Departure

I've started on my novel, Departure. Beginning a story is always the hardest part for me. After the beginning is over with, the rest of it is basically a breeze. The sample I posted on deviantART, I think, was not a fair quote. It made it seem as though the whole novel is about high school. While high school is an important aspect of the setting and such, it would be wrong to say that "high school" is the subject of this novel. So here's a longer sample than what I posted the other day.



Sneakers slapped onto the floor in beat with the rock song Allison pumped into her ears at full blast. It had been a good day so far, and she planned to keep up the momentum of her energy. As she swayed her hips across the hallway on her way to the cafeteria, she suddenly found herself under Blair’s gaze. Allison staggered, a bit startled.
"Oh!" Blair exclaimed. "Hey there, May!"
Allison regained her footing. "How’s it going?" Last year at this time, Allison felt uncomfortable talking to Blair; it was mostly due to how strangely she acted. After putting her freshman year behind her, however, Allison had grown to appreciate Blair’s uniqueness.
Blair smiled. "I’m good." A brown messenger bag slipped from her shoulder and spilled its contents onto the dirty tile. A fleeting look of concern crossed her face; luckily nothing flew too far out of reach. She stretched and slid down against the white brick wall. "Sit down." She offered to Allison, patting the cold floor next to her.
"I, uh..." Allison gestured toward the ever-growing lunch line. "I’ll be right back."
Behind a pair of cheerleaders and before an unfriendly sophomore, Allison placed herself into a dark corner of the cafeteria entrance. She couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the girls in front of her.
"Did you hear about Andrea and Shane?" said the blonde.
"No," her companion replied, "did something happen?"
The blonde rolled her eyes, as if it were common knowledge by now. "She cheated on him. With, like, three other guys."
"Are you serious?" The friend with too much makeup stifled a laugh.
"It’s not funny," the blonde said, "I’m going to have to put up with her whining and shit when he dumps her."
"You mean they’re still together?"
"I know, right? I don’t understand Shane, either. He’s so cute but so stupid."
The two fell quiet for some time, and the line inched closer to the counters. Allison felt uneasy after hearing what she had. She had known Andrea Schultz for at least five years. At some point they had even labeled each other with "best friend" until a falling-out three months previous. Allison had always thought Andrea was a drama queen. She became bored so easily, and the only way to have satisfied her was to make up a rumor about an innocent person or to destroy a relationship in which she was perfectly comfortable. Allison had made countless attempts to talk to Andrea about her unnecessary behavior, all of which had been completely ignored.
Some 80’s music rattled through the ceiling speakers. It appeared Allison’s turn at the food counter would come soon. Deciding that she didn’t want half the sides, she chose the spaghetti meal. A lunch worker named Margaret spilled the pile of noodles and marinara sauce, letting it drain into every compartment of the lunch tray. Lip curled, Allison stepped away from the counter, paid for the meal, and proceeded back to the entryway hall where Blair had sat with a pair of soundproof headphones suffocating her ears. Allison practically had to fall on top of Blair until she realized her friend had returned from the lunchroom.
"That took a while," Blair raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Allison simply replied.
The two sat in silence for the remaining twenty minutes of lunch, and then proceeded to their separate classes. "I’ll see you later, May!" Blair waved.
Allison smiled. "Okay. See you." She had no idea why Blair always called her May. After a few reminders, Blair had come to the realization that her name really was Allison, but continued repeating the nickname. Allison didn’t really mind.
The day transited into a blur as each thought melted into the next inside of Allison’s head. However, a single worry nagged at her thoughts for the remainder of the school periods and into the late afternoon. Had those statements in the cafeteria been true, it would mean Andrea had become more of a nuisance since she and Allison had last quarreled.
Although Allison seemed to not care, a part of her inside had agonized as she slowly cut ties with Andrea. She had given her so many chances; "benefit of the doubt" resonated within her skull countless times between effort and failure. She so desperately wanted to change Andrea into a better person. It finally reached the point where Andrea had evolved into a burden upon Allison’s fragile shoulders. A collapse was imminent. Nothing could change without Andrea’s total surrender to Allison’s intentions, which would never happen in their lifetime. No, Andrea was always too stubborn to admit that she could ever be wrong in any situation. Wasteful breaths had always escaped Allison’s lips in all of her spent efforts.
It could be supposed that Allison sought refuge in improving Andrea’s character, in order to protect her own flaws from breaking her in their exposure. Worn and ragged, Allison’s powerless strains hardly made an impact upon Andrea’s diamond exterior. Defeat had eventually swallowed Allison’s hopes.
Halos of smeared sunlight glowed on the panes of the bus window. A storm cloud fast approaching from the west, it quickly became evident to Allison that she would be spending the evening locked up in her room. Rain showers like these often had a way of soothing her into an undeniable tranquility, and she didn’t want to be disturbed.


I feel as though I'm being a bit redundant in those last few paragraphs. :/ I dunno. I'll figure it out later. I'm only beginning, after all. Editing/revision comes later.

Even with this extended quote, I don't think I've still quite established the beginning of the point that I'll be making with this story. But I don't think that's a problem right now. It's only the start of it, after all. As the story progresses, it should become more evident what message I'm trying to get across.

So, this is what I've been doing this weekend. Writing a novel that I probably won't finish and playing Car Town on Facebook (I hate you for that, mobo).

Why do I waste my time like this?

Speeding Cars

I finished my enormous drawing, Speeding Cars. 23x14.5 inches (58.4x36.8 cm). Graphite (4H, HB, 2B, 4B, 6B), Strathmore paper.

I don't know how much time I spent on this thing, but it felt like for-freaking-ever. Mostly because I dislike drawing stable structures such as buildings, sidewalks, and cars (especially cars, gah I hate drawing cars). There's a bit of a shine due to the light being reflected by the graphite pencil. Sorry about that, please bare with me on the quality of the photo.

"Here's the day you hoped would never come
Don't feed me violins
Just run with me through rows of speeding cars
The papercuts, the cheating lovers
The coffee's never strong enough
I know you think it's more than just bad luck

There, there, baby
It's just textbook stuff
It's in the ABC of growing up
Now, now, darling
Oh, don't lose your head
'Cause none of us were angels
And you know I love you, yeah"

- Speeding Cars, Imogen Heap.


Allow me some time to explain the entire motive behind this drawing. If you care enough to read about a serious subject that is often overlooked, please continue reading.

This girl is standing in the middle of traffic. She is in immediate danger, and yet no one is going to help her. She's on her own. It seems somewhat obvious that she is standing in the middle of the road, raw in the danger of being hit. And yet none of the people in the cars care to look and see that she even exists. The girl seems to have willingly thrown herself into this situation, otherwise she could easily escape it (step onto the sidewalk).

In case it isn't apparent, this drawing was meant to target the subjects of depression and suicide.

Suicide is something that is so easily overlooked and unnoticed. People generally accept it as something that "just happens" and there's nothing that can be done about it. Or that depression is "being hormonal" or "whiny" or that the person with depression is a brat who needs to get used to the real world. Some people even think that depression is a tool used to gain attention from others.
...I'm not just making this up. This is actually how some people think.

The people who think "depression is a tool to gain attention" are horribly, horribly wrong. Clearly, it's not getting very much attention, so this is the last thing people should use in order to gain attention. Anyone who shows signs of depression needs some help. Or even just some support. A friend. Anything.

Suicide, unfortunately, is something that people never actually consider until it's been done. And once it's been done, it cannot be undone. They think "they wouldn't do that" or that they know the person better than that. And suddenly they're gone.
In this drawing, the spontaneity of the girl flinging herself into traffic is symbolic of how people can just off themselves so easily without warning. It's scary.

I intended to write more, but right now I'm just tired and a little sick, so perhaps I will revisit this post.

As for a final statement: Please, try to be aware of your surroundings. You never know when depression may strike someone you love. If you're not careful, you might end up losing them due to pure ignorance. It's no laughing matter.

Thanks,
- Dawnne

I'm almost ready.

Project #4 of 5 projects for school work. It's about halfway done.
The ones I've decided to include are:
- Imogen Painting (digital)
- This
- "Eyeclock"
- Book Project
- Self portrait

I think this provides enough variety just in my summer work that I should be able to go in whichever direction I decide to go. I'll be doing my self-portrait on canvas with paint (gulp).

My portfolio needs to be whipped into shape. I think I have a good foundation, now the next step is to build upon it.

I'm terrified.

Please hold me. ;_;

Last few days...

WARNING, BOOBIES BE LURKING AHEAD.


I'm just practicing with charcoal. I always forget that charcoal is erasable. Either way, I like it because it's a fun medium. It's messy, too! I kind of like that "artist hand" that I get from using messy media.

Anyway, this lady here is completely out of proportion. Big head is big. Tiny neck is tiny. Thick arm is thick. Adjective noun is adjective.

am I good at anatomy yet ;A;

HELLO

I just got a new computer today! Surprise! I woke up today thinking I was just going to be cleaning around the house and stuff, but we ended up going out to look at computers~
I ended up with a 4 GB HP with an Intel processor. I have no idea what any of that means. But from what people have told me, this computer is supposed to be fast. And it is.
I LOVE WINDOWS 7
I can actually do stuff on this computer. Holy crap.
Actually, I really don't know much about computers. Like memory, speed, etc. I just know how to use them. I'm the friggin' Queen of avoiding viruses (that's not to say I've never gotten them. I'm good at fighting them, too. ;D).

I think this thing has a Blu-ray player, too, but I'm not sure. I don't even own any Blu-ray DVDs anyway. :/

I was looking at my digital art made on my old computer and...wow. You can clearly see the difference in the resolutions. |D I also realized how DARK my old computer's screen is.

I've moved all my files and stuff over. But some things I can't get completely set for a few days. The keyboard took a little while to get used to. There is now a "calculator" button where my CTRL key used to be.
I've played Cat Planet, finally. ;w; Factory is so hard. D:

Anyway, I need to work on my Artist Statement. Unfortunately I don't have Microsoft Word on my new comp yet. So I'll be working on that with my first computer (comp #1 because it was the first computer that truly belonged to me and no one else).
So long for now~

No Photoshop necessary.

Suddenly Dawnne's a photographer! notreally

Do you have any idea how difficult it is for me to get a decent photo of myself?
It's about as hard as wrestling a starving grizzly bear for the last salmon on Earth while wearing a suit made of steak and barbecue sauce.

Not that I've ever done that. I'm being metaphorical, here.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share.