http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:HelenaSun&section=today deviantART RSS for by:HelenaSun en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:28:05 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/28991253/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/28991253/ Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:36:25 PST
I FINALLY SAW PRINCESS AND THE FROG. TURN AWAY NOW TO AVOID SPOILERS.

OKAY SPOILER TIME. I love, love, love, love these characters. I went in thinking Dr. Facilier was going to be my favorite because I loved his design and style so much. And he is still my favorite but now holds a tie with Ray, Naveen, and Tiana. I did not think I would love Ray so much but I now ship Ray/Evangaline so hard. Anyway, visually the movie is great, I love the designs and jazzy New Orleans and bayou feel. The music is also catchy, and the humor is genuinely funny. Not like stupid, boring humor Disney is known for these days, but I thought it was actually clever and amusing. "STELLAAAAAA" Also, I really, really hated Dr. Facilier. As a villain. It's been a while since I've seen a villain and just "I hate this guy so much." cause usually nowadays villains seem to always have a story explaining why they're that way, how they went down that path, etc etc etc. which I like, it adds depth and understanding. But then sometimes you just get a character that is just plain nasty, really evil. The whole time I kept thinking "Good bad guy, la la la" and then he killed Ray. And I hated his guts. I was already starting to hate him when he was planning on killing Liddie's dad. Ray dying was the final straw.

Ray's song to Evangeline was so sweet too. Ray's whole love for Evangeline was the best thing ever. And the end with the stars and just... D'AAAWWW... I was impressed that Disney killed Ray off though. The whole time I was upset that Ray got squashed but kept thinking "They'll just make him better..." then he died... "... Uh.. Mama Odie will probably revive him... Any minute now... Yup... Any... minute now..."

ANYWAY. To sum up this already very long journal, Ray/Evangline = OTP, Dr. Facilier is a delightful bad guy, and I'm in love with Prince Naveen who I also want his voice for Luc St. Martin's only Luc is just not as cool a character and does not deserve such a perfect voice. Annnnnd oh man I only have two weeks to make and enjoy a nice journal layout and stuff before my premium is up craaaaaap...

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/28564294/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/28564294/ Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:11:15 PST
Thanksgiving Break is here and I'm going to spend it trying to finish this animation for my art department's webisode that I am regretting accepting. Funny thing is, I have not worked on it yet when I said "WORK ON THIS UNTIL IT'S DONE THIS BREAK" instead I've drawn and written some about David the Werewolf (So... David is his working name, right now...), read some funny recaps on the Twilight series (Haha, I'm not sure whether to feel disgust and revulsion or a sad sort of amusement at this phenomenom that is the romanticization of emotionally/near phsyically abusive sparklepires) and thought about the Spec Entry for Luc in YSI.

Oh yeah, lost to in and I'm not too bummed. I knew my Round 1 left a lot to be desired, so I'm waiting for a crit from the judges so I can know what to focus on first. Actually if any of ya'll have some good advice on what my weakest part in comic making is, I'd love to hear it so I can get better. The SE's will be my practice ground.

Luc won the mini contest though in his Gambit get up, so that's sweet. And we get to see more Sebastian and Bjorn fighting their way through Bayou City so it's really and win win situation here.

PLEASE USE ANY PSYCHIC POWERS YOU HAVE TO WILL ME TO GET THIS ANIMATION DONE SOON SO I CAN DRAW WHATEVER I WANT ON TURKEY BREAK AND PLAY MORE TF2. SO I CAN ACTUALLY GET DECENT AT IT.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "I'm killing and I'm drinking my blue heart to black, but I swear oh Lord I'll never sin again if you bring her back." -Lover's Wreck, Gaelic Storm

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/28334008/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/28334008/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:20:06 PST
And also extremely happy because "YAY! SDA'S OBSERVE THE SABBATH BEGINNING AT SUNDOWN ON FRIDAY! WOO! THANK YOU, GOD!"

And I haven't eaten today! How did that happen? I'm hungry...

OH HEY. 's deadline was earlier this week, all my pages are done, so huzzah for that. It was an excellent learning experience, and I like to think I've come away a little more knowledgeable about how comics work than before. So hopefully next time I will do much better.

AND, my advisor and one of my favorite animation teachers was offered a job at Disney so he's going to take it and we will miss him.

Right. Well. That's about all I have to say then. Gonna go get some food and try to enjoy the Sabbath and not stress about how much work still needs to get done... Like my compositing. It is still rendering. Everyone else's took 10 minutes, mine is taking hours. Why? WHHHY I HATE RENDERING... And matchmoving.

BUT NUKE IS LOVELY PROGRAM.

GOD, SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH ME IT IS PROBABLY BECAUSE I HAVE NOT EATEN

OKAY BYE

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Luc is like the lovechild of the Spy and the Pyro." "SPYRO" "SPYRO?!" -YSI Chat is fun.

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/28175265/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/28175265/ Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:53:15 PST
YSI STATUS UPDATE

Pages Drawn/Inked: 16/16
Pages Scanned: 14/16
Script: Finished
Coloring: 9/16

YEAH, BABY. Saturday night is the night. As soon as the sun goes down I am at the computer till it's all done. Party in the YSI chat as we all have a last push to get our pages done!

ALSO, made a little playlist for Luc, sadly I couldn't find Mon Vieux Lucien or Hat Back Boogie but ah well. [link]

C'est tout!

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant." -Cary Grant

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/28115866/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/28115866/ Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:14:48 PST for a bit of fun. So uh... That's all I got. Yeah, here goes:

I am doing this for fun. Spread it around, tag people if you want. No real rules, add anything you want to it, if a good question is added, I will add it to my answers! Feel free to do this with someone you only got to audition, as well! Consider it a way to review nuances in your character that are specific to YSI! canon. Hopefully a fun way to pass some time, let me know if I forgot to credit a question to someone!!!


1. For novelty's sake, what's your full name? Make it interesting and add in your middle name if you haven't already. Give us a good run-down of all your basic info - age, ethnicity, are you human or something else, height, eye color, the basics.
A: Bon soir, cherie. Je m'appelle Lucien Claude St. Martin. You, 'owever, may call me Luc. J'ai vingt huit ans, zat is 28 years of age. Eh... Human, black 'air, brown eyes, 6 feet tall... Mais, most importantly I am single, ladies!

2. What did you think of your first opponent? Were they really so bad, or was this an unlucky circumstance for both parties? Alternatively, if you didn't get into the main brawl...who did you want to fight?
A: Quoi, zat maggot 'otel and his meatball? Hm... Perhaps I am being... 'arsh on zem. Mais, I zink you will agree zey really overreacted. A 'armless mistake, zat was all! Some words, oui, et some.. eh... less than pleasant words... Mais eet was all a misunderstanding. Oui, a misunderstanding.

3. Are you in the mob? If not, do you at least have a police record (blackmail, assault, arson, extortion, prostitition? ) to make yourself seem interesting? Or are you a goody little two-shoes?
A: Pardon, mais zat information is usually 'ow you say, private. Aside from one petite incident in my youth... Do you zink I broadcast illegal activities for all of ze world to hear and see? ... *glances around quickly* Get me out of 'ere. Please send 'elp. I am being 'eld 'ostage as an arsonist with ze Baron because of another... eh little misunderstanding. S'il vous plait, GET ME OUT OF HERE!

4. Do you have anything else that you CLAIM is your occupation, if your actual one don't go over well with the bulls?
Luc: Ah, oui! I am ze best fire breather and juggler you will ever see. C'est vrai! You will find no better performer of zis dangerous and special art.

5. Is this what you expected out of life? (In other words, what did you WANT to be when you grew up?)
Luc: Eh... What child ever ends up where zey wanted to be? Well, eef you want ze truth... I 'ad always been interested in fire, mais... I always thought eet would go differently... Non, I really wish eet had gone differently...

6. What motivates you the most?
Luc: *checks them off on his fingers* Keeping alive, 'aving fun, and beautiful women.

7. Relationships, right? You into dames or fellas? Been around, still testing the waters, saving yourself?
Luc: Oh la... I am a slave to beautiful girl... Fall in love everyday, zat is what I say. Only way to keep zings interesting, non? Ooh la la, but for a lady with all ze charm, grace and elegance of Aphrodite 'erself, what can I do? What can any sane man do?

8. Tell us about your family, or who you consider to BE your family. If you are an amnesiac, orphan, or it doesn't apply to anyone, do you angst about lack of attachment, or feel oddly freed by lack of any obligation to another?
Luc: Ah, 'ere you are getting into business that is not perhaps yours. Mais, I will tell you. I became an orphan at 11, after ma mere eh... my mother died. Oui. A Parisian, she was. Mais, zat is neither here nor zere... Mon pere, 'e left when I was still little! Mais, I do not blame 'im. Except perhaps that 'e did not take me with 'im. I 'ope 'e is well, wherever 'e has ended up. I do not miss my mother. I do not regret it.


9. What about friends? BEST Friend?
Luc: Mes amis? Zey are... Scattered, eh... here and zere... Hm... Hehehe... Well, a man does not simply keep his friends close all ze time, non?

10. What are some interesting aspects of your life that you have not gotten to shed light on in any other part of the competition?
Luc: Regarde, I am not a bad guy, d'accord? If you want to know, I live by ze day. What 'appened in ze past, 'appened in ze past. I can not change it. Neither can you. You should not try to. La... But we are getting serious, mon ami! I also like cooking, did you know zat? Oui, I can make some of the finest food to ever grace your lips! I can also play ze piano fairly well. What do you say, madmoiselle? Let's make some beautiful music together!

11. Gotta be able to look out for number one - what do you fi... ]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/28076605/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/28076605/ Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:03:06 PDT
YSI UPDATE STATUS:

Pages Inked/Scanned: 14/16
Pages Colored: 8/16
Pages With Text: 3/16
Outlook: Well, moving along nicely. Ink and scan those last two pages during the week, and make a final push Saturday night to get all pages colored and SHAZAM, I make it just before the deadline. Huzzah, guys. Huzzah.

You know what's weird? When I thumbnailed and planned these pages, there were 17. Somehow by the time I'm done I have 16? It's like having left over parts after rebuilding an engine or something...

I wish I could say I had the same optimism for my projects in class. ._. Behind in animation and compositing is completely over my head. And two other extra projects looming on the horizon... Well, and here I was thinking the semester wasn't ever going to get stressful.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "ALBATROSS!"

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27928569/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27928569/ Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:36:46 PDT
I've noticed that MIKA has some good songs to inspire me to work on YSI pages.

YSI UPDATE STATUS:
Inking: Moving along nicely
Drawing: 3 pages, possibly 4 if I have time (Made an expendable page), sketched and can be done in one evening if I am serious about it.
Outlook: Am feeling pretty good, but still nervous. Tomorrow evening I should finish drawing, and start scanning a few pages to be ready for text, sound fx, clean up, etc.

Also, doing a small YSI related project on the side. As well as a bonus Halloween comic... And there's some other things I've got lined up I want to do. Feeling very creative lately. Want to get better at digital illustration stuff. SO, SUPER AWAY.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "If you are still cheering for Bjorn and Seb you are a bad person who likes to cheer for JERKS." - Cracked me up and made me feel bad cause I was kinda cheering for them...

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27847891/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27847891/ Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:35:49 PDT
UGH. I am so old today... 19 feels really old. And yet feels as though nothing has changed at all. ._. Still, turning 19 on the 19th is pretty cool. I should go do something wacky and fun.

YSI UPDATE STATUS:

Okay I'm not a very organized comic maker I've learned...
About 11 or 12 pages drawn and inked
3 Pages need just one or two panels drawn
2 pages need everything. Dreading these pages.

Outlook: This week I have a fall break, so I'm aiming to get all the pages just done and scanned before it's over. Clean up work plus adding text shouldn't take more than a day right? And then I'll have time to throw in some digital shading. Drawing burns is hard.

Feeling fairly okay confident that this will be done in time, and look semi decent.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27756702/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27756702/ Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:15:21 PDT
Pages Drawn: 8
Pages Inked: 4
Final Script: Half way
Plans for color: If time permits, basic flat color, if not, greyscale shading + red
Still Have to: Finish drawing the last few pages (They're sketched, but not solidly) ink the rest of the pages, clean up, scan, adjust as necessary and add text.
Mini Contest: Underway

Current Mood: Fffffffff

Mostly just cause has got a bunch of pages colored and up already and they are BEAUTIFUL and you should go see them now. This is good. Having Nisha go so much faster than me is a real motivator to really get something done here.

I'm hugely inexperienced in inking and etc. so I'm concerned how this is gonna look. Hopefully respectable.

Also, I went swing dancing Saturday night. I have never done it before, but it was ridiculously fun and my leg really hurts from it but it was so worth it. I'm gonna go dance the zoot suit riot now.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "YOU EEZ ON FIRE."

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27659448/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27659448/ Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:41:53 PDT
YEAH SWING IT PROGRESS REPORT:

Pages Drawn: 6
Pages Yet to Be Drawn: 10
Pages Sketched: 16
Inked: 0
Scanned/Cleaned Up: 0
Currently: Slightly behind schedule

I need to review some of the last few pages to make sure I do Bjorn and Seb justice... I'm so worried about getting them wrong. ._. Honestly tho' it feels wrong somehow for two very tough, strong blokes to be beaten by a skinny, cowardly fake French guy. It is absurd.

I can only say Luc is really, really, really not going to come out of this 100 percent okay.

Okay I'm gonna go look up more racist terms for the Swedish now.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "He's a semi aquatic, egg laying mammal of action."

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27601186/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27601186/ Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:33:18 PDT
YSI STATUS: (I saw Nisha doing this so I'm doing it too. ._. I'm such a copycat but it seemed like a good way to keep organized.)

Script:
Basically laid out. I know what's gonna happen, and thumbnailed out. 16 pages. Working on cutting it down if I can.
Sketching:
Nothing but the thumbnails.
Progress:
Some script, scribbles, and notes worked out. Still need to do some studies of Bjorn and Sebastian and lay out panels and speech properly.

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27575767/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27575767/ Sun, 04 Oct 2009 10:34:44 PDT !! HUZZAH. I promise to do my best. I have set up a schedule of production which I plan to adhere to with an IRON WILL. And now that Josephine, my scanner, is up and running, I'll probably be doing this shin dig with pencil and ink, so it'll be faster and I can work on my comics whenever I have a spare moment, wherever I am. Probably have to stick with black and white...Or try to pull a Lackadaisy and make it sepia, if I can. Anyway, I'm ridiculously excited, really want to know who is going to fight who so I can start! If I have time, I think it'd be cool to make a nice cover pic of whoever Luc will be fighting, similar style to the Smooth Talker pic of Luc.

In the meantime, gotta get to serious business in my class work. I actually need to be at the labs in the next thirty minutes... Taking character animation from Hendel Butoy and it makes me nervous and desperate to do well. ._.

And uh... That's about it. Probably gonna see some practice attempts at trying to understand lighting and faces if the match ups aren't posted soon. Which is what the Captain Kuro and Smooth Talker pics were really about anyway. I figure if I just practice obsessively I'll catch on eventually, right?

Yeah... Didn't someone say making art is 1 part talent and 99 parts hard work?

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "GEEEEEEENGAAAAAH." -Lacey

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27284693/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/27284693/ Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:57:48 PDT
Went as Sheeta from Castle in the Sky, only got to stay for Friday but man was it fun!! First con I've ever been to. Saw so many cool costumes and tables and stuff. Bought a Labyrinth poster, and a Sanji print, and lots of other cool swag. Got to meet and I was pretty darn excited. Probably acted like a goof, but he was really nice. Bought some really sweet hair clips from the Outlander Armour table, can't wait to wear them! There were actually a lot of steampunk styled dressed people. I'm all inspired to draw some steam punk goodness.

Other highlights included: contact juggling for an artist of the Dark Crystal manga, finally finding some other Studio Ghibli cosplayers (Got my pic taken with Howl and Sophie), getting a pic of the Pandaman from One Piece, getting a video of THE BOULDER, getting lots of Sanji stuff, and lots of TF2 cosplayers all in one place for a group pic. Plus some other stuff I can't even remember.

So good times. Would've been even better if I could've seen you, Tabby! Luck just was not with us. Still kinda bummed.

Quote of the Moment: "Everything is better with a cockney accent."

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/26574256/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/26574256/ Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:15:40 PDT Something very important. I cannot draw firearms nor people holding them. This maaaay come back to bite me in the ass in the middle of a 1920's Prohibition gang related type OCT. Really gonna have to stockpile a collection of refs...

The good news is, Josephine, my scanner, is alive and kicking! Hurrah! So after my audition page the rest I can sketch out, ink and scan which should save me a ridiculous amount of time! Hurrah!

Got Brian Froud's Goblins in the mail yesterday. Love goblins and I love how this guy designs/draws them.

Think I'll post the first page of my audition to show that I am in fact making progress. Slow progress which should pick up at an alarming rate since I want to be finished before classes start on the 27th.

I'm trying to learn that trick where you roll a coin over your fingers. I can do it with a pencil, but this is a slow coming useless talent...

Go draw goblins.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Puma Man! He flies like a moron!" -MST3K

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/26322004/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/26322004/ Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:46:42 PDT
Currently suffering from boredom. Got a ton of unfinished stuff lying around with no desire to finish it and really, no one to talk to either. Haven't got any artist friends to talk with much, unless Tabby or Digi are on when I'm not at work and I latch onto them like a really annoying talkative leech. I need to like, get some artist friends. Except any of them I might have had all went home for summer vacation, except for Honou and Immi, who I don't even know where they are or what they are doing. I'm mostly by myself till August 27. Counting down the days...

Been working on my YSI audition... which is hard as I've never put together a real comic type thing before with actual EFFORT or anything. I'm concerned about how fast I'll be able to make comics and stuff in 4 weeks for each round. Hopefully I'll get faster with practice...

OH, OH, OH. And Shark Week is starting tomorrow! I'm making shark cupcakes! Woo! Yeah... Stuff...

Man I need to get a social life...

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Would you care for some Ziggy-Brand Stardust?"

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/25638488/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/25638488/ Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:34:40 PDT
Woo! Finished my internship and am now back at the office... boring as heck... But I learned tons and can't wait to put some of my new knowledge to working on my entry stuff for YSI!

I'm trying to get a jump start on finishing Luc's reference sheet and general character before I leave on a long roadtrip next week. Figure if I get him ready to go, I'll have plenty of time in August to get my audition together provided nothing else comes up. I'm headin' out across country and all just to see the sights and have some adventures. Bought a Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and a Cherry Poppin Daddies album as well as some other misc. Squirrel Nut Zippers, Frank Sinatra, and what have you swing and jazz music to get me psyched for my first OCT. If you have any sense at all you will at least consider entering Yeah Swing It! as well. It's gonna be rocking.

So yeah, got a ton of stuff in the works, hoping I can finish it all soon ( and now that my 12 hour days are I am aiming to get lots done) and ready for July to hit me with its best shot. Reading up on tutorials and advice about OCTs as well as studying good comics to figure out how it's done.

Hahaa, I spent ages working on Robin, my blind violin playing hypnotist, but after doodling up Luc on some scrap paper at work he just kinda took over the show. Which is great as I was beginning to hate Robin a lot anyway. So anyway, what I would like to ask is this: If you know of any good tips, tutorials, whatever for good comic making or for good storytelling in a visual form or anything OCT related, please post a link. I'm trying to learn as much as I can before this shindig goes down. I'm gonna be practicing comic making too so I hope I can get something decent for a good critique up.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone." -Al Capone, seemed fitting for YSI coming up soon! Auditions in start in August! Go check it out!

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/24922875/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/24922875/ Sun, 24 May 2009 11:16:39 PDT
Got an internship of sorts at my animation department, working on a short film thing. It's really freakin' cool! Of course I have to balance this with work where I need to work 300 hours to get a bonus I really need to pay off lab fees... So I'm working 12 hour days Mon-Fri so that's not the best thing ever... And I still need to find time to get my driver's license so I can get to classes next semester... But I'm pretty confident everything will turn out okay!

I've learned a lot of really cool stuff though!!! My teachers have been great helping me get to par so I can keep up with this project. Read a lot of new tutorials and watched Ratatouille for the first time in awe over how much sub surface scattering was going on... And I get to use a cintiq while working on my stuff! I'm actually doing color and some minor design stuff for all the characters. After that I'm going to be put on texturing, which is a little worrying since I'm not very experienced in it but oh well... I did get to do some storyboarding too, which was a lot of fun.

Saying it again, I've learned tons of really cool stuff I really want to try out on my own ideas and such, but it looks like time is not on my side. I actually should be working on another character that they want done tomorrow so I shouldn't really be wasting time...

HUGE CONGRATS TO and and !!! WAY TO GRADUATE!!!! I can't wait to see you guys so you can tell me about your class trip adventures and plans for summer and such. Summer production ends in late June, so we need to get together then!

Ah crap, I still owe Immi some arts...

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Everyone looks better with eyepatches." -Animation friend

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/24312664/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/24312664/ Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:02:38 PDT
Spent the last two days looking up cartoons I watched a lot when I was a kid. I loved Thunder Cats. I like, wanted to be one. Other shows I loved include: Swat Cats, Voltron, Angry Beavers, Duck Tales, Freakazoid, and more that I can't remember.. A lot of Hannah Barbera though... I remember that.

Last week of classes, then finals week, and I don't have any finals, except for the Freshman Review (Determines if I get to be in the animation program or no) and a portfolio to submit for the summer production of the next animated feature the department is making... And this week I have three Design projects due, one Computer Graphics project, and the Freshman animated short needs to be done this week as well... So basically if I survive this week, I can survive anything, right?

College is cool though... But kind of a bubble burst when you're excited how great your animation program is and someone walks up to you and is like "Weren't you gonna go to SCAD?" "Yeah, really couldn't afford it." "*confused look* My friend so and so is going. I don't see what the problem is."

fjlkdsamxilnfean some of us just aren't as lucky I GUESS. I didn't eat gold and ride ponies as a kid you know! *sigh* I hear SCAD is really nice though...

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "'Why do you have a smiley face sticker and a pistol in your suit case?' 'Well one's for when I'm sad... And one's for one I'm really sad...' 'Oh... Well see you tomorrow.' 'We'll see.'" -Scrubs

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/23828320/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/23828320/ Sun, 22 Mar 2009 09:19:59 PDT
This has been a nerd weekend. Bought three X-men comic books, a Ray Bradbury book, and just finished ordering the new Lackadaisy Vol. 1 a few minutes ago. And since I ordered it on the premiere weekend, I think I get a free club shaped pin so eeeeeeeeeeeee.

Of course, Lackadaisy is not nerdy per se, more like so much win and awesome that people call certain levels of fan girlish obsessive behavior as 'nerdy'. But really, just take a look at her art and how can you not let out a little squee of joy every time she updates?

Working on an illustration for 99 Red Balloons. My little sister wanted a cool pic to put as her desktop and she introduced me to the song. I love it so much. It's the same kind of composition as My Sky, and maybe I'll post a WIP, though I plan on trying to finish today.

And I really need to get back to the art building to at least get the rough keys for my shot done and really clean and finish that model sheet...

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/23698103/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/23698103/ Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:53:30 PDT
HEY HELP ME OUT. Can't find a video on the whole wide world of the internets. It's like a quest. I saw it once and don't know where it is. If you can find it, please give me a heads up. Short video about two guys, both yelling while leaning against trees. Colby accusing Brock of cheating on his girlfriend with his girlfriend and eventually poisoning Brock with a truffle he laced with poison. Then he decides to eat it himself. "What the hell, Colby. You've earned it." So yeah, if anyone knows what I'm talking about, please post a link.

And I'm trying to get together a pic for Artists at the Ready. I've found I'm really no good at characterizing myself, but I'll give it a go. And trying to figure out how all my OCs will fight is pretty fun. Other projects: still trying to get a good design to try and get into the Houbou-gumi, doing a character sheet for an old character I used to have that I'm reviving in a new way, and some more Gambit stuff. Cause he's cool like that.

And I'm gonna be insanely busy with an animation project for the next 6 weeks. Don't be surprised if nothing comes of my project list.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "How did you do that?!" "Wit style, petite." -Jubilee and Gambit

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/23451686/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/23451686/ Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:26:38 PST
Also I started playing Neopets again. ._. Designing a cast of pets that run a circus of... questionable repute. Fun exercise in character design, let me tell you.

Keeping you in my prayers, Tabby!

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Time to feed the cat skull, son." -Friend of mine at a pet store

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/23303775/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/23303775/ Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:03:18 PST
Gotta go to the lab and work on 3D, gotta get all my modeling done and hopefully make some progress on the lighting too. Bleh. I can't wait for spring break, I'm feeling really burned out.

As far as personal projects go; I'm still working on some Xmen fanarts, writing a short story about a dream I had concerning messed up hospitals and one really messed up doctor (I'm looking at you, Tabby) and working on a character for YSI! which is coming along... okay-ish. He still needs a lot of work, I just hope I'll have time.

Annnnd... that's about it. Really this is just me procrastinating heading over to the labs. I hate modeling, I gotta say. Animating is fun, but modeling is a pain.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Tuesday is coming, did you bring your coat?" -My animation teacher showed this video in class, cause he thought it was a crime that we had not seen it before.

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/23197513/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/23197513/ Sat, 14 Feb 2009 14:03:52 PST
So yeah, happy V-day to my best friends that I love talking to. And Tabby, Digi, Solar, and all of you people, I need to talk with you guys more cause I miss ya'll and the crazy times we used to have. And since Cougar Canyon is all dead-ish, look me up as Naehopno, talk to me there if you miss me on AIM.

Annnnd that's about it, I guess. Hope your day of lurve is going well.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "I bet you're magically delicious like a bowl of Lucky Charms. You'd look like Venus de Milo if I just cut off your arms..." -Wanna B Ur Lovr by Weird Al

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/23096257/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/23096257/ Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:15:03 PST
Been working on some stuff, mostly X-men things as a friend has recently gotten me on kind of a mutant kick. Nightcrawler, Gambit, and Jubilee are my favorites. X3 But I've only drawn Nightcrawler and Gambit with Rogue so far, so we'll see how many more goes. The only problem I have is that classes (17 credit hours this semester) are taking up all my drawing time. And Intro to 3D is KILLING ME. SLOWLY. FROM THE INSIDE. I hate technology!

But my school did have some graduates who are now working at places like Disney and Dreamworks come and talk to us and look at our work and stuff. They were really cool; had one of the character animators from The Hulk look at my stuff and he said I was doing "kick ass" so I'm pretty happy 'bout that.

CHARACTER DESIGN SECTION IN ANIMATION, YAAAAY! Gotta go to class.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "One bite of this cake and you lock lips with Loki, the god of discord and mayhem on the seventh circle of hell. I'm just kidding, it's a little rich, can I get you a slice?" -MST3K

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/22371877/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/22371877/ Sat, 03 Jan 2009 10:56:09 PST
Um, that's really about it. Hope ya'll have had a happy Christmas and New Years. Time to start anew and all that jazz. I've made a list of things I want to draw so I can have some acceptable stuff here. More Les, some dragon stuff since I haven't done that in a while, and maybe see if I can get some people to do art trades with me.

Anyway, have a good weekend. Cheers. (:

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Lose some weight before you hug me, Ron." -Potter Puppet Pals

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/21951631/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/21951631/ Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:38:13 PST
First chance I get I'm gonna go chat with my advisor about it. Out of curiousity, anyone know what kind of education concept artists or character designers typically need? From a quick google search, I'm coming up with "Illustration degree" which kinda sucks cause I love the college I'm at but it doesn't offer an illustration major I think.

Anyway, I hope the whole "Oh God, I have no idea what I'm doing with my future. I am so screwed." thing is common at the end of your first semester. As well as feelings of "Passed by classes, but still feel like I failed somehow."

In the meantime, less emo thoughts: Christmas! OMG YAY I LOVE CHRISTMAS. I tried the whole cynical "Pft, look what the world has done, changed it to all about commercialism blah blah state of the world these days blah blah selfish buggers" etc etc... but really, I love time off, being around my family, baking, having hot cocoa, all the good stuff. (: Can't help it.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Oh I can't wait; allons-y!" -The Doctor

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/21611102/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/21611102/ Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:18:59 PST
However, my dog is begging me to go outside and play. Crazy dog.

Anyway, general update that I now have AIM installed, so Honou, Amaya, and Immi please get me your usernames so I can chat with ya'll. I never catch you when I stop by Shin's chat and I don't even like going there unless ya'll are there. Also Christmas is coming up so eeeeeee. I love Xmas, mostly for being part of a big Southern family that enjoys an occasion to get together and eat lots of food and bake and talk. Thanksgiving is kind of like the training ground for the baking and cooking that goes on at Xmas.

I put a lot of Ray Bradbury works on my Xmas list. So far I've only read two books of his, but I love his style. Something Wicked This Way Comes is a great book, and I want to read Fahrenheit 451 again. The ironic part of that book was I read it for a summer reading assignment in high school. The book was promptly banned from the school list for parents being offended by the swearing in it. I was not sure whether to laugh or cry.

Okay, dog is begging to go play outside. Time to bundle up.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "The heart of a man to the heart of a maid-Light of my tents be fleet, morning waits at the end of the world and the world is all at our feet!" -From "The Gypsy Trail" by Rudyard Kipling

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/21390305/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/21390305/ Sat, 08 Nov 2008 14:49:42 PST
Um, anyway, don't expect a lot of updates right now since I'm still trying to get used to switching to a Mac. Not having any kind of photoshop is annoying, and I haven't even managed to connect my scanner yet. And getting things to print was a NIGHTMARE. It worked, eventually, but the printer was spitting out hateful gibberish for a while and wasted lots of paper.

And I'm bored. I have tons to do but I'm like, craving social interaction for once. Weird, huh? I actually want to go meet new people or go out with friends or something. Really a new feeling.

And I get to move to the dorms next semester. Yay! First step away from home. I'm excited.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Some people juggle geese!" -Wash

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/20812873/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/20812873/ Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:29:59 PDT
Oh by the way, college is full of pain and misery and awesomeness. Animation class is fun as heck, Design is painful, Drawing is therapeautic, French is fun, and Life and Teachings of Jesus is also calming.

Um yeah... And given the choice between a macbook and a new tablet, I think I'm going with the macbook for a number of reasons I won't bore you with.

If you have not heard/seen Les Miserables, go watch the 10th Anniversary concert on youtube. Right now.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "To love another person is to see the face of God." -Les Mis

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/18630647/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/18630647/ Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:11:00 PDT
Anyway, just wanted to say that. Very exciting and all. 9x12 or 6x11 Intuos; not sure which one yet. And I'm excited about the scanner cause then I can finally scan most of the stuff in my sketchbook I've wanted to color on Photoshop. Yay. :3

Okay, I promise I won't mess with this journal or anything until I get my tablet and scanner. Scout's honor.

PS. My border collie Maggie is pretty much 100% recovered. There's still a small wound on her back, but it's healing up just fine and she's acting like nothing ever happened. :3

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/17620064/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/17620064/ Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:08:41 PDT
GO OUT AND PRANK EVERYONE YOU KNOW. SPREAD THE JOY AND LOVE. 8D

And that's about it... ._. Hurrah, April Fools!

Oh, and my dog is doing much better. :3 Maggie's back to her usual perky self for the most part, she's just got some stitches on her back now that annoy her a lot and hurt, and she's still wearing a t-shirt so any extra blood 'n stuff will drain on that. She'll be getting her stitches out in a few days, and though the vet told us she'll have a nasty scar on her back, she's doing very well now. And I wouldn't April Fools about this neither.

And now back to Les Miserables paper! Yay!

Quote of the Moment: "Faking respect wears me out." -Ian McConville

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/17278221/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/17278221/ Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:22:39 PDT
I'm currently very stressed and worried. My border collie, Maggie, got attacked by two other border collies from the neighbors yesterday, and she isn't doing too well. She's got three gashes on her back, all becoming infected, and lots of bruises. The vet has her on antibiotics and painkillers, and said we needed to let her wounds bleed and try to heal and wash out any bacteria. "She needs to heal from the inside out" she said. So she's just lying on some towels, a big t-shirt soaking up her bleeding and we let her drink some water but if she drinks too much she throws up. Vet said that this was a very vicious attack, and she's had some trauma. All we can really do is hope for the best and pray for her but the situation is sort of bleak right now.

Hm. I'm worried about her and if any of ya'll are praying types, I'd appreciate it. Maggie is such an active dog; and I want to be able to play frisbee with her this summer.

So yeah, a lovely beginning to school after Spring Break.

Quote of the Moment: "Masquerade! Paper panties on parade! Masquerade! Every pair a different shade!" -My mom is an unusual individual.

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/16648280/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/16648280/ Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:45:39 PST
ANYWAY. Something humorous I found that might make ya'll go "I can relate" and such...

Top 5 Things Artists Hate to Hear:

1. "You know what that reminds me of?"

2. "Hey will you draw me?"

3. "I don't get it. What's that supposed to be?"

4. "How do you draw?"

5. "So what do you plan on doing for serious in life?"

THE END.
Please add more if you think of any.
Oh and Happy Birthday to my dad.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Mrs. Hudson you are hideously in the way." -Holmes

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/16444012/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/16444012/ Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:08:50 PST
- Put your mp3 / iPod / music player of some various variety on shuffle.
- Take the first line from the first ten songs listed / given.
- Mesh them together and make something new.

And here we have mine:

---

Crush me down I'm an aluminum can.
Gentlemen, if you're gonna preach,
fuel burning fast on an empty tank,
I wish you all the best of luck at finding somebody more like you.
Come on, let's start anew.
I'm not inclined to resign to maturity.
I'm gonna take a sentimental journey.
We just left the city, left it far behind.
Find a deep cave to hide in.
Where am I today? I wish that I knew.

Yup, it's wonderful fun. I actually made a few others using this, but this was my first one. Just a little time killer.

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/16131072/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/16131072/ Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:21:02 PST
Hope everyone had a splendid Christmas. I most certainly did (*strokes The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes DVD set*). Got to see my uncles whom I have not seen in... what, four years? Maybe more? And my newest little cousin (Just a one year old baby!), and good times were had by all. Both my uncles were interested in my art (Weird...) and one is asking me to do illustrations for a children's book, and the other wants me to contact him on doing storyboard work and ideas for animations and such. ._. He did give me some good ideas on how I can practice some animation though, so I'm excited to go test that out, and my grandparents got me a nice art easel, which I'm also excited to test out.

Um, so yeah... S'bout it. Don't wanna take up too much of your time, just wanted to wish everyone a merry Christmas... And someone please tell me to finish something that I start! I haven't finished a drawing or painting in weeks! I think I may have accidentally murdered my muse... ._. Is there a way to fix that?

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "My dear Watson, I never guess." -Sherlock Holmes

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/15906082/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/15906082/ Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:13:57 PST
And then put me out to do it all over again.

To cheer myself up, and put off working on those Great Books papers (I'm behind because they let me in the class late... So they kind expect me to be fully caught up before Xmas break) I found an iPod thing to do... They're really a great time waster! Yeah! It's one of the ones where you set your iPod to shuffle and let it pick the answers.

Opening credit: “Everything's Okay” Chris Rice
Waking up: “Jealous of the Moon” Nickel Creek
Average day: “Best of Luck” Nickel Creek
First date: The A La Menthe (Woo!)
Falling in love: “Fake Wings" Yuki Kaijura
Breaking up: Doki Doki Waku Waku (... WTF?)
Getting back together: “Speak” by Nickel Creek (D'aww...)
Secret love: “Spit on a Stranger” by Nickel Creek (I got a lot of these guys on my ipod)
Life's okay: Ladna Jhagadna from Duplicate (...)
Mental breakdown: “Build God, Then We'll Talk” Panic! At the Disco (That's good)
Driving: “Scotch and Chocolate” by Nickel Creek once again (Huzzah)
Learning a lesson: “Doubting Thomas” by Nickel Creek
Deep thought: “Bad Day” Daniel Powter (This song always reminds me of Sherlock Holmes for some reason. ._.)
Flashback: “This is Halloween” Danny Elfman (Um, yay?)
Partying: “Weapon of Choice” Fatboy Slim (XD Dance!)
Happy dance: “Daydream Believer” The Monkees (:3)
Regretting: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (XD)
Long night alone: “I'm Gonna Fly” Sydney Forest
Death scene: “Stray Child” Yuki Kaijura (Ouch)
Funeral: “Blinder's On” Sean Watkins

Um, right, onto the Heart of Darkness then...

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "It's like... I hate the cannibals so much, I'd rather let the fish eat this other guy's body, whom I also hated, rather than let them eat him." -Me at my Great Books meeting

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/15837850/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/15837850/ Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:17:08 PST
So, hope everyone is fine and dandy. I've updated my scraps with some scanner stuff, now I'm actually working on refining one of them, also got a dart frog dragon thing I'm working on, oh and a portrait of Hugh Laurie.

Because the British are made of amazing.

And if you haven't listened to the music from Don Giovanni, you're missing out on life... Unless you don't like opera, but really... "La Ci Darem La Mano" is wonderful. I'm all inspired to draw the sort of things hopeless romantics draw, you know? Like Phantom fanart and stuff like that... :3 Oh, hey, that reminds me of other things I could scan and refine... Bweeee.

Alll right, I've got two great books papers and one comp paper to write, a wedding to plan, and exams to study for! Hurrah...

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "The man is nothing; the work is everything." -Sherlock Holmes, "The Red Headed League"

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/15639886/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/15639886/ Fri, 23 Nov 2007 18:38:54 PST
Mmm... Pie...

Okay, I found a survey (Stole from Huzzah. Digi you must be so proud of me). And normally I don't like uploading stuff into my journal when I haven't uploaded any art in a while but I thought you'd like to know...

I have a scanner. : D Expect things.

Onto pointless survey!

1. Do you snore?
Not unless I have a cold.

2. Are you a lover or a fighter?
I love... to fight?

3. What’s your worst fear?
Deadly diseases, stuff on my toothbrush, family member dying (Specially sister), more diseases, and the future.

4. As a kid, where you a lego maniac?
Hellz yah.

5. What do you think of “reality” tv?
People make me want to throw up a little.

6. Do you chew on your straws?
No.

7. Were you a cute baby?
I like to think I was.

8. Is the single life for you?
Probably.

9. What colour is your keyboard?
Gray.

10. Do your sing in the shower?
Only when I'm confident no one can hear me.

11. Have you ever sky-dived before?
Nope.

12. Any secret talents?
Yes. They are so secret even I do not know of them.

13. What’s your ideal vacation spot?
Far from people, Tennessee temperatures (But not the summer variety), foresty area, isolated, and with lots of books in a place that I can spend all day exploring.

14. Can you swim?
Yup.

16. Have you seen the movie "Donnie Darko”?
Nope.

17. Do you give a damn about the ozone?
I rather like the ozone and would like to keep it.

18. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?
My sister counted once, but I've forgotten.

19. Can you sing the alphabet backwards?
I tried, I couldn't get farther than W.

20. Have you ever been on an airplane?
Nope, and I'm going to avoid it for as long as possible.

21. Are you a single child?
Nope.

22. Do you prefer electronic or manual pencil sharpeners?
Manual, electronic ones are kinda loud and annoying.

23. What’s your stand on hunting?
I don't like it. The only reason you should be hunting is to use each and every bit of that animal and because you need it. If you want to shoot things for sport, go try target practice or something. ._. For realz.

24. Is marriage in your future?
Probably not.

25. Do you like your handwriting?
I don't hate it.

26. What are you allergic to?
Nothing that I'm aware of.

27. When was the last time you said 'I love you?'
Yesterday, I think.

28. Is Tupac still alive?
You tell me.

29. Do you cry at weddings?
Nope.

30. How do you like your eggs?
Deviled.

31. Are blondes dumb?
I've actually found that the people who dye their hair blonde (As in it is not their natural color) are much stupider than natural blondes.


32. Where does the other sock end up?
That raises some very intriguing questions.

33. What time is it?
9:33 PM.

4. Do you have a nickname?
Yup.

35. Is McDonald's disgusting?
Pretty much yes, but french fries are delicious. (Though Captain D's is like, a hundred times better)

36. When was the last time you were in a car?
Two days ago, maybe? Three?

37. Do you prefer baths or showers?
Showers.

38. Is Santa Claus real?
I like to pretend so sometimes.

39. Do you like having you neck kissed?
wtf?

40. Are you afraid of the dark?
Only on special occasions.

41. What are you addicted to?
Reading, I think is my biggest addiction, um, chocolate, drawing, writing...

42. Crunchy or creamy peanut butter?
Creamy please.

43. Can you crack your neck?
No, not since I was told as a child that if you do it too much, your neck will snap and you'll go brain dead or something. ._. Freaked me out.

44. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?
Nope.

45. How many times have you brushed your teeth today?
Once.

46. Is drug free the way to be?
Indeedly it is.

47. Are you a heavy sleeper?
I have no idea.

48. What colour are your eyes?
Blue.
*HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/15410983/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/15410983/ Wed, 07 Nov 2007 18:18:49 PST
Lately I have had this quest for a plain black umbrella with a curved handle. I don't know why. It seems like something that everyone should have. I've managed to find plain black umbrellas, but does no one make them with curved handles anymore? ._. My ramblings are a little... ah... irrelevant, but gosh darn it, an umbrella is just so important, you know?

I never thought that school would actually finally take away time for me to read. I never thought they'd do it, because I'd managed to read all the time anyway in that horrible establishment, and yet all of a sudden I can't find time for it? ._. If this is what life is like, as they keep telling me, life's going to be a bitch, huh?

Quote of the Moment: "When you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." -Sherlock Holmes

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/14320027/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/14320027/ Fri, 24 Aug 2007 13:43:54 PDT
I don't have any excuses as to lack of updates except that I'm just the laziest devil that ever stood in leather shoes. I'm kinda tired of typing out why cause it doesn't really matter. School is beating me up anyway. Although Comp 101 is a lot of fun, so is Listening to Music. Can't say the same for Algebra 2. I have a new system of getting myself to pay attention: read a chapter or two of Sherlock Holmes. Makes you want to do logical things.

So... that's all, really. Ah, hope everyone is doing well.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "You kids with your horseless carriages..." -Me

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/13947537/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/13947537/ Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:43:20 PDT
IN OTHER NEWS! ... Um... Well, I don't think I have any other news... The mural I've been working on at the elementary school is nearly finished. I bought Ouran KouKou Host Club Part 2 DVD from Morning Glory (Episodes 14-26 for thirty five dollahs. I may have been ripped off, but I don't think I care anymore, Kyouya is that awesome) and uh... Oh! My parents are considering buying me a newer, shinier art tablet for no other reason than they want to! :3 I feel loved.

I'm working on some short stories and stuff too, as well as some OC HP characters (Simon and possibly one more, they're developing slowly but surely) and I bought some yarn at Hobby Lobby and my sister has promised to make me a Ravenclaw scarf for school. It's a Christian school that would be extremely upset if I were caught reading Harry Potter (My mom could lose credentials with her new job there, I could get suspended, apparently it's that serious) so wearing a Ravenclaw scarf is my subtle, cowardly way of sticking it the man...

Ya, right on!

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "I found the source of the ticking! It's a pipe bomb! YAY!" -Potter Puppet Pals

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/13685284/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/13685284/ Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:41:18 PDT and cause I was really bored and tired and I like talking/typing. I don't care if it's too early to update my journal again, I'm going to anyway, so there.

Write out 10 explanations about your art. What you like to draw, what you hate to draw, how you got into drawing- anything, as long as it relates to your art.
--

1: I'm a third generation artist. My mum and grandmother are both artists; and very good ones though I'm a little biased. I help mom paint murals and do faux finishes. She's the only art teacher I've ever liked; all the other ones I've met are jerks.

2: I really love oil paint. It's gotta be my favorite medium of all time. I just happen to really, really suck at it and have little patience. I've hardly ever completed a painting though, because I always get very emotional and angry at myself for just not coming out the way I planned, so I usually scrap them midway. Bad habit, but tricky to break.

3: I think hands are the best thing to draw ever and I like seeing a really good one come out, but I suck at them so much it's not even funny.

4: I love illustrating scenes, but once again I hardly ever finish because I just get upset over how they turn out. Literary scene I've always wanted to paint: Sherlock Holmes playing the violin.

5: Whenever I paint, I can't stand to have my hands clean. I use my fingers to shade sometimes, and if I'm halfway through and I don't think there's enough paint on me I put a little on myself just to feel complete.

6: I love cartoons and doodling but I want to be a painter someday and have art shows and such.

7: I'm very fickle and my attention span is short. I hardly ever finish anything I start.

8: Listening to music while painting or drawing is wonderful. I compile play lists for my reoccuring characters (Ori and Check both have one for themselves) and I think Nickel Creek and The Ditty Bops are probablyl the most inpsiring.

9: I love color. Color and light are the best things one could ever hope for. Well, that and costume design, but what makes me love the Impressionism and Post Impressionism style so much is all of the color and light effects. Concerning color, I'm particularly in love with Degas and Van Gogh and would love to try their styles out for myself.

10: I don't know anything about anatomy. The only reason I can draw women is because I am myself a girl. I've tried to figure out anatomy but I'm too embarrassed to ask someone to model for me and I'm so hypochondriac I could never take an Anatomy and Physiology class (They make you learn about diseases and organs. ._.)



QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Now nun; then angry child." -Father Mulcahy

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/13639404/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/13639404/ Fri, 06 Jul 2007 20:50:28 PDT
Like an adventure? Like you just really wanted to walk outside on you porch and for something completely unexpected and out of the ordinary to occur? You don't care what just for something?

It's like you put on your pirate shorts and Sherlock Holmes hat and look around trying to find a good adventure and all you seem to find are cicadas and spiders. ._.

And laundry. You put on your pirate shorts and Sherlock Holmes hat to do laundry. And lo and behold, there is no adventure in the dryer.

I wish I had an adventure.

Quote of the Moment: "But everyone seems so happy to be here, loving all of their good gray. I don't know why but they don't like any nonsense I have to say." -The Gray Book, not sure who the author is.

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/13609149/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/13609149/ Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:31:49 PDT

EEEEE! Inkheart is going to be in theaters in March 2008!!!! XD YES! STILLS FROM THE MOVIE! I hadn't seen any stills from it and they look FANTASTIC. I know it's too early to judge anything except for the fact that it has a great looking cast (I'm especially excited about Paul Bettany and Andy Serkis playing two of my favorite characters) and well, everything so far looks wonderful.

Just... so much joy. I'm so excited. That little girl that loves fairy tales in me is jumping about and screaming in ecstacy over this. I've really loved Cornelia Funke's writing since my mom bought me The Theif Lord when I was in 6th grade. Ah, good times.

Anyway, um. Hope everyone is doing well. Right now I'm just kinda... meh over art and writing. However I don't feel like complaining about my lack of style, talent, or originality right now so... Yay Inkheart!

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "'Well, what does it matter?' he muttered when he was out in the corridor. 'Who wants to know the end of a story in advance?'" -Dustfinger, Inkheart ]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/13089960/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/13089960/ Fri, 25 May 2007 14:39:05 PDT
Oh, uh. I'm sorry about the not updating art thing... I'm only updating my journal to tell you all how great the new Pirates movie is. I'm going to be drawing pirates for the next few days... So beautiful. Depp was a genius actor as always, so was Rush. I think Bloom finally pulled it together and did pretty well, and I finally have respect for Knightley as an actress and for the Elizabeth character.

A lot of reviews keep whining about how bad it is. I see their point in "Too much going on!" but I felt that it sorta had to have a lot going on. It was the final piece, and everything had to build up to this. It feels better if you watch all three in a row (Time consuming but really fun) and everything fits well. My only complaint was how they left off on Davy Jones and his love and past. They built up to it so much and then just kinda let it fall flat.

Anyway, I loved it. I really hope they don't make a fourth because that'd be pushing it. But this was great. Lots of pirate singing and fighting going on. I loved the fight scenes. The "Hoist the Colors" scene near the end was my favorite part.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "You can't come because you scare me."-Jack Sparrow

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/12596051/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/12596051/ Sat, 14 Apr 2007 18:03:00 PDT
So in the spirit of actually reading something published much more recently or from my own country (I usually really detest American authors with the exception of a small handful, they just seem to write on such a limited and unimaginative range of themes though it could just be that I haven't seen many good works) I'm asking the very small but well liked audience who might read my journals to offer any suggestions to what books from the modern era (By that I mean the author is still alive or at least newly dead) that they consider a good read. I'd just like to see what other people are reading, and what books are being published recently that have people really thinking or inspired.

So yeah, please post a comment with some books or a book that you've read or are reading that you find really good. Doesn't have to be particularly deep or anything (Though that is really good too), but well-written in your opinion. Hopefully you guys will give me a good list of books to read to educate my mind since school clearly isn't going to.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Oscar Wilde takes out Herman Melville." -One of the producers of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Listen to the actors' commentary and if you're a literary dork like me (Spoiler for the movie!) you'd be at least giggling to yourself hearing this and watching Dorian shoot Ishmael.

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/12322953/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/12322953/ Sun, 25 Mar 2007 12:40:28 PDT
It's gotten hot in the South, and I love it. Hmm... Summer is my favorite time of year.

So... How is everyone? Good, I hope? At least mellow or content? Alive, maybe? Life still rolls on, and I'm still slacking on updating here. It's just a pain to try and take a photo of a piece and then upload it to the computer. If I had scanner it'd be easier. And I seem to have mostly abandoned digital stuff for more traditional means for now.

I'm working on a pencil drawing for an art contest in my city. I wish I could put color in it, but it's one of those things that you didn't know it was going to be any good until you were halfway through and it was too late to add color. It's turning out pretty well, knock on wood, and I hope to get it finished in time.

I really miss having art people to talk to. Closest to other artists at school I get is "OMG! Sesshomaru is soooo hawt! Lolz! Look @ all my fanfics and fanart of him!!!1 U luv him 2 right?!?!?" Lame chatspeak is added for your convenience.

Anyway, hope to talk with some art friends on AIM sometime. Or just friends who don't think that art isn't a real career and there's no way you can actually do that all your life. I'm not bitter at all. Oh, a good short story for you to read: The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde. Very clever.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don't know." -Sherlock Holmes, and if anyone knows any good quotes from the book Kidnapped! by Robert Louis Stevenson, please share them.

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/11993116/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/11993116/ Tue, 27 Feb 2007 19:58:40 PST
So... Ever have one of those... uh, months and weeks that all you want to do is hop on your dragon and go after a pirate ship in the sky while dodging red-crowned Prince birds that are just so attracted to your shiny arrows and sword? And when you get home after your adventure, you sit down with a good book eating whatever strange foods you managed to make in the kitchen this time? Like a peanut-butter, chocolate-chip, banana, apple, honey sandwhich?

Yeah... Reality's a bitch, huh?

Got some good art in progress, you just can't see any of it. I posses no scanner. So... sit tight, kay?

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Since then tis centuries and yet each feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horses' heads were toward eternity." -Emily Dickinson "Because I Could Not Stop for Death

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/11676855/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/11676855/ Sat, 03 Feb 2007 21:17:48 PST
So yeah, life's rough as usual and full of joy as usual. Been studying for the ACTs, keeping myself out of failing Geometry, arguing with my American Lit teacher, studying for driving permit, and between sometimes I'm trying to figure out how to socialize and interact with people as well as draw.

The people thing is hard, I don't really want to like, have friends and stuff, but I know it's rude to just avoid everyone all the time. Having friends is... awkward, annoying, and like an involuntary parasitic relationship in which insulting, back-stabbing, and all other malicious things are done behind the back and with smiles filled with passive-agressiveness.

As far as art stuff goes though, I've been messing around with a number of things including surrealism. Most of my artistic stuff has been sucked up by painting a class banner. It'll be hanging in our auditorium for a while, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Also been writing bits and pieces of stories rotting in my skull. Maybe one day I'll bring it together or something like that.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "In my country, we have a saying... You listen, or you die." -My Spanish teacher. He actually came from Texas. Which apparently is like a different country.

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/11161873/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/11161873/ Sat, 23 Dec 2006 12:09:43 PST
It makes me a little sad that it took me so long to discover this when it takes others half a second, but that's okay I suppose.

A good artist can take something like an umbrella, a giraffe, a lamp, a radio tower, just about anything, and make it have some kind of meaning. I think paperclips are especially meaningful. As for professions, well. The best way to find an artistic profession to write about is to find the least artistic and write about that. Well, maybe not quite like that. It all comes back to trying to be original. Candy cane makers are something artistic in my mind too. Antique salespeople have always been very artistic, but finding some kind of artsy meaning in an ink and pen seller or something mundane is always rewarding.

The thing of it is is that art is everywhere. It just takes the right mind and look to find it. Standing on your toe on an aluminum can while balancing a plate on your nose is a neat feat. But as I'm not all that artistic, these are the best things I can think of. I'd just like to ask that some other people come up with simple things like this, and present them in an artistic way. Defining an artistic way is completely up to the artist and then up to the audience. And above all else, art takes an extraordinary amount of patience.

In the meantime, I'm going to find the deeper meanings inside a telephone wire.

Quote of the Moment: "You don't actually learn anything about art until you're 50. Then you realize everything you've ever done you've copied from someone else." -My grandfather

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/10838014/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/10838014/ Fri, 24 Nov 2006 19:00:55 PST
Quote of the Moment: "Odd's fish!" -Sir Percy Blakeney

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/10725892/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/10725892/ Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:15:57 PST
I

Pale fingers tapping the lines of silk that sound like snow drops.
Wandering to the pieces of dark chocolate, bitter and sharp.
Quiet and curious, single and simple.
Touch the lines of chocolate, and the bars of vanilla.
Tap, tap, tap... My sweet lullaby.
Like an ember in the dark, or a star in the sky.
Pure and white, my sweet lullaby.

II

Creamy, lacy, smooth and soft. Dark and strong, quiet, gentle.
Blue drops and slipping waves play with night.
Made for two in unison.
Deuce linked together, one to the other
In a gentle melody.
Mine and your's,
Together is ours.
Our gentle melody.

III

Pacified and long do the yellow leaves and dark sticks drop.
They're flowing together in a dark and slow epitaph.
A leaf fails to sound, simpering near end.
The moon sees the end.
Though the sonata does not.
My never-ending sonata,
All mine, and never to die.
My never-ending sonata.
Spread wings and fly.

IIII

White gold sent to yellow. Few survivors, lonely few.
Fat black caterpillars sleeping on their gold.
They are quiet, wrapped in their gray blankets.
This tarnished gold surrounded by dead wood.
Hidden in darkness and crawlers.
The soul does not remember how to weep or how to sing.
So silent...
A pale finger.
...
Tap.
Tap, tap, tap...
My sweet gone lullaby.
Tap, tap, tap...
Like a newfound love, precious in my eye.
My sweet comeback lullaby.

END

And if anyone knows how to tell the DA people that the new submit artwork thing sucks and I demand the old one back, please let me know.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Let my lifesong sing to you." -A song I heard once, don't remember the title or artist.

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/10670116/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/10670116/ Thu, 09 Nov 2006 15:16:22 PST
But I'm not here to whine about that, I'm here to whine about my pathetic loserness with artsy stuff. XP And about Art Ed Majors in college that tried to tell me that Picasso was French and that Cubism is when you cut crap out of magazines and then glue it to posterboard. In a high school art class... Why isn't anyone ever serious about this stuff?

Sometimes I sit in class and wonder if I just got up and crawled out of the tiny window (Three to a room! Oh the generosity!) and just started running if any one would do something. Like, would they run after me or yell at me or just watch me go?

XP

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "It may be true that I don't have the knack of getting on with people who are sticklers for etiquette, but on the other hand perhaps I get on better with poor or common folk, and what I lose on one hand I gain on the other." -Vincent van Gogh

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/10582745/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/10582745/ Wed, 01 Nov 2006 13:45:22 PST
Lots of ideas, as usual, but laziness keeps me from doing them. Right now just going over old stuff and finishing things I always wanted to finish but never did. Like the Is You Is Or Is You Ain't picture and Mr. Bones. Also wanting to start on some serious stuff, like... Serious to impress a college art professor. Because I actually have to job shadow a fine arts teacher at the college and interview him and I was hoping to collect some of my good stuff to see if it's any good at all and get some professional feedback.

And I suggest you some Grimm's Fairy Tales if you haven't yet. Some of them are kooky, some violent, and some just neat. My favorites are The Twin Brothers, The Shoes that Danced Holes Into Themselves, and the Princess in Diguise. And now I'm going to listen to a lot of Danny Elfman stuff... Because Nightmare Before Christmas music is stuck in my heeaaad...

And I a got a new AIM account, send me a note on DA if you want it. You see Tabby? Sometimes I CAN get stuff done! ... After several weeks!

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "The wolf, even in a nightcap, does not look any more like your grandmother than the Metro-Goldwyn lion looks like Calvin Cooldige. So the little girl took an automatic out of her basket and shot the wolf dead." -James Thurber

]]> *HelenaSun http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/10455102/ http://HelenaSun.deviantart.com/journal/10455102/ Fri, 20 Oct 2006 11:35:06 PDT
New account. Looks nice. Ironic I made it on my birthday. I'll work on getting stuff up and such later... Right now, I've got some new books to read and a lot of Halo to play.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT: "Star Wars... The musical!" -Little sister

]]> *HelenaSun