ghadibalo / topographies

WHAT? I have not posted for two months? What a lazy gett I am.

Two months ago, I lost my consistent Internet access, so I have been absent-minded when it comes to the ways of the Internet. I still have been drawing, however, and working, crocheting, studying for the GREs, reading, etc. Perhaps the lack of easy Internet access has been good to me. No more nights wasted looking up random trivia on Wikipedia, but, I do think I have been out of the loop, and my eyes are in need of some fresh material - as I have just been absorbing whatever is around me.

The book that Jose and I have been working on is almost finished. Here is a sneak peek of one of the images:

sneaky peek

And now I want to change the look of this website! Eep. Too many things to do and not enough time for infinite sleep.

Monday, May 12, 2008

I met Jose Luis Olivares this past weekend, and we're going to collaborate! I will give details later. Please enjoy his artwork, as it's quite lovely and even nicer in person.

Jose Luis also showed me some manga to buy. As a person who is usually turned off by manga (at least most popular manga), I was happy to discover two books that I liked. I'm reading one now, and I'm making my way through remarkably fast (by my standards, at least).

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Hisashiburi. (I am already falling asleep as I type this.)

It is spring! This means that my mind is now focused on colors and character-driven food items (Miffy chocolate croissants) - despite my sleepy nature. I am attempting to crochet and knit, perhaps in an attempt to mimic the Pacific Northwestern DIY-ers/domestics, perhaps seduced by green. I remember a passage from Osamu Dazai's The Setting Sun, in which Naoko remembers a pink scarf her mother made for her as a child and how she thought it was so hideous until, as an adult, she realized how her mother perfectly matched the grey, winter sky with the light pink of the scarf. Perhaps I am attempting to match items to the sky, as well.

Golden Week is over. I like how a color is attached to this week, unlike those calendar holidays I remember as a child - "Christmas Break" (PC-ed as "Winter Break"), "Easter Break" (PC-ed as "Spring Break"), "Thanksgiving Break" (I think my school kept this name, instead of re-naming it "Fall Break"). I do attach Easter to the name "Golden Week," even though it's unrelated, however. "Golden" makes me think of eggs, thus making me think of the Easter bunny, thus making me think about Easter.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

to draw draw draw draw to

Here are two recent drawings I've made. I tend to draw when I am a) bored and a bit fidgety, b) depressed and need to control my mental instability. Perhaps it makes sense, thus, that my drawings tend to look a bit obsessive compulsive, repetitive, meticulous. To put a pen in my hand and to move a pen across paper is a way of balance and of rendering confusion into geometry. I find that the balance becomes very literal, as I am constantly making sure that elements and objects are correctly balanced on paper and that nothing is too lopsided.

But why the (usual) lack of figural shapes? For one, I think I enjoy the abstract, Secondly, I'm not any good at figural drawings. I've never taken a drawing class and thus never had to practice figural drawing and, since I haven't had much interest in figural drawing, what I like to draw tends to be all shapes and repetition. I want to get into figural drawing, though, as a way of developing skills and hand control and add a bit of flavor to my gradually growing piles of drawings. I also want to buy some gouache soon (Will the list ever end? I also want to buy a digital video camera, DV deck, and external video monitor soon, and after that, I would like to buy a sewing machine), so I suppose that desired skill will have to go on a long list of belated wishes of Regretted Time Management.

Monday, March 10, 2008

woes of the digital

I don't know why, but these took an incredibly long time to make. Working with a Wacom Tablet again proves (perhaps needlessly) taxing. I prefer the feel and the ease of paper and pen - as using the Wacom Tablet and Photoshop is irritating rather than relaxing - but it's good to have change methods sometimes. At least this is what I hope.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

origami lovelies

Since September, my opinions have waned. Not weakened in strength, mind you - weakened in quantity. I think I would rather just stare at things from a distance - an insect perched in the grass. I'm not sure this is a good thing, but anyway. Let's look at some "origami sekkei...[which is] is a field of origami that has developed almost hand-in-hand with the field of mathematical origami" (wikipedia) together!

Eric Gjerde

oschene

A link!

I remember that a friend once gave a jar of origami stars to her boyfriend as a present. At the time, I was not very impressed because it seemed she gave him that present because she wanted to save her money to buy presents for herself, not because she cared about him or because he had been waiting his whole life for a jar of origami stars. I still am not a fan of origami star jars, but I feel compelled to make an origami star right now.

A bit unrelated, but these Knit Night Cupcakes from VeganYumYum are amazing. The decorations are made from marzipan. I think I would like to make some origami-style marzipan cupcake decorations one day...

Thursday, July 10, 2008