Eaten by the holidays
Jan. 4th, 2009 11:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reymonkeyYeeeeagh sorry about that guys, I was devoured by the holidays, but to start the post is a meme because I think I should do this one every year.
Jan 5: I meant to post sooner after getting back, but things got busy so fast.
Feb 1: Because the pretty girl gave me a reply, here's the Fisher art meme.
Mar 2: This is late, partly because we done been celemebrating!
Apr 3: Because it's going around... Disney chick quiz.
May 1: Work's been busy this week, but I'm still... arting?
Jun 2: Okay, so the voting on the MGC is open, and I've got an entry.
Jul 3: I’d like to point everyone to send sympathies to dragonwhishes, her uncle just died and she’s going through the surreal chaos that comes with a death in the family.
Aug 4: Lessee, sketches from Maine: Blue pine, Lake View, and just finished a random Steampunk jackrabbit.
Sep 8: Still here, *waves* still inking Shiri's commission because OMG Transformers are hard!
Oct 2: Car is back from the mechanic (again) with the headlights adjusted and turn signal fixed.
Nov 3: This is a cheaty repeat post, because I really would love votes, and even my own girlfriend last night went 'what post to vote for you? I never saw that.'
Dec 4: Okay, I said I'd update with art, but I'm too lazy and distracted to scan right now.
So the year in review? Well it looks like I've managed not to whine too much about the joblessness, but I am still jobless, which sucks. On the other hand my artistic production has been way up for pretty much the whole damn year, which is awesome. My deeper thoughts are that the jobhunting sucks. I can't seem to even get interviews. Monster.com keeps trying to send me openings for Electrical engineers and HVAC technicians because obviously that's the same as a graphic designer, while Snagajob thinks I should work in gas stations. The jobs I do qualify for rarely respond beyond the automated. I'd be thrilled if I could make enough to even scrap by on the art, but that just hasn't happened yet. I guess I don't know how to market myself, or all the really good ways I can see to market my art cost money, which doesn't help when you're short on it in the first place.
But on the art front, this year I have reached a point where I look at my skills and say, with photo reference, I can now draw absolutely anything well enough to satisfy myself. And I have high standards. Now of course there are lots of people out there better, and I get jealous all the time. I'm not saying what I draw makes me go 'wow that's amazing', that's pretty rare, but it does make me go 'hey that's pretty decent, about as good as some of the stuff that's out there professionally'. It's significant, and I know it. My biggest problem is getting myself to physically sit down and draw. I'm bad about setting aside time for just that. There's a certain friend who's been waiting for a certain commission for way too long.
So yeah, I'd say between job loss and art, the year evens out to just be okay, but that's really all I ask for right now.
So to catch up. Christmas! I was going to post the big news and never did. I was going to point out that this year, as an early Christmas gift, I got a car. Now before you get excited, this would be the same car I've been driving for the past three years, the 1984 Chevy not-as-big-a-boat-as-everyone-thinks-it-is. But hey, with the reworked transmission and all, it should go a few more years. This was, sadly, inspired by the accident this past fall. The insurance suddenly claimed they were surprised the car was being driven by someone other than the person who owned it and had the insurance and all, despite the fact he's been very, very up front about it from day one, to the point of asking them if it was okay and telling them I had it. Whatever, insurance and car are now both in my name, and I did not pay a cent for it. That's a pretty major gift, and I'm grateful for it.
To amplify this extreme generosity, which comes from Bridgie's dad, he has just recently come into some inheritance money. I don't know how much, but this man is so awesome, that he is paying our rent this month, and buying us the entirety of Fraggle Rock on DVD. One practical gift and one that's just fun and awesome, I guess. This man in a saint. Even if I am never allowed to mention the nature of my relationship with Bridgie in his presence, he remains the most amazing father-in-law I could hope for.
I got other good stuff for Christmas, money's tight of course, but we managed to make things look pretty full under the tree anyway. I still owe some gift art, which I'm working on. I got lots of cool books, including finally Neverwhere. I've had the DVD for years and years, and saw it way back when it premiered on TV in the U.S. over a decade ago, but never read the book. The recent C&V in the Nexus made me want to. I'm glad I have it, there's a lot of nice details and insight to the characters. I kind of miss the book opening, and the way it ties in to the end, and it's a shame that's just chopped away from the TV version. I got an awesome pop-up art book thing I'm at a loss to describe, but it's called Botticelli's Bed & Breakfast by Jan Pienkowski, and I opened it and sat there pointing out most of the pieces of art before finding there was a little guide to tell the non-art majors what they all are, and then being prodded to get on with opening presents. We've also gone to see the garden lights about three or four times, got Nutcracker ticekts at the last minute and saw that, and visited Bryan park a lot, and RPed a lot, all because Bridgie's on vacation. I feel like the vacation is almost a gift, because I miss her more now that I'm out of work and home without her so much.
Our New Year's Eve was pretty uneventful, and Bridgie goes back to work tomorrow, so I feel like things are winding down. Hopefully I won't be too down tomorrow, when we get shoved back into the work year and all. Hopefully somebody good will hire me soon.
I hope everybody's had a good Christmas/Hannukkah/Kwanzaa/Feast of St. Stephen/Solstice/whatever, and I wish you all the best of things for the new year!
Jan 5: I meant to post sooner after getting back, but things got busy so fast.
Feb 1: Because the pretty girl gave me a reply, here's the Fisher art meme.
Mar 2: This is late, partly because we done been celemebrating!
Apr 3: Because it's going around... Disney chick quiz.
May 1: Work's been busy this week, but I'm still... arting?
Jun 2: Okay, so the voting on the MGC is open, and I've got an entry.
Jul 3: I’d like to point everyone to send sympathies to dragonwhishes, her uncle just died and she’s going through the surreal chaos that comes with a death in the family.
Aug 4: Lessee, sketches from Maine: Blue pine, Lake View, and just finished a random Steampunk jackrabbit.
Sep 8: Still here, *waves* still inking Shiri's commission because OMG Transformers are hard!
Oct 2: Car is back from the mechanic (again) with the headlights adjusted and turn signal fixed.
Nov 3: This is a cheaty repeat post, because I really would love votes, and even my own girlfriend last night went 'what post to vote for you? I never saw that.'
Dec 4: Okay, I said I'd update with art, but I'm too lazy and distracted to scan right now.
So the year in review? Well it looks like I've managed not to whine too much about the joblessness, but I am still jobless, which sucks. On the other hand my artistic production has been way up for pretty much the whole damn year, which is awesome. My deeper thoughts are that the jobhunting sucks. I can't seem to even get interviews. Monster.com keeps trying to send me openings for Electrical engineers and HVAC technicians because obviously that's the same as a graphic designer, while Snagajob thinks I should work in gas stations. The jobs I do qualify for rarely respond beyond the automated. I'd be thrilled if I could make enough to even scrap by on the art, but that just hasn't happened yet. I guess I don't know how to market myself, or all the really good ways I can see to market my art cost money, which doesn't help when you're short on it in the first place.
But on the art front, this year I have reached a point where I look at my skills and say, with photo reference, I can now draw absolutely anything well enough to satisfy myself. And I have high standards. Now of course there are lots of people out there better, and I get jealous all the time. I'm not saying what I draw makes me go 'wow that's amazing', that's pretty rare, but it does make me go 'hey that's pretty decent, about as good as some of the stuff that's out there professionally'. It's significant, and I know it. My biggest problem is getting myself to physically sit down and draw. I'm bad about setting aside time for just that. There's a certain friend who's been waiting for a certain commission for way too long.
So yeah, I'd say between job loss and art, the year evens out to just be okay, but that's really all I ask for right now.
So to catch up. Christmas! I was going to post the big news and never did. I was going to point out that this year, as an early Christmas gift, I got a car. Now before you get excited, this would be the same car I've been driving for the past three years, the 1984 Chevy not-as-big-a-boat-as-everyone-thinks-it-is. But hey, with the reworked transmission and all, it should go a few more years. This was, sadly, inspired by the accident this past fall. The insurance suddenly claimed they were surprised the car was being driven by someone other than the person who owned it and had the insurance and all, despite the fact he's been very, very up front about it from day one, to the point of asking them if it was okay and telling them I had it. Whatever, insurance and car are now both in my name, and I did not pay a cent for it. That's a pretty major gift, and I'm grateful for it.
To amplify this extreme generosity, which comes from Bridgie's dad, he has just recently come into some inheritance money. I don't know how much, but this man is so awesome, that he is paying our rent this month, and buying us the entirety of Fraggle Rock on DVD. One practical gift and one that's just fun and awesome, I guess. This man in a saint. Even if I am never allowed to mention the nature of my relationship with Bridgie in his presence, he remains the most amazing father-in-law I could hope for.
I got other good stuff for Christmas, money's tight of course, but we managed to make things look pretty full under the tree anyway. I still owe some gift art, which I'm working on. I got lots of cool books, including finally Neverwhere. I've had the DVD for years and years, and saw it way back when it premiered on TV in the U.S. over a decade ago, but never read the book. The recent C&V in the Nexus made me want to. I'm glad I have it, there's a lot of nice details and insight to the characters. I kind of miss the book opening, and the way it ties in to the end, and it's a shame that's just chopped away from the TV version. I got an awesome pop-up art book thing I'm at a loss to describe, but it's called Botticelli's Bed & Breakfast by Jan Pienkowski, and I opened it and sat there pointing out most of the pieces of art before finding there was a little guide to tell the non-art majors what they all are, and then being prodded to get on with opening presents. We've also gone to see the garden lights about three or four times, got Nutcracker ticekts at the last minute and saw that, and visited Bryan park a lot, and RPed a lot, all because Bridgie's on vacation. I feel like the vacation is almost a gift, because I miss her more now that I'm out of work and home without her so much.
Our New Year's Eve was pretty uneventful, and Bridgie goes back to work tomorrow, so I feel like things are winding down. Hopefully I won't be too down tomorrow, when we get shoved back into the work year and all. Hopefully somebody good will hire me soon.
I hope everybody's had a good Christmas/Hannukkah/Kwanzaa/Feast of St. Stephen/Solstice/whatever, and I wish you all the best of things for the new year!
