Sucess!!!

The new mold works! YAY!

An Insight from Miss Dora, Applied.

I cut my thumb with a razor blade when I was scraping away the excess wax on one of my candles. Today I took the band-aid off and something that one of my co-workers, Miss Dora, had said really clicked.....

Problems always seem worse when you put them super close, right in your face all the time.

Step back and it's not so bad.

Wax Casting Mayhem!

I'm making 9 coca-cola bottle candles for our casting project.

The beginning of this project was a bit bumpy, because I couldn't figure out how to release the wax from the plaster mold. Thank God for Karissa who was way smarter than me and, da da daaaa~, Googled it.

So, that problem being solved, the only thing that made the project difficult was the big hole in the mold. 

I got a few good candles out of it, but then I started having a problem with the wax caving in.
It started out small, and only about every other one, then progressed to the point that every candle had a huge hole in the side.
These three are actually before it got really bad.

I looked online and tried everything I could think of and then I realized... "Doy! There's a huge hole in the mold!"

It's kind of hard to see here, but there are major cracks all along the sides of the mold. I think that the wax cools closer to the top and creates a barrier so that when I add more wax it can't reach the bottom and fill in more, and then the wax cools, condenses and creates the indentation. That's my guess anyway.
So, I'm going to make a new mold. 

I actually found a line down the middle of the coke bottle that I used to make this originally! That means that it should work without a hitch this time. (Since last time the mold broke pulling the coke bottle out. I'm excited that this next one will work better.
Now, in relation to change, I'm just glad that I'm able to recognize and apply change when I see that it's necessary. Though, I wish I would've just recast it in the beginning when Danielle had suggested it. 

I guess because I had gotten a few good ones in the beginning, it took a while to register. 

Anyway, wish me luck! 

Re-focusing

Here I am. It's Friday. I'm tired, but if I can push on for just 40 more minutes and accomplish some actual work, then my day will be well spent. It seems like I'm always trying to accomplish more and more, but reach this mysterious energy sapping wall that I just smack right into and get knocked down. This semester started out with myself exercising making origami, drawing, making eating decent meals, getting sleep and staying ahead on all my projects and assignments.

Now it seems like I'm back at that stage where I'm just trying to finish my work, whether it's exceptional or not. And just try to get myself out the door on time. 

I suppose that this may root from the feeling of wanting to do everything AND be the best at it. Though I don't think this is something that is possible for the many, the thought of dropping the ball is still a very petrifying thing. Then of course there's the variables, those things that come up which I wasn't expecting; that throw off the structure of my day and allow entropy to start running it's course. 

So then, I guess what I'm getting at is this: How do you change when your circumstances keep throwing you back to square 1? "You can't change your circumstances, but you can change you." I've been told this in one form or another so many times I don't remember who said it first, but there it is. 

I'm going to push on in order to accomplish those things I set my mind to; make the necessary sacrifices (extra sleep, etc.), prioritize and change. And then, things will get done. 

This is my resolve. May God please give me the strength to stick to it. 

I like this story because it kind of illustrates how I feel every time I start to get overwhelmed, like I want to just lay down and die.

"So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them (the prophets of Baal whom Elijah had put to death)." Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. " I have had enough Lord," he said, "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a seond time and touched him and said, " Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

I want some of that bread so I can go 40 days straight!

Anyway, here is what I've been working on that I posted the initial stages of a while ago, just so that you can see that I am in fact gradually making progress on my projects.

I'm plastered

Not literally of course. Haha, I had you going there for a second, right?!
No, no. What I'm talking about is literal plaster. I'm taking the first step toward making my ceramic body armor by making a form of my torso, front and back.
It all started when my dad took the bottom part of the back piece, that I had spent a good 2 hours making  on the school's mannequin earlier, and tossed it off the chair it was resting on.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
So, I knew that this wasn't going to work. I use the mannequin from school to make it, but I couldn't very well take it home with me aaaaand I'm really, really trying to save money, so I didn't want to go buy one, and!... Well, I took the drastic measure.
The thing about making a mold of yourself is that you can't do it alone. So, I turned to my family, mostly my dad. The problem is, and I really just found this out today, is that my dad and I are exactly alike. Whenever we're in task/project mode, this beastly domination comes out and in no time at all, the project was my dad's and I was helping him with it. For the front piece we screwed each other up a lot, and for the back piece we only screwed each other up a little. But either way, I got what I needed, a base to support my clay at my house, in my budget and with my form. Check it out.

As you can see, the front piece is a lot more clumpy than the back. This is because my other brothers and sisters jumped in helped. But they didn't really know what they were doing and spread the plaster on too unevenly. I'll sand it off and it should be fine. My littlest brother, who's feet are in both pictures just got the biggest kick out of the whole project. I mean, how often do you get to see your sister stuck laying on the ground covered in plaster? He and my dad got out the didgeridoo and played drums on my back after it was almost hardened up.

Time to hit the reset button.

I decided to get into the freelance market through this website I found. After draining my checking account purchasing and registering a new car, I thought, maybe it's time to start getting a little more money flowing in there.

So, as I was going through all of the pictures I have on my computer to upload into a portfolio, I realized that most of my best work really wasn't what I wanted to upload. The projects that I've done for school, for example, are really painstakingly rendered and much, much more time and effort went into them, thus creating the better quality. Whereas, the pictures that I love, that I personally want to go back and look at, are just the little sketches of characters and story blips from my comics. The funny, sad thing about it is, that those comics are what take least priority in my life right now. After I finish my work, and school and homework and have cleaned up and gotten ready for the next day, all the energy and time that I would've used for those precious stories, is just spent away. 

(My main character) 

It kind of depressed me... but at the same time, I became a bit more motivated.

Tomorrow marks the start of my church's annual time of fasting. It's a time when we put down our physical needs, to reset our focus and priorities on God, as well as pray together. I am choosing to do a 3 day fast where I will only consume water and juices. 

I've done this several times before and what the most amazing thing about it is, is realizing exactly how much time I spend preparing to eat, eating and cleaning up after myself. Hopefully as well as what I said earlier, I can also use this as a chance to re-prioritize my time and get back into doing and excelling at the artwork that I love.

Wish me luck!

Yay!

Scanner's fixed!

Scanner induced change

Obviously this isn't finished. I just started tonight. I made the initial drawing in the beginning of January but I wasn't able to get it into the computer because my scanner was broken. Lame! I know. Technology that was made to save time ended up costing me a whole month of progress. Finally I just threw in the towel and redrew the image directly with my tablet. Normally I don't do my manga style work directly digital. I like the feel of the paper and pencil. 

Is it coming along good? Hard to tell at this stage, I know. But, you can kinda see where it's going, right?

Anyway, my thought on change is this: Change can occur in three different forms. 1) Desire, 2) Necessity and 3) Pressure. 

1) I draw with paper and pencil because I like it: Desire.

2) I switched to completely digital because my scanner wasn't working.

3) I made the decision to work completely digital because there is a time limit on the project.

Just a thought. I hope that this turns out good.