NCWCCC Anthology: Too Much Sun (with Bit and Dot)

I made my contribution to next year's NCWCCC Anthology. I really like doing anthologies because it gives me a reason to try out something different, or something I've been thinking about, without having to dedicate more than a few pages to it.

This one has a robot (Bit) and his mushroom friend (Dot) and they are small and go on a tiny adventure. The theme was fortune cookies, so that's in there too (but play second fiddle to the robot and mushroom!)

Mushrooms

I've noticed that mushrooms are making a comeback, I was thinking about that when I drew this

This week has been roller-coastery, to say the least. At least this time I don't feel like it's an isolated event, just me, roller-coasting around - naah, it was the whole country. I called my sister on election night, and got her voicemail, and when she tried to call back the system was down. See! Everybody! My mom left me a voicemail the next day "Happy Obama Day!" (I saved that one).

I've been working on finishing up all my outstanding gift projects, and starting some more for Christmas. Though I'm not entirely sure who wants a Kraken shirt or weird cuff links for Christmas, I've been using the Christmas deadline as motivation to refill my etsy shop.

Speaking of: I'm probably going to go to the Handmade Market on Saturday, and hit up the Flea Market while I'm over there, is anyone else planning to be there?

Platypenguin - Ball point pen drawing

I find ball point pen drawings really endearing. Over my years at school, I've gotten particularly good at hatching and cross-hatching with pens that are meant to be taking notes.

Anyway, this is one of my favorite ball point pen drawings, done while in a meeting at my former job (graphic designer at Lulu). I thought since it's a weird little creature I just can't stop looking at it!

Costumed Sketch Night: Kaiju theme!

Costumed Sketch Night was last night, and we had a Kaiju Big Battel-inspired evening!

Top-Bottom, left-right:
Annie as The Scarlet Pimp
Nick as Dandy Diabolico
Alison as Lucha Lolita
Will as Doctor Boxagon




A big thanks to all of my models! We had a great time, and didn't actually destroy as much of the city as it seems (if anybody needs a small cardboard city, I have one available). Thanks to everybody who helped build the city, also! This was the last Costumed Sketch Night of this year, and they will resume January 29, 2009 at the usual place.

Don't worry, I did sketches too!

If you'd like to see more, I'd suggest starting here since I did some ridiculous running commentary.

Costumed Sketch Night: Grab Bag Theme

Annie and Will Waltz

You guys know the drill! Last night was Costumed Sketch Night, and despite the fact that I hadn't promoted it at all (and didn't even remind people) we still had five people show up.

Since I'm putting a large amount of effort into the next sketch night (Daikaiju/kaiju themed) this one was a lot less theme-structured. Fortunately, I know people who will just show up with outfits and props at the drop of a hat.

HUGE thanks to Annie, Nick and Will for showing up and modeling! You all did a great job (and I like that you guys help me think of poses, too!)


Twenty Minute Sketch: Pouting and Drinking (Annie, Will, & Nick)

Since we had two people in formal wear, and Nick in... a panda hat, we ended up pitting Nick against Annie and Will a lot. Or performing as their black sheep. Though, judging from the funeral in the last pose, there was a lot more drama going on than we ever knew!

I hope some of the other artists scan their sketches and put them online. Would it offend any of you guys who usually attend if I asked to take pictures of your sketches to post online (duly credited of course) at the sketch night? I'm trying to figure out a way to have other people's images in the Costumed Sketch Night photo pool without necessarily forcing them to have a flickr account or anything similar.


Costumed Sketch Night in August: KAIJU THEMED!

Next sketch night details:
Wednesday, August 27
7 - 9 pm
at Camelot Treasures (251 Grande Heights Dr., Cary, NC)
$3 admission (and tipping the models is encouraged - since we don't pay them)
Theme: Kaiju

Batwings and Dolls

Bookmark Design for Wunderkind Etsy shop (1 of 2)

I've been doing a lot of random work lately. This freelance job dropped in my lap, and I loved their work so much I couldn't pass it up.

Also, I've been working on finishing up any and all unfinished "gift" art that I'm supposed to do, so I can stop feeling guilty about it. I'm almost done, thank goodness.

Of course, costume-related, there's been a few outings. Check at the bottom for a pic from the latest Clockwork Ball (featuring some kid's costume Dark Knight wings I've customized).

It made me feel slightly better about missing the crazy costume-fest that is/was Comic Con. Oh well. Supposedly, I'll be there next year.

There, now you're all updated!

Clockwork Ball outfit with Batwings

Complete non-sequitir:
I really like the way Paul Simon uses the word "pocket" in his lyrics.
"He was a poor boy, empty as a pocket with nothing to lose"
"A pocketful of mumbles, such are promises"

All because I woke up with "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" stuck in my head

Costumed Sketch Night: Fairy Theme

Our model, Brittany

Last night was a really fun Costumed Sketch Night - and crowded! We had the most people turn out that we've ever had (which is good, but means I need to do a better job of spreading out the chairs).

We only had one model, Brittany, but her fairy costume was so elaborate, I don't think we'd have time to draw anything else. My friend Ruth (former co-worker at Camelot Treasures) knows Brittany and worked with her at the Renn Faire. She emailed me a picture of her in her fairy costume and was like "YOU NEED TO DRAW THIS" - and so I did.


Two Minute Sketch with Bow & Arrow

The theme was Fairies, but since we only had one fairy, we had a lot of props (and she had a lot). Again, her costume was amazing - she had a pan flute, and a bow and arrow - all kinds of cool stuff to play with!

I did a lot of drawings, but I am thinking of trying to simplify my style some for the next one... or at least doing some underlaying scribblyness in light pencil and then overlaying it with ink. Oh wait! You guys don't care! You can see all the pictures and sketches from Sketch Night here


Next Costumed Sketch Night has no theme currently, so if you have suggestions, let me know!
July 30, 7 - 9 pm

Theme suggestions so far for next month's Costumed Sketch Night: adventurers/safari, kaiju battle, traditional Japanese clothes, villains, vampires, Trekkies, zombies, togas/Greek

Art-Craft Challenge: Week 3 Final

Finished Flying Cupcake - Unfinished Winged Lady

SMALL WINGS: I... love cupcakes. And I want to put wings on them. Unfortunately, I could only make two winged cupcakes, since I only had two sets of small wings. They now hang over the mirror by our entranceway, so I'll post a picture of that soon so you can laugh at me. And my plaster/papier mache angelic bakery goods.

LARGE WINGS: It's hard to find things to put large wings on. They're about six inches across (per wing). I started out by gold leafing a pair, and attaching them to the model of a dressmaker's model, which has been sitting around for a couple of years. BUT I still have 2-3 pairs of the large wings. Hmmm... For the moment, "The Lady" is unfinished, I'm trying to decide what else to do with her.!

Art-Craft Challenge: Week 3 Materials

Each week, I'll select 2-3 items I've had 5+ years and use them in a project. And I'm going to document it online in order to trick myself into thinking that the nameless internet hordes care, and I must appease them.

Papier Mache Wings (had 12 years) Seriously, TWELVE YEARS
I bought these in Philadelphia back in High School while visiting my first internet-friend. I think they were $0.15/pair. One of the larger wings is busted, and also I have an odd number of small wings - that's great!

How many weird winged things can I make with these? And will I use them as an excuse to finally buy this papier mache squirrel? Find out next week!

Art-Craft Challenge: Week 2 Final

Finished Piece: Choke on Smoke! (6"x12")

This is modeled on the Legend of Zelda sprite for the bomb (with graffiti around it further insulting the smoke-intolerant Dodongo, Level 2 Boss). I've been following with interest in recent years the stories of people appropriating videogame images into their public art, such as the Space Invader graffiti, and the Question Mark Blocks.

Working with that as inspiration, I thought I'd give this more of a graffiti feel to it (especially because the bright colors from old videogames feel attention-grabbing to me, like spray-paint). And that lets me get away with being less meticulous! Yay!


Keyboard Keys in Pickle Jar - getting clean

I am terrible at three-dimensional work, so I thought about ways to de-construct the keyboard in order to make it work for my two-dimensional planning. I decided to go with a mosaic so I got out my screwdriver to take this thing apart. Taking apart keyboards is a gross project - this is a pic of the inside of the keyboard. Needless to say, I did a very careful job of cleaning the keys.

Since I'm a big videogame nerd, I thought going with some sprites would be a good idea. With help from sites like Sprite Stitch I discovered that holy crap, most character sprites (like Ness or Luigi) take a LOT of "pixels" and I only had about 150 of the same sized pieces. I decided to stick with one of my favorites (Zelda) and one of my favorite items (bomb). I made my own mosaic pattern in Illustrator since I couldn't get the stupid Pixelate filter to deliver in Photoshop.


Painted Keys

Once the keys were dry, I laid them out in the correct bomb configuration, and found a canvas that they would fit on. I found some collage paper that looks like an old painted wall. I painted the keys (made sure I re-counted how many of each color I need) and while they were drying, I attached the paper to the canvas.

I started sketching some other "graffiti" ideas to put on the piece, I didn't just want to put "Dodongo Dislike Smoke", I thought that was too easy. I was thinking more along the lines of an angry anti-Dodongo Hyrulian, graffiti-ing their town. So I came up with the phrase "Choke on smoke" and an insulting sketch of Dodongo. Now every time I look at it, I think of Hyrulian political graffiti.



Well, I better find old stuff to make things, quick! This week's already started!

Also, for those who asked previously, I did put last week's "There's a Girl in the Garden" in my Etsy shop.

Art-Craft Challenge: Week 2 Materials

Dell Keyboard (had 8 years)
I actually have three keyboards I've been saving to use in craft projects, but I've had them all for many years.

Since the keyboard consists of several parts (keys, interior stuffs, casing) it's all the materials I'll use for this challenge.

I have never found any really cool projects using keyboard keys (well, except this viper) so I'm going to see if I can improve upon this.


Each week, I'll select 2-3 items I've had 5+ years and use them in a project. And I'm going to document it online in order to trick myself into thinking that the nameless internet hordes care, and I must appease them.

Art-Craft Challenge: Week 1 Final

There's a Girl in the Garden

Here's the final piece I created using the materials. I liked the phrase "There's a girl in the garden" so I went with that as a theme (it's from "Shawn of the Dead", but this isn't a zombie).

I had to work around covering up too much of the background paper, because I like it too much. Once I had the girl in the corner, I realized that she needed to be looking at something, so I made her some bird friends, who she is helping reunite.


I checked out this great book from the library about collage art that mentioned the technique of transferring inkjet images (The Art of Personal Imagery by Corey Moortgat).

The left two images are using the transfer technique (which is just essentially printing out the image, spraying it with water, and then pressing it to rag paper). They both have some highlighting done with watercolor pencils. (The robot is just drawn with watercolor pencils and watercolors).


Placement: At some point during the process, I started thinking of the phrase "There's a girl in the garden" (which is a line from "Shawn of the Dead").

I didn't really want to make it a zombie girl, so I just went with the phrase and did some different interpretations. Here are four versions of the piece that I did by creating different images and layering them. Almost all of them are inkjet image transfers, except for the bottom left, which is colored pencils and watercolor.

I ended up going with the bottom left one, since the others all blocked a lot of the cool background.

Art-Craft Challenge: Week 1 Materials

As I was cleaning out my studio, I realized I am a serious horder of goodies. I have things that I have saved upwards of 12 years because "I'm sure one day I'll need it in a project". Well, dangit, carpe diem! I'll make today that day!

Each week, I'll select 2-3 items I've had 5+ years and use them in a project. And I'm going to document it online in order to trick myself into thinking that the nameless internet hordes care, and I must appease them. Without further ado, Art/Craft Challenge Week One!


Materials (Age*)
Blue Handprinted paper (8 years):
I bought a ton of paper while I was in Italy, and this is one of the several sheets that I hand-carried all the way back in a tube.

Blue Frame (10 years):
I bought this at the huge thrift store in Ocean Springs, MS that I used to frequent. Man, I miss the thrift stores down in the Deep South (tm) - they're the size of a SuperTarget/Wal-Mart/BJ's, and all the good stuff isn't entirely picked over.

* "Age" refers to how long I've had it, and is not necessarily a reflection of the actual time in existence.

Draw Yourself as a Teenager Meme

Also, I must note, it wasn't that I didn't believe in wearing skirts, it's just that I was really self-conscious about my body, hence being incredibly covered up in baggy clothes. Which is kind of funny, since looking back, there was really no reason to be self-conscious... I mean, besides being a teenager in general.

Costumed Sketch Night: Steampunk Theme

Our model, Nick, checks his pocketwatch

Last night was another pretty awesome Costumed Sketch Night. Due to my busy/crazy/sick/gone April, it was a little less promoted than usual, and also we only had one model.

Despite all that, everything came out really well, so hooray! I didn't get to do as many sketches as I usually do, because I opted to help model in the last long poses (it's easier to have poses when you have interaction, I think).


re-enacts Dinosaur Comic's panel four - T-rex Retaliation!

The theme was Steampunk, so there was a lot of props, Victoriana, goggles, and, umm, a T-rex puppet... Because it's easier when the models interact with stuff!

Perhaps I just like making the models interact with puppets, since it's happened at the last two Costume Sketch Nights (though technically, Alison and Annie insisted upon the puppets, so maybe it's just their continued influence).


There were a lot of awesome drawings that came out of it, which you can check out at the Costumed Sketch Night group pool (there's more than just mine now!)

Next Costumed Sketch Night is Fairy themed,
May 28, 7 - 9 pm

Costumed Sketch Night: Lolita Theme

20 Minute Pose - Naptime

Wednesday night was Costumed Sketch Night. Many thanks to Annie and Alison who modeled and posed in frilly costumes and difficult shoes. They did an absolutely great job of helping me come up with poses beforehand also.

Nick did me a solid and took some pictures with my camera, since it's hard to juggle the sketchbook, pencils, timer, AND camera.

5 Minute Pose - (Gesture Drawing) Pout

We had a really good turn out, for artists, and Michelle has already posted some of her pictures online.

If you're interested, here's a link to the Sketch Night pool - though it's mostly my pictures so far. I'm looking forward to the next Costumed Sketch Night, which will be April 30 - the theme is Steampunk.

On a related note, Camelot Treasures is having a Mad Hatter Tea Party, April 20, 5 - 7 p.m. It includes food, tea, and games. Tickets are $8 available at the shop.

Costumed Sketch Night: Pirate Theme

Pirate Drinking Contest - 20 Minute Sketch

The Costumed Sketch Night last night was super-fun - the theme was pirates, and we had two great models, Ruth and Matt, who would pretty much pose however we wanted.

As usual, the hardest part of modeling is NOT LAUGHING - but we all managed to prevail, despite the silly pirate songs playing.

I don't have any trouble coming up with short pose ideas, (2-5 minute poses) but sometimes the longer poses, which have to be seated or laying because otherwise we're torturing the model, are hard for me to think of.

Fortunately, Stephanie had the great idea of having a saucy winner to the pirate drinking contest... (as you can see)


Ruth Wins!

I ended up only blocking in Matt on this last 20 minute pose - since Ruth was late I didn't get to draw her as much, and with all those myriad layers of clothing, it made for an interesting subject.

We had three times the people attending last night than we had the first time, with many people implying that next time we may have a great deal more. It's kind of exciting, since I really started it as a way of contributing to the new place I work, and a selfish way to get me more time to draw models.


Anyway, if you're a local artist and you missed, don't worry. The next costumed sketch night is March 26th, and the theme is Victorian Lolita (This style of stuff, if you're not familiar) so get ready to draw tons of fabric and bows! The admission is $3.

What-The-Hell Con Redux

Man, What the Hell? Con was really fun this year (again). I have 8 million pictures, so I'll just post a few of my favorites:

Steampunk JLA - The Guild of Justice-Minded Citizenry
L - R: Zatanna (Annie), Supergirl (Michelle), Flash (Nick), Nightwing (Mike), PowerGirl (Alison), Superman (Jared, Sandman (Matt), Batgirl (umm, me), and Green Arrow (Jason)

One of my favorite things about WthCon is that it's so laid back I have plenty of time for my favorite con activity - hanging out with my friends. Maybe dressed in costumes. I would almost always recommend costumes/cosplaying as a group though, there's much more of an impact (and you can't feel silly is EVERYONE is doing it, right?).






Draco & Harry in the Geek Auction

The con was really fun, but is showing some growing pains in scheduling and capacity handling. The geek auction had so many participants that it lasted three hours. Adding an auctioneer speeded things along, but unfortunately took out the best part - the crowd/geek interaction.

Nick and Will didn't get to finish their entire schtick, and I feel sorry for the girls in the audience for that, more than any of the other auction difficulties.


As always, representing our webcomic Willrad in the Artist's Alley was hilarious for me and Will, as we are self-entertaining (see also, moustache pictures). The con treats artists like they are made of gold, something that warms us all deep down into the cockles of our little hearts.

Costumed Sketch Night: Harry Potter Theme

20 Minute Seated Sketch of Harry & Draco from last night's sketch night

I was bummed out about several of the local Life Drawing etc. sketch groups seemingly disbanding, and as usual, I took it upon myself to remedy the situation. So, I started a monthly Costumed Sketch Night at the shop where I work.

Anytime I encounter holes in reality where I think things OUGHT TO BE, I have a tendency to try and organize a filling of those holes (local drawing groups, 24 hour comic book day, self-publishing participation in independent comics, etc.). The downside is that this tends to make it impossible for me to participate in the group. Fortunately, Costumed Sketch Night is not one of those occasions, I can draw and time things SIMULTANEOUSLY (and I can always hop in as a backup model in case someone doesn't show). For once, it's kind of good to be the organizer. Shew.

We had at least four artists, and I know a lot of people who are planning to come and draw at the next one, so it's officially a success in my book.


Harry & Draco play Wizard Connect 4

And, as always, a huge thank you to Will and Nick, who were awesome models.

Next Costumed Sketch Night is Wednesday, February 27th - the theme is PIRATES!

Here's the Flickr picture pool of all the pictures from last night - and future pictures!