Comments: 20
fionaa-illu [2011-12-20 17:27:01 +0000 UTC]
For some reasons... I looove the way you drew her shoes. I can't get used to how neat your lines are. Waw. =W=
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fionaa-illu In reply to manga-kat [2011-12-28 14:10:47 +0000 UTC]
Spending time on the lines is the secret... =W= ha ha.
For my colors, I use Promarkers. They're not as expensive as the other markers I heard about, and have vivid colors that I like a lot. Sure takes time to get how they work but in the end, the result is pretty neat. ^^ I'm using it for two years now. Wouldn't change them for anything else, they're my beloved little sweeties. ^w^ 
Ha ha ha "I'm totally crazy in love with my art supplies, is it a big problem, doc?"
(If you ever want/ need informations and tips about these, I can help! ^^)
I wish I could draw/ color digitally too, but I'm not so gifted with that. Also, my tablet doesn't function under Windows 7, so since I upgraded, I can't use it anymore... XD I prefer traditional anyway: you can gift your drawings to people, like this! (When I say that, you know what where my gifts for my parents this year for christmas, ha ha ha... >___>)
And thanks for the watch, too! ^w^
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manga-kat In reply to fionaa-illu [2011-12-30 02:37:41 +0000 UTC]
Sometime I should just suck it up and ask my dad about getting a set of markers to mess with... I bet it's not as daunting as it seems after getting started 
. Actually, I have a set of gray Prismacolor markers leftover from last semester 'cuz apparrently we only needed them for one project, but the method was optional and I opted to not use them then 
. It was that stupid perspective thing and I chose to shade by hatching with a micron pen instead of wasting good expensive markers on a crap project 
. I should mess with those sometime... if I get to be any good at it, I might come away with some neat grayscale images before maybe possibly giving the whole color thing a shot 
. For now though, I'll probably spend a good long while staring at the unopened box before getting up the nerve to break into it 
.
I... also wish I could draw digitally 
. I mean I love using the computer to color, but Photoshop and I have kind of a history going here... my dad first started showing me how to do stuff with it in middle school and I've been slowly fiddling with it ever since 
. Thing is, I would always stay within the boundaries of what I knew how to use... and it's always been hard for me to expand those boundaries 'cuz I have to be shown how to do things about fifty times before it sinks in and I can do it on my own 
. Most people learn how to use Photoshop by tinkering with all the tools, regardless of whether or not they know how to use them, and seeing what happens... obviously I missed the memo 
. So yeah... I've actually probably developed slower than most people, but most people probably wouldn't have started messing with Photoshop as early as middle school either... so I guess it evens out 
.
Heck, I don't even have a tablet 
! I mean my dad has one... but I can't use that thing for crap 
! It's mostly because it throws off my spacial awareness... visually speaking, the dimensions of the tablet's "drawing surface" don't match up exactly with the dimensions of the screen 
. Also the tablet is much much smaller than the screen, and I can't "turn my paper" when I'm using it either 
! I also find that the tablet surface feels too "slippery" to really draw on... I'm used to drawing with graphite and paper, both of which have a great deal more texture to them . Still, I think the "I can't turn my paper" part annoys me the most... I'll try to turn the tablet on instinct, and all of a sudden the pen movements are matching up even worse with what's on the screen 
! It's just too much trouble to control that natural impulse 
.
Still, I shouldn't have to worry about it too much 'cuz I don't have a tablet of my own... I barely ever get to use my dad's 'cuz he always needs it 
. I'm learning how to replicate some of it's advantages with the mouse anyway 
! I don't know whether or not you saw that picture of Sollux that I have up now as my featured deviation on my profile, but almost all of it was done on the computer 
! I'm actually really proud of it... it's the second thing that I've ever done on the computer where the original pencil lines are not visible at all in the finished product 
.
So... Windows 7 huh? I can't really say that that tells me much, (I'm actually really awful with computers 
). Well... other than that your machine is a PC . I must say, even though I'm used to using both Macs and PCs, I tend to prefer Macs by quite a bit (again, it's not as though I'm an expert on either of them... I just think it's easier to store and find crud on a Mac ). I guess PCs have just given me more trouble in the past... it seems like every time I get my hands on a Mac, it gives me what I want/need no sweat .
...and you're quite welcome 
!!
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fionaa-illu In reply to manga-kat [2011-12-30 17:19:51 +0000 UTC]
I guess learning with greyscales would be a good idea, so you could concentrate on how the ink reacts, and wouldn't be frustrated of not having the good colors. (That was my problem, when I began: not having the colors I needed. XD) I don't really know Prismacolors, but if you ever decide to try them, I'd be happy to share some tips with you. 
About digital art, I don't even have Photoshop anymore. XD I'm dealing with Gimp, he's a nice little guy, and I don't need more for the moment. But I suppose that the age when you begin to use it doesn't matter too much, it's like everything, it comes with practice? (... a lot of practice, for me. I rarely understand how something work at the first sight! )
When I had a working tablet, I didn't really use it for drawing, only for coloring. Because it didn't really felt natural. As you said, not being able to turn the paper was feeling pretty strange. Though I got used to the screen not being the same size as the tablet. My main problem was the resolution, in fact. I worked on big pictures: zoomed to draw details... and when I un-zoomed, the result was too tiny to be seen, and that used to make me nuts. 
I don't know about macs, I never really used one. My family only got PCs. I know my school uses macs, but I never need them, so I don't know. Lenny (the name I gave to my laptop =w= ) sure is a bad little guy and likes to get on my nerves often... But meh. I got used to it. Lenny sometimes drives me crazy, but he can also be a nice little guy, so yep. I still like him. X3
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manga-kat In reply to fionaa-illu [2012-01-12 04:27:05 +0000 UTC]
Every time I try to evaluate how artistically productive I'm likely to be during certain times, I'm never ever sure of my predictions . Like how I thought I'd have a ton of time to draw over winter break, and technically I did, but at that point I wasn't taking my ADD medicine and I ended up lying around staring at walls for hours on end 
. Apparently that's my default thing that I do as I'm deliberating over what I really should be doing while all the time I would've used to do it just flies out the window . Anyway now that I'm back to being busy with school and taking my medicine and all that, I guess I'll have a better chance of drawing more... funny how that works out . With the marker thing though, I dunno when I'll get around to messing with those . I may have to go digging through my floor crud in my room in order to find the stupid things again . Thank you for offering tips though... anything you could tell me couldn't hurt !
I think I favor digital art because it's easier to control things and undo mistakes . If you've got the line art saved you can always start over from the beginning, and if you make a mistake on a separate layer, all you have to do is delete it and everything else will be fine ! Still, I feel like I don't have much experience with other kinds of digital art programs... the only ones I've ever encountered are Photoshop and a tiny tiny bit of Illustrator . I don't think I'd work well with anything that doesn't have layers though... they are seriously just the most convenient thing sometimes !
I think I mentioned this before, but my dad's tablet has a really slick surface texture and the pen tip feels like it's really big compared to what I usually draw with . My friend Izzy came over to my house the other day and brought her own tablet just to mess with, and I think it would've been more manageable... the drawing surface actually felt like it had friction 
! Maybe it's just my dad's tablet that I find difficult, I dunno . Oh, and I also work on really really big pictures (resolution-wise ). I'm so used to it that I don't know if I could work any other way 
. I generally don't zoom in too terribly far (as in, the pixels are never visible) unless I'm trying to clean up the lines and I'm being nitpicky about it, or the drawing was tiny to begin with . I always work on one shape at a time and I sort of have to see all of the area at once to make it all look right . Even with that, I still do details that are too small to make a difference sometimes .
When it comes to Mac or PC, I've pretty much had equal experience with both . Most of the computers at school were always PCs, but they had a few Macs... both kinds were garbage though (as all school computers tend to be 
). My dad used to have this really ancient Mac and a newer Mac, but then he retired both of those for his brand new iMac and I got the only semi-old one 
. The thing doesn't have internet though... all it's good for is Photoshop and at the moment the monitor isn't working . We also have this tiny little PC laptop that's been with us for several years now and is kind of crappy for anything aside from going online... but it gets the job done 
. Anyway, throughout my past experiences the Macs I've encountered have always been better than the PCs I've encountered, so I guess that makes me a Mac person... but I can basically find my way around either one.
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fionaa-illu In reply to manga-kat [2012-01-12 22:08:12 +0000 UTC]
I tend to never do what I'm supposed to do, unless I'm forced to. (Sleepless night to do the 7 works I was supposed to handle the day after, because I did nothing during 5 months? Sure, sign me in! ) I was having exams this week, so obviously, all I wanted to do was drawing. And now that I'm done with it and have a chance to draw... "motivation? Motivation, where are you? Come on, it's no time to play hide and seek..." Doing what you want to do, when you're supposed to do it is just. Simply. Not possible.
Whenever you decide to give a try to markers, if there's anything you need, you know where to find me! I'll gladly share the tips I discovered during my two years of marker-using.
Undo things on traditional art... Having a ctrl+z icon on my sheets of paper... now THAT would be so awesome!!!!!! 
Why nobody invented that yet? oAo When I have to color a drawing and know it will be difficult, I always scan the lineart, just in case I'd mess up. Never had to do it until now, good thing because coloring a scanned lineart just doesn't feel the same.
My dad mentionned something about getting me a new tablet. Can't waiiit. My old one was so tiny, doesn't work with windows 7, and as you said - the feeling is clearly not as smooth as pencil and paper. I wonder how that new one would work. ... then, maybe I would be the one asking for tips, ha ha.
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manga-kat In reply to fionaa-illu [2012-01-31 07:08:18 +0000 UTC]
Agh, old messages 
!
I'm one of the worst procrastinators in the entire world ! I mean for one thing, I've always had trouble sleeping when I'm supposed to... it's like my internal timepiece is permanently set to "inconvenient" . If I had my way, I'd be sleeping from, say, 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning to somewhere around 9:00 . Unfortunately, the world doesn't like that idea . On top of that there's the ADD, which takes too much work, a lot of self-awareness, and bit of medication to manage... so it gets complicated . Mostly I tend to come off as lazy, irresponsible, or unmotivated whenever I let myself slip, and sometimes it's even hard for me to tell whether that's truly the case or not . To make a long story short, procrastination is the issue of my life and I am no stranger to odd or highly ineffective patterns of motivation . Motivation is never easy to come by when I really need it... which is practically all the time 'cuz it seems like I need to work up motivation for everything from working on a project, to standing up and walking across a room 
!!
I just recently found myself in a situation where a "step backwards" command would've been way helpful ! I'm working on another charcoal drawing (MY GOD THEY ARE SO FRUSTRATING ) and the subject is a white plaster head, so the shading has to be really light, even, and well-blended... and somehow I managed to accidentally put a small, really dark smudge in an area that was only supposed to be a light shadow 
. I had to carefully scratch off a thin layer of paper fibers with the edge of an exacto blade in order to get rid of it... and that just barely worked . I wish paper came with a history window... then you could undo up to 25 steps back !
I haven't had the chance to mess with tablets again since Izzy let me mess with hers, but I still think that one worked a bit better for me than when I was trying out my dad's . It was a smaller tablet, but the surface had a tiny bit of texture to it, and it was lighter and easier to situate where you needed it to be . I hope your new tablet works out well for you !
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fionaa-illu In reply to manga-kat [2012-02-11 14:57:36 +0000 UTC]
....haaa~now look who is late at answering messages?
Ha ha, you can't sleep at "normal" hours, either? My problem is that I'm never tired at night, can stay up drawing or browsing dA or stuffs like that until 3:00 in the morning, without getting sleepy. Though, if you try to wake me up before noon, I'll throw things at your face. (My pillow. A book. Plushies. What I find. XD) So I let you imagine what it gives when I have to wake up early for school... I look like a zombie. Lately I tried to go to sleep before midnight, and waaaw, that sure feels good!
Procrastination is a big problem for me when it comes to important things, like school work. Once I got a sleepless night, to finish the 8 works I was supposed to handle the day after. I was supposed to do them the 2 months before; but I was "too busy" (on the internet. ) So, the day before I was supposed to handle them, only 2 works where done. That sure was a long night.
... you might think I learned my lesson, but 2 weeks ago there's a night I slept only two hours, because of late homework, again. I'm hopeless. And I have no excuse. *sigh*
Ooooh, history window on paper! This NEEDS to exist!!!! I would so buy it! *__*
And as for my tablet... that will have to wait, since I have to re-take my driving exam, and so, re-pay it.
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manga-kat In reply to fionaa-illu [2012-02-16 22:20:47 +0000 UTC]
Yeah, stuff has been busy as all heck for me lately... it sucks on all accounts . Still, this semester has been going better than usual... 'cuz by this point I'm usually running around like a headless chicken trying to catch up with all the stuff that I let slide . This time I'm trying to cut down on the sliding .
I'm exactly like that . After about 2:00 A.M. I'm usually at heightened risk of getting caught by one of the parental units, so that's usually when I cash it in, but I could easily pull an all-nighter if given continuous access to the internet . I've gotten so used to going to bed late that it feels weird to sleep before midnight . I tried it once (I think it was last month) and it didn't matter that I was dead tired, I just tossed and turned 'til it was about as late as when I would've gone to bed anyway . I figure that if my options are either to be restless and frustrated for however many hours end up passing before I fall asleep, or occupy myself until around the same time when I actually feel inclined to sleep, I'd rather choose the former . Heck, if I can occupy myself by doing something productive, it almost makes trying to sleep seem like a waste of perfectly good time (which I never have enough of to begin with ).
In the morning, I'm kind of my own comedy act to anyone who isn't completely and utterly frustrated by how difficult it is to get me to do anything... or how impossible it is to get me to do it in a timely fashion . These days I'll usually wake up after my mom has insisted that I do so several times. She refuses to actually come into my room if she can't get the door all the way open, and she usually can't 'cuz my backpack and a bunch of clothes are always in the way... and it's probably best that she doesn't come in 'cuz I don't know that there's enough available floor space to stand in . I'll come out, eat, and then my mom will leave for school, and my dad will leave to take my brother to school and stop by the exercise center, and I'll be left to my own devices for a while . Usually I'll screw around with the computer a little, but I have to get out of the shower once dad gets home so I'm not using up all the hot water (I tend to fall asleep in the shower, so this is a strong possibility ). After finishing up in there, I'll go back to my room and nap 'til it's time to go . To give you a sense of how much loitering and staring I do during all of this... the process begins at about 7:30, and my dad is usually yelling at me 'cuz we're going to be late if I don't get moving at around 10:15 . Hours just dissappear on me, and I can never figure out where they've gone .
I remember pulling a few all-nighters in middle school and the early parts of high school for work-related reasons, but since then I think the work has gotten a bit more difficult to pull off without arousing suspicion . For eaxample, with the charcoal thing... I'd need a large work area that I could get smudges all over without anyone caring too much in order to work on that, and the only place that fits the criteria for this is the basement . If my parents found me in the basement instead of my room in the morning... well... they'd probably get really angry and tell me that all-nighters are not a healthy thing to do, and that I'm basically sabotaging myself every time I do it, and I'd probably never hear the end of it . In the end it's really my decision, and I could let them know that I was gonna stay up all night if I wanted to, but it wouldn't do me any favors... it'd just make things tense around them, and they'd probably bar me from using the computer (not worth it ). So I'm basically limited by how sneaky I can be.
I've procrastinated in much the same way on so many occasions 
. My ADD basically takes any and everything that I can possibly think of that I would rather be doing instead of what I'm supposed to, and it shoves all of those things on top of the original thing, thus burying it, and making it impossible for me to find the will to do it . Even if I want to do it, I'll end up doing something else that is probably completely stupid and pointless if it seems like too big of an undertaking (it even happens with my drawings sometimes ). It's like the mere thought of it causes me disproportionate amounts of dread and anxiety, and the only reprieve is to rationalize it away and do something more fun . Even while procrastinating, I'll usually be worrying about it the entire time (not that this will actually make a difference as to whether or not it gets done ). Plus, like you said, no matter how horribly things turn out whenever I do this, and no matter how much I tell myself that it can only end badly if I put it off... it keeps happening . Either I never learn, or the lesson keeps getting sucked into the same void that keeps swallowing my willpower and common sense .
I think we need a history window that can be programmed to apply to any aspect in real life ! Even if it was just for paper though, I would buy it in an instant . I didn't have to pay any money to take the driving exam... must be an "I'm in America and you're in France" thing, right ? The most expensive thing about me becomming a liscenced driver is the insurance, and eventual gas expenses (I still haven't really driven anywhere yet ). This is that procrastination thing again, 'cept it's not even a concious thing... I just keep forgetting about it entirely .
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fionaa-illu In reply to manga-kat [2012-04-10 10:51:37 +0000 UTC]
Aaaaaah re-reading what I wrote about sleeping made me feel all nostalgic... for a few weeks, I was busy busy, spending all my free time working for school projects (that I might post soon. I didn't work on that mermaid skeleton for nothing. ) so when it was all done, the first thing I did... was taking a 6 hours long nap. That felt so good. I think I didn't realize how much I lacked sleep, before that. Ha ha.
Ah, morning organization... Here, first, I take 15 mn to find the simple MOTIVATION to go out of my bed. Fighting not to fall asleep again. Then, you have three options: 1/ I have to take tha bus because I have no courses the morning. That means I can sleep until 10. Awesome. 2/ My mom drives me to the subway station, that means we have to leave at 08:15. Soon, but it's ok. ...3/ My DAD makes ME drive to the subway station and spends that hour yelling at me and that sure doesn't help to begin the day well. I try to avoid that as soon as possible, but it's not that easy.
Positive side is always that I have to take the subway for almost an hour. that gives me time to wake up, before taking classes. Else I'd sleep in class, that's kinda frowned upon by most teachers, I don't know why.
Oh god, not charcoal. I had to draw a cathedral on grand-aigle sized paper (that's basically a paper almost taller than me). Big size and charcoal, two things I dislike, that was hell. I never want to use charcoal again. It was everywheeeeere in my room... ;__;
.... sorry, trauma. Anyways, I can't work with that kind of things at night, because I have to move a lot, and the floor of my room is pretty noisy, and I'd be busted at once.
But I agree totally with what you say about procrastination! And yes, no matter how hard you try to convince yourself... it keeps happening.
Man, even when I work I'm late with my homework. I have that one crazy teacher, who's never satisfied with what we handle and ask us to do it again; and also adds one more work to do every week. I ended up with 7 projects to do in one week, that was stressing, I'm glad it's over. Because even while working, you still end up with things to do.... Bluh. >A<
Not paying for the driving exam??? I wanna take my exam in Americaaaa! I failed AGAIN, so I'll have to take it a 3rd time... I'm so not gifted. Worse is, the theory exam is only good for 3 years and/or 5 takes at the driving exam. So, if i fail the exam 3 more times and/or don't have it before june, I'll have to pay MORE, to re-take the theory exam. It's really hard to have the driving licence, in france. 
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manga-kat In reply to fionaa-illu [2012-05-14 20:59:26 +0000 UTC]
Talk about nostalgia... I was just reading over what I wrote and realizing that I was talking about finishing my charcoal project (the first project of the semester in my drawing class) and now my semester is over . I had all three of my finals on the same day this time (Tuesday), and my math final took three hours 'cuz I got a time extension (ADD has a benefit... one benefit ). The drawing one was just a final critique so that wasn't bad, but then I also had my photography final in the evening where we had to identify four photos by title, photographer, and the year they were taken, and then write an on-the-spot mini essay on each . To soften the blow, the teacher had everyone bring in food for a sort of picnic dinner thing, but by then I had developed a sore throat and didn't want to swallow much of anything . That's lasted for the rest of the week, but now I'm on the tail end of it, and I passed all my classes, so everything's cool . Now my challenge is to find employment for the first time ever over the summer . I've been attempting to engage in a rousing game of phone tag with the people at this grocery store near my house, but I'm not having a ton of luck just yet .
Okay your morning is officially a bajillion times crazier than mine is . Once my dad and I get out the door, it's usually a pretty quick turn-around from the house to the car to school... I can't imagine spending an hour on a subway to get to school . Champaign Illinois isn't really the kind of place to have a subway... we're kind of a cross between a large town and a small city (although after having been to Chicago, it's hard to imagine Champaign as being a city ). Thinking about how to characterize this place is reminding me... this weekend was just stunningly pretty over here (weather-wise, temperature-wise... ). My neighborhood is pretty peaceful and quiet, and this Saturday I could even hear one of our neighbors playing this really beautiful violin somewhere, and I had to laugh 'cuz it was almost kind of weirdly idyllic when it all came together . Anyway, we do have a train station, but it's also the bus station, and I've only ever taken the train once in my memory (that was to go visit a friend in another town 'cuz my parents didn't want to drive me there ).
I am actually surprisingly neat when it comes to working with charcoal... I only really get it on the tips of my fingers, and only on one hand 'cuz I only use my right hand for drawing and smudging . The other hand is usually holding on to my kneaded eraser 'cuz for some reason I can't just set it on the desk and leave it alone like a normal person, and I tend to either stand over it or kneel so that I can still lean over it . If the thing is on a horizontal surface, I basically have to be right on top of it without actually laying on it (things are so much easier when the paper is vertical ). Either way, I don't really have a "method" like some people do. Y'know, like how some people will work from left to right, or some will work from the center out... I go from object to object, so it all just depends on where the next thing I'm drawing happens to be . I always end up having to do some odd things with my hand in order to brace it against an untouched part of the paper while making new marks . I've never had to do anything as big as what you're talking about though, so I guess if I was I'd probably have to develope some kind of order or something... and a cathedral is a hard subject no matter what size you're drawing it at . I don't even have the space to do any big projects in my room... no floor space, no desk space... pretty much the only option I'd have would be to do it on my bed, 'cuz that's the largest area that doesn't have junk covering it up (by necessity ). The floors in our house are pretty noisy too, but I generally know where the quiet spots are, so I can sneak by if there's no one around to see me doing it . I just can't find those spots that would allow me to sneak by without being seen most of the time.
Oh my gosh I hate it when teachers do that ! If it isn't an art assignment or for a major grade, there's really no reason for someone to take the assignment back and add to it or re-do it . My art teacher had me doing this graphite project that just went on forever... it was the second project of the semester, and I was only allowed to turn it in for a final grade at the end of the semester when the final portfolio was due ! The most I've ever had to deal with was something like 5 or 6 projects at a time, but that's only if you count studying for my math class as a project (and when my mom is the one expecting me to do it, it really is ). In high school I used to think that the teachers were conspiring with eachother so that the workload would become ridiculously heavy in all my classes all at once, but then I hit college where that'd be just plain impossible and it persisted... so I think it's actually just karma or something .
Oh man, you'd probably pass the exam over here with flying colors... there's really nothing to it 
! That fact almost kind of scares me, 'cuz while I am thankful that the whole liscence rigamarole is over and done with, they are awfully quick to hand you the keys to some huge vehicle that could kill a person if handled improperly by you, or anyone else out on the road . Heck, I've done less driving since getting my liscence than I did before I had it... I just keep forgetting or being lazy or whatever . Still, it really does seem ridiculous that they make you pay for taking too long to get your liscence... what's the point in that? I would've thought they'd encourage you to take your time and get comfortable with it before going out on the road as a liscenced driver rather than rushing you into it before this thing expires and you have to pay to get it renewed or whatever .
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fionaa-illu In reply to manga-kat [2012-07-27 19:24:29 +0000 UTC]
Ha, glad to hear you passed all your classes! I did, too. Thing is, you need a 10/20 to pass. I got a 12 and, according to my dad, it's not enough, I should be the beeeest if I want to be a professional drawer and blah blah blaaaaah he's always like that. So I spent the holidays working, too, and that's one of the other reasons why I wasn't online that much. =/
Did you find a summer job? I didn't. Here, if you have no experience or no driving licence, you can't have anything. I have none of them. Since I failed the driving exam for the third time... So I'll have to re-do it all, even the written exam. I kinda wish I could take the exam in America, it sounds so simple! Here it's like they rush us to take it... so we can fail it, and pay 75 euros to take it again. =A= That makes me so mad.
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manga-kat In reply to fionaa-illu [2012-07-30 06:58:25 +0000 UTC]
I dunno if you guys do letter grades over there, but we get some percentage out of 100... an A is anywhere from 100% to 90%, a B is anything lower than 90% until you get to 80%, a C is anything lower than 80% until you get to 70%, a D is anything below 70% until you get to 60%, and an F is anything lower than that . So basically A is good, B is okay, C is average, D is bad, and F is awful . Considering that 50% is a failing grade, it sort of makes it seem like there's a lot more room for failiure than success... but really it's mostly dependant on how the teacher operates . Some teachers give a million tiny quizes that aren't worth very many points but they all add up over time, some teachers barely give out points for anything other than a major tests in the middle and another one at the end, some teachers make the day-to-day stuff worth a lot of points... it's tough to know how things are going to go . The first time I took that math class I got a D when I needed a C to pass the class. Later I learned that if I had gotten three more points, I would've had a C and passed the class . Instead I had to take it again and I still got just about the lowest C I could possibly get . I got an A in my photography class, but that one was actually kind of easy for me, and I got a B in my drawing class . I was actually kind of lucky to get that B 'cuz I had such a problem with deadlines all the way through, and some of my stuff never actually got finished . The teacher was just very nice to me, and she told me she liked my technique, and I think she was aware that I was trying hard . She was one of those teachers who cared a lot about how much effort you put into your work, and your attitude towards it... she could make me feel bad if I wasn't working hard enough 'cuz it was like I was letting her down . I think she would've respected a hard worker with less than perfect skills more than an apathetic person who could throw together a nice looking piece in no time at all, and I liked her all the more for that . That's what art classes should really be about in my opinion... they should be about developing a skill, becoming satisfied with what you're doing, learning from your mistakes, and finding what works best because you want to, not because you're obligated to .
As for the job thing though, I still haven't found one . This is like every job search ever ([link] ). My little brother found one though... he's about three years younger than I am, and he applied at literally one place, and they hired him . I didn't even bother applying to the place he applied to 'cuz they weren't particularly looking for anyone at the time when he applied, but after a month or two a position opened up. Before they hired him, he would incessantly mention that he had applied there whenever my own job search would become a topic of conversation, as if that would excuse him from getting involved in any of it . I think it shocked him as much as anyone when they hired him, and he was actually talking about quitting after his first day on the job 'cuz he just didn't like it . I mean what I wouldn't give for that job... thankfully my mom made him stick it out and now he seems okay with it but I'm kind of thinking that at least now he'll know what it's like to go first (usually I always have to go first 'cuz I'm the oldest ).
A driver's liscence isn't usually a requirement around here unless you're trying to get a job delivering food for a take-out place or something. As long as you can get to work on time, it's fine . There are actually a lot of employment opportunities nearby for me 'cuz Champaign has all the restaurants in the University of Illinois campus, and there are tons of local businesses downtown, and there's a bunch of other stuff throughout Urbana and Savoy too... those are neighboring towns by the way . Urbana is like Champaign's conjoined twin or something 'cuz they're kind of smushed together, and Savoy is a bit smaller but it's kind of the same deal. Still, I'm having to compete for jobs with the University students so that's no picnic .
It seems like America is kind of the opposite of France in that everyone assumes that all teenagers want to get their liscences ASAP, so it's almost like they try to counteract that impulse . Once there's a liscenced teen driver in the house the insurance inevitably goes up, so most families think of it as being cheaper to wait until the kid isn't a teenager anymore. The age at which you can get a driver's liscence has been a topic of debate in the past, mostly 'cuz people want the age to be higher, and even though it barely costs a thing after the "behind the wheel" training is over, you need to have all sorts of stuff in order to qualify . Stuff like your birth certificate, proof of residency, proof of insurance for the vehicle you're driving, social security number, etc. So basically it isn't technically difficult to get a liscence, but they make it a bit of a hassle just to be on the safe side or something .
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fionaa-illu In reply to manga-kat [2012-11-02 14:57:42 +0000 UTC]
Ah, no, we french get grades out of 20. Most of the time you need a 10 (the average) to pass. So it's like best score above 18,super good between 15 and 18, good between 10 and 15, and bad under 10. And yeees, it's very annoying that not every teacher gives the same importance to the same kind of test.Though I don't really have that problem anymore since I finished high school. In the art school I'm in now, the only grades you get are the ones of the exams (in december and april). And a few more grades with the day-to-day homework in practice classes. It seems terrible because, imagine you're sick the day of the exam, you'd fail just because of that! But it's ok, because here, they take ALLLLL the grades and count the average out of it, and if it's more than 10, you pass. So it's ok (my drawing class saved me from failing when I got a 5 in history of art ha ha)
Ah, that link you sent says it all: it's near impossible to get experience!!!! D= I got my very first job two weeks ago actually: a friend of my dad needed a babysitter for her son ha ha =w= Hopefully I can do it from times to times to earn some money... Also, my mom told her friends I was making portraits, so maybe I'll get some comissions? that'd be cool.
Most of the time here, to get a job, you need the driving licence, because as you said, you have to get to work on time, and that's the problem! How can they make sure you'll be there in time if you have to take the bus or subway? *sigh*
I have yet to call the driving school to enter the exams again, and my dad is perstering me with it all the time, but truth is I don't want to take this exam anymore! I used to not mind driving, but everybody told me I was a bad driver so often, even my own parents, that now I'm scared of driving. And I don't want to waste so much time and money in something I failed thrice already, I'd better concentrate on school. But I can't just go without it, can I? I mean, I live in a place where there's NOTHING. Litterally. So I'll need it when school will be over. *sigh* I wish I'd be gifted when it comes to using a wheel. But my hands are already gifted with a pencil, sorry, can't have both! 8D ... that's what I said to my dad, don't know why but he didn't laugh. >__>
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4649kasumi [2011-12-15 16:32:38 +0000 UTC]
Have you heard the song Its Like the Sound of Winter? Just wonderin gcuz i saw the title and i was like "oh! i like this song!" but i saw nothing about it in the description.just wonderin'
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4649kasumi In reply to manga-kat [2011-12-20 16:35:08 +0000 UTC]
haha! your welcome! i just like bringing up random stuff like that! im glad i helped inspire you then!
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4649kasumi In reply to manga-kat [2011-12-21 03:18:41 +0000 UTC]
hahaha! okee-do! i look foward to seeing them!
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manga-kat — Sounds of winter
