ihearrrtme

I couldn't bring myself to do it. Deactivation, I mean. I had been thinking about it - extensively - because when I start dental school later this year (which will be another 4 years; I will be done at age 26), the workload will be more than double of what it had been for my college years. And it's pretty obvious what affect being in college has done to how often I've been able to draw.

But for as long as I follow the Sonic series for whatever nonsensical reason I have been for the past 11 odd years, I don't think I can quit at drawing just yet. Which brings up another point: I still can't quite put my finger on what it is about a video game series about a blue hedgehog with an enormously fat head has held my captivation for so long, but it has. One can't help his or her feelings I suppose, so despite all my other interests that have come and gone, and my active efforts to try to stop liking this series, it evidently has left some kind of blue imprint in my life, one that I don't see fading any time soon.

Perhaps I should have held that statement until the new game's announcement, because for all we know with Sega, it could be something that completely screws over the series, haha.

Long story short, I'm happy to have come to terms to continue to try to be involved here, however rare it may be, but it is something I will commit to. May not seem like any groundbreaking news to an outsider, but in my little mind it took a lot of thinking and reflection, including for reasons that have nothing to do with going to dental school. But it's been decided, after months of deliberation!

I do hope my future work to be submitted here will be received with anticipation and joy. And thanks to those who have stuck around and left kind words. Your support means a lot more to me than I can reflect! Thanks.

(And here's a fun fact: On August 2017, which I when I will officially be a dentist, I will change my username to dr-ihearrrtme, or some variation of it. Ha! Let's hope to see that change in due time! )

Normally I try not to spam y'all with journal entries, because we all know that most people just wanna see the friggin'artwork, but here goes...

Today is the first day of this admissions cycle (entering class of 2013) that American dental schools are allowed to begin sending out acceptances/rejections, which lasts from now until August 2013, any day in between. And today, I received phone calls from University of California San Francisco  and University of Alabama dental schools notifying me of my acceptance!

I can hardly think or put into words how happy I am, or if I'm adequately explaining how big of an accomplishment this is. The rejection rate for virtually all dental schools is 95-98%, and the average age for those accepted students is about 25 or 26 years old. But those odds were defied and now it's official: I'm going to be entering dental school and be a full-fledged dentist five years from now! This is by far the only time I have ever felt truly accomplished, and no less pertaining to what I consider a stellar career choice and a lifelong part of my future identity.

Thanks to all of you who ever gave me encouragement and well-wishes; your thoughts were deeply appreciated and the outcome has turned out in my favor. I still need to finish my biology degree (1 more semester!) but now have the comfort of knowing, with definitiveness, where my future lies. Immediately after earning my biology degree in May 2013, I will enter dental school in August 2013, which will last 4 years.

And with my admission, I can coast and relax until I graduate, for my grades essentially do not matter anymore. I'm still internalizing today's events and still can't be back here until one or two more weeks, but I wanted to share this great news, especially to those who have gave hope and encouragement all the way through the end. Thanks to you individuals once again, and I'll be back with some updates soon.

Why is that all the ideas come to mind at the most inopportune and busy times? There are all these concepts floating about in my head that I'm itching to get down on paper but I'm too deep in school work. This week, the coming and the week after will be hell, as the final weeks of my 2nd-to-last semester of university. Exams to study for, papers to complete, and waiting on admissions decisions for dental schools. Suffocating, I am. But I will spam you all come mid-December. Hopefully massively. Hopefully with some likeable stuff! Despite it being my busiest college year, it has also been my best deviantART year in terms of number of updates since 2009, I think. I intend to try to keep this momentum going!

Still have my mind on opening a second gallery on a different website, in the form of a blog. I'm shooting for the domain to be naver.com. Will discuss more later if its fruition is probable. It's been bugging me since the summer.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and plan to wrap up 2012 with success and joy. Take care!

That feeling when you look at a piece of fan-friggin-tastic artwork - or worse, a buttload of them at once - and it prompts you to wonder why you yourself even try... Sob. My morale has moments ago been hit so hard I don't think I can resume working on the next update until tomorrow. Sob! This is why I always regret browsing through Pixiv...

But here is something that I don't find depressingly wonderful, just delightfully so!


Six more days until Wreck-It Ralph's release! Enjoy!

There have been a number of people who have inquired about what I use for digital work. I don't really know much about what are the absolute best, most stellar options, but I hope the following information might serve as useful to some of you.

Drawing program: Adobe Photoshop 7.0.1 This is an ancient version; it was released in the year 2002, seven versions behind the most up-to-date one. But it's not as though the upgrades between versions are too substantial, at least not to my understanding. For mere hobbyist artists like me, I see no reason to possess the latest version. If you are quite keen on navigating through the... "right sources", you can unearth this version without having to whip out your wallet for the latest versions, which can run you up to $400.

Tablet: This is the exact product that I use: www.ebay.com/itm/DigiPro-WP403…
Not a bad price, huh? As with the out-of-date Photoshop version, I use this very cheap model. For those of you aspire to become professional artists, perhaps it's better to invest in a fancier tablet. Otherwise, this model hasn't given me any problems and I'm happy with its sensitivity, so I can only imagine how much cooler the more expensive models are.
I bought mine a few months ago. Prior to having it, all my work prior to this year (2006-2011) was done by your standard, right-handed computer mouse. It is a painstaking task, but definitely doable. To further put it into perspective, I'm entirely left-handed. Basically, you don't really need a tablet for digital work, unless you are vehement on pursuing a professional career in art. If you just want to have fun playing around with a tablet for the first time, the product I bought is a great option.

Creating GIFS: Adobe ImageReady 7.0.1. Should come packaged with Adobe Photoshop.

But even having provided this information, I don't believe you need PS or a tablet to make a notable piece of work. I'd begun to revert back to traditional work myself, as I had been doing when I first joined dA in 2006. I am a big believer in the charm of traditional drawings.

Ciao!