Perfect Dreamer

Tutorial from Hell

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:27:48 GMT

I thought a tutorial would be a good idea. How to sculpt the sims way... what i didn't take in to account is thats 2 years of tips, tricks and alternate ways to do things. Since to the best of my knowledge its the only tut out there on sculpting a cartoon maquette as opposed to a monster or a dragon or a fairy theres alot of differences. Check it out

http://shapestrong.blogspot.com/

What to do?

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 21:33:44 GMT

I both love and hate going to the comic conventions. I love going because it fills me with hope, and a sense of excitement to be around that many artists. To feel like now after so long I do have something to contribute beyond drawings your retarded kid sister could do.

I don't really know what to do, I called my grandma with really great news. Several people talked to me about doing sculpts. Now these are artists I greatly admire, all are willing to pay or work out trades with me. Even Skottie YOUNG approached me about doing something togeather. So it was like... such a great feeling. But with grandma... it always comes down to money.... how much will it make me.

I don't know how to tell her that in all honesty I don't want to do art for a living. At least not like this, I enjoy being able to work on art I like, for artists I respect. I enjoy working on it when I can. I wish I made enough that I could work four days a week and spend one day just sculpting. But I don't so I work a full time job to pay the bills, and sculpt on the side, the money I make from that, lets me buy stupid things she wouln't feel I needed anyway. Like art books and new tools and things.

I feel bad tho because I know she just wants me to have a better life than working in a call center will give me. But.... after taking on so many commissions I realized that work by force kills all the enjoyment for me. So I go from working all day for someone else, to coming home and working on someone elses sculpts... only to go to sleep and do it all over again.

bleah. I just don't know how to tell her that I like where I am. I don't have to be the BEST.. I'm okay... good enough to get respect from other artists. and really thats all I wanted.

sorry i'm whining.. i had to vent.

Day Runner

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:50:38 GMT

In a lame attempt to better organize my time I got out a sharpie marker and started to mark things off on my calendar at work. The original idea was to remember key dates, and bills. Also to set up a plan to better work on my projects, sculpting, writing, dancing and you know minor things like remembering to eat and wash my socks. This is what my current calendar looks like.

Note: I wake up at 6 am to be out the door by 6:45 to be at work. I get home at 6:30 pm and go to bed at 11pm Monday-Friday. So this is all things I have to work on between the hours I am home.

Also note: Each Sculpt = 40 + hours of work (not including bake, spray, dry, sanding time which takes a week itself)

7.18 Start panicking. Holly sculpt, wash towels. Fix logo legs
7.19 Holly Sculpt, Wash ferret clothes, cook big ass bowl of rice. Logo work. Deliver rent check. Clean cage.
7.20 Logo in color due to FROS. Holly Sculpt
7.21 Clean house, Game 12-8, Holly sculpt, Deconstruct Jens belt, 2x discs to make.
7.22 Rebead cowries for Melissa’s belt, holly sculpt bake. Wash. finish Samhain. Spray Holly
7.23 Tribal 6-8, Work on Samhain
7.24 Samhain, Sand Holly.
7.25 Respray Holly. Turim. Order food
7.26 Gas Bill, Food Delivery, Turim. Wash Socks
7.27 Turim, Sand Holly if needed.
7.28 Bake sculpts, Sand, spray, clean house. Game 12-8. (find alternate base for samhain), Turim.
7.29 Continue to spray and sand. Start cutting foam for shipment. Dragon
7.30 Tribal 6-8 get measurements, and start estimate on yarn/fabric/thread (call and get bernina part shipped). Bring notebooks and soft tape to get measurements for girls. Dragon.

(And that’s just July, in august things get REALLY crazy)

Um... wtf.

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:19:12 GMT

So I get this message auto distributed stating that one of my sculptures was pulled down off of DA. For basicly not being my own work. Now what KILLS me on this is that I think they are pointing out that I posted a ref picture with the sculpture to show its progress. They didn't however delete the posted one before it, Or after it. It was clearly labled that it was owned by the creators of avatar, that this was just a fan sculpt. So why the hell did they pull it down? I have submitted a request for further information.

ShapeStrong,

1 deviation of yours, listed below, has been removed from deviantART due to a violation of our policies:

Title: toph wip II
URL: [link]
Submitted: 2006-08-06 7:18:00 pm

Your deviation was removed due to violation of one of the following policies:

An administrator has removed your deviation as being a violation of copyright.

Your submissions may not contain material or images which were not created entirely through your own effort; this means that you cannot simply collect photographs, artworks and other images, writings or scans from printed books/magazines and submit them to your account. You are not allowed to submit “reworked”, “edited” or otherwise “modified” material which you obtained from other sources.

This behavior is known as plagiarism, copyright infringement, or by the slang term of "ripping" and is an illegal behavior. Your submissions and all the material within it must have been created entirely by your own hand and through your own effort.

If you continue to violate our copyright policy your account may be suspended for a period of time or banned.

If you feel this removal was in error, or have questions regarding it, then please visit the deviantART Help Desk in order to submit a Copyright Violation Inquiry. Be certain to include the above link and title of your deviation in your inquiry for a prompt response.

Please do not reply to this note as it is an automated process and will not be answered and please do not bring these issues into the Forums or other areas of deviantART.

Thank you,

deviantART staff

I can only presume its because there is a ref picture posted with it. Which if so okay... fine. But its not like it was posted up as "my work" next to it was clearly photos of a sculpture in progress.

Fri, 25 May 2007 15:30:17 GMT

Wow it's the illusive personal journal entry. Things are doing okay here, I haven't been writing because most of my energy has gone to being sick, or working on my sculpts. I have a bad habit of doing things like that. I will do something for a long time like drawing, or writing then get distracted twards another artistic outlet. The MCR sculpt has gotten some great attraction which has been alot of fun. My Deviant art page exploded for like two days.

James Jean was nice enough to respond to my email with encouraging words, which was really nice to hear.

Snitter convinced me to go to Wizard World Chicago this year, shes going to take care of the bill, and i'm paying her in a sculpt. Which works out well I think for both of us. I'm hoping to have some new sculpts done. I will probibly hold on to Toph and Black Parade for display there. Also I just got the green flag to work on somethng from Azuzephre to do a pon and zi sculpt.

Melissa and I are considering making little pins that just say "I am on deviant art" and make like 100 of them for the da kids and give them away at wizard so we can Identify eachother.

New Sculpt: Welcome to the Black Parade

Wed, 23 May 2007 14:28:13 GMT

Done for personal portfolio.

Title: The Black Parade
Art: James Jean/ My Chemical Romance
Sculpt: Autumn Sims
Disclaimer: Done for personal portfolio not for profit, in no way approved by the band or artist.

Specs:

Ht: 7.5 inches
Mats: SS and Primo! waste mix

this is my DA site for any interested: http://shapestrong.deviantart.com/

Sketch Dump

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:07:14 GMT

Things are doing better at work, altho someone else quit. I'm not sure i'm going to miss her too much tho. As horrible as that is for me to say. Anyway.... sketch dump, mostly rp related and one self portrait. I have too much time at work.

Sacha in Pen the first sketch I did of him....

Sacha alot less cool and way more accurate. Hes got those huge glasses used for extreamily detailed magnification on... and is looking trepidatious about... something or other.

And My Irish Twins, Katie and Lightning Jack.

Edit: Oops forgot the self port. yes... my nose really is huge. I have come to accept it.

Anchorman

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:43:21 GMT

Ooof what a past few days! Friday was totally evil (see prior journals) Saturday was amazing altho my hands are bruised and swollen from clapping so much. I need to find the brace for my left hand and see if it can help get it all healed up soon. Cause as it is I can't hardly pick up things with it. My wrist gets f'ed up all the time tho.

I got new arch support thingys for my shoes and they are working really well, for the first time I didn't wake up wanting to saw off my feet so yay!. Looks like I may have found a place localy that can replace the screen on my side kick so YAY for screwing off and rping on my breaks at work.

I have been thinking of getting a new Aim name. I don't mind ppl msging me from DA but I get alot of randomness that pops up. Hummmm.... I'll have to think about this.

okay so this journal had no point whatsoever.

~Autumn

For the record

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 07:13:10 GMT

For the record, I don't care if hes taken. Ryan Lacey on drums is like porn for your ears.

i need me one of those.

I could be replaced by Monkey

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 03:02:15 GMT

But no... really I could. I just started a new job, and this place is un f-n believeable. the first day all i did was read one 50 page booklet on a program that is less difficult than my email to figure out. And spent FOUR HOURS staring at a cubical wall. We don't even have computers. They LOST my id so i can't even go to the bathroom with out someones ID or a hall buddy or I won't be able to get back in. I'm really trying to make the best of this.

The pay isn't BAD.. but i'm starting to think my brain is going to atrophy...

Tools of my Trade

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 07:05:40 GMT

I needed a new deviant Id so Melissa took some photos of me working on one of my sculpts.

Yaya Wip

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 11:11:51 GMT

Okay sorry for the multiple posts just trying to get this set up. Here is the current wip.

Yaya owned and operated by Okashichan

50% done.

Name Change

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 10:21:35 GMT

I have changed my journal name from Union_Jacked to Shapestrong. Union Jacked was a side project I started about four years ago as a way to get free from the graphic art I was doing, and have a place to post up my doodles, my fictions and what have you. In the last year my artistic focus has changed from Drawing to sculpting, a change I do not regret at all. Shapestrong is the name of my sculpting business.

I will have two types of entries now public and friends only.

Public- Current sculptures I am working on. As of today I will not be posting any more "work in progress" on my Deviant art site as it does function pretty much as my web page for now. I will be posting up wips here for anyone who is interested. I will try and keep them a managable size so as not to clog up your friends page.

Friends Only- This will be primarily just day to day type things, nothing artistic really probibly stupid ramblings about my studies, knitting and ferrets.

For shits and giggles and new art

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 08:22:09 GMT

my ability to keep up with a journal is scientificly proven to be defective. But i'm working on it. as a mild art update here is a picture of my first mini sculpt standing at 3.5 inches.

For Chenya who makes me smile.

and a fun little thingy

Comment and I will:
1)Tell you why I friended you.
2)Associate you with a song/movie.
3)Tell a random fact about you.
4)Tell my first memory of you.
5)Associate you with an animal/fruit.
6)Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.

You're supposed to do the same in your journal in return, but hey, I'm not going to check.

Apoxie Dreaming

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 01:31:33 GMT

I'm trying to keep up with this journal a bit more, Altho I warn you it will probibly be filled up with random art updates and swearing about my job hunt. Things have gotten weird around here, I have been feeling alot like doing nothing. but have been forcing myself to work on commissions. I admit that I really dislike doing commissions at the moment because most (not all) of the artwork is something that doesn't really thrill me, so Its kind of hard to slog my way through it.

So inbetween I have small cartoon portraits i'm working on each one is only about 3 inches tall and can be compleated in a few hours. its mostly just for fun. I'm planning on doing one of alot of the people I rp with. kind of little thank yous for keeping my spirits up

Bullet point update

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 23:18:38 GMT

- Was laid off from job. Not all bad got severance.

- so many comissions so little time.

-Aunt Tracy started chemo for breast cancer. So far so good altho shes very sick

-Chantel, last ferret that came with me from spokane, diagnosed with cancer.

- Bellydancing is gonna kill me

- 300 looks like porn with helmets

- Heroes is my reason for waking up.

Sculpting auction for a good cause please look.

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 02:12:10 GMT

Please take a look. A friend of mines son has had major kidney problems this year, and if his parents cant come up with the money for the deductable in a week. The insurance will drop them. He still needs more treatment so If they don't make this no insurance will cover it because it will be considered pre existing.

I'm auctioning off a comission sculpt, others are offering up original paintings, sketch books and if you have just a little to spare you can make a direct donation to him. if nothing at all just pass the good word along to others.

Thank you for taking the time.

http://shapestrong.deviantart.com/journal/11291239/

omg new obsession

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 20:22:02 GMT

Yes... thank you Itunes I am now obsessed with Heroes.... so.. downloading every episode.

Happy New Years ! ya greasy git (New Art)

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:32:15 GMT

I have been hoping to get to do some sculpt work just for my own fun recently. I have a ton of comissions to get done, but every so often I clear some time to work on something for the portfolio or just for fun. I have been a huge fan of Makani's work for quite a long time. And I was finally given the go ahead to use some of the work for a portfolio peice.I'm hoping in the future I can comission her for a standing turn around of Lucius Malfoy to put in to my portfolio, but for fun I figured my favorite git would do.

Char: Severus Snape
C. Jk Rowling
Art: Makani
Scupt: Autumn Sims

You know your bored when

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 13:12:52 GMT

You down load an entire season of lost, a show you have NEVER SEEN. because you figure it will keep you busy. Oh yeah that and the charlie figure turned out awsome Adam!

~A

Checking in

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 23:45:28 GMT

Back from spokane, Doing well I feel much much better than I did before I left. I was very upset about my aunts but both are doing well. Aunt tracy was due for her first chemo this week. So i'm not sure how that will go since the drain tube hasn't been pulled yet. I'm doing good here at home I got home with a bunch of stuff new clothes and a sewing machine that i'm really really excited about. And catching up with a few old friends. I got sick tho about part way through so I didn't get a chance to see as many people as I would like to.

In other news. Oh yeah... new year time for birth of another hp role play.. I'm telling you we have too much death eater love.

About my deletion and current position

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 10:08:45 GMT

ACK! wow okay sorry sorry sorry!! I deleted my journal not because of any insane self loathing or like need to be a drama queen and make everyone look at me. I just wasn't updating hardly at all here (I do at deviant art) and figured it would be a good idea. But I seem to have scared a few people or made it hard/impossible to keep in touch with me. Sorry to upset everyone! So having said that.. um i'm back and stuff.

Edit: Its 4:20 in the morning and I have insomnia. I don't often update my live journal because well I really don't have that much to say. For those of you who know me, I'm sure thats very hard to believe but the truth. Alot of shit has happened over the last few months here well mostly since may when I moved in with a friend I met here on LJ years and years ago. I live in a nice house on the top floor, first time I have had a chance to actually decorate, with the help of my grandmother it actually looks like a real house. I have a real bed with actual back support and a sofa of my own.

Most days its a great place to live, some times the roof leaks in to my kitchen, but the landlords are working on that so I don't complain too much since its my roomates mom and sister who basicly watch out for us. and in the long run the fact they invite me to dinner, or put up a stocking for me means alot more than the occational annoyance of having to put a bucket down. The appartment itself is Huge it has three bedrooms only two of which are in use the third is a glorified storrage bin at the moment for everything i'm too lazy to unpack.

I still work full time for an insurance company, which is a good thing. It pays well and I can afford to think most days and even to do some traveling in the coming year, as always art related. Some time last year I bought my friend Melissa a sculpture from the amazing artist Mumbo Jumbo, and it sparked a passion for sculpting. Since then I have been working almost steadily on comissions and other works and actually got the attention of a company in the industry for possible toy design. I can't tell you how excited I am about that, altho it also makes me so nervious i get a little sick. In the past I have had a horrible problem with being afraid of failure... so much to the point I figure its better to just give up. I can't do that this time the monitary value is just too damn nice.

I'm still single. Don't see that changing, ever. probibly because i'm not looking.

I have two more ferrets because I can't help it when someone calls me and tells me they have a ferret they can't keep and have to take to the pound... I end up adopting them. Now I have Five. They are good kids tho and really five ferrets isn't as much of a pain as I thought, its a little hetic when it comes to wrangling them up.

I have taken up a belly dance class and i'm not .... horrible at it. Not good but i'm getting there. I need to knock off weight.... alot of weight like 100 pounds of weight. I'm not sure when it all started to show up. But its getting to me finally, I think over all the last year has been so insane that I just stopped paying attention at all to what I was sticking in my face.

on to depressing news. another reason no one has heard from me is I have been dealing with some major stress from the family, My aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer, very seriouse kind it brought up all kinds of weird and amazingly scary questions, my aunt went in and they found a lump (which turned out to be nothing serious but scared the pants off me) So in one fell swoop the stability seems to have rocked under my feet. Things I loved to do... I don't love anymore. Ironicly.... as it has been since I was 16 rp seems to take my mind off it. Not in a forget who I am but in a need to some how control the world i'm in even if its just the ability to make it up... or have crazy saxons running across a feild hunting chickens. (it makes me smile)

all in all just trying to stay strong... theres a hundred other things I could write about but for now I think thats enough. Thanks for sticking by me friends.

I do love you,

Autumn

Tickled Pink

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 14:49:09 GMT

I was just too tickled pink about this to not post it. I have a char Sean who actually doesn't have an RP home just yet but Over the last year I have had some of the best artists I know do comissions of him for me. And the thing of it is that I don't have a certian way I want him, I leave that totally to the artist to decide. I only ask the chains show up somewhere, I have seen tons of diffrent styles and kinds. I really love to see what people do. This is by my friend homoshiroi of a chibi sean, she tells me hes not done yet but I think hes too precious. anyway here he is. This is actually the next sculpt I want to start work on this weekend.

The stars go blue.

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 07:32:26 GMT

Okay I'm trying to get better at updating this thing, I can't really think of much to say most days tho. I just got my birthday gift to myself (yes I know over a month early). My old A600 was starting to crap out so I upgraded my phone to a Sidekick 3. I'm still figuring out the finer points of it, but over all I really like it. I'll like it even more when I start uploading some better themes on to it.

I have been out really sick with the flu for the past two weeks, knocked me flat on my ass and only today am feeling much better. Thus why I'm up at 3am which is kind of unusual for me. Not much new to report, I'm totally blowing off the sculptures I'm supposed to be working on to work on one of Sean in chibi form this week. So hopefully some new pictures up soon.

Well thats all for this update

Once again a comment to let you know I'm all alive.

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 03:21:59 GMT

Hey guys! I know I know I'm terrible with this kind of stuff. But I figure honestly my day to day stuff is so boring to me I can't imagine that anyone else wants to hear about it. Lets see if I can do a quick review of what I have been up to.

Art:

As many of you know I'm no longer doing drawing comissions. I don't draw much at all, while I still doodle out a few things here and there its just something that even after the years I have worked on it its just not something I'm too pleased with my progression on. I do from time to time still doodle up some work, mostly for rp purposes.

What I have been doing is sculpting. Something I seem to have taken reasonably well to. I'm a bit backlogged on comissions but slowly but surley working through it all. If you get a chance please stop by and check it out.

http://www.shapestrong.com

Work:

Same old same old, working in phones and invoicing for an insurance company. Its annoying tedious and boring but It pays well.

Music: Hummmm actually I have been listening to alot of early whitestripes most recently. Ahhh jack before he went compleatly off his rocker.

Side notes:

I'm a horrible belly dancer.