Time Flies Just like That.

Scanned in an old drawing. Bic pen on computer paper.

This is kind of funny. It started off as my first drawing of the new year (almost a year ago), then I had a bad drawing spiel that lasted for months right afterwards. During that time, coincidentally, the room flooded and had to get the carpets reinstalled. Even they took 2 months+ to reinstall the carpets. The whole fiasco still leaves me amused in a sardonic kind of way.

Top left is about what a friend told me about negative thoughts, battling demons, etc. Don't let them win!

Top right is a drawing of some musician who I no longer remember. I just know he's famous though.

Bottom left is my intention to explore our subconscious more this year. To figure it out, use it to our advantage (eidactic memory and other powers), all of which can be used to improve our art, etc.

Mister Memory, what can I say? Kinda just happened.

Uniform / Costumes

I'm not sure what this journal will do for some of you. If you're like me, who constantly spirals downard into a rut, thinks about drawing stuff 24/7 ( this includes looking at other websites, deviantart, sketch blogs, videogame art, art books, etc. Alot of "thinking" and looking, without the actual "doing" part ) without turning off the brain which leads to burnouts, which leaves you unable to look at anything art-wise for long periods of time. Then maybe this idea might help.

Not sure where the idea came up originally, I guess it's one of those random out of the blue 'Aha..' kind of things. Not quite on par with the highly esteemed "Eureka!!" kind of moments that magically solves those impossible dilemmas or inventions, but more like a manic-inspired idea, the kind of feeling that LSD might make you feel as if you could fly and walk off a cliff...before reality hits you on the way down. Well okay, maybe it's not that crazy but it's still the same manic feeling. The aftermath leaving you with a feeling similar to a nasty hangover, in the mental sense of the word. And no, I don't take LSD. I read about those horror stories though.

It's not exactly inspiration as it just ebbs and flows before fading away into oblivion. It doesn't leave you feeling quite the same as a manic feeling does. Maybe inspiration is a little bit of mania in itself.

The idea is about wearing uniforms to draw.

But that sounds too serious right? So I went with the idea of wearing a costume instead. I'd love to get into a whole wardrobe full of costumes idea just for this purpose, not as a cosplayer in the public sense or even for Hallowe'en. It's not really meant to be shown off for the public anyways. So it's more of a closet thing.

The point is to feel silly.

Feeling silly is the way to go. An anti-thesis to being serious. To trigger the required mindset for it, all you need is a silly ritual, or just think of a little prayer, some role-playing, anything to shift the focus to a new task. Even doing a "silly walk" based on Monty Python's walk as part of a ritualistic routine on the way to "work", even if your work is in another room. It's got to be its own unique feeling otherwise it'll be like anything else in normal clothing ( ho hum ) and you won't feel the difference in the changes of mindsets. Feeling is the key here.

Feel how it feels to be in that clothing and let it work through you. The time spent putting on the uniform builds up anticipation for the work you're about to do. Then once you are finished with your work, feel free to disrobe it and act as if you are "shedding" its skin to go back into your old self. The time spent disrobing also helps with the process to switch off your brain so that you can think of other things to avoid work-related burnout. And who knows, maybe it'll develop into a new personality that works through your art too.

Imagine how you would feel putting on a doctor's robes. Would you feel like a doctor and get some heightened sense of importance while playing in that role? Wouldn't they feel different after a long day's work once they take off their uniforms? I'm sure everyone in uniform in the police, or the military feels that way. Or even sports players with their crazy superstitious rituals that they do. So why not do the same for your art "profession" too?

So, time to jump into my gorilla costume which I, surprisingly, still have "around" which I found in my closet for over 20 years. Amazingly, it still fits. Perfect! Time to go ape-shit. Rarw-rwar-arar.

The effects of wearing an old costume from childhood brings back a flood of memories. Taking a good wiff of nostalgia helps with that as it is an already established feeling. It's easier to go back than to move forward in a sense. Wearing something new for the first time is more for novelty and doesn't quite feel the same way. So for that reason it made more sense to me to go with the gorilla costume first, for now, before I even decide to get other costumes

And if everyone thinks you're crazy? So what, throw bananas at them.



If you don't have a costume? Wear a smock and a beret hat.



And a fake moustache.



And act french.

Dreams

Bic pen
Computer paper

I was trying to get into a habit of making a dream journal by drawing them out to help with the memory. Reading back on dreams that are over 5+ years old is surprisingly difficult to recall, unless they were vividly detailed to begin with. Hence, drawing with the writing should help preserve these memories.

Maybe I should get a moleskin for this sort of thing.

---Below is the dream description in case anyone wants to read it.---

It was a dream based on gears 2 style/game play.

At first, it starts out in a white'ish beige coloured misty atmosphere. There was a huge colliseum, in grecan-roman style judging by the rigged edges of their pillar columns. It was deserted and there were 2 guys and a female with me, looking around.

In the middle of the colliseum was a mausoleum littered with ruins that fell from the ceiling above. It was surrounded by a murky moat with water-lillies floating around. Nature has already taken its course as new life was apparent all around with grassy knolls. Curious koi fishes from the moat greeted us as we got near, then swam away whenever we looked at them. We skipped on rocks or broken pillars that acted as stepping stones to get to the center of the arena.

Once we got to the center, a monkey in a NASA suit jumps in front of us from his high hiding spot. I typed /gasp in a chat window. I was surprised to run into a talking monkey. I greeted him with a "hello" to which he replies back with a "heryo" with a wave. We were supposed to escort him away as part of a mission. We had to make him follow us but he wasn't responding. He kept saying "heryo" every time we beckoned him to follow. I remember feeling that was rather odd, that he couldn't make it out of there by himself (he was behaving like a typical NPC in a game).

Our new mission was to bait a heavy dinosaur like a diplodicus to follow you to a room where a T-rex was sleeping. Then somehow provoke the T-rex into fighting the diplodicus while you go into a crevice that leads to an exit. The escort had to survive as part of this mission.

After some time we finally got him to follow us, we found an entrance blocked with a webbed layer. When I got close to it, I could see a silhouette of something behind it. I thought I saw it moved but I wasn't sure. So I heaved a rock into the entrance which took down the webbing. Behind the web was a baby dinosaur that was blueish grey with black spots with a light underbelly. It had a bird shape head with a long snout, a herbivore with slightly jagged teeth. It has a bony crown plate along the top of its head. It had large orange eyes and shrieked to its mother for help. At that point I started to run away when I saw shadows from behind it animating within the walls of the entrance. I told the guys with me to start running too so we went back to the place in the beginning of the dream.

The zombie part to the dream was just about getting the hell out of there, from point A to B. In this case, somewhere in the congo neighbouring Rwanda.

There were raving zombies every which way you go. Even their local wild-life were zombified with their physical abilities enhanced. Fortunately, zombies with AK 47s were terrible at aiming.

Based off of Resident Evil 5 demo. Or perhaps from playing Left 4 Dead.

Scrying.

Bic pen
Computer Paper
Coloured on Pshop


Hmm well. I did this drawing in the dark with a candle. Probably not a good idea to keep this up as it's not good on the eyes.

It's a drawing experiment using another medium of introspection to work with. In this case, I attempted to do a 'scrying' onto a fresh page. Without the divination tools, reflective surfaces like a mirror or a bowl of water etc.

The dim lighting acts as a catalyst as it helps to narrow down your focus, blocking out everything else in the background that might otherwise be distracting.

Begin drawing by observing the light flickering onto the page as it gives off subtle suggestions of shapes and shadows. The texture of the paper helps, the bumps of the surface area, and the shadows animating from your hand or even the pencil helps to amplify these subtle impressions.

Eventually it felt like I was merely tracing off these shapes and shadows for the most part with free reign on other parts.

Baaad Drawing.

A Stamp of Disapproval.

Baaad drawings are the bane of an artist's existence! Like demons, we must exorcise them or learn to be friends with them.

I find myself stamping this sheep on various drawings that I have done. Mentally of course. It's a way for me to stop taking myself seriously instead of agonising over how a drawing went. A coping mechanism, I guess. It works for me.

The drawing itself is subconscious. Gotta be aware of this self critic lurking quietly in the background!

Everyone's their own worst critic. Deep inside, we're harsh with ourselves. We don't need a sounding board from others to know that. Only by choice do we allow their words to hurt us.

So, be nice to yourself.

Be compassionate.

Don't take yourself seriously, or anyone else either, or even this Stamp of Disapproval!

And a Sea Of...

And a sea of Bad drawings from which the sleepy croco ( http://mindminersmining.blogspot.com/2009/11/sleepy-croco.html ) has been airlifted away from. One sheep isn't too bad, but when a bunch of these guys show up, you can be sure you'll be losing sleep over it. They'll move into your space, eat your thoughts, litter the noble sanctuaries of your mind and just downright aggravate your sense of well-being. Instead of counting sheep to go to sleep, these guys will keep you awake. On purpose!

Collectively I think instead of "sea" it should be "crop" or some other word. A crop of bad drawings! But it's meant to go along with the sleepy croco pic.

There are some interesting collective names for animals out there. A parliament of owls, a murder of crows, a clutch or chattering of chicks, a brood of chicken, an intrusion of cockroaches, a weyr of dragon, a pod of whales, etc.

Sleepy Croco

This drawing has been airlifted straight out of a sea of bad drawings. It has been sleeping peacefully ever since.

It now needs a new home.

Too Much Coffee.

bic pen
computer paper
Embellished w/ Photoshop


Drawing scanned from my computer paper collection.

Computer paper, 1/6in Greenbar, 1 part, 20 lb., 14-7/8 inch by 11 inch - 2700/CT for those curious about the kind of paper used.

Feel free to comment over at the Deviant site. Thanks in advance. =P

Note: Comments are off because I had some phishing sites being used in the comments section before and I'd hate it for some of you to click on that before I could delete them in time.

Freaky Franken Foods!

bic pen on paper
coloured on Pshop

I made the file bigger in case you wanted to read the text.

Snailiens up top. The spaceman-superhero'ish charactersx2 type might belong to the snailien idea. Was a semi-stream of consciousness thingamabob.

Coloured stuff: Pumpkinhead revisited. It's got company this time! Baaaad company.

Originally created during the Biotech Revolution.

Biotech companies in their mad dash to be the first in the world to patent all of nature's genes and other genetic secrets for their own personal gains, have recklessly created monstrosities in their name, to wage secret wars over other companies for rights of their patents. For Greed! power! arrogance! madness! Oh the humanity! For shame.

These creatures were aborted once it got up to a certain stage in development. They were then disposed afterwards to hide their companies' secret going-ons. However, by some sheer luck or circumstance the genetic material, due to biotech scientitsts needless twinking shenanigans, has managed to survive and grow unaided. Or something like that. ( Nature rules! )

Now they spread like a plague, covertly, under the ground only to emerge at night-time to forage for food.

What kind of food? Maybe us? Forward set of eyes, canine teeth. What the? Are they predators? What the deuce were those biotech guys thinking? Who knows!

Based on a true story. With other embellishments and "creative liberties" F U Hollywood.


Happy Hallowe'en.

A bit late for Hallowe'en. I had this posted over to my Deviantart a couple of days prior.

Does anyone else have hangups over reposting the same material over to different sites? I suppose there are some things that would read better on a blog than on a site like DA.

Feel free to comment over at the Deviant site. Thanks in advance. =P

Note: Comments are off because I had some phishing sites being used in the comments section before and I'd hate it for some of you to click on that before I could delete them in time.