I might need a new pencil sharpener. I bought some nice new Prismacolor pencils last week, but my current pencil sharpener doesn't get them as sharp as I want them. I might go looking for one later in the week.

Anyway, last week was my first full week of classes, and it was super busy. So far I haven't had too much trouble keeping on top of my assignments while still balancing a bit of a social life at the same time, though.

My roommate went home for Labor Day weekend (and still isn't back yet; I'm starting to get just a little worried about her), but one of the girls on my floor (who is also an art major and in one of my AFO classes) invited me to go thrift store hunting with her and her ex-boyfriend on Saturday, and I ended up spending most of Saturday and Sunday hanging out with them.

I found three good pairs of jeans that I originally planned to wear in the woodshop this week, but I like them all so much that I really don't want to risk ruining any of them. In the end I narrowed it down to the one pair that I liked the least as my woodshop jeans for tomorrow, and when I go home for the weekend to trade out some of my summer clothes for more fall clothes, I'll bring some of the jeans that I don't like as much and save the newer ones.

The jeans I plan on wearing tomorrow night are a pair of medium blue SO brand (I think it's a Kohl's brand) bootcut jeans. They were about three inches too long so I cut them off for convenience, though I'm kind of regretting it because I don't like ragged hemlines and I won't be able to hem them for a while. I really hope I didn't ruin them by cutting them like that. :\ I bought them at the first thrift store we went to for about $2.08.

The second and third pair of jeans I bought were significantly more expensive because they came from a store owned by Goodwill; one was $10 and the other was $5. They're both dark wash jeans, one is another pair of bootcut jeans by Delia's, and the other is a pair of high-waisted straight leg jeans by Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten brand. Both of them are also too long and to be honest, I think the Delia's jeans are an extra long size because I had to roll them up twice to keep them from dragging on the floor, but because I was already regretting the alterations I'd made to the first pair, I didn't bother cutting them off to be the right length. I wore the high-waisted ones to my drawing class today, and I must say that although I'm really not used to wearing high-waisted or straight-legged jeans, I think they're very flattering on me and I'm glad that I picked them up. I wonder if they'll look good with some of the older tops that I have that aren't quite long enough to cover my stomach when I'm wearing low-rise jeans. I might have to wear some of my older tops more often if they do, haha.

After we were finished looking for good deals in Carytown on Saturday, we went to Ben & Jerry's and although I really wanted ice cream after walking in the heat all day, I was also thirsty so I ordered a mango teazer instead, which was something like a slush with tea in it.

We all got together on Sunday again and went to the anime club, which was significantly smaller this week than the first club meeting. To be honest, I was a little relieved for that. The first meeting was so crowded, and I was very uncomfortable with all of the people making comments and other sounds at all of the lame and obvious fan service in the first series they showed. If the second and third series hadn't been awesome, I probably wouldn't have returned this Sunday.

After the club, we went to Lowe's to pick up our next set of supplies for space research. My friend's ex was a great help; I basically showed him our list and he picked out almost everything we needed without question. He also carried the big pieces of wood (4x4' pieces of 1/4" thick wood) all the way to our classroom for us because we couldn't fit them in the car. Luckily the building was only about maybe a block away.

We then went to try some bubble tea at a little cafe on Cary Street because when we were driving around town the day before we saw some places advertising it and we all decided that we should try some. It was pretty good, and very different from what I'd imagined. I guess I probably would've figured it out if I'd looked it up before, though. It was a nice surprise, in any case. XD

After the bubble tea, it was getting to be time for dinner, so we went to Kobe (a Japanese restaurant) on 13th Street for sushi, and it was great, as always. :3 I felt kind of bad that my floormate treated us, but since she called it an early birthday present for me, I'm planning to return the favor for her when it gets closer to her birthday, which is later in the month.

Yesterday I actually worked my butt off trying to finish my space research project, which is due tomorrow night. Luckily I got most of it done and today I finished up everything that I wanted to add, though I'm still not completely happy with it. I'm just not very passionate about the theme of the assignment, and I'm not very interested in working with cardboard, so no matter how hard I worked on it, it'd be pretty hard for me to be completely happy with it. I do feel a sense of accomplishment from completing it, though.

Anyway, I need to go read some more Tulip Fever for my literature class now, so I'll write again whenever I have the time. :3

Labels: afo, anime club, art, bubble tea, class, friends, labor day, shopping, space research, sushi, thrift stores, weekend

It's been a while. I probably should have updated this sooner, but I finally caught the summer fever and got lazy about things. I've been stressing about things with VCU and the apartment situation, but I've also been playing a few videogames, which have been taking up most of my free time lately.

My orientation went well, and so did my brother's orientation. However, with him being a freshman and having the two-day orientation rather than the one-day session that I had, I think his orientation was slightly better than mine. That isn't to say that I didn't enjoy a few extra benefits by attending his orientation, though. I was able to get two free VCU t-shirts at his orientation (compared to the zero I received at my own), and I was able to attend the bus tour for parents and guests at his orientation, though I personally think that tour would have been more beneficial to the students than the parents. I was also able to walk around the campus and ride around on the shuttle bus to see how I would be getting to all of my classes while my brother was registering for his classes.

Well, I guess I've written enough about his orientation, but I haven't really said anything about my own orientation. To be honest, I think one of the most exciting parts of my orientation was getting to walk by myself from the art foundation building to one of the dining centers on campus. Of course, it wasn't my first time walking across the campus, but it was the first time I'd done so by myself, and it was pretty exciting to be able to figure out where to go by myself without having the help of another person or a group of people who already know where they're going.

It was also pretty exciting to finally register for my classes; it really started to give me a sense of being an actual student of VCU and not just an applicant. However, it wasn't a very organized process; I was expecting a one-on-one session with an advisor who would tell me what classes to take, but instead we got a computer lab full of students and maybe five advisors who didn't all exactly know what we should have been taking. I'm also a little concerned because one of the credits that should have transferred to VCU didn't transfer, and I don't exactly know why. However, the advisors recommended that I skip that requirement in case it transfers later.

I was impressed that my drawing classes at my community college both transferred, though. They transferred as credits for VCU's drawing studio and project classes, but I'm taking the drawing and project classes at VCU anyway because they'll help me keep full-time status and because I want them. My community college drawing classes were great, but since they were at a community college and not a full-blown art school, there weren't a lot of resources for models and other things like that (even though their new easels are quite nice :3), so I think that I would benefit from a drawing class at VCU.

After my orientation we drove around the neighborhoods where the apartments I was interested in were located, and surprisingly most of them weren't in such great neighborhoods. We ended up eliminating all of the apartments that I hadn't been able to make appointments to see prior to the day of my orientation, plus two of the four appointments I had already made.

The two apartments that we actually looked at were okay, but in the end I decided that the best choice overall would be to get the dorm. A lot of factors went into my decision, but in the end I think the two biggest things it came down to were the question of whether my boyfriend could keep up with his half of the rent without a secure job yet or any backup money, and the fact that I probably wouldn't be happy living in either of the apartments for the whole 3-4 years I'd be at VCU. The apartments only offered 12-month leases, and it would have been either very difficult or very expensive for me to try to find a better apartment later.

So I'm going to be in a dorm for my first year at VCU, and I'm going to look into getting an apartment in the spring so that I'll be able to grab one right as graduating or transferring students move out. If for some reason that isn't possible, I might try to get into one of the apartment-style dorms for upperclassmen for the next school year.

As far as other things in my life go, I'm really behind on updating my website, and I haven't really drawn anything since my last CafePress design. I just haven't felt like it, but it probably isn't such a bad thing. I'll be in artist boot camp starting on August 21st, so it's probably not such a bad idea to take a break so that I'll feel rested and ready to work when classes start. If I feel like it, I might draw my characters a bit before the fall semester starts because I'm not going to let myself draw them at all during the semester, but I'm not going to pressure myself to keep drawing just to stay busy. However, I will try to update my website to add my latest drawings sometime this week.

Oh, I mentioned that I've been playing videogames, right? Well, I put Silent Hill Origins on hold because I started itching to play Final Fantasy X-2 again. I started a New Game Plus, but I kind of rushed through it because I really just wanted to finish getting 100% (I had 99% previously) so that I could get the good ending, but for some reason I didn't get it. I got pissed off about that and started playing Final Fantasy X instead. I started getting really excited about totally owning Yunalesca this time around because she gave me so much trouble in my first game, and I beat her last night. Now I'm at the point of the game where all of the sidequests are available with the airship, but I'm already getting bored with it and I want to play something different. It's frustrating because I really wanted to get that AP trick so that I can over-level Yuna and make her hit harder than Auron, but I'm also impatient about getting the items that allow me to do that trick. I think I'll take a break and play something different and maybe come back to FFX when I'm ready to do that.

Well, that's about all I wanted to write today. I'll try to start updating more regularly. :3

Labels: apartments, art, dorm, drawing, orientation, vcu, videogames, website

The third design in my current CafePress series was surprisingly quick and easy to finish. Here she is:



I haven't made a shop for her yet, though. I might do that later today. I'm also thinking about combining Em's design with Jade's design to make a group design, but I'm not sure if their sizes and proportions will match up enough for that. If it comes out all right, I might also make a combination of Hikari and Rose and maybe even a group design featuring all four of the girls.

I'm getting really excited about finishing this project. The only girl I have left to draw is Rose. :3 I'm planning on putting her in a yellow babydoll dress with a blue trim that will hopefully help connect her to Hikari's design. I might put off making Em's shop until after I draw Rose, depending on what I feel like doing today.

I'm starting to get anxious about VCU again. It's making me restless, and I think that restlessness is turning into frustration about other unrelated things, and somehow I think it's turned into frustration and depression about shoes again. However, I've made a list of things I need to do in preparation for my orientation, and I've planned out some other activities for me to do this week that will hopefully keep me busy.

On another short note, my gradual sunless tanner is already starting to work! :3 I'm not sure how I'm going to like the final results, but I might ask my mom what she thinks when I see her.

Labels: art, cafepress, characters, orientation, self tanner, vcu

For the past few days my life has been fairly uneventful, for the most part. Tuesday I finished a drawing of Jade, as part of my new CafePress series:



I still haven't put her on my website or made an actual CafePress shop for her design yet, but I will probably start on those things later today. Now that I think of it, I forgot to add my signature, but I guess that's okay. The high resolution image is only going on the actual CafePress designs anyway, and in order for people to steal that they'd have to actually buy my merchandise. X3 I might go ahead and add a signature for the sake of putting her on my website, though.

Yesterday I drove my boyfriend to the optometrist because we thought that he would have to have his eyes dilated and need me to drive him home, but that didn't happen. However, my trip there wasn't completely pointless. I was able to help him pick out some attractive frames for his new glasses prescription. The optometrist is also conveniently located inside Wal-mart, so I was able to lurk around the beauty and cosmetics aisles while he was getting his eyes checked. I found a set of five colorful headbands and a hand-held bathroom mirror for only about $7 altogether.

I was also very tempted to buy some new lip gloss or lipstick at Wal-mart because I wanted to try something new after not being happy with most of the lip products I have at home. I really want to try a plumping lipstick or gloss because my lips are so small and shapeless and undefined, and since I'm clumsy and not good at applying makeup in general, I really don't want to try a liner. However, in the end I decided not to buy any of the cosmetics I looked at because a few of them looked like they had already been opened and used, and I didn't want to risk buying one of those. :\

To be honest, I'm still not sure what lip colors look best on me because I'm fairly pale and a lot of colors either wash me out or make me look old. I'm going to have to look into that later, but I think what I need is a subtle rose color, nothing too bright or too dark, but at the same time nothing too light, either.

After we finished at Wal-mart, I visited some of my former coworkers at Belk because my mom needed me to drop off her Belk card payment, and then we picked up some lunch at a local cafe. :3 I was a little disappointed that the cafe didn't have the mango smoothie I had the last time we went there, but the passion fruit smoothie I ordered instead was almost just as good. The food was pretty good, too.

As of today I still haven't received my orientation packet from VCU, but I finished reading my handbook for accepted students last night. Most of it was information I already knew, but I did find out a few new tidbits of information. I also looked at their art foundation website last night and looked over their course information to get an idea of what I will be doing in my classes in the fall, and to be honest I'm really hoping that I didn't transfer out of their drawing studio course because I want to do more drawing. Other than that, I'm just hoping that my general education requirement classes will transfer because I don't want to have to take more math and science classes. :\

And man, I hope the good apartments aren't all taken by the time I can visit them.

Labels: art, cafepress, characters, cosmetics, vcu, wal-mart

My mom's taking me shopping this evening and I'm going to finally get to try on those hot pink skinny jeans that have been haunting me~ X3 I just hope they look good on me, though.

In other news, I did finally manage to find something to do on Saturday. Her name is Hikari, and she's one of my latest CafePress designs:



Click here to check out her CafePress shop!

I think this will mark the beginning of a new series of CafePress designs. Normally I would start with Rose, but since Hikari's design from my first series was the worst one of the bunch, I wanted to make up for that by making a prettier design of her. Hikari is supposed to be the "pretty" character, so it isn't acceptable for her to be the least attractive design.

I think Jade might be the next character in the series. I've been meaning to draw her in a lingerie-inspired angelic costume for a while now. Of course, Em would naturally be Jade's demonic counterpart. :3

I'm kind of worried about being able to keep the series cohesive, though. I'm planning on giving them all similar backgrounds, but sometimes I have trouble drawing things at the same size or keeping my style similar enough from drawing to drawing. I guess I will have to try to keep the same brush and canvas sizes and keep my proportions consistent to the other characters.

Labels: art, cafepress, characters, hikari, shopping

I have one big problem today. Well, aside from the fact that my response from VCU still hasn't arrived yet, I have one big problem today.

The big problem?

Yesterday I drew a self portrait that I had originally planned to use in my website's new design, but when I finished it I decided I didn't want to paste my face onto the main page of my website after all. It seems that after that original idea failed, I've reached a creativity block.

I'm not sure what I want to put on the main page of my website now. I don't have the patience to do another realistic drawing for it, but I don't know if I want to draw another anime girl or something like that. Even if it would be more fun for me and it would better represent what I like in art, I don't want people to take me or my art as "juvenile." On the other hand, I don't know if I even care because it'll just be on the ".com" page of the website and nowhere else, and if I give somebody a link to the "professional" part of my website, it would be their own fault for leaving that section and finding my less serious art. But that doesn't help me decide on what I want to draw; it just justifies my desire to make "stupid art," as Inka Essenhigh might have put it.

I really wanted to draw something original for my website to keep it recent, but I think at this point I might just give up and salvage one of my older drawings for it if I can't think of anything else soon. At least I've justified wanting to draw whatever I want to draw for it through talking to my boyfriend and writing about it.

I'm also not sure what I should use as my domain name for my website. I've noticed that a lot of artists just use their real name, but I really wouldn't want to do that. I'm barely willing to put my real name on my website at all, but I'm still not sure what to use as my domain name. I want something cute and simple that I won't get sick of later, but I can't think of anything yet. Meggi.com would have been perfect, but it's already taken and apparently on auction at like $5,700 or something like that. Oh well, I'll probably come up with something eventually. :\

By the way, here's a preview of the self portrait I finished yesterday. I'm pretty proud of it, even though it's not going to make it to my website design.

Self Portrait by ~sailor-meggi on deviantART

Labels: art, creativity block, design, domain name, website, website design

all content and graphics copyright © 2008 Meg Couch. all rights reserved.