Setting off once more

First of all, because I love to hear my idols speak.



I enjoy stumbling across such intimate interviews, where someone you admire and respect greatly explain how they ended up stumbling through into the dreams they are living now. Still gives future hope, for well, the future. Glen Keane rules, fo' sho.

Speaking of Disney, I ended up falling into a movie when I was eating breakfast the other afternoon, known as 'Never Cry Wolf'. I had, of coruse, never heard of it before and was enticed for the premise of a man being dumped in the middle of the Artic Tundra to study wolves. It really was a beautiful movie and something I may, will and must own in the future.

I have realised when back tracking through my blog looking for what I rambled about last, I didn't go into any detail about my recent trip to Oslo. Well, I suppose my vlogs explain it, but it was a very beautiful cultured city, it's only downfall is the expense, since the minimum wage if £10 an hour in Scandinavian countries, you can imagine what you will. I did indeed enjoy myself, even if my sister and I did the usual of "Hey, we can walk EVERYWHERE!" and realise our bodies are made of pudding, thus, leading our bodies to collapse when the evening hit. STILL, I took many photomagraphicoids and had a jolly good time.

NEXT UP: BERLIN.
Cha' ha, it's like visiting an old friend, only you can stomp on his face and he won't complain. Seriously, my family used to go there ALL the time, mainly because my other, other sister used to live there, but I do miss Berliner and her beautiful sights. I am also hyped because it has not one, but TWO ZOOS. I will be overwhelmed and overjoyed while eating my giant pretzel ^_^

On the topic of travel, I have another trip booked to TORONTO in November, with a very lovely man. I have always had some kind of calling to the land of Maple, maybe it's because people say I sound Canadian, but either way I am excited! Checking out where to head and planning for it already, even if I have a few places to attend before then, I can't help myself :D More on that, when closer to the date.

Before I leave, here are some recent art pieces!



And thats all folks.

Oslo Vlogs - Final Slot

Oslo Vlogs!

ShiverZ Report: All Things Fuzzy

What I did with my time this past weekend :D

ShiverZ Report: London Natural History Museum

New vlog up ya'll, more to follow. I must get all my editing done before Oslo this weekend, getting as much space as possible.

Enjoy the wonders of the London Natural History Museum and the Hummingbird Bakery:



I really regret not eating the last crumb of that cake......sooooo deliciously moist.

MEGA FINDS

I have just found out that 'Blacksad's main man, Juanjo Guarnido has an art book out D: I think I want to eat my fist, the images are eye-wateringly tasty! Time to hunt it down and find it...NOW.Thanks to Torontos 'Labyrinth Books' for this find, one place I must visit at somepoint. It is a shop that is dedicated to, wait for it...... ANIMATION/CONCEPT ART BOOKS. I am zombie walking my ass right over there.

Rewarding, yes?

This past weekend I visited an amazing little hum-dinger of an occasion, that of Dr Sketchy. "What is Dr Sketchy" you ask? WELL, think life drawing but with the theme of burlesque. How perfect can these two fit together? Answer: Perfectly! I have to admit, with no hesitation, it is the most fun I have ever had with life drawing, since I adore costumes and classic styles, this was totally dreamy. I am glad to have finally got a chance at life drawing again, with so many failed attempts during my time at University, with model no shows and terrible posing when they did make an appearence.

First of all, we had a warm up session to get everyone into the swing of things, for a five minute time period.
My first sketch-a-roonie.
The first outfit of the afternoon by Diva Hollywood, a mermaid with a dolphin hand puppet! A little longer for the time of ten minutes.
Then Mystivine, who not only is burlesque CANADIAN model, but is a comedian. hence the 'Billy Bob' teeth. Ten minutes again.

After a short break, which included some out-of-this-world cup cakes. Banana, maple and pecan for the win (I want another one noooow). We returned for the main event, which included the a preliminary burlesque dance, stunning! Diva Hollywood had an interesting act that involved a puppet swan, with her 'swan dance', so many feathers ^_^

Mystivine made a return, with a gorgeous red corset.

A quick costume change! loved the pose and the outfit! (My favourite of the afternoon)After drawing this I was surprised to be complimented and approached by a dude who was interested in exhibiting my works for an upcoming show at a shop he works within. Details have been sent, so we'll see how that goes.

The the final pose for the night, held for twenty minutes, which did feature the two models with the 'ring-leader' announcer (He had THE best moustache). Unfortunately, I didn't get time to add Diva Hollywood :(An enjoyable afternoon indeed, which I can't wait to attend again! Really gets the creative vibes flowing, theres something about drawing to 1950s cabaret music (I found myself humming to Marylin, Nina Simone and April March on many occassions!) and to a time limit that is so alluring. It's a shame that I'm in Berlin during the next date, but atleast I'll be seeing my own slice of German culture and arts.

THINGS

I really can't think of anything intellectual to wedge up in the title space, so there we go. That is it you hungry dogs.

Once again, I was out in the Sun for a small portion today and it has drained my energy entirely, I thought that big ass star was meant to grant you energy? Not devour it like some yellow fat man. This maybe because I just ate a whole lotta pizza too, but I digress.
But despite this, I will get upto date with exciting news. I will do this in picture format, because I am so far ahead with technology you will not BELIEVE.

I visited Londonia! (For the eightieth time this year, can't get enough of that City!) To meet up with chums, there was a secondary mission to obtain Mountain Dew, but alas, they has sold out.

Westminster Abbey.
The Thames.
St Paul's Cathedral.
PIGEON.
St. Pauls and LAMP.

I have now discovered a funky feature on my camera called "starry sky", which basically slows the shutter speed, giving me cool shots like so:
Travelling at night in the car.
Evening over Cheltenham.

MOOON. The Moon was really yellow and cheese looking this particular night.

The bad point is, due to the slow shutter speed, you must keep the camera still for atleast 15 seconds, usually resulting in blurry shots 99.9% of the time. Luckily there was a mini tripod at hand for some of the more clearer shots you see here :D

I actually have job interviews coming up, so wish me luck! One of which is tomorrow, not sure how long it'll last but the pay seems very rewarding and the area it is in is accessible (Always a plus!) and actually resides in a decent part of town. Another interview is on the following day, so busy-busy. The bad point is my two major holidays which are coming up, not sure how to explain that to someone is willing to offer me a job (Hopeful thinking). I'm sure I can wrangle something, as I am not giving up my desire to travel.
Speaking of TRAVEL, I just came across the Berlin Museum of Natural History or 'Museum fur Naturkunde'. I mean WOW! An entire Brachiasaurus skeleton, how amazing is that? The biggest sauropod to exist in full. I am pretty hyped I can tell ya, I will have to sizzle down until the end of September....

On the arty side of life, let me update you with my creations these past few weeks.


The two X-Men pieces above are now FOR SALE at the 'Proud Lion' comic shop in Cheltenham, not for massive bucks, but I thought it'd be a nice little something to add tot he penny bank. Beast and Emma Frost are my homies!
My recent D&D character I'm playing at the moment, Tiefling Warlock. Shes a bitch and loves it that way.
A little insight to my mind.
Why Iguandons rocked the world of the Cretaceous!

KITSUNE! Something brewing in my brain for sometime, possible follow-ups of Folklore from various other countries.

Of course, I have other projects going on, one being the webcomic I may have mentioned before. But I'm not confident enough to reveal those ideas publicly yet.

And to finalise, my film recommendation/s.

- 'Tokyo'
An amazing feature created by three separate art directors. One being the infamous Michel Gondry. Three stories following different tales, but all featured within the one amazing glowing city of TOKYO.

The first tale is told by Michel Gondry, known as "Interior Design". An enchanting tale of a couple trying to find themselves within the city, but alas, the feminine counterpart of the duo finds herself becoming seperated from her partner due to his film making career. She gradually becomes more and more confused and eaten by the city itself, leading to her becoming part of the scenary. Gondry's visuals, as always, are fascinating and stunning, leaving me somewhat job smacked as to how he manages to create some of the screen trickery.

Second is created by Leos Carax, titled "Merde". Unfortunately, the title wasn't too far from explaining how I felt about this story. The tale of a man creeping from the sewers and rampaging the people of the City, beginning as something innocent and leading to some much more violent, this story got old very quickly. I really didn't find it amusing, besides the fact of relating him to the iconic Godzilla. The running time was far too lnog for this premise.

Thirdly, but not to be forgotten, "Shaking Tokyo" by Joon-ho Bong. Relating to the topic of hikikomori, (A condition that is already of much intrigue to me). This was an amazing short, the interaction of the characters and the film style was definitely something that made the room silent with respect. Something that Bong manages to accomplish (Which quite a few directors fail miserably at), is the way of distorting timelines in film. Since the character has been within his own house for an entire decade, you are made aware of this through the characters day-to-day schedual. Which he seems as normal, but others will view as a pointless existance. That moment that struck me this short as genius, was the "press the button" sequence. LOVE. The bond that forms between two of the characters was definitely magical to me, not in a Disney sense, but there was something about how they both awakened each other in their own individual ways. Definitely a movie I will remember and re-watch right alongside 'Lost in Translation' and ' Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'.

- 'Dear Wendy'
Strangely enough, I first heard about this film through the fact Bill Pullman had a minor roll within it, but to my dismay, it wasn't a major role. But what I gained from viewing this movie was much more than drooling over Bill's sweet, sweet mumbling voice.
The actors, for one thing, really impressed me. I love the entire set up of a run down town, with nothing better to do than go work at the mines or stay inside your home becomnig paranoid of the outdoors. So naturally, the younger generation of the town would rather become something more worth-while. This movie revolves around a group of kids who find their confidence within a collection they begin together, that of guns. NO, this is not about gang warfare. But they come together through naming their weapons of choice and becoming personas to suit that of that of which they carry.
The set up is charming and easily found myself becoming attached to the characters early on in the film. This is certainly a movie that is very much over looked by the masses and I wish could be appreciated far more.

Crap, I've rambled again. Oh well.

Bristol Zoo, the return.

Baking and bootie shaking

I just baked some bourbon biscuits! They taste frakkin' fantastic too ^_^ You see that filling, oh yeah, it's Nutella. I really wanted to bake more than one variant of biscuit today, but with it raining rivers here at the moment, I didn't feel like venturing out the house today to fetch more ingredients. Which sucks, because along with the ingredients buying was a planned meal at a Japanese place called 'Bonzai', for katsu chickens and miso soup. Oh well, maybe tomorrow!

So whats else is going down? Well, I have been drawing A HELL OF ALOT. I don't think I've drawn this much for a looong time, not sure why, I wouldn't have classed myself as even having something as serious as drawers block. But, either way, I am surrounded by masses of paper, ancient scribbles of ideas to inked pieces I never finished. The bad point about all this mass creativity, is wrist ache, wearing my wrist bandage 24/7 helps and resting it on anything tasty too. I can withstand it for art anyhoo, I must make myself ambidextrous one of these days.
The makings of my evenings:

Request for a friend in the U.S. of her "fursona"

My draenei shaman, meditating in a waterfall.

It's her again, but covered only by her ghost wolf guardians - niiice.

'Techno cheetah', besides sitting on a giant blemonge, very fun to paint.

Something I have been meaning to draw for sometime and should draw more of, dinosaurs! On an A3 scalle too, this was so awesomely great to paint!

I have to finsh of my other design scribbles too, so I''l post away once finished.

No youtube action yet, I haven't really been to many special events with bad weather and hibernating with drawing. Although, I did record footage when i last visited Bristol Zoo, so expect something animal related!

On a work related note, I may or may not have a job. It's reception work at an army barracks near to me, but hey, it's work! Plus, I get uniform supplied. I got through the first interview and will hear about the second half next week at somepoint, we shall see what it entales.

On a travelling note, I am heading to Oslo in Sept, thanks to a cheap deal my Ma swooped up. I haven't visited that scandanvian wonder since I was a tiny little Loafling and even then, i was too voercome by sea sickness to notice anything. It supposedly has a righteous Paleo museum and a VIKING boat museum. I predict many photographs to be taken *ka-grin*

Now I need something to eats and watch some LOTRs behind-the-scenes documentaries, WOO.

<3

A little bit of resolve

So, heres the brief of whats been going on these past couple of weeks.

Michael Jackson passed away and with that, a part of my life began to repeat itself. He helped me through a very rough period in my life, some experiences I care not to explain to many, for I hate to repeat them, but with the passing of Michael came some point in my life that hit me once more. He was that person, that with just a few notes of a song I'd forget what mayhem was going on around me and just relax, his voice would soothe my soul and calm my mind. I felt numb. I lost my appetite and many nights sleep. I wasn't sure how to express myself and in alot of ways, I couldn't express myself, it's no secret I don't emote in public or infront of others. So, I shutdown.

I didn't want to feel this anymore, so thats when I felt everything and with that, came relief. I felt happy, because you know what? A has legend past, but even with leaving this world, I still feel he IS here. He will never be forgotten. There is so much he created that I don't think his presence will ever shadow and disappear. I love celebrating the life he had and remembering the times.

Thankyou Michael, thankyou for everything.

An extra big thankyou to all of you who helped me through this time, you know who you are!

Eloquently Said

You will live on.

Michael Jackson died today at 3:15pm 26th June 2009.

There are quite a few out there who will know how hard it is to type that, since this man has helped me through so much in my life. When my life was going through its worst, he helped me through those times and brought me into a more positive and happier state.

He was an icon. Today the music has truly died.

Thankyou Michael, for your inspiration and how much you have given to this world. You will be missed, but never forgotten, you will live on through your music and forever in my heart.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson.

WOOSH

I mean, HOLY CRAP. FIRESHIPS! I am hyped, but to my dismay I will have to wait a year to see this movie. I will keep myself pumped with other things until then, like, WALKING WITH DINOSAURS LIVE. Yep, not too long now until I see life sized dinosaurs roaming directly infront of moi. If there are unruly kids next to me, I will feed them to the dinosaurs.

Now, for doodles!

I have created more things of the artistic nature, but at this time it is all kinda TOP SECRET, so all shall be revealed in time. What I will tell you is that it is for an upcoming webcomic, which I am actually colouring character sheets for now.

I will give a personal update of life when I can feel up-to it, but I felt like a brief "Woah! Lookit this peeps!" entry. 'Cos, ya know, you're ma peeps.

Oh yesh, more youtube-ness:

I'm Totally a Robot.

Get Your Cyborg Name

Oh my gawd I'm back agaaaaiin.

I thought I should wait until a month passes until I update this mofo, but, eh, here I am informing whoever reads this of my thoughts and shiiiaaat.

The run down.

In the work department, nothing much there, as always. At this point, I beginning to become a fed-up and very, very bored. Hence why I fill my time with things more worth while, such as art, films and visiting where ever I can to get a bit of adventure in my life. My theory is that there is no "credit crunch" or "economic crisis", it's basically companies excuse to bump you off when they can't be bothered to read your CV. The outwardly rude shrug off, judging you by a piece or pieces of paper.
I actually visited a game company in my own hometown to enquire about a job application I had sent off atleast three months ago, since then I have phoned them three times, which replied they'd phone me back about it and never have. I decided to take the direct approach and visit the swanky office, dressed in my long black coat and no collar, for extra dramatic effect, I asked to see the director of the creative department. She came along, after a few minutes of waiting, I shook her hand, she apologised for the lack of reply on her behalf. She explained that she has received my package of artworks/CV/Cover letter, but the guy in charge of the Character Design (The position I applied for) lives in Scotland, it is kinda hard for them to send off applicants work via post to him, so they would rather receive my work via e-mail, for their convenience. I am still finding it hard how a computer game company can find it hard to post something. I am also pondering whether it was a way of diverging the fact I haven't got the job? So, I have sent my work via e-mail and still heard nothing. So, this is where I pester them further and phone them up to ask if they have received my e-mail. Following up jobs is the MOST FUN EVA.

But lets have none-of-that negativity, I blame the sun, it is making me all kinds of flustered and dodging from shadow to shadow. But the plus point is, that I can wear all things sleeveless and cleavage filled. Please bitch, vanity much?

Oh bloody hell, I've actually got a mind block on what the hell I had in mind to type out.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.

Right, alright, first of all, I am chumming up with a certain lovely dude to create the originally proposed webcomic. The story has changed somewhat from the original idea, but now it's actually flowing ALOT better, which in turn, means better character design, if that makes sense? Well, with deeper backbone, becomes characters with some meaning and personality, therefore more detailed character design. There are also more side peeps, so more variation. Very production stage at present, so ya know. I will upload something when schtuff is more finalised.

I actually got a whole FREE DAY to PAINT not too long ago, which was actually spanned over three days, the beginning of 'Animal Emotive' selection. Which will, eventually become part of a larger project. The outcome:I'm hoping to get quite a few of these badd boys out and get round to contacting galleries and saying "Hey, check out my stuff!", followed by PUBLICITY.

I have been inspired to actually draw some Paleo art as of recent, when visiting the 'Walking with Dinosaurs' exhibition, featuring actually animatronics and models from the series. For you see, simple things like this make me spaz about life, seeing galleries revolving around DINOSAURS. Unfortunately, there were no Parasauralophus models, but an amazing line-up of Sauropod animatronics and replica skeletons. Lets forget the fact that stupid children were yelling, screaming and getting all of the Paleo facts wrong. There were indeed a small percentage who gave me faith in mankind, by asking their parents an interesting array of questions.As you may notice, I am a lady of 23 wearing a top with dinosaurs on. FRAK YEAH.

Proving my age once more, I visited Alton Towers of recent, with dear chumlings, reminding myself of the thrill seeker within me. Hating queueing, but loving the wait and build up to rollercoasters. Experiencing brand new highs and lows and feeling the absolutely weightless I feel during my time on coasters, like nothing else matters except just screaming my lungs out and the adrenaline my heart pumps throughout my body. My mind simply flutters with joy, something most folk don't really understand. Like sitting on the edge of a hella huge cliff and dangling your feet, having a complete disregard of whether you could plummet to your death.
What did make me chuckle, besides finding how much Alton Towers really rips off Disneyland (Nice, try, but there is only ONE), is the new Sea Life centre section down in the Mutiny Bay (Pirate themed section of the park), where you can get your hands cleaned by.....SHRIMP.

Heres a whole shrimpoid family digging in, sometimes pretty harshly, but so funs!

I have totally lost my thought patterns right now, I think my mind has been frazzled by too many conspiracy theories. I'll come back to ramble about those later, possibly coming off as some kind of Lone Gunman, but what do I care.

More videos in YO FACE.

First wedge of the Scottish Trails

I really wish i could change the preview pic of this, anyhoo, here it is in all of it's un-scottish glory. I swear, the next episode should be more interesting!

Make way for 2D!

I am giggling and vibrating with delight at viewing this, ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce what I have been waiting for since the last 2D animated feature of 'Home on the Range'....



Bad news is (Or what I have just read via IMDB) the release in the UK is not happening until 12th February 2010. I'm not really sure WHY this is the case, since even Germany gets a showing on the 10th of December, this year. Hmmm, maybe I can collaborate it with tripping from Disneyland Paris on the 6th? Since I am there for four days. WOOOOOO! Oh yesh, I am going to Disneyland Paris on the 6th Dec, my 11th visit :D

In that time, I can atleast distract myself with 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' (24th June), 'Terminator: Salvation' (3rd June) and Wolfman (6th November).

I have seen 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine', which was absolutely gawd damn terrible. I have no idea how Marvel even let the studios butcher classic characters like this. I can atleast commend them for giving me "LOLing" moments due to so many over the top explosions and "RAWR, I AM ANGRY" segments. Whatever, this film was what they say in internet speak as "Epic fail".

In other news, I was hired as a nightclub photographer, oh yesh, I was hired. BUT, there were several negative factors to this job title.
- It was all about nothing to do with the PHOTOGRAPHY aspect, and more about exploiting the drunk (Which usually isn't a bad thing) to purchase terribly made merch, which the photograph becomes part of; usually a keyring or a laminated picture to wedge in your wallet, you get the jist.
- They treat you as though you're a self employed business, which in translation "we can have the right to blame you for anything".
- Oh, of course, the aspect of walking home at 3am on a Saturday night in a pretty dodgy area alone, surrounded by an entirely drunken city was the final curtain for this position.
So, this time, I felt as though I needed to pass on this round and reject their offer.

My driving theory test nudges ever closer, just over a week until I have to buckle up (Ha, pun!) and pass a test for the first time in atleast seven years. Time for ultimate revision!

Day 5:

Royal Botanic Garden.

Holyrood Park/Arthur's Seat.
Scottish Moneys.
Travel Home.
Le Fin.

I will update with more stories at a later date - STAY TUNED AND SCHTUFF.