Well, my sub is gone now. I miss it dreadfully. It's addictively pleasant!

I'm still in the final stretch of the spring semester at college, so I won't be alive for a while yet. Consequently, death of journal until later on.

In the meantime:

Please consider commissioning in the next couple weeks, or even just donating if you're one of those beautifully generous types. She's in a tight financial spot that needs a rather quick/immediate resolution. You can read more at her journal and the links she provides.

If you're in a hurry, however, and don't think you can be bothered to click over to her deviantart page, you can click here to donate (or learn the quick and straight about what's up): [link]

Lee is a very good person, and has been there for others with the sort of generosity I'm asking anyone who can to show now.

Remember that, even when you don't know someone personally, your actions matter to their life and everyone's.

The semester continues. I've been doing a great deal of traditional media artwork that I actually LIKE (trust me, this is a new development) in the last three months. Unfortunately, methods to show them to you at decent quality are not readily available because of the typically large scale they're worked in. Ah, well.

It's been a good semester, if a hard one. I have a little over a month left and, though struggling, am hopeful that I will come out pleased with myself this spring.

I was planning on taking a couple of courses over the summer, but as it is I think I might not, for fear of burning out.

Attending a regular college or university for art often brings up the disappointing fact that an academic setting is completely RIDICULOUS for many artists to endure. It's somewhat impractical to believe that an artist would need to produce work in the ways and schedules that a college expects of a student. Certainly it's important to learn how to produce on demands and deadlines, important to learn how to satisfy someone you completely disagree with, important to learn so many mediums and methods and expand your horizons! But come on. In an average week, I'm often expected to do an amount of artwork that costs about 21 hours of work outside of class hours, at least $30 of supplies, and additional paperwork. And that's per a class. To keep on schedule with school's demands of graduation plans, most full time art students at my college need to take five or six classes per semester, at least three of those being art program classes and at least two being "general education." At the end of a week, I am usually going to have had to find time to complete a few smaller scale artworks, perhaps 50% each on two larger scale projects, two random homework assignments that need to be typed out, and perhaps a paper, while reading from four different textbooks or other materials. At some point in all that I will have needed to do research for term papers and likely attended gallery showings or artist talks that someone thinks should be required for a class. At the same time, I need to eat and sleep and, oh, perhaps breathe.

On top of this, my particular college is a commuter campus. The majority percentage of students commute at least 45 minutes to get to the college, apparently. I, for one, frequently commute at least an hour to, and then an hour from, campus three times a week. That eats up a lot of time. A larger number of students also hold jobs, and need to commute to those as well.

Yes, my college has its advantages. It's cheap, is in convenient cahoots with the metro area public transportation system, and is closer than other options in the state.

But if I had the money, I would gladly attend elsewhere. Somewhere oriented more toward art and less toward "general education". Not that I frown on learning math or science. I think it's necessary. I simply believe that the organization of majors programs at a campus best known for its science and aviation programs? Is not at all geared toward the very different orientation necessary to teach prospective leaders of art fields, be it commercial design or production or freelance fine art or whatever.

I also find it ironic that, in view of the common cliche truth of a phrase like "starving artists," getting an education in art is so very expensive just in terms of having to buy or pay for everything we need to complete assignments. Meanwhile, the other programs' students pay far far far less. Tuition, department fees, that's usually it. Again, this seems especially absurd considering the "cheap, affordable" touting the college does of itself, geared toward people on low or medium income.

Artists need education often as much as everybody else. Nobody is a genius alone, except the occasional savant, and even they frequently will need a degree of some sort under their belt just to be taken seriously by employers. Honestly, that's why I'm in college (and if I graduate, I think I'll be the first in the family to do so), just to make sure I have a BA at least in case I need to please some close-minded employer. Besides, the opportunity to learn is precious.

Ah, well. Envy and bitchin' gets me nowhere. I will push through, persevere, and conquer. And when it's over, I will be grateful and remember that, regardless of its faults...the opportunity was still a blessing. I have so much more than some have ever had a chance at, and I am in some way lucky.

I hope someday to give free art lessons to the less fortunate, homeless or otherwise. Serious, genuine lessons, providing all necessary materials myself or through like-minded benefactors, and encourage innovation to cut costs in making art: like using what you can find lying around you every day, instead of going to a store to get something fancy-schmancy. I'd like to help those students get their art seen, get feedback from people who aren't blowing it out their ass or looking to get good publicity or sound sophisticated, move up in the world through something that makes them feel good. I'd like to teach, I really would, but NEVER for an academic institution. Art and the general academic world. A match made for divorce.

To contrast my snarly arguments above, see this article of which I also highly approve: 7 Reasons Why You Should Go To Art School by Joumana Medlej, aka `Cedarseed

In other news: SHEESH, do I ever need a good journal CSS. ><

--Kate



SOME OF MY LOVIES!


THE PE ( )
Captain --> -- go to her journal to see a list of who is in PE currently!




Random lovely:



I like good music, you should too. Check out my eclecticism and build your own at Last.FM! (Please note that I will not add people as friends who I do not know, no offense.)



I have been asked several times what the Unavisi are, and I know a lot of my buddies who are members of the Unavisi community have as well (especially Mel). To answer one question: no, sorry, you can't really make one. The Unavisi is a private affair and their existence truly belongs to Brianne Goetz ~brianne333 . You can't have more information than that, sorry! But you can enjoy the art some of our members generate, or that we commission from many people here at deviantART and elsewhere. Just use the search bar to look for "unavisi" or look in any of our favorites collections!

The Unavisi community (when we're awake/alive, at least) is...
~brianne333 =anathemasremedy *ravekitten ~ladyofdragons ~pariahsdream ~Lady-Silvercat *kendre *lupinsansei *dreor *blitterbug *roxxy-chan *Uneide ~ren52 *sketchtastrophe ~greekamazon =alienfirst *Loreli-AngelofDeath *lilena =tana-chan ~Psamophis

We have several other members, but I'm honestly not sure if they're alive among the comm anymore. Guys? You out there? Hehe.

Hey y'all. The following artists are open for commissions. Some of them need the money very badly right away, so check 'em out!

= really neat style, needs money pronto for this month's rent!
= needs money for poorness-in-the-red, offering incredibly cheap deals.
[link] = open for traditional commissions at the moment
= $10 busts! I recommend the charcoal, she does some neat ones.
= trying to bulk up savings for a year of studying abroad in Japan
= cheap
= not cheap, but high quality

May update with more/less/others later!

--Kate



SOME OF MY LOVIES!


THE PE ( )
Captain --> -- go to her journal to see a list of who is in PE currently!




Random lovely:



I like good music, you should too. Check out my eclecticism and build your own at Last.FM! (Please note that I will not add people as friends who I do not know, no offense.)



I have been asked several times what the Unavisi are, and I know a lot of my buddies who are members of the Unavisi community have as well (especially Mel). To answer one question: no, sorry, you can't really make one. The Unavisi is a private affair and their existence truly belongs to Brianne Goetz *brianne333 . You can't have more information than that, sorry! But you can enjoy the art some of our members generate, or that we commission from many people here at deviantART and elsewhere. Just use the search bar to look for "unavisi" or look in any of our favorites collections!

The Unavisi community (when we're awake/alive, at least) is...
*brianne333 =anathemasremedy *ravekitten *ladyofdragons ~pariahsdream ~Lady-Silvercat *kendre *lupinsansei =dreor *blitterbug *roxxy-chan *Uneide ~ren52 *sketchtastrophe *greekamazon =alienfirst *Loreli-AngelofDeath *lilena =tana-chan

We have several other members, but I'm honestly not sure if they're alive among the comm anymore. Guys? You out there? Hehe.

It's been almost a month since my last "weekly" journal. Hehe, that didn't last long, huh? Well, truth is, I actually find it vaguely annoying in a childish way when some people update their journals almost every day. Not that there's anything wrong with that! I'm just a silly thing. Anyway, I'm going to scoot it to a monthly journal and just try to update the PE Feature part and the Wisdom part weekly if I can. Well, Wisdom tonight, but not the feature, because it's past 2 AM and I should really consider that sleep thing.

I'm back in classes again, yet another semester of battling to keep the charcoal out from under my fingernails, my focus set long enough to survive lectures, and my urge to teach a class I'm a student in under control. Honestly, I love learning and I like the routine of college. I know I shouldn't complain. But what kind of young person would I be if I didn't? Heh.

I thought I'd make a note on something: I talk to strangers! If someone seems interesting or just nice on deviantART, I am prone to adding their usernames to my messenger list and contacting them without warning. I try to be a decent conversationalist and not scare anyone off. I think it's important to remember the community part of deviantART more often and utilize the networking opportunities. I've gotten to know some amazing people this way over the years and I hope to get to know many more to come. So strangers? Be very afraid!

I am hoping to post more traditional media artwork in the next couple months. ...hoping.

--Kate



SOME OF MY LOVIES!


THE PE ( )
Captain --> -- go to her journal to see a list of who is in PE currently!




Random lovely:








What's Kate listening to?
I like good music, you should too. Check out my eclecticism and build your own at Last.FM!

Sooo...today's the 30th. That means that some of my friends are already on the last day of 2007 (they live in places like Australia and New Zealand), those crazy futuristic kids! A new year is coming. Wooooo. Now, normally I don't do new year's resolutions because...well...why? I set goals every day, and every day I do what I can to accomplish those goals. Why do I have to come up with really good ones at the start of a year? BAH.

But incidentally, I'm coming into a part of my life in terms of growth where I just HAPPEN to feel like setting some big goals for myself. I don't expect to accomplish all of them in the coming year, or in two years even. It'd be great if I did! But no holding my breath or binding my soul to the idea that it MUST be done in 2008. Still, I thought I'd list them here to bully myself a bit into keeping motivated!

For Art...
1) Finish a big piece of art that is worthy of making prints of.
2) Do more backgrounds.
3) Attempt more action illustrations with characters.
4) Attempt a short sequential of some sort.

For Life...
1) Consider joining a club of some sort. Art, or something.
2) Find an apartment in Denver.
3) Find a job easily commuted to from said apartment.
4) Put myself out there. Stop letting the past keep me back.

For Every Day...
1) Schedule classwork and leisure as diligently as I have other things.
2) Remember to recognize things to be grateful for.
3) Say a kind word to a stranger.
4) Stay happy.

--Kate



SOME OF MY LOVIES!


THE PE ( )
Captain --> -- go to her journal to see a list of who is in PE currently!




Three random lovelies:
Recommended artist of the week:








What's Kate listening to?
I like good music, you should too. Check out my eclecticism and build your own at Last.FM!