#when my brain will allow me to use my ipad i will make full art of it

[ya-pal]

Could you draw deceit being salty? If requests are open

Requests are always open, don’t worry bud

Here, salty Janus throwing some birds

[jackalgirl]

Stubbornness

Me, yesterday: Today, I am going to get all caught up with my correspondence.  And I’m going to experiment with the sewing machine so I can finish the Hellvet Bag.  And I might even fell down some of the hems of the linen tunic I actually sewed, with only a single drop of blood to appease the demon sewing machine, and which actually fits the Next Generation (the tunic, not the sewing machine).  But first, I will knit the one part of Nikki Van De Car’s “Maile Sweater” that is actually hellaciously difficult for me, so that it is out of the way.

Me:  There!  Done with the sweater part and ready to move on!  Why do I feel exhausted?

Me, looking at the clock, seeing that it is eight-thirty in the evening, and having accomplished absolutely nothing else: Time for bed!

TL;DR: there’s an error in the pattern plus I made some mistakes, and it took me all day to figure it out, because dammit I’m not going to let a pattern beat me like that.

I have placed the fix to the pattern, followed by the full story*, under the cut, if you like gory knitting stories.

* I’ve Suffered For My Art and Now You Will, Too...but only if you wanna.  Because I absolutely hate the “shaggy dog” style of recipe or crafting instruction, where you have to endure a story before you get to the actual instruction.  So I put the correction first.

First, the pattern: https://beacon.by/nikki-van-de-car/maile - it is free and adorable and is one of my two go-to patterns when I’m making jackets for friends’ freshly-sprouted or soon-to-be-sprouting sprogs. 

In the Yoke section, the first part should read:

K yoke to 8 sts before marker, ssk, pm, k6, remove m.  K7 from the 1st sleeve, pm, k2tog. K to 3 sts before end of sleeve, ssk, pm, k to end of sleeve.  K1 stitch from back, k2tog, k to 3 sts before marker, ssk, k1, remove m, k1 st from second sleeve, pm, k2tog, k to 9 sts before end of sleeve, ssk, pm, k to end of sleeve.  K6 sts from left front, pm, k2tog, k to end.

The bolded part is what’s different from Nikki’s original pattern. 

When you are done with this row, you should have 203 stitches on your needles, separated into seven (7) sections:

The middle section (”center back”): 59 stitches. 

The two sections on either side of this (”shoulders”): 36 stitches each. 

Continuing outwards, the next two sections (”lace sections”): 13 stitches each. 

Finally, the last two sections (”jacket fronts”): 23 stitches each.

The pattern’s error is that is has you place the fourth marker two stitches too early, and you end up with 57 stitches in the center back and 38 stitches in the second shoulder section.

Note: from this point onward, you will be decreasing by 8 stitches in every odd-numbered row.  You will repeat lace pattern #2 a total of three times, losing 120 total stitches overall.  This means when you finish the lace pattern’s row 9 for the third time, you’ll have 83 stitches on your needle (8, 13, 6, and 29 sts in the jacket front, lace, shoulder, and center back sections respectively).

The pattern tells you to stop when you have 83 stitches, but go ahead and knit a “wrong-side” button hole row, so that your jacket ends up with four (4) button holes.  Then continue on as per the pattern until you are done.

The pattern doesn’t tell you you have to seam up the sleeves on the undersides, but you do.  Take care to close up the hole in the armpit that is a consequence of inserting all those sleeve stitches between two adjacent jacket stitches.

Oh, look!  A shaggy dog!  (Abandon all hope, etc.)

The original pattern has you knit the sleeves in the flat (from the cuffs upward).  Then, after you’ve knitted up the bottom part of the jacket, this first part of the Yoke section has you knit the sleeves directly into the jacket: after having knitted up the bottom part of the jacket, you knit some stitches, then knit across the first sleeves’ stitches (with some decreases thrown in), then return to the jacket stitches (so you’ve just inserted all those sleeve stitches between two adjacent stitches of the jacket, which is tough), knit across the back, add the second sleeve in the same manner, then the rest of the jacket. 

You’re adding stitch markers along the way -- those sections are to allow you both to knit a section of lace on either side of the jacket’s front, but also to shape the jacket around the shoulders and neck.  So the sections -- and the markers -- are really really important. 

But the pattern does not have any indication of how many stitches should end up in each section.  Nor does it give you an overall stitch count when you are done with that row.  You finish the first part of the jacket with 119 stitches, and then you do this (IMO) technically difficult** step of knitting the sleeves directly into the jacket, with some decreases thrown in for good measure, and end up with...???

** I make it more difficult, of course, by not knitting the sleeves in the flat, so I am attaching tubes (much tension -- many strain) to the jacket instead of relatively flexible flat pieces.  More on that later, if you have not given up on me by then.

I feel like this is one of those patterns by a very accomplished and exceptionally skilled knitter, who is perhaps not taking into account that lesser knitters (like myself) are bound to make mistakes, and for me (ymmv), having stitch counts are really important for keeping track of whether or not I’ve made a mistake.  The lack of stitch counts isn’t a big deal, as long as you don’t make any mistakes.  And this also assumes that the pattern doesn’t contain any mistakes in the first place.

The two previous times I’ve knitted this jacket, not knowing about that error in the pattern and not having a stitch count to compare, I ended up with a not-symmetrical number of stitches in the shoulders of the jacket after attaching the sleeves.  I had chalked it up to a) making mistakes, as I do, and b) always getting excited to continue The Next Part and forgetting to double-check before I do so.  I in each of my previous two jackets, I ended up hiding a decrease in the second shoulder section and forging onward.

This time was no different and, naturally, I only noticed this until about five rows after, because I didn’t remember to double-check until then.  Also, I’d made some mistakes, because the shaping -- although absolutely lovely when it’s done -- is arranged in such a way as to form a pattern that is not sticky for the way my brain is wired to see patterns.  But this time, I remembered that this had happened the previous two times.  Though I was willing to admit that I’d made mistakes again, I began to suspect that there was a problem with the pattern itself.  And I was going to figure it out, by George!

I ended up breaking out the iPad and doing some drawing/counting illustrations in order to figure out what you’re supposed to have after that row of attaching the sleeves.  That’s what helped me recognize the error in the pattern, and why I was ending up with unequal shoulders (in addition to my mistakes).

Rather than frog all the way back to the sleeve attachment (I did not want to go through that again), I simply frogged that little bit of the jacket between the back and the incorrectly-numbered shoulder back to the row where I attached the sleeves, and (I used double-pointed needles for this) knitted the dropped stitches back up with everything shifted over so that the dividing line ended up where it needed to be.  I did the same thing to the other parts where I’d made mistakes (by forgetting to decrease where I was supposed to).   That finally got me to the correct stitch count for the row I was on, with the correct number of stitches in each section. 

This was much more difficult than I’m making it sound, and figuring it out took me all day (and made me cranky, for which I profusely apologized to the Better Half who, to give him credit, demonstrated the “Better” part of that moniker, for which I am very grateful).

Aunt Lorenza’s Modifications - or - Oh look! Another shaggy dog!  (if you’re still with me, blessings be upon you)

As mentioned, I didn’t knit the sleeves in the flat.  I knitted them using the magic loop method, on a circular needle, two-at-a-time.  I did cut the yarn (Nikki recommends you not do this) after they were done, but left a decently long tail (3-4 inches, or 7-10 cm) to take care of the underarm hole.

If you want to do the sleeves this way, you will need extra equipment: five (5) US x double-pointed knitting needles, and an additional set of US x circular needles with a decently long cable (the longer, the better, but no fewer than 24″/61 cm).

Note: I say “x” because what size needle you use depends on your yarn and what size you’re shooting for.  I used fingering-weight yarn and US 4 (3.5mm) needles, but you might end up using something else.  Just make sure they’re all the same size.

First, knit the sleeves, using the magic loop method for circular knitting.  I modified the pattern by casting on using the Chinese Waitress cast-on for the sleeves, so that the cuff would be extra stretchy.

When you are done: transfer the first sleeve to DPNs as so:

from the start of the sleeve’s round, 11 sts on the first needle, 12 sts each on the second and third needles, 11 sts on the fourth needle. 

Note: This is going to help split up the strain on the tube as you’re knitting it into the jacket.  It’ll be easier on your hands, your needles, and also the fabric.

Leave the second sleeve on your original needles and set aside.

Take up your second set of cable needles and knit the jacket.  I used the crochet cast-on so that I would have a braided edge, taking the extra step of deliberately twisting the stitches so that it would be a twisted braid.  I also added a stitch to either side (I cast on 133 sts vice 133) and slipped the first stitch of each row purlwise, knitting it on the return, so that the edges would also have a twisted braid.

In the Yoke section, when you get to the first sleeve (on its DPNs), use the fifth DPN to knit the sleeves’ stitches off of the first DPN, when then becomes your right-hand needle.  Continue in this manner, knitting around the sleeve stitches, as per the pattern.

When you reach the end of the sleeve, pick up the next jacket stitch with your original (circular) needle.  This part takes patience, because all these needles want to be in the way of each other and the yarn, and of course the DPNs want to slide out of the loops.  So go slow for this part.

Follow the pattern until you have gotten 10 or so stitches across the back -- or until it feels relatively secure to you.

You’re now going to need to get the sleeve stitches onto your cable needle (pulling up a loop in the middle of the sleeve so that it lays flat) and free up the DPNs for the next sleeve.  As soon as you get two DPNs free, stop and get the second sleeve off of the other end of the holding cable (half of the sts on one needle, half on the other).  When all of the DPNs are free, set up the second sleeve as you did the first.

Continue with the yoke, adding the second sleeve as the pattern directs.  Leave these DPNs in the second sleeve stitches after you have finished attaching the sleeve so that they can take up the strain.

When you are done with this row and the sleeves are on, knit your wrong-side return -- the DPNs will help you manage the strain on the fabric when you reach the sleeves.  Eventually, as you keep adding rows, you’ll get far enough past the sleeves that you’ll be able to remove the DPNs and the extra cable needle.  And then you can just knit as the pattern is written and you should be fine.

Enjoy!

[elstonsblog]

2019

In my last yearly round-up, the goals for the end of 2019 were to have done:

365 drawings (1 a day of place and thought)

52 what I saws

12 reflective writing pieces

12 reasons to be cheerful

12 photographs of tattooed fruit

6 posters

6 punks

6 tattooed people

6 painted objects

6 zines

4 pieces of clothing

A piece of work printed/made

Learn stick and poke

Stall at an art fair

It’s obvious to say, that I didn’t complete all of my resolutions. There were tasks that I started and then fell through – like the 52 what I saw’s, then there were other tasked that changed throughout the year. Looking at these goals again I think my approach for the coming year will be slightly different. Fewer goals, bigger goals with more actions that can be divided throughout the year. Hopefully, after writing this I’ll have a clearer idea of what they’ll be so I’ll come back that at the end. 

The work I’ve created this year feels a lot more together than the 2018’s body of work. I’ve found comfort in the barrel pen and the application of a colour palette which helps give the work a sense of togetherness. While in 2020 I hope to expand my processes a bit more this year has been good to build confidence and find the fun in what I’m doing again. The goal of making my work and Instagram page look more varied (as previously it was lumps of the same work) I think has been successful. It has been achieved through daily drawings of whatever pops into my head at lunchtime to then be drawn up and coloured at the weekends. This way of working has suited me well as it gives me something to do at lunch and thinking of 1 thing a day is manageable into my routine... the downfall of it would be that it doesn’t give much room for larger ideas or projects – knowing this now, I hope to set some time aside on weekends to plan those out and then I could use the lunchtimes to progress them.

My way of working is still fairly analogue as all the lines are drawn by hand, scanned and then will be digitally coloured. If I were to get an iPad the processing time would go down but I don’t feel there is a need for that yet as everything I’m doing it on my own time and it’s a process I’m comfortable with that ensures my hand stays in the game. 

In 2018 I was focussed much more on observational drawing, this year I have come away from that and started to play around with things a bit more. Using ideas and objects and trying to focus on fun. There have been a few recurring pieces that I would like to continue in 2020, Reasons to be cheerful was started in 2019 and while the ones that have been created could do with a bit of freshening up I can redraw and update those while continuing it as eventually I’d like to make it into a book/poem of some kind so that it is in keeping with the original song. The half heads are also interesting to me to play with, stemming from this philosophy that the mind and body are separate yet connected – opening up the brain allows for better communication of what that person is feeling. I’m not sure what the half heads will lead to in terms of the outcome.. but it’s a nice outlet for me to communicate feelings.

The platform that I am using is starting to increase which is starting to give me a better understanding of who my audience is. Before my nephew was born I was reluctant to do child-focused things but my view on that has changed a lot seeing how he interacts with pictures and toys. For a few months in the latter part of the year, I was seeing my work as being in the soft middle of nothing as it isn’t too much one thing or much the other. With that in mind, I started to make things with soft middles. Felt soft toys that are just like physical drawings, making them takes longer than drawing does but it’s nice to have something physical at the end of it. It’s something that is still quite new to me so there’s an excitement there. Because of the material and general look of the bright coloured soft and squishy objects, they lend themselves to children. When drawing the ideas of what to make I made sure that it was things that interest me rather than trying to use the toys to make only baby stuff, this has also helped keep my interest. A goal for this year is to make stuff so that I can go to stalls – having a face on contact with people will give me a much better idea of who my audience is and meet other creative people.

I’d say that the most successful aspects of my work this year is the progression of my visual toolkit, I’ve found my eyes and my nose and my colours. Things that I’m able to apply to any drawing I do. This has been helpful and I’m hoping it will continue to progress and change as currently when I ditch the nose it looks quite kawaii which isn’t quite what I’d hoped for but with more practice, I’ll find an alternative. This year I need to focus some effort on creating body shapes as many of my drawings with people in are just headshots other than body’s that were observed. I think that’s because when drawing the half heads, I draw them naked. I can do full body monkeys and skeletons and, I’m sure, with the addition of clothes I’ll be able to do people – I just need to put some effort into making sure it happens. ­

On the flip side of that, my least successful aspect would be refinement and placement. Throughout the year I’ve just been drawing one thing then moving on to the next with no real thinking of what I could use this for, where could I put this.. how can I push it? I think 2020 will see some refining of existing work as now it’s been drawn and I’ve had time away from it I can think and see it differently. I’d like to make some of the things already created into gifs, prints etc. so that they’re not just stuck as they currently are.

Other than a handful of projects, most of my work didn’t involve research into an area or subject – which has led the pieces to be seen at face value, most of them aren’t trying to communicate anything deeper which when looking back over the body of work makes it feel a little light. Not by any means does this mean that my work suddenly has to become all serious or obvious – but I think I could benefit from taking more interest in the news, short stories etc. to attempt to convey messages, tales and ideas rather than just images.

Overall, I think this past year has been a good step in the right direction that I hope to continue taking forward. I’ve played around with stick + poke; made a group exhibition;  redesigned my website and opened up more social media channels; made work for other people; designed an alphabet and learnt to sew (to pick my favourite few). Through focusing on drawing happier things I have also held a happier state of mind – I think both things feed into each other. While I’m not where I want to be yet (and I don’t know what that is) I’m positive that by carrying on I’ll get somewhere. My confidence in the drawing is getting better but now I think I need to focus my efforts on application and ideas of the drawings. 

In 2020, my main aims are to work towards (and hopefully do) a stall in either Bristol or London along with creating a self-promotion pack to send out to possible prospective clients. I have loosely planned my year with the main recurring projects that I would like to achieve this year, it looks slightly barer than the previous year but having fewer objectives means I can spend more time on them to make it the best version possible. I will be continuing with creating image ideas at lunchtime and working towards a bigger goal in the evenings. There is a possibility of my full-time job ending mid-year so what I’ve set out to do may suffer during deciding whether to do an MA or looking for another job... but none the less, these are my goals for 2020:

Make 24 Felt toys

Make 12 Editorial response drawings

Make 12 Zines

Make 12 Reasons to be cheerful

Make 12 Cards

Read 12 comics

Take 10 Polaroids a month

Write 12 reflection pieces

Design and distribute the self-promo pack

Stall at an art fair

[katiej89-blog]

Doc Shredding, Password Security, And A Lot More

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[artmotherhoodandmadness]

Excavating past memories

I don't look forward to Tuesdays, getting ready to see Dr S is always a struggle, but at the same time I think it is helping towards my recovery. Recovery is a long process, especially if you have been outside the mental health services for as long as I have been and suspicious of taking medication, too. I am still not sure if either medication or therapy is helping, but I am sticking it out, curious to see if it will work, after all the literature always says see a mental health care professional and take medication, this is the sure way to see results. I often wonder if my condition is resistant to medication, if my brain is just wired this way, still anything is worth a shot.

Dr S always starts by asking how my week was, I told him how I had celebrated my birthday at a Mexican restaurant and then went to the park with my family a fortnight earlier and how this had been pleasant and memorable. Isn't it all about building up new positive memories to counter the negative ones? I told him that I had released my second album too, Alien 369, but that I didn’t feel any sense of achievement I was just thinking about releasing the next one. He asked if I had any more flashbacks and I said, ‘Yes.’

Everyone has unpleasant memories, everyone has trauma, no one can escape these things, but with some people the trauma revisits over and over again and you become trapped in the past. It seemed that this is what has happened to me, making the present a numbing experience and a battle ground. I told him how I kept on remembering when I was sectioned in Brussels. How I was handcuffed and taken to a room full of police officers, how I was not allowed to make a phone call, how they were intimidating, how one officer blocked my phone, how I was distressed and led to a van, and placed in a room with a mattress, how I was not allowed to go to the toilet and had to shit on a plate and urinate in a water bottle, how I was on my period and had no sanitary towels, how I was stripped naked by ten people, how I was taken to another hospital, how I was treated by the judge, who did not ask one question and sentenced me to 40 days in a psychiatric hospital, how I was dragged to a room and injected because I wanted to take photos of trees and placed in solitary confinement, how when I was released I was shaking because of the side effects of the medication and unable to draw. And then I recounted how I was sectioned in Malaysia, taken forcibly from my hotel room during quarantine, placed in a strait jacket and carried away, the main reason being because I had painted on the windows, the plasma screen and in the bathroom, but is making art a crime, all of it could be washed away? I told Dr S how bewildering it had been when I was psychotic, and how now I could not believe that I was so delusional. Dr S simply said, ‘It’s in the past now, you can not change it, people were not kind, they did not understand your mental health needs.’ And the EMDR began. He moved his fingers and I watched them glide from left to right wondering if this would make the bad memories evaporate.

‘It’s in the past’ I said in my head, and yes, I thought about what happened last year less and less now. I was convinced that if I had a year that was calm, a year devoid of drama and trauma that this would aid my recovery. I had a habit, especially when I returned to Europe, of retraumatising myself over and over again. That had to stop. I wondered how many sessions it would take to dissect all the trauma, was it even possible? Dr S said that I was still locked in the past, this is why I was unable to be present and that I had to break down the trauma and then I would be able to heal. 

Healing would take months, if not years, I thought. Healing was a mysterious process. An elusive one, but it was worth trying to get better, for who wanted to be stuck in the past? My iPad paintings seemed to depict my subconscious mind, I was able to create landscapes that reflected the turbulence and uncertainty within, I would continue to write, to make art, to compose. It seemed that I was not able to work as I used to, but a little a day was my philosophy, small steps in the right direction, and so far I had made over 30 iPad paintings. Art was art, whether digital or made by hand, and making art was a good thing to do. Perhaps it was not valued by society and maybe I did not feel valued, but Dr S said, ‘I think you are a genius.’ I replied, ‘Really, why do you think that?’ And Dr S replied, ‘Look at the way you just started to make music and learned to play instruments, I don't say things lightly, you have astounding talent.’

‘Astounding’ that was a big word, and I found it hard to believe. Lack of self belief was always holding me back, when would I believe in myself? When would I stop allowing the trauma to get in the way? I had to hold onto the positives and remember all that I had done and all that I wanted to do and I had to believe that it was possible.

We lived in a world that was very driven by social media, people were evaluated by their social media statistics, I told Dr S how during my psychosis I had deleted everyone on Facebook. Dr S said, ‘I think that was a good thing to do, I have many clients whose work is dependent on social media and it’s making them ill.’ And just because you don't get many likes doesn't mean that you are less worthy or that your work is not good, it only meant that you were not very good at social media and I would say that I was terrible at it. I told Dr S how over the years I had deleted 100s of people and wondered why I had done that. Was it because I didn't like the noise, that I found it intrusive? Social media made you feel more isolated that was the irony of it. And we talked about loneliness and isolation. I was fearful because my family were going to Sweden and I would be alone. Dr S said that I could come to a centre where patients resided and I thought that it would be a good idea, to meet new people with wonky, dented minds like mine. He tried to assure me that not returning to Europe this year was a good idea; the risk of relapse was too great and deep down I knew that. Even thought at times it felt like I was stagnating, I was safe. But I would have to return one day, I couldn’t hide away forever, I still saw my life and all my opportunities as being in London and I missed the city, I missed my friends, of course post Covid, the world was not the same. I would return, when they time was right, when I was stronger and better. 

[freya-amelia-smith]

EVALUATION !

This project is called MULTIVERSE, and my task was to create a zine using a collection of words linking to this topic that was given to use on google classroom. With these words, I were asked to pick out a minimum of 12 words and did so, but I only dedicate my zine to four words out the 12, and those four words were PARALLEL, REALITY, TIME AND ELEMENT, all the work I create during this project was created using the programs of adobe photoshop, illustrator, Lightroom, InDesign and procreate. 

A zine is a small looking magazine that norThis project is called MULTIVERSE, and my task was to create a zine using a collection of words linking to this topic that was given to use on google classroom. With these words, I were asked to pick out a minimum of 12 words and did so, but I only dedicate my zine to four words out the 12, and those four words were PARALLEL, REALITY, TIME AND ELEMENT, all the work I create during this project was created using the programs of adobe photoshop, illustrator, Lightroom, InDesign and procreate. 

A zine is a small looking magazine that normally is used for advertisement or to spread the word about something, In my case, it was to show artwork that portrays word that I have chosen.

A big part of this project was researching because I need to first research about zines as I didn't really know what they were I also need to research how to make one and how they work so I was able to create mockups and outcome that are the right size after doing this it helped me a lot to understand zine, and I was able to get on with creating, but then I knew it was time to create the outcome to go in my zine so I had to research and look up a lot of artist and designers for inspiration the pain website I used for inspiration was Pinterest due to me being able to create a board that I could go back to and inspire me.

The artist that I research that helped me a lot would probably be Ranganath krishnamani because he enables me to find a style that I like and help me open my mind to think or outcomes that I create this artist help me with the topic of reality as he a series of outcomes called a shift in the playing field and before I found him I knew I wanted to use social media and technology in my outcome, but didn't know how to do it so when I found his work it inspired me and I was able to think of loads of different ideas. 

Each page in my zine is dedicated to a topic of my choice and the target was to show that word through artwork, for example, the word PARALLEL I used images such a building and shapes line and by doing this I put art together that represented parallel another page in my zine was about time so I used a lot of clocks to show that topic, the big part of this project is the MARS side or it MATHS ART RELIGION AND SCIENCES so another thing I had to have it mind was making sure I was showing this throughout the project and in my outcomes.

With me creating my zine I thought they would be a load of different problems doing it but in fact, there wasn't that many the main problem that I came across was one finding artist that had focused on the word time as I was really struggling with inspiration I need someone to inspire me but after a lot of searching on Pinterest and Google I finally came across outcomes that inspired me but was still unable to find an artist that focused on the topic time another struggle and I think the last struggle I had was trying to keep a team throughout my project and in my case, it was a colour pallet I wanted to use my colour pallet through but sometimes it would fit with the aesthetic so I have to think and think until I come you with and outcome using the colour pallet that I choose but overall the journey of my project had many ups as i was creating consatly but had some down fulls exspesaly went I have a brain block on ideas but came over quickly due to looking at pintrest the that got the ball rolling so a smooth journey i would say with this project.

As this project had a task that was very different from the other projects that I have done there was a lot of learning involved and learning new skills and techniques including different programs to learn such as in design and new techniques on photoshop the main skill that I learn that I’m really pleased with was the dissolve effect/liquefy effect on photoshop that is used in my time poster in my zine another new technique that I approached was a log print/rubbing this was another technique that I used on my time pages for my zine and it was interesting to learn a new skill and in the future, I may want to learn about wood printing similar to linocuts and screenprinting but using wood. Are used a lot of old skills that I have collected over my time at college including collage thing halftoning and just my way of laying out my artwork and also a big part of graphics and getting my topic out there was using typography and I learnt a lot about how important typography is and I learn every day when creating new outcomes.

My favourite skill overall that I have learnt would be the liquefying effect on photoshop and also photography. I knew a lot about photography as I have grown up in a photographers household but I learn a lot more about capturing the topic of something through a photograph and I also learn a lot about Lightroom as that is where I edited the photos. With photoshop I watched many videos on how to do the liquefying effect and now I have that skill which I’m really happy about. I mentioned in my blog that I wanted to learn the program in design and I’m learning as I go along and I’m still figuring out the program watching videos but hopefully, I will be able to use that throughout my time at college and after and hopefully mastering it similar to illustrator and photoshop.

Due to us being a national lockdown the college isn’t open so we have been having to work from home and to present our work we have been using the website Tumblr I created account name is multi-verse and was adding all my outcomes and journey throughout this project onto my blog I really do prefer doing it a digital way rather than writing in a journal and sticking stuff in a sketchbook as one it gives you better quality pictures and it also allows you to choose statics and have a theme of your whole website page. Are used different ways to show my work and the journey of here the most common way was doing screenshots of how I got to an outcome and explaining step-by-step how I did it I also uploaded videos on my blog for me drawing on my iPad which is a cool way of seeing the development of an outcome. By doing all this work in this type of way I feel that I have displayed multi-verse and the project brief well on my blog and I feel that if someone was to look at it they would get an understanding of what it’s about and know what it’s about. Because especially at the beginning of my blog by explains a lot about space the multi-verse and theories delving into the more science and maths side of it and then as you go along through my blog you see research in me developing outcomes and by doing this I was able to develop outcomes to the best of my ability and be pleased with the outcome is at the end and then look well done.

With my blog I started off with a brain block I didn’t know what to do so the first thing I did to plan for this project was create spider diagrams that I could put all different connotations of my chosen word onto and search pictures on Pinterest and add them to the board by doing this I was able to refer back to them when I had another brain block further into the project. I also created a layout of how I wanted my zine to look and this helped me have a strict approach onto the scene as I knew that I wanted it to look like that so I stuck with that and as it was on my blog I knew that that’s what I showed that I wanted to be like so I wanted my outcome to show that I had followed my planning. And there are many different ways once I finish my outcomes that I evaluated them but normally I would just put my outcome on my blog and explain what my intentions were and what context I wanted to show and talk a little about the piece of artwork. One thing that I find it’s really important with any project is you try and see your work from someone else if you and try and give yourself critical feedback so you can push yourself and work harder I always do this on every topic are normally I get my family members to look at my artwork and say things about them and things that I need to change and things that are good so I work on it until I’m happy and pleased with everything on the page.

With this project a big part to me was the context as I wanted to show the words well through using artwork I feel the best piece of our that does show context is my reality pieces because you can see many different feelings and emotions through that piece of artwork and people can link personally to it where is with the other ones they do show context but not as deeply as the reality pages. But overall this project has worked really well and I’m really happy with how my final mock ups came out each page portrays a word in a good way and you know what the theme of the pages I’ve used many different skills and techniques including digital drawings typography log prints etc, but there are weaknesses to my outcomes and I would like to work on them in the future if I had the time and that would be maybe changing the theme of the background within the project as that was one thing that I was wary about and was concerned but the reason I chose are quite bold and colourful background with me looking at the word multi-verse and focusing on the word multi and thinking of loads of different colours so I had different approaches to the topic and they link back to everything which I think is a good thing to have but I play to my strengths which is always a good thing as you know that there will be a good outcome at the end by also worked on my weaknesses and learn new skills which I will use in further projects.

[dancekickboxcardio]

I feel rested but my sleep 💤 was interrupted. I probably woke up 4x during the night 🌃. This morning my alarm ⏰ didn’t ring at all. I had to use the bathroom only to find out that it’s time to get up. I have been awake. My cats 🐈 are already wrestling and I found my techs 💻 on the floor. I thought 💭 it was my cellphone 📱. Nope, iPad and laptop too. I am excited 😆 since yesterday because it’s shopping 🛍 allowance disbursement day. Totally apt.

I wasn’t very tired when I went to bed 🛏 yesterday. I showered 🧼. I had to make sure I have time to prep my stuff this morning ☀️. I hear 👂🏾 the birds 🐦 sing. My Google Mini just played music 🎶. Ah, I set my alarm for 530a not 5. I am listening to RBB Inforadio. While I was trying to remain asleep 😴 I was already planning my week. Like, I’ll attend Sunday and make Monday the rest day. Good thing I woke up early yesterday. I am so not paying attention. I had a doctor’s 🥼 appointment.

It was a lot of waiting but I like my new primary health care physician. I was seen a month before my yearly visit expired. She was my Mom’s old physician too. I thought 💭 I recognized her name. I talked with her on my annual physical check up my heath concerns. I was pretty thorough about them. She gave me her clinical opinion while considering what I want. We agreed and she ultimately added me to her full panel of consultations. It was laid back Friday. I couldn’t find the perfect selfies 🤳🏾 .

But I definitely took great art shots 📸. They were pretty memorable to me too.

I was pretty annoyed 😒. I spoke my mind without saying a word. Do I look 👀 like I can’t pass Calculus? There’s a difference between immature blame it on others but yourself which is what my druggie 😏 cousin did all his adulting life. I suppose we all have our weaknesses. Now, he’s not in a halfway house. Apparently, he’s homeless. How do you expect responsibility from a child you never disciplined and gave the proper time and help in the world 🌍? The versus 🆚 part is coincidental without fail failing and you are stupid. I had lowered my defenses in the gym 💪🏾 🏃🏼‍♀️. My senses weren’t on high alert. In fact, I was very much traipsing. I wasn’t very much underperforming. I broke sweats 😓 . Mark Consuelo was easy going yesterday😧. Shocker. I did my cardio ❤️ one after another and focused on the handle. I was listening 🎧 to TIME podcast. I made a decision to be a little with it in my studies 📖 . I also know that I have to finish two courses and I am already delayed by three weeks. I am not beating 🤕 myself up. I am getting it done ✅. Sometime I have to increase my demands on myself to actually meet my goals 🥅 and speed upon which I want to proceed. Ah, I freaked out yesterday twice. After the elliptical this kid was walking on my blindside like close proximity on my left. Then, a trainer moved the rowing 🚣🏼‍♀️ machine and he also wasn’t in my line of sight. Ghost 👻. Vie? Yeah, that was the only interesting part about perspectives in psych 101. What’s possible? Although Sense and Perception was a different animal. We mapped in the brain 🧠 the areas and specific cells that allow you to see shapes and shades and orientation. It was high caliber stuff. When Laura approached me from the back yesterday I was alert and know her voice. When I was taking care of my shoulders and back this guy who spoke in a soft voice and sounded like father behind me gave me the creeps. It wierded me out. Just like I startled 😱 Jamesicle 🐈 when he was hanging out with me in the dinning table. I grabbed the Belvita box which was behind him and it made him jumpy. I had two packages before I went to bed 🛏 . That’s 400 plus calories. I remem to pack protein bars and it helped in yoga 🧘🏼‍♀️ and first part of lifting 💪🏾 . My legs 🦵🏾 were muscle fatigued again.

It was to the point of exhaustion. But great I made it through. I didn’t have to meet the intensity. It was muscle recovery. Yes, it was my yoga 🧘🏼‍♀️ weekend instructor and I told her how I freshen up before the class because it’s what I usually do only to realize I am going to sweat 💦 buckets in the hot 🥵 room anyway. It wasn’t sweltering but once you do the poses well like me your t-shirt shall be drenched. Many don’t wear tops and in fact the girls are on their bras. Yeah, not going to happened for me. I saw a girl wearing a pants 👖 I want for myself. I thought 💭 to myself I should put on zen trousers to signal to my head that while I work my butt off to improve my overall physicality, I love ❤️ my growing upper leg muscles 💪🏾, I have to add rest 😌 and recovery. They are an important and essential part of the journey. I have a song 🎤 to sing to Laura. The oil applied to my head was such a treat. I can’t wait 😊 to weigh myself again. If the scale in the clinic and the gym are calibrated the same, holy camole, I lost dos pesos. Sweet 😍. I forgot my nice mat yesterday 😭. I didn’t bring it up from my Mom’s car.

[mthaytr]

Could you do 1, 4, 27, and the writing advice one from the writing ask post you reblogged? Thanks! Either way I think you're a swell human being and your writing is a DELIGHT! I hope you have a wonderful week!

1, 4, 27 and writing advice it is!!

1). What inspires you?

UH official Yuri on Ice art??? It’s all so full of like. Meaningful Shit XD. Or adorable shit??? Either way. But having a great conversation with someone is also incredibly inspiring; so is getting to be outside after a rainstorm in the summer. Going someplace new! Also I have a habit of going to restaurants by myself and drinking and eavesdropping on the people around me and this is incredibly inspirational XD

Also stores full of either really old stuff or really tacky/useless decorative stuff, i LOVE that shit? I love looking at it, it makes me really happy. Gimme a set of fake antlers covered in gold paint and mount that shit on my grave, son.

4) Name three writers who were influential to your work and why

MmmmMMMMmmmMMM. Mary Shelley taught me about the unreliable narrator and just how fucking useful they are; Hiromu Arakawa taught me to balance tragedy with comedy and to ground it all in character; Madeline L'engle taught me what words could do to you, and that writing starts with asking a question.

27) Best review you ever got

FffffFFFFF FUCK um it’s so hard to choose but, probably the best one I ever got was the first time @tierfal reviewed a fic of mine; I lost my fucking mind. I probably screamed, i definitely showed it to everybody i was living with, I absolutely was in a state of giddy disbelief for at LEAST the rest of the day.

Other than that, I will always remember how one longtime reader (shoutout @repentantheroes) said she saw that I had updated while she was in her car, and she actually pulled over into a parking lot to read the chapter because she couldn’t wait till she got home.

WRITING ADVICE

A) Read a lot. Pay attention to what you’re reading. When you find a sentence you love, highlight that sentence. Maybe write it down a bunch of times until you remember it. Keep a little logbook or something of your favorite sentences and words. I keep about 2000 different docs in the notes app on my ipad. Whatever works for you XD

B) Read – and memorize! – poetry. Nothing trains you to use words and grammatical structures in weird and wonderful ways more than memorizing poetry.

C) Find someone who really loves your work and is on or near your level to discuss your writing with. You do not necessarily want to be asking for critique from people who are a whole lot better than you; this can be more discouraging than it is helpful. Finding someone who is on your level can allow a freedom of conversation and free-flowing suggestions from both sides that can really improve both of you as writers – and it’s fun!

D) If you’re actually planning on writing a thing, don’t necessarily share all your ideas with that person, or any of your other friends. I’ve found that a lot of times when I get really excited and share everything I’ve thought of in a chat window, my motivation to actually WRITE the thing disappears because I’ve already gotten the emotional response that I care most about XD. So consider refraining! Whipping yourself and your friends into an emotional frenzy over your headcanons is its own kind of fun and I wouldn’t give it up for the WORLD but it does not, in my experience, necessarily lead to that story actually getting written XD though for some of you, maybe it’s different!

E) Tryyyyyy to stop judging what you write. That’s the surest way not to write anything at all. In trying to be a /good/ writer, you will often stop yourself from being any kind of writer, and that is what I like to refer to as Not Ideal. If you have to turn your judging brain off by repeating “I am an amazing writer” twenty times before you start writing, great! If you do it by writing in crayon so your brain won’t take it seriously, also great! If you have to write in the margins of your class notes so you’re distracted from judging, also fantastic! I personally find that going out to someplace loud, like a restaurant or bar, and writing there really helps me, because there’s so much else going on that I can’t focus enough to judge whatever I’m producing XD

F) First drafts are for putting SOMETHING down on the page, second drafts are for making it good. If you write something genuinely terrible, you can always fix it later. Just keep moving. You’re like a fuckin shark; keep moving or you’ll die. Don’t worry about whatever you /just/ wrote – keep going forward.

G) I do not always take all of my own advice XD. I am very bad at some of them. I know how hard shit like not judging yourself can be. But I also know that the only times I get anything done are the times when I’m following it :’D so I hope it was useful for you??!?