I have mentioned to friends that my last therapy session was actually very enlightening on an artistic level. (I've gotten a lot of insight into my art through my regular therapy sessions, so there you go. They're good for coaching and bouncing ideas off of.) We talked about the parallels between fantasy and real life - overlaps as well as the need for a "safe" realization of wishes and desires. So when I dream up a video game where you ride a yak around, pitch a tent, weave your own clothes, and work in the fields, I think that's some concept of a life I envision working out pretty well for me.
One thing that always bothers me about fantasy video games is how you can often carry 99 small glass bottles of potions, as well as several cabins, swords, suits of armor, etc... and still see a character wearing scantily clothes with nothing on their back. Where is all of this STUFF? Don't get me wrong - I find those 99 Cure2 potions infinitely useful, but it takes away so much of the worldwide travel feel of the game when there's no positive or negative consequences for the act of taking basic necessities with you. (I've enjoyed/hated Earthbound for the relatively small inventory slots, where you carry things like bubblegum, baseball caps, and sandwiches.) The horse/horse analog is always an upgrade but does nothing much but make you pass up monsters and satisfy the estrogen levels people like me, who squee at every mount like a 7th grade girl.
So, as I [pretend to] learn to code some Python and draw up sprites, I want to keep in mind the romanticism of lightweight travel - the intimacy of the goods you carry with you. How everything has a place, it gets unpacked, it sits in your campsite. I've spent some time studying nomadic lifestyles, specifically of north and east Africa - the sticks, reeds, and hides atop camels as people move from place to place. I love it. Your possessions become sacred to you, being repaired and re-used, and they are a comforting constant in an otherwise changing landscape.
Home base.
All packed up and ready to go!
I am totally shocked that I haven't killed my starter seeds. In fact, I have at least one of everything sprouting after 9 days. These are vivacious, eager lemon cucumbers, which I will try for the first time out of my own garden. I'm also sprouting snap peas, lettuce, zucchini, yellow squash, cantaloupe, lime basil, lemon balm, and stevia. For later in the summer I'll be planting pattypan squash, kale, and a gorgeous red specialty lettuce. All this is going in a 12 x 12' plot graciously allotted by my landlady. This is really big, except for when you're standing inside it and wondering how you're going to fit your dream garden in this tiny speck of earth. Moar. MOAR!
Mae'houn and a few of her friends, complete with thumb-sucking little children. Again, I tell myself it's for fun, but I would love to have a classic 8/16-bit RPG of it. One glorious day, perhaps.
Scrap fleece, wool, and fluffy winter sock. Large seed beads (or small pony beads) for the mouse's eyes, a leather scrap for the tail, and embroidery floss for the whiskers. One toy is filled with catnip and the other with dried beans.
I have been filled with self-doubt lately - about my drawing technique, what it is I want to do during the day, if getting out of bed is really a step up. So I turned to my good friend Willem, who sent me a piece from a film score. From there I wove a pretty simple little story and hope to design the characters, settings, and so forth for Don't Call Me Candy, as a running strip. Just something to take the pressure off Something-New-Every-Day-OMG. Here's something entirely Wacom'd.
Just a little warm-up. Yeah, static poses are boring and don't require a heckuva lotta skill - but when I can do them well, I feel good about myself.
