Thursday, May 24, 2012

Bat Designs + Ocean Marketing Article

Recently I've been working on some bat designs just to practice with silhouettes and to research more about the terrifyingly, cute little critters.




It's really fun seeing just how diverse this "flying mammal" community is, and how the way they're built/shaped ties in to where they live/what they eat/what they do, etc. The more research I do, the more interested I become in finding out all I can about them...


Aww, what adorable, big ears!


Oh, look, its like he has his own faux hawk/gladiator helmet. Very cool!


Oh...oh gawd...

Okay, so I would like to research all of them EXCEPT the last one. That one just freaks me out...


The last little bit of this post is well...a bit random. I came across this interesting bit of gaming history on Cracked.com, and couldn't help but research it further. If anyone in the gamer community hasn't heard about this wonderful piece of scandal, they should take 45 minutes of their time to read this article on The Fall of Ocean Marketing. If you want to know how to ruin your life and reputation with just a few emails, this is it.

Anyway, ciao for now.



Sunday, May 20, 2012

It's Been Too Long/ Foxhollow Farm Spring Fest

Hey Y'all!

First off, I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I'll admit, I'm pretty bad when it comes to keeping up with my blog; most of the time it's because of school or I'm busy with other things. HOWEVER, I hope on changing that soon, especially now that I have the chance to start the blogging habit this summer.

So to start off I just want to say that my first year was amazing! I got to meet such fabulous people, see incredible art, and never did I experience true art block (except during April, a.k.a. Finals/ Hell Month). But, as soon as I got off of school, I decided to take a break and either read, play videogames, or watch t.v. That lasted about three days before I realized I needed a job. 


Unfortunately, despite businesses needing seasonal employment, some are not ready to hire immediately. Because of that, I have been volunteering at the place my mom works--Foxhollow Farm. It's a nice place where they serve local foods, produce, and meats. The best part is everything is organic, and the beef/chicken is hormone free and grass-fed. Not only that but they even have folk-art classes and mediation classes--and heck, even gardening classes, too!

What they also have is festivals; in particular, the Spring Festival and the Fall Festival. I volunteered at the Spring one where I did face-painting and helped out at the food tents. After about 4:00, my shift ended, so I decided to look around and sketch. I saw that they had let some of the chickens out of their fenced in area, so I drew some sketches of the chickens.




I realized at that moment that I love observing chickens.The way they scratched/dug into the ground was hilarious. Of course though, I soon left after I found out that where they had been pooping was the same place I had been sketching; I know this because one got really close to me and just let himself go right in front of me. I made the right decision to leave after that.

After the chickens, I decided to leave and go on one of the hiking trails located on the farm. It was a longer trip than I thought (probably due to the heat). I made my way down some steep paths, and after I  battled through some plants I arrived at my first waypoint: The Nature Trail Pond.





Okay, it was less pond-like and more Legend of Zelda-mystical-magical lake. I'm serious! It even had it's own stone marker!


Which, to me, was a definite sign that I was getting closer to my destination. I continued further into the woods, and came upon a path with the same rocks that markers were made of.




And then finally, after going through even MORE plants and narrow trails, I arrived to my destination: The Stone Circle!







On the farm, they have all of these stone markers placed around in various spots. However, most of them are placed here, a bit farther away from the main farm complex. As to why, I don't know. All of the stones are hand-carved, and have a variety of symbols on them. In fact, I actually took the time to draw/photograph some of them...












...BUT THEN I COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! There were bees everywhere! Every time I settled down, the bees would start to gather around me and buzz in my ear. I had to leave my sketch unfinished; I couldn't take it anymore!

Luckily, soon after leaving the inner stones and came across the edge of the forest. There, I saw the most bizarre looking bird. I couldn't get a decent picture of it, so I sketched it as best as I could.



It was a cross between a vulture and a female turkey--either way, it was beautiful, yet terrifying.

After I watched it for a bit, I realized that the sun was getting to me and that I should head back home. I made my way back through the woods, got in the car, and drove back home; I was satisfied with how my Saturday had ended.