Greek and Roman Art: The Clouds

Author: Aristophanes, a comedian from Athens. 

Time Period: (450-388BC)

Location: Written/preformed in Athens, during the festival paying tribute to the god Dionysus, who was the divine god of most Greek recreational activities. 

Yes, this is my own photo. (I worked
so hard to make this one just perfect!)

The Clouds is considered, by many scholars who study on the subject of historical drama, to be the first play ever written where the central purpose is to achieve the crowd’s laughter all the way through its duration, or simply put, a comedy.  The story is an almost textbook case of irony, as the main character’s motives end up being the result of his own misery in the end.

Interesting Facts:

The play, believe it or not, actually has nothing to do with clouds at all!  The word clouds is used in place of the word gods, and implies that the gods are against the main character in the story and only want to punish him for sending his son away to the Thinkery for his own self interests.  How sad. 

Although the play has been translated into many international & non-Greek languages, there is no written copy in existence of the original ancient Greek text before it was revised.  It is thought that some of the things had to be reworded in order for it to make sense to foreign audiences, so a few minor details of The Clouds may have been lost in translation.  

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Further Reading: 

1. http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/netshots/clouds.htm
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clouds

Life can always use a little more 'Passion'

I'm sick of this.  I am just so angry with myself for being so passive!

I don't have enough drive!  Where is my purpose?  I have lost touch with it, and in doing that, lost sight of myself and the world-entire.  Let's try this again... WHAT IS MY PURPOSE?! ~I need to remember who I am in order for this to work~ Why am I here? 

This photo is of me and my ticket to see CBC's
The Q: Live at the ECMAs (East Coast Music Awards.) 
I was there with my school's Media Studies class and I felt
that everyone who appeared on stage to play music and to
do their interviews were just so passionate about their lives
and careers that it really gave me a confirmation that what
I am doing here on the internet, is a good thing, and that it
is a good way for me to debut my career as an artist and
media personnel. There are some days when I am unsure
of my-self, but after listening to Jian Ghomeshi talk about
how he got into the business of being a host of a radio
show and about his childhood and life before his career,
I began to feel a confidence rising within me, and I knew
that this is where I want to be when I grow up; this is where
 I would like to see myself in a couple of years time.
*You can listen to a recording of the live broadcast and
performances clicking the link above.  

This is me making my way out.  Out of this rut I'm in... and in order to do it, I need to stick what drives and propels me to do better.  I must know what makes me want to succeed.  PASSION, Love, friendship, that's where it's at.  The ultimate goal of this "I going to step out into the internet and stuff" (and eventually out into the real world) was for me to better myself, but now I see that it has become so much more... it's not just about bettering myself, it's about bestowing passion within me, and it is passion that keeps me alive!  I went- what, like a couple of weeks without blogging, and I'm already starting to feel the pain of last year's "being trapped within myself" starting to return.  I've grown quiet; already things have started falling apart. 

I can't live like this.  I can't return to being who I was before~

I don't care if I am blogging or doing this internet thing for the rest of my life!  I will do it as long as I need to, or at least until I've got myself lifted off the ground.  Birds can't choose to stop flapping their wings and glide until they've actually gone a certain distance above the ground, otherwise they crash and burn.  The same goes for me.  And, now I'm thinking that I'm going to have to flap a lot harder to get me in the skies, so that is why I'm setting my compass so that it points towards YouTube.  I've already got my parents on board- or, well- sort'a.  (I still have yet to make my appeal to them, but at least the thought of me having my own YouTube channel to 'promote me and my art', which is what I've told them, is beginning to sit well with my parents.  They, and especially my mother, has learned to not be so taken back from it as they have seen the change in attitude my blog has given me this year.)

This song just keeps playing through my head as I am making this post.  I guess that it just resonates with how I am feeling right now.  The parts where it says "Planning my escape" and "Were making our own way out" along with the fact that other kids don't seem to have to feel as much passion in what their doing and choose to stick with what is considered a normal way of life by listening to what's only popular, really ring true to me:

"Give It All Back -Noah and the Whale"

I can only hope for the better- no, I HAVE TO GIVE IT MY ALL- with this blog, my passion for art, my future career, because my life depends on this!  I have so much potential to do good and to better the world, it would be a sin for me not to let it out.  It helps to be conceit.

Announcement: Serialization Begins

NO, WAIT!!!!!  Don't get all hyped up for nothing!  It's not one of my comics that's getting serialized in a magazine or anything (although I wish it were...), its my blog post here at Lonely Totem Pole!  

I've decided on a whim that I want to serialize some of my blog post: that is, that the bulk of my content will have some sort of progression within a theme.  The themes will be chosen based upon the time of year, events that happen in the news and what's going on in my life.  So, in a way, my blog will begin to reflect what's going on in the world around me and what you guys will see is how I come to internalize it.  To sum things up, its art.  (Will you soon come to understand that art functions in the same way in my upcoming series, hehe!)  

There are a number of contributing factors that have lead me to come to this kind of conclusion that I need to radicalize the way I do blogging or just abandon the whole idea, but I guess that the past couple weeks have been like hitting a brick wall for me.  Nothing seemed to be allowing me to do things in any sort of logical order, and I hate having that feeling that I'm not in control.  But I'm not here to complain to you all, if anything, you will get the just of how I felt last week when I publish some of my art that became products of my madness (some of the things I made really do scare me!)   Anyhow, I've been working my butt off at school with co-teaching Poetry alongside another student for three days straight and I feel wiped!  I am realizing now that there are a lot of school documents that could be serialized here and many of them actually fit into themes very well.  Hmm, I'm flexible (or at least I try to be) with my blog, and because I have no one telling me what I can and can't do with it, I really have no limits, however, I also don't have anyone setting deadlines with it, so there are many incidents where I don't post anything at all for long periods of time (over a week!) and that's not very good.  Not attractive at all.  So I have made myself a blogging calendar in hopes of clearing those messes up.  

I declare this month and the first of next to be "Fine Arts-Themed"  that is "art for the sake of art."  I have been getting behind lately in my assignments with my Fine Arts 110 online course and I feel that this would be a good way to spice things up and encourage me to keep going, pushing my way through the final stretch of highway, my destination being summer vacation.  You may see the regular sorts of posts in between, but I doubt that there'd be much extra.  Not until summer break at least.  (You may see me rant and complain every now and again, however...) 

This is a rough sketch of how it will be:

• Mondays will be art interest days: this is where I will be reviewing works of art I personally find amusing or that I enjoy.  
• Fridays will be art history days: this is where I we will explore art as it appeared throughout the ages (I'm kind of excited for this one!) It will be a journey you won't regret taking...

*One quick note before you go; as I am nearing the milestone of receiving my 1000th blogger view, I am now readying myself for the 'Big Shift' to YouTube.  If you follow me now, I hope that you will join me as I venture into new territory on the 'net (gosh, I sound like a Viking!)  Len, concur!  Len, destroy!  I know that it's nothing special for those of you who are already receiving a thousand views, daily, but for rookie like me, this is something really special!   

P.S. {I decided to throw in a picture of my cat so that it would catch your attention...

         If you are reading this, then I know it worked!} ~Harhar!!!

True Blogging Potential Awakening: lonely totem pole's views skyrocket!

I'm starting to get into photography, taking pictures about once a week.  I always loved viewing photographs and taking pictures myself, but I never really did it as a disciplined form of artwork up until now.

I've noticed too, that a gentle mix of drawings and picture really draws in a crowd.  People seem to be more interested in the person behind the drawings than their drawings themselves at times, so it's good to give the people what they want.  

I guess the reason that the reason for me not touching my camera until now is because I didn't feel comfortable with it.  It's probably strange to hear a teenager say this but... I don't like Facebook.   There!  I said it!  Maybe I do see it having some implications in the future, but for the time being, its best for me to stay away.  If I want to become an artist who goes showing his face around the internet and elsewhere, I have to be careful of who people see me associating with.  Some of us judge others based on their friends, do we not?  So if one of my 'friends' (or just someone you've met only once in real life but have added to Facebook) goes posting a picture of themselves drunk at a party, then professionally, what will people think of you?  Not too many high school students think of that when signing on.  Perhaps we should. 

Anyhow, the results I have gotten from including a mere two photographs in my last post really pleases me.  

It seems as though viewing photos of my culture and where I come from really perks your interest, and I have to admit that I am touched by this.  I have always thought of giving back to the community that raised me, so I guess that a cultural identification is a must for me as I progress into making a career out of this.  

"LEN-Komix, Atlantic-Canadian artist..." that sure does have a nice ring to it.  

My views for the past two weeks are the highest they've ever been!  You appear to be coming from all over too.  At times, I wondered if the bulk of my views were just my friends, but now I am assured that they aren't.  Before when it said "3 views from Canada" there was no way of telling if the person was someone I knew or not, and I was kind of hoping that they were strangers, you know, to attract new faces to my blog.  But, when all your views for one day are from outside the country, you are almost completely sure that they are part of an audience that aren't your closest friends.  This is all very good.  

I've been working very hard as of late in achieving a solid look to many of the characters and settings for my future comic project.  I might as well call it future now, because calling it current makes it kind of misleading.  Truth be told, I haven't really got anything of a finished product to show you guys yet, so it is not fair of me to get everyone hyped up for nothing.  What I do have though is what I believe to be an excellent concept of a comic with charming characters and a self-absorbing story.  I haven't come to set myself up with any real deadlines for this however, so it may be long after I graduate before you see this hitting store shelves or anything.  Yet, (and I did tell my parents this) I plan on pouring myself into the project in the next couple of months following the school's end, and I do want to get to the main body of my comic, creating chapters and such when I'm freed from having to juggle schoolwork at the same time.  I work far better when I don't have other things weighing me down.  

As always, if any of you want to view more posts
containing pictures, try making use of the labels
currently locate at the top of this page!

*I've got more "My Themed Life" content coming your way in the next couple of weeks leading up to Summer Vacation in June.  There will be loads of Pokémon and The Hunger Games-themed content being posted here, so STAY TUNED!  

It's a 'White Easter' this year in New Brunswick

I'm supposed to look overjoyed in this sketch,
not sad!  (Just so you know the difference.)

This week, even though it was short, was a hard one to pull through.  I had set myself set up pretty bad after missing Monday's classes at school, and the staying at home to work on my speech got me nowhere.  I felt like I was only digging a deeper whole with my schoolwork in general, and just as I figured would happen, my pain and suffering was only an allusion to a sudden metaphorical growth.

This week's moping seemed to bring me out of my trance.  I've been so consumed and drawn into my academics as of late that I seemed to forget who I was and why I'm here, as I do so often.  Every now and again I need to remind myself that my marks aren't everything; they aren't the basis of how well I'm doing, they are only one aspect of my life!  Well-being, for me right now, should be based on just how content I am with myself, my social life and my art.  However, when an outside force begins to command all of my attention, I seem to let the others slip and fall into a trap.  Luckily, towards the end of the week, I seemed to find myself again; I know where I'm headed and have gotten my bearings straight!  (It's about time, hmm?)

I have come to realize that in one a quarter year's time, I graduate!  That's a big deal.  It means a lot to me.  And so once I graduate, my life isn't going to be based on whether or not I know "What combines with hydrogen to produce water?" but on how skilled I am as an artist.  Let's face it, artists don't need much in the way of grades to get into their courses.  Nope!  You need dexterity and determination, talent and will power!  Enough of this stressing over things that in two years time mean nothing to me... My mind is now set on art!

I feel like I need some art and blogging therapy right now, so I'm going to fill you guys in about what I've been working on:

• Page Four of my comic (Now set aside until more concept art has been completed.)  
• Maps: Over the course of this month, I have come to develop a real 'finalized' version of the map that includes all the major locations needed to tell the main story of my comic.  
• Settings: I have sectioned off different regions of the map and tried to use my imagination in constructing what I feel some of the places should look like as seen from the eyes of a bird soaring over the various kinds of structures and terrain. 
• Character designs: I have just resurrected a couple of the characters that will have a major appearance in the first book.  My art style has developed over the months since I have undertaken this project.  
• Blog Posts (Here are a list of ones that are currently in the drafting state): "Welcome to the Internet, Mus'ka", How to scare a Nerd (saving this one for next Halloween), Picture Storage (only used to hold the odd image as I travel from one computer to another; disregard), Len Square (A post about my efforts in trying to make a cartoon version of myself for my blog), Seventeen (A post from a back in January that never made it out.  I don't know if my vision for it is still the same?), Deviously Cute (Reviewing my experience in designing a t-shirt of the deviantART 'Cute Monsters' contest), Another Winter Shelter (I will give instructions on how to make a shelter out of fallen trees and snow.  Originally written for my outdoor pursuits class at school.),  Pokemon and Nostalgia (describing what it felt like to start to replay Pokemon Blue as a teenager), How to Build a Quinzhee (instructions to building a secure snow fort; another OP class creation.  Plus, an inked and coloured version of one of my comic's settings as part of its concept art.), *{There are many more that are in the planning stages and just haven't made it into drafts yet...} 
• Tidying Up: Going back and fixing various grammatical and spelling errors I've made in my earlier posts. Rethinking the use of some of the tags that you see at the top of this page.  
• Photography: I've dug out my camera again, so lately I've been taking lost of photos!  My cousin has really inspired me with her sudden interest in photography.  I was inhibited by Vista's horrible way of organizing stored images, but now with windows seven, I feel much more comfortable in trying this.  (Fingers crossed!  Hope I can get some nice ones to my blog without too many problems.)
• My Themed Life: This part of my blog and deviantART is currently on pause in real life (I have assigned no theme for myself this week.)  I have many posts backed up that I would still like to get out there for my audience with my two themes Pokemon and The Hunger Games, so until I've worked the life out of them, I am at a pause with this.  

Below is a list of posts that are either finished or in the making for the "My Themed Life" section of my blog:

• Pokemon Week: Favourite Pokemon (completed), Replaying Pokemon Blue (have information written down, drew some sketches, still trying to finish the game up to the point where I can carry out the 'Mew Glitch'), Outdoor photography featuring my Game Boy Colour and I in a winter landscape (Photos have been taken, downloaded and selected.  Written portion of post still needs to be done; no draft has been created), Pokemon Black and White 2: My reaction (nothing has been done yet.)
• Hunger Games Week: How I Pictured Things (need to find and make copies of cartoon characters that look like the ones I saw in my head while reading, no write-up has been attempted), One With Nature (made sketches almost daily for a week, photography has been taken, no write-up has been done), My Hunger Games Strategy (just a though... nothing done.)

I mentioned above about doing colourized versions of different settings in my comic.  Since this is a frosty scene, I thought that I'd couple it in with this post just so all of you good lads and lasses can have a looksy.

This is the rough draftwork I made while sorting out how I wanted the Southern-most region of the fictional world to look. 

I am really excited about this one!  Through different sources I've found online about beta versions of video games, movies and such, I have discovered that the concept art plays a big role in achieving a concrete model of how you want things to look in the end for your product and that if I want to make all of my panels featuring vast and complex backgrounds to look anyways congruent, then I need to try and replicate this somehow.  So I've tossed my main pages aside and started in on concept art. 

I know that it's only the penciled version, put it's looking pretty good for something that only took me a couple of minutes to sketch.  Good copy will be coming soon in the post "How to build a Quinzhee."

As the title of this post implies, it is Easter and there is snow on the ground.  How's that for being Canadian?

We went from having this one day...

To this the next.

I can honestly say that this is not an uncommon sight here in New Brunswick, and I have many earlier-childhood memories of running about outside searching for Easter eggs in the snow with my cousins, while trying to dodge the odd snowball.  What fun!
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Oh!  I just looked at the clock and noticed that it is now past twelve.... So much for having this posted on Easter Sunday.  :|  (Frowny face)  "~Happy Easter Monday, Ya'l!!!"
I went skiing directly after making this.  I just couldn't stand all this excitement!