Unlike the crazed White Wolfians who partook of Burger King’s new and terrifying Enormous Omelette Sandwich this morning, we loaded up with some good groceries. When we got home I made a bagel sandwich to die for:

– Herb and cheese bagel
– Roast turkey
– Salami
– Boston Lettuce
– Cucumber
– Tomato
– Old Cheddar
– Mustard
– Mayo

So good! Herby, meaty, crunchy goodness! Sandwich!

Long, long day… at school early for Life Drawing, long lectures, traffic on the way home, appointments and now more artwork to be done before I can crash.

Life drawing itself was a mixed bag. The model and lighting was really good, but I couldn’t seem to capture them the way I wanted to. In many ways my first few gesture drawings were stronger than the long poses. The initial excitement of the drawings gave way to tired body and brain. The 5 minute pose below isn’t polished enough and the tones in particular seem really uneven.

I kept one of my warm-up gesture pages, which was unexpected. The model stood with arms out stretched and then crouched with arms bent above his head. I drew both poses on the same sheet, using the first as a quick proportion checker for the second that gave me time to add some shadows to the torso. The two of them together looked oddly appealing and almost animated to me so I didn’t trash it. You can see both poses there if you look carefully, though the outstretched “crucifixion” kind of pose is quite wispy.

Ray’s setting himself up to be the next Grant Morrison with trippy quoatable interview lines like this:

“Warnings against role-playing games, heavy metal music, and hot goth sex abound, encoded throughout. After you read the comic, put it on your record player and spin it backwards to see if you can spot them!”

Good stuff.

Today’s a day of menial business. Craploads of work e-mails to respond to, cleaning around the partment, dishes and laundry to do… I started at 9 am and am still wading through this stuff so I can get some illustrations done this afternoon and relax tonight.

The bookshelves we built over the weekend have gotten the majority of the crap out of boxes. I realize again how much stuff I have, so retarded. Once the books get sorted the place will actually look and feel more like a home.

Okay, enough distractions online… back to the fray.

I finally had some deep sleep last night. Getting caught up from some restless nights as of late. I’m going to try and balance today between the two poles of productive and restful.

I didn’t get a chance to scan the life drawing until this morning… here’s the two best of the session:

A strangely wonderfully vibrant day. I’m on lunch break between my classes and wanted to post some thoughts while they were fresh in my mind.

Life Drawing was amusing and difficult at the same time. The normal instructor was away today and Werner filled in for him. Werner was late too and I started off with some gestures and seemed to hit a good stride with my line and shadow. Then, Werner came in and I felt like I was 19, back at Sheridan and useless all over again.

Werner Zimmerman was my Life Drawing instructor back at Sheridan and I’ve been conciously avoiding his classes when I drop into Life Drawing sessions here at Seneca. He knew that I was out of practice, but I was terrified that he’d see my new work and be displeased with it. Old habits die hard and Life Drawing was never a subject I felt strong about. He walked in today, called me ‘Professor Zubkavich’ and then dug in with critique on my stuff. It was embarassing and nerve wracking but good as well and reminded me of how far I still have to go with my artwork. Once my current slate of projects dies down I have to start coming to some extra evening Life Drawing sessions and kick it up a notch. I see improved gesture in my work and that’s good, but there’s always more to learn. I’ll post the best pics of the day late tonight when I get a chance to scan them in.

I left Life Drawing feeling odd… I know I’m a good instructor, but seeing my artwork under the microscope like that made me doubt my position here at the school a bit. After my Animation History lecture, that doubt was all washed away.

We did a full class analysis of the Iron Giant and it was a total joy. I’ve analyzed the film on my own, but never with an audience on the fly like this. Going over each scene, discussing the emotional beats, character connections, directing, compositions, color use, dramatic timing, use of sound and music… all of it. We kicked through it and the students had an absolute ball. By the end, the students clapped and cheered and several have already stopped me in the hall to let me know this was their favorite lecture all semester. Watching them really engage the film, understand it on a new level and leave the lecture hall so inspired was an incredible boost.

A great lecture is like a stand-up comedy act mixed with learning. Keeping the ‘audience’ engaged, interactive and teaching them at the same time is an ideal for me and I felt like I really hit that effortlessly today. It was great.

Now I’m heading into the afternoon history lecture on animation in the late 30’s. I don’t think it’ll be a knock-out like the morning class was, but I’m excited enough that I think it’ll be a little more electric than usual. This is why I love teaching.

Art post tonight… I’m off to class.

Even though my vision felt a touch blurry today and I’ve had some halos from bright lights, I rocked my eye exam today. 20+2 in my right eye and 20/15 in the left… better then 20/20 in both eyes just over a week since my surgery. The doctor was quite impressed and told me that the minor halos would come in and out as my eye heals, so it’s nothing to worry about. Very cool indeed. The cold is slowly subsiding… I almost feel human again.

Gearing up for busy times next week. Hopefully this weekend I can find a moment to revamp my website and add up a section for this life drawing stuff as well as the artwork I’ve been doing since November. It’s so much easier posting the art up here and I’ve let my website languish because of it.

It is possible to have too much nifty stuff. Unpacking the 800-900 lbs. of books I own is kicking my ass. Too many art books I don’t use enough, hardcover versions of novels I love, comic trade paperbacks and RPGs I’ve gathered. I’m a book pack rat and I want more… it’s really quite bad. If/when I get a house, I’ll really need a library room of some sort. It’ll be very nerdy, with wall-sized fantasy maps put up and sturdy bookshelves that won’t warp under the weight of my stupid collection.

The model was late today and I had class to prep for, meaning I had a slim 35 minutes to draw when all was said and done. Especially considering that, the gestures went well and I got a few decent pieces out of the session. Looks like the break week didn’t deteriorate my skills like I feared it might.

I caught a nasty cold and have been hacking my way through the week. Today looks like I’ve hit the peak of its nastiness, so I’m hoping that healing comes in short order soon. The last thing I need to hear at my eye exam tomorrow is “It seems violent coughing has shaken your eyeballs loose, Mr. Zubkavich… looks like you’ll be legally blind instead of better than 20/20.”

More next time… now is the time for sleeping and recovery. G’Night.

Media overload for the past couple days… went on a bit of a spree over the weekend. Not sure when I’m actually going to have time to enjoy all these things.

Books waiting to be read:
Digital Character Design and Painting
Sin City: The Hard Goodbye
Cartoon History Of The Universe Volume 1, 2 and 3.
The Tipping Point

RPGs to be read as well:
Werewolf: the Forsaken
Exalted: Book of Bone & Ebony
Arcana Evolved

Movies waiting to be seen:
The brand new Sin City trailer looks quite amazing.

Video Games waiting to be played:
La Pucelle Tactics
Phantom Brave

I open my eyes when I wake up and see the world clearly for the first time since I was 12 years old.

I had laser eye surgery last Wednesday. Within a few days of the procedure I had better than 20/20 vision. It may fluctuate a bit as my eyes heal over the next couple months, but everything looks like I should have 20/20 or better when it’s all said and done. Needless to say, I’m quite ecstatic.

Free from glasses. It’s the kind of confidence booster that I need as of late. I look in the mirror and I get a big smile because my sight is so crisp and real.

I wanted to make sure my parents knew before I posted this. I decided not to tell them beforehand because I’m pretty sure they would’ve gotten way too nervous about it. The kind of nervous that would’ve made me worry too. I had my doubts before the surgery, but in the end there was nothing to fear. The whole procedure was totally painless and quick. The doctors at Lasik have been fantastic and I can whole-heartedly recommend this for anyone who can afford it. I know that sounds like a cheesy commercial, but it’s all quite true. I’m actually a bit in awe of it all.

It’s something I’ve been planning for quite some time and even though we were just moved into the new apartment, Reading Week looked to be the best time for me to rest and recover from the surgery without lectures to worry about.

I have to take precautions for the next couple months, but before the summer it’ll all be finished. No more eye drops or wearing dark glasses in bright light. Perfect timing for summer weather, experiencing new things and enjoying the convention season.

Even now, it’s like a little bit of magic. I want to soak up the sights around me fully and completely.