Happy New Years Eve 2011!

Here is a To Do list of odd projects for 2012:

Spreadsheet   

Continue sleep diary for the entire of 2012. Work out averages as I go along. 

Continue googling "charlotte gyseman", "chargyse" and "geezmun". Put the number of image results onto a spreadsheet and graph them. 

Continue graphing finances. 

Word 

Continue work on NaNoWriMo2011 novel.FINISH IT. 

Begin around 140 word summary of day, per day [twitter?]

Image 

Recommence 1 photo of self, per day. 

Begin and complete 1 painting per week. 

Each week 

Collect the 7 photos, 7 daily diary entries, printscreens of sleep diary data, financial data and Google image data of 7 days, and photo of the weekly painting.
Compile into one folder.
Blog the contents of the folder. 

Every four weeks 

Compile completed Weekly folders into "Monthly" folders. 

End of the year 

Figure out what to do with it all. Get printed into one big page per day scrapbook? 4 weeks per chapter, 13 chapters?

I expect some of you will think I'm barmy. It's okay. I'm currently doing some of these things and have already tried some of the others in the past year, so I know what I'm in for. Others of you will want to join in with a few of these things. If you want to do this for yourselves, go for it!

To Do Lists: Because sometimes this stuff doesn't just happen.

Here's my current To Do List. Usually the things on my To Do List aren't actually things I have to do, and are more like things I've considered doing, thought would be good if I did do them, and hoped that I actually do get around to doing them. I probably only get round to half of the things before deciding, "Another time," or "...nah, I changed my mind." It's not a very good system. I highly recommend working on the things on your To Do lists instead of just hoping you end up getting them done.

To Do.


Christmas presents for family and boyfriend. All done!
Bought. Sometimes I like to start with things I can strike off straight away.
Wrap Christmas presents.

Sort out Digital Files and Folders. Half done...
I've been meaning to do this for years. I've just found out you can get some nice desktop backgrounds that look like rooms, which you can arrange your icons around on. I may have to make one for myself one day, but this has done for now.
As for the actual Files in the system.... well. That is going to take a little longer. But once I've done it, I'm sure life will feel a little clearer.

Learn how to do a Self Assessment.
I downloaded all of my transactions for the past 5 years yesterday and put them into a neat little graph. I'll learn how to actually do it properly after I've sorted out my Folders though.

Work on First Novel
First Draft of more than 40,000 words done thanks to NaNoWriMo. 
Need to follow the steps on The Plot Whisperer to refine the plot arc.
And then... See what happens next after that.

Sell artwork.
Make more artwork.
Be less attached to artwork made.
Set up gallery of artwork, on or offline. Preferably online to begin with?
Actually start cataloguing artwork made.

Blog More.
I'm currently in the process of that...
Sell advertising space. By the way, if you have a site you think I'd like to link to, do let me know :)

Sort out Online Presence.
I did that less than a year ago, but I think I need to do it yet again. I have more than one blog, more than one email account, and those email accounts need sorting or deleting too. And I think I want to sort out my blogs too, add in some proper labels etc.

Do Laundry.
Sigh. Done?

Alright, this list is getting a bit cumbersome now. Better stop now and get on with the decluttering.

December: Post Nano Plot Reflection

I realised that although I didn't manage 50,000 words in one month, I have managed over 40,000 words over October and November put together. Throughout October I spent some time trying to write a diary entry everyday, mostly of odd trains of thought I was having as I was having them, even the nonsense ones, just to see how many words I would do. I'd definitely like to see if I could combine parts of the two into any sort of entertaining novelish object.

NaNoWriMo has a list of things that you can do once you've recovered from thirty days of novel writing.
December's is all about sorting out the plot arc of the novel:

The Plot Whisperer -- Plot Writing Month (December). Goal: Refine the plot arc of your first draft. 


And here are some others they've listed that go on throughout the year:

NaBloPoMo – National Blog Posting Month (Year-Round). Goal: Post every day for a month.

SciFiWriMo – Science Fiction Writing Month (Year-Round). Goal: choose a target word count and reach it in a month, writing sci-fi or fantasy.

750 Words – (Year-Round). Goal: write 750 words a day. Includes month-long challenges.

Wriye – (Year-Round). Goal: Set a word-count goal for the year and work towards it between January 1 and December 31.

There are also 24 hour and 48 hour challenges that you can take part in if you don't fancy a month of writing tonnes of words:

24 Hour Comics Day – (Changes annually, lasts 24 hours). Goal: Draw a 24-page comic in one 24-hour period.

48 Hour Film Project – (Varies; operates via tours around the USA, lasts 48 hours). Goal: Create a short film in 48 hours.

Lots to be doing!

I really have no idea how my novel thing is going to go at the moment. There were some mentions of tea stained diaries being found in parks, so I really feel I have to transcribe those particular diary sections on paper and tea stain them. And then leave them in parks where they can be found. Especially after finding it so fun writing on my little 2x3 inch coptic bound book and singeing the edges with Sam's amazing rocket lighter of blue fire. It's pretty nice, the burned smell I get off it now.

I'm not a pyro.

NaNoWriMo: 2011

For the past month of November I've been a half busy / half not busy little bee, typing away at my very first novel.

It's not going as quickly as it should be. I began on 1st November 2011, like all the other NaNoWriMo participants. Unfortunately, I spent many days away from my laptop in that time and wrote not a word. I ended November with just over 17,000 words out of 50,000. Poor. But never mind. I'm carrying on, with a current word count of 19,458 and rising. If I really set myself on the task, I could definitely hit 50,000 before we reach 2012. Easy. Just so long as I keep typing! I've even begun to write in a little 100page 2x3inch book I made, just to make sure I can write something while I'm away from the laptop.

Novelist Gyseman, here I come. 

I've also got another idea in the works. I'm going to spend 2012 making sure I write between 137 and 164 words every single day for a year. Maybe every night just describing my day. I could call it "My 2012", since I'm sure a lot of books are probably already called or are going to be called "2012", what with the universe ending and everything. Perhaps you can buy my first novel before Christmas next year for a loved one, just in case the universe does end. Then you can buy my other book after that, if it turns out the universe still exists and is doing fine with us still here? Best to cover your bases.

Also, I had a nice idea today. You may notice XXX has suddenly appeared as a page on my blog. I'll write more about that another time.

Cereal box doll houses, the Desperados Dojo Mansion, and zombie survival simulators.

So here's the story.

Yesterday, I heard something post through the door after I had already been down once and signed for a parcel for one of the guys living downstairs. I don't know why I thought this second thing would be anything interesting, but lo and behold, there was a brand new Ikea catalogue, addressed to no one in particular. 

I nicked it.

Mine now.

I spent the rest of the day thinking about how when I was little I liked making little environments for woodlice out of sand, and a paper house with an amazing special thread operated lift for my Polly Pocket figures [I surprise myself with this memory. Perhaps I'm remembering it better than it was... no, it was definitely as wicked as I remember it], and totally loved watching Art Attack and Blue Peter when they made little rooms and models for toys to live and play in. 

And then I wondered. Now that I'm adult enough to use a pair of scissors without a guardian present and childish enough to still love this stuff... Why haven't I actually made a sturdier one out of cardboard yet?

In my second year of Computer Game Design I thought about modelling my bedroom in Maya for practice, and got part of the way there. Ever since, I've been thinking about recreating the main areas I liked to spend my time. Didn't quite happen. And now I have five empty cereal boxes beginning to clutter up my bedroom floor because I haven't decided what to do with them yet. 

My original plan for this cardboard was to go around measuring my room to recreate it to scale out of the cardboard, and do the lounge and kitchen and bathroom after that. Even make little mini-us's to live in it.

Except while I was measuring I had the idea to recreate our flat in Unity 3D, and add zombies or monsters and turn the flat into an FPS. Or a zombie survival simulator. Exciting idea.

In the end I decided to use the cardboard to make a Desperados Dojo Mansion for my Lego Man. I got about this far before I decided I wanted to make the FPS/zombie survival sim of my house more.

Three walls, a floor and a bridge to fight on. But nobody to fight. Hmm.

I think maybe if I had done some solid pre-pro on it, I might have been more focused. Oh well. It's currently sat on my windowsill, along with my purple should-sort-through-but-haven't-yet folder of.. stuff, and green bag of old journals dating from as far back as a decade ago [probably]. 

I haven't decided if I'm going to keep working on it or dismantle it for the cardboard to make the cardboard version of my room. Although I am going to finish another box of Maple Pecan Crisp by tomorrow, so the Desperados Dojo Mansion is probably safe for now. 

Unless it falls out of my window. 

It's not going to fall out of my window.

Cyfarthfa Street, Plasnewydd, Roath, Cardiff

Here are two photos of Cyfarthfa Street, looking very different in both. The second one here is from the day of the previous post about colours, when the pink/orange cloud reflected warm light onto the shiny wet roof tops. The first one was taken today to show you just how different the place looked a few days ago compared to today's ordinary cloudyness. I will paint this street one day.

21st September 2011 - A typical grey cloudy day, with street looking fairly dark and subdued.

         17th September 2011 - With shiny pink rooftops and deep dark clouds further away, the street itself looks brighter.

Side by side. I flipped one to make the comparison a little easier on the eyes.

Colours - Do you see what I see?

I just saw a very interesting episode of Horizon on BBC iPlayer all about colour and the perception of colour. I found it particularly interesting how the colour terms we learn can affect how easily we perceive different shades of a colour, quite drastically in some cases...

I also finished my second page of colour mixing experiments the other day:

And before that I was reading all about fashion and the colours that suit a person. Haha. I can't quite figure out if I'm a Deep Autumn or a Deep Winter. I suspect I'm somewhere between the two, like Miss Kardashian in the example on the page linked.

And wow. There was some crazy beautiful lighting going on outside just now. It has been on and off showering today, so the rooftops are shiny, reflecting pink light coming from a big cloud that was just above. I took some time out from typing this to attempt to take some pics.

The rainbow from earlier.

This is a different rainbow picture; the first rainbow I saw after moving to Cardiff, shown here for the contrast with today's pictures.

White Tiger

Nearly done! I think I just want to add a glaze or two of colour to the black scriveners ink of the background, blue or maybe green, and add a little more of the ink here or there.

Pencil grid, pencil & black biro line work.

Black biro line work with watercolor shading added.

With the black scriveners ink added.

I'm really surprised with how well the underwater parts turned out in the photo of the painting. For a split second I thought I'd uploaded the wrong image until I noticed the splodgy reflections in the background. When I look at the actual painting I can't help but see biro squiggles!

Playing with watercolour / watercolor triads.

Instead of doing any more work on the white tiger last night, I spent nearly the whole day doing this instead:

I went through my entire Daler Rowney [Aquafine ?] 12 half-pan pocket set, sorted them into some experimental triads [using the yellow-green as a yellow in some and the bluer-green as a blue, and the oranges as reds] to see what different colours I could make. 

The whole process took me so much longer than I thought it would - literally all day - but it was worth it. It forced me to mix colours I wouldn't ordinarily think of mixing, not to mention use colours I don't normally like using. For example, I always thought of R2 [the fifth colour across the top of the first image, or the middle one below] as far too bright to be used for anything that wasn't going to be super bright. Rookie mistake! It actually makes a really nice peachy kind of colour when watered down. And I've had these watercolour paints how long?*

Silly Char; the clue is in the name. 

So in doing an exercise like this, you learn so much about what your paints can do for you. Now I know how to get a pretty peach colour, a dark bluey grey, and which blues and reds/oranges/browns to mix to get different purples and greens and browns and greys. I also realised that the bluer green of the two I have [third from the right in the first image] can probably be used as a blue by itself in some pictures quite happily. See the last two columns in the first image - they feel almost fruity to me, sunny, warm, and maybe even Mediterranean. I can't be sure about that last bit though; I've never been to the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, the left-hand columns using the colder blue feel like they can be used to represent colder climates and northern areas quite easily.

Top and bottom of the left column: I can't not see a forest by a mountain.

One thing I haven't experimented with yet is the black colour in my set. I want to see how it reacts when mixed with each of the other colours in the set, and also what kind of feelings I can get out of it if I replace a colour in a triad with the black. I'd really like to try recreating some of the colour combinations I saw while watching 300 with my flatmates last night. But before I start on that, I really should finish the line work of my tiger!

* Years. Possibly a decade. I don't even know the names of any of my colours; I lost the little tint chart telling me their names a while ago. I'm sure it's lurking around in my stuff somewhere...

W H Smith: 5 Oil & Acrylic Painting Boards

A while ago I went out and bought a set of five 12x9inch white painting boards from the W H Smiths in Cardiff. Two of these I gave to friends to draw on to decorate the flat we've just moved into in Roath, while the rest I kept for myself to think of something to do with. Here's what I've done - excuse the quality of the photos, I took them using my phone camera. I'm thinking I might join the Canon club soon, but we'll see.

~

A tracing of a belly dancer, lined with biro and metallic gel pens, the background and floor coloured in with watercolour, spattered lightly with orange paint. She's still there on my desk, standing in the lamplight while it's on. I still need to finish reading that copy of House of Leaves.

~

A self portrait; pictured resting on an empty Lucky beer bottle I acquired from the Prince of Wales in Cardiff during a little post-gym pint night a year or two ago, she's now stuck to my bedroom door - on the living room side. For this image I used a photo of myself and added grid lines to assist me in getting the proportions right. Drawn in pencil first, then with biro outlines, added some metallic gel pen and then painted in the hair with scriveners ink that I bought from a museum somewhere.

The symbols at the top of the image show my "Four Pillars of Destiny" based on my date of birth, while the clock pendant is the same one I'm currently wearing. I bought the necklace at a car boot sale in Saundersfoot with my mum, for the low low price of 50p! It was originally £1, but I got to have it for 50p because the clock itself didn't work. It now hangs around my neck set to the time I was born - ten to noon. You know, just in case I ever forget...

~

A white tiger, again from a photo [this one found via the wonders of the internet] using grid lines to help me get the proportions and details right. My flatmate says using grid lines is cheating, but he's a monkey. This one is a work in progress, using pencil and black biro, and I will possibly use more scriveners ink to fill in the background of dark water. I was intending to finish it today but it will probably be done by tomorrow instead.

Using FB to Live The Dream!

Today is a big post dedicated to a few pretty entrepreneurial people [say that really fast ten times!] who regularly pop up on my Facebook feed with the exciting things they've been doing lately.

Each one inspires me and each one shows that if you have a bit of passion, and drive, and the determination to take down those barriers that prevent you from making your dreams a reality, then you really can grow that idea or dream and bring it out into the world for everyone else to see. Just work hard, and make it happen!

So, in no particular order, here they are:

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Alice Cat

www.modelmayhem.com/AliceCat

Alice is a sweet little lady who really has bloomed in her chosen trade of modelling over the past year or so. On her Model Mayhem profile she gives this quirky little description of herself:

"The best way to describe my modelling style (my style in general in fact) would be that it's a mish-mash of cheesecake cuteness, a sweet and silly Sandra Dee classic Pin-Up, mixed with a dark, gothic edge that shines through in bizarre little bursts."

Give her a look, especially if you're a bit quirky yourself and have a secret desire to get into modelling [or if you fancy getting in on a bit of the style - she has been selling off a few of her things lately to make room for more!]. She also expresses her creativity in the form of Cubles - cute little plushies, each one lovingly handmade by Alice - and she really does love making each one!

www.facebook.com/Cubles

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Inkspill Illustrations - François Savarimuthu

inkedspilled.wordpress.com

François is a designer, illustrator and printer living and working in South East Wales. A truly passionate artist; he always seems to busy working on multiple projects and commissions. One look at his intricate and highly detailed work and you just know that patience and love for his work are definitely traits he carries.

"I Illustrate, Design & Print because I love producing work that meets a purpose, working with others is a passion of mine and when I can incorporate my love for art and design into that scenario that's when I'm most happiest."

www.facebook.com/francoisdraws

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Paint the Moment - Chloé Bruce

www.facebook.com/paintthemoment

Chloé was one of the initial FB users to catch my attention through my news feed for selling her work online - drawings, canvas paintings, canvas bags, cute handmade cuddly things, photography work and even tattoo designs. She seems to be one of those people whose passion for painting and creating art spills over into any medium she can get her hands on!

"Art has been a huge influence in my life since I was young, from the days when finger painting was all the craze up until today, and now all aspects of art interests me. I love expressing my feelings, creativity and imagination through my work, whether it's a photograph a painting or even a piece of design. It's what I know best."

www.paintthemoment.co.uk

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Not Your Hero - Pete Harries

www.notyourhero.com

The most recent work to be thrown up into my view has been Pete's Not Your Hero work. He's been working really hard over the past month to get his t-shirt business started, and if you check out the info on his FB page you can see he really means business!

"Each T-shirt is an individual experience, each one of our T-shirts has a story. With art specifically design for that cut of shirt and packaging specific to that design. At Not Your Hero we want to bring you shirts that you will look forward to putting on in the morning.

I love T-shirts.

And what's not to love? Such a simple garment with so many possibilities.

Actually I take that back, T-shirts are far from simple. Colour, texture, fit, design. Does it represent you? Does it show your beliefs? Or maybe your interests? Is it comfy? Does it smell nice? T-shirts are a complex blend of these elements, of which there are thousands of possibilities. The trouble is when you have thousands of possibilities combining them can produce a variety of outcomes, that's where another one of my loves comes into this story.

I love art.

Film, graphic design, music, photography, fashion, painting, video games, poetry, storytelling, cooking this list goes on... I love getting the chance to experience great art and I love being able to participate in creating great art for others to experience. When creating a great T-shirt there is a distinct art in selecting and creating the elements that will go into the shirt to create the finished work. To create an experience."

Well now, that sounds like a lot of love to me :)

www.facebook.com/pages/Not-Your-Hero/156016117806105

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Toxic Games - Q.U.B.E.

www.facebook.com/qubegame

Q.U.B.E. was the final year Computer Games Design project of a few guys in the year above me in uni. Facebook's A Year Ago Today feature is telling me that a year ago today, Dan Da Rocha was "off to Gamescom in Germany in the morning to promote QUBE! :D"

Clearly, it's been promoted pretty damn well because they have been all over the place now, attending conferences and being interviewed for the game, which is to be released in the next year! Very exciting. Check out the Q.U.B.E. game website here, and the blogspot here.

www.qubegame.co.uk

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Well there you go, five nice varied examples of loving your art, whatever it is, and working hard at it! Because sometimes this stuff doesn't just happen - you MAKE it happen ;)

Leave me a comment below if you enjoyed reading this post, found it useful, inspirational, or if there is anything you wanted to say or see me respond to next week!

Sometimes it's like this stuff just happens...

Have you ever looked back at something you're particularly proud of doing and thought to yourself, "Did I really just do that?" I do it every time I make a pretty picture, every time I get a compliment on something I've made, every time I find a piece of artwork I did a long time ago... It really is like it comes out of no where.

During my final year of Uni, the title of the blog I set up to follow the work I did ("I'll make it pretty, you do the rest.") became kind of ironic. While I was there working on my final major project, trying to work out how to javascript some magic 3D/2D view switching into action in Unity3D, there Tim was focusing on the textures and the lighting and the baking. He was the one trying to make it look pretty, while I was the one trying to handle the rest.

It wasn't until I had finished spending all my energy on my dissertation and hand in for the final major project was over that I realised I hadn't drawn any sweet art in a long time. I actually began to forget what I was capable of. When I moved out of uni accommodation to live in a flat with some friends a month ago, I found a cardboard tube of old life drawings that I had done in blue biro on big paper back in my first year. I couldn't believe it. There was even a drawing of Ollie Elliott, freehand and in pencil, and you could easily tell who it was if you knew him. I barely even knew him back then.

I don't know which surprises me more; the fact that I can draw from observation, or the fact that I could forget something like that.