Itsh yo time!

[Jan Kloidt]

go smrr! :)

[neopatogen]

Your deathline thread is one of my sources of inspiration @smrr! Keep updating :)

[Arapersonica]

Omg, reading about your experience and thoughts is such an inspiration. Thank you so much for sharing all this; this art thing is not easy, bit it's great to know you're not alone in the whole mucky mess of it :) Keep on going!!

[smrr]

__________________________________________________________________Thanks for dropping in with the kind words and all that good stuff, Daggers <3
Arapersonica - Holy... thank you for the kind words, Arapersonica n_n <3 yeah, although we're technically on our own in our art journey, the feelings we feel running this marathon certainly aren't isolated. Keep up the good fight! o/

neopatogen - Whaaaaaaaaaaat?! Dang, I should really keep updating consistently then D: ! Thanks neo, means a lot - I'll try n_n

Jan Kloidt - Thanks bro :D !
Oh also! Can I just give a special shout out to Jan?! This legend! Partnering up with ya has been the best thing I've done in a long while. I won't get mushy; you already know the feels. To any Dagger reading this: find a study buddy, motivate each other, do the thing together and reap the rewards. Everything becomes so much more important when you have someone you don't wanna let down y'know? O_O
Though ofc I'm not tryna push this on yaz, 'cause *in robotic voice* you've gotta find what works for you! 

So goals for this month:

- Have 5 year plan set by tonight.
°update! Done-!
- Stay offline, get shit done. Go old school.
- Focus on the things you dig, experiment.
- Draw everyday.
- 2hr illustration everyday/sketchbook drawing/ideas everyday

○ General (probably incoherent pls forgive me pls) thoughts:
*Ok so I've realised I should probably update this baby somewhat consistently -- I have an app on my phone/PC called Evernote that I've been using to track my goals and ideas. It's fantastic <3
It kinda defeated the above goals though (except for the 5year plan, that's going strong but yeah), hahaha shit :D 

Alongside this, Google Calendar (which I use religiously) got an update sometime last month in April, which allows you to add goals O: 
This has kept me I would say 85% consistent with my training fitness-wise (I'm a sucker for not training on birthdays/every 2nd Saturday for some reason lol) and I've just added my art goals to it too. So yeah it's really good - can't recommend it enough. Basically you can make up your own goals and for how many days + hours in that day you wanna do that thing. Then it calculates a good time based on your schedule in the calendar - sets the days+times based on these findings (but you can modify them to your liking), then it reminds you before and after the allocated time whether you've completed that task. If you have, you can mark it off (it feels great) and it shows you how many sessions you've completed in that week - so if that was your 2nd sesh outta 5 in a week - it'll be all like "Session 2/5" . So good - exactly what I needed in my life. 
I swerrrrrr I'm not a Google spokesperson lmao - I'm just really excited. 

So now for updatessssss

○ Stay offline, get shit done. Go old school.
* I did for like idk 1 week back then? This was more of a "study you lazy bish" kind of memo for myself. (update: apparently this worked, because I was studying consistently throughout Dec-Feb lol)
○  Focus on the things you dig, experiment.
*Yessssss - but I could be doing this more
○  Draw everyday.
*The past coupla weeks I have been :s - man this is so much a fail lol. 

Spoiler

When I started out - I did draw everyday and enjoyed the shit outta it. As I got a couple years older - (with drawing becoming painful because I'm an idiot and)my perfectionism got worse, so I put down the pencil; telling myself I can't draw for shit etc. But that shouldn't ever be the case! Drawing is so bloody fun -- sure it can be frustrating as balls when something doesn't work out, but damn, that's the name of the game! The "bad art days" are when you're silently leveling up. Shit, you should know this by now </rant>

○  2hr illustration everyday/sketchbook drawing/ideas everyday
*Aw damn. I did really well with the idea conjuring and writing them down in Evernote/my sketchbook. But damn, the point behind a 2hr illus/sketchbook drawing everyday is to keep a consistent thing going... to build discipline... while speeding up my process and aaaaaaaah shit. For a week or 2 or something at the beginning of the year I had that going (those Super Mario UFC characters I was doing (only they were like 4-6hrs 'cause I still haven't nailed down my process - also, because of the reception, people are asking me to make the series bigger than I intended and idk, ugh. My mind is puny lol - but I do want to finish these before year's end for sure.))
__

Hmm. So what's been happening?

Well it's MAY ALREADY! Fahk hahahaha
Man idk why keeping consistent is my greatest flaw in life. I say this because Feb and Mar went like a BLUR. Like wtf happened? I don't remember!? 
**Checks sketchbook to see what I completed** 
Oh, so I was studying a lot o_o  ... since January... and doing the UFC-series thing. Riiight. Shit, was it really that long ago? 
I guess it was the start of March that felt like I did nothing. >_> yeah. 

'Cause late March was the first Crucible... 

Which can I just say (read: again) how bloody thankful I am to the Shit Sandwich shop owners - Amit and Piotr for creating such a fantastic tournament.

I've entered twice so far to see where I'm going wrong and boy oh boy did I get too satisfying helpings of tasty, freshly brewed(?) shit sammiches shoveled down me throat n_n

After eating said sammich, I've had to rethink my goals, to say the least -- I realised the importance of community and giving back. It's an awesome thing, helping someone out. As well as how much I can actually get done in a day or two (referring to my CC2 redo piece). Learned a bunch more, but yeah!

Alright, so:
New goals!

Spoiler

(that are really a just continuation of what I've been doing the past 2-3 weeks that'll get me to achieve my yearly goals if kept consistent (not posted here) + inclusion of couple of new things like paintovers, etc)

○ Art 
(study)

Spoiler

consistency is the name of the game, not the crazy-ass hours anymore. If my schedule allows it, I'll be doing:

> Warm up 30-1hr  - perspective/drawing exercises/gestures
> 2hrs study - whatever you suck at
> 1hrs - application 
> Weekly paint over for a dagger

Spoiler

Note: thread > http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/thread-7507.html a way of giving back to the community

(making)
draw/paint something fun (shareable) at least weekly

Spoiler

Note: start small and build. Stuff with meaning to you, no brain farts allowed - that's what sketchbook poops are for

> Sketchbook sketchin pre/post-dinner (application/imaginative/observation/whatever :) )
> Must meet deadlines set in Evernote
_________________________________________________
○ Training/Health
> Keep up consistency with body-weight training + tracking progress 

Spoiler

Note: don't move up a rep in a movement 'til you've mastered a movement's form in lower-reps, simple

> Keep up consistency with static stretching post-workout

Spoiler

Note: this has been fixing the RSI ish that they said couldn't be fixed... never thought it possible before ;_;

> Continue eating a balanced, healthy diet

Spoiler

Note: but also just listen to your body 
 

> Wind down and play games/whatever for an hour if you need to.

Spoiler

again, consistency is the name of the game - an hour here and there is nothing compared to the shitload of time you'll waste in the burn-out zone. Repeating myself from before, but it's true

basically:
○ Keep consistent with Google Calendar schedule + Evernote deadlines and you're set n_n

Although I track my progress regularly on my phone using these apps, it would be a good idea to track my progress here as well. I'll set reminders on my phone this time around, 'cause the last number of times I updated here - lol, well, you can see the inconsistency for yourself :D
Will be checking back on June 11