Yes, I'm almost a week behind in saying that, but hey. I had a lot of fun, got to hang out with some folks I've not seen in quite a while, and danced the night (and year) away. W00t! I had a really good time.

SECONDLY:

Today is another important event in my life: my birthday. WOOT! I'm officially of drinking age, so I'm celebrating with bottled fruit of the vine and some foamy beers, LDS-style.(In other words sparkling grape juice and root beer.) lol.


CHRISTMAS:

We went on our traditional cookie run Christmas Eve. Gosh, I love doing those. For those unfamiliar with this, we bake a bunch of cookies, pack them in tins, and put our name on it (so that folks will know they're not getting poisoned and all). The fun part is taking it to someone's house (it's always someone we know), placing it on their doorstep, ringing the doorbell and running like there's no tomorrow. This year we had a couple of difficult houses (no shelter to hide behind if they get to the door first), so my brother left the cookies on the doorstep, and I called their house phone in my best mock-New Yorker accent and informed them that Santa's Delivery Soivice had left them a special package on theah dooah step. I had to hang up immediately afterwords, partially to just leave the person hanging and partially because my little brothers would break up into hysterical fits. Apparently I get a funny look on my face while saying that or something.

Christmas Day was nice and quiet. My dad was actually home for the entire holiday. This is a very, very rare occurrence because of the shifts he works. Turned out to be the first Christmas in a few years where all seven of us were together.

~Got a new car (w00t!)
~My older brother finally got a girlfriend that doesn't annoy the crap out of the rest of us.
~Went back to YW camp, this time as an adult *le gasp!*
~I transferred to a new college and lived in a dorm for the first time in my life.
~Realized that panicking is not the solution; it only adds to the problem. Take a deep breath, find the humor in the situation, and move on.
~Have been trying new techniques on the tablet.
~Did a LOT of marker art.
~Realized what a great little program MSPaint really is.

PERSONALLY:
I think I've gotten better at handling situations over the past year. I'm not so quick to blow my temper, and I've gotten better at handling my emotions when others get angry.

I've realized I miss activities like martial arts. I think I wouldn't mind learning to dance, though. My brother and I learned bits of Swing, but we were also introduced to Tango by a friend. It was actually pretty fun.

I've also realized I'm getting to the point where flying by the seat of my pants isn't going to cut it. I need to concentrate more on the situation at hand and stop letting myself get distracted. I think not having a TV in my dorm this semester will help a LOT with that.

ART-WISE:
Hmmm.... Well, proportions and anatomy have definitely improved over the year, methinks. I've also been working more on dynamics, albeit this is more prevalent in my lecture notes than anything. I've also worked more on animal anatomy. Coming along, methinks.

I would venture to say that this past year was my most prolific in terms of colored art so far. I did a fair few sketches and such, but a lot of that art went on to be inked and finally colored. I still thoroughly enjoy doing sketches, though. My shading and cross-hatching skills are getting better, too, thanks to those lovely Sunday sketches. Still lots of room for improvement.

~Keep drawing. (Yes, as ridiculous as this sounds, it scares me to death to think of the folks I know who were really good artists and then stopped. Life took them in another direction, it seems.)
~Experiment: More interesting, engaging pictures. More emotion, more dynamics.
~Find a coloring style I actually like and develop it.
~Learn how to use a tablet and CG software proficiently.
~Draw more OCs. I'll keep drawing fanart (because it's a lot of fun), but methinks my characters are feeling a little put-out and neglected.
~Last, but not least, actually finish the pictures I've started for my friends and family. *sigh* Shame, shame, shame on me. I get everyone else's finished first and leave theirs for last...

I think I should be able to handle this. These aren't resolutions, so they can't be broken. I've already started these goals, so it shouldn't be too difficult to stick with them. I think this year could be good.

This is mostly for my own, personal benefit, since I often can't find any of my own art I like. This way I can look back and see some good things that have happened in my art.

M'kay, that's all for now.