October '11.2

Ian and I haven't been watching nearly as many scary movies as we had planned, but we did manage to watch "The Thing," "Return of the Living Dead," and "30 Days of Night." We also watched the first episode of "The Walking Dead," and goodness, what a great show! Before the beginning credits started, we were already talking about buying the series. We'll probably finish up the month with "The Shining," but since there were a handful of movies we didn't get the change to watch, we might be keeping those in the Netflix queue for a while.

I also beat Shadows of the Damned. Not really a scary game, but still, you're a demon hunter hunting demons in Hell. I had so much fun with that game. Sure, it had it's flaws, but they were few and easy to deal with. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys overtly Japanese games with a vulgar and humourous twist.

I'm currently about halfway through Alan Wake. Now there's a game that's good for the season. A writer on vacation keeps finding pages of a book he doesn't remember writing...and all of the pages seem to predict the future. His wife's kidnapped, the FBI are after him, the darkness is corrupting the people around him, and he's armed to the teeth with batteries and a flashlight. It's well written and clever with good controls, too.

In artistic news, my sister and I have started giving each other monthly assignments so's we can force ourselves to try new things, draw what we normally wouldn't, etc. She's assigned me to draw a kirin, so I'm finishing that up today.

Still working on that Miqo'te commission (almost done!), got picked up by my manager's wife to do some concept art for her (she's getting a book published!), and got asked to do a commission from a guy who works at one of the other stores in town (Juggernaut!).

No word from my uncle who asked me to do some animations for a project of his. At this point, I'm assuming he's dropping me, but doesn't know how to tell me. It would have been nice to work on it, but I understand if I'm not at the professional level he wants (that and I feel like I got dropped into the middle of something I didn't understand).

Overall, I'm perking up. I miss school something fierce, and I'm still wanting to go back, but in the meantime, I'm going to do what I can to better my art.

October '11.1

I'll be honest. Aside from working on some art, I've been busy playing Gears of War 3. Sure, I beat the campaign the day after it came out, but I'm going through it again, and eating up the multiplayer like it's a never-ending low-fat cake!

And since it's October, I've been on a scary movie, scary game kick. I've been trying to get further/beat Shadows of the Damned so I can get back to Alan Wake. As far as movies go, so far under the belt we have Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, Evil Dead, Let the Right One In, Poltergeist, and a few episodes of High School of the Dead.

When it comes to my art, I've been a little depressed. I hit a rough patch in a commission I've been doing for months since I haven't a lot of experience drawing backgrounds. It's got me down, but I've also realized that my progress as an artist hasn't been very forward. I haven't been getting any better this past year and I've been letting school (or lack thereof) really get to me. I have ideas, but don't draw them, and essentially I'm letting my talents waste away because I'm not motivated. My recent submission in a Deviant Art contest has me a little more encouraged, but has me realizing that I'm not getting any better at what I do.

So, I bought a new Photoshop magazine! I'm going to start drawing more, doing observational sketches nearly every day, and trying out new techniques. I tend to work in other people's styles, so I'm going to try and focus on finding a style of my own, as well.

Come on, motivation!