Days 36-38

Day 36

Thursday I didn't go into work, again, because Joseph was still sick and Donny was too. Thankfully, I still feel fine. So I spent the day working on touching up images so that they are ready for printing. This is an incredibly tedious and annoying process. It involves flattening the image and then duplicating that layer. Then I adjust "levels" which changes the contrast/exposure. Then I go through and use the burning/dodging tool to make certain areas lighter (and therefore come forward) and others darker (and thus drop back). When that's done, I can toggle that layer to see if I like the changes. Assuming that I don't feel like anything is too dark/light, then I can do the last step which is to enlarge the image and go through it in a grid pattern while taking out specks of pixels that don't seem to flow well. This part is the worst because it's so up close, but it really does make a difference. It's like with any detail work, it ends up making the piece stronger, I just can't stand doing it.

Day 37

I wasn't sure if they were going to want me to go in on Friday, so I started working on some buisness cards. I figured that I could get some printed like Donny did when we went to AnimeExpo; they were fairly cheap and we had to cut them ourselves, but i think they looked pretty nice. I figured that if there was a FedEx Office close to where I live (so that I could walk and get some printed without having to bother Donny) that I might as well get some printed for FaerieWorlds. Thankfully there is one that is about a half mile from my apartment, so I began the day designing them. I did so while watching Angel, so it took me the majority of the day, but I think the design turned out rather well. We'll have to wait and see how they look printed.


While I was just starting to work on the buisness card, Donny texted me and said that they were taking Joseph to the hospital. I still have yet to get the full story, but I gather that everything is mostly ok. I just hope he's feeling better by Thursday, since that's when we leave for Eugene.

After I had finished the buisness card, I decided that I really needed to get out of the apartment, even if it was just to walk to the Yum Yum and buy a donut. But as I got to Yum Yum, I decided that I really wanted to go on a longer walk than just to the corner and back. So I decided to walk to try and find the FedEx Office. This wouldn't be that odd if it wasn't for the fact that it was already 1:30 am. As Joseph pointed out, LA really is not a late night town; as Donny pointed out, no one walks in LA. I think I met maybe 3 people walking around on my mile walk. Which was fine with me.

I do like cities in a certain way. They have this energy about them that the country lacks. But in turn, the city lacks the energy of all the plant and wild life that the country has. It depends on what type of mood I am in which type of energy I would like. Last night I was definetly in a city mood. And even though LA is not what I would typically think of a city, and even though there were few people wandering around, it still had that vibe. It's hard to place. I think part of it is all the lights. When I walk in a city at night, I feel like I'm walking through the stars in some weird alternate universe where the sky is made of electricity and is on the ground.

While I walked home I was struck with the memory again of how when I was in high school, we all dreamed of going to LA. We all said that one of the first things we would do would be to run through the streets barefoot. As I thought of this, I decided that I would fulfill that oath. So I ran for a block or more with my flip flops in hand, laughing the whole way. I'm sure if anyone saw me they would have thought I was crazy; I guess they wouldn't be wrong.

Before going back to the apartment I decided to actually buy a donut, since I was hungry. I also made the mistake of getting a Mocha Chilla (which is like a dutch ice/slushie but with actual coffee in it). I didn't think anything of it until it was like 6:30 am and I still was not remotely tired. I ended up calling Alicia as she was getting ready for work so that she could wish me a goodnight. It was funny because I had been awake the entire time that she was asleep. I did, eventually, get to sleep. I'm definetly going to have a hard time adjusting to a normal sleep schedule when I get back to New York. Not only will I have jet lag, but I'll also want to stay up later than I can in order to go to school/work on time. But we'll deal with that when it happens I guess.

Day 38

Today I got to work from the apartment while Donny, Joseph and Maxwell worked on printing images to bring to FaerieWorlds. My goals for TOTF stuff were to update the blog on their website about getting ready for FaerieWorlds and also to add all the images that I put in their store into the Etsy store. That took a lot longer that I expected, but it got done eventually. In addition, I finished up two images that I was only half happy with. I still have to do the final touch-up stage (see Day 36) but I can do that tomorrow. For now, I think I'm going to read some of Brisingr (since I finally finished Eldest and am on to the last book in the Inheritance series!) and go to bed. And look, it's only 4 am. Gotta start somewhere, right?


PS: 9 days til I come home!

Days 29-34

Days 29-33

So this past weekend was spent entirely doing my art; I also did a lot of reading and fininshed the second season of Angel. It was a lonely couple of days, but I got a lot of work done. I now have 8 close-to-being-done images. I showed what I had to Erin and Alicia and was surprised by some of the reactions. I'll post two of my most finished ones. For the others, you'll have to wait.

So that was pretty much all I did for the last 4 days. I'm excited about the images, although I'm still a skeptical about some of them. I'm definetly excited about showing them at FaerieWorlds.

Day 34

Today I actually did some other work. Donny picked me up and we went on some errands. First we went to Borders in Culver City. There, we pulled down a whole bunch of magazines that we thought looked like something that Joseph's work might be able to get into. Then we sat down and flipped through them to figure out if the magazine could take his work and where/why. Next, we located the contact information on the editors or art directors and wrote down notes so we could file them away later.

After the trip to Borders, we treked over to a photo supply place to buy ink and paper so we could print images for their booth at FaerieWorlds. The bill came up to $300. Supplies are definetly expensive. I bought myself some paper too (20 sheets cost me $50.00).

Lastly, we went in search for a button maker at Target. We unfortunately did not find one. Donny was very sad about this, but she'll just have to find one online or something. Once we were back at the apartment, Donny had me type up the list of magazine info. Then she sent me a zip file of all the new images that needed to be added to their webstore. I worked on that for a little while, but then Joseph and Donny told me about how to use Photoshop to design a webpage. It was informative. But it takes a lot of pre-thinking and knowing exactly what you want the site to look like when you click on the various links and such. One of my goals tonight is to work on that. *sigh* That and I need to finish up the images so that I can print them in the next week. Busy busy.

Playing Catch Up

Ok, so I know I'm behind. But I'm going to attempt to catch up, so bear with me.

I arrived in Los Angeles Friday night. Tanja, the woman I am subletting from ended up having car trouble, so I had to take a taxi. I went up to a gentleman next to a taxi and explained that I had never taken one before and I didn't know what I was supposed to do. He was most unhelpful, as he just pointed to the cab behind him. That cab was apparently dealing with a group of three people already, so they ushered me to the next one. That gentleman rushed me in the cab, but when I told him where I needed to go, he asked "Where is that?" Apparently you have to know how to give directions to the place you need to go because the city is so big. Slightly irritated, I managed to get Tanja on the phone and she was able to give me directions. The taxi driver was quite nice, despite the mix up, and we arrived at the house in no time. That night I just unpacked a bit and then crashed.

Here are some pictures of my area. First is the neighborhood:

Oh and look, a plane. They go by every 15 minutes. It's kind of loud, but with the windows closed I hardly notice. Of course, that makes it kind of hot in my room, which is annoying. I seriously need to buy a fan. I don't think I'll ever get used to it being muggy and warm all the time with no rain.

And here is my front door and my room. The house is quite nice, actually what with it's wood floors and such. Kitchen is a bit small for my taste, but that's ok. According to Donny the houses in this area are multi-million dollar homes. Yikes. This is why I don't want to live in a city.

Joseph and Donny had granted me the weekend off, so I could get settled and such. This was nice, although I was kind of bored and wasn't sure what to do with myself. On Saturday I got a little more acquainted with Tanja, who took me grocery shopping at Ralph's. Ralph's was basically like a P&C, with a few product differences (obviously). The weirdest thing that I noticed was that they didn't have any extra sharp cheddar cheese. I think I found one brand that had one, out of like six brands in total. Also, the cheddar was all orange. There wasn't one type that had white cheddar cheese. I am so used to New York's vast arrayment of cheddar that this really confused. Another thing that was disconcerting was the wine and liquor aisles. Again, because in New York there are separate liquor stores, seeing them in a grocery store was weird. I think it's fascinating how subtly different other states are.

As for the city itself, expectations were quite different from the reality. My vision of a city is kind of hard to explain. It's just an amalgamation of images, sounds, smells, and ideas that I've acquired from people and media. There is a definite city-vibe to where I am in LA, but to me it looks more like a crowded suburb. The area is populated by families with little, flat, white-stucco houses, with significant (if small) yards with gardens. The plants themselves mystify me. There are weird shaped bushes (I actually saw a guy trimming then the other day with this saw-like contraption...it was odd). Then there are the pineapple-like trees:

My favorite though are the Dr. Seuss trees. I'm not sure why they remind me of Dr. Seuss but they really do. I think it's the fluffy, appendage-like appearance.

So other than going around the neighborhood, walking to the blockbuster in an attempt to find Angel (which they didn't have and I was quite irritated), on my weekend off I watched Charmed and read Eldest. At some point I walked to the blockbuster again and rented InkHeart to watch with Alicia and Erin over the phone. It was good movie, I was quite impressed by it. The ferret-creature was wicked cute.

On Monday, Donny picked me up and brought me over to their house. I got to meet their kitties (all except Longshanks, who is clearly the biggest scaredy-cat of their pets, although apparently with good reason, since Willow has a habit of beating her up.) They are all quite cute and they made me miss my cats and ferrets a lot. They were a little surprised because Willow seemed to like me (apparently she is not only a bully but just a mean cat in general). Loki was very affectionate although he doesn't like being picked up--at all. The last one is Shadme; she is tiny (maybe a little smaller than Calypso) and has the weirdest meow.

I spent Monday watching Joseph work in Photoshop. I was surprised by how many of the tools he used i already knew. There were definitely a few shortcuts that I learned, along with some intricate details of certain tools, such as curves. I have known about the curves tool since high school, but I always used it in wacky ways. Watching Joseph work, I definitely got a sense of how to use it more effectively. Also, I never knew you could use curves to alter singular colors (like just the red hues, just black, etc.) Other than that, I was intrigued by how he touched up the faces/bodies of the models. I have done a little retouching, but not nearly as extensively as he does. I definitely learned a lot, even if I can't really explain everything that I learned.

On Tuesday, they were on very little sleep, so it was a short day. After going through behind the scenes photos that are going in the Fae Magazine article about ModelFest, I watched Joseph work a little bit more. Then they brought me home, this time with an assignment. I had to research the Green Man for a little paragraph and a half write up for an article that they are doing about an image Joseph did of a "green woman".

As for today, we decided to keep it low key, so I finally have time to update this blog. I also have to "introduce myself" on the Time of the Faeries blog. Not sure what to write exactly, but I'm sure I'll think of something. After I'm done with that, I'm not sure what exactly what I'll do, but I have a list of things somewhere.

At some point in the next week, they are going to take me to a Halloween store in Hollywood so I can buy some masks for my photo shoots. I'm excited to get to work on some art of my own! I sometimes forget how much I enjoy doing art until I get an idea and then I get all enthralled about it.