Drawing Club 3 and Graduation

Here are some drawings from the LA Drawing Club a  few weeks ago. I still have a bunch more to post, but will do so in time!

My graduation ceremony is coming up and I am very excited to walk with my classmates :) Since it's the College of the Arts, it includes not only art but music, film, dance, theater, and design. And I have a couple friends in other departments, including one of my best buds, Gabby.

It's pretty crazy because once it's over, I'll permanently step into the realm of Not a Student Anymore, an area that looks down upon Messing Up, discourages Sleeping In or Partying It Up(the last two usually come hand in hand), and unfortunately lacks student discounts. I already have taken a tentative step into this place, having taken a full-time position and being expected to pay more bills and insurance payments, though I am still not completely comfortable here. I find myself sitting silently in the office kitchen while others chat about their 15-month old babies or their friends' wedding ceremonies, wondering instead if I can squeeze enough time out of my day to watch How to Train Your Dragon after work (I could not). I find myself in limbo, stuck between a world who calls me "ma'am" and my co-worker who calls me "kid." Somehow I imagine graduation to dramatically accelerate my slow drift into adulthood, though I know it will not. I try and think of ways to speed this up on my own by dressing less in printed t-shirts and more in ruffly tops and slacks, listening more to political radio, ...possibly pretending I have a baby? But then I remember that I've been an adult for far less time than I've been a child (4 to 18, a ratio of 2:9), and I probably just need more practice before I get it down right. 

Mother's Day

This Mother's day I gave my other grandmother (not the one I live with) a piece of artwork from my Senior art show. She has arthritis and was not able to make it to my show. She and my grandfather moved here to LA from New Jersey when I was eight, and helped raise me and my three sisters while my parents worked. She is a great woman and a fantastic babcia whom I love very much. Also, I gave my other grandmother (the one I live with) a painting a few years back, and felt like it would be nice to give this grandmother a piece of my artwork as well. It's based off of a Polish Church in Krakow with influence from Polish artwork, from my film in progress.

More Work Doodles

Just some more drawings I did at work! :) Hands, shoes, and some flowers done across the street during lunch.

New Work

Nothing much has changed since I last updated this blog with content on my own life, except that I started a new job :) It was quite by accident, as the freelance position I applied for ended up changing into a full-time animation assistant position for some Flash e-courses. It's pretty awesome so far, as I get to draw every day! Yay! I work in Glendale, but still live with my awesome grandmother, who has me to help her out with various activities, including making homemade kumquat preserves, weeding her garden, and watching Dancing with the Stars Monday and Tuesday nights. She is quite hilarious at times, and I hope to soon illustrate some of her antics here!

Until then, here are some work doodles (did you know I like cats?), and a drawing of a church tower from across the street at my work. My co-worker said he would like to draw the architecture, and I went along with him to the little courtyard at the Episcopal parish. It was quite nice, and the stained glass inside is phenomenal. I hope to draw more with him there soon!

LA Drawing Club 2 + Finally have Internet

So here are a few of my drawings from an LA Drawing Club session a while back,  maybe a month ago, with a Bladerunner theme. I finally ordered internet at my grandmother's house, now that I got a new job that will last a while! Since I last posted, I got a position as a Flash animation assistant working on some e-courses for a marketing company. It's not really so much animation as it is moving illustrations, but I am just happy to be drawing for a living (at least for a little while)!

Anyways, that position made me decide to actually get internet here, now that I will be here for quite a while longer than the initial 3 months I was planning on. Yay! Ok, well, Dancing with the Stars is on now, and I always watch with my grandma, but I will definitely post a bunch of drawings from the past few weeks now that I have internet access. :)

LA Drawing Club 1

Finally got a hold of some internet now that I'm visiting my parents' house this weekend.

Some cool things about my recent move: the Hollywood sign is right outside the window at my work, I get to keep my babcia company, and I get to meet awesome industry professionals! Since I moved to my babcia's, I've had the chance to go to the LA Drawing Club a few times and draw models. :) Every Thursday, a professor from Art Center has a 3 hour life drawing session in Glendale. It's like $20 but totally worth it! The model is always themed, with a movie and fitting music playing, and props! It's super cool. My new neighbor Brittany told me about it, though we haven't had the chance to go together yet. So far I've been to a Samurai-themed night (with a familiar model!), an I Love Lucy night, and recently a Bladerunner-themed night. I will scan and post the last one when I have time.

But one of the best parts about the club is that professionals from all over LA, from all different kinds of artistic focuses come and draw too! I've met gaming artists, Titmouse animators, a Disney head of story... and the best part is I get to drool over their artwork. Gah I wish I could interpret the model like they do. They can see the model in front of them, but rather than copy what they see they reinterpret the pose into an appealing character. It's so inspiring. I've been trying to do the same, but am still getting back into the life drawing groove! Anyway, here are my drawings from the first couple sessions:

Last Cat Drawings before Move

Some animal practice and imagined drawings, some of the dogs are from The Weatherly Guide to Drawing Animals. I am moving into my babcia's (grandma's) house later today, and I won't have the chance to draw my kitties as often! BUT I will be able to draw Max, her cocker spaniel. I also won't have internet... I'll be making good friends with coffee shops, I guess! Kind of excited, kind of nervous about my internship tomorrow.
Good news though! This past weekend I went with my family on a ski trip with a bunch of Polish people on a bus (an annual thing my dad helps organize) and my mom introduced me to a guy who works at Dreamworks :) We chatted for a while about animation and what I want to go into, and he gave me advice on what to go into if I want to get into producing or story art. He also said good things about Acme, which makes me more convinced that it was a good move to take the internship! I will be keeping in contact with him, so will my mom, as his family and mine went through similar experiences during the WWII. Networking is fun.
By this time tomorrow, I will be a production intern! :)