My son's gotta go to art school, he's leavin' in three daaaaaays

School began today, and with it the first formal art class that I've had since Jr. High. I have a good feeling about it. Not only will it be an environment for me to practice in, it will also give some polish to my design and composition skills, something I sorely need. Our first class, after going over the syllabus, was to draw a still life in two ways: using only lines and using only values (light and dark). I think I did a pretty good job at my current skill level. I was one of the few who kept to the rule of not mixing value and line. It's a harder feat than I thought it would be. I've done exercises like that before, it's just been a while.

In other news, I've been in love with Hayao Miyazaki's latest film, Howl's Moving Castle, for the past three days. Studio Ghibli is the only studio that rivals Pixar in my affections. It's hard to say which studio I love more, because each time one of them makes a film, it tops all the films made by either studio before. I've notice that lots of old-school Miyazaki fans tend to downplay the majesty of everything he's made since Princess Mononoke. It's wierd to me, because those three films - Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and now Howl's Moving Castle - have become my favorite Ghibli films. I was never very impressed with Kiki's Delivery Service. Totoro was a sweet and beautiful film, but Princess Mononoke struck me on a deeper level. Castle in the Sky was cute and Porco Rosso intriguing; but somehow none of them reached the dark beauty of Miyazaki's more recent ventures. That's not to say that I don't love all the Miyazaki films I've seen to date (except for Nausicaa; it was too much of a disapointment after the manga - and the manga remains my favorite creative work from Miyazaki). As others have observed, even a "bad" Miyazaki flim (like a "bad" Pixar film) is so far above the creative efforts of other studios, it's hard to criticise.