CONVENTIONS!:

Went to my first ever Anime Convention - Anime Expo on Friday. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was a lot less crazy than I was anticipating so that was nice and it was amazing to check out the artist alley. I think I could've spent the entire time in the alley just soaking it all in but we (, , and me) planned this trip just to see Morning Musume so we mostly just meandered around the expo to kill time before the show ^^ I think I'll do a table next year since will be back by then and it would be awesome to do the alley as a group.
As for the Musume concert, it was really fun! Those girls have some crazy stamina and the harmonies were lovely. Hope they come to America again, Buono! too. I'm a sucker for Jpop girl groups.

Now I just need to get ready for my first ever Comic-con I've always wanted to do a portfolio review so I've been busy trying to put one together for that. I'll be posting more art as I work on it so you can look forward to some posts as it's gets closer to the con. I'm only going one day but I hope I can find at least a few of the artists I've been following here on DA that'll be in the alley. Don't think I'll stray too far from the art but if anyone has any *must-sees* they think I should check out, feel free to chime in

I'm also heading the opposite direction the same weekend as the Con to attend the Miyazaki lecture at UC Berkeley It's going to be a crazy week but I couldn't miss Miyazaki! I'll probably have a serious creative overload afterwords but it'll be worth it.

Cool Family Stuff:

My brother and sister-in law just had their first baby about a week ago!!! He's sooo adorable! I'm totally psyched to be an Aunt and intend to spoil the little guy rotten My parents are way excited too since this is their first Grandbaby.
And just today, my bro won the New York AVP tournament with his partner!!! He's a pro beach volleyball player and winning this was a reallllly big deal. They won $34,000!...that should cover the baby diapers for awhile ^^





Clip: [link] (apologize in advance if the commercial before the clip is still that weird one)
And go vote for Casey to become the male HOTSHOT of the year!: [link]

My sisters and I are also getting ready for our Taiko performance at the local Obon festival this month, *crossing my fingers for no more blisters* I can't wait to perform - we saw the Togen Daiko group a couple years ago when we were doing extra cred for Japanese class and I totally fell in love with the gorgeous rhythms and dramatic choreography. It's amazing to be a part of that this time around

Thoughts on Art:

I've never felt like a natural sketchbook artist. It's kinda hard to explain but I always feel like I'm fighting the sketchbook, and I rarely find pieces in my sketchbook that I can color or develop into illustrations later on. So recently, while I was trying to work through sketching some more difficult angles for practice, I came upon a rather startling and enlightening realization. I don't think spatially when I draw.

When I sketch, I'm mimicking the image I see in front of me, or the image from my memory/imagination, as acurately as I can. I'm taking in how the details relate to eachother, using my eye or memory to measure the distances between details to create an accurate study. But I've realized that in doing this I completely flatten the image in my mind and pretty much suck the soul out of the sketch

So I've been practicing approaching each sketch spatially. Now, instead of thinking of the sketch in 2-dimensions, I think of it as if I'm re-creating the object in space. "Sculpting the sketch". I think I'm finally starting to see a soul in some of my sketches now and that encouraging. I've also realized that I rarely if ever give my characters a strong expression. From the face to the body language, I felt like I was just drawing clothed puppets, not characters

I think that this is what I've been searching for. It always bothered me that I would get bored of my art so quickly and I couldn't understand what was missing. It's just crazy to think that such basic fundamental concepts were blocking me from developing my style for so long.
Hopefully as I update DA this month you'll see some improvement, I'm still refining my style too so feel free to chip in if you like/hate what you see as I start posting again. Fresh eyes are always appreciated ^^



...still figuring out this journal thing...