Cartoons

So have you ever seen the commercial for....well I don't know what the commercial is for, but all I do know is that the actors, or cartoons look somewhat real, but somewhat fake. It kind of freaks me out and I try to figure out how they do that...

So in my inbox the other day I get this tip sheet for photography and photograph editing. In it there is a tutorial for Adobe Illustrator, a computer program that I have on my computer. Now Adobe Illustrator is this amazing creation program and I'm teaching myself how to use it, but apparently only scratching the surface.

So in this tutorial it shows how to do this "cartoon" appearance while tracing photographs, so I jump on the computer and put my skills to the test.

The first cartoon I did was of my friend Sigrid...
It came out ok, but i hadn't quite grasped the shading and hair part of it yet.

Next was a very intimidating self portrait...
I like this one because i can hide all the zits on my face! And I can make myself as tan as I want!

And the last one I've been working on is a double feature of my best friends at a wedding in Vermont. It's one of my favorite pictures of them...and I think it came out really well!!!
So this is my new hobby...if you would like me to create one for you send me a picture and a check for $25!!

I'll be honing my skills on family members for free!

Peace OUT!

High School Muscial in Concert

Well folks...I am the queen of impulse and "fly by the seat of my pants"-itis. I was watching the Disney Channel (shock) on New Years Day and during the commericials of the Hannah Montanna Marathon I saw an advertisement for the High School Musical Concert. I thought...that could be fun I wonder if it's every coming to NY. So I searched the internet and sure enough on January 2nd they were going to be in Toronto and on the 3rd they'd be in Rochester. They were so close....should I go??? OF COURSE! I got online and searched for tickets...thinking for sure the show would be sold out. I found a couple places that had tickets, but they mailed them to you and with the holidays there would be no guarentee that they'd get to me in a day. Bummer. Then I went to the Blue Cross Arena website and searched for 1 ticket. Yes 1, I went by myself. Am I a loser...probably but how could you pass up this opportunity?!? They had a seat stage left, ROW B, SEAT 4! It was CRAZY! And they emailed you the ticket so you got it within minutes! I was so excited! So I planned my trip.

Go to work early on Wednesday morning. 2:00pm leave work. Stop in Buffalo around 3pm to exchange Christmas presents. Leave Buffalo at 4:30. Get to Becca's house in Rochester at 5:30pm. Leave Becca's at 6, get to the arena around 6:20pm. Timed perfectly!!

Here is a picture of the sunset while I'm driving from Buffalo to Rochester Wednesday night...
So i got to the arena. I now know that i'm an official Loser, I'm alone and the oldest kid there without children. I thought about acting a little mentally unstable so that people wouldn't think i was a freak...but decided against it. I tried to not be embarassed, and to sit and enjoy the show.
And what a show!!! This was not a High School Musical play that is sweeping the nation, this was a concert with the actually actors from the movie, singing and dancing all the songs to the movie plus a few solos from the actors that have albums out. I like Corbin Bleu's songs the best!
So now the big dilemma...do I sing along to the songs I know?? Do i dance along to the dances that I know?? I already have parents stare at me when i dance a little. I have kids stare at me when I sing (plus i was so freakin close to the stage that I was wearing my headphones as earplugs to try and deaden the sound of the music and of all the 12 year old girls screaming at the top of their lungs). So i sang a little, danced a little and lived to tell about it.

Afterall, we're all in this together!!

It was a great show. I'm so glad I went. Now i can brag to all my friends who think i'm crazy. Nice.