Faceup Ordeal

*flopped in a chair*

Okay, so, I'm trying to remain calm about this.  I really am.

I commissioned an artist to do two faceups for me, and after the horror that happened to Tenoch (angel-wing mod, with a bad blush-job), she offered for free to blush his mods.  I was pleased and touched, and the items arrived at the end of July, quoted $35 a faceup, $5 to remove one faceup (it was easier to send her still made up to show what I wanted), and then shipping. She promised they would by done and back to me by 11/2, the first day of Nebraskon.

The faceups weren't completed until 11/21.  This is about two and a half weeks later than normal.  Okay, fine.  She had sent me one proof of the Nor's torso, which wasn't nearly close enough--in fact, it was about as close as the original artist.  *shakes head*  So she said she'd try again.  Well, Friday, she sent me a message that it would take a while to match the color about right, and she had to use the air brush for other stuff, and on top of that, she was going to be moving.  *sigh*  I told her to just give up and get me the quote to send them all back.

Got the quote today, and had a heart attack.  $55/faceup, $5 for wiping the one, and $8.75 for shipping.  So, this is insane...  Waiting now for the artist to get back to me so I can tell her thank you for keeping to the original arrangement or demand that she wipe the girls and send them back immediately...

I hate it when people are like "Ugh, you haven't responded!" and then don't respond when you poke them by three means... -.-  I'm also tired of this "I didn't get your email"...  -.-

The Year from H3LL

This has been a very hellacious year, between family, cars, health, and just general ick.

So, a basic recap of what you've missed so far!

1.  My Geo Metro threw a rod in February, leaving me stranded with five bags of clean laundry, a laptop computer, and a dog.  Was able to get a lift into town, and my family picked up my car for me.

2.  Had to nearly jump through flaming hoops to get my TARDIS (2010 Chevy Malibu in Tardis Blue).

3.  Get prepped to move.  Realize don't have money to move.  Scowl and re-sign lease.  Prepare to move next year.

4.  Panic about convention.  Finish about a dozen sticker designs just in time for con.

5.  Go to convention.  Have a mixture of the best year and the worst year.  Sell a doll and much clothing.  Sell almost no artwork.  (Proceed to make about $25 on stickers alone, which is pretty awesome, since they were mostly about $.25/piece, and about $.02 to $.05 each to make)

6.  Become official "sponsor"-like being for US BJD sculptors.  Or at least just the one so far.  (Simply Divine, GO CHECK THEM OUT)

7.  Drive back from grandma's after convention.  Proceed to RUN OVER DEER. 

8.  Spend a week and a half in the world's worst loaner car ever.  (I called him Mr. Gold.)

9.  FINALLY get my TARDIS back (gorram doe took out my radiator, fan, bumper, and knocked the rear alignment). 

10.  Realize I'm spending Thanksgiving (properThanksgiving, fourth Thursday of November) alone at my apartment with my dog and possibly McDonald's cheeseburgers.  Proceed to have mixed feelings (Yaaaay, me time, I can clean and relax.... Boooo, I don't like being alone).

11.  Realize I also get to spend Christmas alone.  (It's on a Tuesday, and I don't have Christmas Eve or the day after off.)  Rejoice because now I get my presents about a week early instead.


*sighs*

Like I said, this has been a very interesting year.  A few good ups!  Quite a few downs... *sighs*

Quote of the Day!  I miss doing this...

"Sleeping in the corners of the earth,

My companions, I have never known.

Blindly riding forth, is honor worth

endless hours of silence spent alone?

"Rescue damsels fine and maidens fair;

Free the noble who have done no wrong;

though it seems the world may little care,

Some are left that to the Round belong!"

~By the Sword by Emilie Autumn

Artwork Update

Yaaaaay, I've been working on stuff...

For those who are Sandman fans, I did a piece for you all!  I am a big Sandman fan, and I LOVE doing Dream, he has such excellent bone structure and I love the stark contrast--black hair, blue background, white skin.  You can also see the original here.

Also, here's my generic lolita!

Cute, non?  No details in the color with shading yet except the skin.

Month till Nebraskon

*tries so hard not to eyetwitch*

So, I'm not going to bother being "profound" here, because, let's face it, I'm not going to be terribly profound or anything.  I'm just tired, and the end is in sight.  Only... I don't want it to be "in sight" yet.  I want it to be two months ago, when I had time to do all of this stuff.

The Doctor Who presentation is done.  The doll one is being reworked (so much info, so poorly organized).  I've got my remaining artwork decided to work on, so that will take some of my time to finish.  Getting prints takes all of a couple of hours, the hard part is just getting them done to print.

Oh, and the stickers, I still have to buy those.  XD  That's a "need a paycheck" sort of thing...

*sketching rapidly for reworks*

(I think I need to make some badges like this...)

Quote of Today:

"I need not to need, or else a love with intuition.
Someone who reaches out to my weakness,
And won't let go.
I need not to need; I've always been the tower,
But now I feel like I'm the flower trying to bloom in snow.

I feel like I'm the flower trying to bloom in the snow...
The danger and the power...
Friend and the foe..."

~The Tower by Vienna Teng

And Now for something Positive!

*tosses out a magnet*

*crickets chirp as no one gets the joke*

*sigh*

So, my blog has been leaning (in fact almost spiraling) to he negative side of things going on.  Right now, things aren't great, but some things are looking up.

Been talking to a couple of people on an internet dating site (locals, of course), and I seem to have made a couple of friends (and a couple of enemies too).  That's definitely a bright side of things.  I am doing better, griping less, and letting my anger and frustration no longer get the better of me.  Or at least, I am trying.  I don't feel near so alone as I have lately, which has been on my mind a lot.  I'm not sleeping better, but I am resting more, learning where I need to stop stretching myself quite so thin, and where I can take a breath and keep calm...

I just wonder how much more I'll be able to take....  I move in one year...  *sigh*

"And I only write love songs to those whom I don't love.
I only reach for him who's tied to someone else's glove.
That which I hold inside, which I admire and deride,
Which I protect and hide is yours...

Bend your branches to the ground and hold me close
Let me harmonize with all we knew.
Share your sympathy and weep for me!
Oh, willow, heal the hearts I've broken,
Make me pure and start my song anew..."
~Willow by Emilie Autumn

Inspirational Blog

"It's easier to play a part, and read your lines,

than freely speak what's in your heart and in your mind."

~Dunce by Voltaire

So, I've been having a rotten week.  Mixed with a couple of not-so bad things.  Had to squawk to a higher-up to get my ceiling patched.  They showed up yesterday morning, woke me up from a very nice musical-themed dream (I promise, I'll stop falling asleep to Love Never Dies one of these days), with a can of stark-white spray paint to paint over the crack that had been sealed in one spot while it was still wet with caulking.  I told him no, I wanted it dried out, cleaned, gutted, and repaired properly, he said it wouldn't happen, ther'es ventilation up there (as if I'm an idiot) and it's dry.  I went fuming into the kitchen to make coffee since I was obviously not going to get to go back to sleep.

Got home yesterday to find they had patched the crack completely.  This morning, it's starkly obvious (even without my glasses) where they did the repair, and there's even signs of water damage (those funny yellow-orangeish spots that tell you this is going to start molding?). I give it a week before I have to go storming into the apartment office to demand that it gets the full repair that it needs.

It's really hard to be "nice" to these people now... 

Stickers are almost done (I keep saying that, I know!), I promise I'll have stuff done for Nebraskon ("Yeah, yeah, Starving, we've heard it all").

Of Hamburgers and Leaky Ceilings

So, I've managed to get through the first day of the week, and halfway through today, just another four and a half hours to go!  Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.....*quickly loses enthusiasm*

I need a new clock.  Well, actually, I need a clock in general, since I don't have one, besides my ipod, stove, and microwave.  I was hinkig maybe this one (Because it made me smile), but then I realized like my family and "normal" friends wouldn't get it.  Then I thought maybe this one.  But I don't like it to light up, so that didn't work...  *sigh*

I still need to finish my work on the stickers.  Maybe I'll do that tonight in between My Little Pony (don't judge me) episodes.  *slow streeeeeeeetch* I don't want to go back to work...

Quote of the day!  (I know, not a daily blog, bite me.)

"Gotta move, gotta choose!
You've got a difference to make.
Don't watch it happen again.
Gotta change; rearrange;
Something's bending to break,
It's just a matter of when."

~Hope on Fire, by Vienna Teng

To Recap

The Week From The Very Hot and Arid Place:

Monday:  Disposal not fixed.  Try to do dishes around it, back hurts significantly from standing on the floor, leaves a lot of dishes not done.  Dishwasher still has smelly water in the bottom and doesn't run properly, and gurgles back into the side of the sink with the disposal.

Tuesday:  Disposal fixed.  Notice to clean apartment for inspection the following day.  Proceed to stress oneself and eat a bad burger, after three and a half hours of cleaning.  Call in sick.

Wednesday:  Alternate cleaning and being sick from the hours of 9:30 am to 4:30 PM.  Apartment is mostly clean, still decluttering, but almost all of the trash has been taken out.  Don't pass inspection, but vast improvement on the day before, have 14 days to finish cleaning and keep it clean (easy enough now that the big things are out of the way).  Be sick some more, eat a decent meal, flop in bed for some much-needed computer time.  Look up at the ceiling in time to see the crack start dripping as it's pouring rain, and discover it's no longer dripping, it's a small stream.  Crack is three and a half feet long, and WASN'T THERE BEFORE.  Emergency call to maintenance, can't fix it because of the darkness since is coming from outside.  Advised to keep bucket under it to catch the drips.  Proceed to insomnia stage, despite exhaustion.  Move to living room, set up computer and keyboard, proceed to knocking over brand new fountain drink of Mountain Dew onto freshly cleaned carpet.  Almost start crying, not for the fact that I like Mountain Dew, but that it had been a long day, and that was my singular reward.  Move on to dropping really nice guy from Washington into vats of acid and burning him with lasers in Portal 2.  Finally go to bed at 2 am.

Thursday:  Wake up to dog freaking out.  trudge into living room, find maintenance guy at the door.  Show him the crack, then have him leave. Proceed to fall asleep for another hour and a half.  Wake back up and drag self to work.  Proceed to have to listen to calls from a month ago to review how well I am/am not doing. 


Friday BETTER involve something funny, something sweet, or, at the very least, some more Mountain Dew.

Ow.

So, I cleaned from 9:30 last night to about 1:30 in the morning, and then again today about 9:30 in the morning to about twelve minutes ago.  I didn't pass inspection, but for the most part, I HAVE A FLOOR NOW.

Some things I've learned while cleaning today:

1.  I hate vacuum cleaners.  Particularly when I have to stop vacuuming every few minutes to cut the hair out of the vacuum.  At first, this wasn't a huge deal, only after a while it kind of stops spinning...  *sigh*  a curse of long hair...

2.  My paper shredder doesn't shred very well if it's more than one or two pieces of paper.  So naturally, it takes a lot longer to finish that part of 'cleaning'.

3.  I can't go up and down the stairs repeatedly.  I just can't.   It's all I can do to just stand in the kitchen to clean.

4.  I need a desk.


That is all for now.  I'm going to go back to shredding things and trying to "tidy up".

Great googly moogly!

So, I've been fighting maintenance to fix my disposal.  I have also been neglecting a large portion of housekeeping, partly from being sick, and mostly from being tired ALL the time.  I try my best, which recently, has been kind of sucky.  I'm also super conscious of how much noise Sweeney makes, and I do my best not to leave her alone for long periods of time.

Today, I get a notice that maintenance came by (after allegedly coming by on the 6th), and that I now have a 24-hour notice of inspection because my apartment is a mess.  Great.  Also on this notice, it states how my dog often disrupts the peace.

First, I know this sounds petty of me, and I'm sure it is, but, had they come into my apartment on 9/6 like they said they did (and we all know they didn't), then wouldn't I have gotten this notice then?  Hmm.  I think I'll have a talk to them about their maintenance people lying tomorrow.  I won't deny that my place is a mess, and I've been spending the last hour and 15 min since I got home to clean (pausing only now for dinner) so that maybe over the next couple of days, most of the work can be finished already.

I swear...  They complained my dishes weren't done, when my dishwasher and half of my sink were unusable...

Oh.  And they left a large puddle of water in my kitchen from the dishwasher.

*angrilly eats the Sonic burger*

More Nngh

Okay, so, I have a sinus infection, and I've been taking my meds like a very good girl, and I still feel like crap.  Oh well, I did get this sticker drawn, scanned, lined, and started to color.  I am most proud of those eyes, very vibrant!  <3

This is from a very ancient  doodle, back when I did really cruel things to Vaughn, my necromancer.  Namely, when I did things like, oh, say, turn him into a four year old.  Lots of fun for me.  Not so much for him.  I need to find my other drawings of small-Vaughn, they were adorable if I remember right.  This one is not Vaughn, as one can maybe tell by the curly hair, but I didn't want to deal with the Sephiroth hair tonight, so he got sweet curls.  <3333

Thank you, Ryan, for choosing the hair color (green), because I would have spent hours trying to decide on my own.  ^^

Oh, oh, quote for the day!  Had to search my music to find this one, though I think I've always kind of loved this song:

"I won't tell you there's nothing beneath your bed.

I won't sell you that it's all in your head.

This world of Oz is not as it seems.

The monsters are real, but they're not in your dreams.

Learn what you can from the beasts you defeat:

You'll need it for some of the people you'll meet."

~Goodnight Demonslayer by Voltaire

Nngh and Blargh...

So, back to work after the long weekend.  My garbage disposal has a leak that was discovered, yaaaaaaa, while I was doing dishes.  -.-  Maintenance didn't go by yesterday, and they weren't there this mornin before I left, so who knows if or when they'll get to it.  For now, I just have to be careful with that side of the sink.  *sigh*  today is unnecessarily long, and needs to be over, like, right now.  I don't have the energy to keep up something like this...  I fixed Grell and Castiel yesterday (if you look at the posted pictures super closely, you can notice things like Grell's eye not having color, the glasses missing, the color from Castiel's shoes bleeding up into his pants, etc), and I officially started and finished my "cat" sticker (who was a commission once upon a time, just a stylized black cat that I've fondly dubbed "Basement Cat").  I have plans to do one of DJ, who is my classic little trap/sweet lolita, and that will make ten total!  I plan to have them proofed and printed with next paycheck, and then I have to see about finding somewhere that can make me postcards for cheap.  Yaaaaaay for resorting to more Etsy...

I also need more prints of my older stuff...  I think I need to redo some of it....  Hmmm.... 

I really need to save up to do an order of badges from Office Max again, because, due to my error, they printed all of my "Yuri Addict" badges wrong (namely, without the words). 

So, to recap the things I still have to work on, and in the order I should probably work on them in: 

1.  Finish stickers.  6 designs done, 4 left to go.
2.  Get them proofed and printed.  (Find out if they come trimmed or if I have to cut them apart)
3.  Touch up, fix, and reprint older works.
4.  More badges.
5.  Clean apartment.  (This may need to be moved up...)
6.  Figure out how to display the stuff.  My corkboard won't survive another year, methinks, I may need to get a magnet board or something...
7.  Bag up the remaining doll clothes for sale...
8.  Work on Michaeyl.

Stickers and Sculpting Beginning

So, Jareth and Grell are done, as well as Castiel, Momiji, and Chi...  And I've begun sculpting this morning, after spending four hours sketching everything out yesterday.  Wish me luck!

Here's some sticker pictures to keep everyone happy!

Castiel, from Supernatural, I am most proud of him.

Grell Sutcliffe, from Black Butler.  I actually fixed the eye (I forgot about it) and added the glasses after I made this preview picture, so you'll have to imagine the finished product XD

And last, but not least, Jareth, the Goblin King, from Labyrinth.  I have had more fun drawing and coloring these pictures than I have doing the million other commissions and drawings I've done in ages, not counting the doodle-to-painting series.  <333

Stickers, Sculpting, and Progress!

Okay, so, painting got paused when I realized I have about 8 weeks until Anime Nebraskon--and I don't have my "new" item yet!  Last year, I got buttons for the first time.  The year before, I got badges.  Before that, I had bookmarks (though the stock I had got destroyed, sigh).  This year, I'm trying stickers.  I have eight designs approved, of random characters.  Anyone that wants to see a special character, please, request it!  I want to get ten together and printed.

Here's my favorite:

Jareth, the Goblin King.  Why I decided there would be crystals is kind of still beyond me, but I wanted some reason... and reordering space and time, it seemed to fit.  AND I spent two hours drawing that pose.



Here's the second one almost finished:

Grell Sutcliffe, from Black Butler.  I'm not proud of the face, but I AM proud of that coat.




I'm planning to sculpt two dolls, one MSD and one yo-SD, of a couple of my favorite characters from my own stories.  One will be Michaeyl (of the 5-6 year old range), and one will be a Full Halloween, Three.  He's intended to be SD size initially, but for sake of getting him sculpted, I will make him in MSD.  I've talked to a couple of BJD casting companies, and I think it will be an awesome project to put my time and effort into doing.


Itzy is about 1/3 finished now, and Tlaloc needs only some finishing touches--"moonlight", "fog", and then my signature (somehow).  I hope for him to be done by next weekend.  <3333

WIP Blargh

So, I worked for four hours on Saturday, after getting only about five hours of sleep, then chilled for a few hours with a friend (with much needed therapy), vented for a bit about the recent drama involving packages, crabby customers, and overall a bad week, and, finally, at long last, got my floating head Pangur Ban onto a body.  Now, he still needs a pair of thighs to go with his paws, but alas, I shall live for now. Today, I slept for a few short hours, woke up to stomach pains, passed back out after a while, woke up well after noon, did my errands, chatted with a friend for a bit, came home, worked on Pangur's body some more, and eventually passed out.

During all this time, nothing got done on... well, almost anyone.  I started another project drawing, smaller, won't take as long once I decide what I'm doing, so more on that as it develops.  I posted all I have finished of This Is My Forest onto my other blog, Irrevocably Tangled, and I'm in the process of getting that together and ready to go.

I am so tired...  I don't want to go to work...  *sigh*

The Mad One--Doodle to Painting

Tlaloc went mad, under the influence of the Dark Lady, Itzpapalotl.  I wanted to show him how I see him when I hear about him going off the deep end.  I love the idea of the Mad One to begin with, so the chance to draw him like this is awesome.

Skipping the sketch step, since it's across four pages of tracing paper (one for face, one for body, one for hands, and one for paws), here's the inking steps:

At some point, I gave Tlaloc a fuzzy thing to wear instead of the vesty thing he had...

Adding some color:

About... 50% done.  <33333  I'm so proud of this one!

Currents Works in Progress

Current Works in Progress:

Yaretzi:  100% COMPLETE

Escalus:  100% COMPLETE

Tlaloc:  10% Complete, Sketch on tracing paper is compiled and approved, no photos yet.

Mecutio: 1% complete.  Okay, I haven't done anything on him yet.

Lenore/Louella: 5% complete.  Planning stage is done.

The things I'm doing,the tally so far, and how I'm going to go insane before I'm done...

Escalus Painting Progress (Pics)

Woo!  Still finishing up the ground and I'll let Escalus dry overnight before I take him off.

<33333333333333

Character and Artwork (C) myself, Cassandra "Starving" Schofield.

Prints and Escalus Progress (No pics)

So after much flattery from the print-shop guys, I got the cost for prints, which is kind of on the pricey side if I want one on nice paper (which I do), but I think this company (A&D Technical) will be the one I'll use for getting prints made of the larger works. They're about $3 for a "cheap" one (good board, I think I'll do that for some of my less-than-favorites) and about $15 for a nice one on watercolor board. (I have  the Mad One sketched and planned, and I'm doodling Mercutio and Tlaloc. Not together. Just doodling them) I need to start getting prints (or at least scans rather than photos) of the more elaborate stuff I'm doing. I do all this wonderful stuff, and no way to share with the world that "this was me being awesome".

 

I picked up some more colors (so I can have a "leaf" green instead of "sour apple" green).

 

I stayed up last night working on Escalus instead of doing things like, say, sleeping.  I'm still not pleased with the trunks of the trees, but decided I liked the look of the "flowering" trees to the greens all over again.  It lends a gentler air to the picture, I think.  I even added one of the Castle walls in the background (I honestly don't know how the heck this castle is supposed to look) to add some kind of depth to the picture.  I'm getting much better at the tree and leaf effect.  The super-cheap sponges on a stick are a big help.  I need to cut one up to have a flat bottom (right now, it's round) eventually.  that'll help to get some more smooth lines.

 

I need to add some green and more shadows to the trees, I think... 

 

He's so pretty..  I'm still trying to figure out how to add sparkly to him (Yaretzi gets sparkly, Escalus does too!)

 

I should really start planning Mercutio... he will be the hardest, I think, because he has such a reputation to pack into a singular picture...  And it will contain an almost-obscene amount of RED. >.> *goes off to sip gatorade and ponder more artsy stuff*

Escalus--Progress

So much free time meants lots of people get painted, worked, and developed.  The hooves were, hands down,the hardest thing I've ever had to draw.  I thought "Oh, draw them like this, it's easy!" only to realize, for like... two years now... I've been drawing them wrong...  *sigh*  So I sat with Escalus in front of me for ages to get it juuuuuuuuuust right.  I'm not 100% pleased with the shape of the face, but MEH.  I'll live.  Yaretzi is busy flattening out (the acrylic paint made the top part curl up a bit, I used quite a bit, but I'll be getting the measurements to Caro so she can start hunting for a fame (omgomgomg someone's going to frame something I did *secret squee/flail*)

So, here's my next presentation of Doodle to Painting:

So original was like, six inches tall, and that's too small to do a large-scale painting of (in my opinion, without having to do a large, complicated background that I'm going to end up hating).  So I sized it up, seen here, at 125% and 150%:

I chose the 125% on the larger watercolor board. (same size as Yaretzi)

Tracing paper is awesome, so I could draw the outfit to lay properly on the figure, as well as make adjustments to the outfit without erasing the form.  I decided it would be open to his navel because I didn't want to cover up his belly button (I worked on that, I wanted to show it off).

[img]

Inked!  Pretty self explanatory.

Color, phase 1, with sharpies:

More color:

Yaretzi--Doodle to Painting

Okay, so, this was the painting/drawing that started it all.

Song of Inspiration:  'Who Will Love Me Now" by PJ Harvey


This is a painting I decided to do for the heck of it, for Athena.  =3

Doodle/Concept sketch:

Inked:

Hair:

Skin/Added Details:

Finished Painting:

The finished dimensions are just over 12" x 18", done on Watercolor block *and I cut it off a bit too early, so it's flattening out until I can get it scanned Monday and a full-scale print made, so I can display it--because I love doing artwork and giving it to people.  I just don't like not being able to have a record that "This is the most awesome thing I've done so far".

Those trees were hours of agonizing.  There's like four layers of pastel under the acryllic, trying to get the effect of "trees" and "leaves" and finding that my dark green pastels just weren't doing it.  Besides Yaretzi in general in the middle, I am most proud of the trees--and that sky, particularly that cloud in the upper right-hand corner.

YARETZI (C) Caro "Athena" Kellenberger
Artwork (C) Cassandra "Starving" Schofield

Escalus--Doodle to Painting Series

Fo today I got to work more on Escalus, who is the latest in my vague doodle-to-painting series that I've been doing for giggles.  he is the most difficult by far, because I don't have much in the way of a clear idea of what to do, unlike Yaretzi, who was very clear in my mind.

The sketch I'm taking this from is an old one that I started back when I thought Escalus was going to have green hair.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAokay, now what?

*cautiously peeks out of the wreckage of Multiply, looking around, sniffing the air a little before darting out into the open*

FREEEEEEEEEE!  FREEDOM!



Sincerely,

"Starving"