I got the job, ladies and gents! Yippee! Today was my first day of work, and I gotta tell ya, it was pretty damn sweet. The job is basically this: Photograph the abstract metal art pieces and sculptures, edit the photos so that they look spectacular, and prepare the eBay listings for them. The main goal that the studio is aiming for is to make the images look as close as possible to how the pieces look in real life. A lot of times, people will see the images and think that it has blue or orange when it really doesn’t; it’s simply a light reflecting the wrong color onto the piece. My job is to correct old images and take new photos with the correct lighting and camera settings for the best final result. I spent the majority of the day taking photos, which is like heaven for me, since I love doing that anyway!

One of the nicest things about the job is that I get paid on Tuesdays. That means next week on Tuesday, I’ll be getting my first paycheck, which is so desperately needed right now, even if it will only be about $240 for Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. I work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 9 to 5. I’m so excited! Hopefully now, with the money coming in from the two book covers, and this job, I can finally fix my DAMN CAR! LOL. Until then, my wonderful hubby Audi is driving me to and from work.

Tomorrow, my parents are coming up to visit my family in West Palm Beach, and Audi is gonna drive me over there so I can spend some time with all of them. Later on in the evening, I’m going to the movies with the neighbors to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. Audi’s really not in the mood to see it, but he said that if I wanted to go with them, that it would be cool. Heh. What a party pooper! ;D

Anyway, that’s pretty much it for now. Still waiting for a final confirmation from Random House, and planning on enjoying my weekend before *giggle* going back to work on Monday! XD

Ciao!

Art, Audi, Entertainment, Family, Friends, Fun, Job, Life alice in wonderland, Art, Audi, car, Family, studio, work

So I was contacted by Random House Australia, and they’re going to be printing Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’ “The Shapeshifters” in Australia/New Zealand. They want to use my work “Dirige” for their covers as well! Hooray!! I’m so happy and excited.

I called the art gallery/business I visited last week, and it seems they still haven’t filled the position. So, here’s to hoping they call me up! *crosses fingers* I’m still looking around at other potential jobs, since I don’t want to hang all my hopes on just one location.

On Sunday, I went down to Miami to spend some time with my parents and my best friend Chris. Sunday night we went to the movies to see ‘Shutter Island’. It was pretty intense. It’s the kind of movie that you need a really strong stomach to watch. I don’t mean in the sense of gore or bloodshed, but some of the subject matter is just… wow… like a punch in the face. I thought it was really great, though. The story was definitely unique and gripping. Now, I’m even more interested in buying the novel it was based on to see what might have been edited in the film.

Right now, the hubby is over at our friend’s house helping her out, since she is very pregnant and has a busted ankle. I would have gone with him, but I just wanted to enjoy being home today. I’ll be going over there tomorrow.

Anyway, I must continue my commission work. Ciao!

Art, Audi, Family, Friends, Fun, Job, Life Art, book cover, chris, Job, miami, shutter island

So, I was wondering why so few people were commenting on my blogs, and I believe I found out the reason why. I had it set so that you had to be logged in to comment, which is really dumb because some people don’t have a blog of their own… So yea, hopefully now I will get more comments. Sorry, folks!

I came home from visiting the family on Sunday, and my hubby bought this huge pizza at Walmart for us to eat. Let me tell you, that thing is a monstrosity, but at a killer 8 bucks, it’s worth it. We had pizza for two days. If you wanna check it out, it’s MarketPlace’s 16″ pizzas.

I finished a mixed media piece last night that I am really proud of. You can see it here. I actually made it specifically so that I could enter it in Ballistic Publishing’s Call for Entries for their next publication, Exposé 8. I’m planning on making maybe one or two more to accompany the 6 I have already sent in. It’s funny, because I received an email (that was sent twice, btw) from the man who organizes the publication, and at the end it said, “Consider this a personal invitation to submit to our books.” I was like, “Whoa… maybe I should submit something, then!” Past experiences dictates that none of my shit will be chosen, since it seems they are much more interested in digital paintings and 3D renders, but we’ll see. Maybe this year will be different! (Hooray for being so frickin’ optimistic)

INTERMISSION

Right now I’m at my cousin’s house. She called me up a few hours ago saying she was really sick and needed to go to the hospital. Her mom, who lives with her, would take her, but neither of them wanted to leave my cousin’s kids at the house with just my grandmother. So, I had my hubby drop me off at her house, so that her mom could drive her over there and I could watch the kids. Finally, they’re all fast asleep. I’ve called my aunt several times, and it seems like my cousin is going to be fine, thank goodness.

I’m watching Adult Swim to pass the time, since I’m the only night owl in the house. Most likely I’ll just have to wait for the hubby to come pick me up. Heh.

Anyway, I’m pretty much done, so… ciao!

Family, Fun, Life Art, ballistic publishing, cousin, hospital, pizza, walmart

I visited my family again today. My cousin came to pick me up, and surprise, there’s my mama coming up the stairs. She figured, why not just drop off all the stuff that she got for me right now? Here’s a rundown…

- A liquid concealer from Cover Girl.
- Some bamboo place mats for the dinner table.
- Important car papers I needed.
- Two webcams (but after testing them a few hours ago, only one of them really works).
- And best of all, a Minolta 5000i 33mm camera with two lenses, a Minolta flash, two battery packs, lens cleaning cloths, and this awesome camera bag with spaces for everything. She got all this from a friend of hers who was just going to give them away to Goodwill. My mom stopped her and said that I was a photographer and that I would probably love to have it. Wee for mommys who support your craft!

So off I went to my cousin’s house after my mom dropped all this off. My brother and his two kids were also there visiting. So picture this: My mother, cousin, my aunt, my brother, my niece, my nephew, my three godkids, and my grandmother, all in one house. Hahaha. Hooray for big families! All in all, it was a pretty drama free day, thank goodness, and I took the cutest pic with my niece. You can see it here on my Facebook. I also took another really cute pic with my youngest goddaughter, where we’re pressing our noses together. haha.

Around 5 or so, my cousin went and dropped off my mother, brother, nephew, and niece at the train station while I babysat my godkids. My youngest goddaughter gave me the worst scare. We were in my cousin’s room, coloring and playing with those Webkins toys. I’m taking a video with my iPhone of my oldest goddaughter throwing the Webkins at me, when all of a sudden I see the little one fall head over heels off the bed. She must have miscalculated where her knee was supposed to land on the bed and took a nosedive. I panicked and rushed to help her. Other than a big scare, she had NO signs of damage. Thank you, baby Jeebus! I thought at first that her arm was broken since she wouldn’t move it. But then she relaxed a bit and I flexed it back and forth just fine. *phew*

Anyway, the day went on as usual. A few hours later, before my cousin dropped me off back home, the whole lot of us (except my grandmother) went out shopping to different places. I bought a really cute jacket at Walmart, and I plan on taking some photos in tomorrow. Wee! I’ve already got a make-up idea planned out for them.

At the present moment, I am camming with a good internet buddy of mine, Jenest. Hey, look, I plugged your name, girl! She’s super adorable, and very sweet.

Well, I am off for now. Ciao!

Audi, Family, Friends, Fun, Life camera, Family, gifts, shopping

Oh boy, life has been hella interesting lately. My computer caught a nasty virus. Long story short, I ended up having to just salvage all my important files and wiping the hard drive to install Windows XP again. Much thanks to my amazing and wonderful Audi for helping me out. I LOVE YOU, BEBE!

Now, while the situation might sound really bad, I think it might have been a blessing in disguise. I basically got a brand new computer out of the deal. Sure, I have to now re-download and re-install a lot of programs that I lost, but none of my photos or files were lost. I am now going to be EXTRA careful on the interwebz.

The only downside is that I didn’t have a computer for about a week, so I lost a lot of precious time that could have been spent working on my commissions. I’m right back in the groove now, though, and I’ve been working on the group shot. It’s almost done, actually. Right now I am in the process of finishing up the details. The hair has been the most aggravating part, but I have a feeling they are all really going to love it. Sorry, ladies!!

I’ve applied to work at Publix and at Gamestop. Both are pretty much in walking distance, so if I get a job at either, I’ll at least be earning a steady income. I’m going over to my cousin’s house tomorrow, and she said she’d print out the Job Application Form for Gamestop. I’m mostly visiting though for my grandmother. She’s been missing me a lot and has been asking when I’ll be able to pass by again. Awww. Hehe. So, I’m sure she’ll be very happy to see me tomorrow.

Ohh! And I played the demo for Bayonetta. HOLY MOLY!! That game is the very definition of the word EPIC. Now, I REALLY want to get a job just so I can have enough money to buy the game. Haha. So nice to see I have my priorities straight, huh? Forget the light bill and the rent and food… THE GAME. Haha. I’m nuts, huh?

Anyway, I am off to work on those commissions some mo’. Ciao!

Art, Audi, Family, Job Art, Audi, Bayonetta, commissions, computer, virus

So I wrote all this in my deviantART journal, but I figured it would be good to post this all here, too. A lot of good news coming my way, and here’s to hoping this year is just as eventful and fruitful as 2009.

 I was contacted by a metal band from Nottingham, UK called Martyr Defiled about doing the art for their upcoming August CD release. They want the front cover, back cover, a 12-page booklet, and the front and back design for the CD. I’ve already sent them my price, so here’s to hoping they say Yes.

I’ve been in Miami since Sunday visiting my family, and while I had plans with one of my best friends that got canceled, it actually turned out OK, anyway. A friend of mine and some of her gal pals want some very witchy portraits done of them. So, what I’ll figure I’ll do is create a series out of it. I’ll be going over to my friends house on Wednesday to take all their photos.

I got the part I needed to fix my car. Thankfully, a good friend of mine who works at NAPA Auto Parts was able to get the part for half the price I found it for everywhere else: $50. Now, I can finally have a working car!

Someone bought my 2010 calendar recently, and it allowed me enough money in my deviantART.com dollars to buy the very last Birthday Gold t-shirt available in Women’s Large. Now, large is too big on me, since I’m a small/medium up top. My mom can just make it smaller for me, so it’s no big deal.

Art, Family, Friends, Job, Life

I kind of have been Gaga-fied lately. I’ve been working on an entire series of photos based on Lady Gaga’s music. Each photo shows off a different make-up design inspired by different songs. You can check out the photos at my deviantart gallery or at in my Facebook gallery.

I’m gonna be driving down either the 22nd or the 23rd to Miami for the holidays. I’m really hoping things start picking up for us. I’ve been feeling pretty useless and miserable without a job, and it doesn’t help that the commissions just aren’t coming in fast enough, even with being DIRT CHEAP. *sigh* It sucks. A lot. If there was ever a time when I needed another book cover deal, this is it… hell, a few book cover deals would be even nicer, but I’ll settle for just one. LOL.

I just finished contacting a few publishing companies to see if they are in need of any artwork for upcoming releases. An acquaintance of mine from dA said she did that a while back, and I had no clue that you actually could. So… here’s to hoping one of them writes me back with some good news.

I’m gonna go to bed now… my hubby is beckoning me away from the computer to watch Bladerunner with him. Heh. Ciao.

Audi, Family, Life Audi, lady gaga, money, publishers

My car is pretty much kaput until I can take it to a mechanic. And since I don’t really have the funds for a mechanic, it’s basically sitting out in front of my apartment, collecting bird poop and falling leaves. Hooray. The problem with it is that it accelerates on its own. After much research through forums and websites, it turns out the problem could be one of many things; the fuel injector is malfunctioning and giving too much power, or the Cruise Control is stuck, or a vacuum hose is leaking, etc etc etc… All I know is, I’m not a frigging mechanic.

I’ve been doing some cheap commissions lately, since we really kind of needed some income badly. I don’t regret turning down that job with Olan Mills, because I know I would have HATED getting up just to go stand at the front of K-Mart to convince people to buy photos. No thanks. Let the little old lady who’s retired and bored and had her interview right before mine have THAT job. So, basically, here’s how the commission prices go:

Commissions for <b>$5</b>:
- Photo retouching (Using a photo of you, your friend(s), or a loved one and making it look professionally taken; Image MUST BE High-Res.)

Commissions for <b>$10</b>:
- Portraits (Using a photo of you, your friend(s), or a loved one and making it special; Image MUST BE High-Res)
- Digital Art Piece (A simple digital work in a style of your choosing; dark, surreal, fantasy, etc…)
- Tattoo Designs (If you’ve got an idea for a tattoo, I’ll draw it out for you.)

Commissions for <b>$15-$20</b>:
- Uber Portraits (Using a photo of you, your friend(s), or a loved one and making it extra special; Image MUST BE High-Res)
- Specialized Digital Art Piece (A work based off of your own personal idea or concept, done in my style)

So, if anyone’s interested, just email me at neugotisch(a)hotmail.com. I’ve added three of my latest commissions to my website, in case anyone is interested in seeing what kind of results you’ll be getting.

As far as personal stuff, things are fine. I’m going to be heading down to Miami for Christmas, and I hope that these last few days of the year are kind to both me and Audi (as well as everyone else, of course).  I seriously can’t believe a DECADE is so close to ending. Cripes, where does the time go?

Anyway, I guess that’s all for now. Ciao.

Art, Audi, Family, Friends, Life Art, Audi, christmas, commissions