A Meditation on Resident Evil:Extinction

Today was probably one of the strangest days of my life! As the final exam for my "Cultivating Meditative Awareness" class, I had to go to an all day meditation retreat which lasts 10 hours. I still can't believe that I actually finished! and honestly right when we were able to leave, i thought to my self, " that was pretty easy!" Although, when i was actually sitting there meditating it was actually pretty hard, like doing the mile run in gym class, but with your mind!!!


The retreat lasted from 7 am until 5 pm, when i got back to my dorm room i was so tired!! i slept until 10:30 pm and then I decided to made some white tea and watch Resident Evil: Extinction!! Which i had never seen before and i imagined that it would be really scary!!! But it turned out to really really good! Sitting on my bed in my 8' x 14' room on the tenth floor of a tower, i felt pretty confident that if there were any zombies around, i would be safe here!!


After the movie was over i went to the bathroom, which everyone shares on our floor, and as i was washing my hands, i almost screamed because i saw feet peeking out from the bathroom stall, and then i turned around and my neighbor walked in and i almost screamed again!! I thought they were zombies!!! hahahaaa o Lordy


So basically, after a long day of meditation followed by zombie movies, i feel extremely thankful that what i was watching was just a movie, and that i was in a safe place.

Reality

Starting today, i am only going to draw things from reality. Nothing from photos or magazines anymore. Making art is self discovery, and i would much rather discover myself in the real world than in celebrities or using others art as a crutch.

I want to be a successful artist and create 100% original art. I really haven't been doing much of anything because i can't find any inspiration, every time i pick up a pencil and paper or a canvas and a paint brush, i feel completely lost.

But today was different, i sat at my desk with my Moleskine in hand, feeling completely out of ideas, when i looked out my window and saw the trees, i decided that i want to fill my sketch book with things from the real word, things i have seen with my own eyes.

I want to be a human camera, no more taking photographs. If i want to remember a place or time, I'm going to draw it and let it stay in my mind that way.



This is the drawing that I did today at 4:55, it's 5:14 right now and the sky is already pitch black. It was really interesting to observe how the sky changes in a matter of seconds while I'm drawing in peace and quiet.

This is a study of the Bonsai tree on my desk, someone said in my meditation class, "We tend to think of every leaf on a tree as exactly the same, instead of look at each leaf individually." I thought that was really true, not just in trees, but in life. It's important to slow down and notice the tiny details in everything.

Thinking about the world this way will hopefully give me some inspiration and help me to get back into the zone, where i can just scribble away and make art that makes me happy.

Printmaking

I decided to make a blog today. I am in my printmaking class and have nothing to do. I am supposed to be starting my final print but the image i want to use is at home. I want to make sure the rest of the prints that I do are worthwhile, not just something i found on Google. I plan on using either photos from a photography class I took over the summer or something i doodle.