Just a quick sketch from my lunch break.  The star-shaped pasties are cracking me up.  A lot.

It’s interesting the more I do these little illustrative non-drawings of girls, the more I am kinda figuring out what I like from an aestethic perspective.  It has been an interesting journey.  I like Burlesque. I like pin-up. I like circus freaks.  I like curvy, busty girls.  I love Steampunk. I love Geisha. I love ukiyo-e.  The latter three I figured out a loooong time ago. I like propaganda art (especially by those good old Commies), but I suspect I figured that one out from a web-design that I was working on a couple weeks ago. I have no Commie girls – yet!

I also discovered tonight that I might also have a penchant for fetish. The visuals (outfits and what not), not the acts themselves.  Though, I have a few friends who would probably debate that last statement. Ahem.

Any-way, after some discussion at tonight’s Art Meetup coffee event, I realized that there are certain aspects of the fetish “look” that are really appealing.  For example, I would love to do a fetish mask portrait. Now, the masks themselves creep me the fuck out. Especially the ones with the zipper mouths. Gah! But visually? Brilliant!  Love them! Then again, I have always had an affinity for masks – like Noh masks for example. Perhaps this is an extension of that.

I guess it’s just really interesting to figure out the things that are inspiring.  I just need to remember those things. Didn’t I mention something about a freaking inspiration board. I should get on that. Or at least write some of this shit down.  Jeez.

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This weekend wreaked havoc on my productivity.  I basically had none.  Saturday was spent doing a variety of errands and then taking in a screening of Alice In Wonderland. Fantastic! Though, I suspect people will liken it to Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, which I don’t think a lot of people got.  I also had to reformat my hard drive. Yup, good fun times!

Then Sunday, more errands  I had every intention of doing some sketching but a  headache really put me down and kicked my butt. So instead I spent  the evening lying on my couch, watching the atrocious Oscars.  They were terrible.  Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were terrible hosts (moreso Baldwin). Just not funny.  Too bad NPH only did the opening musical number.   He would have made a fantastic Oscar host.  I really didn’t like that they eulogized the Best Actor/Actress nominees. Ugh, too much ego-stroking. Did not like.  Plus, I think they forgot Farrah Fawcett and Bea Arthur in the memorial section of the evening. Whut?!

And do not get me started on that sad Horror montage. I’m sorry, but there was nary a Romero zombie or Bruce Campbell in sight?! How do they figure that Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands are horrors films!?  And those Twilight films just shouldn’t even be represented at the Oscars. At all. read more »

I attended First Thursday last night with the Meetup group. It was pretty enjoyable. I haven’t been to an event with that group since – oh – June of last year or so.  So it was nice to get out with some other art-types  (as well as meeting new people which apparently is a goal I have this year).   There was even some discussion with a fellow art-shaped being about getting together to do some art making – specifically art card making. If it pans out, it could be fun. Could get my ass motivated to actually create an art card. 

Beyond that, last night also afforded me the opportunity to discover some new artists – Lisa Brawn, Ricky Fraser, Rachelle Kearl, and the fine designer toy folks at Nation. There are a couple more wonderful artists that I discovered, but I forgot my notebook at home and my memory blows.   But believe me, they are wonderful!

All in all, fun night. Looking forward to some more.

Despite my best intentions, I didn’t manage to do much work.  Instead, I spent the better part of the evening napping and then struggling with some scan tests.

Apparently, the internets is rife with how to scan line art tutorials, but has almost nothing when it comes to completed colour work. I suspect that is because illustrators do a lot of their colouring in Photoshop or Illustrator. So scanning line work is probably more common.

Still, its a bit frustrating.  I don’t want my illustrations to look like ass when I try making prints. I’d like them to look like the original.  It might seem like a simple request, but it isn’t.  Most of the time, when I scan coloured illustrations in, my scanner lightens them – a lot. Black lines look like medium gray and a lot of the lighter colours get washed out. Grr.  And when I try to adjust them in Photoshop, I usually end up going too dark.

It’s a tenuous balance at best.

I did find a couple of suggestions at an art forum that mostly involves tweaking Photoshop settings.  But I guess the most important things I learned is that I should actually look at my original when tweaking and tweak the blacks with an on-screen reference.

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Hah! I coloured her last night! Wait. It would appear that I forgot to colour the flagpole. Oops. How embarassing!

Anyway, she cracks my shit up.  I am so in love with her.   To be truthful, I am in love with all of these pin-up-ie type sketches that I have been creating lately.  They are just so amusing to draw.  I don’t even care if no one else likes them or if someone prefers my “very serious” portrait work to these wacky drawings. The fact is that they bring me happiness and that’s all that matters!

Though, admittedly, I am not loving the scan of the original. It really looks like ass on my work computer. :(  Too dark. Too muddy.  The colours and blending look waaaaaaay better on the original. They aren’t this dark. You must take my word for it!    I really wish I didn’t struggle with scanning as much as I do.  It’s ok for black/white/grey, but the second I add colour, it goes to shit. Boo.

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I’m looking for a few fine folks to be models for my next project. Nothing crazy, nothing invasive, nothing nude. Basically just a headshot – it is a portrait project. It will be in a similar style as my self-portrait.  I’m looking to create my first series as well as expand my portfolio.  Interested?  Pretty please?

If you’d like to help a girl out, please leave a comment or contact me.  I’ll fill you in all of the specifics at that time.

I guess I was feeling a bit patriotic yesterday. Hah. I drew this little sketch while watching the Olympic Closing Ceremonies.  There are a few problems with her (her boots and legs for example), but I think I wanna try colouring her. Could be fun!

Beyond that, I’m trying to figure out what I want to do next for my really-real art. I really enjoyed doing the self-portrait in markers and I had thought to work on a series of self-portraits, but I’m not entirely sure I want to look at my face that much.   It might be interested to do it to other people’s faces though.  I’d just need someone to send me photos of their heads.

Any victims volunteers?