So You Want to Quit a Book Project...

So today I let a project go that I thought I could muscle through based on my pure strength of will. I couldn't.  There were some minor (and sincerely not minor) hiccups along the way, and I feel badly for the impact that delayed production might have had on the author.

However, it has been a brilliant lesson in approaching my creative aspirations authentically  and not following the path that it seems like I should. There is no should, there is only choice. Once things settle, I will be interested to see the direction my work heads in.

This  will be one of those "hard way" lessons in my career.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Lessons

I had a number of epiphanies while working on this piece. 

  The first is that the coloring stage is by far my least favorite part of the process. I love the end result, but I hate doing it. I could ink all day long, but unless the piece screams for color, I am loathe to actually do it.  

  The second is that I have evidently had a persistent artistic fantasy since I was a young girl. There used to be show on TV called "Caroline in the City". Lea Thompson played a popular cartoonist with an awesome apartment and a hot, sarcastic nerd who did all her coloring for her. I still want one of those. Seriously. If you know anyone who didn't grow out of coloring books (in a good way) let me know.

 The third (and arguably most important) insight is not to leave a mug of coffee, my almost finished picture, and a paper-hating cat unsupervised together for long periods of time. 

Luckily, I had scanned the picture before I went to town on it, so if I can muster the will I'll color it in digitally. Or my mail-order nerd can do it, if he ever shows up.

"The Lady Pigstack"

The House of Pigstack has been breeding Sofa Swine for centuries. Arguably the most comfortable, pillowy pigs you could ever hope to perch upon, they are an elegant addition to your home. They are well-read and brilliant conversationalists, provided you also have an interest in Pig-Lit.

Work Work

Greetings and Salutations,

It's been an incredibly productive week, but since I'm working on things that are not actually for me I cannot flash them around without consent. Luckily I did manage to get some sketching done (mostly when I was supposed to be listening attentively, but that's beside the point.)

Behold!




















In my head is a place called The Isle of Beests. It's populated by a plethora of bizarre flora and fauna. This is an Unfinished Mist Beest. They like egg salad sandwiches and avoiding small-talk.

"Arm Fish Brings Home the Bacon"

This is actually out of my sketchbook from a couple months ago, but I kind of liked it. I'm going to try finishing it in Painter, so we'll see how that goes. It may show up again.

8 Hours Later...

So the other morning I sat down at my art desk and thought to myself, "human female, you are a children's illustrator. You need to practice drawing children. Let's draw a birthday girl."

So I did.

I am not actually much for the coloring stage of things, and I usually call a piece done once I've inked it. However, one thing I did learn from this project is that my absolute favorite thing in the entire world to color in is bloodstains. I'm not sure why this is the case, maybe it's just the sheer joy of the gross-factor.
I also don't know how much room there is for casual dismemberment in the children's market, but I definitely want to push the "cute, yet disturbing" limits in my personal work.

Plus there might be some twisted child out there in desperate need of a birthday card.

The scanner really munched the colors on this one. Luckily this is a sketch blog and not a perfectly-scanned-and-gallery-ready blog.

Needs More Eyeballs

Had an awesome day, got to do some shopping with amazing humanoids. I cannot get the Flight of the Concords out of my head. And now...bonus art!


So this is a piece I started a few months ago, another doodle that..evolved ( I'm sensing a pattern). This one is not finished, but I would much rather start it over and do it right than try to force this one to be what it is not. I almost want to do it on a large canvas in a classical style and cram her basket full of even weirder stuff. Like a planet, or an Echidna, or eyeballs. Definitely eyeballs.

Also, these rabbits haunt me. Luckily (or not, some days that's debatable), they're both part of a story line and a dominant part of my aesthetic. There will be more of them.

This is my blog. There are many blogs like it, but this one is mine.

Greetings,

So this here's my brand new, squeaky-clean sketch blog. Officially it will be a home for all the random bits of raw art and rough stuff currently going nowhere fast in my file cabinet (by which I mean floor.) But I suspect it will also mutate into a chimera of news, promotions, finished pieces, thoughts, concepts, personal bits (like, I really want to tell you how good this tea is right now. It's good.) and whatever other miscellaneous weirdness crawls onto the page.

 I am aiming to update at least once a week, probably a  "Best of my Brain" compilation of the recent sketches I like the best.
It recently occurred to me that overwhelming shyness about showing my work is remarkably contrary to a thriving art career and that I need to practice sharing with people. So, hello. Thank you for stopping by. I can't say what this will evolve into in the future, but the art will be created, and it will be here.

Anyway, onwards and upwards!

A doodle that got out of hand while I was on a conference call. I do some of my best work when I'm supposed to be doing something else. 
  

This compilation of lady-types is a stylistic experiment as much as anything. I love exploring patterns and textures through my linework. Obviously.