One of those films that wasn't sure what it wanted to be now knows all kinds of things about what it wants to be (and more about what it doesn't want to be that I should avoid letting it pretend to be).  Thanks to a long phone conversation with my sister Dream of Birds now has a whole lot more worked out about it, and now with a beginning - progression - and basic ending ideas it just needs filling in.  

Also:  webpage now has animation on it (other then in the menu heh)
and a new sketchblog can be found HERE

I never feel like updating this when I have a LJ that people read.

Everyone should go out and buy The Decemberists' CD 'The Crane Wife'.

I'm trying to get enough art together for a book by Comicon in July, but I keep working far to slowly.  Hopefully I can step it up some.  

The number of short animated films I have in my head/want to do is up to 4.  Yes...4.  All in various states of un-finished-ness, unattainableness or just plain 'dunno-where-the-heck-its-going'-ness.  But that's okay its fun to have goals.

Sorry to everyone who has kindly left messages and comments, I've just been crazy busy moving and I'll never manage to respond to all of them one at a time.  So thanks for the fav's/watches/comments!

Settling in here in CA.  Still unpacking and arranging and the like, so I'm going to be scarce for awhile longer.  

One more piece up and now, I disappear for the great undertaking that is moving from one coast to another.  I'll see you in a month or so.

Its neat to look back at the last 'progress report' and be like 'hey all the stuff on there is finished now'.   I do these mostly for myself, in case anyone random wondered - its like a public to do list - which somehow makes it more binding then the billion lists I do and leave around my house.

Mostly just preparing to move to the west coast from the east coast.  Planning for which turns out to be more of a production then actually packing things into boxes is.  

BUT good progress is being made on the short film, which now has the tentative title "Dream of Birds" or at least that's what I've started calling all the folders and files and such.  Its probably not quite a minute long.  I feel awefully like its the begining of a longer film that doesn't exist.  But regardless, its rough boards make it 6 shots (or 7, if one shot turns out to be to hard as a complicated pan)  I'm trying hard to use everything I've learned since making my last personal film and do alot with shot choices and such.  I was a TERRIBLE storyboarder in college.

Other things being worked on... That comic with Mookie.  Only he and I are BOTH moving within a month (and both moving a long ways actually) so while I'm drawing comics for that, don't expect a debue any time before this fall.  In fact, I might aim for the first day of winter...just because that seems appropriate hehe.

And a few side projects- a character painting for a friend, possibly the rest of the origami series I started.  And alot of projects that have gone on the backburner for now for the move.  

Finally on an unrelated note - more people are viewing this gallery then before, but fewer are commenting.  Interesting (I mean that, it actually is).

Its a lovely day out today, and so I'll take some time to just wonder along and write a long journal entry - which I will then cheat and mostly likely repaste into my live journal just to save time so I can go and sit on my porch and read comics.  Yup.  Comics.  3 new Bleach comics and the latest (and by latest I mean it came out in...Feb or so) Blade of the Immortal comic, none of which I've had time to read yet.

So, look some new things up.  Woo.  Right now the main project is an intro for a film fest, that I need to finish this weekend.  Almost done with the animatic.

I'm moving from Boston to San Francisco at the end of July.  This is a bit daunting, if only because of how many days I'm going to have to spend in a car with my two 'we hate cars and cat carriers' cats.  Well that and not having an apartment to move to yet, and trying to reserve a mover without, er...having an address to move to yet.  Otherwise I'm convinced it will all go FINE.  FINE I say.  (do you hear that mom?  I know you come here! heheh).

Now on to a side discussion about animation, just to make this entry longer...  So I love that Devart put an animation section in "Traditional Art" but, if the definition of traditional art is anything made 'predominently' by analog methods...then...well most finished animation these days doesn't quite fit the bill.  To be a purely traditional animation (which really only exists in the realm of 'fine art' and indepentant animations these days) it would have to be shot on film!  WOO FILM!  I remember back in the good old days, when we loaded out Oxberry camera's in the dark just by feel, and lost whole rolls of film when we didn't close them properly before turning on the lights!  When we painted cells and spend DAYS shooting each image for the requisite number of frames and a 'cycle' meant you just short the same group of drawings over and over!  YES THOSE WERE THE DAYS *coughs*  But I degress.
Why does it seem as though the only 'digital' animation devart recognises is Flash?  I'm not ranting, really, its just a matter of personal curiousity to me.  I usually used just about every program I own to make a film, sometimes starting with animation on paper but sometimes not.  Using combinations of flash, Photoshop, after effects, Painter, Illustrator and all manner of things in between to make a finished animation.  Is a Flash animation with a photoshop background and effects and compilation in AFX still a flash animation?  Or has it become 'traditional animation' even though there's not an analog stroke in its artistic body?  
Thoughts for the day.  
I'm gonna go read comics in the sunshine.

I have lots of almost finished things, alot of which I hope to finish this week.  Not posting anything until there is actual 'finished' ness so as not to update/over write images alot.

Storyboarding a short animation, very short, maybe 30 seconds, but very clear in my imagination so I'm working on it.  Have finished characters from that but want to put them in a nicer layout.  Have some finished character designs from the mystery web comic, but again, waiting to post them with they're in a nicer layout.  

Has anyone else been struck by the overabunance of the color orange in my gallery?

Because I just was.  I mean I do like the color....but really...its overwhelming.  I shall have to try and make more things in colors like blue and green.

A rough working version of my webpage is up.  As I add more shiny things and clean up more of the animation, I'll put some of the rough animations up here for amusement.  So far only two galleries are working, stay tuned in the next few weeks for more stuff.  Yes, there is stuff up there that isn't up here.
[link] click the webpage link!

Other projects:

Sketching layouts for a series of tea and paper paintings this week.  Still thinking 8X10 is a good size, I like the idea of them being a more intimate size in a more intimate gallery space.

Working on a magical mystery web comic with Mookie.  Don't hold your breath, who knows how long before it launches, I need to have alot of comics done before I start putting them up, so I don't find myself trying to draw a page a week on top of other work.

Started sketching an actual honest to god full background complicated fantasy scene to paint (well digitally paint, but hey).  I haven't done that kind of thing much lately, being as I work in vector programs all day.

Working on alot of things, finishing very few of them.  The usual.

Projects:
Plotting a series of paintings for a possible tea-shop-gallery-space hanging.

The eternal quest for a nice shiny web page

Pushing character design farther and finding my own happy meduim between realism and expression and style.

DeviantART listens, sometimes. (not to me, that would be silly, but to all the other people who say the same thing as me ^_~)

Submission agreement was revised as of yesterday.  I haven't checked over the sublicensing bit, but the major issues - the individual removal clause and that 'we combine your work we own it' clause have been fixed.  Thus it is clear that DeviantART cannot steal your work by combining it with other peoples, and you can severe there right to the use of a single deviation by the act of removing it from the site - rather then purging yourself from deviantart.
They also clarify that "Artist Material's" do not include things that you cannot delete like Comments.

Everyone does this at least once right?  I admit, it should have come earlier, I've been busy and extremely lax about actually READING submission agreement updates.  The other day my roommate was reading it over in order to decide if she could post some corporate work she had done and she brought it to my attention.  After printing it out and reading it over, I am facing the decision to remove myself from DeviantART to protect my own work...because frankly they give you no choice!  
Here's my biggest issues with the thing.  And they...very big.

"The Agreement will terminate only after Artist has removed all of Artist's Materials from the deviantART Site(s), and deviantART has received notice of the removal."

Without any further definition of Artist Materials, it suggests that in order to keep Deviantart from having further usage rights to a work of yours, you must remove it AND everything else you have on the site.  Of course it is assumed they mean 'deviations' or anything submitting through the submission process.  But they don't SAY that.

It also states that you can "terminate this agreement in writing" and supply the terms of how to communicate with the appropriate department at the end of the agreement. But in general - it seems that severing the user agreement is a genuinly difficult task.

And why should I have to remove all my work in order to severe publish rights for one piece of art?  For example, there are pieces I have in my gallery that I may someday chose to use in a line of greeting cards.  Obviously were I to do that, I would want to remove DeviantART's rights to publish them.  But I don't necessary want to remove ALL my OTHER work from a site where it does get a good amount of viewers and generate publicity.

Its also worth noting that basically, you have given DA blanket publish rights to anything you post as long as they are using it "In association with DiviantART INC." and does not as far as I have seen make any pomises regarding not having the right to sell images of your work so long as its in association with the company.
Further, they claim the right to sublicense your work. And the only limit they have put on these rights is that they must notify you and gain your permission if
"deviantArt makes any commericial agreement with anyone else to seperately buy, license, re-sell or republish or commercially use any Artist Materials not in association with deviantART but as an individual work of art in isolation from any other works."

Which makes no mention of the possibility of a group of works, a book of works, or DeviantART actually EDITING a group of works together and selling THAT. In fact, it states very specifically:

"Artist acknowledges that Artist will not have any right, title, or interest in any materials with which Artist Materials may be combined or into which all or any portion of Artist Materials may be incorporates."

In my opinion that clause is completely unacceptable and basically gives a company the legal ability to steal you work and claim you have agreed to allow it.

Its also curious to note that all of the people who have put up illustrations that they have sold to employers are potentially causing legal issues for their employers by accepting the terms of the submission agreement.

I hope this announced update will address these large issues.  Because yes they are large.  And no, this is certainly not an over-reaction.  Every artist who goes out to make a career of it learns the hard way that contracts need to be carefully reviewed.  Loopholes like these can leave you seriously hurt in the end.  So, I will wait for the update to see, but if I am gone in the near future, you'll know why, heh.

No anger or anything involved - only business.  And the current contract claims more rights then I am willing to extend.  And yes I can see how they are meant to protect DeviantART...its not the intent but the lack of detail and limits where they need to be.  Yes, the "Artist will not have any right, title...etc" clause it probably to keep artists from demanding they be removed from already printed advertising materials.  But the way they've stated it is NOT acceptable.  

After a small last minute interuption of work-emergancy-chaos, my month (now more like 3 weeks) of doing my own art has actually begun.
Went to a museum last weekend that had a teapot exhibit, re-vitalized my obsession with tea paraphenalia (as if that was necessary).  Also saw a Chinese merchants house, moved from outside of Shanghai.  Which made asian patterns and prints all the more appealing.

I have noticed Devart based 'studio groups' and similar things cropping up lately.  Where's my posse?  Huh?  The 3 people that read this, don't answer that ^_~  You can correct my spelling of posse though, if I'm wrong.

Making a list of art to do.  Cheer me on, we'll see how far I get.

No new stuff up here lately.  Haven't done much new finished things that aren't for work.  I've been much occupied with sleeping, having a second cat, and now being sick AGAIN.  And snow.  And work.  And being social which was never something I was good at.
Sculptures that need making.
Greeting cards that need painting.
And then there's that Christmas thing.  Hoping to have time to make a card this year.

Still much taken with asian patterns and tattoos.
Always in love with tea.
Somewhat over windows.  Something to do with it getting dark at 4 in the afternoon.

Some themes that I seem to be somewhat taken with of late:
japanese patterns
tea cups
tattoos
windows, dreams, and flying

Chucked some sketches into scraps.  Woo.
Have an almost finished digital painting - its been almost finished for months so don't get all excited ^_~

Tired.  Going museum sketching this weekend.  Gonna paint damn it.  Seriously.  Paint.  Begining to suspect I'm not gonna get any oil painting done before it turns to cold to do it (gotta paint outside really, not much ventilation inside yah know?  And my roommate might not appreciate it if the living room smells like terpinoid.)

Doing walk cycle tests for the little old characters.  Still need to finish a little animated picture for a friend.  

Have I ever mentioned that I keep a list of ideas for images?  Whenever I get one I write it down on this master list I keep shoved in my sketchbook.  Its a full half page of tiny writing in like 3 columns now.  I like to think of it as assurance that I'll never run out of ideas later in life ^_~

Edit: The museum was lovely, and wonderful and good.
However the day before the lovely wonderful good day...my computer corrupted the almost finished digital painting and now I fear it is lost forever to the small error in its 1's and 0's.  I am angry with computers now.  I shall be painting with my papers and paints for a bit I think.  All hail traditional media - for lo it will not one day be unopenable at random. ^_~

Back from vacation directly to work do not pass go do not collect $200.

More sketches for a series of 3 oil paintings, one sketch almost ready to become a watercolor painting - first in a series of illustrations I might use for card designs later.

Played with pens in TX and remembered why I like brushes and nib pens better.

Feeling a bit disconnected from life and surreal.  The weekend will fix that I hope.

There is only sleep and work.
Been sketching a series of oil paintings.
Someday I'll paint them.

More later.  After labor day.  Vacation to TX over laborday...if TX is still all in one piece and planes still fly there... O_o

I've just given in, I'm out to make my gallery as schizophrenic as possible.  XD  Yay cartoon people!  Next maybe I'll put up some figure work from life and some jewelry work just to see if I can cover as much of the spectrum as possible!  

If only there was a way to seperate your gallery and force people to view things in groups ^_~  I could be like
"Over here are things relating to my films, and over HERE comics, and over HERE painting and illustrations, and character designs, and..."

You get the idea...

Anyone in the Boston area - skip by the Brattle Theatre just off Harvard square tonight at 7:30 or Sunday night at 7:30 to see the animation festival there.  "Parcel" is playing in the Competition screening.

[link]