Art Update: Portrait Painting

Real Quick-like

Finally got some decent sleep today. Will likely come back home and sleep more after my meeting.

Head felt messed up for a few days. Feel somewhat more straightened out now.

Twitter is a monster.

"Jumbo" is a pretty cool band. The songs "Dia" and "Aqui" in particular.

Lyrics in another language in songs make them better to me, in some aspects. The vocals sound more instrumental than trying to convey a message. Not to say I don't like lyrics in songs.

Dads Fathers Day gift finally came. Will have to drop that off today while they're in Towson.

Finally got paper so I can redline Thom's novel. I'm excited to do that.

More to come later.

-Frank

Art Update

Finally got a mirror so I can continue the painting. We went to the bookstore and I looked at a few books for Flash and I think I'm seriously going to look into learning it. Maybe even scripts too... (not sure what I would use them for though).

I'm a little out of date. I don't know XHTML. Never really had a need to, but I should probably find out what's changed.

Artwork update

There's a mini portfolio on the right side now^^

The cat knocked over one of my mirrors, so it might take some time to get this one done. Have to go buy a new mirror!

A commission



Dress painting I worked on, oils







Sketches from imagination or reference







Digitals





Oh I am so out of date...

Unsilenced Fugitive

Escaping the fires in the wilderness,

I expunge my feelings away from the views I knew,

Engulfed in flames my past burns tirelessly,

Fully waist deep in it's emissions I awaken,

Crawling and reaching with my fainting hands up before the sky,

I've come to acknowledge this,

I've come a long time,

A long way from what I've inevitably found,

Only to look back on myself with reverie,

I can calm the nerves inside of me,

Life and death is not as serious as it seems,

The fires engulfing within me are stronger than,

The gases that were used that lit this place,

Though the fallout burns my skin as I get away,

It will always symbolize the viel I can no longer wear

Old Poems I've Written

The Lesson of Music

To record the movement of time,

To realize these feelings of mine

To feel the changes that have taken place in me,

I have to grow to recognize the heart beating in me

Long ago when tapes were all we had,

We had to rewind over and over to listen,

Now in a time when time is fleeting and short,

Do we take for granted what we have?

I don't write to hear myself think,

Or speak to hear myself speak,

I just use time as wisely as I can,

Because it'll be gone before the next verse

To hear my own ramblings acknowledges I live,

To know I have not given up and I'm still alive,

Without these words in which we've said,

We can't dream of when the next chance will come

To say them again,

Oh how I wish I could say,

I wish I could be there,

When time was a given and was free

Now I'm just writing about me after time went,

Oh how we don't appreciate the gifts we've had,

Until they're long gone and the chapter has closed,

Oh how I wish I could be there singing this modern song

When there is life, there is a will,

But without failure there is no cloud,

No cloud to build our thinking,

No cloud from which to lift us

The Angel said,

As he sang of our song long gone,

Now a fleeting memory in his mind,

Cradled in his arms the Book of Life

The Sun Rains For Me

You know I can't say,

The words that I really mean,

When the world has filtered it

What I do has meaning,

But I can't continue to compromise my fate,

When you haven't been with me

You told me you'd be there,

But my soul says,

That you no longer can be

I worry how you will do without me,

But my heart knows a brighter day,

A brighter day will come

I couldn't have predicted,

Any of the choices we make,

Sometimes we live just to make them

I can't say I'm happy,

About having to do it alone,

But I won't give up either way

I have to walk this way,

It'll be hard,

But I gotta do things my way

I didn't come down here to make it right,

I came here to put an end,

To the things that just cannot continue

To the frown on my face,

To the frowns all around me,

To the voices that ground me

If I had a pillow and a string,

I'd send one your way,

But you wouldn't accept it anyway

Because you want to pull your own strings,

And this is easy to understand,

When you're just floating all by yourself

But please just understand,

That the world will never be the same without you,

And that I have done all that I ever can

My destiny tracks my soul,

Like a grain in the sand,

My tears are what's in my blood

The eyes follow me,

The eyes following are tracking me,

Tracking me as I put one candle out one after another

Been Gone Far To Long

So I've been busy with "real life" stuff for a while and haven't had time to really do a decent update with this. Shameful! Though Deb has been doing artwork lately that should be posted up as well. Like a certain new painting or digital piece that's been being worked on. *nudges* Got it Deb?

I found something I had been looking for a little while ago. A website by a Mexican artist by the name of Vinnie Veritas. The stuff at www.vinnieveritas.com isn't especially polished, but I love the art style of his flash animations and they only get smoother over time. The most recent one was great and I love all the CCC related stuff. Actually, sometimes the physics in my dreams are similar to what is shown in his Flash stuff, but all very vivid in color and the like. That's what leads me to this. In 2005, he did a Flash called "Rush 2", a sequel to one of his earlier bits.

Later, a German group (I'm pretty sure they are anyways) did a fairly accurate live action version of it and released it in 2008. It's pretty good! Here's links to both the original flash and the Live Action version.

Original Flash Version

Live Action Version

I actually feel kinda embarrassed by putting out stuff like this... I guess because it touches me in a strange way that I don't really explain or show. Rather, it's likely something that I'll enjoy while someone else could leave with disdain. I like how rough it is though. I like the pure SPEED conveyed in Vinnies stuff and the kind of haphazardness of the shapes, the style, and I LOVE the strange oddities like the clothes and the cityscape with all the extraneous doodads, smileys, airships, and all other forms of strange stuff decorating the landscape. I think even moreso I like that they aren't just decoration, but are a part of the everyday life of these people and are interacted with.

Speaking of creativity, I did write a complete outline for a short story, though it's not anything near what I was originally considering. Far from the kind of "gritty fantasy" position I was originally considering. In fact it's a more modern tragedy I guess. *laughs* That fact alone makes me want to not write it, but at the same time pursue it. It gives me mixed feelings. I love the individual character I came up with for it, but I hate where he ends up. I think that it may be because it potentially could be someones real "life story".

There is the possibility of going out to the handgun range with B today. This is humorous for the fact that I don't have ANY 45 and haven't even seen any in stock for at least a couple of months now. That said, we do still have that Rohm RG24 left by his grandfather in 22LR... I'm actually kinda scared to shoot it. Brad's managed to keep a supply of 40 though. Makes me wonder if should have gone with the 40 version.

I did go to OC last week for a day. Did plenty of drinking per my brothers request. There were some amusing things that went on. Like the "Clown Condo" across the hall that had the cops visit and resulted in OVER THIRTY PEOPLE all being told to leave. The crowd just kept coming as we sat at the window and counted them. There was a point when my brother asked why I wasn't drinking anymore beer. I told him I couldn't drink anymore. He asked if I was drunk, to which I replied no. He said that I was drunk since I couldn't drink anymore. That's when I told him that I couldn't drink anymore because I was too FULL!

I also managed to jump around in the ocean some, but it got chilly, gray, and breezy when I went down. Of course, the next morning I got an email from the boss telling me I was off work that night. I was happy as all hell! I was going to stay late or even find somewhere to sleep in my car and stay til Friday! Sun came up and it was a brilliant day outside. Then at 9:30AM I got a call from the guy who was supposed to work that night, begging me to cover for him. His wife got into an accident and was fine, but was shaken up and wanted him home. I was hard pressed to say I'd cover, but ended up doing it. I know if Deb had an accident, I'd probably do the same thing.

Before I left, I talked my brother and thanked him for letting me crash there for the night. Went down to the boardwalk area and stopped at this place by 25th street called "Happy Jacks Pancakes" and got a pretty good Western Omelet for a decent price. Left my car parked in their lot since it was uncrowded and walked around the boardwalk for an hour or so. The day was crystal clear. People were already out on the beach and plenty of folks were hanging out on balconies and in shops. I walked down to about 11th from 25th and then back. I wish I'd been able to stay longer, but rolled out around noon. Made it back before 14:30.

Of course, I was pretty annoyed when it turned out that pretty much the whole family, plus Brad, Laura, and the Veeches were ALL down there for the weekend while I was here at work. Added into that was the OC Airshow was that weekend. Damn did I pine for being down there...

When Brad got back, we went and had lunch on Monday. He told me about what they'd gone, seen, and done. Sounds like he and Laura had a great time. I felt pretty wishful when he'd said multiple times he wished I'd been down there with them. Turns out there were things he wanted to do that she didn't and vice versa. More amusingly was that I would've been happy to do any of the things he mentioned!

That said, we started looking into maybe heading down in August and getting a room for all 4 of us. We both agreed we'd like to stay down for at LEAST one night, maybe two. We both said we'd love to spend a day running around the mini-golf courses and maybe taking one of those OC Air Tours that my Dad and I went on a while ago. That and gettin some of those bikes to ride around the boardwalk in the AM. Can't wait for it and everything better work out!

Hm. So much more I could write... I made spaghetti last night! It was win.

Maybe later. I've spent a helluvalot of time on this one already.

Frank...

...has interesting stuff going on in his life. He should update. Damn it, Deb

Samantha Cuteness

4chan

Just a few things from 4chan that make me laugh.

4Chan is as evil as it is wonderful. Endure and profit or run and be frightened, for 4chan can be just as tainted and horrific as it can be hilarious and enlightening.

Remember, everyone is a fag. Everyone. Thatfag, Carfag, Stonedfag, etc.

Just a couple simple things to keep in mind, should you delve into it. BE SURE TO BEWARE /B and /D!!!

So Many Things

Just a brief excerpt from my mind. There's so much more I want to write than this, but if I don't at least throw this out, I'll lose it.

Loraxia came by yesterday! Had a great time! I made awesome-sauce chicken.

I had a short story in mind... I'm actually embarrassed to say what it is, but... The story in Final Fantasy Tactics is so full of political intrigue, backstabbing, double-crosses, deceit, and questions of who is friend or foe that I was considering writing a short story set in that universe. Something where it's either after the end of the events in the game, or some type of alternate ending to the game. It's hard to really describe without giving any spoilers. The game itself is good enough to be a novel.

Had an inspection at work, that was interesting.

I've been interested in and researching Hypnotism in relation to meditation and also the general benefits of hypnosis. The fact that for the past 16 years, the NIH has now confirmed it as a viable therapy method really got my attention considering how taboo it seemed considering all the stage hypnosis that's out there and the BS associated with the real field. I was also surprised at just how many notable psyche Drs, including Sigmund Freud, have actually studied it as well.

Plenty of random stuff to pray/meditate (or at least try to meditate) about. Been reading a few different books slowly. I'm kinda picking up where I left off with some things with unexpected results.

I'm getting used to the food I've been eating lately too I think. Real Deli Meat and Muenster Cheese tastes amazing.

HOLY FUCK THAT LIGHTNING STRIKE WAS AS CLOSE AT THEY GET! That damn thing was literally just across the parking lot and the report was so sharp I almost thought some asshat was outside with a high powered rifle! Sounded like a Mosin Nagant almost, just a little less bassy!

So yep! Off I go!

Make it up.

Alrighty. So the past few days have been interesting.

First things first. Went and saw Star Trek with Deb and Amanda a couple nights back. Gotta say, it was a pretty good movie. I usually am very picky about films and stuff, but that one didn't bug me. I was able to suspend disbelief for it. It all seemed feasible. Thank God.

Also, I know I know. "shutup Frank!" But I did love that they put in that omnidirectional forklift! It is a real piece of equipment that, while expensive as hell, is awesome and makes perfect sense for any forklift operations. There it is. Look for it in the background in the scenes while the cadets are being called up for their various assignments and put on shuttles.


The next morning, Deb and I went to Six Flags. Deb had a Season Pass from when Albert was here. My folks got me a season pass as well so that we could go down and run around. Good for getting out and walking around! And when the water park opens, all the better. Great early b-day gift I hadn't considered!

The place was nearly deserted. It was great! No lines at all! We nearly walked onto whatever we wanted to ride. The worst part was probably that the water park won't open until schools are let out. Ah well. We did ride a few coasters and a couple of other water based rides. Got fairly soaked at one point and Deb nearly tossed her nokia into the water at the bottom of the boat thing we were in.

The other cool thing was that we only saw him once, but he was fun to talk to. There was a Marine who certainly didn't look like your typical fighter pilot. When we were getting on the "Batwing" roller coaster that has you laying down in the seat, then flips you over so you're watching the ground as you race around he made mention that strapping in felt just like when he used to fly jets. I asked him what he flew. The immediate response was F-14s. Needless to say we talked about the new F-18s and how they retired the F-14. Pretty cool guy.

Anyways, we had a good time, but I think I slept on my neck wrong the prior night. After a few rides my neck felt stiff and sore. It had a little before we had even got there, but methinks I aggravated it somewhat. God knows it's hurt like a bitch since we got home. After going to bed to rest a bit, then I got the full brunt of it. I can't hardly move my neck aside from small swiveling. Any kind of motion that requires a large use of my left shoulder/neck or stuff like leaning or moving a certain way that requires tensing it is terribly painful. It feels nearly the same as when I was in OC a few years back and Liberty T-boned the fuck outta me going full throttle in a go-kart.

On a completely related note, SNEEZING SUCKS RIGHT NOW! Tenses up every muscle through the neck area and BAM! Jerks the head forward. Feels lovely.

The most amusing part of this was I jokingly told Deb as we left to go to Six Flags was "You know somethings going to happen and I'm gonna get called into work, just because we went out and did something on a Thursday, right?" Well I'll be damned if it didn't happen. Sure enough, when I got home and checked my email, there was one from Marcus asking me to be on station tonight at Roomstore. Good thing we didn't stay at Six Flags more than we did.

Of course, I don't really mind the OT at all. I kind of missed it. Ok I lied. I terribly miss the extra $. But knowing that I'm getting Holiday pay AND I worked Thurs? Mmmmm... That'll be a nice addition to the next check.

I keep forgetting to check out "The Lube Center". Its a oil change place in Columbia. I've seen em around and I'm wondering how they compare to Jiffy lube. I could probably. change the oil on my own, probably, but I don't have the ramps and stuff to do it. That and I'd rather have it so that I could go yell at them if something happened. Supposedly they do a good job though.

I also need to get some distilled water... The engine coolant is right around the L line, so I've gotta get that filled back up as well as the water for the radiator. Maybe I'll go try to do that now...

First things first though. Rent is due in a couple days. So is renters insurance. Gotta get those outta the way.

Gonna get frustrated not being able to do pushups or really jog at all with this neck thing and sitting in the car is uncomfy as all hell too... *grumble* Yea, I hate it. I actually told Deb "So this is how you must feel to a degree, eh?"

Haha. I'm all over the place now, so I'll stop here. Keep me unbored at work. Feel free to text or whatever!

Seriously want more downloads!!!

A site I attend regularly: http://www.conceptart.org/forums

If you're looking for affordable tutorial videos from professional artists to start in digital, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this site! Just because I've purchased a couple of those videos and they're nice when you combine them with other studies. I think it helps to realize you CAN paint digitally by seeing it done without really adjusting many settings. I think it took me like a year and a half to learn... but participating in this site has made a difference!!

Check out the downloads here to see what kind of art/what kind of stuff is available out there:
http://media.massiveblack.com/

I'll probably refer back to the site, I really do think it's one of the best art communities out there. You don't meet too many places on the internet that take themselves as seriously!

Sandy Point Album

All Frank's Sandy point pictures here, plus video!:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maruichan/sets/72157618695481086/

Sandy Point Beach

So I've been feeling kind of restless and wanting to go to a beach of some kind to take some pictures or something. Finally, I did! This morning, I got up at 5 AM, showered, gathered some things, and went to Sandy Point Beach. It's the last exit before the tolls for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Even better was that it only cost $3.00 per car to get in. That being the case, I paid my dues and started my little photo journey. Only about half of the pictures I took will be shown on here since Flickr decided to limit my upload. Boooooo!



So when I first got there, I sat down and had breakfast. I stopped into a Wawa and got a small sub and a liter bottle of water. Sitting there and watching the bridge and water from the picnic table, as well eating that sub while smelling the fresh breeze was lovely! I thought it was funny that the net was right in front of me as well and watching the birds trying to balance on it in the wind while I slowly ate my sub.



So after I ate I started walking near the concession stand which was closed, but had signs out proclaiming beach balls, chairs, etc for rent. As I was laughing at the signs so happily declaring these things on a desolate beach I turned around and much to my surprise, THIS was there! Holy crap! I haven't seen one of these since I was NYC a few years back! And I actually had a quarter to put in it! I looked at the bridge and the cars going over it, as well as some of the boats. I wanted to take a pic through the eyepiece, but it didn't really come out at all, so I just settled on looking through it naturally. It was fun though.



This is standing in the middle of the beach area, facing to the South and looking at the road leading onto the Bay Bridge. Lovely, clear day.



This is facing to the North. The sun was surprisingly high in the sky for how early it still was.



This surprised me. If you look from left to right at the sand, you can see 3 particular bands in the sand where the tide line rests. It struck me that it was so visible. I guess it helped that there was no one on the beach either.



Don't ask. These signs always amuse me. Moreso because I briefly thought about bringing a couple beers with me, but thought better of it.



BIG EFFIN BOAT!!!! No more explanation needed.



I LOVE this picture. I love how it came out! THAT is what I'd like to be doing in about 40 years. The feeling is right, the composition is right. It's just right. Relaxing, but still having a good time, just enjoying the fact that I'm alive, unbothered by the world around me, still kind of to myself, but sharing it with someone I love. That is probably my biggest goal in life summed up in a picture. That's where I'd like to end up some day. Heck, even the fishing part wouldn't be bad either! I don't know crap about fishing, but lately it seems more and more like something I might be able to enjoy.



I like this one just because of the way the sunlight comes across the image and sort of splits the area between the lighthouse and the boat.



I got lucky with this one. This is the wake from that big ship as it went by. I caught this image right when I realized if I didn't move IMMEDIATELY the water was going to be up to my ankles. I still think it was a pretty cool shot though. One of the best I've ever taken. Here's a link to the big version. It's more badass looking in that one. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3415/3549209646_11c0b5676e_b.jpg



I tried to get a shot of this bird a FEW times. Every time I got anywhere near it, it would fly further away. I ended up having to shoot it with the digital zoom, so it doesn't look as good. I actually think that this is closer to seeing it than I did in person! That bird was massive though. Huge wingspan! And tall. Easily nearly as tall as I am.



This buzzard was pretty funny. He sat on a fence and stared at me for a while with his wings half spread for a while. We watched each other before he finally flew up into that tree. once he was there, we just kind of eyed each other for a while. Yeah. You go, big bird.



Not much to this one. Just found a small wooded area that looked out onto the water and thought it was a neat view.



This is a little further back down that same trail. I liked it.



This made me laugh. Hard. I saw it when I down to the water after I came out of that wooded area. Basically, somebody took some small sticks and sand, then made a little fortress facing the Bay with cannons pointed towards any passing ships. They even put a that little white and blue thing up there as a flag and staked off the corners with other little sticks. Hehe... I actually had to lay in the sand to take the shot.



Just one of the rock groupings. I liked how it curved outward.



This was taken standing out on the end of that curved part of the last picture that seperates the fishing areas from one of the little reservation areas where they have cookouts and stuff.



This also made me laugh. I walked into one of the cookout area bathroom stations and found this. The fact that it is a Waterless Urinal didn't really make me laugh as much as the fact they felt the need to proudly proclaim that it most certainly, without a doubt, absolutely was indeed a waterless urinal!

Nearby they had a seatless toilet. Not even the things that hold the toiletseat were on this thing. It was just a ceramic bowl with water in it and that was it. Sadly that had no sign above it. Just a button for flushing. That said, it wasn't worth posting on Flickr, to me.


I'm not sure, but I think this is the old "Mezick" house that's out there by Sandy Point. I wasn't keen on going too close because I didn't know if anyone still lived there, but you could tell the house had been there for quite some time. Regardless, that'd be awesome to live down there in that house. I'd love it!



This is the South end of the beach from one of the first shots. There's a sort of path made of huge stone that you can walk out on that runs alongside the West running side of the Bay Bridge. There's also a boat launch nearby as well, so it's not uncommon to see boats coming out of there going into the bay. When I worked at the pool company and driving back home, I saw lots of people with fishing gear every few stones out there. This is about as close as you can get to the bridge on foot. For people who're curious, the boats name was "Tail Chaser".



As I was getting ready to leave, a got this shot of a few seagulls chilling on the beach. It was getting warm out and they looked pretty happy.



One of the last things I thought of when I was leaving was "Damn... That IS a big bridge!"




Now be it known there were a few more pics I would've liked to put up, but Flickr is limiting and I'm lazy after typing all that up.

One of them was of something that made me smile. A big family was piling out of their van with the little kids running across the beach to stand by the water while the rest of them hauled all the coolers, chairs, and blankets out to the waters edge. I watched them for a little bit before I got into the car, thinking that maybe years ahead later on they'd remember Sandy Point and go back just to walk around and see the place again. Just a thought that made me grin.

Anyways, that's it for now. I was hoping for something a bit more self-investigative, but it's not happening. I do know that I found my little trip therapeutic though and would like to go again sometime soon. Going by myself was nice, true. I did realize though that I like to share my enjoyment with other people. Having fun alone can be gratifying for me, but I also truly feel satisfied when I can share it with someone else. *shrugs* Whatever the case may be, I enjoyed myself!