Oh boy...So...A lot has happened in the last little while since my last journal post. I can't put it all here, it'd be too much, buut..

Basically, I got a new job toward the end of the school semester. A friend of mine got recommended to a local printer/publisher for illustration work, and when she got asked if she knew anyone else, she suggested me as well. We both got hired (awesome), but long story short, I also got hired for doing graphic design work (and now do that primarily.)

So that's awesome. I've been up to something much bigger this summer, but I'll talk about that in my next entry.

This LAST week, however, has been pretty insane and awful.
My boss is currently out on conference for the week. A lot of the time, I'm the only one working, so this early on, I frankly have no clue what I'm doing. Oh well. I worked it out.

But Wednesday was the real show stopper. I went to sleep around 2am Wed night (Thurs morning)...and about 2:30 I started hearing some bumping around a bit. It startled me at first, but I listened, and I was pretty sure it was just my neighbor above me (we have thin walls at my apartment building.) So I went back to sleep.

A bit later, suddenly a hear a loud crash from my living room and I hear someone swear and someone else say "Let's get outta here." I quick grabbed somethin to defend myself and got out there as quick as I could, but when I got out there, there was no one there, the glass slider was wide open with the lock bent in and all my stuff was gone. I ran out as fast as I could, but they were nowhere in sight, they pulled a car up close, I think (I'm right near the parking lot on the first floor).

I had called the cops, but of course, they came rolling up more than 9 hours later. I had to keep calling them repeatedly and stayed up waiting for them so I could at least file a report.

I was okay, and I do have insurance, so things could've been much worse. But it still makes me feel uneasy. Every slight sound I hear will make me paranoid for a while now, I'm sure.

They didn't get ALL my computer stuff, but they did end up smashing my hard drive by dropping it and it's no longer working, so...maybe no art for a lil while...

It's been a rough week. I just need to take a break sometime.


Anyway--More optimistic news coming next journal entry! I've got some cool good news!

First of all, I jut wanted to say thanks to everyone who's viewed my page and to all those who will be coming through here in the future. And I really mean it. I t means a lot to share some of my art with others. And because of all you, I've hit 3000 pageviews, which is pretty cool!
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Coraline!
Also, I saw Coraline in 3D the other day. I *loved* it. It was gorgeous and fun and really well executed, I thought. Interestingly, what I think impressed me the most is that they made it in 3D, but they resisted the temptation to abuse the technology and make something fly at the audience every 3 minutes. Instead, they used it to actually assist in the story telling, and to actually add a lot of depth to the movie. I've never seen a movie in 3d that uses it so perfectly and subtly.

See it if you get a chance. It's worth every penny to see it in 3D.
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Upcoming art
Alright, and here's the deal with me not posting much in the way of art. Well, actually, it's the same thing you keep hearing from me, but just to let you know, I'm just very busy with school and life right now. I'm still working away at art, but most of it's school stuff, or stuff that's more like practice and roughs...And I really wanna keep this page for all my best stuff.

I think I'm still improving a lot, and it's really exciting for me. It seems like every big image I do is an improvement in my eyes. So hopefully I can keep pushing the envelope every time.

But soon I'll be posting some new stuff that hopefully everyone will like. I was working on 3 paintings before school took over that are just waiting to be finished, and I've got two more I did for school that are a lot of fun that I'd like to touch up first, so...some stuff is headin this way!

Just gotta wait fer it.

Alright, so I've finally got some more art done. I'll probably start submitting them sometime tomorrow! I'm happy in a way for the skills I gained, but I still have a bad tendency to start hating my art again after about a day. :\ I submitted a piece for an art gallery at my school, and I'm already really...iunno...unsure about it? :\

Oh well. I hope you guys like what's coming up. Been working hard to improve.

~Chad

So, I've not posted anything for a while due to homework, and because I'm taking my time with some pieces.

I've got one piece that I've put many hours into. I just didn't know how to finish it, and I wasn't happy with it, so I sought the help of my photoshop teacher, who's just a brilliant artist and a great guy.

He taught me a lot in a short time, so I'm psyched to get it done and show my progress.

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My Dream....

I needed to blog this dream SOMEWHERE, and all other blogs I have always manage to get me in trouble with people.

There's someone who's kinda special to me lately that I met at the beginning of this year. We've not been terribly close, only rarely seeing eachother, but I swear I was lovesick from the first time I saw her. Her personality, her humor, her smile, everything... I love joking with her, she's got a pretty awesome sense of humor to match mine, shares a lot of interests, and is talented as a dancing fly with a top hat.

Anyway, it's been nearly a year, and there's not been many days that have gone by that I've not thought about her. But no matter how blunt I've been, I can't get her to stick around and talk, can't get her to hang out, can't get her to go with me anywhere or anything.

Well yesterday I finally came to a decision, after getting tired of constantly failing, to stop dreaming about it and give it up. I chose to leave her be and stop thinking about her. I was surprisingly okay with the idea. In fact, it was kinda relieving to think of the weight off my mind.

Well. Last night, I dreamed about a girl I met and told her I loved her. It kind of became a lucid dream after that, I was in control, and I met her friends and her family, we talked about a lot of personal things and joked, etc. And then we kissed, and of course it was heart stoppingly amazing...

Until she started to sort of get pulled away from me. So I tried to catch her, trying to remind the world around me that *I* was in control of that damn dream, so bring her the hell back this instant. My dream didn't listen. She kept getting further and further out of reach, and she asked me if I still cared at all, and I said yes, and before I knew it she was fading, and whispered 'good', only this time, she faded into the girl I'd decided that day to forget about for good...before disappearing. For good.

When she vanished, I kinda crumpled there, and everyone was just watching me in a circle around me. At that point my alarm clock went off, waking me, and for the first time in quite a good long while, I actually started to tear up. I'm not a "tough-guy", sure, but I'm really not one to cry unless something's really wrong. And I felt like my heart had just been shattered with a sledge hammer. Would've done anything to be back with her. Even when I realized it was a dream.



Think my subconscious is trying to tell me something. :\ Just hope it's right. Because it changed my mind bout letting go.

Just thought it was cool the message I received. I've always been a firm believer in the importance of dreams, and I always try to listen to them. The things you learn are amazing.

Not that it means anything prophetic, necessarily or that she's the one for me, or we'd even get along, but, even if it's just a stupid crush, maybe it's a good idea to hold on a bit longer and keep trying. Who knows, something good might happen.

But I guess, mainly, I'm not ready to let go. Yet.


If you read this, lemme know your thoughts. You ever have dreams like this? If so, do you act on them or listen to them, or are dreams just dreams?

Well I'm back. I've...yeah I've not posted anything on dA all summer, and I feel kinda bad for letting it slack. This was a fairly rough summer for me, and now I'm faced with school looming but a week away now. I feel my life's been a bit disorganized and I really don't have myself back together yet, but I'll just haveta keep searchin for the rest of me and hope duct tape will work its magic again.

first, and most importantly, I want to apologize to any of my friends, real life or of internetz fame, for not commenting, replying, or anything of the sort. I've been avoiding my art too long, and neglected all of you. I am however back now for the school semester, I hope.

I am working on my art again, after a near whole summer of inactivity. That was one of the worst art blocks I've experienced, and I'd lost interest entirely (no thanks to allowing myself to start playing WoW again. -_- ). I did, however, spend a month before getting back into the mix just looking at other techniques, other artists' work, and trying to figure out what I need to better my art.

I've picked up a few new tricks, and it seems like I'm picking up a few more tricks every piece I do. I feel I'm learning what I should be learning. Last year saw a marked improvement in my art, and I feel confident that this year, I'll improve even more. I want so badly to catch up to where I think I should be.