Surros Gallery
Welcome to Surros Gallery at Tatsu-Ryu.com!
This site is a personal art site and therefore does not necessarily present itself as a polished portfolio full of eulogies to my professional accomplishments. It has been around since 2003, which makes it pretty old now that I think about it. The name means dragon-dragon in Japanese, because I love dragons and I wasn't too great at names back then (case in point: my leopard gecko was named Gecko). I've taken to using the name Surros Gallery since it's much easier to remember, but this URL continues to be my home on the internet. It still functions as a repository for many of my creative ventures, from art to photography to silly site pages, so take a look around and enjoy!
All the latest stuff
Last 3 miniblogs
- #18
- The reviews are in
- This month I went over 1, 2, 3, and 4 point perspective with all my classes. 1-3 are commonly covered in art class, but 4 point is quite rare. Here are my students' overall feelings about each one:
1 point: Boring, awful, terrible, make it stop, I could do this so much more easily a different way
2 point: Wow, this is super cool-looking, way better than 1 point
3 point: This is even cooler! also did I do this wrong?! What's happening??
4 point: CURVES?!?! NOOOOOOOOO!!
I'd say 2 and 3 point were best received. 4 point is when it starts getting a little out there with curvilinear guides. Good thing I didn't have to do 5 point! - 01/31/2018 @ 7:33pm MST (America/Denver)
- #17
- 2018 Site Redesign
- I have redesigned my site yet again! Of course, I chose to upload the front-facing portion before I started work on my admin section (aka the CMS, or content management system). That meant I couldn't actually write a blog entry until now because I hadn't built the miniblog submission page. I chose to overhaul my code structure so files were named reasonably, as before it was a wild guessing game what page did what function since I built it piecemeal over time.
This takes me to my main conclusion here: ORGANIZE EVERYTHING! Make your naming conventions consistent! You need to be OCD to be a coder, seriously.
In the previous admin section, I had very limited ability to edit or delete various content. Now, after several days of laboring, I can add, edit, and delete pretty much everything. Perhaps the most complicated was the project admin section, which required some care because I had to link up both the projects themselves and the items contained within.
I ended up removing the writing section entirely. I swear I'll get published one day! It's one of my new goals. That section was always a bit sad. I write a ton but I can't exactly throw it out there. Licensing issues and stuff. At least my art is out there! - 01/13/2018 @ 5:51pm MST (America/Denver)
- #16
- Trials of Teaching Art
- Since becoming a part-time art teacher at a rec center, I've learned a number of interesting things.
1) Younger artists are more likely to whine when something is hard
2) They may come for the drawing, but they stay for the friendships they make
3) Some kids are hopelessly obnoxious and guess what, rec center teachers don't have to deal with that!
4) Older students often pay their own way via part-time jobs, and most have better things to spend their cash on than drawing lessons
5) I wish I could teach adults
6) Kids these days have so much homework and don't get enough sleep, and the standardized tests they take just mean less time for learning interesting things. Even 12 year olds know how useless standardized tests are!
It's usually better to teach to the child's interests and sneak in 'real' stuff every now and then. Most of the younger ones don't understand the connection between realism and the cartoons they love just yet, but one day they will. - 11/18/2017 @ 3:52pm MST (America/Denver)
About The Artist
I really love dragons! I even draw them occasionally. I was born in the year of the dragon, so perhaps that contributes to my mild obsession, but more likely it's because dragons are really cool. I'm not talking just high fantasy dragons like Smaug, though. I love them all! From the Chinese imperial dragon to the myriad European dragons to Quetzelcoatl from Mesoamerica, if it's magical, slightly serpentine, and potentially flies, it's instantly my favorite. I tend to work dragons into all of my worlds somehow. They can be anything from powerful divine beings to dangerous but mundane animals to household pets.
Things about me that don't involve dragons: I graduated in 2010 with a BFA in Art Studio and currently work as a part time art instructor. My goal is to be a freelance artist and a published author. I was born in Texas but now live in Colorado, where I get the snow I've always dreamed of as a kid. I'm a habitual googler so I know a lot of random facts. I think it's important to know how stuff works in order to draw it properly.
Unfortunately, I inherited chronic depression from my grandmother. I started getting treatment for it in late 2016 and things have gotten better for me. No longer do I flip out and scream at others! No longer do I sink into a deep pit of self-loathing after even a mildly stressful interaction with someone! I'm still working on getting motivated to achieve life goals, but who isn't? If any of that sounds like you or something you go through, please talk to someone who can help because it's NOT you, it's an illness. Reaching out can be the hardest part of the process. I also can't recommend Costco's pharmacy enough if you have to get medications. The membership is worth it.
Things about me that don't involve dragons: I graduated in 2010 with a BFA in Art Studio and currently work as a part time art instructor. My goal is to be a freelance artist and a published author. I was born in Texas but now live in Colorado, where I get the snow I've always dreamed of as a kid. I'm a habitual googler so I know a lot of random facts. I think it's important to know how stuff works in order to draw it properly.
Unfortunately, I inherited chronic depression from my grandmother. I started getting treatment for it in late 2016 and things have gotten better for me. No longer do I flip out and scream at others! No longer do I sink into a deep pit of self-loathing after even a mildly stressful interaction with someone! I'm still working on getting motivated to achieve life goals, but who isn't? If any of that sounds like you or something you go through, please talk to someone who can help because it's NOT you, it's an illness. Reaching out can be the hardest part of the process. I also can't recommend Costco's pharmacy enough if you have to get medications. The membership is worth it.
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