KaraNan

Wow I've been neglecting this page for ages. Life's taken a turn in unexpected though ultimately good ways. I left the university in Sweden one year ago as I found it way too academically stuffy and irrelevant to my real interests; creating and sharing stories through art. I learned a lot though, it was a valuable experience and I have no regrets. I'm planning to continue studying at a more practical school in the future. For now I have some personal things to sort out in my home country before I go back to Sweden. In the meantime, I will be creating art and hopefully continuing to evolve as an artist. I should probably begin with uploading some newer art on here...

Wow I haven't updated my journal in ages, have I? I figure I'd write here because I've made quite a big step in my life recently and it's relevant to my career as an artist.
I moved to Sweden just a bit over a week ago to study Game Design at a Swedish university! I tried to get a spot a couple of years ago but was rejected for lack of prerequisites despite having graduated art school (Finnish school system clashing with the Swedish one), so I spent a year getting those prerequisites and what do you know! I'm in! It's worth trying again and again when it comes to your dreams, I think. Never give up!
It's a bit overwhelming moving to a whole new country and all that, luckily I have a friend who goes to the same university and the people here seem very open and friendly. Also they speak my native language here and I'm not that far from Finland so it's not the biggest readjustment ever.

The thing I'm studying in specifics is 2D art/graphics for video games (i.e. concept art, character design and the like) at Högskolan i Skövde. I've had this dream for years and I'm very excited to have gotten this far. I never thought I'd make it to the academic levels but I'll make sure to give it my best shot. I want to have a job in the games industry one day, which means staying competitive. So I'm going to use my time here to learn as much as I can, hopefully I'll get a foot in with the industry while I'm at it

Who am I kidding? I'm so excited I can't get over myself! Amazing Person Kristen Archer of the Project Serenity Online (PSotter.com) asked to feature my art in their PS I Made This article series. psotter.com/news/featured/ps-i…
It's not often that you get to talk about your weirdly specific favourite thing of all time! I'm so grateful I got the chance. So, uh click the link if you want to read about the hows and whys of how I make my art. Also video games.

Seriously, I'm beyond stoked that I got to talk about an OC on a public website. I mean I still can't believe it! Aasflsalderjkdf brb dyign

Totally done with the graduation project! Only got a few more exhibition tour guides to plow through and we're set for summer vacation! Wow, the feedback I've gotten has been overwhelming. Overwhelmingly positive, that is. What a crazy, stressful, exhilaratingly fun time it's been. I'm proud of my classmates too. We owe ourselves a pat on the back for this one.

Here's hoping I get a spot in the awesome Swedish school I found!


Now that that's said, time to get down to business. While I was working on my school project, I banned personal projects from my schedule. I shelved them until I was done, so to speak. Now that it's all over I can focus on going hog-wild with whatever I feel like. What do I feel like? I feel like I need to further process Mass Effect 3. With art. Lots of art. Expect it.

Apologies in advance to those of my watchers that don't givafakk about Mass Effect. You'll have to skip them... or enjoy the art... or something.




Ah, to be free once again...

I finally finished the paintings for my project! Now I just need to write some text before sending it off to printing!

Whew! I developed my techniques in various areas with this project, which was a lot of fun. I was constantly thinking about how much I can still learn if I keep it up.
In hindsight I wish I would've had more time to research textures and how to apply them to my work. That's gonna be my next (personal) project!

I'm pretty sure I've been near death from stressing my arse off. The tasks are stacking up all the way to the sky, and the deadline is creeping closer. To keep me anywhere near sane during the most intense periods, I looked to my favorite form of escapism: Video games! ...which happened to be Mass Effect 3. Yeah... I mean the game itself is fantastic, and I'm still playing it every day (Multiplayer!), but the notorious ending shoved a whole new dimension of suck into my life*. I didn't need more of that. Staying hopeful for that DLC this summer...

Oh well, back to work!




*I'm even one of those people who helped raise $80 000 for sick kids out of frustration.