1/7/2018 4 Comments December Update and 2017 RecapHey! It’s time for a recap on December and on all of 2017! ArtI experimented a little bit this month with realism and the markers I received for Christmas (and the two Copics I bought myself as a treat >u<), but not at the same time. In realism, I drew a cat using a reference from The Big Book Of Cats, a huge collection of really nice cat photos. I’ve had it since I was very young, and it’s a well-loved book. I also drew and painted a self-portrait from a picture I took December 2016. I was tired of smiles and frowns, so I picked a silly one! There were a few drawings I did that month out of sheer disappointment with myself and frustration with art block. I tried working on shading a little more than I normally do with these, and they turned out okay. Next, I got into markers. The first two I did, one of Pearl (my OC) and the other of a random blonde lady didn’t turn out very well, but I did practice drawing the folds of fabrics and posing. It was my first time playing with these water-based markers I got for Christmas, so I don’t really blame myself. The third picture I colored with them was a long overdue request from a friend. This was of her cute little character, Library Witch. I regret not doing a background, but I had finally gotten a hang of the markers, and didn’t want to risk messing it up with a sub-par environment. I also did a small one-marker challenge, but it wasn’t anything fancy, and it happened to be made with an alcohol marker I’d had before. Finally, I got Copic markers. Only two colors, but I thought they’d look nice on a mermaid, so that’s what I drew. I’m VERY proud of the drawing and lineart (Just—the hands! The hair! The face! The pose! This is my best work of the year BY FAR), but the coloring wasn’t as good. I guess I was too hesitant and scared to fill up the whole page, and upset with the inconsistencies in the coloring overall. Maybe I’ll go back and fix it, because those white spaces just look weird. WritingSorry, I got nothin’ for December. Mainly I’ve been brainstorming ideas for blog posts and Crystal’s Cave. Pinterest will be a very good friend for short stories. And you may see a short story in the future. (I’m sorry, it probably won’t be Voice in the Darkness. That story became very complicated very fast because that’s just how my brain works.) But I learned that short stories don’t need fully fleshed-out characters over a long period of time to be effective. A friend showed me a story of hers. It was a tragedy, but it was beautiful. And I’m glad I have a friend like her to learn from! :) MusicThis was also a rather dry month for music, too. On the 22nd, however, I decided that I WOULD compose something this month. After producing two of my best works yet, I hadn’t had any inspiration or drive to compose. But it was 8:15. Forty-five minutes until I had to go to bed. LET’S DO THIS. I made a score public, explained what I was doing, and composed. Nothing was on my mind. There was no agenda. There was no plan. I just wrote as fast as I could to make something that sounded at least okay, and resolved at the end. I was encouraged by online friends, spurring me on to continue. I love words of encouragement, so I was feeling good about this. And at the end of 45 minutes, I hastily typed in the last few notes, saved the file, and breathed a sigh of relief. Here’s the final product: Sadly, this is all I produced this month. The composer’s block was real, and I was disappointed in myself. Not a good mixture. But I’m coming out of that, and that will be the topic for my next post! (By the way, if you tried the links in the last monthly review, they didn’t work because I made the scores private. I’m keeping my best scores to myself for now.) 2017: year in reviewArtI have a very good record of my art this year, and I’m grateful. My style has shifted and morphed into what it is today through a burst of creativity and inspiration in the summer, and I’m so glad that it did! To show you what I mean, I’ll put together a chronological montage of Crystal’s appearance throughout the year (since I drew her rather often). WritingMy love for writing was unexpectedly rekindled this spring, when a friend invited me to do this thing called Camp NaNoWriMo. I revisited an old idea and tried breathing new life into it. Though the novel still wasn’t finished (but it was very close to the climax!!), my writing skills definitely developed and I grew as a writer. If I tackle this a third time, I think I’ll have a better grasp on how to fix the problems it had. I had the amazing opportunity to rewatch Avatar: The Last Airbender. And I mean the show. The fantastic, beautiful, amazingly-written show and all its three-dimensional characters and plotlines. This time, I payed close attention to the story’s structure and the depth of the characters, and especially how everything fit together so well. It made me think of new ways to make my stories better. Fairly recently, I began a new project with a friend, which grew out of a “game” I thought of, where we build a story together by taking turns continuing the story. I call it Writing Telephone, and the story that grew out of it became much cooler and full of potential that we started to become intentional about it. We began planning the next steps, worldbuilding together. Unfortunately, that story is far from finished, and in the busyness of the holiday season, we let it fall to the backburner. But I hope to continue and possibly even finish it in the new year. Finally, I attempted to write Crystal’s first story in November, but as you know from the monthly update, that didn’t get finished. Since I was focused on music and auditions and finishing school, writing just wasn’t a priority, and that’s okay. I think Camp NaNo is more my speed, for some reason. Looking forward to it in 2018! J And all through the second half of the year, I’ve been writing down and collecting lots of random little ideas that could become something really cool. If I actually took the time to put my pen to the paper. … Yeah, that’s a 2018 goal. One of the fuzzier goals, but it’s definitely a goal. MusicI think I decided to become a composer in 2015 or 2016. After thinking about it for a while, I figured it would be good for my personality and style of working. The problem is that I didn’t start taking composing seriously until the middle of this year, when I finally finished a piece I started at the end of my sophomore year. This piece was a year in the making, and I finally decided to finish it. “Disonancia” was the biggest piece I’d ever composed, and I was immensely proud of it. I still am (which shows that I haven’t grown very much… another fuzzy goal!!). It will forever be remembered as my breakthrough piece. The one that inspired me to write more. Granted, I didn’t “compose” throughout the summer. Instead, I wrote songs—you know, like pop, rock, a little bit of rap. I think I wrote about eight songs that collectively made up an album that I hoped to someday record. I worked hard on lyrics and interesting chord progressions, messing around on the piano enough to teach myself some music theory. My friend and I got together and formed a two-person band, and ended up writing two rather nice songs. I hope we’ll have enough free time to continue writing and practicing together. That girl is my motivation to get back on the drumset! In the summer, I also subscribed to some music makers on YouTube, who were very knowledgeable, informative, and entertaining. I felt like I learned a lot from them. In the fall, I began to really “compose” again, in preparation for my college audition. I wrote a marimba and vibraphone duet called “Night Before Chaos” which I challenged myself with immensely. I also wrote a little piano solo called “Waltz of the Rainy Night,” whose melody I wrote straight onto paper without going through Noteflight. I was quite proud at the time. (It’s how Bach and Mozart and Beethoven wrote!! I did it!!) When band (and private lessons) ended, I no longer had any access to the precious, beautiful marimba in the college basement. So that may be the cause for my lack of inspiration, since playing whatever came to mind on those lovely wooden bars was how I had written “Disonancia” and “Night.” That instrument sang my soul, and I didn’t have it in December. It was really quite saddening. ConclusionThis year was super productive for me, and I learned a TON about myself and my talents. I grew in each place, and I hope to grow more. As I move into a new year, I hope that none of them will be cast to the wayside, but realistically, I know that’s very, very difficult. I plan to focus on music, mainly. (Career, you know.) And a few other things that are crucial to my health and growth. ResolutionsIn 2018, I have some resolutions. And currently, I’m failing on one of them… See if you can guess which one.
Yeah… It’s the sugar one. “Less sugar” isn’t enough to get me to stop eating unbelievable amounts of sweets. Why don’t we edit that one? 3. I resolve to eat only one dessert or sweet treat a day. There we go. Some of my fuzzy resolutions include writing more for my blog (hopefully once a week) and working on my novel(s). I’m honestly not sure how that will work out because of school and music as my main focus, but we shall see. Happy New Year, everyone!!
4 Comments
Altobits46
1/8/2018 07:51:30 am
You really did a lot of drawing, writing and composing this year and over time through the winter and summer months I agree that you did improve a lot on all three fields and you got better with each drawing :). I learned a bunch of engineering stuff and a completely new software program and I'll be learning another on by next semester! So there is still a lot more to learn.
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Lily Calico
1/8/2018 10:55:52 am
There's always more to learn.
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Kittykazoo
1/8/2018 05:37:29 pm
I think this was an extremely important year in both of our creative developments... it's been extremely cool being friends with you along the way!
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Lily Calico
1/23/2018 09:35:40 am
Absolutely! I'm glad we went through it together! You played a huge role in motivating me, and I'm extremely grateful for you :)
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Lily Calicois an aspiring composer, writer, artist and musician. Archives
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