joe randel's art dump

Do you have quotes in your head that have helped pave the way to be who you are?  How many do you have and who put them there?  I have a few that I remember my Dad telling me when I was little.  I couldn’t have been more then 9 or 10 but I distinctly remember him telling me “what ever you decide to do in life, make sure that you enjoy it.  There’s nothing worse then getting up to go to a job that you hate“.  That has always been in the back of my head and has helped me push myself towards a career that I’m passionate about.

Another one that my Dad put in my head was “don’t let people walk all over you“.  I’ve had a harder time with this one as I don’t like confrontation and so will sometimes let others win to avoid arguments.  I try, but I’m not always the alpha male that I’d like to be.  Some personal growth is still required in that area.

Finally, one of my animation teachers said “don”t draw for the money, draw because you love it“.  I’ve kept that one in my head too.  It’s fascinating how the things we read or hear can strike a cord with us.  It might not affect us for years, but when they do, things can all of a sudden make sense.

What are your quotes?

If you could take some extra classes to learn what ever you wanted, what would it be?  I’m torn between two things.  One would be photography.  I’ve always loved to take pictures, and if I could learn how to set up and take better photos… well, that would be awesome.  Although, I’m sure if I just sprung for a new, fancy camera, I could just teach myself to take good photos with out paying school fees.

The other thing I’d love to learn about and study is how people draw.  Specifically, how people that can’t/don’t draw, draw.  I was watching one of the programmers try do draw something the other day I noticed that he wasn’t putting any thought in to the line he was putting down.  Nor was he thinking about where the line was going to be.  He also would but down details that he knew he would need for the drawing, but not put much thought in to where they where in relation to his work.  I found this fascinating and would love to study that more.  That mixed in with the development of children and how they learn to draw.  My prof said that children all go through a similar pattern of shapes and symbols when they learn how to draw.  Heck, I don’t even know if you can go and learn or study that sort of thing anywhere, but I would love it.

Any ideas on what you’d want to learn?

Thought I’d post up a bit of a tease pic from the Tinkerbell folio I’m doing up.  This pic is actually done, but I like the rough and thought I’d put a bit of it up to share (no peeking though… sorry ^_^).  If people are wondering about why her hair isn’t in her typical bun, it’s because in the Tinkerbell CG movie she arrives in Pixie Hollow wearing a milk seed dress and her hair is down like this… and she looks super cute.  I thought it might be cool to do a pic of her like that.  Any thoughts?

Today (April 9th) my Beagle turns 10.  It’s strange to think that my dog is now is in his senior years. I remember when he was puppy.  Not just a little puppy though.  A new born puppy.

See 10 years ago my wife and I fostered a lady Beagle that was pregnant.  We didn’t know that she was pregnant, the Humane Society told us she was just fat.  When we went to pick her up they told us that she was indeed pregnant and that if we wanted, they could have a vet “scrape the puppies out”.  That’s not an exaggeration, she literally said scrape.  We where horrified at that the thought, told her no and brought her home.  A few weeks later she gave birth to 7 Beagle puppies!  Right there in our very own living room.  She let us touch and hold the new born puppies and we even helped to break some of the birth sacks for her… which she later ate.  The puppies eventually had to go back to the Humane Society to be adopted and we ended up with Momma Beagle for our own.  She was sad to loose all her babies and you could tell.

A few days later I went to drop off some dog food as a donation and I saw one of the Beagle puppies behind the counter.  I asked the worker about him and mentioned I had heard that all the puppies had found new homes.  They told me the others did but this one was never picked up and no one could be reached regarding him.  I called my wife right away and asked if she wanted to adopt him too.  She said yes and by the end of the day we had brought back one of Momma’s puppies to her.  She was so happy! ^_^

Sadly we lost Momma dog to invertible disk disease two years later so we’re extra happy to still have one of her puppies with us.  10 years later I still look back and remember the tiny little puppy that made his way in to the world in my living room.  Here’s to you Bernard!  I hope you had a happy birthday!

We lost something today. A bite guard.  Pretty sure it accidentally got thrown out and I’m pretty sure I was the one that did it.  It was left on the kitchen counter and in my rush to clean up I think I might have picked it up and tossed it.  So, I did the proper thing and I went through a full bag of kitchen garbage to find it.  No dice.  We then looked around the house and I even checked the garbage baskets around the house.  Still nothing.  I even went and checked the kitchen garbage a second time and looked through it like it was a crime scene.   Sadly, I wasn’t able to find it.  I guess that means it’s still in the house some where… the question is… where.  If you know, please let me know.

Have you ever had to dig through the garbage to find something?  It’s not fun.

I can only assume that people that come to my little corner of the internet also visit other gallery type sites.  I know I do.  I tend to visit Pixiv a lot because I can check out all my favorite Japanese artists.  If you’re looking to get your anime/Japanese art fix, then this is the place to go and the quality is always top notch.  Fur Affinity is a staple always.  I don’t post there as much as I used to but I check it daily to see what others art drawing.  It’s fun there and I owe a lot of my fan base growth to them.  CG Hub is a gallery site that is just awesome.  Seriously… the art there is top notch and they don’t mess around.  It’s more of a portfolio area for lots of high profile artists.  I have an area there for my professional art, but it doesn’t hold a candle to most of the art there, but I did get a piece in the editor’s pick area. ^_^

Places I only check from time to time are Ink Bunny and Hentai Foundry.  They’re both fine places but I’m fine with only going there once in a blue moon.  One place I’ve given up on pretty much is Deviant Art.  I find that it’s mostly a mish mash of “art” there.  They’re is some fantastic talent there, but it’s lost in the sea of everyone else sadly.

Any gallery or art forum places that you check on a regular bases?  Which is your favorite?  Is Playmouse still around?