Jan 13, 2011

Goal 2: Draw

My Grandma went back to China on Sunday, which is ... the 9th I think. So my holidays has officially begun. Don't tell my mum, but I'm sleeping in a bit in the mornings. Without Grandma here, I'm relaxing and starting to do things that don't involve studying. The down side of my Grandma leaving is that some of the housework will fall to me, but so far I think me and Mum are doing okay.

With Grandma in China, the other thing is that I have to cook my own breakfast and lunch, and Mum has to cook my dinner. The problem is that we're both pretty lazy, so I end up not eating much for breakfast and lunch, and she tries to get out of cooking dinner by bringing take away food home. The first dinner tasted meh, but the meals after that were good.

Last night one of her friends came for dinner, so we had eel and fish, and then she went out with her friend afterwards. I washed the bowls last night, but didn't wash the dishes because they had the fish and eel in them. Mum put the food into the fridge, but didn't wash the dishes and in the morning they were still left out.

I couldn't stand the sight of them, but I gagged when I wash them because of the smell. In case you didn't know I hate the smell of leftover food, raw fish, raw meat, and rotten stuff. I had to wash them so many times to get the smell out that my fingers were wrinkled afterwards. The dishes still smell a bit fishy (literally), and it's particularly bad on the chopsticks. I think the wood absorbs odours really easily, and Mum didn't even put them into water to soak, so I had to scrub really hard to get the fish skin that's stuck to the dish. And she didn't put the rice back in the fridge, so it went all smelly and soggy in the rice cooker.

But that's enough of my rant on disgusting dishes. It's partly my fault for not doing them last night anyway.

Looking at Helena's and Cinda's blogs, I see that their holidays are pretty fun, while mine is very bland in comparison. Obviously something like going to Tasmania is beyond my power, but maybe I could do a small fun project for myself. The handwriting goal doesn't really count because it's not exactly fun, even if it is pretty relaxing.

I haven't done any drawings at all for a long time now, and my last proper painting was two years ago. So maybe I might take some time to do some drawing, even just a sketch is good. Don't expect too much, I might not even do them. Even if I do, I won't be able to put them up due to my lack of a scanner. I wish I was one of those people who could make great drawings on photoshop. Some of them are really amazing, like the picture at the top of the post and these:

The Apprentice by ProdigyBombay


Sandcastles by SilentBeforeTheStorm


The Library of the Lost Sea Scrolls by noah-kh


Camille3 by Lee Na Young


3 comments:

  1. Hello there, Xiao!
    A scanner is a good investment, if you're going to think about making good pics on photoshop in the first place (unless you have those graphic pens that connect to the computer and you draw on them and anything you draw appears on the screen). I haven't tried this yet, but if you scan a picture, you can edit it, add layers and effects to make it more beautiful. You will need a base to edit on first though, hence drawing something by hand, and then scanning it, then putting it on photoshop.

    Of course, you could always use the mouse to draw lines and stuff, but that would mean time consuming and not so lovely results? One of my next tasks is to get a manga clipping, and colour it on photoshop one day ^^

    I've always had a habit of soaking dishes in the sink every time i finish eating because i had a similar problem once, where the sink and bowls reeked like sesame paste and noodles and oily eggs, with the odd cabbage that mum peeled off because it had rotted. Haha. I've been lazy too, and nobody has been washing the dishes so the kitchen is piled up with plates and whatnot.

    You'll get used to the housework thing someday. When's your grandma coming back? And what about your dad?

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  2. I probably will try to get a scanner soon, like you said, it is worthwhile. I've heard about the method drawing by hand, scanning it in and colouring. I've tried it a bit with line art other people did, but it's harder to do well that you would think. One of the hardest thing is to get the right colour. I'm not good at colour choosing, at all.

    I've seen some coloured in manga clipping, and it looks particularly amazing when it's one of those complex, detailed title pages.

    Grandma is coming back in Feburary, so that's after my first day. I don't like having to get myself through the first days in a new school without her help. I suppose it's time I do start getting things done without her guiding me every step of the way. If she was here, I wouldn't have to worry about anything, she'd remember to get everything I need, remind me to do everything on time, I don't have to worry about making breakfast in the morning...

    Dad...hm...if not for the small (unhappy) mention of him at dinner a week ago, I have not even thought about him for three years. Anyway...

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  3. I haven't tried colour choosing on photoshop yet, but i know theres an dropper function in it where you get a sample of a colour from another picture and use that particular tone for your own. Either way, colouring on photoshop seems difficult and different to mixing paints on palette, which i much rather prefer.

    Knowing you, Xiao, you'd probably do well for the first couple of days. Just calm down, take a chill pill, think about the various things your grandma would do for you and remind you to pack and everything. You might forget things but that's essential to learning how to live without totally relying on your grandma's guidance! Good luck Xiao!

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