4 more days!

Counting down...

It's Candy Sushi time!

I got an A in Japanese!!! Meri Kurisumasu! *^^*

Happy 24th Birthday!

I turned 24 on the 7th!


Erin helped me put my hair in pincurls the night before so I could rock my hair this year. And my mom and I went thrift store spelunking for outfits and found this really cute dress and sweater. So perfect *^_^*



Brownies and Peppermint ice cream have been my traditional birthday dessert for years :)


Thrift store treasures!!! <3



an uber cute jacket! I got some really awesome outfits this year :)



Every girl needs a string of pearls - or huge plastic imitations ;)

Halloween

Some shots from a halloween party at my house, featuring the amazing never-before-seen "Soap Ghosts by Jessie Kate" lol. I had alot of fun decorating my room this year, I should have taken more pictures myself (I only took the one with the ghost couple) but oh well, it was a little chaotic and I didn't even have time to figure out an outfit, I just threw together a witch costume from things in my closet - I actually have two closets, one for "normal" clothes and one for costumes :)

6 days till Christmas

Looks like my computer died...I'll have to take it into Apple to check it out for sure but this is the second meltdown this month so I don't know how much life it's got left in it. I'd be more upset if I wasn't so busy, maybe the manic over-reaction/tablet deprivation anxiety will hit me around new years. I'm not looking forward to that but for now I thought I'd post a few pictures from the Letterpress class I took this last spring. Though I wish I had a picture of me typesetting since that's really what I did about 20 hours a week!

Alice - Costume Variations

This was the first batch of costumes I did, the second batch are more focused variations on #10 (I changed it to a skirt) I think I'll either give her #9's headband or #11's goggles...we'll see how it goes.
-The double line around her head is the helmet - I'm fixing it to one line asap for clarity

Prop 8 Thoughts

So voting is tomorrow...I admit I'm not a big fan of politics, or rather the absolute hate and contention that comes with it but I thought I'd post some thoughts. My family has always encouraged learning about new things and fully researching both sides of arguments to make decisions for ourselves based on more than what's on the surface. SO this brings me to one voting conclusion that will probably get me flamed for the next century but since I feel that I also have a right to freedom of speech/freedom of blog entries I am going to fully admit that I'm voting Yes on 8.

No I'm not brainwashed, I'm not homophobic and I believe that everyone deserves the right to be happy but heterosexual marriage is fundamentally different than homosexual marriage, why is it bad to differentiate?
Laws like this are not created to discriminate as much as differentiate how our society approaches various other aspects of our lives. Adoption for example, it's not as if Homosexuals don't have the talent to raise children but statistically it's better for children to be raised in a home with a mother and father. It is sad that less than capable couples still slip through the system but I don't think we should deny any possible advantage we can give to children.

I also don't think it's fair that religions would be accused of "hate speech" if they continued to preach the morals that they were built upon. "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance."

So anyway, I just don't see a need to categorize such different ideas into the same box. This law isn't so much about who has the right to be happy (EVERYONE DESERVES THAT!), it's about the definition of a category. A category which seemed to me to be pretty obvious and clear-cut. Why feel the need to force two completely different ideas into the same small box? Make a new one, one that can benefit our society and country in the best way possible without encroaching on the rights of the original. I may be wrong but I thought it was ok to be different, but maybe that's just the artist in me...

Alice in Space

For my Visual Development class on conceptart.org mentored by Jason Pruett http://www.jasonpruett.com/

Comic Page Experiment

Just messing around, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to try making a comic page, but since I had no plot or any basic comic creating skills this is as far as it got. There are tons of obvious issues (especially the main girl's messed up head and strange sense of balance in the middle panel) but I thought I'd post it anyway ^^

Airship Crew Sketches

just practicing...

Work in progress - "Clairictures"

Work in progress of my second digital painting , I'm falling more and more in love with this style <3

-I'm still working on it but hope you like it anyway Clair ^^

My first attempt at digital painting!

This was so fun!!! I just looked up a how to vid for digital painting about two hours ago and decided to test it out, I can't believe I haven't done this sooner. It just makes me realize how many basic things in photoshop I don't know how to do (like using the opacity jitter/pen pressure thing)

-I was going to exaggerate this bird more but I got too caught up in just figuring out how to do it.

Thanks to Clairictures (http://clairictures.blogspot.com) who posted the bird photo on DA which inspired me to even try this ^^

Old Portrait

...just an old portrait since I noticed I hadn't posted any... 

Plant Illustrations

Sorry about the awful quality photos, you really can't tell how richly colored they are from these.

-Mechanical Pencil and colored pencils on cream-colored paper

Assorted Gesture Drawing pages

-I don't feel like organizing them now so they're out of order-

portrait of an airship captain

testing out a color scheme...

my cryptographic journal

ten points if you can figure out what this says, lol...i'm a freak...

Miss Hawkinson's Portable Phonograph

the case

detail of the click-wheel 

an explanation of how the click-wheel cog works 

= a bit like a rotary phone

you can put your finger through one of the slats and since it spins freely - you can still use the click-wheel normally.

-I hope to make this someday *dreamy sigh* 

repetitio est mater studiorum

Now that I don't have to be in Salt Lake for Letterpress all the time, I can get back to practicing my gesture drawings and animal sketches again! So from now on, I'll be posting them here on this blog to document my progress...here's the page from yesterday's drawing session:

Beware the influence of addictive historical cdramas!

SWORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

(Chinese Jian)

Origin: China

Weight: ?

Blade Length: 75cm

Hilt Length: 17cm

Long ago, an ancient taoist artisan was able to harness lightning and use it to shape a blade out of fulgurite/petrified lightning. Because of the overwhelming strength of the weapon he created, the artisan found a way to lock away it's true potential until a compatible user could be found. Only one who's heart and mind were in balance and who had no desire for power over others would be able to unlock the legendary weapon's potential.

Innumerable years have passed and the sword has passed through many hands without finding it's match. Because of this, the legend has faded and the sword's condition has deteriorated. The blade is damaged, many carvings on the sheath have broken, the tassels are tangled and knotted, etc. It continues this way until it is sold by a swords merchant to a young girl by the name of Huilang...(I have a design for her too but it's back in california so I'll post it later)

NOTES:

Compatibility:

-When a compatible user is in possession of the sword, and their heart and mind are in balance, the three buds on the sheath as well as on the pommel will bloom. The bloomed flowers indicate that the full power of the sword can be used.

Blossom Details - the inside of the blossom is white-ish enamel and the bud of the flower is a yellow gem to mimic an apple blossom:

Jade Symbolism:

-"the essence of Heaven and Earth"

-According to myth, the stone was born during a storm, and for this reason every home had jade in it's foundations to keep lightning at bay (a perfect combination for the blade). It also symbolizes immortality, protection and a link between the physical world and the spiritual world.

*There's obviously more symbolism for jade but these were the ones I found most applicable.

Blade:

-Made of Petrified Lightning (fulgurite)

-Very chipped and worn, the color varies slightly and it's cloudy but somewhat translucent.

*Because of the blade's hollowness, it "sings" when struck.

Guard:

-The design on the guard should represent the clouds of heaven and the mountains of earth, the apple blossoms represent preference.

-I wish I could have sketched this concept out better, I really need to work on this kind of designing more but here are some details to give you an idea:

Grip:

-Light colored jade, slightly cloudy, chipped.

Sheath:

-Darker jade, deep relief carvings "grow" all over it, though many of the pieces have been chipped or broken off.

-Metal "frames" decorate the sides as well as three apple buds/blossoms.

Tassels:

-Two large light grey tassels hang from the sword.

-One has the kanji for heaven inscribed in a small coin hanging from the knot, it also has cloud designs etched into the glass that binds the tassel.

-The second tassel has the kanji for earth on it's coin and rocks/mountains (like in the guard) etched into the glass.

*Yes I've definitely been watching too many historical chinese dramas ^_^

self-portrait of a pseudonym

The Monocled Menace

hawk1

- noun

   1. any of numerous birds of prey of the family Accipitridae, having a short, hooked beak, broad wings, and curved talons, often seen circling or swooping at low altitudes.

   2. the artistic and literary pseudonym of Jessie Kate Patterson, BYU graduate and wandering artist, often seen circling or swooping at low altitudes.