Aaaahh, so I just got back from lunch at the Disney studios in Burbank! It was good fun and I'm super-glad I went, although now I feel all strange and churny inside. But first, brief thoughts on the studio:

Holy cow, that place is huge. And it's like going to Disneyland all over again...everything is very clean, and they even use the same dang fonts and styles on all the displays and employee uniforms! They even have their own fire department, beauty salon and car wash! We had to get special passes to go into everything, and probably the only reason we were allowed in anyway is because Scott Leese's sister, Sonserae, works there. She does texture mapping and painting, so she basically paints a lot of the 3D models. She did the texture painting on the ships in Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and stuff for other studios. :O

First we ate lunch in the cafeteria, where they have a bunch of good stuff like Panda Express and homemade sandwiches and pasta and a grill and just about everything. And it's... (DUN DUN DUUN) normal-priced! Perhaps even a little cheaper than normal! So we ate and talked a bunch, and then I got a quick tour of the animation studio! I saw some of the texture mapping stuff Sonserae does, and makes my mind boggle at Maya all over again. All the Disney movies are done with in-house software, and they usually use Linux-Unix computers or macs (no PCs!) for the art stuff. Also, I met a few people also working in texture mapping or storyboards, and got to see a *lot* of the concept art and sketches for new movies because it was posted all over the halls and rooms. I saw stuff for what I think is the next two movies they're working on. (Sonserae already finished her work on the latest one, since she's early in the production chain) plus a ton of concept art for different story ideas. Some of it looked pretty dang awesome, especially the second movie I think they're putting out, but I can't talk about any of what I saw here or else the Disney assassins will come and KILL ME OH NOES! The funny thing is that you think I'm kidding. :D But nevertheless, I loved looking at all the stuff they had up there...it was like combining Disneyland with an art museum, except the art is actually interesting and people work there in offices or cubicles. (And why does everyone have the lights off?)

The talk with Sonserae was really informative, and I almost wish I'd taken more notes. I now somehow feel both intimidated and empowered. As self-critical as I can be, everyone tells me that I have the talent and skills to do what I want to do, and I just need to believe that as well. The hard part comes in me just learning to be confident enough to put myself and my work out there, and to just believe that people want to look at my stuff. That means the scary stuff of making phone calls and sending off stuff to people I don't even know and basic networking! It all seems kind of overwhelming at the moment, and my natural artist critic is still yelling at me that I need to improve lots before I can even talk to anyone. But if everyone else seems to think I'm good enough to do art for a living, why can't I?

So tomorrow I think I'm going to start doing a bit of research on smaller studios and other places where I can find beginning work. Apparently the gaming industry has a lot of job openings right now, which makes sense. I just need to turn off the part of my brain that says "you can't meet that or that or THAT qualification" and make a list of names, places and numbers with some potential behind them. Sonserae also mentioned that you often have to start out taking a lot of jobs for free, which I'm fine with doing since I've got parents willing to support me, and I can always stay at the operator job as a steady source of income while I work on different projects. I may also have to start off taking some classes, especially classes for the new software and programming stuff that I'm just no good with yet. I just need to use the resources I have, and to get confidence! *determined pose; listens to motivating music*

Anyways, seeing all that totally awesome concept art made me want to draw! I'm going to go color some of those small fanart things I'm doing. I think this weekend I'll also really start in on the art for that TP pitch that I keep saying and saying I'm going to do. It's now officially my Spring Break, but I don't think I'm going to take much time to relax. Lots of work ahead!

KH2 countdown: 33 days!

Drawing: Have two organization fanarts planned I want to color, plus an original piece. Otherwise, it's just going to be website graphics and then some comic pages for most of this week. Am all still waiting to hear back from Tim on those tone fixings. I wanna draaaaaw!

Writing: Finished that sexfic (lollers!) so I may post that a bit later. Otherwise, I'm just going to finish that five-things drabble. Also, even though we don't technically have homework in the novel writing class, I'm going to work a bunch on it anyway and just get it out of the way. I'd rather not have to do all that towards the end of the semester when KH2 comes out. ;P