Dive on in!

Yet too bored to really have anything better to do. It seems like since the new year started absolutely nothing is happening.

I've got two graphite sketches I've been tinkering on. I have a few more sketch ideas I might or might not do. I think I'm getting more comfortable with the medium again. Used to be, pencil on paper, charcoal, pastel, and watercolor were the main mediums I used. When I moved to digital I found it was more forgiving in a sense. It's not really *easier*. Not at all. However there's no mess, you can cleanly erase drawn on lines, and you can fix some mistakes much easier. I've also been reminded why a cover sheet is important -- no smudges! last night I literally had to scrub the graphite from the side of my hand. Then I had to go back and erase the smudges I'd accidentally left. What a pain!

Anyways. I'm working my way up to doing paintings again. The graphite drawings are just a start to hopefully something else. It's really difficult going back to traditional media when you've neglected it for years. I keep having to remember whether to use an H or a B pencil when drawing. I'm using H for the lighter lines and B for the darker. I'll also have to crack out my tortillions. I might want to blend parts of these sketches. Still not certain.

I'm going to try to do another sketch or two tonight and also find a subject matter for my next painting. I'm on a serious Bill Owen kick. I've had this on and off craving to paint cowboy scenes since last year (haha, can you imagine a cowboy Snarry artwork?! No, I haven't done it yet, but the thought has crossed my mind.), but I've done almost nothing about it. To be honest, painting cattle seems really intimidating to me. Same thing with men riding horses. Probably because it's been a while since I've actually seen either anywhere other than on tv.

Still no word on my computer. I hope they call on Monday, but honestly I don't know. I worry too much over what amounts to nothing. I just can't wait to get it back and catch up on lost time.

It's just after 2 a.m. now and I'm watching several episodes from the 12th series of Poirot. I'm feeling a bit blah and largely uninspired, so I haven't written a thing! I admit that was partly because I'd returned to my sketching and had jumped every few minutes at the phone ringing. So far only Toll Free Numbers! I might try to sketch another picture while debating whether I should do more with the sketch I'd been working on.

I also got to talk to my sister earlier. I was really pleased that she liked how the iSight worked. She misses Beast a lot, so it's nice to let her see Beast on the webcam without distressing the poor cat too much by moving her about. Unfortunately, I hadn't anticipated the light from the iSight's lighting accessory reflecting from Beast's eyes. She had laser kitty eyes whenever she looked in the camera's direction, haha! It looked really funny. She was talking about possibly flying over for Spring, but who knows.

I'm not feeling too great, so I might lay down after a bit. I really wish it were warmer so I could get more exercise jogging, but it looks like nothing but cold rain for another week.



P.S.: Is it just me or is Poirot talking about Mr. Shaitana at the very least taking nude photographs of the Inspector? My mind went wild at the possibilities, but at the very least those must be some dirty photos, haha. I kind of thought maybe the Inspector was a closet-gay, too. I love it when they change Agatha Christie's stories around a bit like that. It's just too bad the homosexuals tend to be the killers.

It's Friday now and either I'll get word that my computer's been fixed or I'll have to wait until Monday. I'm hoping I get the call tomorrow, but I'll also probably be jumping at every single call.

This morning I set up the iSight and the lighting accessory that goes with it. So now I have a webcam on the mac that I can use to talk to my sister on Skype. It's easy to move around and I can focus it on the cat's bed. It took me forever to get everything working together, though. Skype was being a pain in the ass. The iSight on the other hand was unbelievably easy to set up and get running.

I also did a Snarry sketch tonight. I dunno if I'll consider it finished or not as it's the first actual graphite sketch I've done in weeks. I've gotten to where I'm nit picking right now and the lower half isn't actually complete, but it could pass as such, I guess. I took some photos with the digital camera, but since the PC that has all the software and stuff isn't here, I can't upload it. I suppose I could get the scanner up and running like I promised a friend of mine I would, but I feel really lazy and I kind of think scanning sometimes picks up the grain of the paper and pencil and it doesn't look very neat. If it doesn't look better on the camera, then I'll scan it.

So unfortunately I have no art to post and no fics/drabbles to post either. I have been working on my Snarry-A-Thon fic and I've got bits and pieces written down. Tonight I wrote a scene I really liked the actions of, but the wording struck me as a little cliched and totally not where I wanted to go. I'll have to change it later, but for now at least it's something. :)

I was thinking of going to the art meet today, but I'm completely unprepared. All my reference photos are on the external harddrive that only works with the computer that's being fixed OR on the computer itself. I also noticed that Louisiana Art and Artists Guild (LAAG) is having weekly nude life drawing classes. I'd totally love to draw nude men, but I expect we're more likely to get women. I already know more about the female body and I really wish I had more of a chance to do life studies on a man. I'm still debating joining up.

Well, I just got back from bringing in my computer and I'm really, really bummed out. I think if I had a tub of ice cream that I really liked, I could probably eat the whole thing and I'm not normally a comfort eater!

Anyways, before I brought it in I tried a few more things to see if I could solve it. I tried resetting winsock and all that good stuff. Reboot. Didn't work. Looked at IP Config, all media disconnected. I looked my computer over for a switch that might have turned off the WLAN, also checked out the keyboard, too. I didn't find anything.

So I finally decided it was beyond me and needed to be taken in to be fixed. I really prefer to fix my own computers, but I'm not an expert. I brought it to the closest repairman. He replaced my harddrive of this same computer back when it died on me. So I know him and I do trust him to fix the problem. My Mom had suggested that I take it to a computer repairshop much further away that had guaranteed 1 hour computer service. It wasn't close enough and I don't know them, so I decided it was probably not in my best interests.

The guy at the counter who I talked to was a self-proclaimed hobbyist and he tried to make a diagnosis, but I'm dubious about it. He thought it could have been a virus, but I have Kaspersky (paid, btw) and have always had it on that computer. I don't click on weird links and I kind of suspect if I'd had a virus I'd know about it. I expect a virus would probably pop up some errors or something, but I've had nada.

Still, the thought that my computer could have a virus despite Kaspersky really, really upsets me. Also, the hobbyist told me it probably won't get seen to until Friday or Monday. :( That's a whole week without that computer. A whole week of being unable to really work on anything fest-wise. I won't be able to send in my entry for the anti valentine's day fest. Also, I'm scared that if I did have a virus it might have infected my external drive that I didn't bring in. Seriously, why? This makes no sense to me. I'm so confused.

On the more positive side (I'm trying to look at the bright side in the hopes that I'll feel better, but that computer really is something I depend on and I'll be without it for a week) I got the last of my paints in today. I'll also be getting the bigger half of my order later today, too. That will be nice.

Well, the adapter wasn't the problem. There's something seriously wrong with my computer. :( I'm copying the art files to the mac and the word files to this computer although this computer is so old and slow I probably won't be able to do much. I'll be taking the other PC in to be worked on and hopefully it won't take long to fix.

Anyways, I saw this meme on torino10154 's journal and just wanted to do it, too. :)

1. The first character I fell in love with: Harry Potter.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Severus Snape. Reading the first book, I hated him, but by the third book I absolutely loved him. So much so in fact that I first started looking for Harry Potter fanfiction mainly because of him.

3. The character (most) everyone else loves that I don't: Draco. HATE him. CAN'T stand him. Believe me, I've tried and I still can't get past how much I just don't like him. I know he was misunderstood and by the end had changed, but I still found I didn't like him any better then. I just don't and never will.

4. The character I love that everyone else hates: I've found I don't dislike Percy Weasley lately. :)

5. The character I used to love but don't any longer: Ron Weasley. I really liked him at first, but by book 4 he pretty much had proven himself to be a jerk.

6. The character I would shag anytime: None, to be honest. I don't think I've ever really imagined any of the characters like that. The only characters I really like enough would be Harry and Severus and I totally feel they belong to each other. :)

7. The character I want to be like: Crookshanks. Just for the hell of it.

8. The character I'd slap: Ginny. Could I kick her, too?

9. A pairing that I love: Snarry! :D

10. Two pairings that I hate: Severus/Hermione & Harry/Draco.

11. Favourite character: Severus Snape!

12. My six favourite characters: Severus, Harry, Luna, Hedwig, Remus & Lucius.

13. My five least favourite characters: Umbridge, Ginny, Ron, Draco & Pansy.

14. Which character I am most like: I guess I'm probably like a less weird Luna. Not looks-wise, but I do have this tendency to say things that get me weird looks. I have been called eccentric before. D: This is based on what others have said to me. If it were up to me I'd be like Hermione and be a super smart bookworm (wishing for the bushy hair because I hate how straight and flat my hair is, haha).

15. My deep, dark fandom secret: Not really dark, but a bit silly. I absolutely love it when anyone comments on anything I write here, haha. If I see an e-mail saying someone replied to my post I get all excited and happy. I like talking to other fans, so just discussing things makes me happy. Even if it's not fandom related.

I'm feeling pretty irritated right now. I have had the most incredible headache since yesterday and eyedrops, migraine medication, ect., isn't working. I can hardly look at the computer screen much less try to troubleshoot this stupid linksys adapter I just got that won't install properly.

And btw, drat you and your shitty adapters, Linksys. I didn't want to buy your stupid brand again, but I gave in and did. And this is what I get for it -- buy a Vista-compatible adapter only to find out that people with Vista repeatedly have trouble installing it and need to rely on software from somewhere else whilst deleting your own craptastic software. Riiiiight. That sure is some genius there.

I'm just feeling really angry right now. I have a horrible headache, it's freezing, my computer isn't getting an internet connection again at this rate, and I can't seem to even work on my fest stuffs. :( Why now?

My domain name is down for a little bit. I had to renew it, and luckily I got to renew it for free.

I got my watercolor paints and noticed I'd bought the wrong triad. There are two triads with grapes on the front, and for some reason I bought the secondary colors one thinking it was the other one. So I briefly debated buying the colors I'd meant to get in the first place and decided I would. I go on the site, and am surprised to see Daniel Smith has added three MORE new watercolor colors to their already 200+ line of watercolors. I didn't really feel I wanted any of those colors, so I went and bought the Vineyard Triad (Rhodonite Genuine, Cobalt Blue, and Hansa Yellow Medium, yay!). When it came time to checkout I'd forgotten my password. It had been a long time since I actually bought from the makers' site, so I assumed I used my old e-mail addy that I never checked anymore. Got the password, went to check the old e-mail and surprise! My webhost has been sending all the notification e-mails to that acct even though I thought I had changed it. And my domain name expired yesterday.

I *had* thought about using my new e-mail. I'd even thought about not buying the triad I wanted (after all, the colors in the one I got were great and I am quite happy with them, but they're completely different colors). So I almost didn't see that. I quickly renewed my domain and was surprised to see I had domain points I could use to pay for it for free, so I happily did that. :) AND! I noticed I'd gotten a promotional e-mail from Daniel Smith too. Those three new colors were advertised and to encourage ppl to buy stuff, they had a coupon that lasts from today until February 4th -- Free shipping! So I used that and changed both my contact infos at Daniel Smith and my webhost. Phew!

And just imagining what could have happened if I'd decided not to spend another $18 on paints leaves me feeling rather lucky. I don't think I would have noticed the domain expiration right away. :x

So today's been quite good. I've also found out all my other orders should arrive by Saturday or so -- much sooner than I'd expected. Even the adapter for the workstation should be in by then. I'd just chosen one and ordered it today. Right now the workstation's being used as a tv. :)

I'm about to buy $350 worth of art supplies! *wails*

It started out looking for a few little watercolors and some nice little papers to add to the rest of my watercolors and then turned into finding out there's a sale. And then I went nuts. I saw a table easel, a print rack, boxes of 6 canvases, archival oil primed linen panels, ect., ect. The savings were so much! I couldn't resist!

But luckily, I stopped myself and cut down what would have been bordering on $500 of supplies to a nicer, but still (to me, at least) cringe-worthy $350. I'll place the orders tomorrow in the hopes that I'll change my mind on some of the items. I don't like buying so much stuff.

However, I will be seeing that money back through selling my paintings at art fairs and showing them. The one table easel I've definitely got my eye on will be used a lot at the Friday art meetings. I was the only member without a table easel (I have a full-size easel that's too big to ever fit in my car), so now I'll have an easier time bringing my work there and working on canvas. It's impossible trying to work on it when it's flat on a table!

If any of the stuff I want is gone tomorrow, oh well. :) C'est la vie. It'll have prevented me from spending money that I was kind of scared to spend. Things will work out no matter what happens.

Title: Not Giving Up on Percy Weasley
Author: midnight_birth
Artist: vividzephyr
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don’t sue.
Set: About 5 years after the Battle of Hogwarts.
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: ~15,000 (not quite, but really close).
Pairing: Percy/Hermione.
Warnings: Mention of canon character death, EWE assumed, angst, some fluff, enthusiastic shirtless snogging.

Summary: Molly enlists Hermione to help her bring Percy, who is drifting farther and farther away from his family, back to them. Hermione isn’t sure that she believes that she is one of the only people Percy appears to like and respect, but takes the challenge anyway. As Hermione tries to search in her memories of Percy for clues for a way to get through, and volunteers to travel with Percy against his will as a British ambassador to get closer to him, she discovers feelings and secrets she hadn’t ever considered before.

Fic: Part 1 ♥ Part 2
Art: Here

This is the second harrypotterbang story I was assigned to when the original artist left suddenly. The author is midnight_birth and she definitely did such a good job with this one. It was just posted today, so check it out and hopefully you'll find it enjoyable, too. :)

Tagged by torino10154.

A. List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
B. Tag seven people to do the same.
C. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag "whoever wants to do it".

( The List )


I won't tag anyone specifically, but if anyone on my f-list hasn't been tagged yet feel free to say I tagged you. Just for fun. :)

Title: Together
Author: vividzephyr
Pairing: Severus/Harry; Lily Luna, mentions of Ginny.
Word Count: 100.
Rating: G
Prompt: #2 Family
A/N: Forgot to post this yesterday! Written for hp_nextgen100; Prompt #2: Family.

( Together )

I managed to finish two artworks for the harrypotterbang, so I'll be posting those with the link to the author's fanfic on the 24th.

I also finished the sketch for hds_beltane and all it needs is coloring, details, and hopefully I can come up with a background idea. I've put aside even thinking of the background for now in favor of contemplating the upcoming Snarry-A-Thon prompt claims. I've decided I'm going to take a chance and do a fic/art combo for whichever prompt I end up choosing.

So, I'd been looking at the prompts and there's some that really do catch my imagination -- mostly as fanfics, I have a harder time imagining how to illustrate some of these prompts in a way that successfully tells the story. But after the fic part, it seems like the art would merely illustrate that and I just finished doing exactly that. Twice. With a much shorter deadline (never again).

So, this should be good. Now I have the severus_sighs Valentine's challenge to hurry up and finish and then it'll just be the two fests with really nice deadlines. Yay! I also hope some of my prompts get picked up. I really, really like them and would love to see what someone else does with them. :D

EDIT: *sigh* I've managed to narrow the Snarry-A-Thon prompt list choices down to 6. These range from Non-magic AU to Magical AU to post-DH EWE, so the ones I really want to do are pretty much not able to be combined even if I changed the prompts a bit. At least 4 of them have hit me pretty hard with plot bunnies and I would love to do them all. I dunno if I'll be able to decide! This is so much harder than last time. :(

I'm really, really exhausted. I haven't managed to create a suitable second sketch as of yet. I'll probably get some sleep and try again when I don't feel so tired. The first artwork is finished and has been sent off to the author who I'm thrilled to say really loved it. Thank goodness I've finished something at least!

I'll post the finished artwork and a link to the story sometime around the 24th or so. It'll be wonderful once this is finished and posted.

Okay, I'm quite nervous about this mainly because I honestly don't know how I should do this or what I should charge, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to get this out early so I can get my stuff together ahead of time.

I'm thinking of opening fanart commissions sometime in May - August so that the fest schedule won't interfere with this. I am thinking of offering digital art, graphite on smooth paper (I'm planning to buy more paper for this, but I currently have 9" x 12" smooth bristol board so that's a start), and possibly watercolor paintings (this will depend on some things, so it's not a sure thing).

I'm planning to get together a simple gallery page with a collection of my fanart works on it. I'll probably add some graphite on paper works so you can see my work with that and if I do decide to do watercolor, then I'll have some practice pieces I'll post.

So really, I do need to figure out pricing and shipping for each. I did look around to see what other fanartists were asking for their commissions and I was really stunned. I don't know. I'm confused and a little scared at the thought of possibly messing up, so I thought I'd ask what you all think and hope for any answers. ^^;;

The snarry_swap fic for me by lilyeyes was finally posted last night! It's really, really hot and awesome and you totally MUST read it if you haven't already. It's titled Sudden Urges (NC-17). I know *I'm* gonna go reread it a few times today. :D

Title: Ron's Story
Author: savingcolours
Artist: vividzephyr
Disclaimer: JKR owns everything. I'm not making any money.
Set: Non magical AU.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~15,400
Character/Pairing(s): Harry/Ron
Warnings: None, really. Read the summary.
Summary: Non magical AU. Ron has a new friend, but how close will they become? It’s not easy to make it all work, especially when you’re a teenager. But no need to worry: Ron has a plan.

Link to Fic: Part one Part two
Link to Art: HERE

This was posted last night on LJ, but with everything that was going on I didn't get a chance to post here. This is the fic written by savingcolours that I'd posted my illustrations for earlier. Borrowed the neat little header from the harrypotterbang post. :)

Since I've been feeling better, I thought I'd start on the nextgen character artworks. At the last minute I decided to start with Rose rather than Scorpius because I've been drawing a lot of guys lately and it'd be nice to have another go at her. I'd got this idea of her bangs pulled back in a sort of ponytail, but I've only just started outlining her hair and haven't added any highlights or shadows to that or her eyebrows. In fact, there are some highlights to her face I'll probably do later as well as defining her jawline. Also, gonna add freckles and whatnot later.

I'm not totally sure what to make of it. In the end, the technique, which was just for doing colored eyelashes, pretty much failed me, so I ended up doing everything the way I usually do: lots of layering.

( Image under the cut )

Let me know what you think.

Title: Strawberry Delight
Author: vividzephyr
Pairing: Scorpius/Rose
Word Count: 100.
Rating: G
A/N Written for hp_nextgen100; Prompt #1: Fresh.

( Strawberry Delight )

Yesterday I went to the local art league meeting and got my membership card. They also talked about galleries, art shows, charity sales, regular art sales, and trips. February looks like it might be busy on that front, but I'm hoping I'll be feeling up to it! There's a museum in New Orleans with an exhibit on Walt Disney's work titled "Dreams Come True" or something like that. It apparently focuses on the princesses, but it shows storyboards and other creative works that I hear are really neat. Also: Brennan's Cafe :d I want. Still not sure if I'll be able to make it, but I'm hoping. It'll be sometime after Mardi Gras.

Also, Shaw Center trip! More food! And art stuffs. I haven't been there in a long time, so I'd be glad to go. That's going to be early February, and I'll probably be able to make it.

AND! Snarry-A-Thon will start soon! Eeeeeee! I can't wait! I might just put forth some of the story ideas I've had that I'm not sure I can work on. I'll be trying to do so much this year that I suspect it may be a while before I get any real writing beyond drabbles and ficlets done. I can't wait to see all the prompts. Last year I had such a hard time choosing, there were so many awesome prompts. ^^

Now I really need to get back to work on my other fest artwork again, hehe. ^^;;;

And my head hurts. u.u; Also, doctor's appt yesterday.

( Health stuff under the cut )