Yaël's Sketchs & blah blog

New Suite

2011-03-07T14:14:00.000-08:00

2011-02-16T10:26:00.000-08:00

I have a cold

2010-10-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

It feels like there's an octopus in my sinuses... -_-

For Adam

2010-09-30T14:22:00.001-07:00

Adam: I just colored it without much thought, if you want different/more colors tell me.

This one is without any blue coloring.

These two are (obviously) B&W

Bots

2010-08-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

just trying out some colors for my bots (will be heros in a short Flash animation I'm working on).

Avatar: Legend of Korra

2010-07-21T23:24:00.000-07:00

My new wallpaper (1680x1050)

I am in love.

click to enlarge

Here's the article

FREE KILL-WHITE PHOTOSHOP FILTER

2010-07-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

'Mike & Yaël's Kill-White' is a Photoshop Filter that actively removes all white from an image (unlike the 'Multiply' blend mode).

However, this is not simple masking. Pixels that are "partly white" are altered so as to only remove the "white portion" - the altered pixel is now partly transparent instead of partly white.

I worked on this Filter with my good buddy Mike Simburger.

You can download the filter here: http://yaelmaritz.com/extras_killWhite.html

Hair I

2010-06-18T03:00:00.001-07:00

Just goofing around with hair

LOL Elian, this one's for you :D

2010-04-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

Things I do while waiting for my Editor to compile...

2010-04-12T17:01:00.000-07:00

Tools:

- Boredom

- Despair

- Dejection

- Windows Paintbucket

- Mouse

Collision Detection Kit

2010-04-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

I don't know you Cory O'Neil, but as far as me and my atheism go, you are as close to a saint a person can get to.

http://www.coreyoneil.com/portfolio/index.php?project=5

This Kit is a-m-a-z-i-n-g, and the documentation is so thorough and neat, with examples and everything.

and it's all FREE! just there for the taking (hence my nomination for sainthood).

Koda

2010-04-04T23:48:00.000-07:00

My SW Character: Koda Taah

Zabrak / Scoundrel

Un-Named Comic Idea (II)

2010-03-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

More...

Ben's Uniform Challenge

2010-03-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

Something quick for Ben's Challenge

Un-Named Comic Idea (I)

2010-03-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

Just throwing stuff out there...

Ben's Challenge

2010-03-08T11:44:00.000-08:00

I'm adding Ben's challenge until he gets his own spot on the web

Concept Challenge - Science Fiction Uniform.

The Concept:

It is the future, 2--- A.D., and mankind travels the stars at will. There is an organization, military force, corporation, or governing body of your design that exists in this future. At their disposal is a fleet of starships manned by human personnel.

Your Objective:

Design three uniforms (that is, a minimum of three drawings) for this space-faring group:

One bridge officer or ambassador- This person is meant to be seen, heard, and obeyed by the crew they command or the foreign entities they negotiate with. Their dress is can be either highly elaborate/formal or practical.
One engineer or science officer- This person "works for a living" either by maintaining their ship or exploring alien worlds and phenomena.
One ______- Choose an occupation you think would be fun to draw. Possibilities include: a soldier, medic, scientist, hazmat/cleanup crew, intelligence officer, or drill instructor. You could also draw a space suit or the "casual" wear issued to crew members for recreation/exercise.

Your goal should be to have a cohesive design aesthetic between your three costumes. While an ambassador and a "grease monkey" may have wildly different job descriptions the viewer should be able to easily tell the two uniforms belong to the same organization. This is also something to keep in mind when choosing your third design, but don't let it stop you from trying something fun.

Reference:

Uniforms

Rank insignia

Bonus Points:

Render your organization's logo, emblem, or flag.
Create rank insignia/medals.
Design both male and female versions of your uniform(s).
Draw multiple designs for your third option. The more elaborate you can become while retaining a unified aesthetic the better.

Have fun!

6 Part Super Team Challenge (part 2)

2010-02-28T18:25:00.000-08:00

SuperTeam: The Israeli

Training: Mosad & Ammam.

Abilities: Genius, Information Gathering & Processing, Hacking, Disguise Master.

Personality: Goof Ball, Wise-Ass, Prankster, Comic relief, will wear disguises to freak out team members just for the hell of it.

Work Ethic: Shines under pressure - becomes more focused and creative, Ruthless when it comes to the job, willing to sacrifice self and others for the greater good, always prefers the covert rout to a solution.

Team Role: Pre, interim and and post Intelligence.

The Challenge: 4-6 member team of super hero/spy nature.

each member's apparel represents a different country.

characters have unique silhouette (i.e. you to be able to tell them apart if they were bald and naked).

each team member has different purpose (Tank, demolition, sniper, intelligence, communication, etc.)

6 Part Super Team Challenge (part 1)

2010-02-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

SuperTeam: The Brit

Training: S.A.S

Abilities: superb physique and stamina, special impervious suite.

Personality: Gruff, No-nonsense, loads of common sense, He get's jokes - he's just not tickled by them, will get along with anyone that is not naive or PC no matter how otherwise eccentric they are, true leader.

Work Ethic: Always Cool, works well under pressure, Ruthless when it comes to the job, willing to sacrifice self and others for the greater good, believes in getting the job done in the most efficient way.

Team Role: Tank.

The Challenge: 4-6 member team of super hero/spy nature.

each member's apparel represents a different country.

characters have unique silhouette (i.e. you to be able to tell them apart if they were bald and naked).

each team member has different purpose (Tank, demolition, sniper, intelligence, communication, etc.)

Old Cartoons

2010-02-15T04:35:00.000-08:00

OMFG!!!

Hulu has put up the entire series of "The Mysterious Cities of Gold" !!!

THE MYSTERIOUS CITIES OF GOLD!!!!!!!!!

people! go! go now to your computers to watch this!

http://www.hulu.com/the-mysterious-cities-of-gold

this show was SO ahead of it's time! come to think of it - it still is!

greed, adventure, friendship, mystery, puzzles that span continents, entire cities that are machines, architecture that is a giant computer, Spaniards, aliens, lost Inca cultures, and at the heart of it: SOLAR POWER.

the idea that the Spaniards are all searching for the cities for the gold, but the true treasure is an advance solar reactor core that is powered by an elaborate city-computer is just so mind blowing even today.

I don't think I've ever written anything with so much exclamation marks...

anyways,

I also found out that someone put the first three episodes of "l était une fois... la vie" (English: Once Upon a Time...Life) on YouTube with English dubbing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRZgPiQX2nA

Bot I

2010-02-11T16:40:00.000-08:00

Bot Color tryouts

A character concept for a game I've had in my head for a while.

had time on my hands so sketched him out fast w/ my wacom.

Cloth II

2010-02-02T17:03:00.000-08:00

Russian(ish) Style

rough version:

Cloth

2010-01-29T23:40:00.001-08:00

Asian Style

Something I drew a long time ago and finally finished coloring.

rough version:

Level Design Challenge (#1)

2009-12-28T00:17:00.000-08:00

Open to: anyone that reads this post.

when it is done, send me a link to where you post your result and I'll link it in this post.

Time Limit: one week

The Challenge:

Draw a map

has to have:

- an entrance.

- an exit.

- a climax encounter.

- at least one puzzle.

can have:

- traps.

- teleporters.

- treasures

does not have:

- roaming enemies.

doesn't have to have (though recommended that you do):

- more detailed hero description.

- enemies description.

- boss description (if applicable)

hero can:

- walk/run.

- jump/swing/climb.

- fight

- press button/switch.

- carry one level-unique item with from place to place.

Contemporary Sword

2009-10-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

Modern non-range melee weapon challenge

To be 3D modeled (challenge: under 600 tries=300 polygons)

Vroom, vroom, bloo, bloo, bloo.

2009-09-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

Amphibious Challenge

The line work was done at the TAG sketch group, I decided to color this one.

Another one, not colored.

potentialy John will 3D one of these, and I'll 3D the one he makes.

Monkey King

2009-08-31T05:04:00.000-07:00

Not-Spiderman challenge

Not Finished - I want to color it

in the mean time, a less dynamic pose of Sun Wukong/Hanuman:

Btw, this is a nother one of me and John's Challenges, this one is to draw a super-being of spider-man-esq capabilities in a dynamic pose.

Rah Rah!

2009-08-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

Medical Corp Logo Challenge

Another one of me & John's Challenges:
Design a medical corp logo that is bad-ass
mine kinda' turned out War-Hammer-y but it works.

DoctArrr

2009-08-04T00:51:00.000-07:00

Pirate-Doctor Challenge

another challenge with John
this time: A Medical Pirate - in color

I don't like how the color came out, the line work is to strong.
maybe I'll fiddle with it some more in the future, maybe not.
meh.

of course John loses points for not competing the challenge by having his image not be in color (hint to John...)

Us Mighty Band of Goof-balls

2009-08-02T19:56:00.001-07:00

My 4th Ed. D&D Group

Flat Color 4 now

Up, up and away

2009-08-02T18:48:00.000-07:00

Flying suite challenge

The challenge: a personal light suite that allows wearer to fly, design should be functional and as logical as possible while still in the realm of sci-fi-ness.

Here's John's suite design

Shedu (Medium)

2009-07-03T18:11:00.001-07:00

Shed-Sahatu

Shed-Sahatu a type of Shedu for my D&D camping, will be a playable race (basically a Minotaur).

Because monkeys can technically be vegetarians

2009-06-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

John's 'Monkey Fishing' Challenge

John challenged Me to draw a Monkey fishing

He kills people.

2009-06-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

John's 'Assassin Fairy' Challenge

Me and John challenged each-other to draw an assassin fairy

Mr. Ze is teh awesome

2009-06-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

Ze Frank at Webstock 09

Watch it, it's so worth it.
Thanks Mike, for showing me this

Story in Continuations (2/?)

2009-06-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

Curiously enough despite her reptilian lingual affinity, her best childhood friends were a bear named Arkadidov and a boy named Tom.

Tom

Tom was the stableman’s apprentice; he lived in the stables and slept in the hay stack where all the hunting dogs slept. The stableman found him years ago among a new litter of dogs and gathered that one of the bitches who recently lost a pup had stealthily picked the baby up from around the castle main gate when some nobles where returning from a hunt, he figured she was probably nursing him for three moons before his teething started to aggravate her enough for her to decide that her human should be aware of his presence.

The Princess met Tom shortly after her seventh birthday, at that point her parents deemed her old enough to leave the palace proper on her own as long as she stays inside the castles grounds. She took a likening to the stables and would come down from the palace almost every day to pet the animals in her quiet and serious manner.
Shortly afterwards her parents died, and about a month after that Tom stumbled upon her in a shadowy corner of the stable quietly hugging a sheep, touched by how sad and lost she looked he impulsively offered her to come down to the stables at night to sleep in the hay stack with him and the dogs. The princess accepted and ever since then Tom had taken it upon himself to protect her and cheer her up. he took special pride in knowing that he was among the very few who could put a smile upon her face with his outrageous antics.

Arkadidov

The princes met old-bear Arkadidov when she was investigating the castles' vast underground library and archives.

No one really knew how old Arkadidov was, it is said that in his youth he devoured the favorite scholar of a distant queen and as punishment she cursed him with an insatiable hunger for linguistics. Over the years he had managed to teach himself to speak, read and write in all the languages know to men and several of the lesser know as well. It came to the point where one of the princesses great grandfathers invited him to be the royal archive in return to any and all past and future documents in the possession of the kingdom,
naturally he accepted.

Arkadidov took a begrudging liking to the princes for he was an odd old bear that did not like to sing or brawl or shout - in fact he did not like any noise at all; and she was an odd little princess that rarely smiled, never lied and never joked. That suited Arkadidov and he would allow her to tag along for hours on end, silently holding a light for him while he cataloged and translated ancient script up and down the dusty catacombs of the library.

Story in Continuations (1/?)

2009-06-17T17:33:00.000-07:00

The Princess

Once upon a time, in a land not-so-far-away by today’s standards,
there lived a beautiful princess that could speak with snakes.

She had hair as black as a starless night and eyes as green as newly sprouted wheat on a lazy summer day. When she was born her parents gave her a name, but she had long forgotten it for they had died when she was young and everyone else just called her ‘princess’.
The snake king however (who was a childhood acquaintance) named her Loah-Sagoor - “Loah” for short,
which means ‘closed mouth’ in one of the languages which snakes speak for she never smiled and rarely spoke.

A silent princess was she.

Cold Turkey (Apr. 4th, 2009 at 1:22 AM)

2009-06-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

So my computer spontaneously combusted about a week and a half ago, there was actually smoke-smell.
I believe it's the motherboard but I don't want to chance buying a new one only for it to fry again because the power supply is the real culprit. So I'll have to get a friend to look at it to try to figure out the exact extent of the damage.

anyways, this means that I've gone for about a week and a bit without internet connection and let me tel you - it sucks.
big time.

I don't know the news.
I can't call my mom on skype.
I can't chat with my friends on google chat.
I can't access my Email.
I can't buy stuff for cheaper online, I can't even compare prices.
I can't look up words, or historical events, or people, or quotes, or movies.
or anything really.
I hear about something interesting and want to know more about - and I can't!
my knowledge level stays the same, aka unsatiated.

it's a stupefying experience (pun intended).

And to all those commie hippies that think that the internet is of the devil and that I would ever actually enjoyed my forced exile *sputter!*
let me tell you, at no point - what so ever - did I find myself enjoying my "lack of technology".
I did not find myself more calm, I did not find myself more happy or communicative or "free".

as far as I'm concerned, going without internet is as wholesome and freeing as going without penicillin.

Modern. Technology. Rocks.

Holodecks and other Media (Mar. 4th, 2009 at 6:53 PM)

2009-06-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago we finished alpha on the console game we’re working on ("This is Vegas") at Surreal (the company I’m interning for) so my work days shrunk from 13-15 hour days to 8.

This means that I now have time to hang out with my friends again, and so a couple of days ago I got caught up with my buddies John, Ben & Mike and of course our conversation eventually, naturally, turned to the concept of holodecks in the Star Trek universe and how underutilized this technology is, how unrealistic it is that the pop-culture surrounding the holodecks is underdeveloped and even non-existent and how it would be totally different if such a thing existed in the real world, aka holo-stars/celebrities, holoprograms as high art, abstract experiences in the holodeck, etc.

ಠ_ಠ

such is the state of my existence...

Anyways, I was shown a cool clip today by a buddy of mine from the environments department and thought that this is much like what I envisioned the holodeck experience would be if the technology was available today – the pure creativity, the power that comes from being a creator (it helps of course that I’m an Animator) – I mean really, imagine if animators - the talented, imaginative people that I know - could step/live in and interact with their creations via touch and not just sight (aka monitor)...
hmmmmm... so cool.

well, here it is:

Oh, I almost forgot,
I met Ben, John and Mike at Marty’s theater on Vashion Island for a movie night,
Saw a great Tarantino sponsored movie called Sukiyaki Western Django, you should check it out.

Because I'm just that Awesome (Feb. 2nd, 2009 at 7:23 PM)

2009-06-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

Ever get stumped because you're looking for a kismet block, and you KNOW it's there but - for the life of you - you just can't find it?

Fear not! with the help of yours truly and the mighty Ctrl+F function, you can now find all the kismet blocks that come with the standard UT3 Editor!

Behold! the awesomeness...

RMK Kismet And:
New Action > Actor > Actor Factory
New Action > Actor > Actor Factory Ex
New Action > Actor > Assign Controller
New Action > Actor > Attach to Actor
New Action > Actor > Cause Damage
New Action > Actor > Cause Damage Radial
New Action > Actor > Change Collision
New Action > Actor > Destroy
New Action > Actor > Get Distance
New Action > Actor > Get Velocity
New Action > Actor > Heal Damage (UT)
New Action > Actor > Set Damage Instigator
New Action > Actor > Set Material
New Action > Actor > Set SkeletalMesh
New Action > Actor > Set StaticMesh
New Action > Actor > Teleport
New Action > AI > Abort Move
New Action > AI > Add Named Bot
New Action > AI > Freeze
New Action > AI > MakeNoise
New Action > AI > Move To Actor (Latent)
New Action > AI > Set Visibility Modifier
New Action > AI > Start Firing At
New Action > AI > Stop Firing
New Action > Camera > Depth Of Field
New Action > Camera > Look At
New Action > Camera > Motion Blur
New Action > Camera > Play Camera Animation
New Action > Camera > Set Camera Target
New Action > Camera > Stop Camera Animation
New Action > Cinematic > Control Movie Texture
New Action > Cinematic > Dummy Weapon Fire
New Action > CustomChar > Set Character Part
New Action > CustomChar > Set Character Profile
New Action > DemoGame > Camera Shake
New Action > DemoGame > Drum Hit
New Action > DemoGame > Set PhysAnimTestActor State
New Action > DemoGame > Set Wheel Particles
New Action > DemoGame > Velocity Loop
New Action > Display Chapter Title
New Action > Event > Activate Remote Event
New Action > Event > Attach To Event
New Action > Flock > Kill Flock
New Action > Level > Change Level Visibility
New Action > Level > Commit Map Change
New Action > Level > Prepare Map Change
New Action > Level > Server Travel
New Action > Level > Stream Travel
New Action > Level > Stream Multiple Levels
New Action > Level > Trace
New Action > Level > Wait for Levels to be visible
New Action > Material Instance > Set ScalarParam
New Action > Material Instance > Set TextureParam
New Action > Material Instance > Set VectorParam
New Action > Math > Add Float
New Action > Math > Add Int
New Action > Math > Cast To Float
New Action > Math > Cast To Int
New Action > Math > Divide Float
New Action > Math > Divide Int
New Action > Math > Multiply Float
New Action > Math > Multiply Int
New Action > Math > Subtract Float
New Action > Math > Subtract Int
New Action > Misc > Console Command
New Action > Misc > Delay ~ Hotkey: D + LMK
New Action > Misc > Finish Sequence ~ Hotkey: ] + LMK
New Action > Misc > Force Feedback
New Action > Misc > Force Garbage Collection
New Action > Misc > Force Material Mips Resident
New Action > Misc > Gate
New Action > Misc > Log ~ Hotkey: L + LMK
New Action > Misc > Timer
New Action > Misc > Unlock Achievement
New Action > Misc > Unlock Char
New Action > Mission Selection Reference
New Action > Object List > IsIn ObjectList
New Action > Object List > Modify ObjectList
New Action > Object Property > Get Property
New Action > Objective > Change Node Status
New Action > Objective > Change Orb Base
New Action > Objective > Return CTF Flag
New Action > Objective > Return Onslaught Orb
New Action > Objective > Set Bots Must Complete
New Action > Particles > Set Particle Param
New Action > Pawn > Enter Vehicle
New Action > Pawn > Exit Vehicle
New Action > Pawn > Give Inventory
New Action > Pawn > Infinite Ammo
New Action > Pawn > Pawn Anim
New Action > Pawn > Possess Pawn
New Action > Pawn > Use Hoverboard
New Action > Physics > Set BlockRigidBody
New Action > Physics > Set Physics
New Action > Physics > Set RigidBodyIgnoreVehicles
New Action > Set Variable > Bool
New Action > Set Variable > Float
New Action > Set Variable > Int
New Action > Set Variable > Object
New Action > Set Variable > String
New Action > Set Variable > Vector
New Action > Single Player Mission
New Action > Single Player Mission (ROOT)
New Action > Sound > Apply Sound Node
New Action > Sound > CrossFadeMusicTracks
New Action > Sound > Play FaceFX Anim
New Action > Sound > Play Sound
New Action > Sound > Play Sound UI
New Action > Sound > Set Music Track
New Action > Spawn Projectile
New Action > Story > Add Modifier Card
New Action > Story > AdjustPersistentKey
New Action > Story > Use Modifier Card
New Action > Switch > Delayed
New Action > Switch > Random
New Action > Switch > Ranged
New Action > Switch > Switch
New Action > Team > Change Team
New Action > Team > Get Team Number
New Action > Toggle > Toggle ~ Hotkey: T + LMK
New Action > Toggle > Toggle AffectedByHitEffects
New Action > Toggle > Toggle Cinematic Mode
New Action > Toggle > Toggle Dynamic Channel
New Action > Toggle > Toggle God Mode
New Action > Toggle > Toggle Hidden
New Action > Toggle > Toggle HUD
New Action > Toggle > Toggle Input
New Action > Tutorials > Set Tutorial Message
New Action > Tutorials > Timed Tutorial Message
New Action > UI > Close Scene
New Action > UI > Open Scene
New Action > Vehicle > Activate Rocket Boosters
New Action > Vehicle > Attach Tow Cable
New Action > Vehicle > Hoverboard Spin Jump
New Action > Vehicle > Self Destruct
New Action > Voice/Announcements > Play Announcement
New Action > Voice/Announcements > Play Voice Message
New Action > Voice/Announcements > Toggle Announcements
New Matinee ~ Hotkey: M + LMK
New Turret Track
New Condition > Comparison > Compare Bool ~ Hotkey: Ctrl + B + LMK
New Condition > Comparison > Compare Float ~ Hotkey: Ctrl + F + LMK
New Condition > Comparison > Compare Int ~ Hotkey: Ctrl + I + LMK
New Condition > Comparison > Compare Object
New Condition > Counter > Float Counter
New Condition > Counter > Int Counter ~ Hot key: X + LMK
New Condition > Do Tutorial
New Condition > Has Inventory
New Condition > Has Persistent Key
New Condition > Is Carrying Flag
New Condition > Is Link Setup Active
New Condition > Logged In
New Condition > Using Weapon
New Condition > Onslaught Node State
New Condition > Same Team
New Condition > Server Type
New Condition > Single Player Mission Check
New Condition > Switch > Switch Class
New Condition > Switch > Switch Object
New Condition > UTIsConsole
New Condition > UTWeapon Test
New Variable > Bool ~ Hot key: B + LMK
New Variable > External Variable ~ Hotkey: E + LMK
New Variable > Float > Float ~ Hotkey: F + LMK
New Variable > Float > Random Float
New Variable > Int > Int ~ Hotkey: I + LMK
New Variable > Int > Random Int
New Variable > Matinee Data
New Variable > Name
New Variable > Named Variable ~ Hotkey: N + LMK
New Variable > Object > Character
New Variable > Object > Object ~ Hotkey: O + LMK
New Variable > Object > Object List
New Variable > Object > Object Volume
New Variable > Object > Player ~ Hotkey: P + LMK
New Variable > Sound > Music Track
New Variable > Sound > Music Track Bank
New Variable > String ~ Hotkey: S + LMK
New Variable > Union
New Variable > Vector
New Event > Actor > Destroyed
New Event > Actor > Take Damage
New Event > AI > See Enemy
New Event > DemoGame > Input
New Event > Game Ended
New Event > Level Beginning
New Event > Level Loaded And Visible
New Event > Level Reset
New Event > Level Startup ~ Hot key: Ctrl + S + LMK
New Event > Misc > Console Event
New Event > Objective > Countdown Node Succeeded
New Event > Objective > Flag Event
New Event > Objective > Mined Ore
New Event > Objective > Objective Completed
New Event > Objective > Onslaught Node Event
New Event > Pawn > Death
New Event > Pawn > Get Inventory
New Event > Pawn > Line Of Sight
New Event > Pawn > See Death
New Event > Physics > Constraint Broken
New Event > Physics > Mover
New Event > Physics > Projectile Landed
New Event > Physics > Rigid Body Collision
New Event > Physics > Touch
New Event > Physics > Touch Status
New Event > Pickup Status Change
New Event > Play Core Destruction
New Event > Player > Player Spawned
New Event > Remote Event
New Event > Sequence Activated ~ Hotkey: [ + LMK
New Event > Skipped Cinematic
New Event > Turret Status Changed
New Event > Turrets > Turret Spawned
New Event > Used
New Event > Vehicle Factory Event
New Comment ~ Hotkey: C
New Comment (Wrap)

P.S.

and of course there's always the Kismet User Guide

OCD ≠ Cute (Jan. 31st, 2009 at 9:39 PM)

2009-06-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

Lately I've noticed that current American culture has a tendency to misinterpret the severity of certain craziness and neuroses.
I think this phenomenon happens because of 1) Media glorification, i.e. television shows like Dexter and Monk, and 2) more importantly, a fundamental misunderstanding of what mental diseases' are, the grief they cause, and the severity of the effects on the everyday function of a person that is afflicted by them.

I came to this observation around the 2nd time a person used the term OCD to describe themselves in an offhand and even pretentious way - as if suffering from a mental disorder is something to be proud of.

People, understand, it's not cute to be crazy, and it is certainly not fun.

If you have an admirable capacity for little details and/or the ability to concentrate for long hours on a difficult task, it means you're "focused", or possibly "dedicated"; you're not OCD.

if you were OCD, you'd probably have to stop everything you're doing (no matter how important) every 60 minutes (on the dot) to go to the bathroom, clean it with the bleach and the brand new cleaning utensils you buy every day in order to - then wash your hands in the correct sequence (i.e. ritual), after that you'd go back to your cubicle to symmetrically rearrange all of your desk and possibly the desk of the guy in the next cubicle (whether he likes it or not), and if any of the above is not preformed perfectly, you'd need to do it all over again (much to the annoyance of your boss and co-workers).
All this out of a terrible sense of need/dread that if you don't do these things something horrible will happen.
So you're basically constantly living on the edge of fear, staving your terrors by means of expensive, irrational, and meticulous rituals that hinder your quality of life and make others ether pity you or piss them off.

here, I've made it easier for you:

(Excerpt from Wikipedia)

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): is a mental disorder most commonly characterized by intrusive, repetitive thoughts resulting in compulsive behaviors and mental acts that the person feels driven to perform, according to rules that must be applied rigidly, aimed at preventing some imagined dreaded event; however, these behaviors or mental acts are not connected to the imagined dreaded event.

... In severe cases, it affects a person's ability to function in everyday activities. The disorder is often debilitating to the sufferer's (and his/her family's) quality of life. Also, the psychological self-awareness of the irrationality of the disorder can be painful. For people with severe OCD, it may take several hours a day to carry out the compulsive acts.

(Excerpt from: lexington-on-line.com)

Obsessions are thoughts, often intrusive and upsetting.

They often come in the form of Anxiety about thoughts or rituals over which you feel you have little control.
Obsessions are to be distinguished from ruminations or worries about routine life issues such as finances, children or job security. Some examples of obsessions in OCD may be thoughts or mental images of an upsetting nature like violence, vulgarities, harm to self or harm to others.
Obsessions may be of special numbers, colors, or single words or phrases . . . sometimes even melodies.

Examples - Obsessions with:
Germs, Dirt, Doubt, Order, Symmetry, Repugnant Sexual Thoughts, Repugnant Religious Thoughts, Repugnant Images, Horrific Images, Violent Images, Fear of Forgetting, Fear that a Mistake Will Harm a Loved One.

Compulsions are behaviors.

A compulsion is a repetitive behavior in response to an urge. It is difficult to stop this behavior. Obsessions provoke compulsions. Examples include washing the hands too many times, showering too frequently or washing things about the home like clothes or floors or even groceries.

How much is too much? Many experts agree that engaging in more than an hour a day raises suspicions of OCD. Compulsions are often performed repetitively and in some stereotyped or ritualistic fashion. You may be bothered by urges to perform rituals like repeatedly turning off and on a light switch until it 'feels right'.

Examples - Compulsions to repeatedly:
Wash Hands, Shower, Check Locks, Check Stoves, Touch Things, Count Items, Order Things, Clean Things, Perform Silly Rituals Until It 'Feels' Right.

For more official definitions:

The International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD):
http://www.mentalhealth.com/icd/p22-an05.html

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4the edition (DSM-IV):
http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis1/p21-an05.html

Once more, with feelings (Jan. 17th, 2009 at 2:24 PM)

2009-06-17T17:11:00.000-07:00

So... I just got back from a trip home to Israel around the 11th,
it was a great vacation - War-with-Hamas-braking notwithstanding;
I slept, I met the really important friends, I ate the best food in the world, it was great.

The only truly shitty part (from a vacation point of view), is that from the 3 weeks I was home, I got to see my brother Adam a whooping two days (because of the aforementioned War-with-Hamas). but I got to speak to him on the phone a lot and he asked me to write him and send him funny stuff and music and such, you know, keep in ouch.

so here I am, after much passing of time, once again reviving my Live-Journal... journal.

This one's for you bro :)

>:(

2009-06-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

I F-ing hate my LJ journal thing, it's stupid and it keeps fucking up my password.
I'm moving stuff over here! this will no longer be an Image only blogg.

all old-LJ stuff will be taged as 'old lj stuff'

ComicCon and D&D, ain't I teh geek

2009-04-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

Went to my first convention yesterday, the Emerald City Comic Con.
listened to 2 interesting lectures:
the first with the guys from Half Pixel
The second with Scott Allie & Mike Mignola (pronounceed Man-yo-lah, apperantly I've been saying it wrong my whole life).

Got a ton of cool signatures from a bunch of the artists I admire and some new ones to boot :)

From top-left to bottom-right:
Gail Simone, Humberto Ramos, Mike Mignola, Scott Kurtz, Kris Straub,
Danielle Corsetto, Tycho and Gabe, Art Baltazar, Ron Chan,
Brad J. Guigar, Stephen Silver, Bruce Timm and Dave Crosland.

As for the weekly art, here's an image of my D&D character Roimehuine (Half-drow, Ranger):

Although after geeking out with Tycho at his stand about the new Player's Handbook 2 I might have to switch into playing a Bard since apparently they now rock the block.

LJ Banner

2009-02-02T20:15:00.000-08:00

A Banner I made for my Live-Journal... journal, and only later found out you need to pay in order to customize your layout (bitches).

Anyways, as you can see, I am a geek.

p.s.
If you want to see the private posts of my LJ page you'll need to 'friend' me.

Samurai-ish Charge

2008-12-01T17:18:00.000-08:00

Armor 01

Mermaid

2008-11-16T00:05:00.000-08:00

Northern Pacific Cold Water Mermaid

I'm sorry for not uploading anything last week,
it's not that I have not been working on stuff,
it's that I've been posting it somewhere else.

specifically: yaelmaritz.com/ttwb
(ttwb stands for "The Trouble with Bridges",
a.k.a. the project me and John have been working on).

so you can check out whet we've been working on over there.

Roller Derby Pin Up

2008-10-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

Roller Derby Pin Up 01

Suppa' Spies

2008-10-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

Spies: Colored

Spies: Gesture Drawings

Quicky :)

2008-10-12T01:57:00.000-07:00

Viking gesture Drawings 01

the Trouble with Bridges

2008-10-08T03:09:00.001-07:00

Week 01

well, here it is.
we begin.

Ninja

2008-10-05T15:10:00.001-07:00

Ninja 01

Me & John are doing a small project to see how well we work together as a team; it's going to be a webcomic called "the Trouble with Bridges".
this is one of the potential character designs.

Arrrrrr.....

2008-09-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

Yaël & Ryan as Pirates

just something I made to show my unreal group how to upload images to our wiki

and another thing...

2008-09-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

as penance for all those weeks it took me to actually start this blog,
here's another one in the same week (!)

Scallywag 01

Photoshop CS3 & Wacom

Here we go...

2008-09-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

Meh, so much for a sketch a week,
didn't have time up until now with college and all, excuses, excuses, blah, blah.

anyhow, hope this'll catch and I'll start throwing up a .jpg every week.

Untitled Creature 01