As I sit here, on a Saturday morning,  sipping a freshly brewed cup of coffee, I can only breath for a moment before my weekend begins with fill itself with reading, writing, housework, errands, and internship work. Two full days I’ll have to myself to enjoy without a having to go to a job or school, yet some form of work is necessary to create the set up of a smooth and successful next week. The rest of the fourteen weeks are probably going to look exactly the same as last week. Work, internship, and school. Work, homework, and school. Work, internship, and school. This will be the rhythm for at least four days straight. There are two days in which I’ll have three hours to take care of personal business. Life management items that can only … Read entire article »

Yesterday I experienced watching a real live fashion shoot for the first time. It was surreal, yet not that exciting. When it came to learning about being a fashion photographer, there’s a ton of information I had to absorb. From learning how to read a light meter, learning the name of different types of lighting lamps and their components, the “deadly power supply pack” which outputs 4800 watts and how not to kill myself with it, and learning about new functions on the digital camera. There’s also a skill in getting a good pictures from models. One thing is to have a model “open their lips slightly.” The model that my mentor was shooting was having difficulty with smiling. I wonder if that has to do with experience or just not being very friendly. I had my oil painting … Read entire article »

Over the last week, I’ve received a taste of how difficult it is to manage life and being a full-time student. I’ve managed to figure out how to cover my living expenses, and pay for school books and school supplies. What I’m now facing is how to find time accomplish simple task like arranging UPS package pick-ups, having enough time to go grocery shopping, picking up items at the post office, filing taxes, and just taking care of the business of personal life management. Last night in my film class I started to fall asleep closer to the end the film that we were watching. I was just pooped. Today I’m going to learn how to set up a photo shoot at my photography internship. Then I have my oil painting class. And … Read entire article »

What my life is like now seems like a jam-packed day full of activities. As I alluded to yesterday, it reminds me of  days at boot camp in the army. Activity after activity. Here’s a snap-shot of my yesterday schedule. 5:30-6:30 a.m. — blog 6:30-7:00 a.m. — breakfast 7:00-7:30 a.m. — get ready for work 7:30 -8:15 a.m. — commute to work 8:15 – 1:00 p.m. — work 1:00 - 1:45 p.m. — commute to photograhy internship 1:45 – 4:30 p.m. — photography internship/mentor-ship 4:45 – 5:15 p.m. — commute to school 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. — oil painting class 8:30 - 9:15 p.m. — commute home 9:15 – 10:30 p.m. — eat (cracker and cheese), check email, watch video news clips. 10:30 – 5:30 p.m. — sleep This is my schedule Monday – Thursday. Friday I have my photography internship. As you can see, I didn’t have time … Read entire article »

Yesterday I went to my economic class, which is 15 minutes after philosophy class. Both instructors appear to be pretty intense. My philosophy teacher gave the class a three question “pop quiz” on the syllabus that he gave us on Wednesday. This to me was a clear indication that this teacher was not playing around. Getting an A in his class is not going to be without hard work. My economic instructor seems to be lecturing for the marjority of the class time. So, a lot of notes have to be taken during class. He gave us warning that some of the things he teaches will not be in the book, so it is our responsibility to take notes. And note taking I did last night. For full pages, front and back. After his class was over, I came straight home. … Read entire article »

This weekend I spent the majority of my time doing chores; cleaning, organizing, doing laundry, and reading material for class. I also did a photo shoot with a friend to sharpen my photography skills. I had forty-eight hours to complete a number of task. Each task represented how I wanted to see my life Monday morning; clean and organized abode, clean clothes to wear, and to enhance my knowledge of photography. As Sunday night was coming to a close, I began to think; couldn’t I create a number of task to solve other challenges/problems I have in my life? Isn’t life like a canvas? I’m control of what I put on it? How I want the picture to look? If I pick up the brush, mix the paint on the palette, … Read entire article »

When I created The Blog Novice, my first blog entry, “Day 1” I had a goal of being a full-time student (along with a few other lofty goals.) This morning, I’m reflecting on my first week as a full-time student with astonishment, pride, and a sense of confidence of knowing that I can recreate my life the way I want it,  However, rearranging your life, whether involuntary, or voluntary, it doesn’t come without some discomfort. You can confidently expect some sort of pain just as you can expect a strong wind to blow in Chicago. Having the afternoon opened in my life has not only allowed me to fill an afternoon class in it, but it has also allowed me to to create a space to test new career ideas.  Friday, I meet with my photography … Read entire article »

Last night I had my oil painting class. All of us had a chance to start painting. We first learn the basic steps to oil painting when drawing  still life. Putting on a ground, which means in layman terms, putting on a foundation. The next step is to sketch out your drawing with black paint diluted with a mineral spirit. The final step is to start painting your darkest values and moving to systematically to your lightest values. Oil painting is very expensive. I’ve spent around $125.00 on supplies for far and I’m still not finished. I bought a set of Winston hog bristle brushes (set of 5) which is still not enough brushes when your painting. Next class I’m going to take a picture of the still life and my painting afterwards. One of my … Read entire article »

Yesterday I had a full day of activities. Work in the morning, buying art supplies, reading in the library for an hour, and attending two of my classes at Harold Washington College, philosophy and a cinema class that will focus on women in film. During my philosophy class, we played a form of musical chairs for about thirty minutes. The entire class, about forty students make room in the center of the class and instructor starts playing blues music as we try to find some sort of orderly structure to move in a circle until we hear the music stop. “I’m sorry, is this philosophy?” When the music stops, my professor yells out a number and we try to find the number of partners to form the right group. We then tell each member … Read entire article »

A month has almost gone by into ae new year and I still haven’t come up with a single idea, theme, or, subject for my blog. So my days go by without any new entries. And, I, go painfully each day without a place to release my inner thoughts. To hell with monetization and trying to commercialize my blog. I want to write! Everyday! When I first started blogging, it started out just being simply a place to share with the idea of having it being viewed by the entire world. An artist displaying his new work if you will. Then I had to find out about how other bloggers were making a killing at blogging through advertising. It was from that point that I lost track of my original intent by following the crowd and following … Read entire article »