Yay Halloween is soon! I'm making my own costume--as you might have noticed, I've got an ANBU mask in the works, with a progress photo in my scrapbook. I just finished painting it tonight, and I'm pretty proud. :3 It should be obvious to anyone looking at it that it's not a professional job (it's definitely not symmetrical, and not on purpose), but I think it looks pretty sweet! Especially considering I've got about zero experience with clay and paint.

Now to figure out how to attach a strap. Securely. I'm really afraid that the mask is going to fall and shatter, or that the holes for the strap will crack. Argh. And then I need to work on my vest (I'm improving a vest I made a few years ago for the same costume...it was made entirely by hand, with very limited resources...I had to get very creative with the fastenings, which I tend to rectify before this Halloween). And arm guards! And shoes! Oh my.

I also bought a little sketchbook recently and have been toting it around to work and such. I've only started one doodle in it, but it's looking pretty cute (a Halloween Picc pic!), so maybe I'll finish it. And I have ideas for other Halloween Picc pics. Poor Picc's been collecting dust for a while...she deserves some attention.

Art requests:
I can't promise they'll get done in a timely fashion, but I'm happy to take requests, and I'll do my best to finish them eventually. Nothing too offensive, though, please.

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Upcoming Activity

Art requests:

To-Do list:
1. Art request - Status: 30% (yes, I did work on it!)
2. Halloween Picc pics see most recent deviation submission!
3. Fella's Halloween costume contest! (going to try going digital for this one) Missed it, unfortunately. When I sat down to work on it, I found that my tablet stylus was stuck in "click" position. Fixed it, but too late.
4. Post Cruz'In photos
5. Super Crazy Lemur Thing drawing

Arts this weekend, I promise.

Old news, still relevant:
Art requests would probably be good motivation to get me drawing again, so if anyone out there would like to make a request or propose a trade, drop me a note (or comment here)!

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Upcoming Activity

Art requests:

To-Do list:
1. Art request - Status: 15%
2. Post Cruz'In photos
3. Some sort of random drawing, to practice a new pose, proportion and perspective...
4. Super Crazy Lemur Thing poster
5. Something digital

Time for my (not so) monthly dA Journal Update!

I was able to head back to Michigan for family birthdays, and also for Cruz'In, a great annual car show in my hometown. Biggest thing that happens there all year! And a pretty big event as far as West Michigan goes, as well. I took several photos, but the light wasn't very good, so they didn't turn out super well. I'll do my best to fix them up, and if they seem dA-worthy post-tweaking, I'll post them soon.

Still 2/3rds of the way done on that same drawing (fan art) I mentioned last month. I bought a proper wrist brace and have been taking steps to reduce the stress on my drawing arm/wrist/hand lately, so I hope to finish that up (or at least make progress!) this weekend while I have some free time. Edit: Finally done!

I also got my first art request ever this week, from ! She's a fellow Naruto fan, so I'll be attempting to do her OC justice, and maybe throw in a little Kakashi. Wish me luck!

Art requests would probably be good motivation to get me drawing again, so if anyone out there would like to make a request or propose a trade, drop me a note (or comment here)!

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Upcoming Activity

Art requests: ~mimikayuko:

To-Do list:
1. Finish fan art in progress
2. Super Crazy Lemur Thing poster
3. Post Cruz'In photos

Apparently I hit 6,000 pageviews recently! I bet I missed it over the weekend. Thanks everyone! For being patient over the past few years while my activity has been...well...pretty stagnant. I will try to be better for the next 6,000!

4th of July weekend was excellent! Some great fireworks at a local park on July 3rd, with an impressive Grand Finale. Then we had a barbecue on the 4th. Kebabs, brats and hot dogs. And rocket pops and ridiculously sweet American flag cake. :3 And I bought a badminton set ($40, MC Sports, Franklin brand) for the occasion. It's free standing, nice quality net and okay racquets, but the birdies looked super cheap. Aaaaand they were. Broke 15 minutes into playing, so we repaired them with duct tape. -_- I want free replacements. (I know they're cheap, but it's the principle of the thing.) And then there were sparklers and more fireworks. I say every holiday is the best holiday when it rolls around, but seriously...does it get much better than barbecue and explosions?

This weekend is Art Fair on the Square! I'm very excited. I won't be as frugal this year, I think. I want something cool! Especially since I've ruined some of my planty decor...my faithful bonsai tree took a dive headfirst from a plant stand earlier this week and seriously damaged two of its trunks. Despite my best efforts to minimize the damage, it's not looking too good. =\ I know it's a stretch for an art fair, but I'm hoping I'll find a bonsai booth with some really crazy, unique trees. (Actually not that big of a stretch...there was a pretty huge variety of stuff there last year. Not your typical fair.) Or would getting another bonsai make my poor little money tree give up?

I was hoping to post a few drawings by the time I felt the need to write another journal, but I've been suffering from tendonitis, I think. My right wrist has been bothering me a lot, all the way up my forearm to my elbow. (I think it's tendonitis, not carpal tunnel.) Since I'm right-handed, it's been hard to do much work. Including typing. (It's starting to ache a little now, in fact.) My job is destroying my health. =[ My eyes, and now my drawing arm!

I'm about 2/3rds done with one drawing (all of the bits that are left are tricky!) and I have kind of a simple, retro picture in mind so I can mess with my new colored pencils. I've been wrapping the wrist when it acts up and might get a brace, so between that and ibuprofen, my arm's getting a little better, and I hope to pick up my pencils again this weekend. But I guess I might have to wait a little longer if I don't get that fancy new ergonomic mouse pad at work...

So in the meantime, have some classic car photos! I took these last month, at the Verona Hometown Days car show.

So I got my new scanner, and it seems pretty great so far. None of the "white spots" people were occasionally complaining about in the reviews. It's small and sleek and USB powered, all very nice. I've already uploaded an improved scan of my cardinal pastel, which you can see [here], and I uploaded a pretty sharp scan of my more or less fixed Kakashi drawing, which you can see [here].

I'm also about 1/3rd finished with a new drawing, but I just haven't had the time or energy to draw after work. Making dinner is hard enough. And it doesn't look like work's going to let up any time soon, either. If anything, I'm going to get busier.

Blah. *collapse* x_x Need help. And maybe some inspiration...something that'll motivate to make arts even when I'm tired and stressed out.
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Okay, yes, I know it's been almost a month since I whined about the above and well over a month since I got my scanner. I got some colored pencils and improved my latest bird drawing a tad. I'll upload that eventually, but it doesn't really look that much better, IMO. =[ Maybe it needs a pinecone.

Made a little progress on the drawing mentioned above (but not enough to really say it's more than 1/3rd done, even now), but I'm bad at drawing feet. And long, straight lines!

I do at least have a couple of new ideas bouncing around in my head, and of a different style than I've done before, maybe. One will hopefully be quick and loose enough that once I start on it, I'll actually finish. :3 Could be a stress reliever. The other's complicated, though, so we'll see if I ever start on it.