Ok lemme start by saying I am faaaar more comfortable with this class line-up than I was last semester. I felt like last year I'd gotten shoved into lunch table with all the cool, pretty girls (and not cool and pretty like high school valley girl cool and pretty, like original, eclectic, cool older sister type girls) who shat refined talent and knew exactly what they wanted to do. Intimidating as all fuck.

This time around, though, we're a little more laid back. Theres a wider array of talent and a ton of different styles. Everyone is chatty, but not in an exclusionary kind of way, and we had a lot of laughs and such. Not to mention there are a few less people, so the crit was concise and laid back and not at all slow as Christmas like last year.

I decided to do it right this year and put myself in the number two-slot, right when people are likely to talk the most. I found myself paying better attention since I wasn't waiting until halfway down the line.

So how did the piece go over, you're obviously wondering. Well you heard me shouting so thats a stupid think to wonder! It went swimmingly, obviously. I was told that the shapes were all really clear and solid and that worked well for the piece, which is something I didn't even consider. I mean it was all between two values except for some facial lines I threw in in digital just because it completely needed it. It help set the forms of the central characters off from the fairies, besides the fact that they're in white instead of black.

Someone recognized the title immediately just from the font. I was one of the only people who bothered with adding it, which I'm very glad I did because I wanted it to really be apart of the border. Although now that I think about it I could have thrown some details in just to make it seem a little more like that. The border was a hit, as I knew it would be. Everyone loved the wing variations and the details and such. Just as I'd hoped.

There was only one real issue with everyone, and it was the exact one I was worried about. Butler. I had to explain that he was a body guard and not an antagonist or Artemis' father. Someone mentioned giving him an ear piece, which would have been brilliant. The general consensus was that he didn't steal focus, per se, but more of the focus could have been on Artemis, with like a thicker white outline. Completely right.

So it was a wonderful critique, but I have no idea how this guy grades. Fuck me, I can't even remember my professor's name. my first instinct, as always, is to say B. The dude said he loved my composition, but he left most of the taking to the class. It was hard to get much of anything out of him besides a "Good job" at the end of the discussions. I don't particularly mind that. But still, I can't do much worse than a B+. With all the variations of style and execution, I can say that I'm definitely in the middle of the pack this time around. The objective was a little off for some people. These were book covers, so its all about selling the book the way it should be sold. Some people had problems with it's appeal or showing the true nature of the book. I feel like mine is something that a young teenager would pick up. I mean, the two figures are guys, but they're surrounded by fairies. That could have some appeal to both genders, right? Looking magical and mystical but not too feminine or masculine.

Shit, it looks like a storm tonight. I've got to watch The Mummy Returns and write three pages about it and Orientalism. Before tomorrow. Fuck me. The worst part is that I just found my angle on my Emily story and I am itching to write the hell out of that, but I can't. Luckily I have to write the paper as a message to a friend, so I'm going to open up a Tumblr post and act like I'm writing it to one of y'all.

The one thing Casmer did call me out on was the feet. The fucking feet. This is the third time hes taken special care to mention the flaws in the feet I draw. I need to stop drawing barefoot figures. No, I need to keep drawing barefoot figures and learn to draw their fucking feet. After all the times hes called me out on it... Watch next semester I'll probably get someone who demands perfect reference and I'll be totally fucked. Gathering reference is only something I end up bullshitting whenever process book time comes around. At the beginning Cas took a look at the older girl and said "did you get so-and-so to pose for this?" and I just thought 'I didn't get anyone to pose for this!' I need to get it together...