Ugh

I'm so disgusted that Trump has gotten so far.
How can such a liar, who thinks only of hate and wealth, ever be backed up by the people of this country?
It's not like he's smart. And he cheats people. Plenty of his own party hate him.
Ugh. People really disgust me sometimes.

List Ten

Next topic from The Artist's Way.
This is one way to help break out of art block.

What is something you would love to do, but aren't able to do it?
You don't have time for it, or can't afford it, or someone is preventing you from doing it.

List out ten of these things you want to do.
For example, I would love to get back into regular horseback riding, but it's expensive. And school has eaten all of my money.

Are there video games you want to play?
Books you want to read?
Learn to dance? Or how to sword fight?

When you've listed out ten things you'd love to do, start picking some out. And do them. Go take dance lessons.

Get rid of the excuses, and make yourself do something you'd love to do.

What else would be better to give you energy and inspiration?

Magic Garden

For a few years now, I've been keeping a vegetable garden in the middle of the back lawn.
I love growing and picking food. There's something amazing about eating something you raised yourself.

Which reminds me, I think I need to spread some compost over it... We have two bins, where we put a bunch of food wast and yard sweepings. Worms and sow bugs love them. And there are these strange spiders that build bizarre-looking egg sacks under the lid. Heheh.

Anyway, I've tried different types of plants, with varying degrees of success. Tomatoes and beans work really well. Lettuce usually does good, though snails got all of it this year. Stupid slimes.
Melons and cucumbers have never grown here though.

Earlier this summer, I was startled to see two very large, oddly shaped things growing on what I thought was a squash vine. But they didn't look like squashes. The skin was different.
I asked my aunt, who knows plants very well. She didn't know, but Uncle Rob said they were alien pods.
Eventually I picked them, and cut one in half out of curiosity.
It was a melon!

They didn't really have much flavor.
But they were really good in smoothies!

And then I started keeping an eye on this guy, which I thought was a lemon cucumber.


Cucumbers have also never grown in this yard, so this was also exciting.
I cut it open and took a bite. And it was sweet! It was also a melon! An extremely tiny one.

I have no idea where they came from. I didn't plant them. And I've never seen any melons like this, so they couldn't have come from seeds that ended up in the compost bins.

Strange mystery melons. I wonder what they are. I saved a couple seeds, to see what happens next year.

Criticism

Here's another topic from the book The "Artist's Way."
It's a topic that can swing wildly in different directions.

Criticism.

Well placed criticism is essential for any artist to improve.
Good criticism makes you think, "Ah, that's what I was missing!"

Poor criticism can crush an artist.
It shames you. It criticizes you, instead of your artwork and makes it personal.
Bad criticisms is not clear. It is vague and doesn't really go anywhere.
And it may not even be true.
This often comes from the kind of people that think art is a waste of time, and you're wasting your life on it. Or they're jealous of your work, etc.

It takes a lot of courage for an artist to share their art with others. Art is a part of your soul. It is your baby that you spent a lot of time and love on. When someone is cruel, uncaring, or shaming when they see it, it can hurt. A lot.
Nasty criticism has ruined many an artist.

Be careful who you share with, if you have poisonous people around you.

But any artist who becomes well known is going to face negative criticism. No matter how amazing your work is, there will always be people who don't understand, or who hate it.
Every artist needs to grown a thick skin if they want their art widely shared.

And don't get mad if people criticize your work. It just means that they want to make it better.
If they don't want to make it better, then you shouldn't listen to them in the first place.

(Anne here rather lost her cool at Gilbert when he gave his honest opinion on her short story. When she cooled down and thought it over, it helped her turn over a new leaf in her writing).

It can be hard to keep your cool. For example, if you have worked hard on something, and think it's in good shape. And you share it with someone you care about, and they don't have any enthusiasm for it.
Or they don't seem to like it.
It can be hard.
So just keep working. Use it to push yourself.

But remember if you are critiquing art, that art is someone's baby. Be respectful, and do your best.


Sometimes good and bad criticism isn't so easy to tell apart. There's plenty that falls in the middle.
At these time, the artist needs to use their best judgement.
Some comments will not make the work better.
For example in Bakuman, Mashiro and Takagi decide to take suggestions from the fans, and end up creating a very dreadful chapter.
This is your art, and it is your job to make it shine. Not the job of the fans (though the work would not have much value without the love of fans). There's a reason not everyone is an artist.
People can give you suggestions, but not every suggestion is worth accepting.
Some people have odd tastes. Or they weren't paying close attention when they looked at your art. Or they just don't have the understanding to really see it for what it is.
But most suggestions should be listened to. Especially if multiple people say the same thing.
Maybe you aren't getting your point across. Or something is unpolished, or off.

If any criticism feels painful, think about how you would defend it. Compose a reply in your head. You may or may not want to deliver that reply to the criticizer, but it will help you to get through your feelings.
Also try to think if it could help in any way.


And always remember, bad art is important. You cannot improve without making bad art. It helps you learn and grow.

Garnet

Oh my gosh, I love Garnet so much.

Even when it's just an appearance of a couple seconds, it's always awesome.


Pretty much every appearance she has I love (At least I can't think of any that I don't love).

(I love Peridot too, even if the name of the stone isn't pronounced with a t on the end)

And she's so adorable when she has a fangirl moment.


I just realized recently that she might be one of my top favorite characters, right up near Kenshin.
Wow. No one's ever come close to Kenshin before.
Kenshin has been my favorite for so long that I don't even know how to compare the two, in terms of who I'd like more.
I probably won't make a final decision until Steven Universe is completely done playing.
So I guess for now Kenshin is still my favorite, but now there is actually competition.

Hmmm. This bears some thought.

Perfectionist

Here's another topic from The Artist's Way.
Today's discussion is about perfection!

First of all, always try your best. That's how you improve and become magnificent.


But perfectionism can be harmful.
If you're working on a project, and you're stuck trying to make one part of it perfect, then you're still stuck.
You'll remain at that same place, instead of moving forward. You won't finish anything, and you won't improve.
Perfectionism is a never-ending loop, where you focus on the details and don't think about the work as a whole.
And you're never satisfied with your work. It doesn't have to do with humility. It's the feeling that nothing you do will ever be good enough. And that is a very destructive feeling.

In writing, a perfectionist will rewrite one scene over and over and over, and never finish the whole story.
They want their first draft to be their final draft.
First drafts are supposed to be bad. Let them suck. It's a great way to see the bigger picture of what you're working on, without any grand expectations.
Your later drafts are where you start to iron out all the odd parts.
Let yourself come back to your work later, after you know what the whole might look like. After you have some distance from the problem, and some feedback from friends or artists.

By the way, being a perfectionist may not necessarily be about making your work perfect. It may be a way to keep yourself from moving forward, either consciously, of subconsciously. Hey, it can be scary to change sometimes, even if it's a positive change.

Remember, art is never really finished. It's just put down at some point, and sent on its way.

In

Aaaah, finally turned in the latest draft of my grad project. That should not have been as hard as it was. Nor should it have taken so long.
Yeesh.
I really hope that this is the last major edit I'll have to do. There have been too many so far.

People Suck

Some words from my cousin, who had a bad experience with grad school.

One very important thing that graduate school teaches you is that people suck.

The Art of Stalling

Considering I've spent the last few days mostly at my computer working on my project, I have accomplished surprisingly little.
It's amazing how many things you think of that you could be doing, instead of doing homework.


I suppose it's an opportunity to get a lot of little things done.
Assuming you run out eventually, so you have to get to work (I don't think anyone ever runs out of alternative stuff to do when they're procrastinating).
I have to hold myself back from obsessively checking DA, because I want to look at art.
And of course, there's so much I really really want to write on my stories. I'm trying to stop myself from doing that until I can get the next draft of my project turned in.
I guess I'm just very drained of all emotion regarding this right now. Although I'm finally making decent-ish progress.

Then I'll actually be able to relax for a little while until the next step (though I could start planning my speech too. That part might actually be fun to start.