. It's supposed to be just about 60 megs.

So here I was, staring at this week's render, in a useless all black form. Who knows how it happened, or why. I went into the kitchen, got something to eat and drink, and came back. Nope, it was still there. I went back to bed, and had trouble getting to sleep.

This morning, I get up, and it still was all black. No waking up from this bad dream come true... So here I was with no solution to my problem in my mind. What can I do? I decided to go to tech support, because this was certainly an odd problem.

I have Vue d'Esprit 5, but it changes the atmosphere a little (that glowing part of the sky is gone), so I used Vue d'Esprit 4 to render it. I was about to post the support ticket when I found my version of Vue d'Esprit 4 to put it in there. 4.1.

I checked the updates section, and there it was, in Vue 4.1.2. "Fixed bug when saving large files" At this point, I actually laughed out loud. It was my fault, a second time. I lost an entire week's worth of rendering to human error... twice. I'm not mad, I'm not frustrated. I'm done being mad and frustrated, after what happened last time. Some part of me wasn't expecting this to work.

So here I am, starting all over. I'm a stubborn person, and so I will never let a little problem like that stop me. Sometimes, life throws you a curveball. Other times, it spends a week rendering a 6000x4800 all black image. What can you do but keep trying?

So I'll be browsing some more, and working on developing a concept I have. So if any of you out there ever use Vue for a print render, please do me a favor: Update your software first, and make sure the terrain resolution is good enough.

Here we go again...

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4870836/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4870836/ Mon, 21 Mar 2005 10:09:36 PST Mood: Very Happy
Listening to: Change in my Life - The Classics
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy

My last journal entry for a while, I promise The last one was meaningless, the one before that was so angry, I had to move them, heh.

I'm getting close to 3,000 pageviews, and my deviations are getting close to 5,000 total views. I just wanted to thank everyone who watches me, and everyone who looks at my gallary, or just comments back to me. I'd also like to thank everyone on DA for submitting such excellent work that has started me commenting as much as I do. I'm really glad to be here now, and I'm really starting to kick off with this community like I don't feel like I've done before.

Thanks everyone. If you're reading this, take the time to look at the gallary of allt he people I'm watching, it's really worth it, I promise, and they deserve more comments!

I'm very glad to be here, and I'm not going anywhere! Thanks people of DA!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4870408/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4870408/ Mon, 21 Mar 2005 09:05:03 PST Mood: Much Better
Listening to: She Will be Loved, by The Classics
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy

Okay, I had to get that last journal entry off my front page

WHile Around the Bend is rendering as a print like this, I can't really use any of my software down on this computer. So I've decided to make a project out of cleaniing all the surfaces in my room, at the same time as learning Apophysis. I need a break from what I'm doing now, so I'm looking at fractals a little bit, getting some cool results. If I get anything good enough, I'll be sure to upload it.

In the meantime, I'll keep commenting and browsing! Learning Apophysis is fun, because fractals are so different from what I usually do. I assure you, you won't see me converting there any time soon, I'm just trying something new.

Thanks to everyone who has looked through my gallary of late, I really appriciate it!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4864980/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4864980/ Sun, 20 Mar 2005 16:46:30 PST Mood: Very Frustrated
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy

Well, I just lost 40 hours of rendering time. My first print is going to be Around the Bend, and I'm rendering it at 6000x48000, which is definatly a large size. Running on this crappy computer, it willl take pretty much all week to render. That's time I can't work on art down here or anything.

About 40 hours into the render, I noticed something absolutly apalling. In an earlier print of it I tried to render (done three or four different times, each stopped when one of my two siblings, who I share this computer with, shut down or restarted the computer), the terrains were too low resolution. They cast shadows on themselves, very dark, triangular shadows that look anything but natural. I had to stop the render, fix it by increasing the resolutiosn, and just about doubling the polygon count, and then pray that it will work. I lost way too much time, way too much, and now I'm very frustrated. Frustrated at myself for not checking htis before the render began, frustrated at Vue, because it won't render selected areas to disk (something that would have saved me 35+ hours on this render), frustrated at my computer, for being so slow and out of date, frustrated at pretty much everything.

Sorry about this, i just had to vent. A print of Around the Bend is coming though!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4849731/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4849731/ Fri, 18 Mar 2005 21:38:36 PST
Mood: Wondering
Listening to: Don't Fear the Reaper, by the Blue Öyster Cult
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy
Watching: None for now

I'm considering the pruchase of a prints account. I've wanted to invest in some good software, and even a better computer, and was thinking that this would help me out with my finacial goals. It woudln't be worth the starting price if there wasn't anyone out there who would consider buying my prints however, so I have to ask you, those who see my art: Would you buy prints from me? I'm most likely talking default DA prices, which can be found in the FAQ section here:
FAQ #337: What are the base prices on prints and other products?

So would you buy them? Which picture(s) would you want the most as a print? What size(s) would you like?

I'd greatly apprciate your input, either comment on this journal entry, or send me a note if you'd prefer to. Thanks a lot!

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I'm really wondering this, and would really appriciate your input. Thanks! ]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4841435/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4841435/ Thu, 17 Mar 2005 21:24:56 PST You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobble stones.
Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy.
Hello lamppost,
What cha knowing?
I’ve come to watch your flowers growing.
Ain’t cha got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in’ doo-doo,
Feelin’ groovy...

Mood: Frustrated
Listening to: Lady in Red, by The Classics
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy
Watching: No time (What's with that?)

The human race has come so far, or have we? Don’t even ask how many times I’ve had to ask myself that question. Yes, here we are with our complex society, our money, our good music, our nice clothes, and our stuff. We put all our value on that, our stuff. It’s ours, and we seem to think it makes us who we are.

Here we are bragging about how far we’ve come. Look at ourselves for a minute though: When walking down the street, do you say ‘hi’ to people? If not, why? Do you think you’re too busy, or they are? We’re all busy these days. Always going somewhere, doing homework, studying, generally letting life take over. Do we have a choice? No, we don’t have a choice. Society today demands things right away. We want it now, so here we are. Walking to the store, we don’t stop to talk, or admire nature. Why not? We don’t even think about it. We don’t slow down, or stop to appreciate life.

It’s always the landmarks. Looking forward to Holidays and Birthdays at a young age, then as you get into high school it’s end of terms and semesters, vacations, and the school year. You spend your life busy, for what? To do more work?

What have we become?

Suddenly, we work so hard we don’t appreciate the finer things in life. Is my generation lazy? Far from it, I say. We, like the rest of the world, are not overworked. We overwork ourselves. We make everything so important that we try too hard with everything. And why?

Every year, at least once, I get a time to get away from it all. Whether it’s at a summer camp, or backpacking, or anywhere away from home, it always helps. I think there. I put things into perspective. That’s where I first started thinking about this. I’ve made my new year’s resolution, even though it’s late. I pledge this now:

Life’s too short to take things fast. I’ll stop and smell the roses as much as I can. I won’t let obsessions over my work take over the rest of my life, and I won’t let the rest of my life take over my work. I won’t feel obligated to fill every last second of my day, so I’m doing something until I go to sleep. I won’t try to fill empty spaces with empty activities (television alone for instance.)

I might hear the phrase ‘appreciation of the finer things in life’. I’ll stick with appreciation of life, thank you.

I just had to get that off my chest, while I’m working on several science and math homework assignments. I’m a straight ‘A’ student, but that doesn’t mean I don’t question these things every once in a while. So what do you think of that rant? Did it make you think?

------------


And the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighes
Are the borders of our lives! ]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4630601/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4630601/ Sun, 20 Feb 2005 15:56:58 PST Mood: Fine
Listening to: Demons, by On The Rocks
Reading: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy
Watching: Still deciding

Well, I got a subscription. I'm planning on spending a lot more time here than I was before, so I think it'll be worth it. I've already started on my next picture, should be much less simple than my previous. I really learned a lot about Vue's atmosphere system from that last one though, so this next one, count on a good atmosphere.

I'm going for a beach sort of scene, not sure about tropical or not. If you all could get some feedback to me about what of my images is your favorite, that would be great in helping me decide what to go for with this next one.

Today should be alright, it's already almost four, but I'm intending to go to a movie sometime today, and maybe something after that. No school tomorrow, which is good, I have an extra day to study for that Algebra II test of mine.

I'm also going to be writing a small book about digital art for an International High School class I'm taking. I should be contacting some of you to see if I can use your work as examples soon. I've decided I won't post it here, but I will be using it at school.

Thanks to everyone who commented, faved, and devwatched me over the last few days. I'm glad to be back to DA!

]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4618656/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/4618656/ Fri, 18 Feb 2005 23:16:16 PST
Really looking forward to posting it, I shall write some more tomorrow! I hope everyone who has me on their watch list remembers who I am! ]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/3285220/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/3285220/ Sat, 04 Sep 2004 12:20:19 PDT
It will be up today.

I can honestly say I like this almost more than anything I hav eever done before, just watching the render go. It's a night scene, you will see it fine this time though. Sort of mixed medium, Photoshop and Vue. I'm not planning to post this one at all, it looks good enough now. Pass four is almost done, Vue renders with five passes.

Sorry for not being able to say much more, but you guys will like this one. If you're looking forward to seeing it, please leave a comment in my journal. I've never had anyone comment in my journal to be honest, lol. ]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/3146015/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/3146015/ Tue, 17 Aug 2004 09:22:27 PDT
I'll see you all in a week! ]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/3081799/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/3081799/ Mon, 09 Aug 2004 10:45:00 PDT ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/3067922/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/3067922/ Sat, 07 Aug 2004 16:46:38 PDT
A little backstory: I have a disability that makes it basically impossible for me to produce legible writing. Because of this, I have a difficult time in school. I have a 504, which makes it so I can use computers in the classroom.

Mid-seventh grade, I bought two href='[link] src="http://e.deviantart.com/emoticons/w /winkrazz.gif" width="15" height="15" alt=";P" title="Wink/Razz" />owerbook Duo 230's, a printer, and a docking station from my friend for $10. The first one, I named HAL. I named it after HAL from 2001: A Space Oddessy. HAL was a fine computer. Very loud, slow, and annoying, but it got the job done. Within my first week of having it, it was knocked off a desk by someone. It fell three and a half feet onto a concrete floor. Believe it or not, it came out completly fine, with only a little damage on the outside.

I always put my stuff in my locker for Lunch, so I don't have to worry about it. I always put the laptop in first, standing vertically. I do this because there's not enough room in the locker to have it down flat. This worked fine, until one day. I had my binder in behind it, so I pulled it out, then I heard a slamming sound. HAL had fallen onto the ground, and was blown open.

In the short time that I had, I managed to reassemble it, mostly. It was during SSR, or Silent Sustained Reading, the eleven minutes of reading we have after lunch, when I got the Hard Drive to work again. Unfortionatly, what this meant was that the hard drive spun up, and made an incredably loud screeching sound. I had to pull out the battary.

Later, I took HAL apart, and found out that the Hard drive was permanently destroyed. I then employed HAL II, my final Powerbook as a laptop for the rest of the year.

Late one Summer night, I was plugging HAL II in to charge. I saw a spark on the back of the cable, and the computer went out. Boom, HAL II's hard drive was fried. Lost 36 pages of writing to that surge...

Today, I went on a laptop hunt with my dad. What I got was somewhat worse than I imagined, at a recycling area. However, this is one of the best deals I have ever seen. The computer was a Powerbook 5300. The first Power PC Laptop ever made. It runs at 100 mhz, with a 640x480 color (!) monitor. It has 40 or 60 megs of RAM, I'm not entirely sure, with an internal floppy drive, and a 6 gig hard drive. All for $25... Not bad, I say.

So I'll be going to High School this year with a new (old) laptop... I'm hoping for the best for HAL III!

If you read this and enjoyed this, please leave a comment!

Currently:
Working on: Free. Think daytime! I should have it done by Monday.
Listening to: Dire Straits, Queen, Bruce Springsteen, Greatful Dead
Reading: Tom Clancy's Red Rabbit
Watching: Nothing really
Playing: Civilization III ]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/3059197/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/3059197/ Fri, 06 Aug 2004 16:32:08 PDT Stats for ~Daron-Kel

I have 544 pageviews total and my 15 deviations were viewed 695 times, with 2,598 fullviews, for a grand total of 3,293 views.
Overall, people left 63 comments and added my deviations to their favourites 17 times, while I commented 71 times, averaging 0.69 comments per day, which means that I gave 11 comments for every 10 that I received.
My most commented deviation was Unreachable with 11 comments, receiving an average of 0.78 per day in the first 2 weeks, while my most favourited one was Last Sun, with 3 favourites, averaging 0.21 per day in the first 2 weeks. My most viewed deviation was The Chase with 486 views.
3 Favourites were given for every 10 Comments.
Every 6.8 days I upload a new deviation, and it's usually on a Monday , with 33%/5 of my deviations.
My favorite time of the day to upload is at 8pm with 4 deviations and my busiest month was June 2004 with 5/33% of my deviations.
The majority of my deviations are uploaded to the wallpaper gallery (12), while my favorite category was 3d with 8 deviations
Comments per deviation: 4.2
Favourites per deviation: 1.13
Views per deviation: 219.53
Comments per day: 0.61
Favourites per day: 0.16
Views per day: 32.28
Pageviews per day: 5.33


Stats provided by *micahgoulart @ Ingenial.com / GalleryStats ]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/3027683/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/3027683/ Mon, 02 Aug 2004 15:13:27 PDT
Current work: A new vrsion of Apocalypse. ]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2960729/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2960729/ Sat, 24 Jul 2004 22:50:05 PDT ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2937367/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2937367/ Wed, 21 Jul 2004 21:37:10 PDT
It's great to be back, I'll be combing the gallaries for a while tonight! ]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2793286/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2793286/ Sat, 03 Jul 2004 06:42:09 PDT ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2719363/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2719363/ Tue, 22 Jun 2004 12:29:41 PDT ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2637335/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2637335/ Fri, 11 Jun 2004 15:49:50 PDT
I've made a couple friends here, and am looking forward to spending a lot more time. I'm really liking my latest image so far, hope it turns out well in the end!

I'm gong to Idaho with my chior until Wednsday, leaving today, in roughly two hours. It's going to be fun, I have to say that!

This is just to collect my thougths mostly, and tell you all I am working on my next picture.

Thanks for dropping by! ]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2415055/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2415055/ Wed, 12 May 2004 16:24:53 PDT
Thanks! ]]> ~Daron-Kel http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2310841/ http://Daron-Kel.deviantart.com/journal/2310841/ Tue, 27 Apr 2004 15:39:44 PDT
I have a rather interesting story. Ever since first grade, I've wanted to be able to write just as good and as fast as everyone else. So does every first grader, no? The problem presented itself when my handwriting never changed. Ever. Teachers now can't read it, I can't read it half the time. Something that has to do with my hands makes it impossible for me to create anything on a paper. In fifth grade, my favorite teacher found it as a problem, and not something that is just happening. She gave me a 504, making it so I can use a computer in class for writing whenever I need to. I owe a tremendous thanks to her, for making it possible for me to succeed in school.

Shortly after that, in seventh grade, I fell into a state of depression when it came to art. I had these facinating pictures in my head, but all that comes out on the paper is scribbles! Imagine how frustrating that would be. I had a hard time bearing it. Then, my art teacher told me this. "I know you have a problem with writing, but I don't think you have a problem with art"

I took those words to heart, and started working in Photoshop Elements 1.0 to produce art. Thing is, I was able to. The art got relatively good reviews from my friends and family.

Then I got Vue. Vue is one of the best things that ever happened to me. Vue brought the landscapes I wanted to make so bad since I was in first grade out of my mind, and right in front of me.

So I'd like to dedicate my art to anyone who can't write very well, or simply can't draw. It isn't the end of art for you! Give CG a chance! ]]> ~Daron-Kel