October 31, 2010

Came back around 2:30 PM.  Did fifty laps in the swimming pool, and started a new painting.  I had a great idea (maybe) that would be similar to the "Apple" paintings I've done.  Other than that, not much.  See you in the new month.

October 30, 2010

Out of town with limited internet access.  No creative work done.

October 29, 2010

Out of town with limited internet access.  No creative work.

October 28, 2010

It's after 2 AM, but it's a new day anyway.  I did some painting on the new Garden painting, which is to replace the one destroyed by the elements.   I didn't really want to work on it, but I didn't want to start a new painting and most of the others are still too wet to touch.

But I discovered something - even without inspiration, if the image has a plan, you can work on it to shore up that plan (adding highlights and shadows, for example) without any inspiration from the work itself.  And the work will still be better for it.

Update:  got the swimming in around 8:30 AM.  Shot some video of the Parkway using the little clamp thing I bought; it fell off after two and a half minutes.  It's very jumpy, and I ran it through Sony's "Image stabilization" fix which made it a bit less jumpy.  I wanted even less jumpy, and tried it a second time, and it ended up with a zoomed in image.  Hm, have to figure out how this works.

Update 2: tried some more stabilization settings, with results not as good.  What the heck.  I did some vocal recording for the Doppelganger soundtrack.  My mini-pre seems to be dead.  Damn.

Update 3: well, that's about it.  

October 27, 2010

Swimming close to noon.  I returned one of the things I bought yesterday and feel much better now.  Spending is one of those things I need to control.  Applied for a job.

Not feeling a lot creatively right now, which is close to 7:30 PM.  No telling what may happen later, though.

Update: well, I'm working on some paintings while Bill Moyers talks to Joseph Campbell.  I'm not really feeling it, but the work is coming along nicely so no complaints.

See you tomorrow.

October 26, 2010

Up nice and early, around 7:30AM.  Surprising since I slept so badly, and even more surprising that I simply didn't pop back into bed.  Bleak, wet weather, a lot like yesterday with less rain.

Update: nothing really accomplished so far, as of 7:30 PM.  Oh wait, I did a bang up job of cleaning the apartment.  That should count for something.

Update 2: worked a bit on Apples while watching the Blu-Ray version of "Alien" on a small tube TV.  I was morose and grim and unhappy almost all of the day, so I'm counting that bit of painting more than I ought.

Anyway, tomorrow will be here soon.

October 25, 2010

A lost day.  Went swimming around 11:30 AM, then did pretty much nothing the rest of the day.  I don't feel terribly distraught over this, as I know creativity cannot be forced.  Still, I'd like to make the days count.

October 24, 2010

Slow day.  Started my weekly swimming routine, then pretty much did nothing.  I don't know if that will change in the next few hours.  We'll see, I guess.

Update:  no, nothing today.  Worked on a silly CGI drawing, then went swimming again.  Still, it's nice to have a day off, especially when other days have been so profitable (in other than a monetary sense).

See you tomorrow!

October 23, 2010

Up late last night, up late this morning.  Like most Saturdays I suspect this one will have little in the way of accomplishment.  So I'm not too worried.

Update: experimented with the little video helicopter.  Boy does that guy love to go crashing into the ground!  I think I will put a hold on any future helicopters until I can find out why this one is so lovin' the crashin'.  Video quality is certainly nothing of note.  If I could get it to fly for, oh heck, a few feet, long enough to get usable footage...

Update 2: did some painting while watching "Mr. Show" from Netflix. 

And that was that.  See you tomorrow.

October 22, 2010

Woke up when 7 turned to 8, then rested a bit and went in to swim around 9:30.   Went to vote, which always makes me feel good, even when my team doesn't win.  It is, really, an extraordinary thing for us to be able to do.

Looked again at Robe, and think some of the foliage is a bit off.  Oh well, it can be fixed, can't it?  I'm really feeling a kind of itch to start a new work.  But I should get some of the old ones finished first, shouldn't I?

Update:  too much caffeine makes me want to explode.  I should cut down on that.  I did some work on Apples, trying to correct a large imbalance in the composition.  I also shot some dun buggy video, which looks great!  I'm going to try and integrate it into the Leela video.

Update 2:  did a lot of painting on Robe and Apples.  I added another apple to the right side to try and balance, and made the damned thing too big.  Detailed a bunch of the other guys and so far am pleased with it.  I will have to take care of big brother, though.

Not a bad day, all things considered.  I will have to watch the caffeine tomorrow.

See you then. 

October 21, 2010

Up around 7AM, back to sleep, up around 9AM and went swimming, figuring I had until 10:30 to finish.  Nope--class at 10!  Oh no!  What will I do?  Well, I did my laps with about ten minutes to spare.  I guess I'm getting less terrible at it.

Finished "Zodiac" and got it into the mail.  Very good film, though very reminiscent of "Seven."

Did some painting around 5:30, just a bit of touch-up on Robe.  In contrast to the last few days, I seem to have a lot of energy now, so much so that I'm not sure what to do with it.  I suspect I'll go swimming again in an hour or so.  But it's odd feeling so directionless, yet with so much pent-up energy.  Like I could explode if I felt like it.

Update:  went swimming again at around 9:30 and burned off some energy.  Did some more work on Robe, touching up the background.  Good all around, I think.

On to tomorrow.  

October 20, 2010

Well, as I was afraid would happen, I woke up around 11:30 last night and couldn't get back to sleep.  So I painted and drew cartoons until 2:30 or so, then went back to bed.  As an odd bonus, tonight was the first time I had a long block of sleep (til 7AM ish) which was uninterrupted.

Nothing else done today.  Another round of swimming around 11PM.  Watched "Zodiac" which (so far) is pretty good.

Perhaps some painting in the wee hours.  But unless that happens, see you tomorrow. 

October 19, 2010

Up before 8, which is good, and into the pool before 9.  It's always, always nice to get the swimming out of the way early, though it's equally nice to do it at the end of the day.  Earlier just means I can tick it off the list and go on to other things without it being a worry.

Did more painting last night on Anna.  Still needs more but it's nice to put some work into something after a long lay-off, and find ideas generating.

Update: bought an RC dune buggy and tested the camcorder in it...looks kind of cool!  I would like to get a similar helicopter, but the one place that sells them, the guy is always busy or on the phone.  Or not there.  Not interested in sales I'm gathering.

I still feel this pervasive lack of energy.

Update: It's a bit after 10PM and I originally thought I might do some painting, but the plain fact of the matter is I am too exhausted.  I can barely hold my head up.  So I'm calling it an early night.  See you tomorrow.

October 18, 2010

Up around the cusp between 7 and 8AM.  Drove in to swim a bit before nine, and was somewhat taken aback by the vast amount of cars in the parking lot.  Still, inside, no one was using the pool, so I got that done and done.

Still pretty tired.  I may rest for a bit before tackling the rest of the day.

Update: well, it's 20 after 8 in the evening.  I did some painting, finally giving the applebirds their wings.  Unusually for such a large change, it didn't immediately strike me as a disaster, though I don't like leaving it inconclusive like this.  Still, I don't hate it, and can see where it will go.

Not sure I'll do anything else, but we'll see.  I feel truly depressed for some reason.  Nothing I can point to, the mood just seemed to descend.

Update again: I did quite a bit of painting, on Applebirds, Anna and Leng.  So not bad for a day's work.

October 17, 2010

Well, this will be another unremarkable day.  Did my swimming noonish, and have been feeling tired ever since.  The new shampoo and conditioner seem to do well with my hair.

Watched another chapter at Lynda.com, and may watch more, but like yesterday I'm thinking this isn't going to be a model of production for me as this 24 hour stretch comes to a close.

We'll see, but as it's nearly 8:30 PM now, and I'm still feeling tired, I'm going to stay with my prediction.

Update:  well, I sliced Doppelganger into fourteen chapters, prior to adding a soundtrack.  So that was something.  I might do a little painting but very, very little.  Too tired.

On to tomorrow.

Update 2: I did some painting, worked a bit on Apples.  Very nice touches, although not really major work.

October 16, 2010

Saturday seems to be the day of no work.  I guess that doesn't bother me too much, especially after yesterdays painting-o-rama.  I have some vague idea about possibly cutting Doppelganger into scenes, but I'm not sure if I'll actually do that tonight.

Update:  sometimes, it's okay to take a bit of a rest.

October 15, 2010

Cold night last night, toss in an uncooperative a cat used to a state of comfortableness, and I slept a bit late.  Don't feel too bad this morning, but not really inspired to do anything much.  I'll probably go swimming shortly.

Well, swimming went well...I really have had a good long streak of getting there when the pool was under-utilized; waiting times have been few.  (Watch how the luck changes there.)  I worked on Paint Blog II and The Robe, a bit.  BP2 is really shaping up nicely.  The Robe is entering that difficult phase when it looks like it might go all wrong.  Sometimes, paintings go completely wrong at this point and are never recovered; other times, the wrong is tilted right and they go on to make something of themselves.

Rather exhausted at the moment (close to 3 PM).

Update: worked on more paintings (four in total) using a grand total of seventeen brushes!  Yay!  The paintings were The Robe, Applebirds, The Sphere and Paint Blog 2.   I like the work done on all of them, Robe no longer looks to be going wrong.  A decent day.  

See you tomorrow.

October 14, 2010

Some good painting done in the wee hours.  Unlike last night, I knew enough to stop myself when things started going off.

Talked to Ma about the check from Big Bro S.  Some very sane advice, which I intend to follow.

Couple of cartoons.  Thinking about Maya, versus what I have with Flash.  Let's see what Lynda has to say about that.

Later: tried a different kind of alcohol last night, and paid for it this morning.  Sick out of pretty much every orifice.  Won't get fooled again, though I wish I could stretch that to won't get drunk again.

Did fifty laps in the pool, and then ran some errands.  I wish I could find a pair of swimming goggles that work for me, but the clerks in Dicks were too busy talking about how awesome their weekend was going to be to offer any help.

Still don't feel all that hot.  I think today is pretty much done anyway.  See you tomorrow.

October 13, 2010

Well, I was up late last night painting, which is good, though I'm not all that certain of the results.  Still, it can always be painted over.  Got into the pool around 12:30 today.

Nothing really in the offing, though I'd like to see if I could get a female to narrate the Leela outside video.  That might be cute.

Later: set up the second DVD player in the painting room, that might help keep me there.  Went swimming again at 10:30.  So I've done 175 laps altogether.

I may do some more painting later, but that's for later.  Until tomorrow, then.

October 12, 2010

Well, I didn't go swimming again, but I ended up playing with Sony Vegas.  And I found the image stabilizer, which, for lack of a better vocabulary, is just incredible.  I put in some shaky Leela clips and stabilized them, and damn if they don't look like I had a Steadicam.  I can see myself using this feature a lot in the future.

Let's hope the rest of the day has some equally nice revelations.

Ah morning.  A bit late, actually--9:20--to get to the pool before classes start.  Bianca H at the forum did a lovely altering of Leela's photo, and I started a project to turn it into a video.  Pretty frustrating trying to get audio off a DVD (in this case, The War of the Worlds), I finally plugged the DVD player's headphone jack into the Boss BR-6.  Then tried to cut just the audio I wanted, without dialog, etc...another bit of frustration.

Not too encouraged by the day's direction, I went swimming around 12:30.  It felt great.  So great, in fact, that I ended up doing 50 laps in one session.  Something I generally don't do. 

Came back and finished up the video, feeling better about it.  Still not happy with Sony's way of dealing with animated still images, which seems to be, "We don't care.  Slide them around like puzzle blocks until you get what you like.  We'll be over here reading magazines."  Created the "heat ray" effects, put it all together, posted it to YouTube.  Not too bad an experience for something done in a single day.

Watched another Netflix DVD, "Mr Show Season 3" which was consistently funny.  Later, I was moved to paint and created a great way out for the fifth panel of Paint Blog 2.  Will let that set, and see if I can fix Night Surgeon.

And then there's tomorrow.

October 11, 2010

Another slow, sluggish day.  Swam around 1PM.  Maybe I'll go back later.  (I did last night, as I thought I would.)

Created a brief rhythm track to donate to the forums.  Dunno what else I'll do, as it's past 7PM now and I still feel slow and sluggish.

Ah well, at least I don't have blood gushing out of my nose.

Update: moved some furniture around, which seemed like a mistake at the time, but I think it will help with various projects.

Didn't do anything else today.  Thought about a double-pool day, but figured I'd use it as an excuse to buy beer.  I'm kind of tired, but I probably won't go to sleep soon.  The cat has taken over the bed. 

On to tomorrow.

October 10, 2010

Slow day, with me being pretty tired during most of it.  Swam around noon, and went for a bit of a drive, but otherwise I've done pretty much nothing all day.  I guess it doesn't bother me too much, as yesterday didn't really take off until later that night.  Will the same thing happen now?  I guess we'll see.

Update, as of 11:30 PM.  No work today.  I have the urge to go swimming again, but I'm not sure I will.

Tomorrow calls.

October 9, 2010

Well, I assembled ROGER's limbs today, and he no longer fits into his clothing.  It stays on him, but it's tight and not easy to control.  I'm thinking if I compress his limbs a bit (or a lot) he'll retain the staying power but move more easily in his coat, and the length might not be an issue.

Worked a bit more on Paint Blog II.  I like where it's going.  Apples still too wet to do much with.  I may tackle Telephone Girl some more in a bit.

Recorded with my new pedal board.  I never realized how easy and flexible that kind of chain could be.  I must have recorded around seven minutes of heavily-treated bass guitar.

No swimming today, as it's Saturday.

We'll see if the day has any more in store for it.  It's around 10PM so I doubt it, but who knows?

Update: I indeed did more work on Telephone Girl, and I am very pleased with it.  Might actually be done, but I'll wait a few days.

Exhausted right now.  See you tomorrow.

October 8, 2010

Up and swimming around 9AM, then ran some errands.  Got a new battery for the car's stereo remote, and bought some stuff to work with ROGER.  He's been neglected of late and I thought it was time to get some more done on his behalf.

Opened up DreamWeaver and reset my local site to the "Probation" drive, as the "Orbison" one is slow to respond and loses connectivity rather more than I like.

Did some painting, a little on Apples (not dry enough yet, though) and some more substantial work on Paint Blog 2.  The last panel has always bothered me and I thought, now's as good a time as any to see if I can make it un-bother me.

Probably not much else tonight.  We'll see, though.

Update:  no, nothing else, but a decent day.  On to tomorrow.

October 7, 2010

In the pool before 9AM.  Then, inexplicably, back in the pool around 1PM.  So that's good.

Did a little more painting.  Apples is in that crucial stage when it could totally go off and be ruined.  For some reason I'm not worried, though I'm impatient to paint on it even though I know I should wait.

Got a call from a possible job source.  We'll see how that goes, I guess.  Some more Lynda classes, which are always quite good.

And some more painting elsewhere, and we're done for the day, aside from watching "Out of Sight" (good film).  See you tomorrow.

October 6, 2010

Went in to swim around 11 AM.   Not feeling too swift, but managed the laps.

Canceled my XBox Live account, as I no longer have an XBox.  Found my ABTech stuff, but it appears that I don't have an ABTech email account, so it looks like I can't get the free Maya software.  Maybe I'll take the Lynda courses anyway.

The plumber showed up and fixed my sink.  Now, I'm going to go out and get my car inspected.

Fun day, eh?

Update: forgot one of my rules (Never eat at Burger King) and ate at Burger King.  Hence I feel terribly sick.  I doubt I'll do anything else today but will keep this open anyway.

Later update: recovered enough to want to do more, and did a little--very little--painting.  The green swirl painting I'd started had what looked like death in a coat, so I emphasized this.

I don't think anything else is going to happen tonight.  See you tomorrow.

Secret Update:  Well, I ended up doing a lot more painting.  Worked on Telephone Girl and the Green Apples paintings.  I'm more pleased with the day.

October 5, 2010

Early start to a crowded pool around 9AM.  Got gas, milk and a couple of Egg McMuffins (which still taste great).

Did a short remix of another video for YouTube.

Set up camera for "self-portraits" but the phone rang.  Will see if I can finish the project.

Update:  I shot some photos, not really happy with them overall, but they're not bad.  Maybe I'll try at some future time.  They were damned hard to set up, with all the costuming and so forth.

I think I will go swimming again.  It's about 11:15 PM, may not be crowded.  But no more entries for today.

Tomorrow, then.

October 4, 2010

Up at 9AM, swam, and ran some errands.  Found out Leela's adoption date:  November 14, 2010!

Later: slow day.  Watched some films, rested.  Tomorrow awaits.

October 3, 2010

Post-midnight last night, I created a new Audacity project using a piano WAV from the Zoom archives.  I tried some of the bass nubbins with it, but they seemed to clash a bit more than I really wanted.   I'm sure I'll do more as the day wears on.

Got my swimming in around 11 AM.

Later:  started another painting, largely green.  Used a huge amount of paint, and had to use an old toothbrush to get the paint off my hands.

Nothing else accomplished today.  Watched the Netflix DVD I got yesterday (MST3K's "Beast of Yucca Flats").  The problem with DVDs is that I should watch them and send them back, but they take up both audio and video senses so it's hard to do much with this segment of the day.

To tomorrow.

October 2, 2010

Beautiful weather, so I went for a brief drive.  That didn't do anything for me, so I came home and read outside for a while.  I'd really like more art history books for the Kindle.

I started a new painting, mostly by taking four colors and smearing them downward on a canvas.  Interesting results that will, or course, require detailing when this first step dries.

I also noticed that the work I'd done on Night Surgeon is lit from the wrong side!  A redo is in order.

But not tonight.  On to tomorrow!

October 1, 2010

Well, I was up late last night "indulging" so I punished myself by getting to the pool before 10AM.  Tried the new shampoo I'd bought and it seems to leave my hair less zombified.

I bought a pedal-board today, and signed up for a year of Lynda.Com.  No other works to speak of, though I've opened up Sick Jazz in an Audacity window.  I think there's definite potential with that work, need something noirish animated to go with it.

Update:  did a second version, which I like too.  (The first one has some odd glitches.)  I imported all the music from my old Zoom MRS-4 and there's some nice stuff there.  

Went in to swim after 11.  Pool surprising crowded. 

On to tomorrow.