It's the final week of school and pressure is at an all time high. I have already done one final and became exempt from another due to good grades but I still have much to do. Cell biology final on Tuesday, Clinical Chemistry final on Thursday, and a 5 page paper for Clinical Chemistry due Thursday. On top of that, I'm working on more pharmacy applications and playing the waiting game. Once all that is over I'll have all of winter break to work on drawing, which will be a good time fortunately.

My mentor has said I've come a far way from where I started and I must agree because whenever I look at my notebook I feel very embarrassed at my first things. I'm excited to learn more about drawing next semester. I'm pretty sure my favorite medium is pencil. For some reason I favor how dark penciled lines look as opposed to inks but I do need to learn inking at some point.

Overall, it's been a great semester! Did a lot of drawing and learned a lot of other things. Nearing the finale of my undergrad years, I nervous but excited. One more semester to go.

First day back at university was very nice and chill. I only have one class today so a lot of time was spent hanging out in the library's tutoring center where I work. While chatting and catching up with friends a surprising amount of coworkers took notice of me drawing. The question that nearly all of them asked was "What's your major?" Of which I would answer with chemistry. Which in response they would give a face of confusion, "really?", and/or "you're not architecture?". The coworkers that have known me for more than a year know about my spinal surgery, so they all take note of how my recovery is progressing and I have gotten happy surprised faces when I show them my recent artwork. I guess this is me just gushing over how much I've recovered since 2011, enough to cause confusion over the clashing of me drawing sufficiently well and studying chemistry. My recovery isn't over yet though and I still have a lot to learn about drawing. It is however easier and more fun to keep going with friends nearby looking at and encouraging your art.

I am now level 22! Yay. I bought an easel for my day this year. My reasoning was that extended lapses of time drawing slightly hunched on a flat desk were really hitting my neck and upper back the wrong way. Plus, I'm very frequently sitting at the computer derping or figuring out chemical reactions, so I don't need another excuse to sit. I found that standing to draw with the easel takes all the load off my neck and back and keeps me moving in a good way. It also seems to give me more freedom and control with my arm and pencil. "Practice 5" and "Rebecca Dances" were both drawn on the easel, and I absolutely love how Rebecca turned out. My drawing space will most definitely remain on the easel. Now I just need to rig a different arm for my webcam so I can stream from the easel.

I'm am streaming tonight at 8pm at http://www.livestream.com/uncannydynamodraws

I have also started to regularly upload my practice and sketching for my thesis work into my scraps. When I do a piece using what I learned in will be in the main page. I will also be keeping track of my year long thesis project here in the journal. In regards to anything I post, I encourage comments, especially constructive criticism. If you see something odd or have any suggestions please tell me about it! I have been doing this for only about a year and am still learning. The main goal of me posting here is to keep track of my progress and have people suggest on how I can improve.

The name of my thesis?
Project Pencil Heavy