Bamboozled:: LCC Goods

It's really difficult to draw on a tablet versus in real life! Here are some (old) projects of mine, all to do with LCC. I mainly use it to make things for this group because I normally don't have other opportunities to submit my work. Check it out!

This is the cover I designed for my theater group for our Winter show (almost a year ago!) I'm surprised I never posted it... I drew all of this from scratch about thirty minutes before it was due and somehow it got chosen. Font used: Geosanslight & Market Deco.

This was supposed to be a shirt design for our theater company but later turned into a print because it wasn't chosen. I just had fun with an idea that two people had (Ivy and Yannan) and played around with our logo! Once again this was made about 30 minutes before and I have no idea how I managed to work that fast. Thank you Wacom! Fonts used: Market Deco & Pupcat.

Lapu-ception... This Halloween drawing was originally posted onto LCC Theatre Company's Facebook Page. I'm rather proud of it because I whipped it up in no more than 5 minutes! This was also done on Photoshop. Fonts used: Honey Script.

I've been doing a LOT of designing over the summer and recently. It's the only thing that keeps me entertained and tirelessly working! Still got a long way to go with the Wacom, though, but I love using it for almost every project I do. All pictures are copyright The Little Willow Blog, so please do not reuse/steal anything. Thanks! 

<3 Linda

Please Stand By

Once again, this semester has managed to fly by. I finished yet another show with LCC Theatre Co., this time acting as an illusion of a tiny 8 year old girl. It wasn't too far of a leap, considering I have really young features anyway! Good to know that in the future I'll age gracefully. Anywho, this time around, my flyer design got chosen! Here it is:

I will never tire of design. It's definitely my passion, and all that I've ever known to be my passion. It feels really natural, and so I'm honored to have had my creation chosen. I also helped design the programs, but there are so many pages in that, that I highly doubt you'd want to see 'em.

The idea of "Please Stand By" was to create a show where the audience feels like they're watching TV. We filmed "commercials" which were basically short sketches, and played them in between each scene, along with static! You can see these commercials online by clicking here. I'm only in one, but the others are really funny, so you should watch them!

It was really interesting to go from playing an old lady last quarter to the exact opposite this time! I'm so glad the quarter's over, though. I could do with a week of vacation! I'll be staying for a couple of days to be with friends, and then taking a flight back home.

Do you have any plans for spring break?
<3 Linda

Behind the Scenes-- An Excerpt

I know this post will be far too long for some of you to read, and I'm okay with that. I just really wanted to post some of the amazing writing that was in my scene for the Fall show my theatre group put on, written by my friend Amy. This is just an example of the quality of scripts that we have... I know I was sniffling by the end of it. If you have any extra time or enjoy reading short writing excerpts like I do, proceed:

"I guess I always knew it. Is it too clichéd if I say I always felt different? It’s true, though. I did. But it doesn’t matter. It’s not like I could ever tell anyone. I couldn’t tell my parents. They’re really Leave It To Beaver when it comes to that type of stuff, you know. The only thing my Dad wants from me is to marry a nice guy that can support me. All my Mom wants is for me to be less miserable than her. Well..(beat)..what if those two things can’t go together for me? What if I’m stuck here, watching everyone around me find their happiness and mine’s just…not meant to be found. I can’t be a lesbian - I mean, I’m not a lesbian. I want you to know that. And normally I can make myself believe that, too. Until I met Gina. It wasn’t an elementary school crush when I met her. It was my first day of college and I was nervous. Not the cool, excited nervous that you imagine having with Death Cab for Cutie playing in the background as you walk across the quad, either. No. The terrifying, I think I’m going to have explosive diarrhea nervous. I walked into my dorm and Gina was there, unpacking her clothes. She gave me that perfect smile of hers, and that was it. That was all it took. Once she started getting into theater, I followed right behind her. Any excuse to get closer. Who knew I’d end up loving the place? Four years later, and now we’re friends. Best friends. Just friends. Because she’s straight. She’s…normal. She’s everything I was supposed to be. Can I ask you something…? Why me?! What did I do for this to happen - that everything is going to be harder for me now? Why can’t I wake up fantasizing about Ryan Gosling like every other girl I know? All I’ve ever wanted was to be normal, to blend in. Well – how the hell am I supposed to do that when I’m living with this secret that could destroy me, destroy everything? And you know the worst part? I’m not angry. I’m really not. I just feel…guilty. I feel like this is my fault. It’s my fault that my Dad will never walk me down the aisle. It’s my fault that I can’t give my parents a family postcard that they’ll be proud of one day. No matter what else I do, no matter what else I accomplish or push through. If I tell them – if I tell anyone, it won’t matter. My degrees, my hard work, nothing will matter. I’ll never be able to love them enough to fix this. I’ll always be Emily. The lesbian. The daughter that wasn’t enough. Always."

Another writing site that I quite like to read when I have spare time is She Writes Pages... and Since She Left. I like the idea of having a picture prompt, and I'm thinking about starting either a segment on this blog or a separate community blog where people can write short pieces. If anyone else is interested, let me know in an email! :)

<3 Linda

LCC: It's Showtime!

Today and tomorrow is the culmination of all of our artistic efforts: LCC Theatre Co.'s quarterly show called Pieced Together! Like I said, I've been assistant directing, acting, and being marketing director (so making programs and whatnot)... so it's been quite the ride.

So far, it's been a craze of all-nighters to pull off a great show. Yesterday, I spent the night at someone else's place, worked on a video that was shown today, and then did my homework with about an hour to spare till the deadline. Close calls....We actually filled all (good) seats on our less popular day! Tomorrow should be a full house, since most people said they'd rather go on Thursday. Let's hope! We've been getting some great press for the show. Unfortunately this was the main picture chosen to be in the daily newspaper article we were doing though:

I can say this is definitely our most awkward picture yet. It was taken during an improv set when we played the game "Interrogation", which is actually my favorite improv game to play because it's often punny. Just thought I'd explain why we all had such harassed faces. It's kind of hilarious!

Today was far too rushed, I still don't feel like we've put on a show. Tomorrow night, however, I will try to bring my camera and document the goings-on behind the scenes of our show! Excitement. Just wanted to pop in and let you know what I'm up to!
<3 Linda

Happy Halloween!

Sorry I've been so M.I.A all weekend! I've been struggling to keep up with everything from academics to social responsibilities. I cannot wait until two weeks from now, when it's all over! I'll still have finals, but not as much of anything else.

Since I haven't been able to properly post, I decided to humor you all with this photo of my roommate and I. She's a trophy wife (with no one to be the other half as the husband--- which basically meant she got hit on all night. Hilarious but terrible at the same time... and oh-so awkward for myself!) and I am a mime. I was initially supposed to be The Riddler, and I had my outfit (almost) ready as well. However, my friends and I all had to cancel meeting up and gallivanting around town in villainous costumes because we accidentally put the wrong times on our theatre show flyers. This basically means we ended up sitting and sticking labels on flyers all night instead! It wasn't that bad, really. I find that I'm willing to do almost anything when I care about it, and I'm not stressed either.

Hilights from this weekend:

• Hot weather... I love L.A.!
• Studying for midterms... still.
• Wearing long, bulky over the knee socks! I am so addicted.
• Local concert sessions
• My last-minute mime outfit: A dress (rolled up), my roommate's vest, shorts, long socks (again!), a bowler, and gloves... along with some brilliant and slightly scary makeup! Oh how I love playing dress up. Pretending to be someone other than myself is so fascinating to me.
• Getting closer to people by seeing them more often... On Friday, my friend Ivy and I got together and basically just hung out, talked, and pigged out on Pizookies (what's new? This has turned into our tradition).
• Tech day from 12PM to 10 PM with few breaks. It was tiring but I feel much more prepared to go out there and make myself vulnerable.... It may sound odd, but I've always been more scared of being funny than being emotional-- which is exactly the reason why I auditioned for the role that I did. I still shake behind the scenes but I know it's going to make me a better person, so I'm proud of myself!
• Having people ask me to teach them how to crochet. I'm so excited about this! It makes me feel like I actually know how to do something well.

<3 Linda

LCC: The Audition Story

Hey guys! I don't know if anyone will care for this, but since I talked about joining a theater group recently in a post, and I have posted once before about LCC Theatre Co., I want to take some time to talk about my audition.

I almost always take a long, more scenic route back from class when walking, but on that day, I took a path through the most crowded walkway on campus. On this walkway, a lot of clubs often hand you flyers for events while you're trying to get to class. As I was walking, a tiny voice called, "Improv! Comedy! Drama!" and I immediately stopped. Having not had any drama department in my high school, I've always wanted to participate in theater but never had the chance. I talked to the girl who had been flyering, which I will admit, is something that I normally do not do because I am terrified of talking to strangers, especially spontaneously. This girl told me that auditions were coming up and that I should try out, so I took a flyer and soon forgot about it. It seems that I put it in a textbook, because midterms were coming up and the flyer fell out when I was looking through my book. I absentmindedly browsed their website and thought they seemed like cool people, this "LCC". I signed up for an audition and hoped for the best.

For once, I did not feel anxious. For once, I felt empowered; like I could actually have a chance. And so when they asked me to do improv (something I've never done before) I actually managed to do something funny! I will not go into complete detail, but I do remember being so excited about all of it, and hoping for the best. After callbacks, which were the next week, I felt terrible though. I honestly thought it was over for me, after seeing all the talented people out there who actually were funny. I see now that it was more of an isolation tactic of mine, a "me versus them" philosophy that I create all too often in my head. Long story short, I found out I had been one of two freshmen who made it in. The girl that had initially talked me into trying out is now a Producer (one of two head honchos) in the group!

I really just feel like everything fell into place at the right time, and I have never been happier. Each quarter gives me another opportunity to play an even deeper or comfort-stretching role: This year I'm serving as comic relief in a dramedy as a drama teacher who is 1 part creepy, 1 part war veteran, and 1 part crazily British. In the process I've been finding out so much more about myself. I've been in LCC for about a year now, and if anything has given me the chance to push my comfort zone even further, it's this group. Our show is in two weeks, so we're down to crunch time. Can't wait to share some pictures with you all!

<3 Linda

LCC: The first post of many

This was from a 50's musical we did in Spring. The outfits were adorable! I'm in the front.

The theater company that I am a part of, LCC Theatre Co., is coming together for the first official meeting of the year today. I joined last year, in my winter quarter, so by the time this quarter's done, I will have been with them for a year! I love everyone in the group; If I had to sum us up, I'd say we're a mix of all kinds of kids who just love creativity. I'm the Internal Marketing Director this year so I've already seen a bunch of people from the group, but I can't wait for tonight. We're doing cold reads, which means we're reading all of the scripts and deciding on which to turn into a production. This year my goal is to become better at improv and more brave when it comes to performing. It's so scary for a shy person! I'll write about my audition experience and little things from last year later when I have more time. But basically, expect a lot of behind-the-scenes pictures and possibly videos of these guys, because I love working with them!
<3 Linda

Bzzy! // Antiques

I will be in a meeting from 1 to 6 PM today, so I can't talk much since I'm reviewing notes right now. It's with my theatre group, who I haven't seen in ages, but I shall be looking at all of their faces through Skype instead of in person. So excited to start planning things. In the meantime, here are some photos from my travels to an antique faire I went to a couple of weeks ago!

Stylin'

The flowers were so pretty.

And these giant sunflowers were too! I want to grow some one day.

It's crunch time, packing-wise, so I'm going to be pretty swamped this week. I'll still try to keep posting though! Hope your week goes swell.
<3 Linda