Yesterday was a lovely Thursday. Printmaking was busy but fun: we inked up our copper plates to produce drypoint prints on dampened paper. My hummingbird gryphon turned out well! My AP, or Artist Proof, print - a name given to any test print that doesn't turn out as well as it can - was light, but I wiped the excess Akua Intaglio ink off my plate very well. I'VE GOT INK-WIPING
SKILLS!
Akua Intaglio is a very interesting ink, because its binder is honey. It's also water soluble, so if you don't wash your hands constantly, you get absorb all kinds of chemicals. Heh!
I made a second, darker print to turn in to Amy. My print got a lot of compliments - eeeee.
After class, I rode the MAX to Aurora's apartment. I got in before Grace could open the door for me, as someone who also lived in the complex held the door for me.
Thus ensued another wonderful hangout filled with movies and Taco Bell and copious amounts of hilarity.
Aurora and Grace were bent on introducing me to
Ouran High School Host Club, which, I have to admit, is rather amusing. I've grown a lot since my "ANIME SUCKS!" years, and now try to look at new anime with a discerning eye for its quality of animation... or something like that.
Still, twincest is a more than a little off-putting. :|
I brought my
Willard DVD for Aurora and Grace to watch, and I was pleased that they enjoyed it so well! Crispin Glover and rats; what could be better? Throughout the movie, Aurora and Grace were Awwwwwww-ing like crazy. XD
Aaaand that was just about my billionth* time watching
Willard. One of my favorite movies. EVER.
*I've lost count of how many times I've watched Willard, so I substitute a more appropriate guesstimate with one that's flat-out ridiculous. Yay!Aurora decided to send me home with
The Cat Returns (as well as the third Cirque du Freak book,
Tunnels of Blood), and I so look forward to watching it. I might tonight, after I tinker with my work more. (I've already redone my camera move for Maya, and have also added a bunch of placeholder trees.) Studio Ghibli films are always high on my Must-Watch list.
Grace had to head home shortly into
Rock & Rule, which Aurora had been gushing over on Wednesday when the three of us got dinner at Cha! Cha! Cha's! I had never once before heard of
Rock & Rule, but I can now say I want to buy it on DVD.
It's a bizarre 1983 Canadian animated film, set in a post-Apocalyptic world where humans have been wiped out, and a race of mutants evolved from dogs, cats, and rats. It's an epic sci-fi rock'n'roll saga and features original music from Debbie Harry, Cheap Trick, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Earth, Wind, and Fire. Hot damn!
^ Still frame for the trailer above is of Mok, the ultimate rock god. He's pretty much the bastard child of Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop, and David Bowie, and reminds me of characters from the animated sequences in
Pink Floyd The Wall. Oh, and did I mention he's freaking awesome?
What stunned me most about this rare gem is its animation. I thought that some of it might have been rotoscoped, but I've checked articles on the 'net and none of them says anything about rotoscoping being used in the film. Folks,
Rock & Rule displays some of the finest animation for its time of
any animated film I've seen. The characters are fun, wild, and a joy to watch on screen. I found myself caught up with the sheer detail put into the animation: the secondary actions of characters' hair and clothing, the zany meanderings of their hands and wiggling fingers.... It's phenomenal.
Angel, the heroine, struck me as incredibly independent for a female cartoon character from the 80s; something truly remarkable then and even now. Omar, Dizzy and Stretch are plain fun, but Mok takes the cake for being one of the strangest and most captivating villains of animation.
ANYWAY, what this all boils down to is WATCH IT. It you're an animation fan, give it a try. It's serialized on YouTube! YOU KNOW YOU WANNA CHECK IT OOOOUT.
...Okay, I'm going to be bad and watch some clips from the film, then continue with my homework.
Oh, and here's a neat article I read on
Rock & Rule, describing its odd plot, colorful characters, and sheer cult goodness:
http://www.5x5media.com/eye/film/rockrule.php![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
