Niche

Everyone here has seen Totoro, and the mid-twenty somethings get excited about Ponyo. A lot of people here have a good understanding of a second language and are interested in a third. We are all hard workers, though some like to play more than others. At the same token, we all like to play. We worship Pixar and Studio Ghibli. I haven't met a person here who likes Miley Cyrus. It is not uncommon to talk about foreign films. No one is interested in getting wasted or being promiscuous. We cheer for world cup teams during class. When we need breaks, we tell each other about illustrators/artists/animators/filmmakers we know about and learn from each other. Late at night in the studio we watch unusual anime-style pieces on youtube. Guys can be totally straight and be into fashion. Everyone I have met so far is intelligent and quick on the uptake. At least the people in the summer program, with a couple exceptions, you don't make friends with people based on looks or age. No one grimaces at the mention of thai/indian/vietnamese/what have you/ food. People's faces light up at the mention of Korean BBQ. People have seen the same short films that I have seen. We all compliment each other, we are interested in each other's works, but we also help each other out. There are techies and athletic people and people from Iran, Indonesia, Columbia, Mexico, China, Vancouver, Toronto, Texas (basically another country), Japan, Korea, India.

There is a place for me.

"Hot like hot wings and hot chocolate in hell, uh huh." -Psychopath, Macy Gray

So, it's hot. Apparently not as hot as back home, but uh...there was air conditioning (somewhat) at home. GUHH. I might die on Thursday when we have studio all day in an old building. with no AC. But enough with the complaining portion of this entry!

This weekend I worked quite a bit. Through Friday night...All day Saturday minus Thai food and froyo and the morning World Cup game (Germany=beast). All day Sunday, and then great (not amazing haha) fireworks at the nearby city park.

Today my design class spent the day drawing from observing animal parts/minerals/etc. under a microscope! It was cool..a little bit...but after 6 hours it gets terrible HAHA. I started the third and last cityscape sketch today. Someone helped me with the perspective. I'm a little wary of the gouache, but the compositions are nice, I think. My professor really liked them! Yay.

Evening was spent completely on finishing my second cardboard head. I must say...it's funny looking HAHA. It's comical because one eye is crying glue! I used my glue gun to make chunky tear pathways down the cheek HAHA. My first head sculpture looks airy and uplifting, so the second one I made comically sad. Aw. HAHA. I like them. We find out tomorrow what our next week project is going to be.

So strange that we meet our professors for only 3 more weeks! Goodness.

For drawing class we have to draw animal skulls with charcoal. Do not like. I have no idea what she wants, and she definitely wants something very specific. We all say, "Oh Eleanor" HAHA.

Thank goodness my studios are in airconditioned buildings tomorrow. Whew.

Some architecture grads may be 24-26, but they sure can act like 12 year olds HAHA.

Quicktime

It's July already. Wow.
So this week so far:
Monday, I had Design class and we started a new assignment. Yay. Made-up cityscape based on Providence. There are basically no limitations...one of the examples was an abstract gouache painting by a student from last semester. So I'm doing a tryptic of 22x22 in. cream color paper cityscapes. They're a little surrealistic, but I'm doing very different pov's for each one, so it'll look cool. I love that I start off the week with Design and my professor Mark Milloff, who creates crazy painting/sculpture things, apparently. He loves telling corny jokes he used to tell his kids when they were little kids. And he shows us film clips that relate to the lesson!
Tuesday! Half Design, half 3D class. The group of students I'm with gets a little wary of my 3D professor (she shall rename nameless). I think she's hilarious, and people like her, but she knows exactly what she wants to see, and she's extremely blunt. HAHA. Starting Tuesday afternoons, my group starts to lose it a little.
Wednesday was an extremely long day. A whole day of 3D class....yikes. But she is so nice and really cares that we develop our interests and strengths. One can only handle so much of her....and glue gun and chipboard. yeesh.
Thursday...blech. One. entire. day. of. Drawing. Class. Not. Good. My professor wants us to draw with charcoal in ONE particular way and she does NOT like if I try to relate to what she's trying to teach us in my own words. She often contradicts herself, and she's extremely serious. She talks about the "spirit" of things and connecting with your inner energy and your mind and your charcoal and extending it through your hand and onto the paper. CONNECT WITH THE PAPER. WHAT THE HELL. Needless to say, we all dread that class, and Thursday is most definitely the longest day of the week. HOWEVER, today we FINALLY started on something other than lines. Skeleton! anddddd NEKKID models! yes, my shoulder hurts.
Thank goodness tomorrow is only 3 hours of drawing. and we're getting models again. The exhaustion that my group exuded today at the end of class was pretty hilarious. We were like waddling with charcoal smudged all over us and rolling our necks, backs slumped over. HAHAHA.

This weekend is July 4th!! fireworks, hooray. I am also planning on watching The Last Airbender. Yes, sad, but I suppose I am one of those....loyal fans. I am anticipating a poorly directed film. Shyamalan's just..lost it I suppose. Poor guy.

Course selection is a bit stressful. That Registrar office better have some answers tomorrow. But I'm so glad I got so many credits transferred. I wonder for how long this luck will last, lol.

My workload has been extremely manageable. A lot of my housemates have had 3-5 hour nights already. That is, not to say that I haven't been learning as much. I am learning lots and lots. Apparently, I like 3D stuffs. Some students in my group dread 3D, but I think I enjoy it.

Rango directed by Gore Verbinski (Verbinsky?) looks great. Yay for Johnny Depp.

Week 2: Go!

Whoa, already 4 days since my last post. Well!
Thursday was the worst studio experience of my life. It was over 90 degrees outside and I had class all day in the fourth floor of a non-airconditioned building. Charcoal, blind mark-making exercises. I was basically having drawing class in a sauna for the whole day. And anyone who knows me knows that I melt in warm weather. This was over the top hot. Plus the professor is so serious! But it'll get better this week. I think we start drawing models soon.

Friday! was much better! especially because drawing class was only 3 hours for the morning haha. And I also got my new phone! My life feels more secure now HAHAHA.

Saturday! Instead of going on the Newport trip, I stayed behind like most people and worked in the studio for 4-5 hours, but I finished my cardboard sculpture!! I think it looks good...LOL. In the morning, I watched the Korea vs. Uruguay world cup game. Intense. So intense. But well played.
At night there was a water fire along on the canal! It's where fire is lit on metal baskets all along the canal that goes through the city. There are a lot of tents set up along the streets with food. Music is blasted through speakers. I heard some opera, some folk, and some Indian music! This isn't my picture but it's exactly what I saw. It's really funny because there are gondolas that go through HAHA. Some little boats have couples on them and everyone on the sides yell, "KISS KISS KISS!" and then they oblige us all. Jess and I came back and watched We Got Married with the new Nichkhun+Victoria couple. My brain exploded from the adoreableness. Gosh. I also worked on my design gouache perspective painting. It's so boring...but I couldn't really make up what I was seeing in the perspective HAHA. Saturday was also the move-in day for Precollege kids. High school students come and stay a month and take classes for a specific major at RISD. Maybe it's because there are hundreds of them, but they sure are annoying. They also look so old!! The girls, at least. I look younger than some of them haha. The summer session and transfer students were amazed. I don't recall high school students looking so old before....interesting.

That brings us to today! Sunday! I slept in. Yayy. The masses of precollege kids in the dining hall now is not fun, but I had a good lunch (the food even is better with the arrival of precollege) and stuffed myself with watermelon. Then I worked on my painting, and I think I'm finished for now. And then I went to Thayer street and got....(with Jess)....FROYO!!! It was AMAZING. I got mango and strawberry toppings hehe. Then I went to 15 West to Jess's apartment over the Library and got to experience air conditioning. But her internet was not so good.....so here I am. Back in a hot old building. Tomorrow begins Week 2 of classes. It's so weird that I only see my professors about 12 times this summer.

Everyone is spazzing about hwk.....I wonder if I'm not doing enough work or I'm focused on working super fast. HAHA.

Third Day of Classes: Spacial Dynamics

Today was a full day of Spacial Dynamics class! aka 3d design class. We spent an hour and a half scrutinizing and critiquing...............rocks. Yes, rocks. As if they were sculptures. It was really funny. Then we critiqued our sculptures of the rocks. We were like, "but this indentation in the rock feels more organic than the sculpture," "these ridge is very spinelike and" blahblah. So funny.
AND THEN!!! new assignment!! It's really cool. I really wish my camera hadn't broke so I could upload pictures. Grr. But, it is to make a cardboard sculpture of our faces coming out the wall using only 3 specific shapes. So I'm using a triangle, a rectangle, and a "C" shape. I got a lot done, so I didn't stay after class. The examples my professor showed us were so amazing.

It was close to 90 degrees today. Just walking outside was a disgusting, sweaty, experience.

I also got my things back from my previous applications. They even had my application drawings from 2 years ago!! I was surprised. They are dated December 2008. Haha. The guy handing me back stuff was like, why do you have so many drawings? Lol.

Tomorrow I start Drawing class! But until then, Trolley tour tonight.
Tomorrow........is also supposed to be insufferably hot. Great.

First Day of Classes

Hmm, so my design professor is one of the chillest instructors I've ever had. Basically, if you try hard and come to class, you get an A.
But after one class, we have already learned so much. At least, I have.
I am getting used to Providence! Strange streets, but very doable. I hate these hills LOL.
A little tired...but I'm so happy that I have been able to attend here, now.
My phone was killed...by apple juice. So I have been phoneless, recently. It's sad how devastated I was. HAHA. Nowadays however, a cell phone really is necessary.
Gouache is very interesting. I shall try my best tomorrow, too.
Tomorrow I have half a day of design class, and half a day of 3D design class. Cheers~

Busybusy

Alas, no pictures today! I probably could have taken a million because we walked a little bit around Providence again, but let me tell you; these hills ain't joking. I think I exercised more today than I have the entire year. My legs.................ouch. Too busy trying to make it to the top of hills to care about taking pictures HAHA.
Lots of touring the campus buildings. Naturally, I have absolutely no idea how to get to them again. But that's okay. I met some people today. I can't believe it's only the second day!! I also can't believe some people went out clubbing already....I think they must not need sleep, because even I slept before 2-3. I slept at 10:30 last night. I can't even remember the last time I slept before 2-3. Wow. The people in this city are so chill. So strange. But nice ^.^
A lot of people here are old. Some in their mid-twenties to come back at sophomores to do art. Some grad students who never took enough fine arts courses. Some students like me with one year of college experience. Some have completed two years. Some worked first then came back a few years later to do what they always wanted to do. Some finished a degree already but want to come to art school. Dang.
Today I and two other f/a/v transfer students met with the department head of f/a/v to get a tour and have a little chat about the department. Yes, I was very intimidated. So much crazy equipment...all this crazy language...a whole building dedicated to the dept...they have off the heezy computer software...blahblah...I have to learn how to use Maya?!!! WHAT THE HELL. But everyone here says don't worry about it. I will learn, and I'm not dumb. But the more I hear about stuff, the more I realize I think I made the right choice in film/animation/video. It's like the next level up from Illustration. I think Grad school is a good idea, too, but that may not come for a while. Haha, I may even end up doing painting at grad school. HAHAHAHA. But I have to learn to be well versed in like 5 new software thingies. I'm not even that good with Photoshop.

Next topic:
I just saw Toy Story 3. It's brilliant. It's amazing. It's not a kid's movie. It's for all the people who ever loved Woody or Buzz. It was dramatic. It was scary. It was very sad. It was so funny! It was exciting. It was very dark, lots of death related thematic elements. OMG THERE WAS A STUFFED TOTORO. AAHHHHH. The acting/voicing/animation was incredible!! My OL cried HAHAHA. He's in my department, too. It also appears as though those pixar people did so much research on prison-break films. Crazy crazy. The script writer is wonderful. Oh my gosh. I might go as far to say that this may be pixar's best film.

It looks like a relatively early night again. My legs are tired. My brain is tired. Information overload. Emotion overload with Toy Story 3 HAHA.

Thank goodness tomorrow is a less jam packed day. Although, tomorrow is the official Providence tour.