Sunday, August 29, 2010

'Twas the Night Before School...

...when all through the apartment,
Paced an excited young man who left the Fine Arts Department.
Hoping to make toys for chillun' all across the land,
He took paper, pencil, and marker in hand!
"A new year awaits!" he shouted, jumping with glee.
"New people, new professors, new places to see!"
Sweat, blood, and spirit over a two-year duration,
"MY TOYS SHALL BE KNOWN ALL ACROSS THE NATION!"
"Hee-hee, hoo-hoo, bwa-ha-ha-hah!"
"The world will be mine, la~la~la~la!"

***

Dear readers of Sharp Will, Dull Blade,

I have been a negligent blogger. I have left several of you writhing on your floors like drooling addicts craving your next hit. That's what I have been led to believe by a certain few people, anyway *coughalexandsaicough*

So I apologize for not blogging over the summer. Thinking back, there wasn't anything worth broadcasting to the world. Except for my nephew's powerful cute-fu.

Is he not the cutest thing you have ever seen? He is...9 months old? Or almost. Maybe almost 10. I'm a bad uncle.

So, yeah. Summer. Went to California for a wedding. Went home and semi-vegetated for a few weeks. Got some wisdom teeth removed. Came back to my cozy lil' NY apartment.

***


I read a ton of comics over the summer after getting back in to Western mainstream stuff back in May. I've decided that I am a Marvel guy and I really enjoy the Avengers books. I read the first volume of New Avengers (from after Disassembled to Siege) and Dark Avengers. I didn't realize that Mighty Avengers was also part of the saga, so that's on my list, too. Right now, I'm reading Invincible Iron Man, most of the new Avengers books, and some random DC things. I'm really excited about New York Comic-Con this year because I'll actually be familiar with artists and writers and will try to get stuff signed!

I've also recommenced my bass guitar self-edumacation. Seeing Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (saw it twice and want to see it again!) inspired me. Now I really want to be in a band, but I won't really have time for that. Ukulele-ing is slow, though. I haven't progressed much on that front, especially when compared to last summer.

***

Today, I finished my summer marker rendering assignments for Toy Design. Earlier this summer, we had a workshop where we learned how to do compose and render a toy board. It was pretty much review from the Intro to Toy Design class I took, but we got a little more in-depth with the rendering aspect.


I'm pretty happy with how they came out; at the very least, I've gotten better at staying in the lines when rendering.

***

To say that I'm excited to start this semester would be a gross understatement. Meeting new people, learning new things...I'm finally going to do what I wanted to do in college. I don't mean to discount the last two years I've had; My time in Fine Arts was awesome! I met some great friends and professors and grew a lot as an artist. But, starting this semester, I get to take my first steps into the world of design! Not just design for the sake of aesthetics or controversy, but design with purpose and practicality.

With the workload of the program, I may not be able to update the blog as often as I'd like. There might not even be a lot I can talk about; I don't want to give any toy companies free ideas! However, I'll do my best to make at least one post a week offering a vague description of what goes on in the Toy Design program. Or post something random and spontaneous, like this short film my friend from high school stars in:



I laughed out loud at least five times. Asian people crack me up! I giggle every time I look in the mirror.

***
Aaaaand that's a wrap for now. To everyone who has kept up with my blog over the past few years: I think you're crazy for wasting your time reading about the thoughts and artwork of a silly Asian kid. Thank you so very much for reading.

Stay tuned! Things are gonna get crazy.

-J