my place

My new bebe

2011-08-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

Desk Sketches

2011-03-02T06:39:00.002-08:00

Jellies

2011-01-24T19:21:00.001-08:00

Working with the Watercolor Pencils.

Jellyfish

2011-01-22T20:39:00.001-08:00

K-9 and a Dalek - Watercolor color pencils

2011-01-22T12:05:00.000-08:00

second time using the watercolor pencils. They're fun, but my sketch books doesn't agree with them...

A Dalek - Watercolor Color Pencils

2011-01-20T20:03:00.000-08:00

I had a 40%off coupon for Blick, so I splurged on some Watercolor Color pencils. I have never used them before... Lots of trial and error ahead....

A Dalek and a belated New Years Resolution

2011-01-19T19:16:00.001-08:00

To make at least one entry a day in the sketch book, that's the plan.

11.15.10 - Todays caffeine fueled entry

2010-11-15T20:33:00.000-08:00

I have kept up drawing pretty much daily, however most of it isn't worth posting. Today's doodle was a Doctor Who collage. I'd like to polish this one up some and make a proper fan art piece.

11.4 - 11.5: More Paul the Octopus

2010-11-06T17:16:00.000-07:00

Still getting used to using ink...

11.1.10 - Work in Progress

2010-11-02T20:26:00.001-07:00

10.29.10 - Introducing 맥주 (MaekJu)

2010-10-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

맥주 means beer in Korean. How did 맥주 get his name... One day he was scavaging for some fruits and just so happened to come upon some fermented ones and got horribly drunk. 맥주 is from Korea (tho I don't think Korea has raccoons... I call Artistic license ^.^) and he's a friendly lil raccoon. When he see newcomer Trevor scared and lonely, he goes to become friends with him. However, Trevor does not speak Korean and they must find a way to understand each other.

I wasn't too happy with the way this one came out. I'm having some issues with bodies at the moment.

This one came out better, I just need to darken it up some.

I hope to turn Trevor's and 맥주 adventures in learning to understand each other, into a project to help me learn Korean. I think focusing on sentences instead of vocabulary might speed up my conversational skills.

10.28.10 - Introducing Trevor and Art Trading Cards

2010-10-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

For a while now, a few of my friends have be making hand drawn art trading cards. Today I took the plunge and joined in. I dedicated my first card to Paul the Octopus. It's a "Commemorative Card: in his honor. I'm still getting the hang of hand drawing and shading (darn the ease of computer aided drawing/illustrating).

For my second card I went for a panda I've been working on. His name is Trevor. He's going to be a bit of a klutz. Trevor will meet a new friend friend shortly (who I will introduce soon... when I decide on a name...).

I've decided to number each card somewhere. The first card has a small #1 located on the left under Paul's tentacle. I hope to have them either blend in or really stand out.

10.27.10 - Paul the Octopus

2010-10-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I found out that Paul the Octopus (the Psychic one who predicted World Cup Winners) had passed away.

10.26.10

2010-10-26T18:16:00.001-07:00

Daily Drawing Sessions

2010-10-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

Have become daily ^.^

Wow it's been a while since my last post...

2010-10-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

I've been working at a Children's Publishing company for a little over a month now and I love it. It's exactly the job I've always wanted.

Other than finally becoming employed. New York Comic con was not to long ago. I have to say it was the most fun I have ever had at a convention. Which is weird since it was primarily a comics convention even though it was combined with NY Anime fest (that and was super crowded and way corporate).

Highlight of the con was meeting Jim Butcher and having him sign 2 of my Dresden Files books (Grave Peril and Dead Beat). Grave Peril is the book which really got me hooked on the Dresden Files and Dead Beat is my favorite so far (I'm up to White Knight).

^Jim Butcher is on the far left (he cut his hair >_<)^

I also went to a couple of really good panels. A fantasy writers one featuring Jim Butcher, Joe Abercrombie, Peter V. Brett, Naomi Novik, Brandon Sandersons and Deborah Harkness , and "A evening with James Marsters" which was really great. Marsters seems to have a really genuine and appreciative personality for someone in his career (which made spending the 45 bucks on a handshake and Torchwood glossy photo for him to sign well worth it).

The masquerade was oky. Only a few stand out performances which you can watch on youtube.

During my down time I volunteered at various times and places during the weekend. Mostly telling people to go to hall 1C for the IGN theater panels and handing out maps and swag bags.

On the last day of the con some friends and I opted to sleep in and hit up the Korean Harvest Festival at Randals Island. Chuosuk festival in NY usually brings 1 or 2 big name music groups from Korea. My first time going (while it was still held in Flushing) was Ivy. The Wonder Girls performed one year too. This year Lee Hyori was scheduled, though I don't think she performed. Anyway, the performances are usually Saturday night and my priorities were at Comic Con, so we only ended checking out the stands, trying samples, looking at stuff to buy and ultimately eating. We hung around for some Korean style wrestling then headed back to Javits center to wander around for the last few hours of the con.

The night ended at Shanghi Mongs in K-town and then home to crash (back to work on Monday).

During the Fantasy Writers Panels, something that all the authors agreed on was writing a set limit every day (even if it's crap). That's something that can be pretty much applied to any hobby. Which has led me (slowly) to drawing everyday.

Lately after work, a group of friends and I go for a stroll around the area, eat, and then draw. It's been really productive.

Weekend Adventures

2010-09-06T16:19:00.001-07:00

I'm Employed! So my adventures (biking and regular) will have now have to fall on the weekends and holidays. Saturday some friends and I went for a joy ride to Far Rockaway to check out Fort Tilden. Neither any of my friends or I had ever been to Far Rockaway before so it was a bit of an adventure getting there. I don't know how the commute is, but it looked like a nice area (and it was right on the beach). With Hurricane Earl working its way up the east coast the waves were fun to watch.

The rest are on my Flickr

Sunday was an Bike Adventure to Mitsuwa in New Jersey. The weather was perfect for riding, so with an bright and early start at 9:30 we rode to Flushing and caught the 7 train into the city. Exiting out at Bryant Park we headed west for the Hudson river green path to make our way up to the George Washington Bridge. The west side green path is such a nice ride (and smooth). I wish I lived in the city then I would be able to ride it every day. Once we got over to the New Jersey side there was a HUGE curvy hill down to Edgewater. When we finally to Mitsuwa food was the only thing on my mind. I really wanted goyza, but I needed meat so I opted for chicken katsu. After eating, browsing and relaxing by the water it was getting late, so we had to figure out how we were going to get back to New York. There was that HUGE hill to face if we were going to back track (which did not sound fun). So on to our options: NY Waterway ferry at 9.50 each (with a bike) or ride down to Hoboken and take the Path. We chose the Path.

Overall it was a little over 33 mile ride (not counting the subway rides).

The rest are on my Flickr

New York Renaissance Faire

2010-08-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

^ Taken by the dude selling the hermit crabs ^

The rest are on my flickr

Saturday some friends and I went to check out the Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo New York. We dined on Turkey legs, Steak on a Steak, and Mead; did some archery and watched lots of interesting events.

It was my second time there and happened to be pirate weekend so I wore my pirate hat and sword and skull and cross bone earrings.

I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked to (I only brought one lens with me >_<).

Summer Streets 2010 - Week 2

2010-08-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

Though we got off to bit of a late start, it was a great ride. Over all around 30 miles.

We started off at my garage and rode to Flushing Meadows Park, where we met up with the rest of our group, then took the 7 train to the city. First thing I learned was going up stairs with a bike is EVIL, going down is much easier, and I owe a HUGE thanks to Oliver and Christine who helped me up the stairs.

The weather was frickin' awesome (tho a lil chilly for swimming in the dumpster pools). I saw tons of dogs in baskets and trailers, I also saw a unicyclist (I wonder if he rode the whole route!?). Another oddity was the petty cab hauling the stripper pole with ladies dancing.

After they opened up the streets again, we made our way over to China town for food and some window shopping (J&L and Elizabeth street mall). We then rode up the East side green route where we were going to take the subway back but caught our second winds and rode back to flushing.

Summer Streets 2010

2010-08-08T10:13:00.001-07:00

Today my body is a bit stiff, but I survived my first time ever riding to the city from Queens ^.^

Summer Streets was pretty fun, next week I really want to try out the dumpster pool and go both uptown to down and then down to up. Oh and take more pictures.

Over all it was about a 36 mile ride (not counting the brief ride on the 7 train back to Queens :P).

What I've been up to:

2010-08-05T18:31:00.001-07:00

Other than job hunting, I've been bit by the biking bug.

After completing my first "Tour de Queens" I bought a new bike and have been a cycling demon. I love the freedom and the money I'm saving not having to spend on the bus.

The other day I discovered a site called "Map My Ride", that lets me log my ride (it's frick'n awesome) I wish I had a iPhone so I could hook it up with the GPS and have it map automaticly.

Today I rode about 11 miles:

This Saturday starts off "Summer Streets". I have walked it a few times but this will be the first time I've ridden it (and ridden to the city).

Cardinal Family

2010-07-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

Recently a family of cardinals moved into the tree outside my place. I was taking pictures of the male sitting in a tree chirping to his lady, when I looked and saw that there was a baby bird in the tree right next to me. The male and female cardinal were giving the baby flying lessons. It was really cute watching them fly with the lil one and staying close when he couldn't make it as far as they could.

More over at my Flickr

Graduation and the Air Show

2010-05-29T18:38:00.000-07:00

Graduation was Thursday. I didn't know what the ceremony was going to be like at Queens College and was nicely surprised with how quick it went (as I was roasting in my oven bag cap and gown). After the main ceremony each major broke off into individual ceremonies where awards were given out (I received Honors in Art). Then it was off to Olive Garden with my family.

Friday I spent cleaning out the studio. I'm going to miss having that art space.

And today I caught the tail end of the "Bethpage Federal Credit Union 2010 Air Show" at Jones beach. It was insane. I had never seen an air show live in person so I took a TON of pictures.

I posted a bunch to my Flickr

Raging Pineapple - The Comic

2010-05-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hung in the student gallery.

Shot with my Yashica-C TLR and Nikon D-60 printed digitally and mounted on museum board. The side prints in the top photo are printed on fiber and I hand colored a few.

The Tattooed Tortoise - 3 of 3

2010-05-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

Senior Project review is tomorrow and a Art History final Friday then I'm done. T.T I'm gonna miss school.

Three of Three - WIP and Camera Woes

2010-05-15T18:44:00.001-07:00

Still gotta add the tattoos and do the final touch ups.
As for my camera woes >_< my wonderfully awesome Yashica-C TLR isn't so wonderfully awesome. The film advance has been wonky and I am only getting 7 shots tops on a 12 frame roll. I'm not sure if it's worth it to get it fixed (since I paid so little for it) or if I should just get another camera. I have been eyeing a few Mamiya and Fuji medium format cameras. I've been wanting something more hand held but still medium format.

And finally, my Senior Project is pretty much done. I'm not posting pictures up till after the review committee goes over it on tuesday. But here's a shot just after being mounted.

They are dry mounted to museum board.

Senior Project Show info

2010-05-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

The Worlds Strongest Goldfish - 2 of 3

2010-05-08T19:02:00.001-07:00

Two of Three - WIP

2010-05-06T19:13:00.001-07:00

I LOVE watercolor.

And in other news: My "Mapaches Bandido" was hung on the first floor of the Klapper Hall WOOT WOOT ^.^

One of Three

2010-05-01T20:37:00.001-07:00

22" x 30"

First of 3 sideshow posters I am doing for Drawing II. Assignment was to make a series of 3 (of basically anything). I've been playing around in my sketch book with weird animals and this one just came from that. It's mostly watercolor and some ink.

Los Mapaches Bandido

2010-04-18T15:08:00.001-07:00

Spent all day yesterday finishing up this. Total paper size is 26"x 40" art is 24"x 24".

Close up.

Drawing II - Update

2010-04-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

Final subway drawing.

Next project WIP

Epic Painting in Progress

2010-03-30T18:12:00.000-07:00

Does it look like sky yet? Gotta add the fluffy clouds next ^.^

Medium Format Prints

2010-03-28T18:22:00.001-07:00

First time printing anything larger than a 8x10. Can't wait to trim and mount on mat board ^.^.

220/120

2010-03-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Why are cameras so nice? Why must they cost so much? Why is medium format so addicting?

Having used my Yashica C for a bit now, I don't think I could go back to shooting 35mm. The only downside to the Yashica is that it has no light meter. I could get a one... But I would rather get another 220/120 camera that has one. Saw this on eBay, used it's still $$$ >_< one day....

Pentax 6x7 MLU medium format camera package 120 220

Studio Update

2010-03-23T17:21:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since I posted pics from my shared studio.

Ajax

2010-03-22T18:42:00.001-07:00

I'll take a better photo eventually...

Acrylics are FUN

2010-03-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

Back to work

2010-03-13T18:49:00.000-08:00

My final semester has been pretty busy so I haven't posted a lot. Here is a drawing I'm working on for Drawing II. 24" x 36" of the Metro DC.

1996-2010

2010-03-07T16:42:00.001-08:00

My last Semester

2010-02-09T15:03:00.001-08:00

My final semester at Queens College has started and is going well. I'm taking Drawing 2, Comparative Analysis, Senior Project, and Modern Art History.

For Senior Project, we are given studio space, which is AWESOME! I lucked out with 3rd choice in the random lottery and was able to have my first choice of rooms. I think it's one of the nicer rooms, plus it has a window (not all of them do).

I'm not exactly sure what I want to do for my senior project, but I would like to explore medium format (with my Yashica-C) and multi-panel images. As a side project (not sure if I can include it as a "senior project") I will be working on a Final Fantasy XIII cosplay of Hope Estheim (woohoo wood shop access for his boomerang). This will be the first time I have attempted a completely matching outfit from mostly scratch.

My name is Suzy, and I am a camera Addict

2010-01-15T13:04:00.001-08:00

Say Hello to my new (used) Yashica-C TLR from ebay. Aint he cute. I just got done shooting and developing my first roll with him. I used the Lomo film from the previous post.

So far so good. It doesn't have a light meter so I used my digital camera as one. The negs looks really sharp, but I'll see after I get to scanning them. I've been looking around for camera shops that do servicing to give him a good cleaning and tuning.

I posted the negative scans over at my Flickr

Developed my FIRST EVER ROLL of 120 film

2010-01-13T14:48:00.001-08:00

Mystery 100 iso Lomography film too. I searched for development times, but ended up using a guesstimate based on Kodak 100 at 9.5 mins with D-76 1:1.

Observances: Film is too slow for my Holga on normal, sky shots are over and Ajax shots are under. Loading 120 onto reels is way easier than I thought it was going to be.

I have 2 more rolls left of the Lomo film, after those are done I don't think I'll ever use them again. First its totally overpriced. I was desperate to try my Holga with 120 film and it was a Friday (all main camera/film stores are closed Friday afternoons and all day Saturdays). Second I searched and asked around for development times. I mainly use the Massive Development Chart for times when I lose packaging. Third, I like using Illford.

Spring semester needs to start soon so I can go back in the darkroom and get printing.

Artsy Fartsy

2010-01-11T14:09:00.001-08:00

I decided to make a photo album/journal/sketchbook using my Holga. I'm having a lot of fun trying things out with it, I figured I should just document it.

I got this perfect camera bag the other day at the Army Navy store on 8th Street. Fits my Holga, film, phone, pen and paper (oh and No Brain and Ajax the Doggy pins) perfectly .

Newest Craving a TLR camera

2010-01-10T14:08:00.001-08:00

I first came in contact with a TLR camera last semester in Photo 3 at school. One of my class mates was using one. It's a medium format camera using 120 film. I've been keeping my eyes out for used ones lately, so far I've seen them sell for anywhere between 10 buck to hundreds of dollars.

Over the weekend I bought my first rolls of 120 film to try with the Holga, fingers crossed ^.^

YAY I'm going to be...

2010-01-06T16:45:00.000-08:00

"Friday Featured Poet" over at Provocative Haiku on Friday Jan 8th.

I saw this on ebay - Chinese red hongmei-1 120 Medium Format Folding Camera

2009-12-28T19:22:00.000-08:00

It's a bright red eye sore and I want it. With shipping from China it would be around 75 or so bucks. Ahh if only I was working and was able to splurge on random things (specially not knowing if they work or not).

Web Site News

2009-12-25T11:34:00.000-08:00

I've uploaded the new site. It still needs some work, but I think I'll work on it more if its actually live rather than sitting on my desktop.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays !

New Holga 120N scans ^.^

2009-12-24T16:58:00.001-08:00

After my first go at scanning the negatives with brackets, I have figured out that marking the scan area on the glass and leaving the negatives in the plastic holder, that they are SO MUCH EASIER to scan. I was taping each strip to the glass so it would lay flat, but that took way too much time. I also had issues with the software that came with the scanner and found a way around it by using Image Capture.

The rest are on my Flickr

Black and White with my Holga 120N

2009-12-24T13:51:00.000-08:00

Shot two rolls this week of the snow and neighborhood on the Holga. It's been a really long time since I have developed negatives at home but even with our new smaller sink I managed pretty well. However when it came to hanging the film to dry I ran into a snag. We used to have a curtain rod that was movable that I could shift to the center of the tub, but now we have glass sliding doors. So what to do... I grabbed my Katana from when I cosplayed as Tashigi from One Piece and used that.

First Scans from my Holga120

2009-12-23T12:53:00.000-08:00

The rest can be seen at my Flickr.

I have a roll of Illford HP5 in now almost ready for developing ^.^

I got a Holga ^.^

2009-12-18T19:08:00.000-08:00

I've wanted one for such a long time, so for finishing the semester without going insane I got one.
I shot my first roll with it modded to hold 35mm film. Hopefully tomorrow I can have it developed (hoping that the snow will hold off till later in the day). I also have my eye on a Golden Half Camera, but I can wait for graduation to get one.

Final Lithography Prints

2009-12-17T17:05:00.001-08:00

For the final pieces I added some eyelets and fabric.

Photography III - Final Project

2009-12-10T20:05:00.000-08:00

"Accumulation of Stuff"
15" x 15"

15" x 15"

15" x 15"

16" x 10"

10" x 24"

Web Site News

2009-11-17T13:24:00.000-08:00

My site redesign has been going well. There's only 4 more weeks left in the semester so school is taking priority (which is hard because I'm having fun redoing my site).

I've officially retired from using GoLive and switched back over to Dreamweaver. It has been about 4 years since I used it last at school and has had lots of updates. Like with inDesign and Quark I've always been more comfortable with adobe products. Even after adobe became one with macromedia I still preffered using GoLive and stuck with GoLive cs2. I will always have a special place in my heart for GoLive but I am becoming more comfortable with Dreamweaver.

Aside from Dreamweaver, I'm also using Illustrator and Photoshop. The site itself has a clean vintage feel to it and am happy with how its looking. Right now I'm brainstorming ideas for a flash intro for the main page. The rest of the pages are pretty much done. I'm not sure if I should wait and upload the whole site as a whole or upload with a temporary main page just to get it up.

Other news: I have registered for my final semester and will be graduating this Spring! 3 studio classes and one art history and I'm done. Up next job hunt and then Masters ;).

2nd Plate Prints

2009-11-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

Etched PlateFirst Print

Print on Fabric

My 2nd Fan Art - Lithography Plate

2009-11-01T19:50:00.000-08:00

Bulldaegal from No Brain!!

tomorrow in class we process and print. I got some canvas fabric to test out. I'll try to take some more photos of the process.

First Prints

2009-10-28T13:22:00.001-07:00

My First Fan Art - Lithography Plate

2009-10-25T21:22:00.001-07:00

Bulldaegal from No Brain!!

tomorrow in class we print so fingers crossed !

Change

2009-10-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

I've decided to put the education part of my degree on hold for a bit. I'm not sure if it's what I really want to do. Public speaking freaks me out. So does being in charge of a semi large group of kids taller than me. Lots of changes going on and I'm not sure where I'm headed at the moment so for now I'm just going focus on art.

As for this site, I'm going to convert it to a project blog. Posting stuff I'm working on.

contact

2009-07-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

We'll contacts. Photography is going good.

Finally got to the beach.

Photography - Back in the darkroom

2009-07-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

This is the first week of Summer Session II and the start to my photography 2 class. It's been like over 6 years since I've been in the dark room. I had taken photography 1, 2 and advanced darkroom at Queensborough as electives towards my AA degree. Unfortunatly they didn't transfer over as matching credited courses >_<. So I have to retake photo 2. For our first assignment, we made pin-hole camera neg/prints made from old photo paper boxes. It was oky.

I don't know how I'm liking the class or not. It's a mixed class, meaning it's mostly photography 1 students with a few 2 and 3's. It's great to be back in the darkroom I missed it lots. I also signed up to be a lab monitor so I have access when I need it (which is a great thing cause the class is quite crowded).

This time round I'm using a fully manual SLR (thankees Donald for letting me borrow it). My other SLR is a Minolta Maxxum, which has auto settings along with Manual, shutter priority and aperture priority, which I tended to use way too much ;).

My First Work Sheets.

2009-06-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

One of the assignments for my Development of Language and Literacy class, is to write a Authors Study paper based on a children book author and then create two work stations with activities that focus on word study and comprehension. Below are two work sheets I made based on the book Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth.

Template for Pop Up Book

2009-06-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

In class today, my Professor asked me to create a "pop up book page" for the class to see. She gave me a hand out with a basic overview on how to make the page.

Fold a piece of paper.
Cut a "tab" in the middle on the fold.
Fold "tab" in opposite direction
Glue on tab a character.

This is a link I found with more detailed instructions: http://library.thinkquest.org/J001156/makingbooks/em_popup.htm

On my way home from class I was brainstorming ideas and came up with a simple panda in a tree and pop up panda and baby. Since this is for a language development class I added some lines for a student to make up a story of what is going on in the picture.

Pop out panda
Background Image
Almost complete. I didn't know I had construction paper, so I started re-doing it collage style.