THE SIMPSONS NEWS

Had the day off Monday for Memorial Day, and came into work on Tuesday.  Stayed late to make up the time since I was going to stay home and take care of my kids Wednesday. Today I’m back at work. I plan to finish what I got assigned and I’m probably going to get more work.  Staying late again today.

I’m very tired.

ART

(For those of you coming in late to these posts, if you want to read what my project is about, CLICK HERE to learn about the general world the story takes place in, and CLICK HERE if you want to know the story itself.)

Because of Memorial day, and because I had to spend Wednesday taking care of my kids, I didn’t really get much done on my drawing this week either.  I DID get a little bit done though.

One of the “bigger” things I changed was the pose for the flying ape.  I like this pose much more than the one I originally had.  I then photocopied my drawing and shrunk it.  The reason for this was so that I could have a smaller copy of the ape faces.  The winged apes were “off model” their faces where too big.  I erased the faces I had put on them and then re-drew their faces off of the shrunk copy I had made.  I think they look much better.  I also changed the “texture” of the viper’s body.

I took a long hard look at the drawing so far and began nitpicking the things I didn’t like. I wrote it all down on a sticky note as a “to do list” and pasted it on the drawing.  I added the things I needed to finish to the list as well. Crossed out the ones I finished doing as I went:

The drawing was on my table at work and a co-worker came in to talk to me.  He took a look at my drawing and began to make suggestions, unasked. It kinda took me aback a bit, but I listened.  He said two things and asked me one question.  First he told me that the viper fangs I had drawn were inaccurate, and it dawned on me that he was very right.  It’s one of those things I just mindlessly overlooked.  He made a note of it on a sticky note and put it on my drawing.  He then suggested that I put the tail of the viper in the left corner of the drawing so that there wasn’t empty space there.  It was a good suggestion. He made another note of it on a sticky note and put it on the drawing.

I made the adjustments he had suggested soon after.  I’m not happy with the viper tail the way I drew it so I’m going to adjust it. Other than that I’m happier with how the drawing is turning out.

Taking critique is difficult, especially when you don’t ask for it.  It’s beneficial if you learn to block that prideful side of you that immediately get’s insulted. It’s a skill that takes practice.  In this job, your stuff is always getting critiqued. Sometimes it’s done well, and sometimes it’s done lousy.  Whichever way you get it, you need to be able to leave your ego out of it and listen to what is being said objectively.  In the case of my co-worker’s critique, I’m glad I listened.  He offered suggestions and pointed out a blunder, I didn’t know I’d made.  I think the drawing is better off for it.

As I said before, he also asked a question, namely, why I hadn’t drawn the running Winged Ape from 3/4 back view. I told him I’d intentionally did that in order to have more of his face show.

He kinda apologized for saying anything but I told him I was glad he did.  Especially in this stage of the drawing when I can still make fixes.

Getting critiqued is a huge part of my job now. As a board artist it’s rare when I show my work to a director and it’s accepted as is.  Sometime there are a few changes, sometimes half of what I do is changed and sometimes it’s completely thrown out an I have to change it all.  I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me when everything gets thrown out.  Usually, the director comes up with better ideas which make so much more sense, that I end up not minding at all.   I learn more putting my ego aside and I end up happier for it. It’s a skill I haven’t mastered yet.  I think the more I do it, the better I’ll get.  It’s part of my job now more than ever.

VIDEOS

I loved this little shorts. They’re fantastically animated, they’re simple ideas and they’re darn funny.  They make me want to animate:

MY WEEK

On Wednesday, when I stayed home to take care of the kids, I discovered to my dismay, I had to go to the supermarket.  The baby didn’t have any baby food.  I don’t like going to the store with all the kids. It’s a pain.

It didn’t help that it was cold and it seemed like it was about to rain.  It took almost an hour just to get the kids ready to go.  We made it to the store, bought what I needed to and made it back to the car, with some help of a supermarket employee. She took pity of my situation.  I was a bit overwhelmed with the kids and the groceries.

After getting all the kids in, I sat down and started the car.  On my windshield I saw a folded piece of paper with writing on it. It read:

“FOR YOU! GOD BLESS.”

The exclamation mark “dot” was shaped like a heart.  I thought it was an ad but I took it off my windshield and put it in the car anyway.  I looked around at the other cars but I noticed that no other cars had a piece of paper on their windshields.  I shrugged and drove away.

As I drove back home, I thought about the piece of paper,  “Maybe it’s a note from someone I’d helped out in that parking lot before. Maybe they recognized me and wanted to just say thank you.”

I got curious and when I came to a stoplight, I opened the paper. In it I found money. I was really surprised. I took it out and found that it was eight dollars.  Very odd amount.  It must have been something spontaneous.  Whoever it was, must just grabbed what was in their pocket and put it there on my car.  I wonder why? In any case, it was a very nice gesture.  Thank you whoever you are.  It’s appreciated. I could buy a lot of things at the dollar store for my family with this much money. Every little bit helps.

I pray God blesses her.

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