Aarri2129

First of all, I want to thank everyone who a) wished me a happy birthday, and b) stood up on my behalf to help me with the art theft problem. It's still not resolved, but I really, really appreciate the support.
Thank you all so much! <3

So, yeah...I turned 17 a week ago. It feels weird. Really weird. Like I'll be in college in two years weird. I joined deviantART in January of 2009, and since then, I've made so many friends (and foes...). You're all such wonderful people, and I couldn't ask to have met better friends. So just...thank you for all the support over the last three and a half years. I'm so utterly grateful for all of it. ;v;

On a somewhat less-mushy note, school is eating me alive. No lie. I've said this countless times, but it was never truer than it is now. On average, I'm dealing with three or four hours of homework per night, on top of managing everything else in my life that I'm committed to. To anyone who I'm in a group with, I apologize for being so inactive. I'll try my best to fix that, but I can't promise anything. Between now and next year, my academics need to be my primary focus if I want to have any chance of getting into a good college or university when I graduate. Right now I'm not working my absolute hardest at school, and I should be.
(Lacking motivation suckssss OTL =_=")

If anyone didn't know, too, the desktop computer that I most often used recently sort of...died? I guess I could put it that way. Basically that means I'm using my laptop for everything now (and I really mean EVERYTHING), including drawing. As you can imagine, using a laptop on your lap...and trying to set up a tablet...is awkward. So any new pieces of art that I produce are going to be few and far between, unfortunately. I apologize for that, as well. I am working on developing other styles as well as characters for a story/manga plot thingy that I might have going, so maybe it's good for me to take a break from drawing for a while.

Speaking of new things, I assembled my first Gunpla kit yesterday. .u. (Gunpla = Gundam plastic model for anyone interested....) My shiny new model AGE-FX Gundam is currently sitting in my room battling my Fafner Mark XI figure, with a poor little ZAKU in between them. Whoops. Got carried away, I guess....

I'm also on a Professor Layton kick right now. (KASLDKFJALSKDJF PLAYING UNWOUND FUTURE AGAIN AND CLAIRE AND SOMEONE STOP MY TEARS.) So I joined a big artwork collab for that, and I'm currently failing at drawing in Layton-style. If any of you like puzzle/adventure games, and gorgeous animation-driven stories set in a steampunk-esque 1900s London, then this is definitely a game series for you. .w.

On that note, I will get back to my AP US History study guide and leave you all in peace.

Peace!
~Aarri

Hello all,

Recently, I became aware of a deviantART user who had not only taken, but also edited my artwork for their own use.

As you can imagine, I am not pleased about this. From my point of view, as they have taken artwork that was posted ONLY on my facebook, they are either a "friend" playing a practical joke, or someone being merely spiteful.

The user's name is AnusBurgers, and by the time I post this journal, they may delete the deviations that they stole, removing evidence that they have taken them from me. They are also claiming that they took these pictures from Zerochan. However, at least one of the deviations was stolen directly from my facebook, as my facebook pictures can only be viewed by my friends on there.

Friends, this is a warning to be cautious of what you post on the internet. Always, always, always include a watermark and signature on your artwork, even if it is a photograph. You probably already know this, but it is a valuable lesson. I include signatures and watermarks on all of my artwork, save for one or two pieces, and that tiny chink in my armor is enough to let in art thieves.

I daresay that was a spectacular end to my birthday.

Hope you are all well, and your art is safe!

Aarri

And then there was more school.
That's basically my life right now. If I'm not as active as some people expect me to be, it's because I'm swimming in a mountain of work right now. ;; AP courses are really taking everything out of me, both mentally and physically, since I've been getting little sleep every night.
Unfortunately, so much work leaves little time for the things I really want to do, like appreciate art and writing on here, arrange and compose music, actually DO some art myself, write something of my own...there's an endless list of things I have to do, yet can't, because I'm sacrificing my time and energy in the hopes of finishing my high school career strongly in a year and a half.
So, I'd like to apologize to my watchers and friends. I will not be very active in the upcoming year, most likely, because I have to put my academic life above most everything else. Up until now, I've been fairly lazy about my education, relying purely on my intelligence to get me through assessments. But I need to start really applying myself now, if I want to get into a good school when I start applying to colleges.

So, that's that. I'll probably upload photography work, if anything, because I'm actually taking a photography class this year.

In other news, if you didn't hear my griping about it on facebook, I got stung by a bee. On the eyelid. In bed.
Not a fun way to start my Sunday morning.
I also have a slight...strange...obsession with Avengers and Marvel and stuff right now. If I do upload actual drawings, it'll probably be one of the Avengers. ;D

How are you all? I hope you're doing well!

--Aarri