So I'm basically over my art block, at least a little bit. My new photography is gonna pwn, and I'll tell you why:

A local human rights group called Sierra Friends of Tibet is sponsoring a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks to come to my area and do a week of various events at an art center, and because this particular place is closer than others in the past, I can finally attend all the events, but even better, I've been volunteering with my mom, and was asked by the coordinator to take photographs for their website (seriously, I didn't even ask, I was just minding my own business!). So I'm pretty psyched, because the monks' main project for the week is the creation of one of those sand mandalas that are so amazing [link]

This has been such a great experience for me, because I'm meeting a lot of great people, and becoming acquainted with the monks, who are all rock, and speak a fair amount of English. It's amazing that these guys can be so happy and loving, coming from such a harsh situation (they're refugees in India, living in run-down monasteries, and some had to flee from Tibet over the Himalayas - not an easy life). So I;m really learning about their culture, which is a cool thing for someone who's never left the United States. XD

So I'm gonna post photos real soon! Omigosh, I'm so happy! Yeah!

Lol, I wanna thank all of you who gave support in response to my previous journal entry. It really does mean a lot! :3

Tashi delek! (Tibetan for "peace out, yo!")
HelloSamurai_

It would seem that all the people I'm in contact with have been online very little lately... replying to messages doesn't fill up my afternoon anymore.

Well, I'm assuming that a lot of people are sick, because I and some of my personal friends are sick, too. I'm finally getting over it, after two and half weeks on-and-off. Ugh. My art has been suffering for it...

In other news, I want a Wii very badly now. It hit me the other day, when I was recalling the great time I had making my first Mii at a friend's house; and then I watched a bunch of gameplay demos of Super Smash Bros. Brawl on YouTube today, and I got back the longing that I had when I first saw images from it.

Well, what else... I can't draw to save my life right now, which is very discouraging. I last drew a good character sketching last December 12th or something, and haven't had any good results since. Oh, that reminds me: I need to scan that picture and post it! That will be when my scanner is working again... I'll work on that sometime. It's just old and cumbersome, not broken, mind you.

Something just hit me... and it fits right in with my humorless journal entry . I used to draw so much, it was all that I did. I usually sketched machines and landscapes, and then went on to battles with lots and lots of tiny characters all over the page, inspired by StarCraft. Two and a half years ago, I took my love of manga and anime and started learning to draw in that style, first buying the Complete Idiot's Guide to Drawing Manga, which despite it's title, was very good, and taught me, from square one, how to draw the human figure, something that I was always afraid to do. I got more books, and since then, have taught myself to do manga style characters. At this point, I've just hit my first roadblock, is all, and I'll get through it soon (I hope). Unfortunately, from the looks of it, by delving into this different realm of drawing, I've left behind the old subjects that I used to draw for hours on end. Omg, I'm depressing myself...

So there you go, a little history of me and my art. Of course, I've been doing photography at the same time, and am much much more interested in improving my skill in that field. At least I can be happy about that.

*Whew* That turned out much longer than I anticipated. Thanks for reading XD

G'day,
HelloSamurai_

Domo-kun says: "My profile page is becoming more popular! I was accepted into the Domo Club!
Woot woot!"

NOTE: It won't let me change my mood emoticon, so although it says euphoric, I am actually more on the other side of the spectrum, perhaps, hmm... meloncholy. TT^TT

I got my USB cord back, and have been submitting long-overdue photos.

Domo-kun says: "See that box titled "Recent Deviations"? It's actually recent now! Good for HelloSamurai!"

I'm gonna try to comment on others', as well. I'm in such a weird internets-mood right now, like, I'm typing "lol" again, something that I stopped a while ago... and I wanna find and/or make a "Photography: Serious Business" image to use sometime. Maybe...

Man, I really don't have anything important to talk about... I better just submit more stuff. Yeah.

Oh, by the way, I'm just getting over a cold. Everyone's been sick, lately, it seems. You all stay healthy, okay?

Peace out and enjoy my new photos!
HelloSamurai_

Postscript: ZOMFG I just transferred 213 new photos from my camera! Now that's serious business!

I have some great new photos to submit! You're gonna love them!

Unfortunately, I can't find my USB cord to transfer the images from my camera... it got put inside a box when I was cleaning my closet.

So... hopefully very soon (I just gotta search two boxes; it's not a big deal, but it's too late to search right now), I'll get them up and I can really start this year off!

I just got together with and am working on illustrating his story [link] I must say, it'll be quite the challenge, because I haven't drawn landscapes in a long time. I'm also getting my own story kicked off (a collaboration with a non-deviant), that's, as mentioned earlier, about zombies.

So, all for now, I'ma off to bed...

Peace and stuff...
HelloSamurai_

I was browsing someone's page, and found this tag... I forgot whose it was, or who started it, but that's not important (as long as I'm not accused of copyright infringement)

Go to the Wikipedia home page and click random article. That is your band's name.
Click random article again; that is your album name.
Click random article 15 more times; those are the tracks on your album.


Band Name
Assam Agitation

Album Name
Shelter Insurance


15 Tracks

1. Colocalization
2. George Blake
3. Federation X (that’s a band name!)
4. Victor Perton
5. Blidinje
6. Pen Huo Qi
7. Ambrosian Rite
8. CASR
9. Burkholderia gladioli (lol, it’s a soil bacterium that is responsible for food poisoning)
10. Jathol
11. Le Pompidou
12. Baby Mama (an actual song)
13. Boric acid
14. Fritz Hoffmann
15. Municipalities of El Salvador

1, 7, 8, 13, and 15 are pretty cool. But I think the band and album both sound cool. That's pretty fun.

Oh, and I got tagged by with an art meme, so I'll be working on that. That will be a deviation.

Domo-kun says: "Wikipedia is an invaluable resource for research. I use it all the time!" ---> [link]


Since I didn't receive this, I won't tag anyone. Just take it. You know you want to.