Art and stuff

[vilakins]

I'm starting 6 weeks of mixed-media art class tonight which will be a change from the digital stuff I usually do. I have brushes, art paper, oil pastels, watercolour pencils, but do you think I can find my acrylic paints? I've looked everywhere I can think of, and I really wanted to do acrylics. Damn.

This also means that I won't see OUaT or Downton Abbey till tomorrow night. Not that I'm especially looking forward to the latter right now.

In other news I went to a place called 101Fitness in the weekend. They're not a gym with membership; you pay for 1-on-1 sessions (or 1-on-2 if you can convince someone else to go with you and split the costs, and I'm getting there with Greg) in private rooms, and you only have to go once a week which suits me. It's weight training with very slow reps, a fairly new method that keeps working throughout the week, and people have had great results. A friend recced the place. I'm not even stiff though I was slightly sore in the upper arms yesterday.

There's a big storm down in Wellington, probably on its way here. Eep.

Comments

[feng_shui_house]

I don't know if it'll work for you, but sometimes when I can't find something, I pretend I've bought a replacement and am going to store it. Occasionally, the place I choose to put the imaginary item is where I find the original.

[vilakins]

I already thought of all the places I'd put something like that if I found it lying about and it wasn't in any of them. I did find my wooden posable figures though who are excellent for getting body proportions right.

My homework is to find photos or pics that I'd like to make a painting of, singly or in a mashup - and buy the paints. I think I might be able to get some near the gym.

[feng_shui_house]

Well, at least the search found something else useful!

While doing unrelated tidying a few days ago I found a book that had been missing over a year (the out of print first volume of a duology), so I'm sure the old set of acrylics will turn up eventually, as soon as you're looking for something else.

I hope you'll show us some of your completed art. You do good work.

[vilakins]

I'm not as good on non-digital which is why I'm going to the class. So... maybe?

[feng_shui_house]

No pressure, but you know we are a friendly audience. :^)

I went to the grocery today and treated myself to a new box of 24 colored pencils, I may get around to scanning & posting the random kitty cat I drew with them.

NEW PENCILS! Why are new colored pencils more fun than old ones?

[vilakins]

I have really good pencils, but it's paint I want to use in this class.

Most of you are friendly but one person on LJ is very critical--and she doesn't even draw. Maybe I'll just create an art filter without her. I very rarely bother with filters.

[feng_shui_house]

I never bothered with filters- it just was non-intuitive for me. O' course my flist/dwircle is very very small these days & few of us comment at all.

I really don't like it when people take it upon themselves to critique when you haven't asked for it. It's very annoying, and sometimes even muse-killing.

[vilakins]

Absolutely! I think it's a cheek when she doesn't do art herself. Filtering is going to be a pain on two places but probably worth it.

I don't mind having typos pointed out as I want to know so I can fix them, but art isn't about being perfect, dammit.

Yeah, I feel as if hardly anyone's around these days. I get big responses to cat posts but not much when it's my boring RL, and I'm not really being fannish online any more what with there not being many fans. It puts a huge crimp in my writing and I haven't bothered to post photos of Pasifika or other outings though I suppose I should as they might interest some.

[feng_shui_house]

If it wasn't for AO3 I doubt I'd bother to even write fic any more, let alone think fannishly. I think most of the fans have moved to different online venues, as well as different fandoms if they haven't moved away from fandom entirely.

I used to be polite when people offered unwanted negative criticism-- now I just delete their comments without replying to them. When I left them on, it attracted other nit-pickers.

[vilakins]

Yes, the several kudos on AO3 I get each week are very nice, some for obscure fandoms that aren't B7. :-)

[feng_shui_house]

I'm lucky that I happened to fall in love with Iron Man Movieverse just before it really got popular, and then expanded my horizons to Avengers, so I've got a pretty big built in readership & get plenty of ego-boo, even for short crack!fic. :^)

[kerravonsen]

Yay for art!

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

Hope the art goes well. :)

(Eeps as well about that storm)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I wish I'd had paint with me. Mucking about with watercolour pencils just wasn't what I wanted to do. I'll have to buy acrylics before next week because I know I won't remember where I put them.

Greg thinks it'll peter out before it gets here. I hope so.

[thisbluespirit]

Good luck (with both)!

And I have just watched Downton and it was a lot better than I feared after last week. (Last week - ack!)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks - for both! Nice icon, too. :-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Noooo, it was just as bad as I'd expected. Two people's lives ruined; I could hardly bare to watch their scenes. I can't see any way out. Aaaugh.

I liked the rest. Oh Mary, why didn't you say, "Ask me again in a year"? Lord Gillingham reminds me a bit of Tarrant. I'm a bit worried about Edith's BF going off to Germany; fascism began around that time.

Anyway, I'm glad I watched OUaT afterwards.

[thisbluespirit]

... whoops. You see, I was worried they would just fix it too quickly, because, well... Downton. They're not always reliable at dealing with stuff. Not that I wanted them to do it, it was really awful and unexpected last week, but I suppose we should have known - everyone else lives in fairy Downton Land, which is paid for in cosmic karma by the epic and eternal sufferings of Bates and Anna. Also I was worried by other stuff, but the rest of the episode was cheering.

And, lol, yes. His going to Germany is definitely Not Good! He's either going to get into trouble with the Fascists or wind up being one and Edith is going to be whichever one of the Mitford sisters it is I mean. (I hope not!!0 0_o

And I can't have OUaT - we'll probably get it late April/May if the last two seasons are anything to go by. That's a lot of trying to avoid spoilers. ;-)

But, yes, sorry, my definition of "not as bad" was actually opposite to yours.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

She wouldn't let him touch her at the end last week, so what happened this week was exactly what I didn't want to see. I can't bear seeing women-hatred and refused to watch a recent New Tricks for that, several NCIS eps, and whole series in some cases. It makes me sick and angry.

Edith as Unity! She was the one, wasn't she? I do hope not for both of them as I like them a lot.

I'm only watching DA and OUaT because we use, um, other methods or we'd wait for months (used to be years) to see anything. And now everyone talks online, I won't wait.

[thisbluespirit]

Unity sounds right! I don't really think they'd go that route with Edith, but every time he keeps talking about Germany, I worry about what exactly he's going to get into. :-/

I know, it's so hard to keep unspoiled when you're online in fandom. I don't have much luck with watching stuff on my pc, so even if I were to try and find the eps, it wouldn't work out. Still, at least we do get OUaT over here, and on a free channel, or I'd never have got to see it - or maybe only ever ages after on DVD.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

One or both might get into fascism. It was surprisingly popular in the English upper classes at the start. I bet they'll either go that route or have them oppose it.

There's a spin-off called OUaT in Wonderland just started. It has the strange unreal CGI they used when the Hatter went there but otherwise new characters. So far they have Alice, Matt the knave of hearts, and Jafar from the Aladdin story. I don't think it's quite as good (I've only seen the first ep) but definitely worth watching.

[thisbluespirit]

I know! That's pretty much what I was thinking - just not sure I want it, really... :-/

I'd heard! It's not over here yet, either, but i hope it will be. I've seen the trailer online and it did look intriguing, so yes.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

I hope you will be safe!!!
I like what you do, the fitness sounds great.
Art class!!!! Perfect for you, I hope you will enjoy it and hopefully some pictures to show us, please?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It's windy today but just the usual spring gales.

The fitness is great! I can feel some effects from just the first session; it's powerful stuff.

I used oil pastels and watercolour pencils last night, not very successfully, so no pictures. I really think acrylics will be my medium for non-digital art. I will have to buy some this week.

[jecono.livejournal.com]

This all sounds very nice - except for the storm but I think that will have passed by now... I hope you are alright!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The storm was gales and took out a few trees and roofs, but nowhere near as bad as in Wellington. We had to take down the swinging sign outside the office because it was threatening to smash some lights.

Today is calm and sunny but I believe it'll rain later. And it's back to winter clothes this last week after that glimpse of summer. :-(

[nautile26.livejournal.com]

Is that the new series of DA? I don't think it's due to screen here until next year which is so annoying.

I did get to see Gravity at the Imax on Sunday, however - just amazing! I'm glad we made the effort to see it on the big screen.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's the one! We don't wait these days because I so hate being spoiled online.

It really needs the big screen! You need to feel the vastness of space.