2011 August | So Very Dark

Archive for August, 2011

Aug

A Monday Morning

By rei 2 Comments

Categories: art and work

It is Monday.

It is early.

It is a day on which I had to remind myself that I really do love my job, when my alarm went off a few minutes before 4am.

Now, I’m at work and mulling over packing designs for strange and random products, looking at art blogs and packaging blogs to get my creative juices flowing.

Unfortunately, it worked a little too well, and now I want to go away and work on my own stuff. Which is, on the one hand, awesome — I had a few days of not really feeling the creativity bug, which is always frustrating, not to mention, the spark is a little less sparkly after a full work week creating. But this morning, looking at the super cute and sexy pin-up art of Bill Pressing, I just want to curl up with a sketchpad. Not just due to his adorably curvy ladies, but also ’cause of his wonderful use of color and value and composition. But, I’m gonna rein it in and work on making some packaging. Then at lunch, I can peck away a little more at my ongoing personal piece that is taking a year and a day, since I have mostly just been working on it on my lunch break. (Almost there, though!)

Other art-related stuff…a few days ago, there was an internet artistic community uproar regarding a website selling art nabbed off of DeviantArt and another site (and for $200-$300 per print, no less, and of course, original artist getting nothing.) I dutifully added my voice to the tumult putting out the word that artists should check if their art was being sold without their knowledge or consent. The site was down within about a day — good job, internet. And usually, the story ends there for me. But this morning, a fellow DeviantArt user sent me a message informing me that one of my pieces (that they knew of) had been on the site. It was taken down before I saw it, but I am…slightly flattered, to be honest. I mean, no, they shouldn’t be selling people’s art…it’s horrible and I don’t understand how they think that is okay, but the site is down, so…the internet prevails. But, while it was up, they thought my art was good enough to sell for a horrible mark up. I always kind of felt like, if my art was good enough for people to want to steal it, then I would know I had ‘made it’. Forget having a graphic design job, and doing professional illustration freelance on the side. It’s all about illegal use of my work.

Aug

Doors, opening, closing, and remaining ajar

By rei 3 Comments

Categories: art, my cats, Travel and places and work

As many of you (or the one of you who reads this) may know, my life has undergone some changes lately.

Most notably, my boyfriend of the majority of the last 9 1/2 years and I broke up. This has lead to further changes, and decisions and choices.

Despite my first post-break-up instinct of immediately running home to my mom, I ended up deciding to stay in PA for at least a while. I have a great job that I love, and I JUST graduated…I spent the past few years lamenting the fact that I was too busy and broke and living out in the boonies to enjoy the city in which I was living. I didn’t want to leave just when I could finally experience Western PA — socialize, and go to coffee shops, and maybe go to the Schenley ice rink this winter, visit the zoo and the museum and Lulu’s Noodle Shop and maybe even attend some art events. And at 31 years old, running home to mom after a break-up doesn’t show a lot of backbone.

Also, it turns out that despite no longer being a couple, we are still besties after 9 1/2 years, and it would be silly to run across the country from one of my best friends just ’cause we don’t get naked together anymore.

So, I’m getting an apartment. My first. I’ve never had my own place before and I’m a little terrified. The apartment I’m moving into is kind of tiny, and though I find it charming, I just hope my stuff will fit. And my three cats. Because I don’t have it in my heart to abandon the stray that adopted me. I’m going to have to buy new stuff too, and half of it hasn’t even occurred to me yet. I know I’m going to get a loft bed because 1) space saver and 2) I have wanted one for ages. I fluctuate between dreams about my charming apartment where I curl up in the tiny living room with tea and watch the snow fall, and nightmares about my messy, cramped apartment that smells like cats, and bills I can’t pay.

One of my soon plans is looking into more illustration freelance. Perhaps even the kind that pays market prices rather than what I charge the design partner of one of my professors from AiP.

It feels weird, at this stage of my life to just be setting out on my own, choosing the smaller, pricier apartment in town over the larger, cheaper place that has a friend living right downstairs in order to really dive into my independence feet first (also I’ll be closer to work and there’s a Trader Joe’s on my way home). I’m terrified and excited. The world is full of possibilities and who knows what will happen.

It could be awful.

It could be awesome.

Either way, it will be an adventure.

Aug

Can we pretend that desk chairs in my office are for sleeping on

By rei 0 Comments

Categories: work

‘cause I could really use a nap right now.

I don’t know why, but I have been hitting this incredible WALL around 8:30am that makes it incredibly difficult to do anything other than just lay my head on my desk and sleep. The first couple hours of work are not too bad — it’s too early and I’m not thrilled, but not at risk of loosing consciousness. After 9/9:15, I’m okay again — it’s not like I am so exhausted that I nap on my lunch break or anything…it’s just these past couple weeks, for some reason, this time of morning comes and it’s like I took a sledgehammer to the head.

I have rehydrated.

I have recaffinated.

I have found something to get up and do.

I have shaken my head to clear the cobwebs (it just makes me dizzy).

I have even power napped with my chin propped up in my hands while my super slow computer opens Acrobat.

I am, honestly, posting this right now because doing something a little different that forces my brain to engage seems to help, but geeze, this is ridiculous.

This is not cool, brain. Not cool.