It is coming. I have a lot of work to put up now that I am switching gears back to FA. As such, I will be checking this again so feel free to pay attention. Things will be going up. I just can't start the update now because everything is on my external and I'm not at home. You have been warned <3

Hey, for those of you who might be interested in commission work. I do have a telegram and that's generally the best way to reach me since I spend a lot of time at my computer. My username is Spire_pondragon. If I don't respond right away, I'm sorry, but I will get with you as soon as I can.

Okay, fine. Turns out there's stuff that doesn't fit on my tumblr. It's going here.

Okay, so I know my presence here has been pretty much nonexistent for quite some time. I'm going to level with you: It's so much nicer to be able to upload several things at once on Tumblr rather than come here and do it one at a time. I am still alive and still arting quite hard, but I generally don't have the desire to upload the same stuff over and over. That's why my Twitter has ground to a halt as well. If you're on Tumblr and even if you aren't, come see what I've been up to.

sepia-shade.tumblr.com

Consider this your written invitation.

<3 Kuri

We knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any easier... I just got back from Prince Frederick Animal Hospital where we put Misuki, my ferret to sleep. She had a tumor on her pancreas and she was suffering. The past few days, she's been having seizures and we just... We didn't want her to suffer anymore. I am going to miss her terribly. I love you, Misuki, R.I.P. <3

So I meant to make note of this sooner and completely forgot. This summer has been a little crazy, bit it's about to come to a grinding halt. That being said, if there's anything you want done or if you know anyone whose looking to get some work done, keep me in mind. If you're new to my page, browse my gallery and see if there's anything you like.

I also want to note that I am considering doing 3D model commissions using sculpey, but the planning on that venture isn't completely set yet. Those of you interested in 3D sculpey models, keep that in mind and I will keep you updated. Honestly, you could send me a note and I will make a list. Lists are good..

Soooo I've decided that I am actually going to commit to this idea of repainting the commissions I did in Photoshop in painter. I've finally figured out that for the way I work, It is better for me to do things in painter. I've also figured out which settings make the work look the best, at least in my mind. So, if you have a commission that I did a while back and wonder what it would look like redone, just comment on here and I'll put yours at the top of the list for a redo. It's not gunna cost you anything, it's just a little personal project.

So I managed to pull it off, despite the bullshit... I am now officially done with school. Go me... Maybe now I can actually do some better work for my fans. I would like to say again that I appreciate all of you. Everything should be fine, just so long as the world doesn't end next year. I would be pissed... so... very... pissed... Back to Star Trek...

So like... I'm going to be 21 on Sunday and I'm not at all excited about it. To me, it's just one year older and not a single day more excited to be alive. Is that sad? I just don't get what's so great about being 21... I don't drink so that holds absolutely no appeal to me. It's just... one more year gone V_V this blows...

Hey, to all my loyal watchers out there. I'm home for the summer and open for commission work. If your birthday's coming up, I do presents for free. Tell people you know I'm ready for work! >=3

Okay, the ogre plays halo...He has a mic, the kind that sits RIGHT NEXT TO YOU MOUTH into which he screams at his teammates... Now... picture if you will... 10 in the morning...It's nice and quiet when suddenly...

OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK! HE'S GOT THE FLAG! TAKE HIM OUT.... BITCH MOVE! HE SNIPED ME FROM ABOVE... BULLSHIT! WHATEVER! DID YOU SEE THAT SHOT?! THEY GOTTA FIX THAT! DIRTY FRENCHMEN! ROCKET LAUNCHER! GRENADES! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! OWNED BITCH! and so on... and so on...

The one with no volume control... sitting in front of a tv which, by the way, is also spamming things like "Headhunter", "Skull taken" and "Headshot" EVERY FUCKING TIME SOMEONE DOES ANYTHING...is now ruining the hardest part of the quarter... the weeks before finals...

I think that adequately explains my current situation... and now it's time to eat because I have class..

So I'm taking a horseback riding class, as some of you know, and today was an absolutely beautiful. There was a good breeze, the sun was shining, everything was perfect. The first ride went pretty well, There's a new horse at the barn that was behind me and he's not getting along with the others yet. So I had to keep my horse from trying to kill him. It wasn't bad, just had to keep watch for flat ears and stuff. I decided to ride twice today [we do primarily trail riding since it's a western class] and when the second group arrived, I was still feeling pretty good. I got a nice canter out of my first horse so I was excited to go back out. Our instructor was talking about what she feeds her horses as far as grains, hay, and all that when a question surfaced that killed the good mood a little. I seriously felt myself die a little inside.... Ready for this?

One of the students who attends my school asked if horses eat meat...

A... COLLEGE STUDENT asked if horses eat meat... now... I don't know where he grew up, but around here, horses are what we call Herbivores...

This kid rubs me the wrong way anyway. I can't pinpoint it, but something about him just bothers the hell out of me... Now, I'm wondering how he dresses himself...

Okay so many of you know the callibur of idiot that I have class with by now. Today we had to take someone else character and redraw it using the head and body rotations we've done for class as well as a model sheet showing the character in various poses as well as expressions and stuff like that. I was feeling pretty good about this considering Sev is a much easier character to reproduce than alot of my other ones... or so I thought.

When it came time to look over what other people had done, I was given some rather distressing news: There wasn't enough information to easily understand Sev's head shape... Apparently it would have been much better if I had drawn out all the shapes in his head so it was easier for my classmate to figure it out.

You know in cartoons when characters get really mad and you hear a tea kettle whistling in the background? That was me...You know how they try to hide it by taking a deep breath and putting on a happy face?... That, was also me, but instead of the happy face, I cranked up my music and fumed, making snide comments the rest of class.

For those of you who don't know Sev, he's the red demon I've done a few pictures of in my gallery. If you would be so kind to go a have a good look at his head, I would appreciate it... don't worry, I'll wait...


Now that you've seen his head, I would like to tell you exactly what it is you are seeing. If you've already figured it out, feel free to stop reading or read along for your own amusement while I explain...


IT'S


A


BLOODY


CIRCLE

A CIRCLE A GOD DAMNED FUCKING CIRCLE! I cannot BELIEVE this MORON can't figure out a damned circle! WHY THE HELL DO YOU NEED ME TO DRAW OUT ALL THE SHAPES IN A FUCKING CIRCLE?! If you've EVER seen sonic the hedgehog, you might also notice that the similarities between the two are FUCKING STAGGERING! If you can't establish even a guess as to the shapes involved, you've got NO BUSINESS IN ILLUSTRATION much less fucking ANIMATION. Yes, this moron is an ANIMATION STUDENT!

I've taught small children to figure out a head shape! What the hell is your damned problem?! And to make it better, he was drawing him FROM THE SIDE with a full head rotation right in front of him he had EVERYTHING he could possibly need. All he did by making that comment was make himself look like a moron, an absolute twit even... I just can't fathom how he's getting through animation classes...

So now, my day is ruined unless I can drink all of this 2-liter of cream soda and drown my frustration in sweet bubbly goodness...

For once, not a rant.

I had a critique today in my sketchbook class. Everything was going just fine and we were all having a good time. We get to this one chick and my professor starts talking about one of her pieces. She chose a sugar glider. Then she started talking about them and I asked her if she had one. The way she was talking it seemed like she knew a lot from experience. She said yes ad asked if I wanted to see... She then turned like she was reaching for something. I thought it was her phone... So imagine my surprise when she PULLED A SUGAR GLIDER OUT FROM UNDER HER SHIRT...

The critique ground to a halt after that and we talked about the sugar glider for about half an hour. Her name is Jujube... like the candy and she apparently travels like that on a regular basis to class. I will be taking my camera to class on Thursday so that I can show you all Jujube.

So I went to my character illustration class with my picture of Sev and his story all ready to wow the class... Unfortunately, they STILL don't respond well to ideas involving something other than humans, especially when the art isn't that of one of their friends... Once we put all our pictures up, I looked across the board and saw that all of them except mine, my roommate's and this other kid's pictures were human. I mean, someone even went to far as to not make up their own character and use ROBIN HOOD instead... Granted, the picture was nice, but c'mon, the class is centered around character design and development... He does the best 3D models I've ever seen, but would it kill him to at least be a little original? He was in the class before and he did Peter Pan... This other chick wants to combine fucking HARRY POTTER with Lord of the Rings in what will undoubtedly be the worst bastard-child story I've ever watched develop. It is truly sad that this is what our generation has to offer as far as creativity...I really just don't understand it.

Okay, first let me explain what a wellness course is and why it is a waste of my time... They are like gym classes, however there is a WIDE array of things to choose from. There's everything from archer to spending a weekend in the mountains snowshoeing. You must take two of these classes to graduate... but here's the kicker. THEY AREN'T WORTH ANY CREDIT. Soooo what's my motivation to take them? Nothing. "These classes are to make sure you don't spend your entire time just sitting around" says my former jock of a father... This is a tech school and some of the wellness courses are seminars... You don't even have to do anything. So that argument is dead. Really, there is no purpose other than to piss us all off.

Now, on to my experiences this far with these classes. As with all the classes I didn't want to take, these courses have been nothing but a hassle. I tried to take the snowshoeing class I mentioned before with my roommate last quarter. Unfortunately, he signed up for a different section and then mine got cancelled but I wasn't informed of this until the day we were supposed to meet... Up until then, I had spent my time gathering warm clothing and things that were required for this god damned trip. This stuff is useless to me now unless the world freezes over...

My current pain in the ass is Western Horseback Riding...I'm learning to ride European at home so I figured why not learn the other... Now for the fun.. It's an hour away, the school is not providing transportation eventhough they have plenty of vans that are specifically FOR TRANSPORTING STUDENTS, and I've spent the last WEEK getting e-mails from my classmates asking if I have a car... I don't have a car.. My roommate does, but he doesn't want to drive me every week to this class. I don't blame him.. I wouldn't want to either. He's agreed to take me there today but from what I have so far, I'll probably end up calling him to ask him to come get me too.

I really hate being a bother to others and I hate it even more when I can't avoid it.

So again I am forced into an unnecessary rage (which will probably ruin my day since I just woke up) due to the ogre. He didn't do anything this time, however what he said is making my temper flare. He talks... alot... and at an unreasonable volume. The first thing I hear when I wake up should NEVER be him. I don't know what Sarah asked him, but his response was "No, we'll give her another half hour. As usual she stayed up until 3 in the morning and we can't not be productive just for her. I'm sorry, that's just the way it is."

Now... First off, I wanna say, if you're gunna talk shit like a little cowardly bitch, you better make sure the person you're talking about isn't IN THE NEXT ROOM. While I do stay up late, I do have posses the natural ability to stay up until 3 in the fucking morning every fucking night. I would probably die if I tried. Next, I don't know what makes him think he is ALLOWING me to do anything. I will sleep as long as I damn well please and there's nothing he can do about it. Oh an by the way, their productivity has nothing to do with me either. The sink has been full of THEIR USED DISHES for 4 DAYS. They ALWAYS put off doing dishes and then fight about it. I can't even do my dishes because there is no room. Just as another side note, he RARELY does the dishes. He usually makes Sarah do them and then midway through he'll ask her to make him something to eat while she's at it.

He's a power-tripping swine and I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to bite my tongue for the sake of domestic peace and sanity. I don't respond well to controlling people, I never have. The only reason I didn't storm into his room and cuss his stupid ass out is because I just woke up. However, now that I've started my day with a rant I fucking DARE him to say something else.

Whooo! 200 before break! Okay... celebration over. Now, Spring Break is nearly upon me and I need shit to do. So I'm opening up for commission work so I'm not just sitting around doing nothing. No money? Well, if your birthday is in the next two weeks, I do presents for free. Please contact me! I dun wanna sit around for a week and a half! T____T

A grey cloud has been cast over an already cloudy day. A very close friend of mine lost someone very dear to the both of us. Her name was Loki and she was his ferret. I know it may not seem like much to some, but if you've ever lost a pet, I'm sure you can sympathize. Loki had to be like 10 years old, but she was such a spirited little thing, despite her age. In recent years, she began to lose some of her hair, but other than that, there was no sign of any illness. To her, nothing was wrong. Whenever I went over to his house, she would climb all over me and sniff in my face. I would even bring my ferret over to play with her. My ferret was just a baby at the time, but Loki was always very sweet to her. Naturally, when I went off to college, I asked him if he could watch my ferret as well since they got along so well. They had been together for nearly 4 years... until this morning... I know this may not be something to get really worked up over, but she was special... To me, to him, and to Misuki, my ferret... She will be missed... horribly, horribly missed.

R.I.P Loki

Upon review of my gallery, I realized that way too much of my work is just linework... It makes me look like I don't know how to color...So this is my new years resolution... I gotta get some more color on this shit...

Okay... I am in college in a relatively good sized apartment. There are four of us living here. It's a two bed-room apartment. Two of my roommates are friends of mine. One of them is my roommate from freshman year. We get along just fine, never had any problems. The other friend is a fellow illustrator. He's a quiet and pretty much keeps to himself and doesn't cause any problems for anyone. He just sleeps a lot. So far, you're might be thinking everything sounds good... You're partially right. Between the 3 of us, there are not problems.

The problem is the fourth. Now, for those of you who play wow, lemme put in perspective just what this guy looks like... Take the typical ogre, y'know find them all over arathi highlands and alterac mountains. remove the horn and the teeth, knock down the muscle mass but leave the flab, give it hair and clothes and the loudest voice imaginable and that's Jacob.

Feel free to stop reading now if you think you've got a general idea about where this is headed. And now for the fun part: his personality... He's an only child, the typical only child. As in, I want it and I deserve it. He throws his weight around and likes to set rules for everyone else. He follows these rules when it's convenient for him and never before. He talks ENTIRELY too much and interrupts EVERYONE, including adults. He'll seriously ask a question and then blurt out something in the middle of your explanation.

I'm sure you're wondering "then why did you decide to live with this person?" He's my female roommate's boyfriend. It's the only reason. I would not breathe the same air if I didn't have to. Now, I tried to be nice, I agreed to let the "happy couple" share the larger room instead of sticking his arrogant, egotistical ass on the couch, which, by the way, is where he belongs. Oh, and the room they share is twice the size of the other bedroom. It's huge and there's easily enough room for all of his stuff. However, he felt the need to set up his tv and x-box in the living room. He says there isnt enough room in their room... which is completely false.

I live in a corner next to the kitchen... a... corner.... In this corner, I fit a futon, a fridge, drawers for my clothes and pretty much all of my art supplies. The happy couple also felt the need to get two large couches, claiming we needed them in case company came over.... We don't have company. Sarah, Chris and I don't socialize and no one can stand Jacob... Who the hell's coming over?

Oh, did I mention the Ogre is a complete slob? You should see the apartment. He'll bitch at Chris for not keeping his room clean... You should see their room. You should see ALL the space he claims as his with dirty dishes, candy wrappers, empty alcohol containers, everything.

And all of this isn't even why I decided to rant. Normally, I wouldn't bother, but today, he really just rubbed my fur the wrong way. Perhaps it's the remnant of caffeine in my system, I really don't know. So I was watching the Lorax on youtube. He came out from his room, flopped on the couch, turned on BOTH tv's so he could watch the matrix WHILE PLAYING a racing game... He didn't bother with turning down the volume, oh no, he just came out there like he owns the place. And on top of that, he starts talking on mic with someone at a volume usually reserved for trying to get the attention of someone next to you at a ROCK CONCERT.... My computer was right in front of me and I couldn't hear a word...

I wanted to tear him apart. I wanted to beat his skull in with that damned controller and the bash the damn tv against the wall... He gives everyone so much reason to hate him...But I can't do any of it... It's not in me...and it tears me apart.

Okay, forget the car accident that should have killed me, forget hypothermia that nearly killed me... The scariest moment of my life happened only a few hours ago and I'm still shaken.

My father came up from Maryland today to visit me in school. He took me and one of my roommates out to dinner at Olive Garden. The evening started pleasant enough and things were going fine. He asked about my classes and we were discussing them while waiting to be seated. He complained about feeling a little light-headed, but since there were no seat available, he couldn't sit down. He shrugged it off at first and so did I, figuring if it was really bothering him it would have shown. A few minutes went by and he said he was feeling really dizzy so he went to stand against the wall. I continued to talk to my roommate, glancing over now and again at my father. My eyes just wander like that when I'm standing around...

A few more minutes went by, I made a joke to my roommate about complaining if dad passed out or something. Complete harmless, right?.... Yeah, a few more minutes pass. I look up at my father once more just in time to watch his legs buckle as he falls to the floor, hitting his head on a bench next to him....

Time... froze.... In that surreal silence, I watched the only man I've NEVER seen show any sort of weakness drop like a ragdoll to the floor. I was instantly at his side, hoping, maybe even praying that he was still conscious.

I kept calling his name, asking him if he was fine, too afraid to lay a hand on him. There was an off-duty EMT there who asked if any family was around. I told him I was his daughter. He asked if he was diabetic and I told him no. As if the fucker didn't believe me, he asked my dad too. Then someone else asked. My fear turned to rage as I felt I was being ignored. WHY THE FUCK WOULDN'T I KNOW?!

A man I can only assume was the manager came out and asked if he was alright. A crowd was growing by this point and I wanted nothing more than to scream for them to get the hell away, but I couldn't... Another woman told the manger to get my father some water. That bastard had the nerve to come back at least 3 FUCKING TIMES WITHOUT a glass of water. I was ready to tear his throat out.

By this time, dad was speaking, telling the people he was fine. He was sweating some and i just wanted to push them all away...His dizziness had gone, but I was still in shock. The world had dimmed as my father lay on the ground. I could hear nothing... My vision didn't stabilize until several minutes afterward when we sat down at the table.

My roommate's father is a diabetic so he'd seen this sort of thing before... NOTHING could have prepared me for that... Even now I can feel the cold chill that ran through me as I stood helplessly next to my father... I don't know what I would have done if something had been wrong... I just... I just don't know...I wanted to cry... so badly did I want to break down and just let the tears roll until there were no more... But i couldn't... I can now... I am now...

This might seem like a rant... it kinda is.. but it's also to kill time while my roommate continuously reads articles from cracked.com... he does this every night and I'm am bored to tears listening to him.... Indulge me...

I had to fill a requirement for a history class this quarter and I opted to take a class on Conceptual Art. I didn't know very much about it so I figured it would be a good thing to get a better understanding of.

Okay, I know that everyone is entitled to their ideas... I also know and agree that everyone is allowed to share their ideas....HOWEVER, the more I learn about it, the more I have come to realize that I cannot stand Conceptual Art at all.

Marcel Duchamp began this whole debacle after being snubbed at a french art gallery where he wanted to display his famous "Nude Descending a Staircase". Now, I love that piece and I recommend taking a look for anyone who hasn't seen it. The way he's able to convey motion in such simple shapes is truly fascinating.

http://www.marcelduchamp.net/images....._Staircase.jpg

Notice I said that this was BEFORE his descent in the existential madness. I'm not entirely sure if all of this stemmed from just that [I highly doubt it] but it seems like it played a HUGE roll in it. From then on, he was pretty much hell-bent on attacking the "established norms" of the art society. Now, to me that screams small child sticking his tongue out at his teacher.

But it didn't stop there, oh no, as his interest in sticking it to the artistic man grows, he began to study all sorts of things like physics and particle fuck-all and whatnot. He also took a trip of a possibly questionable nature into the mountains with another guy friend and they dude's sister or something... No one knows for sure what happened on the trip but the description "Forays of demoralization, witticism, and clownery” kinda makes ya wonder.

So at this point he turned his back on "retinal art" i.e. paintings, drawings, etc. and focused on expanding his ideas of perception. He questioned the requirements that characterized a work of art. Now, I question reality and perception all the time, it is a large reason why I am so damn paranoid, but acting on such impulses proves to be harder in this day and age than it was when Duchamp was alive. I don't know what was in the water, but he could take anything, anything at all, slap a signature on it and call it art. For some reason, he was able to get away with it. He was even able to found his own group in the united states where he and his followers sat around and discussed these... things... Ultimately, they settled on "it's art if I say it is and I don't actually have to do it myself for it to be my work". Now, I know that there are many artists who had apprentices and so on, but damn, their level of indifference toward their craft is mildly insulting. I can't imagine drawing something with absolutely no interest in how it turns out. It, to me, defeats the purpose of drawing AT ALL...

Bah, I could go on, but I need to get some sleep and going to bed upset ensures that the following day will be shit. However, if you need to kill some time, I recommend doing some reading on Conceptual Art. It with either piss you off or confuse you, unless of course you're into that sort of ceaseless questioning in which case, enjoy your head-splitting aneurysm...

:: dusts cobwebs off her page:: Yeah, so I guess I've been gone a while.... No matter, I'm back now and things will be different. I'm back in school and I'm gunna be workin'. But this is a good thing. I realized over the summer it seemed like a huge part of my life... no no a huge part of me was gone. I realized since I started school, I didn't draw nearly as much as I used to. Y'know just for shits and giggles? So I'm going to be looking into not having that happen anymore and return to my sanctuary nestled within the confines of my sketchbooks. Hell, maybe by the end of the year, I'll fill the damn things.

Hello all you awesome furs! As you know, I've been under the weather for the past week or so due to a turn for the worse regarding my choppers... for those who didn't know, se previous 3 journals. They will explain... Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that either tonight or tomorrow, I'll be uploading the sketches I've been working on over the past few weeks. They have been delayed due to work but I now have time to put them up because my job has ended for the summer. Hope you like ^^