Vacation!

I had a three week vacation between school quarters, and I made good use of it. I started a pincushion swap in an online group, played video games until late at night, lost 6 pounds, and went to Maine to see the family and camp at Lake Sennebec. The first day was gorgeous, dry and sunny and cool. I took Mom down to a bookstore in Rockland called Bookland, and we turned in more read books for store credit. I gave my last credit slip to Mom, so our purchases were basically free. Later I made some beaded flowers and Victorian Lace bracelets from Sandra Halpenny's patterns on bead-patterns.com.

For dinner we had Alaskan King Crab legs steamed at a campsite on the shore of the lake. Occasionally a Loon called, and Peter spotted a golden eagle perched in a tree nearby. It brought back memories of kayaking along thhe east side of Crawford Lake and suddenly seeing an eagle plummet to the surface of the lake, then extend his claws and fly off with a fish as his prize.

The next session of school I will be a junior, and I will be taking Advanced Software. We will learn how to use Maya. I barely know how to use 3dsMax! Back to square 1.

Our cat, Agate, is 16 years old, and will turn 17 next month. She has kidney failure, and barfs and leaves other messes for us to clean up. I feel sad that it is likely she will be leaving us soon, but she is still so affectionate.

Digital Ink and Paint Character

Total Knee Replacement

It has been a traumatic month for me. I had a total replacement of my left knee on May 22. I thought I was prepared for the aftermath, but I was completely wrong. I chose a femoral block with light general anesthesia. Unfortunately the femoral block wore off about two hours after I was out of surgery. The pain meds they were giving me were for the block which wasn't working, and it took them until the following day to figure that out and give me some real drugs. So I started out in amazingly intense pain. Fortunately that is gone now.

Because I couldn't lift my leg, let alone bend it, I was transferred to a rehabillitation hospital instead. Pleasant Valley was actually an old folk's home masquerading as rehab. The food was unbelievable. Pick the worst imaginable foods, and they were serving it (as long as it was very cheap). I actually ended up in arguments over the food. The only good thing was that my doctor was on the board so I had someone I could complain to who had clout. My PCP is a great doctor. I was in the rehab hospital for two weeks.

The next thing was to relearn moving the knee. For the first week or so I couldn't lift my leg, not even a quarter of an inch. Physical therapy consisted of the therapist yelling at me to move the leg which wouldn't go anywhere. The therapists also hung my leg over the edge of a table with weights on my ankle, and pushed my knee into a greater bend. My reaction was floods of tears and occasional screams. Now it is four weeks later and I am at a 90 degree bend, and looking forward to more weeks of painful therapy.

Since I've been out of the rehab, I have had a crying jag almost every day. I am lonely and feel weak and useless. Surgery took place in the middle of class: Digital Ink and Paint and Digital Audio and Video. Catching up in those classes kept me busy for a week or so, but they are over now, and classes don't start again until July 11. It seems so far away.

Storyboarding for Animation

This is the final storyboard that I did for this class. It was the first time I've had to think like a director, including camera angles, lighting, sound effects and timing. It was almost overwhelming!

Visual Indication

Here are two samples from the Visual Indication Class. They are copies in marker of a Stella beer ad, one is a straight copy and the second put in perspective. It was a fun assignment.

End of Winter Session

I have been so busy with classes this winter, plus I had surgery on my knee at the end of January, so I have been remiss in posting. I actually ended up improving greatly with my marker ability by taking the visual indication class, and storyboarding was fun. This session ends next week, and I have taken 3D Modeling and Contemporary Art History. Next session will be more interesting with Life Drawing for Animation, and Digital Ink and Painting.

Cathy

End of Week 1

This week I discovered that I am able to make a huge mess with alcohol-based markers. The teacher says it is the paper, but he doesn't know me yet. I'm the one who somehow manages to apply the palette of paint (all of it) to the front of her clothing! Today I am finishing up my first storyboard. I'll post it when I'm done, along with the story for it.
Cathy

A new quarter begins

I am taking two unusual classes this session at AIO. The first is called Visual Indication. This seems to be a class oriented toward quick drawing with markers. The second class is Storyboarding for Animation. I know this is a necessary class because I watched my Dad do so many storyboards during his advertising career. I'll try to update this blog to show some of my work as the session progresses.

Life Drawing

Here is a drawing from Life Drawing class where we drew a lot of anatomical studies.

Advanced Life Drawing

Here is a drawing I did from Drawing and Gesture class. I really enjoyed this one, the pose is so dynamic and the forms so beautiful.

Goals

I am a student at Art Institute Online in the Game Art and Design Program. As part of the Introduction to Game Design class, we developed a timeline for achieving the goal of becoming a game character artist (my goal). This blog is one of the first steps toward that end. Here, I'll post some of my artwork, hopefully tutorials to help others with issues we encounter in class, and talk about my progress. Please say hello!