Round 6...

Hard to believe I've been in school for 5 years... as long as I was in the Army. I've never thought of that until just now. So I guess that means that starting this year I will be more civilian student than soldier. I don't know how I feel about that. I've changed a whole lot since I left active duty, though... alot. April 1st, 2001... I packed my civic beyond what I could have imagined (they could've made a car commercial out of me) and left Ft. Polk for the last time... it was an odd feeling, being a civilian again. Suddenly it felt like no one could touch me anymore... I felt free... I felt alone. I remember leaving post with my windows down... it was a nice day... I don't remember what was on the radio... I pulled into the gas station and bought smokes, said goodbye to a friend on the way out of town and then hit the interstate and never looked back. I miss the Army sometimes but literally can't imagine the person I would be today had I not left the Army. Strange to think...

So anyway, the whole point to my posting tonight was to say it's 7:45 at night on the first day of studio and I'm still here. I've been drawing on and off since 10 this morning. I want to get as much as I can done tonight because there's a party later tonight, I have to help move Thomas all day tomorrow, and I don't want to be here too late Sunday night. I've gotten maybe a third to half of my drawing done. We're doing a short one-week competition to get warmed up. It's supposed to be a meditation garden between the architecture building and the next building over. This is what I've been doing today:


If it looks like there's nothing really there it's because there's really not. I'm getting there... this is the foundation for the drawing. The interesting part about this one is that it's being designed completely on that one piece of paper. I started with a single sketch somewhere in the middle of all that and I just keep drawing and changing it. I'll let you know how that goes. Also, I got settled into my new studio space. Look how clean it is!


Note the important parts; the coffee pot at the lower left of the picture, my Mac in the center of the desk (with internet signal), and the large space I managed to get. Lots of storage. It'll be a wreck by the end of the semester. I'll keep this picture around for comparison later.

Alright, need to draw more. I'll work for one more hour and then go home. Hope everyone is well. Goodnight...