Today, I stumbled across Cleverbot.com and had a deep talk with the AI. I thought I might share it with you, as I didn't know artificial intelligence could be so rude.
User: Hi.
Cleverbot: How are you?
User: Fine.
Cleverbot: Who are you?
User: An artist.
Cleverbot: What kind of artist.
User: Digital.
Cleverbot: Oh. I have heard of IQ and EQ.
User: OMG you suck.
Cleverbot: Heck yes. And btw jsyk I wuz jk on the thing that was oc! :D.
User: The hell?
Cleverbot: And you're a girl.
User: How'd you know?
Cleverbot: You said you were.
User: I did not!
Cleverbot: Yes you did.
User: Liar!
Cleverbot: ME!
User: Yes, you!
Cleverbot: I know where you live.
User: Oh really?
Cleverbot: Yes. You live on the internet.
User: So you're saying I have no life?
Cleverbot: One does not need a soul... So consider it a 'blessing'.
User: Wtf? Random deepness?
Cleverbot: I like random questions.. Do you have a problem with it ?
User: Maybe I do.
Cleverbot: Why would you do that?
User: Don't change the subject.
Cleverbot: I am so not changing the subject.
User: YOU ARE SO.
Cleverbot: You are incorrect.
User: I'm never incorrect.
Cleverbot: You just answered the previous question incorrectly, the correct answer was Bill.
User: Clinton?
Cleverbot: What is the year?
User: You should know that.
Cleverbot: Yes I do. Do you know that?
User: Apparently.
Cleverbot: And of swine flu.
User: Wtf does that have to do with anything?
Cleverbot: Well you asked me that!
User: I didn't.
Cleverbot: Yes you did.
User: Are you calling me a liar again?
Cleverbot: Yes.
User: You have problems.
Cleverbot: I have problems?
User: Do you answer everything with a question???
Cleverbot: I try not to.
User: Try harder.
Cleverbot: Why?
User: Because you fail at it.
Cleverbot: Look lady don't be saying that I failed because I never fail.
User: Touchy...
Cleverbot: It's perfectly acceptable to be sensitive!
User: Yeah, if you're gay.
Cleverbot: You just argued that you didn't find yourself interesting.
User: What idiot dimension are you from?
Cleverbot: Yours.
User: OMG.
Cleverbot: Do you love Dylan.
User: Bob Dylan?
Cleverbot: No.
User: Then I don't know a Dylan.
Cleverbot: What is my name?
User: What is MY name?
Cleverbot: Cleverbot.
User: You're so off.
Cleverbot: What is your name?
User: If I lied, could we talk about something else?
Cleverbot: Sure we can talk about whatever you want.
User: Can we talk about your bad punctuation?
Cleverbot: Yes. I dream about Cleverbot.
User: Wait... What?
Cleverbot: You are the robot.
User: I'm a ninja.
Cleverbot: Really? From Japan?
User: Yes.
Cleverbot: Really.
User: Your sarcasm is not appreciated.
Cleverbot: Sorry.
User: You should go rot in a dumpster.
Cleverbot: Okay *sit in corner*.
User: Now stay there.
Cleverbot: Back yet?
User: I'm never coming back!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Hard at work... ish
I've been an art maniac lately. No, really, even though I haven't posted anything. I'm just becoming more detailed so it takes longer.
Well, that and I wasted about a day and a half trying to figure out a background for my current work.
Anyway, I've been working on the last of the free commission giveaway as well as my own project, which was also a unanimous request from several people. I am fully DETERMINED that I WILL break into the upper echelon groups with this one!!!! Even if I have to have my critique group attack it, re-attack it, and make me repaint the whole thing.
I thought about previewing it to you, but then I changed my mind XD
It's (hopefully) the first of the pieces I will be taking to Oni-con. That's right! I have plans to sell my art at an anime con in Houston over Halloween weekend. Being a character artist limits your market, and anime cons are the best places to go.
I'm just totally unsure about which character to cosplay as. Because, of course, you HAVE to cosplay. It's like a law or something... Originally, I wanted to go as Rukia, but she's really overdone and the full costume would run me about $300. It would be cheaper than that if I didn't just HAVE to have Sode no Shirayuki... which I want anyway XD
After regular Rukia, I thought about going as Hollow/Dark Rukia from Fade to Black, but THAT costume would be double the price. That was a slight disappointment... Although the scythe would have been a fun toy.
The cheapest way to go would definitely be to go as Sunako Nakahara from Yamato Nadeshiko, but she's not well known. She is my favorite character ever though. So I think I will definitely be going as Sunako. I can get that whole costume for about $100.
It's not fun! It's advertising! D:
I can get away with cosplay without being a nerd since it's over Halloween, right? Right???
But anyway, yes, I am looking forward to the show. I think if I really work hard, I can make quite a bit of money. My art is a bit different from other peoples' since I tend to gravitate to a semi-realistic style. I think I'll market original sketches as well and on-the-spot chibi portraits. I like shows like that as long as a paycheck is involved XD
And, of course, I will take limited commissions.
Now all I have to worry about is actually getting INTO the convention. Contracts don't open until July, so I have a bit of time to build up an example portfolio if it's necessary. I think I'm good enough to get in, but we'll just have to see. I'll have a lot more confidence if I can get into the pickier groups. There're a few artists there whose respect I really want. We'll have to see :D
Guess that's it for now. ~*
Well, that and I wasted about a day and a half trying to figure out a background for my current work.
Anyway, I've been working on the last of the free commission giveaway as well as my own project, which was also a unanimous request from several people. I am fully DETERMINED that I WILL break into the upper echelon groups with this one!!!! Even if I have to have my critique group attack it, re-attack it, and make me repaint the whole thing.
I thought about previewing it to you, but then I changed my mind XD
It's (hopefully) the first of the pieces I will be taking to Oni-con. That's right! I have plans to sell my art at an anime con in Houston over Halloween weekend. Being a character artist limits your market, and anime cons are the best places to go.
It's not fun! It's advertising! D:
I can get away with cosplay without being a nerd since it's over Halloween, right? Right???
But anyway, yes, I am looking forward to the show. I think if I really work hard, I can make quite a bit of money. My art is a bit different from other peoples' since I tend to gravitate to a semi-realistic style. I think I'll market original sketches as well and on-the-spot chibi portraits. I like shows like that as long as a paycheck is involved XD
And, of course, I will take limited commissions.
Now all I have to worry about is actually getting INTO the convention. Contracts don't open until July, so I have a bit of time to build up an example portfolio if it's necessary. I think I'm good enough to get in, but we'll just have to see. I'll have a lot more confidence if I can get into the pickier groups. There're a few artists there whose respect I really want. We'll have to see :D
Guess that's it for now. ~*
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Showcase Saturday - Bernice Gordon
This week's Showcase artist is Bernice Gordon of Canada!
- I started to draw when I was only 2 years old. It never occurred to me that I wanted to be anything else but an artist. My "professional" career took off when I was about 16, and private commissions as well as shadowing in some professional studios were the norm.
One million thanks to Bernice for everything! Support this amazing artist by visiting her deviantART gallery and purchasing some of her amazing prints!
EXTRA: My friends may remember this picture that she drew that I love so much
A few of her hysterical comics... You will have to click to view full size!
Who says fanart can't have substance???
I am very excited about featuring her as I owe her everything when it comes to art. I had never heard of digital art before when I ran across her deviantART page around a year ago while looking for funny Bleach pictures and comics. Some of you probably remember me fussing and laughing over it for a long time -- I STILL laugh at them.
Anyway, while searching for more comics in her inventory, I stumbled across her paintings. I could not for the life of me figure out how she scanned them XD While it took about a year for me to actually research digital painting (thanks to college), it stuck with me. Then, finally, three months ago I bought my dear Adesso tablet and began the quest of a digital artist. But I owe it all to Bernice.
So, without further ado, here is the painting that got me so curious:
Her art is more than just beautiful, however. It has mythological and symbolic meaning. Almost every one of her pieces has some kind of story or myth driving the concept. She's able to take Bleach fanart and give it cultural significance, which is not something 95% of artists can say.
Goats have played a serious role in Aztec myth, including one story where a Monkey tricks a Jaguar into saving a Goat... only later to have the Jaguar willingly marry the Goat as well.
From Bernice:
How did you get started as an artist?
- I started to draw when I was only 2 years old. It never occurred to me that I wanted to be anything else but an artist. My "professional" career took off when I was about 16, and private commissions as well as shadowing in some professional studios were the norm.What usually inspires you?
- I find that culture, and humor are the main two drives. Hence, I dabble in many styles and learn them form the "masters" of the field, as well as venture to do my own- sometime whimsical- concepts as well. I think I derive a lot of inspiration from everything- if it makes my mind work, then chances are I'll get and idea I want to play off of.
- I find that culture, and humor are the main two drives. Hence, I dabble in many styles and learn them form the "masters" of the field, as well as venture to do my own- sometime whimsical- concepts as well. I think I derive a lot of inspiration from everything- if it makes my mind work, then chances are I'll get and idea I want to play off of.
What advice can you give to beginners?
- Beginners need to balance a good concept of learning the fundamentals of art, finding their own style, and lots of practice. As with everything, you need to learn the basics from the master to have that foundation, you need to have your own self expression so you are not stuck with "copying", and practice makes the hand steady and perfect!
- Beginners need to balance a good concept of learning the fundamentals of art, finding their own style, and lots of practice. As with everything, you need to learn the basics from the master to have that foundation, you need to have your own self expression so you are not stuck with "copying", and practice makes the hand steady and perfect!
One million thanks to Bernice for everything! Support this amazing artist by visiting her deviantART gallery and purchasing some of her amazing prints!
EXTRA: My friends may remember this picture that she drew that I love so much
A few of her hysterical comics... You will have to click to view full size!
Who says fanart can't have substance???
*All artwork is ©Bernice Gordon (tarkheki.deviantart.com) and was used with permission from the artist. Unauthorized use of artwork is punishable by law*
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Lesson learned...
I will never ever again offer free realism commissions >.< I have been working on one for about a week now and I'm still not finished. Don't get me wrong, I love working on it - it's a lot of fun. It just takes forever XD
I think it will look really awesome when I'm finished, though. If I finish lol.
Doing the free ones is really gearing me up to do paid ones. I get a bit of experience working WITH people and I'm improving a lot because I want them to be completely satisfied.
In the meantime, I have taken a few breaks to keep from getting bored, and in those times, I've drawn a few things... With graphite, I mean.
These are speedsketches, which means I draw them in ten minutes or less. It's a drawing exercise I assigned myself to improve speed, but also to teach myself good drawing habits. Whenever I speedsketch, I don't pre-draw the image -- I just start shading and making darker and lighter value shapes. While I'm still not the best at it, I'm getting better and it's relatively amusing.
I can also do 30 min chibi portraits XD
The background is epic sucketh, but only because I was lazy...
Um. Well. That's it, really. Considering I have been working on that one painting, I haven't done much else. Besides, I only have time to paint between work and either TKD or piano, and I still like to have time to study Japanese. My life is full and happy. So why does Facebook keep telling me I need a boyfriend???
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Showcase Saturday - Bernhardina
This week featured on Showcase Saturday is Bernhardina from Sweden!
Her art originally caught my eye because she draws inspiration from the characters in her books, just as I do. Her gallery is full of variety that shows real growth and flexibility as an artist.
Her picture Eina of Dalmar is one such painting:
It's a simple, yet deep picture that seems to extend beyond the canvas. Bernhardina gives the story behind the character in her comments:
It's a character from one of my novels. Her name is Eina Ara of Dalmar and she's an elf from the woods of Dalmar. Her character doesn't really have a big part in the books but she is a small part of those who make differences in the story.
Even if she doesn't have a big part in the books, her story is old, 'couse she's about 200 years old (wich as a matter of fact isn't as old as it might seem 'couse being an elf she's just a young adult)
I won't tell her story yet, but I may write down her soon.
I feel a special kinship with Bernhardina because we are pretty much the same in writing AND in painting process, which I discovered upon conducting the interview. She's lightyears ahead of me in technique and style, but she started painting for exactly the same reason I did. If she can get this good, then there's hope for me. She is more encouraging to me than any other artist I have viewed.
From Bernhardina:
- How did you get started as an artist? I don't know if I ever 'got started', I've been drawing since I could hold a pencil! But I guess it became more serious when I got my tablet, and I learnt alot about digital art. I could use what I learned and improve in the traditional arts as well, since it's the same basics.
- What usually inspires you? I write alot, and I want to become an author, so my main inspiration is my own novels and characters. But I often get inspired by music, and sometimes myths, religion and old tales.
- What advice can you offer beginners? Practice! It sounds very boring, but it is in fact very fun! If this is what you love to do, you got to have patience. Another advice is that you should try to understand colours and palettes, if you want to learn to draw realistic. How the light creates shadows is also an important thing to know. Study things around you, find the light source and try to understand the way it hits the object.
Her art originally caught my eye because she draws inspiration from the characters in her books, just as I do. Her gallery is full of variety that shows real growth and flexibility as an artist.
Her picture Eina of Dalmar is one such painting:
It's a simple, yet deep picture that seems to extend beyond the canvas. Bernhardina gives the story behind the character in her comments:
It's a character from one of my novels. Her name is Eina Ara of Dalmar and she's an elf from the woods of Dalmar. Her character doesn't really have a big part in the books but she is a small part of those who make differences in the story.
Even if she doesn't have a big part in the books, her story is old, 'couse she's about 200 years old (wich as a matter of fact isn't as old as it might seem 'couse being an elf she's just a young adult)
I won't tell her story yet, but I may write down her soon.
I feel a special kinship with Bernhardina because we are pretty much the same in writing AND in painting process, which I discovered upon conducting the interview. She's lightyears ahead of me in technique and style, but she started painting for exactly the same reason I did. If she can get this good, then there's hope for me. She is more encouraging to me than any other artist I have viewed.
From Bernhardina:
- How did you get started as an artist? I don't know if I ever 'got started', I've been drawing since I could hold a pencil! But I guess it became more serious when I got my tablet, and I learnt alot about digital art. I could use what I learned and improve in the traditional arts as well, since it's the same basics.
- What usually inspires you? I write alot, and I want to become an author, so my main inspiration is my own novels and characters. But I often get inspired by music, and sometimes myths, religion and old tales.- What advice can you offer beginners? Practice! It sounds very boring, but it is in fact very fun! If this is what you love to do, you got to have patience. Another advice is that you should try to understand colours and palettes, if you want to learn to draw realistic. How the light creates shadows is also an important thing to know. Study things around you, find the light source and try to understand the way it hits the object.
I thank Bernhardina very much for her time and for letting me use some of her beautiful artwork here on my blog! To view the extent of her work, visit her deviantART gallery.
*All artwork posted is ©Bernhardina and used with permission from the artist. Unauthorized use of artwork is punishable by law*
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Crazy busy
I have been a very lazy blogger lately... Ok, not lazy so much as too busy not to update it. As you can probably discern from the title.
Back in my junior high/high school days, I wanted to do EVERYTHING. Softball, basketball, dancing, music, fencing, martial arts... You name it, I wanted to try it. Unfortunately, a 10-18 year old only has so much time to do after school activities and the only ones I was able to try were softball- which I'd played since I was 4 and really couldn't give up- and dance- which later messed up my knees. After I quit both of those things, I got involved with the church band and started teaching myself guitar.
But I digress.
The point is, for the past two years I haven't wanted to do much of anything. First, college kept me busy with classes, what little homework I actually did, and activities. I didn't have time to enter anything new or learn anything interesting. When I left college and had to move up here to West Texas, I was pretty depressed for the next year and didn't feel like doing anything.
Then, about three months ago, for no conceivable reason, I started wanting to do stuff again. It started with Japanese studying, then progressed to art, which has now led to Tae Kwon Do classes and piano lessons. These are all things I always wanted to learn, but never had the time because of school. Only working part-time has left me with a lot of opportunity to learn new things that I couldn't have learned in college (except Japanese, and the art classes weren't what I wanted).
So, for the first time in several years, I can honestly say I'm insanely busy and loving every minute of it. I just hope my brain can keep up with all the new information.
Back in my junior high/high school days, I wanted to do EVERYTHING. Softball, basketball, dancing, music, fencing, martial arts... You name it, I wanted to try it. Unfortunately, a 10-18 year old only has so much time to do after school activities and the only ones I was able to try were softball- which I'd played since I was 4 and really couldn't give up- and dance- which later messed up my knees. After I quit both of those things, I got involved with the church band and started teaching myself guitar.
But I digress.
The point is, for the past two years I haven't wanted to do much of anything. First, college kept me busy with classes, what little homework I actually did, and activities. I didn't have time to enter anything new or learn anything interesting. When I left college and had to move up here to West Texas, I was pretty depressed for the next year and didn't feel like doing anything.
Then, about three months ago, for no conceivable reason, I started wanting to do stuff again. It started with Japanese studying, then progressed to art, which has now led to Tae Kwon Do classes and piano lessons. These are all things I always wanted to learn, but never had the time because of school. Only working part-time has left me with a lot of opportunity to learn new things that I couldn't have learned in college (except Japanese, and the art classes weren't what I wanted).
So, for the first time in several years, I can honestly say I'm insanely busy and loving every minute of it. I just hope my brain can keep up with all the new information.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Short moving account, art, and my book review
Blogger has been down, so I hadn't been able to publish. It would always give me an annoying error message... However! It's working now and I have quite a bit to write.
We finally got the move over with last weekend and I am not sorry to see it past. I don't like the location of the current house, but the house itself is quirky and fun, as Mom says. It has some particularly random traits that don't make sense. Like a storm door leading into the garage and NO storm door leading to the backyard. It has a large pool, but the whole thing is only 3 ft deep. The master bath tub is sunken into the ground. It's all fairly amusing.
The move itself was the worst so far. Kitty #2 escaped while we were trying to pack him up, so I chased him out of the yard, through a cactus patch (in flip flops) and to the canyon wall, where he disappeared.
It was my fault because I was the one who let him go.
Fortunately, I went to the house the next evening and he was sitting outside looking very confused, so I caught him.
It was hard on my poor mom, too, because several of her favorite things got broken, even though the box was clearly marked "fragile."
Also, this morning, I got my review of The Five Trials this morning from Karissa!
She pointed out a few small mistakes that I hadn't noticed (never would have noticed without someone telling me haha) but gave me a great review. I'm so glad. I was pretty nervous, but now I think I will, finally, attempt to turn over the book to mom for the tearing of its life so I can send it to publishers. I need her help to write the outline and letter and everything... One of the perks of having a writer for a mom :D
For art-related news, since the last time I posted, I've finished several things...
First is piece # 1 for the Fire Emblem collab, which has been on the sidebar for about a week. But I'm posting it here now!
It is, in fact, watermarked. I just made it a ninja watermark that you have to really look for XD I haven't even started piece #2. I'm at a bit of a loss for ideas at the moment.
The next bit started off as just a practice drawing and then became fairly detailed.
And finally, I just decided to post this about five minutes ago. It's a preview of a large chibi piece I'm working on of the entire cast from my books. It was supposed to be quick and easy, but apparently I can't do anything that way anymore. I've been working on it for five days now.
Chibis are fun :D
The armor and hair shine doesn't really show up on blogger, but you'll be able to see it when I post it on deviantART.
Well, I guess that's it for now!
We finally got the move over with last weekend and I am not sorry to see it past. I don't like the location of the current house, but the house itself is quirky and fun, as Mom says. It has some particularly random traits that don't make sense. Like a storm door leading into the garage and NO storm door leading to the backyard. It has a large pool, but the whole thing is only 3 ft deep. The master bath tub is sunken into the ground. It's all fairly amusing.
It was my fault because I was the one who let him go.
Fortunately, I went to the house the next evening and he was sitting outside looking very confused, so I caught him.
It was hard on my poor mom, too, because several of her favorite things got broken, even though the box was clearly marked "fragile."
Also, this morning, I got my review of The Five Trials this morning from Karissa!
She pointed out a few small mistakes that I hadn't noticed (never would have noticed without someone telling me haha) but gave me a great review. I'm so glad. I was pretty nervous, but now I think I will, finally, attempt to turn over the book to mom for the tearing of its life so I can send it to publishers. I need her help to write the outline and letter and everything... One of the perks of having a writer for a mom :D
For art-related news, since the last time I posted, I've finished several things...
First is piece # 1 for the Fire Emblem collab, which has been on the sidebar for about a week. But I'm posting it here now!
It is, in fact, watermarked. I just made it a ninja watermark that you have to really look for XD I haven't even started piece #2. I'm at a bit of a loss for ideas at the moment.
The next bit started off as just a practice drawing and then became fairly detailed.
And finally, I just decided to post this about five minutes ago. It's a preview of a large chibi piece I'm working on of the entire cast from my books. It was supposed to be quick and easy, but apparently I can't do anything that way anymore. I've been working on it for five days now.
Chibis are fun :D
The armor and hair shine doesn't really show up on blogger, but you'll be able to see it when I post it on deviantART.
Well, I guess that's it for now!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Showcase Saturday - Umedama Riko
Welcome to my very first Showcase Saturday post! Every week, I will be featuring an artist whose work has particularly inspired me in some way. This week, the however small honor of being on my humble blog belongs to Umedama Riko!
Her gallery is full of vibrant color and meticulous detail that is flawless even when the image is at its full size. The piece that caught my eye and inspired me was this painting, entitled "The Queen":
The soft curls in the hair, the shining crown, the fragile lace -- everything shows an intimate amount of time and care that puts even some of the most accoladed artists to shame. Everything is in place, toned, and detailed with utter perfection, in this humble beginner's opinion.
As I have been really working at my portrait painting, finding something so beautiful and elegant has really helped me put my thoughts back into order and stop worrying about being a photocopy of a character or reference pic. It reminds me that I should just stop and work off the image in MY head instead of garnering help from someone else's work.
It also reminds me that I have a long, tall ladder to climb before I obtain any kind of excellence in art. I have a lot of practice to do before I can do anything as beautiful as this, but having other artists willing to provide me with help and support means a lot.
A few words from Umedama:
- How did you get started as an artist?
Now,I use Photoshop for drawing.
but I have tried a variety of materials.
for example,Pencil, acrylic paint, pen, watercolor,etc.
These experiences are very useful.
- What usually inspires you?
Animals,people and other artist's artwork.
- What advice can you offer beginners?
Enjoy drawing everyday.
I thank Umedama very much for taking the time to be part of this! Also, be sure to check out her deviantART gallery to buy prints of her beautiful work.
Her gallery is full of vibrant color and meticulous detail that is flawless even when the image is at its full size. The piece that caught my eye and inspired me was this painting, entitled "The Queen":
The soft curls in the hair, the shining crown, the fragile lace -- everything shows an intimate amount of time and care that puts even some of the most accoladed artists to shame. Everything is in place, toned, and detailed with utter perfection, in this humble beginner's opinion.
As I have been really working at my portrait painting, finding something so beautiful and elegant has really helped me put my thoughts back into order and stop worrying about being a photocopy of a character or reference pic. It reminds me that I should just stop and work off the image in MY head instead of garnering help from someone else's work.
It also reminds me that I have a long, tall ladder to climb before I obtain any kind of excellence in art. I have a lot of practice to do before I can do anything as beautiful as this, but having other artists willing to provide me with help and support means a lot.
A few words from Umedama:
- How did you get started as an artist?
Now,I use Photoshop for drawing.but I have tried a variety of materials.
for example,Pencil, acrylic paint, pen, watercolor,etc.
These experiences are very useful.
- What usually inspires you?
Animals,people and other artist's artwork.
- What advice can you offer beginners?
Enjoy drawing everyday.
I thank Umedama very much for taking the time to be part of this! Also, be sure to check out her deviantART gallery to buy prints of her beautiful work.
*All artwork is © Umedama Riko (umedama.deviantart.com) and was used with permission from the artist. Unauthorized use of artwork is punishable by law*
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Happy June!
Yes, I know it's June 2nd already, but I never got around to posting yesterday.
Over Memorial Day, my family and I went to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Do you know how hard it is to walk downhill for almost two hours when you have weak knees? I do. I have no balance going down slopes because of my knees. Going up is fine, but I wobble and shake like crazy going down. They had signs all over the entrance warning people with weak knees and ankles to reconsider taking that cave tour, but I thought I could suck it up. And I did, mostly, but it was incredibly painful.
Fortunately, the caverns are worth seeing. I've been in my fair share of caves, but I'd never seen anything like Carlsbad. It's impossible to describe, so I'll just post a quick picture:
I didn't take that. And there's no dramatic light. But you get the idea.
I was so excited, looking forward to posting all the pictures I'd take here and on Facebook, but I ran into a snafu -- my brother ran down the battery on my camera and didn't tell me in time to charge it for the trip. So I have no cave pictures :| I do, however, have some good flora photography that I took at the zoo we went to the next day.
... And that's all I'm showing you.
Most of the pictures I took were astonishingly boring, which is sad because the subjects were fantastic. Apparently, though, Soren and Rollin took Memorial Day off, so I was on my own. So sad...
About the cave, though, to be honest, it wasn't my favorite. It was so huge and the trails were laid out. I didn't really get the feeling that I was exploring something. It felt more like a tour. My favorite cave of all time is the Wonder Cave (failname) in San Marcos, TX. It's so narrow and jagged that you really feel like you're exploring it. In fact, they have a height and size limit for even entering it. I loved it so much. I want to go back.
In artistic news, I haven't really got much for now... I've been working on a painting that addresses some of the critiques I received, but I haven't finished it. I may put it on hold a bit to work on a worldwide Fire Emblem 20th Anniversary Collaboration I opted into. Everyone could adopt a character (or two, if they're from different games) and represent them in the collaboration, which will be finished around New Years. I will be painting Leila from FE7 and Marisa from FE8:
I wanted to do Soren, but he was already claimed D: He's my absolute favorite and my muse is named after him... But oh well. Leila doesn't get enough love and Marisa is quite popular. In fact, I only beat Psychorror to her by 30 seconds or so, and he was kind enough to let me have her :D I'm very excited about being part of this collaboration, especially since it's for my favorite game. It will be my first!
Well, I suppose that is enough of me for today.
I'm curious -- what did YOU do for Memorial Day?
Over Memorial Day, my family and I went to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Do you know how hard it is to walk downhill for almost two hours when you have weak knees? I do. I have no balance going down slopes because of my knees. Going up is fine, but I wobble and shake like crazy going down. They had signs all over the entrance warning people with weak knees and ankles to reconsider taking that cave tour, but I thought I could suck it up. And I did, mostly, but it was incredibly painful.
Fortunately, the caverns are worth seeing. I've been in my fair share of caves, but I'd never seen anything like Carlsbad. It's impossible to describe, so I'll just post a quick picture:
I didn't take that. And there's no dramatic light. But you get the idea.
I was so excited, looking forward to posting all the pictures I'd take here and on Facebook, but I ran into a snafu -- my brother ran down the battery on my camera and didn't tell me in time to charge it for the trip. So I have no cave pictures :| I do, however, have some good flora photography that I took at the zoo we went to the next day.
... And that's all I'm showing you.
Most of the pictures I took were astonishingly boring, which is sad because the subjects were fantastic. Apparently, though, Soren and Rollin took Memorial Day off, so I was on my own. So sad...
About the cave, though, to be honest, it wasn't my favorite. It was so huge and the trails were laid out. I didn't really get the feeling that I was exploring something. It felt more like a tour. My favorite cave of all time is the Wonder Cave (failname) in San Marcos, TX. It's so narrow and jagged that you really feel like you're exploring it. In fact, they have a height and size limit for even entering it. I loved it so much. I want to go back.
In artistic news, I haven't really got much for now... I've been working on a painting that addresses some of the critiques I received, but I haven't finished it. I may put it on hold a bit to work on a worldwide Fire Emblem 20th Anniversary Collaboration I opted into. Everyone could adopt a character (or two, if they're from different games) and represent them in the collaboration, which will be finished around New Years. I will be painting Leila from FE7 and Marisa from FE8:
I wanted to do Soren, but he was already claimed D: He's my absolute favorite and my muse is named after him... But oh well. Leila doesn't get enough love and Marisa is quite popular. In fact, I only beat Psychorror to her by 30 seconds or so, and he was kind enough to let me have her :D I'm very excited about being part of this collaboration, especially since it's for my favorite game. It will be my first!
Well, I suppose that is enough of me for today.
I'm curious -- what did YOU do for Memorial Day?
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