New chapter of my life here after that debacle that lasted for two weeks... we'll see how it goes then.

I wonder how long can I tolerate staying here in Las Vegas... planning to leave this fucking place shortly after I get my degree. Never was my place to start over after leaving the Navy anyway... it's just that things got shoved down my throat and had to deal with the consequences afterwards.

Anyways,

Made a couple of concept art sketches for my group project in Game Design Development... my groupmates loved it which made me happy. Though I'm thinking of redoing it with copic markers instead.

Since I'm currently unemployed at the moment, I will have more time logging my entries and doing more updates as I look for another job... but this time I'm going to look for a part-time job instead: I need to concentrate further on my studies and I need to add at least one more subject on my upcoming semesters so I would be able to graduate on time.

It will be a tight squeeze but I should be all right: time management is the KEY to this.



There are so many things that I need to straighten out.

First off, I need to get back in shape. Need to curb that soda cravings. Need to stop engorging myself. That shit is killing me slowly. Look for healthier alternative. I'm planning on talking to my yoga instructor again and discuss about me getting back into the groove of things. I LOVED practicing Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga anyway. I'm currently 210 lbs. I want to be around 160.

Second is to devote more time to practicing whatever I need to practice. My Art Director liked the fact that I've been attending more and more art sessions and even sitting on some of his art classes. Thing is, not only I need to hone my traditional art skills, I need to devote the same energy in the 3d aspects of it as well. While I'm getting the gist of using Maya software, I feel that I'm not practicing it often enough. I need to be proficient with this or it will bite me in the ass big time later.

Third is to, of course, get a part-time job. I have some money saved on top of what I'm getting from the VA's GI Bill. I need to save more in order to have something later down the road when I finally leave fucking Las Vegas. I may have to use my 401K money just to act as a buffer.

stabbed in the back...

...yea.

Just when you thought that things are going well for you, some bullshit comes out of nowhere and pretty much takes you down. HARD.

Here's some life drawing stuff from last week:

The third picture was a 30-second sequential gesture drawing. I have to say that my speed has improved and was able to do it pretty well.

And one of the problems that I encounter when I'm drawing a female figure is that the woman's hips tends to be the same as the men's figure. My instructor gave me a tip that proved useful in correcting that miscue: match the width of the female's hips with the width of her shoulders.

Anyways, on to learning Maya software.

The first week has gone by, 10 more to go.

Me and my friends has just noted that we've been to this school for nearly a year now... wow, time flies so fast when you're busy with stuff.

I'm fortunate to have a boss that is understanding and co-workers that can put up with my crap (to a certain extent) while I do this: both my boss and co-workers perfectly understand that I'm working towards something that I WANT TO DO and WILL ENJOY DOING IT so I need to make this count.

I had a talk with my Art Director a couple of days ago and I was told that my school opened up another course that will be in tune with I want to do down the road. I just need a bit of clarification with my Course Director and once I get down the actual info, then I can totally dedicate myself to this (yea, I still had some reservations about it but with this recent changes, it looks like it's becoming clearer and clearer for me) course.

Unfortunately, there's no Life Drawing class this quarter, though it makes it up with learning digital software (Maya) and learning the fundamentals in animation.

Since I think I got so used to drawing static figures, now it's time to change it up a bit by learning to draw things in motion: I'm sure it will take some time for me to get used to it but I believe it will help me be able to draw figures that are more dynamic in nature.

First day of class, last quarter for this year..

...and  it starts off with me (initially grasping at the straws) in our Maya class.

Well, come to think of it, it's just the first day and it's my first time with the program. Supposedly 22 students in that class but only 16 showed up.

For this quarter (July-Oct), my schedule is Monday (6:00PM-10:00PM), Friday (8AM-5PM - two classes) and Saturday (8AM-12PM).

Monday class is a pain in the ass due to it's scheduling, but since I'm quite excited to learn Maya, it offsets that little setback (and heck, I can drive by at my favorite Burrito place on my way home so another consolation right there) by driving in the afternoon just for one late class.

The only drawback from this quarter is that there are no art classes whatsoever this time around. However, my Saturday class kinda makes it up for it since I will be learning the fundamentals of animation--- a fun class, but I'm certain it will be no cakewalk.

I already talked to a couple of professional freelancers that can teach me (for a fee of course) on whatever I'm interested in. Things are a bit tight financially this July so I will have to wait until mid-July or August for my extra art training but of course, I will still practice sketching (working on anatomy atm) on my own until then.

My bestfriend gave me a link to Deviantart's "Daily Sketch Challenge" so there's that to keep me in tune with the whole thing.