Final Fantasy XII
Started playing it two weeks ago. More than 10 hours into the game and still haven't gotten very far in the story, but that's because there's so much freedom right at the beginning of the game that I've mostly been trying to venture out as far as I can :D Being able to see the foes without needing to go through the battle sequence is very nice, too. The License system is a little confusing, and I'll probably mess up somehow, but it's refreshing. I am ambivalent about needing to buy the skills before using, though. At least now I won't have thousands of dollars just piled up, not being used.
I'm still fuzzy about how license points are rewarded and how it would affect the growth on my party members since there are still only 3 members allowed in an active party but the game is on a real-time battle system. (Gambits are ⌃)
The moogles...aren't so bad anymore. Especially since they can teleport me to places in Rabanastre :D
Final Fantasy VII Ultima
Started playing, but then it started to have more and more errors and unexplained crashes, so it was deleted from my computer. Currently looking forward to FFVII for PS3 instead. (Oh, and I think Cloud's been doing a bit of part time in addition to his delivery service... :))
Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus
I utterly fail at shooting games, even if I've only started the game a little bit after going through the tutorials. I think the game would be more enjoyable if I had actually finished FFVII first...? (see above)
Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII
So pretty. Me wants.
"HP - what it's really about when you get right down to it" (AKA "Harry Potter in 5 seconds")
Discovered through LJ: Fourth-rose.
Dancing Harry & Draco elves
Um, lol.
etc.
Wah. Lament on my lack of artistic skillz and creativity.
26 November 2007
18 November 2007
In the four and a half years I've been spewing angst here, I have, if not everything else, learned of one quirk: if I am unable and unwilling to express some recent, dominant thought in words, then it is something that I recognized to be painful. Anger, irritation, silliness, and mild depression are easy to form into words. They are easy to confront, dealt with, and dispelled.
Larger looming issues are not so simple.
But the more I avoid thinking about it, the more urgent and problematic it gets, and the worse the condition it leaves me when I accidentally strikes upon it, or when I couldn't keep from making some connection to said issue.
I fear failing.
I fear falling apart.
I fear rejection.
I fear not being able to manage myself, my life.
So I put it aside, forget about it, pretend everything is just as before, blinding myself from what needs to be done.
...and despair afterwards.
(365*4.5)/646=1642.5/646=2.54days/post
I fear being left alone.
I hate being left alone.
Keeping them here is selfish.
Any other alternative is painful.
My chest aches, really aches, when I think about it.
I know I should not avoid it any longer.
I know avoiding is bad, bad, bad.
But I don't want to think about it, just for a little longer.
The pain is getting worse and worse now. Can't even keep myself it check.
Damn it all.
See, I still can't even address it properly. Can't even structure this into something resembling logic.
This will just come out as ridiculously emo! and silly and stupid and teenage-angsty, but it's nonetheless true: I hate my being. I wish I am not such a disappointment to myself and my parents.
Larger looming issues are not so simple.
But the more I avoid thinking about it, the more urgent and problematic it gets, and the worse the condition it leaves me when I accidentally strikes upon it, or when I couldn't keep from making some connection to said issue.
I fear failing.
I fear falling apart.
I fear rejection.
I fear not being able to manage myself, my life.
So I put it aside, forget about it, pretend everything is just as before, blinding myself from what needs to be done.
...and despair afterwards.
(365*4.5)/646=1642.5/646=2.54days/post
I fear being left alone.
I hate being left alone.
Keeping them here is selfish.
Any other alternative is painful.
My chest aches, really aches, when I think about it.
I know I should not avoid it any longer.
I know avoiding is bad, bad, bad.
But I don't want to think about it, just for a little longer.
The pain is getting worse and worse now. Can't even keep myself it check.
Damn it all.
See, I still can't even address it properly. Can't even structure this into something resembling logic.
This will just come out as ridiculously emo! and silly and stupid and teenage-angsty, but it's nonetheless true: I hate my being. I wish I am not such a disappointment to myself and my parents.
16 November 2007
Doctor Five and Ten, a squrriel, and cockroaches.
There's something about Ten telling Five regarding the Master, saying, "No, no beard. Well, a wife" that created outbursts of joy here and here. What's the great revelation? What has been turned from sub-text to text, fanon to canon? I can guess, but I want get the jooooooke....Alas, I am just a "regular viewer" who won't get it. `0`;;;
Doctor Who 4x00 Time Crash here.
In other news, a squirrel has done what even I cannot do and robots proved to be a key to cockroach sociology.
Doctor Who 4x00 Time Crash here.
In other news, a squirrel has done what even I cannot do and robots proved to be a key to cockroach sociology.
08 November 2007
Yuletart recipients assigned!
Ah, so LJ comm: Yuletart sent their exchange assignments a couple days ago and...looks like I've got to work very hard, indeed, if I were to please my recipient.
Out of the list, I have only ever drawn HikaGo seriously, is somewhat familiar with the bolded, is unfamilar with the italicized, and only seen graphics of the regular font-sized ones:
...and if the asterisked are the preferred fandom, I feel a little pushed to do Hikago, especially since my recipient is a pretty good artist °0°!!!
Well, I suppose some research is in order.
PS: 07-Ghost is already licensed?? D:
Out of the list, I have only ever drawn HikaGo seriously, is somewhat familiar with the bolded, is unfamilar with the italicized, and only seen graphics of the regular font-sized ones:
*Avatar: The Last Airbender, *Baten Kaitos, *Code Geass, *Hikaru no Go, *The Legend of Zelda, Planetes, Sailor Moon, Read or Die: The TV, Eureka Seven, *ARIA, Gundam Wing, Kekkaishi, Gunslinger Girl, Pokemon, Samurai Champloo, Nadia and the Secret of Blue Water, Tales of Symphonia, Kingdom Hearts
...and if the asterisked are the preferred fandom, I feel a little pushed to do Hikago, especially since my recipient is a pretty good artist °0°!!!
Well, I suppose some research is in order.
PS: 07-Ghost is already licensed?? D:
tl;dr WARNING
Homoshiroi Made a "TRACING IS NOT ART" stamp a few days ago and has been mildly wanked over. Unsurprisingly, the reaction and positions of the comments mostly reflect those of what I observed over in youtube. In other words (and sorry if I offend), they are quite intolerant, self-asserting, and to some degree, authoritative. The negative atmosphere oozed with defensive possessiveness. Oh, and most agree with the stamp-maker, but that's hardly an interesting or fascinating point to make.
In any case, wank about people tracing over others' art and not giving credit, tracing/modified work as/not as a form of art, its merit or the lack of, examples of such "disgusting" behavior, etc, etc ensues.
Now except for Messa and the above-mentioned artist, both of whom I watch and do not know personally, I don't even know these deviants, so I cannot say whether they are professionals or not. The general atmosphere amounts to be "zOMG, my art. Not yours," which I understand on principle. Whether they see it as an art form or not matters little to me, but I was most unimpressed with their lack of understanding in beginning artists or people who have more trouble translating 3-D visuals/visions into 2-D lines and shapes on some other media. I do not believe that stealing art is right, nor do I believe in not giving credit, seeking permission, or respecting the artists' wish where it is due, but I question whether the root of their discontent arises from profit (in monetary or esteem, etc terms) or from the act itself.
I agreed with Messa quite completely on her opinions on tracing. Let's hear a bit of voice of reason here, here, and here, with the dA policy on tracing here.
¤ Some hatin' because hatin' is infectious.
My brain, however, is experiencing the most cognitive dissonance on this one particular lady, who sounded either elitist or very obstinate; she firmly believed that life drawings and learning from "real artbooks" is the only way to go.
Aside from her stubborn adherence, her point is valid to a certain degree. So I thought to myself, "self, this lady probably has a reason for her fervency and unbending will. Go check out her point from her art, since, hey, she teaches other people to draw, and seems to do art professionally too! What an interesting character! I wonder what her art is like!" (with the most non-sarcastic, sincere frame of mind, I assure you.)
What I found was highly unimpressive. I admit I'm a bit of a whore when it comes to reasonable anatomical proportions (i.e., no weirdly sideways features, etc) and not really a fan of superduperpointy!chin style (like this). I drive myself mad with attempts to make the anatomy as natural as possible. So I completely understand her emphasis on knowing the proper basics.
But if I hadn't read her commentary first, I would never have even fathomed the idea of she preaching about anatomical correctness and learning from "real" art books on anatomy basics, or that she teaches drawing and works professionally as an artist.
Oh, and I wouldn't think she's just full of it because she is only 22, and can't bother to spell "homoshiroi" correctly, either:
Arrogance that comes with age is often unavoidable in many. Arrogance of the above is just ridiculous. She is not qualified to throw that "I TEECHES PEEPALS" and "I IS PROFESSHIONOL" crap around.
Oh, and I guess she has no problem with riding on the coattails of Nyu's Art Meme...LoL, even the size of the meme is the same, not to mention the style...
Oh, I will stop because I'm just hatin' on her now. And yeah, I'm not brave, insolent, nor intolerant enough to post this section on dA.
¤ Opinions regaring issues discussed.
On the matter of tracing as a learning tool: I believe that, no, tracing should not be the primary way of learning how to draw. However, tracing has its merits in letting a starting amateur to get a feel of "how things should be"—not every one has an innate talent to transcribe one object's relative position, proportion, etc to begin with. It eases him/her (I'll stick with "her" for the time being) into getting a sense of lines. Of course, moving onto attempting to copy a subject would be wise. Tracing helps me to more quickly understand how some features and perspective works, i.e. why does drawing that other eye that way makes it more natural, etc.) It also a quick way to experience and try out a new style, while merely "eying it" makes me stick to my style more often than not.
A lot of concern is centered around how some people traces and makes derivations of other artwork without crediting, asking for consent, using the same outline, etc (some goes as far as saying the same poses, though the example was either a really bad tracing or copying the poses by eye). Yes, I agree with the fact that a piece is only completely Her Art when she drew it from scratch. But, if she modified it from someone else's, consent from the original artist must be given; the derivative artist must respect the original artist's wishes to credit or not publish. Not doing so would just be bad etiquette, stupidity, and rudeness. If said original artist did not respond to such request, that is the same as a "no" to me. In the case where the artist gives free reign of his work or that it is not possible to contact the original artist (i.e. reference from an anime screenshot), claiming that you used a reference would be preferred, if just to save the derivative artist from flames. Claiming the art as your own and not mentioning the reference part, most of the time, will just cause pain and grief. Especially if the original is heavily referenced.
Just because a piece was heavily referenced doesn't necessarily mean it's bad in my book; it just means that the derivative artist is either 1. not comfortable with her "free forms," 2. completely worships the original artist, 3. is unable to create from scratch (and some people don't prefer to, because of various reasons), 4. wants to imitate a style, or 5. learning. A great example is sprite-making. A lot of times people just alter/recolor/cut-and-paste/mix-and-match the original sprite(s) to make new ones. Whether that is plagiarism another issue.
There's also the issue of copying a style. Some think its wrong because "an artist's gotta develop his own," but this is really a matter of preference. Is a fanart better if it has the artist's own style or is an imitation of the original artist? Different people, at different ages, will give you different answers with different pieces of art.
Perhaps my perspective is just different than the others because I'm quite a recluse amateur. A recluse (by comparison) because I don't think it's good enough to flaunt, because I am constantly improving, because I desire criticism but fear it at the same time, because I can't get my arse together to finish something. I am still at the stage of "hey, I'm no good, so why should I be so possessive with these scribbles?" It's probably much, much different than a popular, skilled artist who constantly has issues regarding art theft (the kind without modification and/or for profit) more commonly.
I think I'm getting really tired—sentences are sporting more and more comma abuses and run-ons.
Homoshiroi Made a "TRACING IS NOT ART" stamp a few days ago and has been mildly wanked over. Unsurprisingly, the reaction and positions of the comments mostly reflect those of what I observed over in youtube. In other words (and sorry if I offend), they are quite intolerant, self-asserting, and to some degree, authoritative. The negative atmosphere oozed with defensive possessiveness. Oh, and most agree with the stamp-maker, but that's hardly an interesting or fascinating point to make.
In any case, wank about people tracing over others' art and not giving credit, tracing/modified work as/not as a form of art, its merit or the lack of, examples of such "disgusting" behavior, etc, etc ensues.
Now except for Messa and the above-mentioned artist, both of whom I watch and do not know personally, I don't even know these deviants, so I cannot say whether they are professionals or not. The general atmosphere amounts to be "zOMG, my art. Not yours," which I understand on principle. Whether they see it as an art form or not matters little to me, but I was most unimpressed with their lack of understanding in beginning artists or people who have more trouble translating 3-D visuals/visions into 2-D lines and shapes on some other media. I do not believe that stealing art is right, nor do I believe in not giving credit, seeking permission, or respecting the artists' wish where it is due, but I question whether the root of their discontent arises from profit (in monetary or esteem, etc terms) or from the act itself.
I agreed with Messa quite completely on her opinions on tracing. Let's hear a bit of voice of reason here, here, and here, with the dA policy on tracing here.
¤ Some hatin' because hatin' is infectious.
My brain, however, is experiencing the most cognitive dissonance on this one particular lady, who sounded either elitist or very obstinate; she firmly believed that life drawings and learning from "real artbooks" is the only way to go.
Aside from her stubborn adherence, her point is valid to a certain degree. So I thought to myself, "self, this lady probably has a reason for her fervency and unbending will. Go check out her point from her art, since, hey, she teaches other people to draw, and seems to do art professionally too! What an interesting character! I wonder what her art is like!" (with the most non-sarcastic, sincere frame of mind, I assure you.)
What I found was highly unimpressive. I admit I'm a bit of a whore when it comes to reasonable anatomical proportions (i.e., no weirdly sideways features, etc) and not really a fan of superduperpointy!chin style (like this). I drive myself mad with attempts to make the anatomy as natural as possible. So I completely understand her emphasis on knowing the proper basics.
But if I hadn't read her commentary first, I would never have even fathomed the idea of she preaching about anatomical correctness and learning from "real" art books on anatomy basics, or that she teaches drawing and works professionally as an artist.
Oh, and I wouldn't think she's just full of it because she is only 22, and can't bother to spell "homoshiroi" correctly, either:
"I put homoshoiri's stamp in my journal and commented on it, saying that artbooks are the best learning tool and self-study, then all hell breaks loose with these two kids who, like I said, already proved my point. The problem is, they won't let it go after homoshoiri and even myself said that arguing is moot and shouldn't be done on there, they seem very determined to make themselves out to be some sort of tracing saviors or whatnot...kids these days..."
Arrogance that comes with age is often unavoidable in many. Arrogance of the above is just ridiculous. She is not qualified to throw that "I TEECHES PEEPALS" and "I IS PROFESSHIONOL" crap around.
Oh, and I guess she has no problem with riding on the coattails of Nyu's Art Meme...LoL, even the size of the meme is the same, not to mention the style...
Oh, I will stop because I'm just hatin' on her now. And yeah, I'm not brave, insolent, nor intolerant enough to post this section on dA.
¤ Opinions regaring issues discussed.
On the matter of tracing as a learning tool: I believe that, no, tracing should not be the primary way of learning how to draw. However, tracing has its merits in letting a starting amateur to get a feel of "how things should be"—not every one has an innate talent to transcribe one object's relative position, proportion, etc to begin with. It eases him/her (I'll stick with "her" for the time being) into getting a sense of lines. Of course, moving onto attempting to copy a subject would be wise. Tracing helps me to more quickly understand how some features and perspective works, i.e. why does drawing that other eye that way makes it more natural, etc.) It also a quick way to experience and try out a new style, while merely "eying it" makes me stick to my style more often than not.
A lot of concern is centered around how some people traces and makes derivations of other artwork without crediting, asking for consent, using the same outline, etc (some goes as far as saying the same poses, though the example was either a really bad tracing or copying the poses by eye). Yes, I agree with the fact that a piece is only completely Her Art when she drew it from scratch. But, if she modified it from someone else's, consent from the original artist must be given; the derivative artist must respect the original artist's wishes to credit or not publish. Not doing so would just be bad etiquette, stupidity, and rudeness. If said original artist did not respond to such request, that is the same as a "no" to me. In the case where the artist gives free reign of his work or that it is not possible to contact the original artist (i.e. reference from an anime screenshot), claiming that you used a reference would be preferred, if just to save the derivative artist from flames. Claiming the art as your own and not mentioning the reference part, most of the time, will just cause pain and grief. Especially if the original is heavily referenced.
Just because a piece was heavily referenced doesn't necessarily mean it's bad in my book; it just means that the derivative artist is either 1. not comfortable with her "free forms," 2. completely worships the original artist, 3. is unable to create from scratch (and some people don't prefer to, because of various reasons), 4. wants to imitate a style, or 5. learning. A great example is sprite-making. A lot of times people just alter/recolor/cut-and-paste/mix-and-match the original sprite(s) to make new ones. Whether that is plagiarism another issue.
There's also the issue of copying a style. Some think its wrong because "an artist's gotta develop his own," but this is really a matter of preference. Is a fanart better if it has the artist's own style or is an imitation of the original artist? Different people, at different ages, will give you different answers with different pieces of art.
Perhaps my perspective is just different than the others because I'm quite a recluse amateur. A recluse (by comparison) because I don't think it's good enough to flaunt, because I am constantly improving, because I desire criticism but fear it at the same time, because I can't get my arse together to finish something. I am still at the stage of "hey, I'm no good, so why should I be so possessive with these scribbles?" It's probably much, much different than a popular, skilled artist who constantly has issues regarding art theft (the kind without modification and/or for profit) more commonly.
I think I'm getting really tired—sentences are sporting more and more comma abuses and run-ons.
06 November 2007
Scientific Illustration
The BIS1b TA, Fran, said something about UCSC having a masters program on scientific illustration, how she has some contacts for people who are interested in trying, and something about how they are short on people in this field. Then she sent us all links to that program. I knew it's out of my league (I FAIL in detail work), but hey, why not see what it's about?
And the first thought upon seeing the website is: "holy crap, I can't do that. Ever."
Damn that sudden urge to do life drawings. Now. Immediately. (who cares about physics, anyhow?)
(BTW, what I'm listening to is the coolest remix of FFVII's Cosmos Canyon. Voices from the Lifestream is a really well done Compilation of Final Fantasy VII fan remix album)
And the first thought upon seeing the website is: "holy crap, I can't do that. Ever."
Admission RequirementsLoL, seriously, who am I kidding. No way I can reach an acceptable level in two years, haha. And I haven't even taken initiatives in trying to get into a research lab. ¬_¬;;;;
Admission to the program is limited to 15 students and is by application only. The application deadline for Fall 2008 is March 15. Applicants must have at least a bachelor's degree, preferably in a science, and must be able to demonstrate a strong background in representational drawing, as well as a developed sense of aesthetics. Other degrees are eligible if the portfolio exhibits keen observational skills and if the applicant can demonstrate a strong interest in and understanding of science.
Damn that sudden urge to do life drawings. Now. Immediately. (who cares about physics, anyhow?)
(BTW, what I'm listening to is the coolest remix of FFVII's Cosmos Canyon. Voices from the Lifestream is a really well done Compilation of Final Fantasy VII fan remix album)
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