It was my last day at work and my workmates took me out for dinner. We went to eat to this Yo-Sushi place and none of us had ever before eaten in such places so it was a new kind of experience to all of us.
There was food going around on some kind of belt and you were able to just catch some you like. All of the plates were color coded. So some colors were more expensive than others but we kept checking the prizes and foods from the menu since we had no idea what those were. Also the hot food needed to be ordered seperately. I tried some chicken which was super good and I later also tried some omelette, maki, and some pancake that was filled with custard. (I might have misspelled something though)
My workmates also gave me some farewell presents. I got a necklace that was made in ceramics in Flameworks and it looked very lovely on me. It was even my favourite color. I also got few drawings: a squirrel playing videogames (just like me) and moomins wearing jedi outfits and having a battle with lightsabers! I'm going to miss them all so much. Couldn't ask for any better workmates and friends.
lauantai 20. joulukuuta 2014
Promotional video
This week's task has been doing a promotional video for Flameworks. My boss wanted me to use the Kickstarter one as a base, just edit out the bits about the education room and the kickstarter rewards. That was quickly done. But of course the video itself wasn't finished yet. The audio sounded like it ended all of the sudden so we needed to record a new bit to monologue, as ending words.
We met at Roger's house, the man who's voice we were recording, and first we talked about what should be mentioned in the end. From all of that he wrote down the idea and read it out loud to check if he got it all and if it was okay. After we agreed about the script, we started the recording itself. My boss showed me how to do it and it looks fairly easy so it all was done pretty quickly.
My real fight started when I had to start editing the audio bits. The audio that we recorded didn't sound the same as the audio we used for kickstarter and I myself had absolutely no idea what should I do to the audio to make it sound even close to the original. I spent two days watching and readin different tutorials how to edit audio, especially monologues and such with Adobe Audition. I tried so many different things, even some that I had no idea what it did to the audio and I wasn't successful. It still didn't sound the same. But when I got it to sound somewhat close to the original, I stopped editing and rendered out the video since I was running out of time.
The video is now on YouTube waiting to be published. My boss sounded happy that I finished the video but I myself think that someone else should still check the audio if it's possible to make it sound exactly the same.
We met at Roger's house, the man who's voice we were recording, and first we talked about what should be mentioned in the end. From all of that he wrote down the idea and read it out loud to check if he got it all and if it was okay. After we agreed about the script, we started the recording itself. My boss showed me how to do it and it looks fairly easy so it all was done pretty quickly.
My real fight started when I had to start editing the audio bits. The audio that we recorded didn't sound the same as the audio we used for kickstarter and I myself had absolutely no idea what should I do to the audio to make it sound even close to the original. I spent two days watching and readin different tutorials how to edit audio, especially monologues and such with Adobe Audition. I tried so many different things, even some that I had no idea what it did to the audio and I wasn't successful. It still didn't sound the same. But when I got it to sound somewhat close to the original, I stopped editing and rendered out the video since I was running out of time.
The video is now on YouTube waiting to be published. My boss sounded happy that I finished the video but I myself think that someone else should still check the audio if it's possible to make it sound exactly the same.
lauantai 13. joulukuuta 2014
London
During the weekend I went to see London! I took a bus up there and travelled through the night and I was pretty tired when I finally got there. I just wanted to check-in in the hostel ans sleep a bit before going to wander around.
Finding the hostel wasn't as easy as I thought. My map said it would have been somewhere where it definitely wasn't but I was able to find it in the end. In the hostel I found out that the check-in starts at 14 which was a little bump in my road. Battery had died from my phone and I was planning to charge it while sleeping but I didn't let it hold me back. I just left my bag there and took my camera with me and headed back to the underground.
I remembered seeing that the London Eye was in Waterloo so I headed there first and from the station there was signs that guided me all the way there. And there it was, the London Eye, and Thimes, and Big Ben etc. Looked like I didn't need maps from my phone after all!
While I was walking towards Big Ben I saw few other attractions and one of them particularly caught my eye: the London Dungeon. From the posters outside I got the idea that it might me something like a horror house so I wasn't so sure if I'd dare to go in. I have never really liked horror houses, but since I wasn't sure I went to talk to a lady who was selling the tickets. I asked her if it was like the horror house and she said yes, so I told her that I wasn't so sure if I wanted to go in then. Then she said that it is a bit scary but it's more like a show rather than a horror house. After I confirmed that the actors weren't allowed to touch I bought the ticket. And it was money well spent! I laughed so much inside and the show itself was amazing! So if you go to London, I definitely recommend to see the London Dungeon! It's very great way to get to know the history like Guy Fawkes, the Black Death and Jack the Ripper among other things.
Then I walked to the tourist bus and asked how I could find the Madame Tussauds and he adviced me to go the other side of the road and told me the number of the bus and even the road when to get off! Even in the bus it was easy to know when I'm on the street because there was a screen that told the streets' names in time.
Inside Madame Tussauds I was first scared that I paid way too much for the ticket. Like all the figures do look great but I was expecting something more. When walked ahead there was apparently also some horror experience but because actors chase the visitors I didn't dare to go in and I took the safer path.
Later I saw a huge Hulk! It looked amazing! I also saw Batman, Ironman and other Marvel heroes. They also were selling popcorns and sweets and I realized that there's going to be a movie. I bought a Belgian waffle with white chocolate sauce and one of the employees looked at it and I saw that she also wanted one. She was amazing! There was also a guy in a lab coat talking to people before the show. He also came to me and asked me where I was from and when I told him that I was from Finland he said ''moi''. I was a bit surprised and right after he said ''Mindblown!''. He knew few words in so many different languages! Stunning!
It was a 4D marvel movie! I was able to feel a wind blown and Hulk sneezing at my face. It was great!
In the evening I found my way to Buckingham Palace, thanks to underground announces telling me that I should now jump off if I wanna see the Palace. I walked trough a park and there was this cute little statue of Paddington bear. But I wasn't believe my eyes when I was in front of the Palace. Not because of the Palace itself but there was over 100 Santa Clauses and Elves there! After taking pictures awhile I walked around the Palace and I honestly didn't expect it to take that much time to walk around.
On my way back to the underground I walked past the Duck Island and saw some duck hiss at the squirrel. I also saw some birds I had never seen before.
___________________________________________________________________________________
On Sunday I went to see museums. Unfortunately at some point I had hurt my foot so I wasnt really able to put weight on it. I tried ignoring it and went to Science Museum but I really wasn't able to enjoy it much because of the pain. It was just too much.
After I went to Natural History museum that was right nextdoor and I asked there if I could loan a wheelchair and luckily they still had few there. It was quite an experience to go through the museum on a wheelchair and there was so much to see! The museum was great and there was also a dinosaur exhibition! I love dinosaurs and fossils <3
I remembered seeing that the London Eye was in Waterloo so I headed there first and from the station there was signs that guided me all the way there. And there it was, the London Eye, and Thimes, and Big Ben etc. Looked like I didn't need maps from my phone after all!
While I was walking towards Big Ben I saw few other attractions and one of them particularly caught my eye: the London Dungeon. From the posters outside I got the idea that it might me something like a horror house so I wasn't so sure if I'd dare to go in. I have never really liked horror houses, but since I wasn't sure I went to talk to a lady who was selling the tickets. I asked her if it was like the horror house and she said yes, so I told her that I wasn't so sure if I wanted to go in then. Then she said that it is a bit scary but it's more like a show rather than a horror house. After I confirmed that the actors weren't allowed to touch I bought the ticket. And it was money well spent! I laughed so much inside and the show itself was amazing! So if you go to London, I definitely recommend to see the London Dungeon! It's very great way to get to know the history like Guy Fawkes, the Black Death and Jack the Ripper among other things.
Then I walked to the tourist bus and asked how I could find the Madame Tussauds and he adviced me to go the other side of the road and told me the number of the bus and even the road when to get off! Even in the bus it was easy to know when I'm on the street because there was a screen that told the streets' names in time.
Inside Madame Tussauds I was first scared that I paid way too much for the ticket. Like all the figures do look great but I was expecting something more. When walked ahead there was apparently also some horror experience but because actors chase the visitors I didn't dare to go in and I took the safer path.
Later I saw a huge Hulk! It looked amazing! I also saw Batman, Ironman and other Marvel heroes. They also were selling popcorns and sweets and I realized that there's going to be a movie. I bought a Belgian waffle with white chocolate sauce and one of the employees looked at it and I saw that she also wanted one. She was amazing! There was also a guy in a lab coat talking to people before the show. He also came to me and asked me where I was from and when I told him that I was from Finland he said ''moi''. I was a bit surprised and right after he said ''Mindblown!''. He knew few words in so many different languages! Stunning!
It was a 4D marvel movie! I was able to feel a wind blown and Hulk sneezing at my face. It was great!
In the evening I found my way to Buckingham Palace, thanks to underground announces telling me that I should now jump off if I wanna see the Palace. I walked trough a park and there was this cute little statue of Paddington bear. But I wasn't believe my eyes when I was in front of the Palace. Not because of the Palace itself but there was over 100 Santa Clauses and Elves there! After taking pictures awhile I walked around the Palace and I honestly didn't expect it to take that much time to walk around.
On my way back to the underground I walked past the Duck Island and saw some duck hiss at the squirrel. I also saw some birds I had never seen before.
___________________________________________________________________________________
On Sunday I went to see museums. Unfortunately at some point I had hurt my foot so I wasnt really able to put weight on it. I tried ignoring it and went to Science Museum but I really wasn't able to enjoy it much because of the pain. It was just too much.
After I went to Natural History museum that was right nextdoor and I asked there if I could loan a wheelchair and luckily they still had few there. It was quite an experience to go through the museum on a wheelchair and there was so much to see! The museum was great and there was also a dinosaur exhibition! I love dinosaurs and fossils <3
Vue Cinema
After work I decided to go to movies in a bit bigger movie theatre here in Plymouth. I jumped in a bus that I remembered going down that way and I decided to call my mother while waiting a bus to start moving.
After the call I noticed that the vue from the bus didnt look familiar at all so I jumped off at the next bus stop and checked from the map if the cinema was far away. And yes, it was a bit too far away for me to walk there so that I'd get to the movies in time. So maybe next time I pay more attention when going somewhere where I have been only once before! I just laughed about how I forgot to keep checking outside when I was in a bus and started walking back. When I got in a bus again I asked the driver if he could tell me when to get off. When we were close to cinema, he was so nice that he even told me directions to the cinema.
I bought a ticket to the newest Hungergames and surprisingly enough they checked the ticket already before the screen. After that there was the last change to buy some sweets and drinks for the movies. And I think that I have never before Plymouth seen any movie theatre to sell ice-cream for movies!
Project: Kickstarter
I got the new footage for the Kickstarter film and took a moment to go through all of those. I loved the fact that the metalwork wasn't the only thing they filmes, but they also filmed more ceramics and painting! And there was also a very nice clip of fire from metalworks.
I started by gathering the clips I liked to the timeline and then the challenge began: Where should I put everything? Where should I add fade-ins and -outs and how long should I make them?
Then I remembered that in the files that I received there was actually the monologue written down. I opened the word document and read it through a couple of times and then I did the same when I listened through the audio. The word document was a helpful because I was able to see fast where everything was mentioned and listening to audio helped me to get the idea of how long I should make clips in some parts.
After that I started trying clips around till I found the solution that pleased me. And I was actually quite stunned how fast I got this long with the video. I was expecting it to take more time.
The hardest part after the clips was audio editing. My nemesis... Even so I was able to finish the video!
I'm most proud of the ending part of the video. In the end there's the clip of that little fire from the metalworks and I added Flameworks logo on it. I was even able to find one really nice fire crackling audio that fits nicely in the background. By the time the part begins the monologue and the background music actually has ended and later on the Flameworks logo has also faded out and all that has been left is a cozy fire with a calming fire crackling sound.
Painting the town red
This evening was something really special. Flameworks started ''Painting the town red'' happening. To put it short: Flameworks opened a shop in central and they'll have exhibitions there and gallery where people are able to purchase the art they fancy.
The time I got there the shop wasn't quite ready. I heard that earlier they had so much less art on the walls so they had done a great job in such a short time! They also were able to tidy up place and everything in time. And it really did look great.
Throughout the evening lots of people came in. Downstairs we had a singer and upstairs there was a performance artist. It probably was the first time I ever had seen performance artist in real life and I was impressed by his concentration.
During the evening I took lots of pictures while I was walking around. I loved how all the color from paintings made pictures so much more alive. I also played around with the depth when photographing.
The evening was amazing. I absolutely loved it. I actually loved it so much that it left the warm feeling inside my belly and a smile on my face.
The time I got there the shop wasn't quite ready. I heard that earlier they had so much less art on the walls so they had done a great job in such a short time! They also were able to tidy up place and everything in time. And it really did look great.
Throughout the evening lots of people came in. Downstairs we had a singer and upstairs there was a performance artist. It probably was the first time I ever had seen performance artist in real life and I was impressed by his concentration.
During the evening I took lots of pictures while I was walking around. I loved how all the color from paintings made pictures so much more alive. I also played around with the depth when photographing.
The evening was amazing. I absolutely loved it. I actually loved it so much that it left the warm feeling inside my belly and a smile on my face.
Meeting
After work we had a meeting in one of the director's house. I was surprised how many were late. I didn't complain nor my workmate, we got to eat hot pizza while waiting them.
In the meeting itself we talked about Flameworks, how the leaking roof needed to be fixed, and fast! We also talked about artists' studios and the teaching room. Flameworks is looking for donations for one spare room, the teaching room, and for that I've been doing the Kickstarter film. The film was also brought up into the conversation. They said that it needs some changes. The original interview that I used for the editing wasn't scripted so it didn't really sound like professional. They also wanted more clips of metalwork. Then they looked at me and said that editing is great, it's just they need the interview. I found their concern really heart warming and I told them that there's no need to worry. I understood.
My boss made the plan for the next week and gathered a group to get some new clips and also audio from surroundings to create the athmosphere for the video. They also planned a little how to script the dialogue.
I personally didn't mind the first video doesn't get in use. I was actually rather curious to see what new clips I get to use in the next editing. I just might come up with the different kind of solution!
torstai 4. joulukuuta 2014
Sculpture FINISHED
I've been sculpting this week now for few days and it's finally finished! (Or well, almost.) It just needs firing and glaze anymore and then it's ready for the exhibiton.
I added an ear to my sculpture which was super hard to do. I needed to look up a reference image of an ear to be able to imagine it three dimensionally. And I also finished the hair! Like I earlier suspected, it needed lots of clay, and for that reason I also had to make the neck thicker to be able to support that much of weight. Hair also has some texture on it and I tried to sculpt it in a way so it looks a bit to be in a motion. Also because neck alone is not enough to hold up that head's weight, I also did a bit of the shoulders. The sculpture isnt looking directly in front but is tilted a bit on a side, makes it more interesting to look at. I also carved a bit lashes to upper eyelid!
I heard also some feedback. People here really like it and thinks it looks good. Always warms heart to hear positive feedback :)
keskiviikko 3. joulukuuta 2014
Exhibition
Flameworks is organisixing an exhibition that is apparently an annual thing. Everyone here seems very busy. Now that my poster is finished they asked if I would continue my sculpting. They even said that I could put it in the exhibition.
For the head I fixed eyelids a bit, and I also fixed nose and lips, trying to make them look more realistic. I also smoothed out the skin (I do it almost all the time to be honest). I finally even got to start to do a bit hair. I thought the hair would be really easy to do but boy, was I wrong! It's going to need lots and lots of clay!
For the head I fixed eyelids a bit, and I also fixed nose and lips, trying to make them look more realistic. I also smoothed out the skin (I do it almost all the time to be honest). I finally even got to start to do a bit hair. I thought the hair would be really easy to do but boy, was I wrong! It's going to need lots and lots of clay!
Marketplace
I've been wandering more in the Christmas marketplace in the city centre. They sell there delicious food (not sausaged though, those are horrible!) Like waffles with cholocate and marshmallows, crepes, danish pancakes, some spanish dishes etc. And also lots of crafts work! I've seen so much wood craft and they look amazing. One guy sells like wooden statues and he seems to be really popular around the area. There's also a guy who sells wooden swords, shields and bows with arrows! I'd like to buy one of each, it's just a shame that it's super hard to take those to back to Finland with me.
I also saw some stalls that are full of HUGE plushies, so I could try to win one or buy one. But I happened to hear that plushie is £40... If you have seen Despicable me- animation movie, you know that the little girl saw that unicorn plushie? THEY HAD EXACTLY THE SAME! Of course I had to say outloud ''it's so fluffy!'' and I want one, but it's also hard to take back to Finland (Why can't I live here? Why can't they sell those in Finland??!)
Grokefest
Last week I started designing the poster for Grokefest. While I was waiting for the Edward Scissorhands to start I sketched out few ideas. My first idea was a closeshot to Groke's hands holding a heart that is starting to freeze. However when I started to actually paint it on Photoshop, I realized that my color palette didn't really work out. I abandoned the idea and started all over again (like the usual). Later I realized that the poster wasn't christmasy enough and it was something that was requested so I spent some time googling different christmas symbols and ornaments. So I decided to do the mistletoe inside of the glass ball ornament. Mistletoes were surprisingly hard to paint, by the way. Then I downloaded few new fonts online that are free to use and voilà. Got the poster ready!
Christmas lights
Like I promised, here are the pictures of the Christmas lights:
torstai 20. marraskuuta 2014
Christmas is here!
Plymouth had a very special day. They had this big celebration in a city centre to light up Xmas lights but I was really waiting the ice show since there was Elsa, Anna and Kristoff from frozen! The place was so full of people like an hour before the show even started. And when the moment finally came, first Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and elves and some teddy bear were on the ice and lastly came Frozen. They were so little time on ice... I was greatly disappointed in that. I would have wanted to see them more
I went to buy some chocolate kebabs (marshmallows covered with belgian milk chocolate) and it was delicious <3 and from there me and Louise walked to watch some other show and after few artists shows they light up the lights and they were so pretty. But that wasn't all, no no. From now on the shops in city centre are going to be open late every Thursday for Christmas shopping! We went trough some shops right away and we found some candy store that had sweets that you don't find from everyday shops. I even found some ''glowing'' star wars jellybeans! I'm not a big fan of jellybeans but it had Darth Vader on the box... (it's really hard to say no to Darth Vader!) We didn't really buy anything in the evening but there's still plenty of days to do some late night shopping.
PICTURES COMING SOON!
I went to buy some chocolate kebabs (marshmallows covered with belgian milk chocolate) and it was delicious <3 and from there me and Louise walked to watch some other show and after few artists shows they light up the lights and they were so pretty. But that wasn't all, no no. From now on the shops in city centre are going to be open late every Thursday for Christmas shopping! We went trough some shops right away and we found some candy store that had sweets that you don't find from everyday shops. I even found some ''glowing'' star wars jellybeans! I'm not a big fan of jellybeans but it had Darth Vader on the box... (it's really hard to say no to Darth Vader!) We didn't really buy anything in the evening but there's still plenty of days to do some late night shopping.
PICTURES COMING SOON!
Birthday
My birthday finally came! I went to work in the morning and found out that instead of editing video I'd be designing a new poster for Grokefest (yes, groke!) but unfortunately I didn't have my drawing tablet nor sketchbooks or anything with me so I had to go to town (not that I complain!) to go buy new sketchbooks and sketch pencils (yes<3). Louise came along with me and we went inside few art stores and gosh they have every possible thing inside those shops! I even found airbrush and the price wasn't bad at all. Also some light tables and anything you can ever need when doing traditional arts. It was amazing. On our way back I also bought a little cute cupcake to celebrate my birthday.
Back at work I got bunch of birthday cards and wishes and even a little gift from ceramics! Everyone's so nice here. The rest of the work day I was just searching for inspiration online, went trough some reference photos and sketched out my ideas for the poster and wrote some notes. A day just to my taste.
Afterwards I went to theatre. I had bought myself a ticket to Edward Scissorhands and I honestly had no idea what to except. A leaflet didn't say if it's a play, a ballet or a musical. I had absolutely no idea. And it turned out not to be none of my guesses. It had only dancing, yes, but it was not ballet and gosh it was gorgeous! They caught the mood AND style from the movie PERFECTLY! Actors also did such a great job. Everyone played so different character and they were able to act out those charasteristics so perfectly (yes, I can't stop repeating 'perfectly')
Afterwards I went to theatre. I had bought myself a ticket to Edward Scissorhands and I honestly had no idea what to except. A leaflet didn't say if it's a play, a ballet or a musical. I had absolutely no idea. And it turned out not to be none of my guesses. It had only dancing, yes, but it was not ballet and gosh it was gorgeous! They caught the mood AND style from the movie PERFECTLY! Actors also did such a great job. Everyone played so different character and they were able to act out those charasteristics so perfectly (yes, I can't stop repeating 'perfectly')
Blackbooks Xmas
My week's project was to do a poster for Blackbooks Xmas.
I wanted to do something very simple: a white background, an open book with turning pages approximately in the middle and some playing around where to put fonts and what size.
I looked up references and started to work on that first on Illustrator but it didn't really look anything like I wanted to then I tried just drawing it with Photoshop and it still didn't look anything like I wanted :
So I abonded the idea and start working on the new one. I remembered this one pic from last Blackbooks and decided to use it as a reference for a pose. I wanted to draw a bear taking part of the event, having a book in its paws and reading its poem to the audience.
This either didn't turn out like I imagined. So the final day of my project and I abonded this idea do and started to work on with the new one. I went back with the original idea and thought of it more, and decided again to do the book in the of the white background and play with fonts a bit. (''Keep it simple, stupid!'') This time book wasnt open though. I wanted to do the book inside some a bit old fashioned Christmas gift wrapping and it actually looked even better than what I expected. It even was more suitable than my other ideas, because of Christmas theme and I couldn't have been happier with the outcome.
I wanted to do something very simple: a white background, an open book with turning pages approximately in the middle and some playing around where to put fonts and what size.
So I abonded the idea and start working on the new one. I remembered this one pic from last Blackbooks and decided to use it as a reference for a pose. I wanted to draw a bear taking part of the event, having a book in its paws and reading its poem to the audience.
Trip
On Thursday we had a special day at work. We took a bus to some place where I have never been before and walked some time trough forest (the forest looked gorgeous by the way) and later we apparently arrived to place called Saltram. Outside there were lots of cows and a mansion to my surprise. The woods looked amazing! I don't even know how to discribe the trees and I can tell you that I'm regretting the fact I didn't realize to take a picture of it.
We took some pictures for a book, if I didn't understand wrong our purpose there. We walked to some open space where there was a treetrunk and nothing else really. On the background you were able to see some trees and a mist because it was raining that day, so like my boss said, pictures looked quite surreal. I really liked the mist in the background.
We took some pictures for a book, if I didn't understand wrong our purpose there. We walked to some open space where there was a treetrunk and nothing else really. On the background you were able to see some trees and a mist because it was raining that day, so like my boss said, pictures looked quite surreal. I really liked the mist in the background.
Bonfire Night
''Remember, remember, the fifth of November''
After work me and Louise walked to the Hoe to see the bonfire. I had bought my sparklers earlier the day but sadly enough I never got to light them up since I forgot to buy a lighter!
What was I expecting to see? Traditional bonfire and fireworks. But there were actually these little stalls that had some light-up stuff, like lightsabers and so on. Safe. Fire free. And further away there was a funfair! I would have wanted to try some of the rides but unfortunately I didn't have any cash with me.
On bonfire there was apparently the ''Guy'' itself sitting and after awhile waiting bonfire was finally lit. It looked really beautiful. Even the fireworks were great, but apparently this year was different since usually they have some kind of theme song playing during the fireworks. And there were so many people that I felt like I was inside a sardin can. I don't think that I have ever before been in that much grounded place other than concerts.
I took sooo many pictures during the day and I'm glad I did! Some of these really are going to be useful in the future used as textures! While I was photographing I was able to imagine how to use some of the textures to my halloween themed painting. Can't wait to go back to painting it.
After work me and Louise walked to the Hoe to see the bonfire. I had bought my sparklers earlier the day but sadly enough I never got to light them up since I forgot to buy a lighter!
What was I expecting to see? Traditional bonfire and fireworks. But there were actually these little stalls that had some light-up stuff, like lightsabers and so on. Safe. Fire free. And further away there was a funfair! I would have wanted to try some of the rides but unfortunately I didn't have any cash with me.
On bonfire there was apparently the ''Guy'' itself sitting and after awhile waiting bonfire was finally lit. It looked really beautiful. Even the fireworks were great, but apparently this year was different since usually they have some kind of theme song playing during the fireworks. And there were so many people that I felt like I was inside a sardin can. I don't think that I have ever before been in that much grounded place other than concerts.
I took sooo many pictures during the day and I'm glad I did! Some of these really are going to be useful in the future used as textures! While I was photographing I was able to imagine how to use some of the textures to my halloween themed painting. Can't wait to go back to painting it.
...
...
sunnuntai 2. marraskuuta 2014
Beauty and the Beast
On Saturday there was a lantern parade on Union Street that me and my friend went to watch. When we got there we also surprisingly enough become part of the parade itself. Lanterns were really beautiful.
After the parade part we got back to Union street and the very first song i heard was a Disney song called When you wish upon a star, and I must say, they had an excellent choices in music. It was almost like they had seen my Youtube playlists.
From there we walked to Theatre Royal Plymouth and found our seats. We went to see Beauty and the Beast ballet which was the first ballet for me. For my surprise there was also an orchestra. I really didn't except them to play music in live.
I gotta confess that I didn't all the time understand what was going on. The story didn't have the same plot as Disney's Beauty and the Beast, but it definitely was beautiful! I have never seen as beautiful set design as what they had there. Never! And costume design was also stunning. Lights were also done super amazing. I also loved that in the play they also had the furniture moving!
Even though you aren't able to see lots of people in the pics I took before the show, the place was full. I don't think that there was even one seat empty and no wonder, it was amazing and so beautiful.
After the parade part we got back to Union street and the very first song i heard was a Disney song called When you wish upon a star, and I must say, they had an excellent choices in music. It was almost like they had seen my Youtube playlists.
From there we walked to Theatre Royal Plymouth and found our seats. We went to see Beauty and the Beast ballet which was the first ballet for me. For my surprise there was also an orchestra. I really didn't except them to play music in live.
I gotta confess that I didn't all the time understand what was going on. The story didn't have the same plot as Disney's Beauty and the Beast, but it definitely was beautiful! I have never seen as beautiful set design as what they had there. Never! And costume design was also stunning. Lights were also done super amazing. I also loved that in the play they also had the furniture moving!
Even though you aren't able to see lots of people in the pics I took before the show, the place was full. I don't think that there was even one seat empty and no wonder, it was amazing and so beautiful.
HALLOWEEN
It's Halloween! Already week before I started my costume hunting. In probably the newest costume store here in Plymouth I saw it. The perfect costume. Darth Vader costume with a chest piece and a lightsaber! But I didn't fancy the price so much. So I looked up from the Internet and found some other store from here which sells exactly the same costume almost for half price!
We went trough probably four different stores with my friend before we found it, and that place was huge! They had probably everything there! There were Harry Potter costumes, halloween versions of some disney princesses, werevolves and I even saw a smurf costume. And believe me, they had much much more. The exact Darth Vader costume was the last one there so I'm glad we went there a bit earlier.
When we went to the party, I had mask and light of my lightsaber on and I knocked the door. It took a little while before some younger girl opened the door and she wasn't so sure if to let me in. She apparently was even scared to open the door. Apparently she wasn't the only one. I got a lot of feedback of how I looked super scary so I would say my costume was a success! Also so many people didn't knew who I was before I took the mask off. :D Only those who I told before hand my costume plans obviously knew. And I got a job title: A sith lord. (I love it) And apparently that's also my new work outfit now.
We went trough probably four different stores with my friend before we found it, and that place was huge! They had probably everything there! There were Harry Potter costumes, halloween versions of some disney princesses, werevolves and I even saw a smurf costume. And believe me, they had much much more. The exact Darth Vader costume was the last one there so I'm glad we went there a bit earlier.
When we went to the party, I had mask and light of my lightsaber on and I knocked the door. It took a little while before some younger girl opened the door and she wasn't so sure if to let me in. She apparently was even scared to open the door. Apparently she wasn't the only one. I got a lot of feedback of how I looked super scary so I would say my costume was a success! Also so many people didn't knew who I was before I took the mask off. :D Only those who I told before hand my costume plans obviously knew. And I got a job title: A sith lord. (I love it) And apparently that's also my new work outfit now.
Carving pumpkins
This week in Language Café we were carving pumpkins. I wanted to carve Finn from Adventure time, I even printed out stencil and everything but sadly enough pumpkin wasn't big enough for my design. Next year I'll buy huge pumpkin and carve it full of Adventure Time characters. Anyways, I needed to come up with the new idea so I decided to do the face of Jack the Pumpkin King from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
We got a short introduction of where did all pumpkin carving start from and few tips for carving. First we drew the design on pumpkin and then we carved the top out with a knife so we were able to open pumpkin and get all the stuff out with the spoon. It wasn't as easy as it looked like.
I didn't wanna carve eyes trough so I carved it only to the flesh so that light still gets to glow trough but it isn't as strong as from cut troughs. Everything else (a mouth and nostrils) I cut trough, and I think I did a pretty good job for my first pumpkin!
We got a short introduction of where did all pumpkin carving start from and few tips for carving. First we drew the design on pumpkin and then we carved the top out with a knife so we were able to open pumpkin and get all the stuff out with the spoon. It wasn't as easy as it looked like.
I didn't wanna carve eyes trough so I carved it only to the flesh so that light still gets to glow trough but it isn't as strong as from cut troughs. Everything else (a mouth and nostrils) I cut trough, and I think I did a pretty good job for my first pumpkin!
Blackbooks
We went to bowl with Language Café group and the place actually was like my heaven on Earth. It was filled with different games like 4D horror game, Alien, Batman and PACMAN and also airhockey and everything that I could have dreamt of and even more! Unfortunately I didn't try those games yet but I most definitely am going to go back and try that 4D horror game eventhough I don't usually play horror games but it's 4D! Of course I gotta experience it! And also Pacman. Everyone's gotta play Pacman.
After bowling I went back to work. I was supposed to take photographs in Blackbooks which a part of Plymouth International Book Festival. It's a literature evening to be exact. We heard poetry, stories and spoken word from a hip hop artist and even some stand-up comedy, and gosh that comedian was funny. I laughed super hard! I wasn't able to take pictures though since there wasn't enough light and I didn't have a proper flash on my camera, but my boss told me not to worry and just enjoy the evening since we had also other camera with flash. And I did enjoy and the next day I edited pictures and posted them up in social media.
lauantai 1. marraskuuta 2014
Stonehouse
I got an assigment to make a poster for Stonehouse: 100 homes project which is basically for us to get some interviewees in order to create an oral history archive with recordings and images. I got the idea for the poster and took my camera with me to work and go explore some Stonehouse and take pictured (for the poster, of course , and for the blog). I asked a friend of mine to come help me since I had no idea where this Stonehouse is.
Outside it was reeeaally windy but we saw a rainbow! We walked to this one place that I had seen before during some bus trips and I started to realize why the area is called Stonehouse. Trip was absolutely AWESOME! We walked up a staircase to ''heaven'' where we were able to see all of the Stonehouse and surrounding areas.
When we got back to Flameworks and PCQarts office and I started to go trough the images and try to create the poster, I realized that my idea didn't quite work. And pretty soon I realized why: ''Keep it simple, stupid!''
Outside it was reeeaally windy but we saw a rainbow! We walked to this one place that I had seen before during some bus trips and I started to realize why the area is called Stonehouse. Trip was absolutely AWESOME! We walked up a staircase to ''heaven'' where we were able to see all of the Stonehouse and surrounding areas.
When we got back to Flameworks and PCQarts office and I started to go trough the images and try to create the poster, I realized that my idea didn't quite work. And pretty soon I realized why: ''Keep it simple, stupid!''
tiistai 21. lokakuuta 2014
Bumblebee
This week's assigment has been graphic design and updating websites. I started with designing a logo for Bumblebee Studios but the start itself wasn't easy. I opened Photoshop ready and then googled some logo designs for inspiration and after a little research I just started sketching. I wasn't happy at all with my first sketches but it was a start and actually it was even necessary to get the flow going on, just like in arts. And after awhile I really did get my flow and did bunch of sketches and wrote down some notes and pretty much in the end of the day I got over 10 sketches I was ready to show.
Next step would be choosing a design and create it with Adobe Illustrator. I might even try some different kind of color palette too once the vector base is ready. I might also draw a stereo design out of number 9 just for fun.
Preparing for Halloween
This is probably the thing I have waited the most about this trip. I'm going to have my first very real Halloween and I've been daydreaming about it all the time. I'd like to buy a costume but I think it wouldnt be very wise so I gotta come up with some other kind of solution unless if they rent costumes in some shop here. But what I've been thinking is that maybe I try to find some skeleton t-shirt (with a rib cage on it), some cool wig and paint my face to look like a skull. Would be cool also if I find white crazy lenses here.
And what would be Halloween without movies? Nothing at all!So I have been planning to go to the movies with friends I've made here to see the new Horns movie and then watch Nightmare before Christmas and Hoccus Poccus from Netflix. Me and my friend also bought tickets to Beauty and the Beast ballet for day after Halloween show which will be the first ballet for me so I'm super excited!
I have also started to paint something with Halloween theme because of this constant dreaming of the coming day and I finally came up with the sketch. I'm not sure though if I will finish it in time for Halloween, but I'll try.
And what would be Halloween without movies? Nothing at all!So I have been planning to go to the movies with friends I've made here to see the new Horns movie and then watch Nightmare before Christmas and Hoccus Poccus from Netflix. Me and my friend also bought tickets to Beauty and the Beast ballet for day after Halloween show which will be the first ballet for me so I'm super excited!
I have also started to paint something with Halloween theme because of this constant dreaming of the coming day and I finally came up with the sketch. I'm not sure though if I will finish it in time for Halloween, but I'll try.
sunnuntai 19. lokakuuta 2014
Storm and Guy Fawkes
This week it has been raining dogs and cats. One day after work there was a meeting that me and my workmate were going to attend. Outside we opened our umbrellas and at least mine was pretty much useless. Wind was blowing so hard that my umbrella turned upside down all the time so my hood kept my dryer than the umbrella. Soon after it was fortunately only drizzling.
We popped inside the shop to buy something little to eat in the meeting and I saw something surprising. They were selling fireworks! And then I realized why - Guy Fawkes night is coming up. ''Remember, remember, the fifth of November'' (which I always seem to forget). There's gonna be some happening in town then and I'm definitely gonna go see fireworks and maybe buy the mask if I find it from somewhere.
We popped inside the shop to buy something little to eat in the meeting and I saw something surprising. They were selling fireworks! And then I realized why - Guy Fawkes night is coming up. ''Remember, remember, the fifth of November'' (which I always seem to forget). There's gonna be some happening in town then and I'm definitely gonna go see fireworks and maybe buy the mask if I find it from somewhere.
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| "Remember, remember, the fifth of November!" |
Weather just got worse and worse. Lightings just kept on stricking after another. When we were walking back home in the evening, we saw this building that was surrounded by tape from front and there was a sign saying ''POLICE ACCIDENT''. We wondered what happened and a man, who was photographing the place, said that lighting had hit the roof so it destroyed part of the chimney and rocks flew all the way on the other side of the road. We looked down and saw those parts of the rocks right next to our feet. I was glad that we were inside in the warm when the storm was that bad. Next morning there was even news about that lightning struck.
Meeting and the evening itself couldn't have been any better. :)
keskiviikko 15. lokakuuta 2014
Sculpting
When I started the internship I was told that I could take a part of some workshops while I'm here, since the building is full of artists so I could also try out something different. I thought about it for a while and I decided to try sculpting.
I've been thinking about a lot lately to start practicing some sculpting because I'm really interested about doing models for movie and gaming industry so it would be fun to at least try it out (I actually would like to try everything!). And maybe one day I'm able to make some little sculptures of my favourite characters and even paint them with an airbrush! So I'm really happy that I got this opportunity.
Downstairs when we were about to start working, I decided to try to sculpt a head using one of my paintings as a reference. I'm just glad that it's not any kind of a commission work and I don't have any deadline so I can forget about the pressure already in the beginning and just focus on learning. Christina was kind enough to help me to get the base where to start from and let me use her workplace and clay. She also let me watch some sculpting videos from Youtube so that I'd get some idea how to start building a face.
We first took some newspaper and scrunched it into a ball shape since head needs to be hollow, otherwise it would explode in the oven. Then I added some ''layers'' on it and little my little tried to shape it into a skull, and I just was thankful for all the 3D lessons and some drawing tutorials that I have seen that I was able to imagine it 3-dimensionally in my mind. Maybe not perfectly, but at least it was a start. Then I saw from the video that they actually drew some guidelines on the clay to see where eyes, nose and mouth would go. Just like how you would do when you start drawing a face. Piece after piece it started to look like a face. I didn't finish it though, but I'll continue it later. :)
I've been thinking about a lot lately to start practicing some sculpting because I'm really interested about doing models for movie and gaming industry so it would be fun to at least try it out (I actually would like to try everything!). And maybe one day I'm able to make some little sculptures of my favourite characters and even paint them with an airbrush! So I'm really happy that I got this opportunity.
Downstairs when we were about to start working, I decided to try to sculpt a head using one of my paintings as a reference. I'm just glad that it's not any kind of a commission work and I don't have any deadline so I can forget about the pressure already in the beginning and just focus on learning. Christina was kind enough to help me to get the base where to start from and let me use her workplace and clay. She also let me watch some sculpting videos from Youtube so that I'd get some idea how to start building a face.
We first took some newspaper and scrunched it into a ball shape since head needs to be hollow, otherwise it would explode in the oven. Then I added some ''layers'' on it and little my little tried to shape it into a skull, and I just was thankful for all the 3D lessons and some drawing tutorials that I have seen that I was able to imagine it 3-dimensionally in my mind. Maybe not perfectly, but at least it was a start. Then I saw from the video that they actually drew some guidelines on the clay to see where eyes, nose and mouth would go. Just like how you would do when you start drawing a face. Piece after piece it started to look like a face. I didn't finish it though, but I'll continue it later. :)
...
tiistai 14. lokakuuta 2014
Hairdresser
First thing in the morning on my to-do list was buying a new bag. I found this shoe store called Deichmann (so maybe German store?) that also sold bags. Downstairs for the ladies there were backbags that were full of koala bear prints or some other prints and I was looking for a bit more plain bag. So I asked the salesperson if they had any other bags and she adviced me to go upstairs where they had men's section. And the first bag that I saw was perfect! And the price made it even more perfect since it was only £7,99! My laptop also fitted inside just perfectly. (It was meant to be)
So since I was already there, spending money, I decided finally to go find the magazine store. I needed my ImagineFX! We had been separated from each other for too long... Anyways, I did find the store, and they didn't have only ImagineFX, but also THE DIGITAL ARTIST'S SURVIVAL GUIDE VOLUME 2! And ImagineFX Sketchbook. So basically everything that you can expect to find in the end of the rainbow. I just might spend some day inside drawing.
And some other finds on my trip:
In the evening my moment finally came: my appointment to hairdresser. And I gotta admit that I was feeling a bit nervous about the outcome since my hairdresser vocabulary isn't the strongest. Not even in Finnish. So basically how I got prepared for this was loading lots of reference pics of the hair from different angles and save it on my phone so I don't need connection looking for them. Oh yeah, and it was a student from College of Plymouth who did my hair. But I must say that she did amazing job. She dyed my hair the exact color I asked and when it was time for cutting, she was so focused and watched my references all the time and it turned out so good! So thank you for making my hair awesome! And the price wasn't bad either, with student discount it was only £16 o.o And I must say that much better haircut I have had than for paying more for the same job. So my ''pamper myself'' day ended with smiles.
Also, I took few more pictures for my new painting project:
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| Notice my beautiful Darth Vader keyring. |
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| My future speaker. |
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| I might have laughed at this way too much. English speakers: You might wanna translate ''peruna'' from Finnish to English. |
In the evening my moment finally came: my appointment to hairdresser. And I gotta admit that I was feeling a bit nervous about the outcome since my hairdresser vocabulary isn't the strongest. Not even in Finnish. So basically how I got prepared for this was loading lots of reference pics of the hair from different angles and save it on my phone so I don't need connection looking for them. Oh yeah, and it was a student from College of Plymouth who did my hair. But I must say that she did amazing job. She dyed my hair the exact color I asked and when it was time for cutting, she was so focused and watched my references all the time and it turned out so good! So thank you for making my hair awesome! And the price wasn't bad either, with student discount it was only £16 o.o And I must say that much better haircut I have had than for paying more for the same job. So my ''pamper myself'' day ended with smiles.
Also, I took few more pictures for my new painting project:
maanantai 13. lokakuuta 2014
Farewell party
For a few days I've been thinking about buying a new bag since I take pretty
much everyday my laptop to work with me and the bag was quite
heavy to carry, especially on just one shoulder (I had a shoulder bag)
And in the morning it all of the sudden broke! I suppose it really was
too heavy - and the ultimate sign from gods to get a new bag. Luckily I was able to fix it so I was still able to carry it
till I'd find a new one.
So another day at FW but not like any others have been. There was a reporter doing a story about FW and PCQarts. He also interviewed a little all of us interns. And gosh, when he asked me how to spell my name, like yeah, I can spell my first name just like that but the last name, why does it have to be so long?! But I think I did it pretty well and in a record time! Especially because I keep messing up with E with I (thanks thinking in Finnish), but I think I didn't mess that up this time! (I at least hope that I didn't!) And after the interview we took a group picture outside that I only cropped a little afterwards in Photoshop. (You can find it from Flameworks official Facebook page)
Then we had meetings pretty much rest of the day, and even though I don't always understand EVERYTHING that they talk about, there's this weird feeling when attending meetings. I kinda feel so grown up... (not that I wouldn't already be but... you know...) I promised to go to a few events to take pictures. I'm actually really waiting for that because I haven't done much documentary kind of photography and my boss said that I can go as close to people to take pictures as I want since they are all already used to it with him. I got to check if that is really true!
When all the meetings were done we ordered chinese, probably all their food. That list was long, really long. And I gotta say I was pretty surprised that food was still warm because I really expected it to be colder than normally since they had to make all that food before bringing it in. I also liked the fact that they actually use fresh mushrooms and it's sooooooo good. While we were eating we talked and passed around the keyboard so that everyone who wants to gets a chance to choose a song from Youtube. Ofc I put on some Finnish songs, starting from Kuningasidea and Apulanta, even some Disney songs in Finnish and so on. Oh but why this special fun? Justyna, an intern who worked in PCQarts for 3 months, she had her last week here so she this was a farewell party for her. I hope she had a real fun time in Plymouth :)
So another day at FW but not like any others have been. There was a reporter doing a story about FW and PCQarts. He also interviewed a little all of us interns. And gosh, when he asked me how to spell my name, like yeah, I can spell my first name just like that but the last name, why does it have to be so long?! But I think I did it pretty well and in a record time! Especially because I keep messing up with E with I (thanks thinking in Finnish), but I think I didn't mess that up this time! (I at least hope that I didn't!) And after the interview we took a group picture outside that I only cropped a little afterwards in Photoshop. (You can find it from Flameworks official Facebook page)
Then we had meetings pretty much rest of the day, and even though I don't always understand EVERYTHING that they talk about, there's this weird feeling when attending meetings. I kinda feel so grown up... (not that I wouldn't already be but... you know...) I promised to go to a few events to take pictures. I'm actually really waiting for that because I haven't done much documentary kind of photography and my boss said that I can go as close to people to take pictures as I want since they are all already used to it with him. I got to check if that is really true!
When all the meetings were done we ordered chinese, probably all their food. That list was long, really long. And I gotta say I was pretty surprised that food was still warm because I really expected it to be colder than normally since they had to make all that food before bringing it in. I also liked the fact that they actually use fresh mushrooms and it's sooooooo good. While we were eating we talked and passed around the keyboard so that everyone who wants to gets a chance to choose a song from Youtube. Ofc I put on some Finnish songs, starting from Kuningasidea and Apulanta, even some Disney songs in Finnish and so on. Oh but why this special fun? Justyna, an intern who worked in PCQarts for 3 months, she had her last week here so she this was a farewell party for her. I hope she had a real fun time in Plymouth :)
Cleaning day
There was a cleaning day at FW and I pretty much thanked all the gods for not having to clean. I probably would have just aimlessly walked in circles and wondered where everything goes. But because I had a laptop I was able to move my working place elsewhere while they were tidying up the places in the office, and I was placed to the artist's studio next to the office. And I kinda liked it. It had a bigger open space, light coming out of the window and all those paints in shelf and some palette with the names of the colors on the whiteboard. I couldn't stop my imagination at that point anymore but started to daydream about my own studio one day. It would be amazing to have all the reference books just next to my laptop and having this BIG drawing tablet, and maybe a view to a garden...
After the work I met up with my classmate who's also doing the internship here in Plymouth. We agreed to meet in Drake Circus which is a shopping mall in centre. We pretty much walked outside immediately after meeting but just before the doors there was some sushi place's tasting and well, since I had never ever before tasted sushi and now I had a chance to taste one without buying a bunch not knowing if im gonna end up throwing it all in the trash, ofc I tasted one. And gosh, it IS good! I definitely am gonna go there some day to eat more that heavenly food.
In Primark shopping wasn't as easy as one could have expected - they didn't have EU sizes in all clothes. And at least I didn't see any kind of guide on walls for sizes either so it was a bit of a guessing game. I found myself this beautiful Game of Thrones tshirt, which fortunately did fit perfectly eventhough I didnt even try it on. I also bought cute donut earphones (yes, they are cute!) and something little for my best friend.To my disappointment I wasn't able to find tshirt with separate Hogwarts houses, but thanks to my new friend here I found out that there's one awesome online store that sells them AND chocolate frogs plus every flavour beans. Now I only need to find out if they also deliver to Finland.
In the evening was the highlight, we were finally gonna order from Domino's Pizza and literally, I've been waiting that pretty much from the moment I heard that I'm gonna go on this trip. Thanks to Internet I got this king idea that we should write something in special wishes and see if they actually do it because apparently somewhere in the world they do some of the silly wishes. So we wasted one of the genie wishes for getting a little drawing of a panda. Well, we didn't get the panda, but we got our pizzas and they really were good and as a dessert we had Ben&Jerry's <3 Definitely a beautiful day :)
After the work I met up with my classmate who's also doing the internship here in Plymouth. We agreed to meet in Drake Circus which is a shopping mall in centre. We pretty much walked outside immediately after meeting but just before the doors there was some sushi place's tasting and well, since I had never ever before tasted sushi and now I had a chance to taste one without buying a bunch not knowing if im gonna end up throwing it all in the trash, ofc I tasted one. And gosh, it IS good! I definitely am gonna go there some day to eat more that heavenly food.
In Primark shopping wasn't as easy as one could have expected - they didn't have EU sizes in all clothes. And at least I didn't see any kind of guide on walls for sizes either so it was a bit of a guessing game. I found myself this beautiful Game of Thrones tshirt, which fortunately did fit perfectly eventhough I didnt even try it on. I also bought cute donut earphones (yes, they are cute!) and something little for my best friend.To my disappointment I wasn't able to find tshirt with separate Hogwarts houses, but thanks to my new friend here I found out that there's one awesome online store that sells them AND chocolate frogs plus every flavour beans. Now I only need to find out if they also deliver to Finland.
In the evening was the highlight, we were finally gonna order from Domino's Pizza and literally, I've been waiting that pretty much from the moment I heard that I'm gonna go on this trip. Thanks to Internet I got this king idea that we should write something in special wishes and see if they actually do it because apparently somewhere in the world they do some of the silly wishes. So we wasted one of the genie wishes for getting a little drawing of a panda. Well, we didn't get the panda, but we got our pizzas and they really were good and as a dessert we had Ben&Jerry's <3 Definitely a beautiful day :)
maanantai 6. lokakuuta 2014
Inspiration
This time that I have spent here in Plymouth, been at work with awesome people, got friends and talked about arts and passions, been to art show, walked around the city etc. I get all the time so much ideas of what could I draw.
Sadly I just don't usually remember to keep my sketchpad nor my camera with me, but last night I got the idea: I might make few sketches here of pic that I take with my phone (since with that I don't get good quality pics) and try out some new styles! I thought it might be a fun little project to do sketches or speed paintings of the city the way I see it or the way I imagine it.
Yesterday when I was walking back home from grocery store which was a bit further away, I saw this cute store that I remember seeing on Google Maps before when I was checking some points of interests before coming here, and I gotta say that it was so much cuter in real life! So I took a pic of it and started sketching it out immediately when I got back home.
May I represent my first project: Mr. Scarecrow's Attic!
Sadly I just don't usually remember to keep my sketchpad nor my camera with me, but last night I got the idea: I might make few sketches here of pic that I take with my phone (since with that I don't get good quality pics) and try out some new styles! I thought it might be a fun little project to do sketches or speed paintings of the city the way I see it or the way I imagine it.
Yesterday when I was walking back home from grocery store which was a bit further away, I saw this cute store that I remember seeing on Google Maps before when I was checking some points of interests before coming here, and I gotta say that it was so much cuter in real life! So I took a pic of it and started sketching it out immediately when I got back home.
May I represent my first project: Mr. Scarecrow's Attic!
Surroundings
Most of the houses here are terraced houses and people here have painted their own parts of the house with different colors. One morning when I was on my way to work I saw one of them with peculiar choice of colors - pastels (it looked super cute). And even though the yards are small they have really beautiful gardens to make the best out of it. But what really stayed in my mind is that most of the houses (and the yards with them) are on different level from the sidewalk. I have never before seen anything like that.
Last weekend I went to walk around city centre and tried pretzels in a shopping mall. And I must say it was a lot better than what I expected. After my little treat I walked to the harbour where is this beautiful lighthouse. It's atonishing. I've been also planning to go back there to draw. There's just something about that place.
In harbour there was apparently some kind of an event since it was full of people and food stalls.
Here you can see few pics that I took on my walking trip:
Last weekend I went to walk around city centre and tried pretzels in a shopping mall. And I must say it was a lot better than what I expected. After my little treat I walked to the harbour where is this beautiful lighthouse. It's atonishing. I've been also planning to go back there to draw. There's just something about that place.
In harbour there was apparently some kind of an event since it was full of people and food stalls.
Here you can see few pics that I took on my walking trip:
...
sunnuntai 5. lokakuuta 2014
PCQ Arts
I got a work placement from PCQ Arts which is an community arts movement based here in Plymouth.
The first day they told me my assignment: edit a Kickstarter video for Flameworks creative arts who needs funding to create an education room. Editing was supposed to happen in Adobe Premiere which I had never used before. One of the employees went showed me how to get started with the programme and went trough the video footage with me and helped me collect some shots from the footages of the interview to get started. He also showed me a bit how to update PCQ Arts website.
The website had been created with wix.com of which I had never heard of before either. It is a free website builder and it's very easy to use. I've been planning to try it myself to create a portfolio with it and test its limits. I'm really curious about what one can really do with it or would it still be better to use Adobe Dreamweaver after all.
The first day they told me my assignment: edit a Kickstarter video for Flameworks creative arts who needs funding to create an education room. Editing was supposed to happen in Adobe Premiere which I had never used before. One of the employees went showed me how to get started with the programme and went trough the video footage with me and helped me collect some shots from the footages of the interview to get started. He also showed me a bit how to update PCQ Arts website.
The website had been created with wix.com of which I had never heard of before either. It is a free website builder and it's very easy to use. I've been planning to try it myself to create a portfolio with it and test its limits. I'm really curious about what one can really do with it or would it still be better to use Adobe Dreamweaver after all.
maanantai 29. syyskuuta 2014
Getting started
The night before my flight I wasn't able to sleep at all. I just kept checking weight and measurements of my bags over and over again. I also kept repeating a checklist out loud and inside my head so that I had everything with me, especially the essentials. I kept repeating the list even when I was walking to a cab.
In London Heathrow when I was following the signs to Heathrow express I learned that it was a really bad decision to take my thicker coat since it is really warm in England. It's almost 20°C every day! So when I finally had found my way to Heathrow Express and tried to purchase a ticket to Paddington from a ticket machine, I couldn't find the ticket I saw online for a bit over £9. All the tickets I saw in machine were closer to £50! Next to the machine was information desk so I asked the lady about the tickets I saw online and apparently those were some different tickets than what I saw from the machine and fortunately I was able to buy it from her. She even was kind enough to write the time and platform too behind the ticket.
On the platform after a while waiting some employee came to guide people to move further away since train's stop had changed. But everything went fine and I even got to Paddington earlier than planned.
In Paddington I just checked the platform from where the train would leave and went straight to the ticket machine. This time I found the right ticket but my payment was declined. Then I was guided to ticket office and tried purchasing the ticket with my card, but it was again declined. Luckily I was prepared for something like this to happen so before the trip I had had raised money in pounds just in case. After I bought the ticked I called my mom about it and apparently I had crossed my spending limit which is why I wasn't able to use it. So for everyone else who will be traveling in the future: check that you have rights to use your card everywhere and increase that spending and raising limit of your accounts. It's also good to keep money in two different places if someone happens to steal your wallet.
During the travel to Plymouth there were astonishing landscapes! I really regret that I wasn't able to take photos of it or film it. But there was also something that surprised me: at one point water was red. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it was from red tiles or something.
I managed to arrive in Plymouth 2 hours early and in station a representative from Almond gave me a welcoming package that included map, bus pass, and some basic info and of course all the contacts that I will be needing. Rest of the day was very peaceful. I just settled in and talked with my hostess and went to bed early.
In London Heathrow when I was following the signs to Heathrow express I learned that it was a really bad decision to take my thicker coat since it is really warm in England. It's almost 20°C every day! So when I finally had found my way to Heathrow Express and tried to purchase a ticket to Paddington from a ticket machine, I couldn't find the ticket I saw online for a bit over £9. All the tickets I saw in machine were closer to £50! Next to the machine was information desk so I asked the lady about the tickets I saw online and apparently those were some different tickets than what I saw from the machine and fortunately I was able to buy it from her. She even was kind enough to write the time and platform too behind the ticket.
On the platform after a while waiting some employee came to guide people to move further away since train's stop had changed. But everything went fine and I even got to Paddington earlier than planned.
In Paddington I just checked the platform from where the train would leave and went straight to the ticket machine. This time I found the right ticket but my payment was declined. Then I was guided to ticket office and tried purchasing the ticket with my card, but it was again declined. Luckily I was prepared for something like this to happen so before the trip I had had raised money in pounds just in case. After I bought the ticked I called my mom about it and apparently I had crossed my spending limit which is why I wasn't able to use it. So for everyone else who will be traveling in the future: check that you have rights to use your card everywhere and increase that spending and raising limit of your accounts. It's also good to keep money in two different places if someone happens to steal your wallet.
During the travel to Plymouth there were astonishing landscapes! I really regret that I wasn't able to take photos of it or film it. But there was also something that surprised me: at one point water was red. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it was from red tiles or something.
I managed to arrive in Plymouth 2 hours early and in station a representative from Almond gave me a welcoming package that included map, bus pass, and some basic info and of course all the contacts that I will be needing. Rest of the day was very peaceful. I just settled in and talked with my hostess and went to bed early.
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