Review: The Secret World of Arrietty

You may also know this movie as "Kari-gurashi no Arietti."

In this film adaption of the story "The Borrowers" Studio Ghibli brings to life Arrietty a young adventurous girl curiously pushing the limits her family has set to keep their existence hidden.

During the film I was amazed with the amount of detail gone into the design, bringing to life the characters and their environment. The setting of the film brings forth feelings of comfort and warmth, as it takes you to a place where the cottage is surrounded by an over grown garden of flowers and creeks. The animation itself evokes feelings of adventure and suspense as Arrietty explores the house in order to provide food for her family.



I cherish the work Miyazaki produces as he always keeps the art and animation traditional, amazing us with the skills and talent of true art. I'm happy that he has chosen to stay with the feel of traditional hand drawn 2D animation, instead of the common 3D CG animated movies. I find the traditional style is easier to relate to, and makes it feel real. It's similar to reading a book and imagining the story yourself.


Although the story is nothing compared to say 'Howl's Moving Castle', I recommend watching it even if its just for the animation and artwork. I must also recommend watching it in Japanese with subtitles (unless you can understand Japanese of course), to get the true feeling of the film.

School, Music and Apple Crisp

Well kids I've managed to survive my first week of classes and I must say it's pretty intense. That being said, it's also a lot of fun, and a lot of information. In my first week I've started to learn Maya, Mudbox, and Softimage.

Creating 3D art is a huge change from traditional paper and pencil art, which is of course to be expected. I'm currently taking 6 classes which is a heavy load but it's not as bad as it sounds, most of the classes are there to blend what you've learned and show you how these programs work, and compliment each other. It's nice to really immerse myself fully into school and art. There's no joking around with this program, which is good because it shows us the reality of the business.

So aside from school I've also been baking, which always helps to clear my mind and de-stress, so I thought I would share with you one of my favorite recipes.

Apple Crisp.
This is best served warm a la mode.

2 cups Brown Sugar
2 cups Flour
3/4 cup Rolled Oats
1 cup melted Margarine
2 tsp Cinnamon
4 cups diced Apple
(you can add any fruit, I added blueberries and it turned out fantastic)
1 cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 cup Water
1 tsp Vanilla

Thoroughly mix Brown Sugar, Flour, Oats, Margarine and Cinnamon; press 1/2 this mixture into greased pan (you can make with a 9x13 or it also fits into 3 loaf pans, of which you can freeze nicely). Cover with 4 cups Fruit. In saucepan, combine Sugar and Cornstarch. Stir in Water. Cook until clear and add Vanilla. Pour over Fruit. Top with remaining crumb mixture.

Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. (If you use small loaf pans check after 45mins).

Serve warm with Vanilla ice cream. Caution sugar overload.


Well apparently it's bedtime as Jupiter has passed out beside me. But before I get to sleep I must link you to my new cover. http://love-squid.bandcamp.com/track/skinny-love-bon-iver-birdy-cover Enjoy.

Lana Del Rey

I love Lana Del Rey. Her look and sound is just so different that I'm constantly drawn to her. I decided to cover one of her songs after a friend told me about her.

I need to look into getting a better recording mic so it doesnt sound so terrible when I go louder, but this is all I have for now, and it does the trick.
Enjoy the video!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPjWBpUFaBw .

Also here's the full outfit I have on today <3

School update

As many of you know I've been talking a lot about going back to school recently. I am proud to announce that I've been accepted to a Digital Animation program, and start in a couple weeks. This last month has been very busy getting everything together for school and working as much as I can before I leave, hence why I haven't posted in a while.

So let's see what's new.. I've given my leave of absence at my job, which means I have a full year to decided whether or not I'll be returning. Always good to have a backup plan. I have also been drawing more then usual to prep for school.

(I have to take a second to let you know that due to the fact that I haven't written anything in so long, my mind is drawing complete blanks right now. Which is unfortunate because so much has happened recently. I suppose it serves me right, taking so much time to blog about it. )

Alright back to whats new.. I have a singing recital coming up in a few weeks, where I'll be singing "Bluebird - Sara Bareilles." I have also been working on "On My Own - Les Miserables." Which has been a nice change because singing classical music is much more structured, and it's showing me a different way of singing.

I suppose I should stop myself here and leave you with a new drawing. I'll write more when my minds a bit clearer.

New Painting FOR SALE!!

I've been keeping myself quite busy these past few weeks, mostly trying to put together a portfolio for school. With that being said I have new paintings and luckily for you, they are up for sale! Starting with the newest addition 'Squishee the Squid.' Since this is the first time I've listed a painting online before, I've only listed one and will continue to list more once I get an idea of what people are looking for.

So here is the listing, take a look and who knows maybe you'll fall in love and want to take him home.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/95086467/vivid-squid

7 Deadly Rings

So I was browsing the web, and stumbled across an amazing concept for the 7 deadly sins turned into rings. Now Stephen Webster released only 7 rings in each of their respected category, wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony. I could tell you all about how beautifully crafted each one is, or I could show you...



Let's start with Envy.

With a 360 view you can see
that there are four eyes to be seen
glaring at you. And of course this ring is green with envy. How fitting.

Greed.

As you can see this ring is piled
high with stacks of what seems to be gold coins.
Which is perfectly fitting for Greed.

Lust.

There is no better way to convey
this sin than with arms tangled around a brilliant stone, encrusted with diamonds.

Wrath.

The hands on this ring
rope themselves around a
stunning ruby as if they are
choking the life out of this stone.

Gluttony.

Now this ring is fat with jewels.
It's almost as though it has
consumed precious stones and
is looking for more.

Sloth.

A blue gem rests itself
atop a cushion fit for a
queen. Sleeping beauty
herself would not awake
from such a bed.

Pride.

This is by far my favorite
of the seven rings. Maybe it's
the color that draws you in. Or
maybe it's the setting of the jewels.
Either way I would be more than proud to be seen wearing this ring.






Stephen Webster did a beautiful job designing these rings. Be sure to take a look at his website to see more great pieces. http://www.stephenwebster.com/collections.asp

Ooh Baby Fudge Me

After finishing up a long day of work I decided I would attempt to make some fudge. Now this is my first time ever making any form of fudge and let me tell you, it was super easy. I can fully understand why it's so expensive in store though, the chocolate alone cost me $15! But a small sacrifice to bring joy in the form of fudge.


So here's the recipe, remember to keep a low heat when melting chocolate.

• 3 (170 g) packages bakers white chocolate baking squares
• 1 (300 ml) can regular eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups crushed Oreo cookies
  
  

  Directions:

  1. In a pot on medium heat melt the chocolate in the milk.
  2. Remove from heat and stir in the crushed cookies.
  3. Spread evenly in a parchment lined 8x8 square pan.
  4. Chill 2 hours or until firm.
  5. Cut into small squares
     
     
     http://www.food.com/recipe/oreo-cookie-fudge-149026