Right, on to today's blog post, which is really just an update on how I'm getting along. Well enough, thank you. Not great. I don't think I'll be that until I have a steady source of liveable income. But well enough.
I'm almost halfway through editing the manuscript for a friend. I am thinking that I'll offer editing services... which might be an uphill battle, marketing-wise, since I make so many typos and silly errors in my blog posts. To be fair, it is proof of why a second set of eyes is so damned necessary.... Anyway, I'll offer it and see what can be seen. Maybe it'll work out. Probably won't, but there's no real harm in trying, I suppose.
I've yet to place that order for more leather, so I"m working mostly on my fine art currently. My current painting is going better than I expected. I can see all the faults, and I'm not especially in love with the painting, but it's also not the worst thing I've ever produced. Thus far. I'm thinking that maybe I can pull this one off. Ish. I mean, it won't be a masterpiece, but it'll be decent. Probably. It's so hard to tell this early in the process.
I think I want to start working on sculpture. My plan was to sculpt if I had time between my editing/writing, leather craft and painting, but there's a pretty persistent series of sculptures that keep floating around in my mind, and I think I should maybe devote some time for that. I will need some oven-bake polymer clay, and then all the things needed to make a reusable cast. I can't really afford any of those things right now, so I'm currently trying to figure out how to arrange things so I can get them. I do have to make the trip up to my local art supply shop soon to acquire more canvases.
I need four little-ish square ones and three fairly large long ones for the next few paintings I would like to do. And some more white paint, because I go through that like a mofo.
Also, I was talking to my mother the other day, and I'm thinking that maybe I should try my hand at watercolour painting. With winter approaching, there will be at least three or four months this year when I will not be able to paint in oils. Lack of ventilation is a terrible thing when working in oil, even if you're using less toxic solvents (as I am). As much as I love winter, I have no intention of inviting it inside by opening the doors and windows while I paint. I had planned to work in acrylics for those months, but a dearth of canvases might make that a little tricky. Perhaps watercolour is the way to go until I can afford canvases and paints again.
That, or find a wealthy patron who will happily buy me all the art supplies I could ever want.
Oh, aside from my art stuff, I've made some progress in Beat Sabre. Sorry, American spelling. Beat Saber. As of late last week, I finally bit farewell to the last song on my playlist that was still on normal. It took a shocking amount of time for me to be able to play through that song without making a stupid mistake. It now joins the majority of songs on that list which are played at the hard level. I also managed to level up two hard songs to expert. One I levelled up quite a while ago, and have yet to be able to get all the way through that song on expert. One I levelled up at the end of last week. I played that one on expert for the first time yesterday and nearly made it all the way through. I expect to have finished it (though not without mistakes) soon. That first one though... it's been weeks of trying.
(I give myself three attempts before moving onto the next song.)
Playing this game has become my daily workout routine. I strap on my wrist weights, fire up the game, and dual-wield my way through virtual trials for roughly an hour a day. It's more fun than it should be, to be honest. It's also excellently motivational, as I can see and track the improvement I'm making.
While I cringe at the amount of money I spent on my VR rig for the Playstation, I can't really say I regret it at all. It's been pretty damned fun.
And that's me, currently. How about you? What are you doing to keep yourself from going crazy with all this crazy in the world? Let me know in the comments.
Right, I have editing, French lessons and painting on my list today. Off I pop.
Ciao!