Skyrim Remastered - Excitement Sketch

Is anybody else excited about Skyrim Remastered being release on next-gen consoles?? It's only about the most exciting game-related news I think I'll hear all year, apart from Uncharted 4's successful release that is!

I'm so excited about this news, I have gone ahead and painted a quick Dragonborn sketch in honour, listening to Skyrim music on Spotify the entire time of course...

 

I've been missing Skyrim desperately lately, and having only played the PS3 version in the past, I was seriously considering saving up for a proper 'master race' PC to fulfil my dreams of playing Skyrim properly with all of the mods and the better graphics.

So how delighted was I after hearing about the future release of Skyrim Remastered for PS4! Now I can forget about getting a PC and just get a PS4 instead (which I was planning to get anyway - hello Detroit: Become Human!) Don't you just love when everything just pans out perfectly?

Just look at the teaser trailer, LOOK AT IT! :o



So, come October 28th, I'm getting hold of this baby, and I'm spending at least a couple of months devouring it, heart and soul, in all its hi-res beauty!

If you'd like to read more about Skyrim Remastered this page will fill you in:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-06-17-skyrim-remastered-ps4-xbox-pc-mods-everything-we-know

All the best :D

xLouisax

OMG I've made a wonderful discovery - the classical painter Hans Zatzka, why are you not super duper famous??

"Why on earth isn't this guy really, really famous??"

I came across a wonderful discovery while partaking in a little Art History research recently... The wonderful classical Artist Hans Zatzka! Who? He also went by the name P. Ronsard, and was an academic Austrian artist born in Vienna, 8th March 1859.


Img Src: http://www.fineartlib.info/plugins/p17_image_gallery/images/9/2472.jpg

I think in a split second he became my favourite classical artist of all time! All of his work is so BEAUTIFUL and imaginative and masterfully painted!

The only thing that's been running through my head while I've been devouring his work on google images is: "Why on earth isn't this guy really, really famous??"


Img src: http://www.cdpaintings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Hans-Zatzka-The-Card-Players.jpg

Why haven't I ever heard of him and why is he never in any classical art books, or in any classical art galleries I've visited? Why did none of my teachers and professors at Art School never tell me anything about him? Did they know who he was? Why is he not as well known as Michelangelo, Da Vinci and the other equally skilled celebrated classical artists?

Apparently, Zatzka dedicated most of his career to painting churches across Austria (which he was highly regarded for) but he was always more widely known for his beautiful paintings of women in mythological settings. He later reproduced most of his paintings as postcards, which are still widely sought after by collectors today!


Img src: http://img12.nnm.ru/0/1/6/1/d/b54d52288e3a5a48881f7add7b3.jpg

I could just look at these all day...

The thing that attracts me the most is his wonderful use of colour, and the light-hearted and happy spirit of each of his paintings. The ladies also are all painted gorgeously and with such beautiful dresses and attire (those who know me well know that is totally my thing!)

If you're interested in seeing more here is a link to a great site displaying a lot of his works:
http://www.artnet.com/artists/hans-zatzka/past-auction-results/2

xLouisax

Exciting Career Progression!

In terms of my career I've been in a bit of a dream-like limbo for the last few months! I was away travelling and exploring the world for most of 2015 (which was amazing! :D), and the plan was to return home and lay low for a few months before moving on to a new full-time job. The idea was to spend a few months doing some personal projects and also to study coding in more depth to satisfy my insatiable thirst for learning, and also to open more career doors in the process - the cherry on the cake!

Where it started to go wrong...

So my idea was to 'fund' this study time with freelancing... but what actually happened was that when my freelancing began to really kick off, it started going SO well that it completely took over my life, to the point where I was working such long hours (and sometimes a 7 day week) that I had no time for personal study, let alone time to refresh and recharge between each working day. To make matters worse, I realised that I wasn't even making a great deal of money from all of this time and effort, partly due to my mistakes (which I've now learnt from) and partly due to me buckling under the pressure of competing with fierce competition (which I now refuse to do - nothing is worth lowering your rates to an unsustainable amount :p).

It's been a tough few months but I've learnt ALOT along the way and I've finally brought everything back down to a manageable level. Everything is finally back in line with my original goal: to spend the majority of my time learning and growing, and 'working for money' as little as possible. I now spend the majority of my working day studying and drawing, and only do bits and bobs of (well-paid) freelance work. I also spend a few hours a week doing bar work which is great because I've found that having two small sources of income has massively reduced the stress of worrying about bills, which in turn makes everything else easier to manage.

Where I am now

I'm so much happier with how everything is going now! I love the fact that I'm back in the family home at the moment, my sister has just moved back for a few months also, so we are all living together as a family (for perhaps the last time in our lives!). We also have a new puppy, Charlie!

Dedicated this time to studying and drawing is the best thing I ever did! I'm learning and growing everyday and all of it is catapulting me towards my dreams! Life is good!

I'll be making an ace personal website and an app with my new found knowledge so watch this space!!

xLouisax

The Maze Runner - my new obsession

"If you're about to have a long plane ride definitely read this trilogy."

Oh my Gosh, I watched the Maze Runner film when it was in cinemas and LOVED it. Since then I've been desperate to read the books to find out what it's all about. I finally started reading the first book about a week ago and since then have completely devoured all three books! I couldn't put them down!




I LOVE these books, and they're definitely a lot better than the films - like usual, the film adaptations leave out quite a lot of cool things in the story and change much of the plot for the worse (especially in the second film, oh God!). Although I do appreciate that sometimes this has to happen in order for a film to work, I do have a little sympathy for James Dashner - I'd love to see this as a long graphic novel series or a TV show or something so audiences could see all the cool little details and plot twists in much greater detail!

Anyway, if you were at all thinking about reading the books, I'd strongly recommend it! They're so exciting and gripping, and have completely re-ignited my imagination - what more could a person want in a book?!

If you're about to have a long plane ride definitely read this trilogy.

Also, I really love the cover designs of the UK versions - ooh shiny!!

xLouisax

Heavy Rain - Game Review *SPOILERS*

"...if you love nudity it's the game for you - but don't play the part at the club with the volume up around older members of your family... AWKWARD :D"

So I finally got round to playing Heavy Rain! After playing Beyond Two Souls last year (which I LOVED) I had to give Heavy Rain a try too!

 
Image Source: http://static.tumblr.com/73xd9qg/xX3lpulq3/heavyrain.png

What a great game! The story completely sucked me in! I started playing after tea time and basically didn't put the controller down until I'd finished.

It's a narrative-driven game based mainly around Ethan Mars (see below) and the relationship he has with his son, Shaun. All of the characters have their own storyline and gameplay which occasionally interweave. Your actions and choices determine the fate of each character.

 
Ethan - Image source: http://www.gamesknit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/heavy-rain-1260106446.jpg

 
Ethan with his son Shaun - Image 3: http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/165034-heavy-rain-proves-ebert-was-right/bb-noscale.jpg

It is pretty cool how much your decisions can affect the storyline - you'll only notice this by partaking in a little plot googling after completing your game.

I loved all of the characters; loved the mood of the game; loved how the game looked, and most of all I loved the way tons of the gameplay is just controlling the character to do every-day mundane things. I love games like that - I don't know what it is, maybe it's something to do with feeling sucked into someone else's life and really living through them in another world? This is why I loved putting make-up on Madison and brushing Ethan's teeth. ^^

 
Ethan brushing his teeth! ^^ - Image 4: http://firsthour.net/screenshots/heavy-rain/heavy-rain-ethan-brush-teeth.jpg

So to summarise, what a great game! If you're into narrative heavy games with a little bit of mystery and thrilling action sequences this is the game for you! Also, if you love nudity it's the game for you - but don't play the part at the club with the volume up around older members of your family... AWKWARD :D

xLouisax


P.S. Now I want to draw the characters so bad @@

P.P.S Also if you want to watch an awesome video about Heavy Rain watch this :)

Merry Christmas everybody!

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope you all have a lovely holiday, and have a very happy new year! Bring on 2016!


P.S. are you kids looking forward to a visit from Father Christmas and all his little helpers? ^^ xxx

Travelling to Japan!

Out of all of the countries I've travelled this year, Japan was the place that stood out the most to me! I visited mostly Tokyo and Kyoto, but also shortly visited Nara and Osaka :)...

... and IT WAS EVERYTHING I'd DREAMED IT TO BE! Everybody there was so nice to me and so respectful and cute! And EVERYTHING was cute: the houses were cute, the trees were cute, the cars are cute, the people are cute, their uniforms were cute... One of my favourite things was that you could be walking down the street (almost anywhere) and in the split second that you recognise that you're thirsty there's a drinks machine no more than a few metres away from you!

And the toilets... oh my... that was a real treat, while backpacking to leave a country with some of the worst toilets in the world, to go to the place with the BEST toilets in the world! :D

Japan is such a nice place to visit in terms of aesthetics - so many beautiful and interesting Shrines and houses and Gardens everywhere! I loved every minute of my time there, and can't wait to visit again someday (and get me more of that delicious noodle soup!!)




My only regret is that I don't follow Anime very much! I was having kittens over all the video game merchandise I found in Akihabara, Tokyo! Imagine if I'd also been finding posters and figurines of my favourite Anime characters! Maybe I'll have to get into Anime properly before I visit again!