Time flies
Wow, I am not sure how long it has been since I wrote last. I guess I have been keeping up via facebook, but it is so vastly inferior in so many ways. At least here I can be more myself. Not sure how many people read it anymore.
Anyway, I am living on my own now. Have been since April. Artemis and I have a little apartment in Glendale, which is North of LA, and West of Pasadena. Its a nice place, bigger than most studios, with black and white tiles, and a gas stove. I am pretty happy here. It gets a bit noisy, but when it get quiet, it's a little piece of heaven. Art is happy, though she is getting chubby because she is stuck inside all the time. I don't think she cares. She loves to chase her laser, and roll around, and sit next to me, or on my homework. She always has something to say.
School has been really tough. I am older than most of the students here, which can be a bit weird at times, but I am starting to make some friends. I keep to myself off campus, though. Art keeps me company.
The classes are all very rigorous, and last term I was a bit of a mess, but this term seems to be more balanced. I have gotten a lot more technical skill, and am getting a much better idea of what it means to be a professional artist. I took a digital design class that really taught me a lot about photoshop and illustrator, which I have been wanting to learn for years. Last term I was in a killer drawing class, that really took it out of me. I was doing 15-20 hours of figure drawing a week. I got so much better, but it was a high stress class. My drawing class this term is in the Fine Art dept, so it is a bit less technical than 20 hours of figure drawing, but much harder to crack creatively. But I like drawing a lot more now than I did going in to school. Last term I had a similar "wacky drawing" class which really helped me get more comfortable with generally screwing around with pencil on paper.
This term I am in two painting classes that are completely opposite to each other. One is in the Illustration department, and it is very boring and technical, the other is in the Fine Arts department, and is really interesting, and challenging creatively, but nowhere near as rigorous. So they balance each other out well. And I especially like when the teachers disagree about technique, I ask one of them about something the other has said, and they look at me like I am crazy!
I also have a "Studio Practice" class that just talks about why we even bother making art, and makes us read art criticism, and theory. It is interesting, but I take it with a grain of salt, because it tends not to leave space for "just making art." Then I have a photography class, which is fun. It takes up a lot of time, but I get to make prints in a dark room like a wizard.
So, I am keeping very busy. I still get really lonely though, its tough having all my family, friends, and my fiance so far away. I really have not gotten into any sort of social scene here, I am a very shy person, and I feel like a total weirdo down here in So Cal. People are different, but I am doing my best to get used to it. A lot of people here aren't from here anyway, so it helps to know there are a lot of other lonely people who have no idea what to make of this place. Also, it rained this week, which made me very happy.
So, that is it for now. It was a long update, but I am trying to keep track so I can read all of this in a few years, and look back knowing I did the right thing coming down here.
Anyway, I am living on my own now. Have been since April. Artemis and I have a little apartment in Glendale, which is North of LA, and West of Pasadena. Its a nice place, bigger than most studios, with black and white tiles, and a gas stove. I am pretty happy here. It gets a bit noisy, but when it get quiet, it's a little piece of heaven. Art is happy, though she is getting chubby because she is stuck inside all the time. I don't think she cares. She loves to chase her laser, and roll around, and sit next to me, or on my homework. She always has something to say.
School has been really tough. I am older than most of the students here, which can be a bit weird at times, but I am starting to make some friends. I keep to myself off campus, though. Art keeps me company.
The classes are all very rigorous, and last term I was a bit of a mess, but this term seems to be more balanced. I have gotten a lot more technical skill, and am getting a much better idea of what it means to be a professional artist. I took a digital design class that really taught me a lot about photoshop and illustrator, which I have been wanting to learn for years. Last term I was in a killer drawing class, that really took it out of me. I was doing 15-20 hours of figure drawing a week. I got so much better, but it was a high stress class. My drawing class this term is in the Fine Art dept, so it is a bit less technical than 20 hours of figure drawing, but much harder to crack creatively. But I like drawing a lot more now than I did going in to school. Last term I had a similar "wacky drawing" class which really helped me get more comfortable with generally screwing around with pencil on paper.
This term I am in two painting classes that are completely opposite to each other. One is in the Illustration department, and it is very boring and technical, the other is in the Fine Arts department, and is really interesting, and challenging creatively, but nowhere near as rigorous. So they balance each other out well. And I especially like when the teachers disagree about technique, I ask one of them about something the other has said, and they look at me like I am crazy!
I also have a "Studio Practice" class that just talks about why we even bother making art, and makes us read art criticism, and theory. It is interesting, but I take it with a grain of salt, because it tends not to leave space for "just making art." Then I have a photography class, which is fun. It takes up a lot of time, but I get to make prints in a dark room like a wizard.
So, I am keeping very busy. I still get really lonely though, its tough having all my family, friends, and my fiance so far away. I really have not gotten into any sort of social scene here, I am a very shy person, and I feel like a total weirdo down here in So Cal. People are different, but I am doing my best to get used to it. A lot of people here aren't from here anyway, so it helps to know there are a lot of other lonely people who have no idea what to make of this place. Also, it rained this week, which made me very happy.
So, that is it for now. It was a long update, but I am trying to keep track so I can read all of this in a few years, and look back knowing I did the right thing coming down here.