Doodles and things

So I tried my hand at doodling in photoshop last night. It was a great way to relax and play! It was also one of my first tries actually painting using the program rather than just using it for image manipulation and digital collage.

It wasn't easy. I don't have one of these, so this is completely done with my mouse. It's like painting with a brick...

There are about 15 layers to this piece creating the glow around her and her wings. The wings themselves have about 8 layers alone. It's not a masterpiece, but it's a beginning...

I also started my first landscape and this is the first stage...

I am pretty happy with this so far. I will be adding details to it as I go. It took me about 10 layers to create the sky and water just the way I like it. I really like the clouds, they have the voluptuousness that I was going for. I need to work on my land mass. It needs more definition.

Really, this was SO much fun! I decided I was going to play with photoshop last night instead of putting another dent in my marking. My brain was as reluctant to mark as a kid is going to the dentist. I tried dragging it, but it jammed itself in the doorway screaming at the top of its lungs. So, like a soft parent, I gave in and let my mind play instead. :)

Sometimes parents need to give in :)

I am ready, willing, and able to expand my creativity this year and start expressing the ideas that have been clambering inside my head for years. Creating a studio space on a small budget and getting all the tools and materials I need will be the challenge but I am up to the challenge.

I have reorganized my steps of achieving this by starting with the least expensive and most manageable. Getting a tablet, changing the light fixture in the room, and scouting for an affordable Mac laptop with all the trimmings. I found that I can get an educator's discount from Adobe, to purchase CS4.

I am also scouting used furniture places and the online lists for a table that suits my needs dimensionally; I can modify it later, starting with putting wheels on the legs. Because my house is so "cozy", I don't have a lot of room for traditional chairs, but a friend of mine was very generous to give me two upholstered benches that can seat four comfortably. As for storage space, since I cannot realistically afford that sideboard (I sigh), I will have to be scouting around for cheaper solutions. :)

Linda asked me how I did the bullets in my previous post. You can find a complete list here !

My groggy brain is having a hard time waking up this morning. I might have to rethink going to the gym in the mornings again instead of after school... It has been increasingly difficult getting up at 5 am so I can do that. Maybe when the days get longer...

Yesterday's routine of staying in my room during lunch made my day go so much smoother and reduced my stress levels by 90%. When my workload eases a bit (we are in the middle of finals and preparing for exams), I will be going on walks during lunch. Get out into the fresh air, get some exercise, and get away from it all for half an hour.

Indeed life is good. :)

Thank you all for your amazingly supportive and helpful comments yesterday. I know what I did was the right thing for me, and it is high time I started taking care of my emotional well-being not just that of others. It didn't stop the twinge of guilt that I was being an insensitive b♠tch. I genuinely care about people, and I don't like to see people suffering, but that caring has been abused by certain people in the past, and I am putting a stop to it. The guilty feeling was a residual, and you all helped me so much in relieving it. TH♥NK YOU again! :)

Blessed be my friends :) May your day be filled with play, peace and bliss! :)