The LA Update
Apr. 11th, 2003 10:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
azuriteWhee, here I am in LA. Northridge, to be exact. There's much to tell. Woke up at the ungodly hour of 8:20am (ungodly when it's an "off-day," that is) -- after I'd already been up an hour previous, since Mom was waking me up to let me know that she was leaving and what she expected to be done. But I had a lot to do, and there wasn't time to be putting stuff off. Still had to pack, clean the refrigerator, do the dishes, vacuum the living and dining rooms, take out the recycling... GAUGH! And I still had to shower, fix myself up, pack, and clean my room some. I managed to get a decent amount of stuff done by the time Joe arrived at 9:40, but if he hadn't helped out, I would have sufferred Mom's wrath. The house was all nice and clean when I left-- and hopefully it'll be that way when I get back.
We got to OAK pretty quickly (so the whole 2 hour traffic time wasn't true, considering we spent that time doing chores I'd left undone) but it was to my dismay that both Joe and Mom had been right-- ever since 9/11, they won't let anyone without a boarding pass go past the security gate. Not even to the darn magazine stores or the restaurants. I didn't want to be lonely for 4 hours, so we left and went to TGI Fridays over in Jack London Square. I had myself some shrimp and fries, and a delish warm apple crisp, so I was very filled up for most of the day. We looked around the Japanese store that Joe bought my tea set in, but I didn't find anything suitable enough to give my grandpa for his 81st bday. ^^; I feel pretty bad about that, but I hope my being here can be enough. I don't know what Grandpa would want, anyway.
So after we left JLS, we headed back to OAK, and this time Joe dropped me off at the terminal, since parking is a rip off (what else is new?). I got into the terminal, and the line for the security checkpoint was LONG AS HELL! It went all the way past the 5 metal detectors and into the baggage claim area! o_O! But the line moved pretty fast, considering people had to open their bags, take out their wallets, off their jewelry, and even their shoes! But they didn't make me, since I didn't beep when I went through. YAY!
But upstairs was boring-- even though I had my journal, my new book, "The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria," and one of those LOGIC puzzle books I like to play with when I travel. I went around from one end of the terminal to the other, looking for a gift shop with something Grandpa would like-- and I came up with nil. Instead, I read about Scott Foley and Jennifer Garner's breakup (I'm sorry but... YEA!! YEA!!) and bought a pack of Juicy Fruit (which is now gone since Erin likes my gum. So do Shaina, Brooke, and Brooke's fiancee Mike).
I sat at Gate 25, where my flight was supposed to take off from, for a while, reading "Lady Wisteria" and then getting into the line. I saw an abandoned In-Style magazine that I wanted to grab, but I'd have to get of line-- so I did anyway, and I'm glad I did, since the magazine was quite informative and nice, even if it had J.Lo Hewitt on the cover. (*snicker*) Plus, it was free. =D I could have gotten into the preboarding line, now that I think about it, since I'm STILL a minor, but the guy making the announcement was practically sucking on the mic, so it was hard to understand. I just stayed in line, and got a perfect window seat over the wing.
I was pretty paranoid-- scenes from FULL METAL PANIC kept flashing in my head, but I reassured myself that there are no psycho terrorists like Gauln going to Burbank. But sadly, I'm hardly Chidori Kaname, nor am I accompanied by the handsome, clueless Sagara Sousuke. Oh well. =P I worked on LOGIC problems for a while, gave up when things got confusing and then fell asleep-- after I'd ordered my drink. By the time I woke up, there were only 25 minutes left of the hour long flight, and even though I got my drink, I felt like I'd been ignored by the stewardesses (or should I say 'flight attendant?'). But it wasn't that bad, they just didn't seem as nice as usual. And they say Southwest is supposed to be the model airline for all the other airlines going bankrupt these days...
In any case, I got out of Burbank (exited the plane via the rear door-- in case you didn't know, Burbank doesn't use skyways, they have outdoor staircases that connect to the planes) and had to walk to the Baggage Claim, since Burbank applies the same no-entrance-without-boarding-pass deal. I called Mom on my way out, and after I got off the phone with her, rang Erin-- she told me she was in a yellow car (thank god! everyone else picking up someone were in brown, silver, or black cars!) and almost there. I got in pretty quick, but traffic was bad-- and by the time we got to Northridge, we were both kind of hungry (I wasn't so much as Erin, since she'd been up since 4am and had been driving from UCLA for over 2 hours) so we stopped at Jack in the Box. Onion Rings and Orange Soda-- YUM!
Now, the terror begins. When we got to Wystone, it was pretty obvious that my dad was already there. The same green car (Not an Infiniti or an Integra... but I know it begins with an 'I') that he'd had for years, sitting in the driveway. *gulp* Baba came out to greet Erin and I, right as Mom called AGAIN, babbling so I was juggling so much stuff-- a cell, a soda, my suitcase, my backpack... @_@ I was the last to go in, but I was pretty happy to be there, and I'd made the resolve to be nice no matter what, and that if my dad gave me crap, it was his loss. I saw him not long after I walked in-- he's bald as a rock now. *g* I mean, not even a Picard thing going on, he's got rooftop shine. But I guess it looks good. He didn't seem mad or upset or anything-- he looked pretty glad. So that made me happy, even if he never bothered to call or write to me.
Turns out he has a girlfriend now too, Kathleen I think her name is. She kinda looks like Geena Davis (hopefully a compliment, I think Geena Davis is pretty) with frizzier, darker hair. But I'm glad for my dad either way, even though it seems that they haven't been going out long (and he brings her to a family get-together? Maybe it was a joke...?). In any case, we all sat in the Den reading the school papers I'd brought with me-- Fred was having fun teasing me about going to SFSU, since that's his alma mater, where he got his MA in Finance. Dad was pretty quiet, but he seemed to like my paper. Baba ketp insinuating that *I* was Athena-- which I'm NOT, since I can't do Advice Columns worth crap. ^^; All in all it was fun catching up with everyone. I gave everyone their cards too, and Fred laughed at the one I had given him and the other uncles (and my dad) about fake afikomen tips. *snicker* Fred's the best at hiding the afikomen. It's always in some place we'll never look, and the kids go nuts looking for that silly matzo, and in the end, the prize isn't that great, or someone cries or breaks the afikomen, so it all goes haywire anyway. =P
Dad left not long afterwards, since he's staying at a hotel with Kathleen (I guess that's a good thing too). So I've been here wandering from room to room, doing thing to thing-- like talking about Brooke's upcoming September wedding, the 'Iraqi Restoration' and all that other stuff. Not much to watch on TV, even if there is premium cable here or some such. Explaining the Joe situation to Erin was embarassing-- Shaina already knew the gist of it, as I'd told her when we went out to dinner with Brooke at Benihana those weeks ago. But gaaaah-- I hate explaining stuff like that.
Once everyone was off the phone, I took the chance to explore the 'Net features of this lovely new Dell with Earthlink, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, and XP Home Edition. YUM.
But of course, it had to happen-- the one bad thing of my day. Good thing it happened at the beginning, so I'm not stuck sleeping on it:
This is from Joe's friend, commenting on my Rita picture-- and as expected, my comments, too. My comments will be bolded.
SINCE I CANNOT POST ON HER JOURNAL ( friends only! I am not good enough. heh heh.) WILL SOMEONE BRING THIS TO "the Sweet"'s ATTENTION? Thank you!
Maybe a higher Resolution Scan would be better.
I can't control the resolution on the scanner I used, since it's very old, and there are tons of restrictions on the school computers
Drawing - Be careful of your porportions. A good rule is the 8 head rule, a person (especially a slender woman ) should be about 8 heads high.
I was in Figure Drawing 101 too, among many other years of art classes. I know the 8-head rule, but when you're trying to draw a sexy anime girl, those sort of things don't apply.
Maybe you should take 1 heads worth of length out of her legs, (half thigh, half shin)
Once again, she's supposed to be an anime girl-- they're known for their long legs, big eyes, flat, short stomachs, and curvy arms.
...and put it into her stomach. For a bikini girl however, the the width to height ratio is pretty good. Watch the Left Calf, it could use a little development in the upper portion.
The right wrist is a little elongated.
Yeah, but everyone makes mistakes, and I wasn't trying to be so damned perfect.
Be careful of the ribcage, however adding a head-height to her stomach could fix this problem. What problem? I think I made her stomach quite toned and sexy, and her ribcage protruded just the way (and where) I wanted it to.
Water Effect - Did you grab this off a site? It clashes with the quality of your drawing. Could be a little darker, waves could be longer. Maybe an effect around the legs?
NO! I said that this was my original work, and I did ALL of it! The wave effect is something I worked VERY hard on in Photoshop. And I was trying to portray a clear, summer day, so I didn't want big waves or ripples, and it was supposed to look tropical, which is why the water is so clear. I know that on her left leg, the water surrounding her foot looks strange, especially in contrast to her "disappearing" right leg, but I couldn't fix that, since the History has a limit of 20 actions.
Surfboard - It's upside down.
Uh, duh. I knew that. I did it on purpose, so people would know immediately that it was a surfboard. It's not uncommon for people to surf, and when they're done, use the flipped board to just sit on in the middle of the shallow waters.
Sun - Too much red, its placement also makes the shading you have done on the girl look off. but i understand why you put it there. It would be neat if you did back shadowing. I suggest yellow and orange color dodge.
The sun I just added last minute, out of a whim-- I didn't consider the shading, so thanks for that. But like I said, I'm not trying to be uber-perfect, I just wanted to improve on my original drawing. But I don't understand the back shadowing concept too much.
Horizon - Blur effect could add distance.
Good point-- but how would I utilize that?
Well done overall, please don' think I'm being harsh, just communicating from one artist to the next. If you want i will post some of my art, and you can comment.
- Mike
Thanks Mike, I appreciate you taking time out of your day to comment on something I did. But I wasn't trying to make her look realistic, and ALL of the art is mine, even if I am a beginner when it comes to anime drawing, proportionality, and photoshop editing. You didn't come off as harsh, just critical. Thanks anyway though.
Okay, gotta go now, Shaina wants the computer. But hey, my Mikaila CD from 2.5 years ago was here! I HAVE IT! IT WORKS! WAHOOO~~
We got to OAK pretty quickly (so the whole 2 hour traffic time wasn't true, considering we spent that time doing chores I'd left undone) but it was to my dismay that both Joe and Mom had been right-- ever since 9/11, they won't let anyone without a boarding pass go past the security gate. Not even to the darn magazine stores or the restaurants. I didn't want to be lonely for 4 hours, so we left and went to TGI Fridays over in Jack London Square. I had myself some shrimp and fries, and a delish warm apple crisp, so I was very filled up for most of the day. We looked around the Japanese store that Joe bought my tea set in, but I didn't find anything suitable enough to give my grandpa for his 81st bday. ^^; I feel pretty bad about that, but I hope my being here can be enough. I don't know what Grandpa would want, anyway.
So after we left JLS, we headed back to OAK, and this time Joe dropped me off at the terminal, since parking is a rip off (what else is new?). I got into the terminal, and the line for the security checkpoint was LONG AS HELL! It went all the way past the 5 metal detectors and into the baggage claim area! o_O! But the line moved pretty fast, considering people had to open their bags, take out their wallets, off their jewelry, and even their shoes! But they didn't make me, since I didn't beep when I went through. YAY!
But upstairs was boring-- even though I had my journal, my new book, "The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria," and one of those LOGIC puzzle books I like to play with when I travel. I went around from one end of the terminal to the other, looking for a gift shop with something Grandpa would like-- and I came up with nil. Instead, I read about Scott Foley and Jennifer Garner's breakup (I'm sorry but... YEA!! YEA!!) and bought a pack of Juicy Fruit (which is now gone since Erin likes my gum. So do Shaina, Brooke, and Brooke's fiancee Mike).
I sat at Gate 25, where my flight was supposed to take off from, for a while, reading "Lady Wisteria" and then getting into the line. I saw an abandoned In-Style magazine that I wanted to grab, but I'd have to get of line-- so I did anyway, and I'm glad I did, since the magazine was quite informative and nice, even if it had J.Lo Hewitt on the cover. (*snicker*) Plus, it was free. =D I could have gotten into the preboarding line, now that I think about it, since I'm STILL a minor, but the guy making the announcement was practically sucking on the mic, so it was hard to understand. I just stayed in line, and got a perfect window seat over the wing.
I was pretty paranoid-- scenes from FULL METAL PANIC kept flashing in my head, but I reassured myself that there are no psycho terrorists like Gauln going to Burbank. But sadly, I'm hardly Chidori Kaname, nor am I accompanied by the handsome, clueless Sagara Sousuke. Oh well. =P I worked on LOGIC problems for a while, gave up when things got confusing and then fell asleep-- after I'd ordered my drink. By the time I woke up, there were only 25 minutes left of the hour long flight, and even though I got my drink, I felt like I'd been ignored by the stewardesses (or should I say 'flight attendant?'). But it wasn't that bad, they just didn't seem as nice as usual. And they say Southwest is supposed to be the model airline for all the other airlines going bankrupt these days...
In any case, I got out of Burbank (exited the plane via the rear door-- in case you didn't know, Burbank doesn't use skyways, they have outdoor staircases that connect to the planes) and had to walk to the Baggage Claim, since Burbank applies the same no-entrance-without-boarding-pass deal. I called Mom on my way out, and after I got off the phone with her, rang Erin-- she told me she was in a yellow car (thank god! everyone else picking up someone were in brown, silver, or black cars!) and almost there. I got in pretty quick, but traffic was bad-- and by the time we got to Northridge, we were both kind of hungry (I wasn't so much as Erin, since she'd been up since 4am and had been driving from UCLA for over 2 hours) so we stopped at Jack in the Box. Onion Rings and Orange Soda-- YUM!
Now, the terror begins. When we got to Wystone, it was pretty obvious that my dad was already there. The same green car (Not an Infiniti or an Integra... but I know it begins with an 'I') that he'd had for years, sitting in the driveway. *gulp* Baba came out to greet Erin and I, right as Mom called AGAIN, babbling so I was juggling so much stuff-- a cell, a soda, my suitcase, my backpack... @_@ I was the last to go in, but I was pretty happy to be there, and I'd made the resolve to be nice no matter what, and that if my dad gave me crap, it was his loss. I saw him not long after I walked in-- he's bald as a rock now. *g* I mean, not even a Picard thing going on, he's got rooftop shine. But I guess it looks good. He didn't seem mad or upset or anything-- he looked pretty glad. So that made me happy, even if he never bothered to call or write to me.
Turns out he has a girlfriend now too, Kathleen I think her name is. She kinda looks like Geena Davis (hopefully a compliment, I think Geena Davis is pretty) with frizzier, darker hair. But I'm glad for my dad either way, even though it seems that they haven't been going out long (and he brings her to a family get-together? Maybe it was a joke...?). In any case, we all sat in the Den reading the school papers I'd brought with me-- Fred was having fun teasing me about going to SFSU, since that's his alma mater, where he got his MA in Finance. Dad was pretty quiet, but he seemed to like my paper. Baba ketp insinuating that *I* was Athena-- which I'm NOT, since I can't do Advice Columns worth crap. ^^; All in all it was fun catching up with everyone. I gave everyone their cards too, and Fred laughed at the one I had given him and the other uncles (and my dad) about fake afikomen tips. *snicker* Fred's the best at hiding the afikomen. It's always in some place we'll never look, and the kids go nuts looking for that silly matzo, and in the end, the prize isn't that great, or someone cries or breaks the afikomen, so it all goes haywire anyway. =P
Dad left not long afterwards, since he's staying at a hotel with Kathleen (I guess that's a good thing too). So I've been here wandering from room to room, doing thing to thing-- like talking about Brooke's upcoming September wedding, the 'Iraqi Restoration' and all that other stuff. Not much to watch on TV, even if there is premium cable here or some such. Explaining the Joe situation to Erin was embarassing-- Shaina already knew the gist of it, as I'd told her when we went out to dinner with Brooke at Benihana those weeks ago. But gaaaah-- I hate explaining stuff like that.
Once everyone was off the phone, I took the chance to explore the 'Net features of this lovely new Dell with Earthlink, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, and XP Home Edition. YUM.
But of course, it had to happen-- the one bad thing of my day. Good thing it happened at the beginning, so I'm not stuck sleeping on it:
This is from Joe's friend, commenting on my Rita picture-- and as expected, my comments, too. My comments will be bolded.
SINCE I CANNOT POST ON HER JOURNAL ( friends only! I am not good enough. heh heh.) WILL SOMEONE BRING THIS TO "the Sweet"'s ATTENTION? Thank you!
Maybe a higher Resolution Scan would be better.
I can't control the resolution on the scanner I used, since it's very old, and there are tons of restrictions on the school computers
Drawing - Be careful of your porportions. A good rule is the 8 head rule, a person (especially a slender woman ) should be about 8 heads high.
I was in Figure Drawing 101 too, among many other years of art classes. I know the 8-head rule, but when you're trying to draw a sexy anime girl, those sort of things don't apply.
Maybe you should take 1 heads worth of length out of her legs, (half thigh, half shin)
Once again, she's supposed to be an anime girl-- they're known for their long legs, big eyes, flat, short stomachs, and curvy arms.
...and put it into her stomach. For a bikini girl however, the the width to height ratio is pretty good. Watch the Left Calf, it could use a little development in the upper portion.
The right wrist is a little elongated.
Yeah, but everyone makes mistakes, and I wasn't trying to be so damned perfect.
Be careful of the ribcage, however adding a head-height to her stomach could fix this problem. What problem? I think I made her stomach quite toned and sexy, and her ribcage protruded just the way (and where) I wanted it to.
Water Effect - Did you grab this off a site? It clashes with the quality of your drawing. Could be a little darker, waves could be longer. Maybe an effect around the legs?
NO! I said that this was my original work, and I did ALL of it! The wave effect is something I worked VERY hard on in Photoshop. And I was trying to portray a clear, summer day, so I didn't want big waves or ripples, and it was supposed to look tropical, which is why the water is so clear. I know that on her left leg, the water surrounding her foot looks strange, especially in contrast to her "disappearing" right leg, but I couldn't fix that, since the History has a limit of 20 actions.
Surfboard - It's upside down.
Uh, duh. I knew that. I did it on purpose, so people would know immediately that it was a surfboard. It's not uncommon for people to surf, and when they're done, use the flipped board to just sit on in the middle of the shallow waters.
Sun - Too much red, its placement also makes the shading you have done on the girl look off. but i understand why you put it there. It would be neat if you did back shadowing. I suggest yellow and orange color dodge.
The sun I just added last minute, out of a whim-- I didn't consider the shading, so thanks for that. But like I said, I'm not trying to be uber-perfect, I just wanted to improve on my original drawing. But I don't understand the back shadowing concept too much.
Horizon - Blur effect could add distance.
Good point-- but how would I utilize that?
Well done overall, please don' think I'm being harsh, just communicating from one artist to the next. If you want i will post some of my art, and you can comment.
- Mike
Thanks Mike, I appreciate you taking time out of your day to comment on something I did. But I wasn't trying to make her look realistic, and ALL of the art is mine, even if I am a beginner when it comes to anime drawing, proportionality, and photoshop editing. You didn't come off as harsh, just critical. Thanks anyway though.
Okay, gotta go now, Shaina wants the computer. But hey, my Mikaila CD from 2.5 years ago was here! I HAVE IT! IT WORKS! WAHOOO~~
