In the midst of final projects and essays…I still gotta find time to draw and write for enjoyment. Here are a couple of quick GIMP 2.6 mech sketches for concept work.
Concepts, as in ideas for a story titled “Journeys” that I’ve been planning to write and illustrate in the past few months. More information is available via the Visual Fiction link in the top navigation bar.
Well, when I can, that is. It seems that ever since DreamHost e-mailed me about moving my server data to a new machine, the old image gallery GridLine.PlasmaFire.org has been on the fritz with 404/database errors and is having issues with my logon information. Oh well, that’s what I get for not updating absolute paths in time; it’ll be coming down very soon anyway. The Tesla Coil Graduation Project photos need to be re-posted at a slightly-higher resolution, since many modern laptops have a standard 1280×800 resolution. No changes to Abuse.PlasmaFire.org or PSAOM.org yet due to finals week coming soon, as much as I’d want to.
Time for a non-engineering talk: there’s a lot of new artwork currently backlogged for posting, especially traditional studies, in light of a figure drawing class that myself and Catherine Lu have been taking this semester. The course has been a wonderful experience, save for a couple of assignments (collages and chalk pastel, grr), and definitely helped a lot with my mecha drawing. Looking back on how my engineering-influenced art has changed since switching from 2D schematic-style designs two years ago, it’s actually pretty reassuring: more curves, organic features, expressive lines, and a greater understanding of perspective, while depending less on tools in lieu of simpler things; I still find it far easier to generate ideas with a sketchbook, mechanical pencil, and eraser than having to pull out the drawing board or laptop and tablet. True, in reality it’s a matter of practicing, interest, trust (in the Lord, of course), and simply putting the tools to the media. This is the gist about any kind of original art, whether it’s creating from observation or delineating with no active references.
And back to reality: 4 credits of figure drawing only counts as a General Education arts course, and that’s all I can take ’till graduation! There’s a looming cloud of challenging core electrical engineering courses about to descend upon me come Fall 2009. I can feel it…the sufferings of previous EE students under Fourier Transforms, partial differential equations, and advanced electromagnetics. If this were a work of B-grade sci-fi, I’d probably write about it: “One Student In His Puny Mecha Versus Legions Of Gigantic EE Automatons Bent On Utterly Destroying Him. Year #4.” -_-’
In other news, Tekkoshocon 2009 was fantastic (far better than last year…except for the Game Room, unfortunately), Pandora Radio is awesome (especially since Tim Westergren spoke to PSU’s Audio Engineering Society last week), and Folding for Penn State is superb (join team #1805!). What’s with me and abusing the English language using a passive voice, anyway?
On a final note: if you can, please pray for my parents, as they are currently in Taiwan for the next couple of weeks visiting friends and relatives. Returning to their home country might not be awkward even after spending several decades in the States, but in light of this my immediate family is now scattered all over the world (yes, even my sister living in NYC counts as “scattered”). Do pray that my mom and dad may enjoy their time off there and will have a safe trip home.
I decided to start the site revamp a little early, since NextGEN Gallery offered a favorable options palette. All of my previous entry’s images have been re-hosted, except for the Pop’n Music ASC project (and all other project photos in general). Some of my featured art is now up as well; just hit the Artwork link at the top of the page. Most of the pieces are fairly old except for the first 3D mecha design and the first sketchbook page, but new ones will come soon!
No major updates since Otakon 2008. What a drag. This entire site needs a trim-down again, and I’ll have to work on it over the next few weeks as time allows even though I’m on spring break right now. I’m thinking of doing several things:
1. Change or redirect a new domain name to this site that more or less portrays an “online portfolio” nickname in addition to what I usually write every now and then.
2. Apologies for the lack of art updates at GridLine.PlasmaFire.org in the past…couple of years. They’re all happening exclusively at my deviantART for now, because I’ve planned to get rid of GPFO and the Gallery2 engine. Reason 1: I can no longer keep upgrading the core code and the WPGallery plugin without spending at least one hour tweaking details to my liking each update cycle. WordPress 2.7’s new one-click upgrades and site update system are wonderful additions that I should hope a recent version of G2/G3 has by now, but I’m currently using an outdated version that frankly doesn’t need to be upgraded anymore. Because…Reason 2: my dA needs at most 5 minutes to update with one piece; G2 sometimes takes three times that! The latter is standalone and far more powerful, of course, but I don’t need that many options anymore. Just something to post art, projects, and photos neatly.
3. So, I’ll install a new image organization system that’s lighter and integrated with WordPress’ posting options. I’m thinking about NextGEN Gallery.
4. This means the Tesla Coil Graduation Project page and a number of current site entries will need to be updated with re-uploaded images. For the TCGP, I apologize to anyone who still enjoys looking through the comprehensive image gallery at GPFO, but it may be scrapped entirely. I’ll still post images of the completed coil, specs, and its operation, but only what’s worthwhile.
5. And then…update the Projects page in its entirety.
6. Add new content to Abuse.PlasmaFire.org and record new level demos.
7. Add content to PSAOM.org and give the page a better theme. We do have a full pilot published, but we don’t have it in a net-friendly format yet…
…all while braving upcoming exams and projects. But then again, I’m still thankful to Christ for so many things, including coming home just to take a breather and spend time with my family and church friends. And of course, sleep. Lots of it.
That’s what a good number of teachers said when I went to E.N. Peirce Middle School. They told us students to use HotBot, AltaVista, and hey, even Ask Jeeves. They told us that Google wasn’t comprehensive enough, and doesn’t provide in-depth search results. Well let me tell you now, times have certainly changed.
Kevin, also known as "PlasmaFire3000," is an undergraduate electrical engineering student at the Pennsylvania State University. He enjoys living for Jesus Christ, drawing, writing, reading, photography, music, video gaming, anime, manga, and sleepless attempts to build a death-ray laser cannon.
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