Heather Dixon Wallwork's Blog, page 17

Speedpaints & a link

They're good practice.
On an unrelated note, I was digging through my stuff this weekend and found a class handout.  It was tips on how to be creative, <--which you can read there.  It was an interesting read, if you sometimes get depressed with creative stuffs you might enjoy it.
Unrelated; along with the handout I found some of my old college transcripts.  They aren't my complete transcripts though, I know this because on finals week of my very last semester, I parked in a G lot instead of a Y lot so I could make the test on time and "forgot" about parking enforcement.


 Note:  They do ticket on finals week.


 I tried to pay the ticket online several times, but the site kept on giving me an error sign.  Eventually I gave up, moved away, changed my name and forgot about it.

Wouldn't you know it, a month or two later I got two letters from the school in the mail.


The first one was from parking services and it was written in blood.


The second one was...you guessed it.

The diploma.


And so it goes.  Technically, since I still owe it, I can't get my full transcripts.  This has been a real problem since all my employers have been really concerned with my GPA.  Eventually I may have to pay it or the evil monster of compound interest will rear it's gooey head in 50 years and tell me I owe $3,450,000...which actually will only be about $35 in today's money so...ok.

Not to OD you...

Another one :)

I've been doing a bunch of freelance illustrations in this style, so I decided to try it on my favorite persons.  D'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw.

Our Favorite Person

What do you know...she's mine too!

4th of July 5k

A couple of weeks before the 4th,my mom gave me a call.

MOM:  Our city is having a 5k on the 4th and I'm doing it but I'm sort of worried I might come in last and I really don't want that to happen.  Will you do it with me?

ME:  Sure.  You bet.

MOM:  Really?!?

ME:  Sure.

ME:  What's a Fivekay?

MOM:  (explains what a 5k is)

ME:  WHAT?

MOM:




We all know how I feel about "fun" runs, darn it!Not to mention, my schedule's been like this:

I haven't been outside in months!
But mother birthed me and all, so I woke up at 4 am and dressed all cuteand did my hair all cute and drove to my old home town, West Point.
The starting line was packed.

Luckily I found my mom.



The horn sounded, and we were off in a cloud of dust!

Pretty soon everyone had run ahead.

Pretty soon my own mother had run ahead.

Pretty soon I reached the half mile mark and I realized I wasn't going to make it.

Fortuitously enough, the race route was just passing a road...


...that just happened to lead to my parents' house...



SNEAKY

Luckily I had a key :)
I used the bathroom...

...checked my phone messages...

...ate some watermelon in the big bowl on the counter...

It wasn't too long before I saw the runners making theirway back to the park.I figured it was time to skedaddle.



Admittedly, I didn't exactly burn the rubberoff the soles of my shoes.

When I finally turned the corner to the finish line, I was met with this:

Well that didn't make me feel guilty at all. 

I ended the race at a run, leaving behind a great big steaming wake of CHEAT.


30 minutes later, my mom found me. 

Apparently she'd discovered me missing in the middle of the race.





What do you know.  She won 2nd place.

(She owes it all to me)
Afterwards there was a raffle where I won a Striderst-shirt, ballcap, and decal.

So now everyone can know just how much I love to run!

THE END.

PS If you haven't seen a West Point parade, here is a taste of the joy (watch it 45x for the full parade experience):

It has the two best t's in the word: Tractors and Taffy.  Yesss baby!

MeRpigram

*     *     *     *     *     *     *I remember an internship mentor once telling me that when a character wants an object, they turn their eyes first, then their head, then they reach out and grab it.  I thought that was interesting.

Family Fotos

Family photos are...weird, right?  You have .002 seconds to act relaxed, stare at the camera and smile before you all dive in and try to murder each other.  Your chances of getting a good family photo are less than winning the lottery.  My gosh, how did we live without Photoshop??
Lately I've had a fling with Pinterest and've noticed all the helpful photo tips.  I took a picture, once, so I thought...why not?  Behold!

6 FABULOUS FAMILY FOTO TIPSAnd all for free!



#1:  Never underestimate cardboard cutouts.


My goodness!  Look at all those well-behave and well-dressed children!  You are amazing!!

#2:   Try for different camera angles, like staring down at it.


You can tape it above the baby's crib so he will never be lonely!

This works especially well if you all dress like Satan.

Babies love that.
#3: Greenscreen is your friend.

You'll never have to go anywhere for pictures again!




   See, this way when your kids start to complain that they've never been to Disneyland, you can say, "Yes we have, you just don't remember!  See??  It was right after we visited Moscow!"
#4:  State Pen.  Yours is a family that sticks together...no matter what.

Sometimes if you're lucky, after the photo they keep the child.
#5:  Photos as gifts.  Dress your children in rags.  Dress yourself in puritantical black.  Take the picture in front of a horrible old building.


 Save these photos for forty years or so, then secretly give them to your children for Christmas.  It will help their teenagers behave.
 In 2045, zoot suits will be back in style.  I'm banking on this.  Also, hoop skirts.

 Aaaaaand #6:  Feet!  The best family pictures are the pictures where you don't see your family!


You don't even need to do your hair!

I hope this was helpful!  If you've followed this link from Pinterest, please don't kill me.  Stay tuned for Family Fotos Part 2--ways to pose your newborn so it looks like rubber!


Kidding.  There is no part 2.  I JUST WISH THERE WAS

Eyvind Earle speedy, & an excellent short

Because, why not.



*       *       *       *       *       *       *If you haven't seen it, this is very, very good.
"The Invention of Love," by Andrey Shushkov.
Gosh, this is good.  Especially thematically.  Did you notice:


  

nice.
ya...I'm gonna throw away my cell phone now...

Grownup

Being a grownup is like a month full of Fridays, oreos, and crustless sandwiches.  Yesssss baby

Speedpaints

A screencap recording I did, for the speedpaint blog:




Sometimes I feel so lucky to be living in the world right now...the internet has so many resources to pull from, and I've learned so much from digital mediums like photoshop and painter...I'm reminded of one of my favorite songs, Beautiful Things, by Leslie Bricusse--
The world is full of beautiful things, butterfly wings, fairy tale kingsAnd each new day undoubtedly brings still more beautiful things
The world is dipped in delicate dreams, sparkling streams, lullaby themesWhere every flight of fantasy seems filled with beautiful things
ya...I'm a lucky kid.  here are some speedpaints :)

Merida and the Three Bears

Some shameless Brave fanart.
(I'm looking forward to the movie.)
Triplet boys?  That mom is SO LUCKY