Lightcatchers

Hello =)

I'm dearly sorry for not writing again so long ... I just had forgotten the blog in some way ^_^°

So what's new? 

Health is restored ... finally. <3 There hasn't much been going on the last weeks I can hardly write anything except for that I'm quite busy at the moment with the arts, learning italian (200 days left until I probably have to use it... :D) and maybe someday continue writing ... 

The only thing WHY I'm writing today is to tell that I've lately joined a photography group that originated in the Stargate Planet chat and has condensed into a facebook group.

I now today uploaded my two submissions in Anadoriyen's blog and I wanted to show them to you too :) So here they are:

The theme this month was "light". I didn't have many ideas on this until the deadline and I don't have many even now. But I think the two pics I did are an average result and I'm satisfied with it. Curious what the next theme will be. 

Well... so much for now =) See you all next time! =)

Block entry.

Hello :)

How's everyone doing?

I know it's been a long long time since my  last entry. I'm a little lazy at the moment ... But today I've got a lot of pictures for you :)

I haven't been doing so much during the last month since I seem to have a nasty artist's block and can't get my a** up to do anything ... Still I'm trying to defeat it by doing random stuff ... Here's what I've been doing lately.

The upper two photos were shot at the Spitzingsee near here where I live. I always love it to be up there in the mountains 

For the other 3:

First one is my painting for "A Lifetime of adventure", song from Tuomas Holopainen's "Life and times of Scrooge" ... I just had to do a picture for it since it was flying around in my mind for a longer time now and I was enchanted by all the reference photos I found <3 Besides that I have that book here and I do kinda love it too ^_^ The painting didn't turn out the way I really wanted to have it but I accept it that way :)

The other two are just a sketch I did to kill the block I have ... and to train my face composition skills which aren't really there yet. That person's the high priestess from the novel I'm working on. Though she looks nothing like she looks in my head. I just saw some headdress on deviant art and that's where it went to from there on. One day when I get better in digital stuff I will show you the real one :D

And for everything else ... 

Health is still bugging me a little at the moment, I'm now taking the 4th (or even 5th or 6th?) pack of antibiotics this year ... -.- I really hope this will change somewhen soon because I'm fed up of being sick.
 

And there's another entry to come soon since I joined a photo project of a friend. I will share the results with you :)

Until then I wish you a happy sunday and a good start into the new week :)
Cya'll :) *vanishes*

New, everything new! :D

Hello =)

How are you all doing?

Here everything is going the normal way again. The check at the doc resulted in everything fine, the computer finally works as it should (I even made it to put in the RAM after all...). And I made it to set up the microphone that I got from a friend so I can now plug in my guitar and keyboard and turn my desk into a little studio xDD This is incredibly awesome since I always wanted to do something like this. I'm like a child entering a playground now that I've got these possibilities *_*

The keyboard is veeeeeeery old ... I don't even know anymore when I got it from my parents for christmas... must have been something around the mid- to end 90s... But it still works and I love it <3 (Though sometimes a KORG workstation would be more interesting... xD)

I also made it to set my graphics tablet back up and it's now working fine on the windows 7 :D I can even make digital drawings now which I'm practising from time to time... I won't go completely digital anyway, just not my thing -.- But it's nice for certain things. Here are two of the latest practise results :D The 2nd one is a self portrait out of pure boredom xD

So ... yeah. I'm gonna start working again today now that everything's fixed and fine again. So glad to have my life back :D

I'm btw also working on getting an awesome video editing program so I can present you better videos in the future... I hope it works and my computer here's not too weak for it... -.-

But for now - See you all next time :)

Update.

Hello =)

I just wanted to stop by and tell you that after a phone call to the doc on monday I am officially healthy again now =) But still I will go there today or tomorrow getting a big check done just in case. I'm worrying a little.

And the computer is finally all set back up, the graphics driver is finally the right one and working (I now have that stylish transparent stuff from Win7 :D). Just the RAM we bought doesn't fit so I need to go back to media markt to get one that fits... But that should be the smallest problem. 

So then, I'm wishing you a happy new week and am gone again =) *waves*

Back online... finally.

Hello me hearties =)

I'm so sorry for being away for so long again ... I had big computer and health trouble in the last few weeks... 

But everything from the beginning: 

First I went to Ingolstadt to take care of my bosses pets as I told you in the last entry. So far so good. In the first week I catched a mean cold. In the 2nd I got myself a salmonellosis from I don't know where (yet I suspect the waffles I ate to be the culprit...) and rushed home in a short moment of doing a little better. I don't know how I made it to get home without having problems. 

I then became a cabbage for a few days at home slowly dehydrating not knowing what to do. I then decided to go to the hospital for a few days because my circulation was already making problems, they gave me infusions and I got back on track then. We didn't know yet what I had to that time. When I went home then after 2 days just because I couldn't stand the hospital anymore I got told I had salmonellosis... awesome. Off to the doctor, getting some medicine (antibiotics since I had an urinary tract infection too...) against it. From then on I could watch myself getting better day by day. Today I'm doing as well again as before I went to Ingolstadt. 

After getting home the next problems occured. Our computer was broken. Graphics card dead. Before that the internet had gone because the network adapter didn't recognize the network cable anymore ... Got myself a new computer then on monday, letting it all being set up by my boss, carrying it home. Internet still wasn't working so I had to phone the internet guys to get told that the DSL splitter was broken, apparently due to a thunderstorm that had happened a few days before where a lightning bolt had hit a tree not far away from the house...

Yesterday then that splitter finally arrived and I could FINALLY go back online, check all my stuff, answer messages, pay bills, and start to continue to set up the rest of programs still needed here on the pc... it's almost all done today. Just a few things left.

As for now everything's slowly becoming like it was before and that's a good thing.

And - to end the boring stuff from above - I haven't been lying around in bed all day, as I was doing better after the cold I started to drive out to the refinery in Ingolstadt, taking photos since I'm quite fascinated of that place for whatever reason... (I think industry places like these are interesting and quite creepy at the same time.) So I have a few photos that I can show you =) Here you go: 

I've also been doodleing a little when having no computer, sitting in front of TV in the evening ... In the end it became a whole picture, one that I already wanted to do for a certain time now, inspired by MandragorA ScreaM's "Medusa" with a little of "Anubis" in it :) It isn't perfect and I am far away from the style of people who know how it works but ey, it was worth a try xD But see yourself:

So ...I will continue setting the computer back up now and start working again in the next days to finally finish my commissions and stuff... there's so much that's been left behind in the last weeks, I've got a pile of work to do :-/

For now I wish you all a lovely weekend, and see you all next time =) *vanishes*

A vacant review.

Hello me hearties =)

As promised, here I am back again after setting up my basecamp here in Ingolstadt. My boss is on vacation now and I'm taking care of the 4 kitties, 2 guinea pigs, lizards etc here. And to be honest - I'm sick with a cold here (don't know what this is every time I'm here for a few days I get sick ... o.O I blame it on the oil refinery that's just around the corner...), got the CD today and am now taking a break from cleaning everything up ... I also have to do the entry from here because my computer at home apparently died, I need a new one :( Will be going home in the next few days for a visit and having a look at this thing what's wrong with it...

So where was I? Ah yes - I wanted to do a review for the new Amberian Dawn - Album "Magic Forest" =) 

On the whole picture I can say - whow, what an Album. One big pile of bombast just how I love it :D I've got me the limited first editions with two guitar instrumentals on it.

For the cover - it's a lovely design, yet I think it doesn't quite represent the awesomeness on the CD itself. But I will overlook this. 

As for the songs:

1 - Cherish my memory

It was already one of my faves on the teaser and I still am right. A catchy, rythmic tune that stays in the ears, nothing more to say, I love it :D Incredibly awesome to be listened to in the car on a nice summer day with open window x)

2 - Dance of life

Lovely melody line, yet not one of my most favourites. For me it's just a fill-in between the next two incredible songs. Still it shouldn't be left aside since it's still awesome, the chorus is strong and it's a great composition.

3 - Magic forest

Well what more is there to say than - dang, this piece has it all, melody, bombast, incredibiliness ... and is an inspiration bomb for me x) I love this fairy tale story line stuff. You can't hear this song too often.

4 - Agonizing night

Also one of my faves on the album and from the teaser already. Maybe my most favourite of the album all in all. It bursts of bombast <3 Symphonic metal at its finest. Very great for doing errands, listening to it in my car having the window open x) Also lovely for driving to the mountains. It was also a good companion in the times when I was sick... my job was to get through the agonizing nights...

5 - Warning

Lovely for high speed driving xD Another fairy tale song that makes your thoguhts wander, very good :D I like the storyline with the child wanting to go into the forest to sing.

6 - Son of the rainbow

Did someone love lily of the moon here because there's another one of this type? xD For me personally very good because I love lily of the moon too. 

7 - I'm still here

Another one bursting of bombast. Great arrangement, nothing more to add. I love the intro. I wonder what this changeling - thing is about.

8 - Memorial

Another catchy one like cherish my memory that stays in your ear and won't move out of there anymore. Which is good. Great contrast also the male voice, so that is Markus Nieminen then? Still I think the male voice is a bit misplaced. But the song is still great.

9- Endless silence

Also interesting in the lyrics, I wonder what's behind it. Melody stays in the ear. Represents very much of my personal experiences during the last few years.

10 - Green-eyed

The only ballad (?) on the labum and the 3rd fave of mine. Awesome voice acrobatics by Capri and another pile of bombast that makes images appear in front of my inner eye. Also makes the mind wander with its lyrics...

And the guitar instrumentals (Dance of life & Warning) - nice to hear for inbetween but I think they're more interesting for people who play guitar :D Still they're awesome for a highway ride :D I myself would have liked some normal instrumentals here.

And again - am I the only one who thinks Capri sounds like Celine Dion? xD 

10 out of 10 points for this pile of bombast of an album. Me gusta. Amberian Dawn pwns Nightwish. Nuff said.

P.S.: Picked up the computer now, it's not broken yet my boss wants to have a look at it so I took it with me. I'm positive about the result.

Up and around again ...

Hello me hearties =)

How are you all doing?

Been working a lot lately catching the deadline for that Nightwish days exhibition finishing my Scaretale painting ... And I made it! :D Already sent the scan over so it's gonna be a part of the show now x)) Here's the finished painting:

 

My sister says it's creepy but I think it's not creepy enough xD I've added glow-in-the-dark paint as an extra gag, so now the teeth, the eyes, the stars on the suspenders and the eyes of the little skulls on the clown as well as the bigger lights on the tent masts are glowing in the dark :D

I've also a lot of new ideas for further imaginaerum pics ... sketches flying around for Slow love slow, I want my tears back and Arabesque x) For the rest I have to see what my mind gives me.

But for now I'm packing my bags (nah ok more having a load of laundry out in the sun and waiting for it to dry .. the rest is already packed -.-) .. I'll be going to Ingolstadt again for 2 weeks watching over my bosses cats. I'm also planning on doing a lot of stuff in that time I'm up there such as visiting my "brothers" again with a friend I haven't seen for a very long time again now, wanna go to czech republic once more to walk through the Soos again ... For everything else I'm gonna see but I'm sure it's gonna be a litlte more relaxed than last time ... And this time I've got a better camera with me means there's gonna be amazing night photos of the refinery out there ^^ Can't wait to take them :D
Maybe I'm gonna make a video of that trip... we'll see. Keep your fingers crossed for me I'm gonna stay healthy this time because I'm strangely always getting sick when I'm there -.- (I blame it on the stuff that comes out of the refinery ...) But this time I'm armed with a lot of highly effective medicine to kill the germs. They're not gonna get me this time Ò_Ó

So .. yeah... I'm gonna keep waiting here now for my clothes to dry and wish you all a lovely day =) Cya! *vanishes* 

P.S.: Trying to get myself into vacation mood now and thought I let you be part of it :D And you'll probably also gonna hear from me if I can make it to catch the new Amberian Dawn album while I'm away. :)

It's coming back to life.

Hello me hearties :)

How are you all doing?
Another big sorry for being away so long, I had a few health problems in the last weeks and another ton of stuff around me ears ... but I guess slowly I'm getting back on track, kicking the a** of my muse which apparently seems to have gone on vacation down to the beaches where my mind is on vacation too these days ... I totally lost my spirit in some way ... But now I'm starting to get it back =)

First of all - since I've got the "Life and times of Scrooge" album lately I am obsessed with wanting to be able to draw those disney characters ... also because I would so love to do a disney style watercolor painting for one of the songs but it seems this is gonna stay a dream since I'm not really talented in that way -.- I'm not getting the proportions right at all... but see yourself:

Still I've sentenced myself to practise drawing that stuff now because it's something I always wanted to be able to do. I have that book here and I will not stop until I can draw proper McDucks xD 

As for the album ... I don't really wanna do a review for it since I've got a strong personal aversion against Mrs. Kurkela ....  I won't tell anything further. But the album itself gets 8 ouf 10 points from me, minus the 2 for that hypocritical singer. The rest is arranged very well (Who wonders about that anyway? That piece is done by a genius.) and I can partly literally smell the fresh air up in the Yukon. Really great piece. Yeah, just so much for that. And is it just me or do I partly hear a Vangelis influence out of that soundtrack?

The positive side of that new musical material is - besides wanting to be able to draw Disney stuff - that my inner eye begins to work again means I'm sketching a lot in the last days. Here's two pieces I put down yesterday. One for "A lifetime of adventure" and one raw idea for Amberian Dawn's "Guardian" ...

I chose to trash the first version I did for lifetime of adventure because it's crap ... or better - I can't paint mountains. Need a better solution so I begin anew. 

But for now I'm gonna call it quits and move my lazy a** upstairs to get some sleep ... gonna continue working tomorrow, need to finally do something again and catch up. 

Have a lovely sunday everyone and see ya next time! :)