Have to Spend Money to Make Money

I used to always think of the phrase “you have to spend money to make money” as some typical marketing and promotional strategy for large companies. I have recently found out that this is simply untrue. This phrase comes from taking senior year portfolio class. The upside to the class is taking the time to do research into what makes a successful designer. The downside: I am severely lacking in professional accessories. So once again i turned to my savior and my sin, the Internet, to aid me.

After a few hours I had been able to find a portfolio, padfolio, business card holder, envelope stickers, mat board, portable tabletop easel, & external hard drive for just around 200 for everything to be shipped right to me. I love the hell outta you Internet- you let me save so much money in exchange for all my time. I’m pretty alright with that, plus I can say I’ve also been able to upgrade my abilities to “google it” from intermediate to mastery level after this recent spree of investing in myself.

This will be my new portfolio thanks to Rexart.com and their affordable prices.

Behind the scenes recently I have been hard at work designing my resume and other such bits in preparation for my graduation in just three short months. I’m hoping that soon they will be far enough along to to do some creative cropping to put up here to incite you all. Likewise I have been working to update my computer situation so that i am able to which over from WordPress.com to WordPress.org in hopes that this change will allow me to have more creative flexibility with the site and do a more effective layout for my comics.

It’s going to be a lengthy process to get there, so please bare with me with I get my finances and fall semester in order. In the meantime i will be working on ‘Press Start” behind the scene as well so that when the new site is up and running I’ll have a nice little stack to pull from and not be constantly behind anymore. All in all things are changing rapidly at the moment and have quite a bit on my plate! Quite frankly I’m having a hard time keeping track of the days their flying by so fast, but I’ll do my best to keep the updates here as regular as possible.

Now go enjoy the changing leaves while I go draw up my own piles to jump into.

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Final Semester

The beginning of fall is here at last and after the Labor Day weekend most of us are back to the usual school/ work schedules that we try so hard to tear ourselves from during the summer. I fairly sure I’m still torn between the two seasons as my ability to get motivated for my final semester of school work is still basking in the sun somewhere between Sydney and Boston.

On the up side I have finally released a new page of  ‘Press Start’ and there’s a fair chance another one will be up my the end of the month. Originally I had told myself I would update and post things more often, like on the once a day/week rotation that other bloggers rave about, but I think graduating on time is more important and I have ever so much to do!

To finish up my degree I will be taking Senior Thesis II, Portfolio, Visual Narrative, & History of Animation/ Illustration. I am also going to be actively participating in school organized clubs which is a rare occurrence for me since I enjoy my couch so much, but since I was personally contacted to join both groups, my ego forced me to join. Now I am the current secretary of our student design club and vice president of our literary magazine. Positions of power! Me! Oh, my how things have changed in just four years…

In related news, one of my first projects this year is a research paper on an illustration of our choice between a certain time frame. I have chosen this work out of ‘Tales from the Enchanted Isles’ illustrated by Dorothy Lathrop and I fully encourage all to go and have a long look at her work. I find it both humorous as well as gorgeous. How can you not get excited about that?

 

Back from Beyond!

                                                                                         

It’s good to be home! My trip to Australia and my internship was, in the shortest terms possible, an experience of a lifetime! For six weeks I did nothing but :GO:GO:GO: between work, living, and exploring my new world. I got to go to zoos, aquariums, tourist spots, the beach, and about a hundred different restaurants, cafes, bars, & nightclubs during the nights and weekends. I managed to make a fair amount of actual friends and a mountainous amount of new faces in general.

Although I was technically going from winter in New England to winter in Australia the weather was still great most of the time. The Aussies would all look and stare at my arctic self strolling though streets in nothing but jeans and a t-shirt and I would just laugh as they bundle up all because it’s gotten below 60 degrees. However, upon approach, the locals were nothing if not welcoming and sweet toward my unashamed ability to walk up to anyone for directions and the food delightful. Not to mention their courtesy in buying a young lady a drink for the sake of country hospitality.

                                                                                          

I also got to explore some great museums and even take a life drawing session at the Art House Hotel. (I am terrible person and sneaked in photos. Mostly because of how impressed I was at the place and how many people were there just enjoying wine and naked forms. I was never so at home to be on my own in a foreign place.) Of course, my internship itself was all together eye-opening and exhausting. A grand portion of my work was been added to the “Graphic Design” tab above and you should certainly give me all sorts of feedback because I will take to heart every bit! I am so grateful to have learned so much from Belinda and had such a wonderful time working with her as her ‘little one’. I worked mainly on her She Inspires website redesigning the logo, page layout, colors, and adding content graphics to both the site itself and to social media websites for the business such as Twitter and Facebook. I also created product graphics for her online jewelry business Creatively Belle.

                                                                                           

This VT Teddy Bear version of me is proudly beginning her first day of her internship. If you would like to see more of me at my internship, just click here, and you can see my whole Facebook album of photos from my trip showing off how kickass my life is and how beautiful Australia can be even in winter!

———————As of now I am officially off hiatus from this and my Facebook page and will be updating more regularly.———————————– 

Start of Official Hiatus

Hello and happy spring everyone. Just my spring semester and summer course has ended and the weather is getting warmer everyday I am about to fly back into winter jut four days from now! Since I will be oversees and in public living conditions there is a good chance that my laptop will stay here and my upcoming posts and updates will come about with no particular regularity. As such:

 

‘PRESS START’ IS OFFICIALLY ON SPORADIC HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

 

I expect to be back on a schedule by the end of the summer and will still be posting new illustrations/ graphic designs as often as I am able. My intention is that I will have plenty to upload from my upcoming internship! Considering that this is all very new to me however I make no promises as to exactly when. ^^; Until then- wish me luck!

Becoming the White Rabbit

After a stressful week of running about my college halls yelling “I’M LATE I’M LATE FOR A VERY IMPORTANT DATE,” which in this case would be financial aid deadlines for my summer classes and internship, I think I am finally on track yet again. My paperwork has been faxed, my Australian VISA application started, and page five of ‘Press Start’ is finally up for the viewing! I must say I am a rather large fan of how I was able to execute the final panel. 😀

Although I usually redo my scheduling when I am so late on a project I am going to go ahead with my usual biweekly update for ‘Press Start’ which means that page six will be up (I hope!) next Friday. I am also finishing up the spring semester with exams next week which means getting back all of my work. I’ll make an effort to post and update everything along with next week’s posting of ‘Press Start’! Enjoy the laughs and warming weather everyone!

International Lady

A turbulent week it has been! Let us rip off the band-aid to heal and start with the bad news. I have once again been shown the importance of a buffer since I do not have one and will once again but just a bit late with this week’s ‘Press Start’ post. ^^; Terrible apologies, but I have truly been whelmed lately.  I have only one week left in the semester and am in need of finishing off about four different projects that are all at varying stages of completion. Also, I am having some at home anxiety as my mother is currently in the hospital this week as well.

On the uplifting side of things my mum should be discharged anytime now and I’m able to go and see her this weekend. My mother is a strong woman and I have faith she’ll recover well. She’s what started me as an international lady you see and I currently owe a lot for that toward both my mother and father.  If you are not aware of my background- I was born in Oxford England and didn’t even see the States until I was two. Granted, I don’t remember much, but still it’s relevant considering I will be across oceans in my immediate future once again-

After many weeks and two international interviews, I have finally solidified my summer internship in Sydney Australia through CreativelyBelle & SheInspires! I will doing a lot of graphic design work redoing her logos, layouts, fliers, promotional ads, and even a bit of my own article writing as well! I’ll be staying for a full six weeks working directly with the director Belinda Stinson starting the first week of June until mid July. I am very excited and I am doing a frantic mad dash to get things prepared like my tickets, visa, and housing situation before the spring semester ends and my summer course begins. Although it will be their winter when I arrive; I could not think of anything more exciting and fulfilling to be doing with my last summer as a college student.

I will still be doing posting to the site and continuing with ‘Press Start’ while I am away although I can not promise that schedules and deadlines will be met with any regularity as I’ll be putting my internship work above all else. However, with the end of the semester coming in just two week I imagine I will be doing a large upload of work onto here and the Facebook page before I leave, so I hope that helps get people through any future waiting.

Spring Cleaning

Hullo everyone-

With spring in full force now I got around to doing some spring cleaning which for me means sprucing up the site! I’ve added and edited some images in both the ‘Graphic Design’ and ‘Illustration’ gallery pages and have recently gone through and added even more to my Facebook page.

In wonderful recent news I placed Gold in the category of painting this year in my school’s annual art competition! My winning piece is none other than “Changing Faces” which is also showcased on this site under the ‘Illustrations’ tab. Here’s my award- I am very proud!

After scrap-booking our bits from Anime Boston; I remembered that one of the panels suggested that there is way to get those lovely buttons for my web comic page. With the “First”, “Last”, “Archive”, “Last”, & “Next” arrows I would be prime for professionalism, but I’m having a hard time ‘Googling’ all that to find the add-on I need. ^^; I promise I won’t give up though and I hope by the time Press Start reaches page 10 I’ll have those arrows up for you guys!

Also, although currently tentative, I should be hearing final word about a possible internship in Australia this summer this weekend. I have a phone interview this Sunday with the director of Creatively Belle to fill their graphic design/journalism internship. Wish me luck! If all goes well I will be posting all the juicy details of the situation next week along with page five of Press Start! I can’t wait!

 

Top Points!

For once I am on schedule! The fourth strip has just premiered and I have also rescanned and uploaded last weeks strip due to poor quality, so now everything is in it’s rightful place. Last weekend I got to go to Anime Boston for the first time which was positively amazing! I got to go to so many artist panels, particularly for web comics, that drove some much need inspiration into my motivation vault. I also got to meet and get cards from so many new artists that I have no idea where to start reading next!

Still no word abo0ut my internship abroad, but I did heard back about the student art competition by school holds every year. I have submitted thing in the past to no avail but I put in my three pieces this year anyways. Unfortunately, my work scheduled conflicted with the ceremony and I wasn’t able to go and check things out until well past they announced the winners.  So after work I scuttled my way over there to see what I had missed out on- I placed first for painting! The painting that won this award is my Changing Faces which is featured under the “Illustrations” tab above. First time I’ve ever won or been given anything for my work and it feels amazing!

2012 Student Art Competition Winner

Rabbits are Hard to Catch

So after already a short delay, my scanning job of the latest ‘Press Start’ from my home computer is rather… well let’s just say I’ll be rescanning and posting page three once class is back in session next week and I have access to a more professional scanner. Unfortunately things have been rather hectic here in my world, but I’m trying hard to push through and get some substantial work done before the end of the semester and get back on schedule.

Right now I am most anxious about my potential summer internship. I have applied and been accepted to the CIS Abroad program for an internship in Sydney for six weeks. For the past six weeks I have been running around my school and CIS Abroad via email to get the whole thing rolling. I even had a phone interview with a placement agency in Australia; something I got myself more worked up for than I probably should have considering how delightfully nice the lady was on the phone. However I am currently at a standstill as I have not heard back from said agency with my exact position and dates and whatnot and I can’t really move forward with planning things until I get those details.

On the very high upside, I will actually be enjoying my spring break for once as Neil and I will be at Anime Boston this weekend! for those of you who have not heard of it, from the east cost, and are into anime and manga- you should check it out. It’s a convention I have wanted to do for years but always something came up. This year Neil and I planned ahead and are actually able to go leading me to be super pumped. There’s going to be multiple panels specifically geared for artists looking to learn tricks from some of the best in the nerd business and way more stuff than I have money to buy. I also chipped in the extra 8 bucks for us to go to the charity Phoenix Ball so we have an excuse to dress up and play fancy for just a bit. ^-^ Huzzah!

New Ink

An apology for anyone who looked yesterday and was disappointed to find no second page of “Press Start” uploaded but it is finally up as of now! I invested in some inking pens to assure better readability and as such I hope I finally start generating some feedback. I am still experimenting with how to utilize my new pen set so please look past the slight shakiness. ^^ One day I’ll have my own Mac and tablet and be all sorts of streamlined and fancy, but until then you’ll have to deal with my human errors. In other upcoming news, I am in desperate need to begin my senior thesis part II- the graphic novel. I hope to have some sort of mock-up done by the end of the month and I might even add in some sneak peeks on here come the end of April when I’m fully done with character designs for my book.