Dreamscape

So is that Tieria or not? Eurgh, I'll have to wait until October to find out. By that time, I would have graduated from college, and will be proceeding towards my graduate programme either in HK or UK. What an uncertain future all twenty-somethings must suffer through. I'm definitely leaving LA, but I'll be sad to part with the environment here.

I won't miss the sleezy bastards who keep trying to speak with me in Japanese, or the uppity rich blokes on campus who seem to have money to flush down the loo. But then I love the constantly 17C weather, the loud music being blared from the frat house next door, and the element of unpredictability. Who knows if you're going to get mugged tonight, or have a double homicide next door? How will I be able to sleep without the LAPD helicopters circling around above me at night? Or the midnight fire engine sirens?

HK is just like a little greenhouse, where everything is so controlled and regulated. I felt as though I grew more in LA than I did in the decade I spent in HK before. Maybe after I'm done with everything I need to do I'll return to this city...
I must stop thinking such depressing thoughts! I'm in my early twenties, I should be excited and happy about going to new places and experiencing different cultures! I need to have the 'I-don't-care-about-whatever-happens-in-the-next-few-years' mentality! (In retrospect, I think there are some serious attachment issues here....as well the persistent fear of change).

PS: I had an inferiority complex a couple of days ago, when I realized I'm no long #1. But I've managed to get over it. First I need to finish my undergraduate stuff first, and worry later.

Work in Progress II

Lockon no more: it's Lock-off?!

Tieria, you cut your hair? Hahaha if anyone read the heading for this topic, you would realize it is a lame pun on Lockon's name....Lockon...Locks....Locks-off? But I've got to say, the hair looks good on him. At first my reaction was "eh?!" but then I gradually got to like it. It makes him look even more feminine than before (yes, it is possible!). And it's a sweet way for him to remember Lockon by. Shipping time!

Or was that actually him we saw in the epilogue for the first season? Some people claims that he emitted a very girly 'hmph' at the end, but then his voice was always a little unpredictable to begin with (not the seiyuu's fault; I am referring to the Tieria's constant language change). Ah well, I hope it is him. In retrospect, the last episode wasn't bad at all; despite the semi-amusing parts (that weren't supposed to be amusing), I liked the way they wrapped up some things but left us with a bit of a cliff-hanger too.

One thing: I wish they would break the trend of having a masked-man (Graham) on set. It was tolerable in Gundam Wing, even in Seed and Seed Destiny, but since this series is not set in a fictional universe....it takes a bit more effort for us to stomach the mask thing. I'm sure no one in the future would wear such a fashion faux-pas. And Ribbons being the mastermind doesn't really surprise me; but I was not expecting his male harem in the end. Why didn't he ask Tieria to apply for a harem spot?

I'm experimenting with new ways of colouring....instead of the usual flat-one-tone thing I have going on. I sort of like this style, so I'll keep trying it out for now.

Work in Progress

Work in progress; the four meisters together! And in school uniforms...I will change the designs of them later, but I just shaded it in now so I get a gist of what shape I want the outfits to look like. Lockon and Alle will probably not wear jackets, since they're the rebels/cool people. Setsuna and Tieria should be in the middle-school age bracket, so the rules are stricter for them...well, that was how it was for us. (Middle school uniform codes are enforced much more often, whereas when we're in upper school none of the teachers cared anymore).

Tomorrow is the season finale, and I have a feeling more people are going to die. I just hope the producers don't leave us with a cliffhanger...pish, who am I kidding? We all know they'll end on a note where questions will be raised.

Scribbles IV

Drawn and coloured completely on Open Canvas 1.1. Tieria is all thanks to Koga Yun-sensei's creative genius...I swear, the Gundam franchise hired her to design the new characters just to recreate what happened to Gundam Wing in the 90s; an endless sea of fangirls, fawning and eagerly conjuring up fanart and buying all the Newtype/Animage magazines in their sight.....I remember when several of my DA friends went crazy over the Wing series. (I was too young at the time to understand the politically charged plot and all...heck, I was in Grade school! I didn't even know fandom existed...).

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Asides from the severe out of character-ness in this image, as well as the poor spelling (is that how you spell マイスター?)....yup. I forgot my point. I messed up on Halo here, but I'll definitely fix it if I ever get around to inking this image. I think this is the first time I drew all four of them together...no wait, I did it before but never posted the image on the blog. My bad. I'll fix the proportions and misc. issues later.

Spring Break: finale!

Guess what I spent the say doing? If your answer is "not working on things she should be", then you're 100% correct and I'll give you an A+. Instead, I went out to lunch with a chum I actually enjoy chatting with, and did a load of grocery shopping. But now I'm moping and worrying about the many ways my professors would grill me once they find out how much work I didn't do. But come one, I'm in college, and this is my final Spring Break; surely they understand...? Fat chance.

No point in whining right now; I'll just have to work extra hard this coming week to compensate.

Funny thing: I just learnt what Easter was all about today. I always thought it had to do with chocolate eggs, chickens and rabbits. (I blame my confusion on the Australian education system...those darn public schools make us skip class and dance around to a whimsical little tune every Easter so the kids are always confused about the meaning of the day). Apparently it is something religious. And therefore should be something irrelevant to me (I'm atheist)...nonetheless I ended giving my friend a box of chocolates. Hell, Easter isn't about religion for me anymore, it's about Cadbury and their marketing skills.

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I drew this image on Open Canvas 1.1 (I have the later version, but the damn thing keeps crashing...maybe it's just incompatible with my current version of Windows XP, but I refuse to go into the realm of Vista). It's of Tieria looking girly as heck...I haven't finished it yet, but here is a cropped portion so people can get the gist of it. I don't even know if I want to DA it at this point...I'm losing interest in submitting work on DA now. It was fun to get reviews/feedback, but then I really just enjoy drawing my myself and not the gratification of others.

Spring Break: septième jour

This one is titled "Never Let Go", and its literally supposed to be of Setsuna and Tieria latching onto Lockon...boo on ep23; but I must admit they made his death very dramatic and awesome. And now I've watched ep24, I get the feeling that this entire season is going to end as a gorefest.Now, I'm just wondering; why do we even have Saji and Marina around?

Lockon and Tieria, drawn in my androgynous and girly style. And hell, what on earth are you wearing, Lockon? Is that a SKIRT? Why yes it is, because Yue's mind is twisted and wonky like that. I actually coloured this on Open Canvas, but the programme kept crashing and I ended up losing everything I did. It wouldn't even let me save my work. Boo.
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Why. Haven't. I. Finished. My. Work. Yet? ;____; Spring break is drawing to a close in two days! My roommates are going to return? Everything is going to be hectic and chaotic! You have a thesis to write, and papers to finish, and statement of purposes to conjure! I need to get myself back on track. Now I'm very nervous about going back to school and facing my professors again. But it was Spring Break, and there was so much I didn't want to do. And now one of my friends want to invite me to lunch/outting (I don't think so, I don't like hanging around people all the time), and I have a dinner to go to tonight with family friends. At least for the latter event I'll get free food.

Question of the day: why do people assume that I would feel bad if they get 'faux-angry' (where they act all haughty in front of you and try to make you scared that they'll ignore you) at me? My sister did the whole if-you-continue-to-talk-that-way-to-me-I-will-hang-up-the-phone thing last night, but I probably didn't get the hint then because I just went "okay, bye" and hung up. The light bulb didn't appear until 20 minutes later, and I still don't feel bad about it. I may be a cold and unfeeling individual, but I'm not about to go full out sociopath psycho-cow on anyone.

Spring Break: sixième jour

I don't even know what happened yesterday....I was supposed to update my blog but I must have forgotten. Or passed out. I went to the DMV on Thursday to get myself a Californian ID, except it took about an hour just to fill in the form+thumb print+photograph just because every clerk I encounter was puzzled at my request for an ID and not a driver's license. (I'm against driving, and I strongly believe that if you must get somewhere you can do so through using the public transport system....no matter how bad it is in Los Angeles). But that's sorted out, so it's all good.

Spent the whole day working in the library...I've been slacking all week and didn't write the zillion papers I was supposed to.
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Just a quick image of Setsuna and Tieria...I actually have another image but includes Alle and Lockon as well. I would have posted that image up, but the scan quality was just too poor and I couldn't get it to look half-decent. Anyways, looking forward to the episode tomorrow....how much angst will there be?

Spring Break: quatrième jour

I love dynamic poses, but this one is just a little too bone-breaking for me tastes. Nonetheless, I wanted to test character poses- so I used Tieria and Alle here. I might or might not ink this image (but I am tempted to see how it looks in colour).
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I am feeling so ill, but my supervisor asked me to go to work again tomorrow. I am going to die whilst carrying books around in the library, sniffling and coughing out a lung as I walk amongst the dusty tomes. At least I might have company, since I'm sure I'll be spreading the germs around. I should probably stay home and relax instead of running around...

....which makes me wonder why I went to dinner with a friend tonight. I swear, my voice dropped several octaves, I sound like a man in a female body, and I must have created enough mucus to have created a slip-n-slide without actually being the slip-n-slide.

Spring Break: Troisième jour

An image I submitted to DA today...except this one has a lame-excuse-of-a-background. I like both of these characters because they are so damn flawed (personality wise); one is a complete psycho, the other is a total bitc- you get the idea.
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In regards to the laptop situation: one step forward, two steps back. But I won't complain too much since the situation is way better than it was before. Oh yes, still missing Lockon from the series. Tieria does too (see sketch above). And I just realized that the character design for the series is done by the same mangaka that created Loveless; another awesome series that I read-but-denies-it-in-front-of-others. Hell, I wish I can draw like Koga Yun sensei...

...more practice needed. Lots more.

Spring Break: deuxieme jour

Aw crap. My room light burnt out, so I'm sitting in the dark like the time my classmates and I went camping and had to depend on the mini gas stove for light (long story). And my newly revised laptop does not have the adobe flash player....required by youtube watchers. BOO!

I wanted to buy my UK friend a chiyo-easter-chicken-plush from Target (I normally hate these mega-store chains, but this time the plush was just too cute to resist. There is something about simple circles with beady eyes) but the plush is only available in stores; there isn't a Target within walking distance; and I don't have a car. Which means...I don't know what this means. But I know it can be summed up with one big unhappy face.

Ooh, on the other hand, the Body Works exhibition is on display at the California Science Museum right now...and its right across the road. I smell field trip.

Spring Break: premier jour

Got into a bit of a scruffle with my roommate last night. Not a physical fight, but the typical you-are-dead-to-me thing. She came back at 4/5am last night with the mantress (male version of mistress) and when she saw I was "sleeping" she started apologizing to the guy and made some pretty disparaging remarks about me...whilst assuming that I couldn't hear a thing. And I wouldn't have heard, if she didn't slam the door several times when she got back into the apartment. So after she finishes her little speech with the mantress, I get up, grab my stuff and walked out the room without saying a thing. Spent the rest of the night in the common area, but I couldn't fall asleep again.

This morning I was still grumpy so I went out and did some shopping by myself. When I got back, she was already awake but we didn't speak to one another for the first hour or two. But then she realized that since I knew the mantress was there last night, and that her boyfriend was showing up today; it would in her interest to befriend me again in case I blurted out her secret. But that time in the afternoon, I was so over the tension in the house so I just blew off the whole incident.
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NO!! Lockon! How could they kill you off like that-- and it's not even the end of the first season yet! Tieria, don't look so sad!

Scribbles III

Squared!

Well, spring break is here! Cheers! Ironically enough, I get no break at all. I have to work on my art project, my thesis, and my other graduate school applications. Oh, and I got suckered into going back to work on Mondays and Tuesdays. And my roommate left for Northern California without washing her dishes first, so the entire kitchen smells like a dump. Gah. ANd then I found out that my PS3 won't work on my laptop because it doesn't have the processing speed for it.

On the bright side, I got my laptop fixed [it had issues previously] and I'm happy about that; the processing speed increased. I still need to get more RAM to bring the laptop to its full potential (I don't want to buy a new laptop....that's too expensive) but I'm content so far. Lovely weather forecast for the weekend; cooler temperatures and windy conditions. Awesome.

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An image of Blithe Bauhinia...she likes her cubed hair ties. Drawn + Coloured completely on Open Canvas.

Scribbles II

Alright, this is something I will definately ink...as soon as I install photoshop on Wednesday. I'm going through a phase where I draw large amounts of fanart...just let me get it out of my system.

I got an email response from the adobe customer service bastard, and they curtly told me that my website problems was due to their maintainence session. And they added a snide comment about how they annouced the maintainence session some time before the website went offline.

Well, customer service genius, if you placed the information on the website...and then took down the website.....doesn't mean that people who tried to go onto the website during maintainence won't be able to see the blasted message? Plus, I'm a first time adobe user; I wouldn't have been browsing their student licensing website to before I actually needed to register my serial number. Jeez, what attitudes.

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Hell. Does my roommate not know how to use the 'silent' function on her phone when typing a text message? I'm hearing an insane number of beeps right now. Grr, and someone needs to learn about 'private space'; you don't go through my desk to use my stuff without telling me. Don't make me want to set up booby-traps.

It's not as though I mind sharing my stuff, it's the 'behind-your-back' thing that gets to me. I'm fine with you directly asking me to lend the item; I'm also fine with you taking the item first but the telling me later on that you used it. But using the item, replacing it, and thinking you got away with it....a pet peeve of mine.

Loop and loop

Okay, only about an hour left before Dexter starts (sigh....Michael C. Hall....so smitten by his sociopath-i-ness) so I better make this quick and snappy. Here's a picture of Tieria Erde, whose bastard-ish attitude has won me over. That, and I like drawing his hair.

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Anywho: I was having another one of my "drama filled" weeks and I started crying three times already for no apparent reason. It can't be "that time of the month" because I don't get those anymore; and not because of menopause (I have another few decades to look forward to that). But I don't eat well enough, and I've pretty much stopped growing or 'aging' [appearence wise] since the start of college. So I'm stuck at this teenager point of life, and believe me, it's not fun to have someone constantly check your ID or ask if you're actually attending college when you're trying to make a purchase on campus. It also means I'm emotionally immature and prone to depressive episodes. But then again, some bad things did happen....

-I bought CS3 for a really good price, but that damn adobe website won't load and let me have the serial number. Damn you, adobe, you've thwarted me once again.

-head ache. Very painful. I need to see the doctor, though I highly doubt those useless bastards would do anything about it. (Last time I got food poisoning the ass told me to go to the pharmacy and buy myself antibotics. Didn't even tell me what kind of antibotics I needed).

-Didn't get enough sleep because my roommate come back early and made another ruckus around the apartment. And then I managed to piss her off when I told her I was staying in the apartment for Spring Break. Up hers (sorry for being crude), I live here too. Plus, unlike her, I have no family on this side of the Pacific so where the hell does she expect me to go? And out of spite she said she was going to stay a few days too...well if she wanted to have privacy tell her to go to her boyfriend's house. Oh wait, but she's cheating on him....

Oh hell I'm such a bitch today.

The Game of Life isn't so Fun

Rawr! And I just watched Project Runway tonight. Probably the most interesting episode this entire season....so it was pretty strange for me to stick it out until the end. Anyways, long and boring day, my head hurts from staring at the PC screen for extended periods of time. And the sort.

I had my graduate school phone interview on Monday, and I think I did well; well enough for the panelist members to tell me that I am likely to get a spot in their programme. Awesome! Except my parents don't sound so thrilled about me taking a 'taught course' over a 'research course' (since the former doesn't get paid whereas the latter offers a monthly salary). And then I got angry because they didn't offer a word of congrats and instead shoved the money issue into my face again. Fine, I'll stop being such a drama queen to my parents soon enough, but I need at least a day or two to cool off.

And I've been catching up on the presidental race as well; no matter who wins in the democractic party, I'll be voting for them. But first, must find absentee ballot website and get ready for November....

Scribbles I

Ahh, two drawings I know I won't be inking for sure. How spiffy. I was just trying out manga layouts, but they turned out looking horribly generic and one dimension (not 2D anymore, because it's that bad)! Must continue working on this...

bookmark icon post!

Bookmark images that could be used once I get this blog formalized and going. Truth be told I'm still fumbling around with the layout, the kinds of work I put on here, and the content of my written entries.