The title of this entry isn't quite so smooth as "Summer News". Regrettable, but I'm not going to spend 5 minutes trying to think of a better one. Time to report...

1) Got all the classes I wanted to get for next semester.

-- Digital & Tradition Routes, a studio that combines formal & technical aspects of print & painting. Two instructors in the course, one of whom I've had before and like a lot. I'm not much of a painter, but I think this class could help bridge the gap for me and let me utilize some of the color qualities of paint while still maintaining the control of drawing & print.
-- Beginning Lithography, whose name is pretty self-explanatory. I'm a little nervous; seems like a seriously complex technique. But I really love the results, and I think I could adapt my drawing style to the technique very successfully.
-- Drawing Studio, whose name is deceptively vague; the specific section I'm taking has an emphasis on comic art. The instructor was recommended to me by a friend. I've never taken a class focusing on comics, so I think it could really help me develop my eye & hand as a comic artist.
-- Art History, Silver Age Comics through the Graphic Novel. Paired up with my comic studio, it'll be a good semester. It's good to have the academics and studios have some overlap, I think.
-- Anatomy & Physiology. Building upon the anatomy I've learned in my figure drawing class this semester, I think this'll be a good class for me. I've always been strong in science- especially biology- and what I learn in this class will continue to help my figuration.

2) I've got a lot of big projects in the works, so here we go...

-- The 23 pages of my comic project that I have done are good so far, and I'm planning on doing roughly as many in the coming weeks. I have seven thumbnails so far for chapter two, which will be in full-color watercolors. I'm going to be avoiding black almost entirely. Very different scheme & style for a very different chapter.
-- I'm currently working on another film project with my friend Carlos. Last semester, I did a series of projects based around an unnamed alien conspiracy theorist character that I developed. The projects included a series of photo manipulations and writing & drawing in his hand and voice to make his "journal". Carlos Enriquez, Barbara Little, Benn Tianen, & myself, with guest help from Ellis Vonsternberg, are going to be making a full-color, 16mm film (with sound) based around the character & his radio show. The first scene is filmed, more updates to come.
-- For my Print class, I'll be producing two final projects- buttons & an artist book. The buttons will be functionally advertisements for the Tetrad Initiative (more below). The artist book is a little more personal- it'll be something like a comic, but also something like an illustrated essay meant to deconstruct and subvert the ubiquitous "slice-of-life autobiography" seen in indie comics.
-- I'm currently doing preparatory work on an animated short entitled "Fear No God". I hope to finish the screenplay within the next week or two, and then storyboard the short over December. I'd like to begin animating just after Christmas. It'll be all charcoal, in the style of William Kentridge animation, like the "Contract with God" short I did. This one will, hopefully, clock in somewhere around 12-15 minutes.
-- I'm writing out the outline for a 20-or-so page essay I'd like to do over my Christmas break about concepts of space in the suburban setting. Publicity and privacy touch into the essay, urban and rural, the balancing act the suburbs are apart of.

3) I think this may serve as the first public announcement of the formation of the TETRAD INITIATIVE.

--The Tetrad Initiative is a multimedia artist collective consisting of four members. Alphabetically- Carlos Enriquez, Barbara Little, David Mitchell (under pseudonym Mister Mitchell) and Benn Tianen. All four artists have their own areas of specialty, but all four are versed in scholarly pursuits outside their own areas of specialty.
--The Tetrad Initiative has no stated political, religious, or philosophical goals. The Tetrad Initiative seeks only to produce quality artwork in varying mediums which is aware, considerate, and reflective of fine arts, popular arts, history, social sciences, and other aspects of the humanities.
--The Tetrad Initiative's first project, informally, is the Carlos Enriquez short-film "Black Horizon". The Tetrad Initiative's first project, formally, is another short-film, mentioned above, based on the alien conspiracy theorist character developed by Mister Mitchell. The name of the film is "Invasion Radio". Other projects currently in the works include a book of essays about life in suburbia, a 6-episode animated series in the style and tradition of Clutch Cargo, and a comic anthology in association with Andrew Shen & other artists.
--A logo for the Tetrad Initiative is soon to be completed, and an informal website may begin construction in the near future.