Validation

So I have to return to my school in about two weeks. While I am super excited to start my new classes all I can think about is how much I've come to love this sleep-whenever-I-want schedule, how much I despise airports and what a pain in the ass it is going to be to unpack my dorm again (for winter break our dorms make us pack up everything, put it on our bed and then clean. GIANT PAIN). Here are some pictures of what my dorm looked like before I had to take it all down.

On the good side maybe this will give me a chance to organize a little more and get rid of some of the clutter that was starting to happen. PS- I LOVE MY CLAW FOOT TUB! And I will be super sad when the time comes that we are separated. Otherwise I won't miss my dorm or my insanely loud neighbor with the barking laugh.

I am ridiculously excited to start my digital painting class. I've always fumbled my way through trying to figure out how to do it on my own, but I've never found a solid routine way that works for me. So every time I pretty much have to relearn a way to paint which really slows things down. I've already taken some workshops with the teacher and he is unbelievably awesome so I can't wait to learn from him. As for character design I am of course excited since it is what I am at this school to learn. I'm currently doing it for a group animation project which is fun but it would be nice to know all of the terms and techniques that I currently just kind of float my way through doing. Head drawing I know will be my most difficult class (mostly because I don't really enjoy drawing realistically and I already know the teacher doesn't give above a B) but I need to learn a lot about portraiture.

It's semesters like this that make me truly realize I just picked the wrong school for my undergrad. I graduated feeling like I wasted all this time and money for a degree that meant nothing for me and not having learned anything that would help me in my desired career. I knew I wanted to be able to draw for a living but I didn't know how that was possible. I spent all 4 years figuring it out and once I realized in my last semester that it was character design I wanted to do there weren't really any courses for me to take that I could learn from. I made places for myself in classes such as the animation classes and on my school magazine as their first illustrator but no one was really able to teach me about illustration there. Now in grad school I really feel challenged artistically and can already in the first semester see my growth. I feel comforted that even though I'm not starting my career as fast as my peers I know I made the right decision.

And now a little taste of my holiday.

We didn't really get any family pictures unfortunately, but the animals are always happy to pose and be cute.

Hope everyone had an amazing holiday!