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Please check out my Deviantart portfolio at DreamingAlyce.deviantart.com
You ever learn something about somebody that just completely changes how you see them? It’s like a pair of x-ray were just shoved on your face—you can’t help but see right through them. Well, I learned something like that about some guy named Andy. I learned that:
This is my post today.
Well, one of the projects I’ve been working on is about to be revealed. I saw this sign
for it just a few days ago. Don’t know why it surprised me, but it did and it was a pleasant surprise on my way to class.
If you’re curious, George Flipping was the first black football player at UNL. I feel proud to be a part if this as I do all my other projects. I must say, my professors really know how to help their students here.
Worked on setting up a small exhibit of work after our London/Paris trip. Here is some of the work, the bottom two are of my pieces: “Choices” and “Worth it Later”.
The show is up now; the opening is Friday 9/2.
Working with Ral VJ photo today as make up artist with help from Anna.
So, I think it’s about time I actually do something useful with my summer. I think I’ll open up for commissions. Starting June 6th I think I’ll start accepting commissions. “Summer?!” you may ask. I know, I know it’s barely Spring and it most certainly doesn’t look like it where we’re at, but I have to prepare far in advance since April and May don’t look like I’ll be able to get much time for planning for the summer.
As for April and May, those months will be swallowed up by award ceremonies, signing up for housing, moving people in/out, preparing for a trip to London and Paris, making/finishing more art, and simply trying not to collapse with exhaustion. This is where I’d include pics of what I’ve been doing but, as you may well know, I’m notoriously bad at uploading things. So, here’s just some sketches I’m working on.
"It'll be worth it later..."
Ok…So, critique in the creative world can be a great way to get you on track, motivate you or help you see things in your work that you don’t see. After this past critique, folks really were bothered by the fact that a few of my characters in “onesies” too closely Max (is that his name?) from Where the Wild Things Are. I have never seen the movie and I have not read the book recently enough for the artwork there to influence me–in fact that last time I even thought about that story was when it was read to me sometime in early elementary school. This isn’t the first time someone has brought this up, but being that I can be a stubborn person, I quickly mentally ruled it out, believing that, if folks would pay attention to the messages that my work carries, they would forget about Where the Wild Things Are and step into the world my characters inhabit. No, not so. I must admit that this has caused me a bit of frustration; at times, I feel that my work is not always taken as seriously as it should be simply because I don’t feature dark brooding characters that invoke the (at times) heavy things I reference or talk about. It’s quite possible that the folks critiquing my work are simply the wrong audience. I don’t aim to please other artists because it is near impossible to please them amd I don’t believe in the elitist attitude that the general public is too ignorant to know what is “fine” or good art and what is not.
However, this time, I took everyone’s comments to heart. I am now going through and changing a few of my characters. I already put Alyce through a dramatic change seen here:
Before: Old Version of Alyce where she looked more adult and displayed a heavy anime/manga influence.
After: Alyce more childlike and gained features that made her look distinctively African American along with other specific features.
The White Rabbit, was next in line to be changed. In this first new version, it took the opposite route of Alyce becoming a darker figure. Previously, it was commonly shown as an androgynous child but turned into a faceless entity seen here:
Old version of the White Rabbit
White Rabbit, a darker more foreboding figure, but still androgynous
However, I believe that The White Rabbit now has become too different from the rest of the cast. I am considering making it more childlike with that mask, but the idea of Time (which The Rabbit stands for) as this tall, silent, faceless figure who towers over anyone it approaches is great. Time would do just that; it would make you aware of it’s constant but silent presence… Still, I will keep working on the idea…
However, something to remember is that The White Rabbit is not a hostile entity. It’s job is only to keep track of what happens chronologically in life. It makes sure that time keeps going forward. Nobody can see it or is even aware of its presence. Occasionally, it will do benevolent things for the grieved or sick. It takes a liking to Alyce, acting as a gentle reminder to keep going on when Alyce gets knocked unconscious and (believing it is a dream) sees it standing beside her.
However, while The White Rabbit is harmless character, it has a darker acquaintance: Death. As of now, Death, The White Rabbit’s uncle with whom he is on uneasy terms, is not written into the story nor is it even mentioned, but as a time keeper, the White Rabbit notifies Death when any living thing’s time has run out.
However, unlike its parents Father Time and Mother Nature, The White Rabbit is not an unfeeling entity that does its job without compassion for the creatures it affects. This job does take its toll on the poor Rabbit. From outside of the time stream, it sees how time affects those within the stream and feels for them. It has watched many things come and go, yet it is still so difficult to see things come to an end…
This is where I’m supposed to write something profound. Alas, words escape me…Fie on’t! I want some chocolate…
While making rather lame, half-hearted attempts to clean my room early–and by early I mean at midnight–this morning I discovered a notebook I bought from Barnes and Noble’s with rather cliche trendy vector art on the front. Inside are notes and doodles ranging from measurements for a print job I had to do to really inaccurate algebra (y=mx+b) and notes on American art history before the Civil War. On the very first few pages, however, was a failed attempt at a beginning of the Alyce Chronicles. Indeed, Alyce came off sounding very lofty and not at all her age! It’s kind of funny, really, imagining a child speaking this way! Not to mention, this beginning would mean that the story would start somewhat in medias res, but not quite. Maybe it is better to say that it would have started in the middle of the beginning. Oh well, whatever. This is why I am not a writer. Wordsmithing is best left to the professionals. So, keep that in mind while you’re reading this:
As it were, I have become a nationless wanderer, yet I do not roam the world anymore, but I roam my mind. Today is my birthday, and I have yet to partake of any celebratory activities.
However, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, in their great excitement, have jumped the gun and presented me with their gift: the very journal in which I write now. So, all the little fleeting thoughts that previously never had a home but wandered between my conscious and subconscious now have a place to live.
Ah! But, I have gotten ahead of myself. I referred to myself as “nationless”, and, by that, I mean I have no real group to which I feel I truly belong. Here, at court, I am treated as royalty, but as nobody’s friend. I am looked upon with the cold distance of enforced respect, devoid of appreciation for the human heart beneath these fine threads. Try as I might, the people here refuse to use my name without a title preceding it. At home, I was just me–just Alyce.
City of Babble--In Progress
Here is an in-progress drawing of what could possible be a cover for a comic idea I have. Here, Alyce sits atop a building that was built right over her little hovel. In just a matter of months, The Fringes–the blighted neighborhood she once called home–was transformed into the hustling and bustling business district of Reville–all thanks to the Queen. It is in this moment that Alyce realizes that she now has no home anywhere in the queendom of Reville.
DreamingAlyce: Down the Rabbit Hole 