So we went this weekend to the musuem, to look at the 15th-century altarpiece from Ciudad Rodrigo cathedral.  Now the exhibition was interesting for any number of reasons: nifty medieval paintings, delving into the artistic techniques of the period, getting to see the artists' sketches beneath the paintings through this cool infrared technology (yay, underdrawing!); plus there were several rooms of Spanish painting through subsequent ages, including an Immaculate Conception who looked like she was standing on three severed baby heads (they were cherubs).

All of which was pretty cool.

But the thing that had me really freaked out?  There's a hole in the Ecce Homo from the altarpiece ... that was put there during Wellington's siege on the city in 1812!  I got to see a hole in a painting put there during the Napoleonic wars!  OMG SQUEE!

/nerd

Okay, finally saw it.


In short, this was a movie that didn't know what it wanted to be.  Was it a martial arts comedy, a sort of Beverly Hills Ninja with animals?  Was it a stirring action adventure? The hero's journey of a callow youth?  Even the visual style was confused.  It tried to be everything, without ever clearly being one thing, and came out a muddled mess.

Those martial arts sequences, though.  omg.

Meet Artemis, the latest addition to our madhouse:



More photos later, maybe.

Just got the following e-mail:

Dear Katherine (Kat) Laurange

Thank you for submitting your resume and/or demo reel regarding the Character Designer position with Pixar. We have reviewed your application and while everyone was impressed with your work, we are unable to utilize your skill set at this time. Please feel free to check our website periodically and apply to future positions of interest.

We sincerely appreciate your interest in Pixar and wish you the best in future career endeavors.

Thanks,
Pixar Recruiting

I note with interest my shaking hands and elevated heart-rate.  Emotional state: nonplussed, with a side of HOLY $#&@* they actually emailed me back! and a healthy dash of "everyone was impressed with your work"--woo-hoo!

You can bet your sweet bippy I'll be trying again.

Also, everyone else in the world is hiring.  Maybe I'll go do storyboards for Laika for a while.  Once more into the breach, dear friends!

( Don't clicky if you're as spoiler-phobic as I am )

I'm still digesting so I'll probably have more specific thoughts later. (Of course, whether or not I can be bothered to type them out is another story altogether...)

As part of my continuing efforts to have a real career as an artist, I fired off a submission to do Marvel Sketch cards a couple of weeks ago ... and lo and behold, I got in!  So I'll be churning out a ton of Marvel sketches here in the next little while.  Woo!  The pay's not great, but who cares?  It's the cachet (if that's the word I want) (yes it is) of having done work for Marvel comics, of all people!

Now I've just gotta finish drawing some comic pages, polish up my demo reel, apply for some more jobs, cross my fingers, and ... guys, I'm excited about where things are going!

Just read that Iwate prefecture, Japan, has been hit by a major earthquake.  Iwate is where I lived, several years ago now, when I was on the JET program.  I hope my friends there are okay.

So on the drive in to work this morning I got to thinking.  There's not much else to do on a 25-mile commute (not that I'm bitter) except think, or sing along with the radio tape player, and I've had a few thoughts to occupy me of late, so I was, as I say, thinking.

I am an unhappy person lately, I thought.  My temper's always a hair away from snapping, I can't laugh at myself anymore, and I'm far too quick to see insult even when none is intended.  What's up with that?

Well, the miles rolled on by, and despite maneuvering through slow traffic it was a pleasant morning and a pleasant drive, and presently I said, "Aha!"  And I pointed my finger towards the ceiling in that "Aha!" gesture you have to make when you've had a revelation.  "Aha!" I said.  "It is because I lack humility!  I am puffed up with arrogance and self-importance, and that is why I can't laugh at myself anymore and am far too quick to see insult even when none is intended!"

So I said a little prayer:

"Lord," I said, "grant me humility.  Let it blossom like a flower in my soul ... like a great and glorious and beautiful flower, the most beautiful flower in the world!  Let me be the humblest person ever, more humble than anyone!  Let me ... Oh.  Whoops."

----

Yeah, that's why the shepherd was always the hardest character for me to get in Ultima: Quest of the Avatar.  (Great game, by the way.  Anyone else here ever play it?)

Fun politics quiz, ganked from mattador 



Quiz results don't link to the quiz itself, so here's a link for taking the quiz.


P.S. Unless I totally lose my marbles, this will be my last political post of the year.  ;)

...to Steve, aka scruffyzero!  Many happy returns, Kangaroo Man!