Summer hit pretty hard last week as a heatwave is coursing through Europe. I’m happy, today is a relatively cool day for me to write my journal at least…
But yeah, we got lucky in Annecy; France declared a new heat record across the country and we were in the coldest region for our animation Festival. It is really daunting how weather is increasingly getting more extreme. I don’t think we could’ve handled more than what we got at Annecy, otherwise the festival would’ve literally turned into a melting pot.
But yeah, I enjoyed it much more than last year as I managed to keep my expectations low and take things easy, hence it felt much more like a vacation with some downtime at the lake and lots of animation films to be seen.
Some of my takeaway favourites would definitely be: “Revolting Rhymes Part One” by Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer, “Please” by Anna Mantzaris, “Nobody” by Shui Yu and “Hag” by Anna Ginsburg. But I had plenty more to name them all here.
I’m really considering going next year if I can manage to hold my student accreditation for a big discount on the festival ticket, Annecy has a very special vibe that I haven’t gotten from any other festival I have attended so far. It has a very nice charme to it, the screenings are mostly very well curated and every day just passed me by well entertained. It can definitely be the other side as well as I’ve experienced last year. But yes, I’ll have to see at the start of 2027, as everything in this year is still very uncertain for me.
Anyway, the month started out very differently. I had to regain some energy from the short film challenge and make preparations for a small exhibition that “Drink and Draw” organized – a club that I met during my Internship in Stuttgart. I’m happy to showcase my works to a general audience and I hope it will gather some interest ^v^
It was also the time to pick up art supplies from my home and prepare a list of all expenses for my Bachelor Project. My application for reibmursement of materials used in the making of the project was accepted and I should expect a budget of 500€ to back up my finances, which is amazing! It means I have more time to spend on making the costume rather than needing to do commissions to buy those materials anyway. Currently, I’m planning to order my first batch of needed materials. I will also continue to visit flea markets and second hand stores for the ostume parts and already found a nice pair of boots that would go well with the outfit.
My weeks prior to the festival were also filled with art that I did for the Awoostria Art Show. Some of my picks are pieces that I’ve done earlier this year but also this piece that I originally had planned to contribute to the Con Book but the deadline was too tight and I couldn’t make it happen. I believe it works very well, especially with the frame. Again, that’s one I found in a 2nd hand store and give such a wonderful vibe to it, much more than one you could find in a store nearby at least. I have about 7 or so more frames that can be filled and be put in Art Shows. I also took the time to add a small little secret message behind the image for any curious people in the future ^v^
There have been some birthday gifts I’m anticipating to hand to people at cons and of course the big Eurofurence piece – the biggest traditional one I’ve worked on so far.
I really enjoyed fleshing this out and do a perspecive piece with a car in ages. Also putting the characters in there was a treat; I wanted to portray variety in the species and traits they posess. It was difficult to pick the right colors though and I believe making the bus blue instead and adding warm tones for the ground would’ve been a better call. But the opinion of others urged me to go with yellow instead, which at least makes the bus very flashy and friendly. I hope people at the con will also see that! At least I submitted this piece to the con book, although I have little confidence in it being picked – for that I think it’s too rough and me having to make it a vertical piece also meant much added empty space to the top and bottom. But ah well, I’m happy enough that I could submit a standee for the con at least which has me very excited. Pictures will follow after the con commenced.
And yeah that’s about it, June was pretty full and now I have another month like that before me… and then another!
For awoostria, I will finish another painting and also start preparations for Eurofurence’s Art Show. Additionally, I had to take two commissions to finance my con travels and accomodation. There’s definitely not much time to do anything else… also there is ArtFight going on! AND I want to make a fruit hat piece. It’s hard to fit all this in one bucket… but I’ll try and see what all I can realize in July.
Alright, I wish the best time and hope the heat will spare us for a while.
~Souvillaine