The rest of you: here's what you missed while I was off thinking I was updating the blog, but, in fact, wasn't:
1. WAM! I started shilling my wares at a local art market one night a month. Great for those crafty things I make, not so much for the photos and art. I take whatever I have ready to go at the time: jewelry, knitted scarves and socks, prints, etc; left-overs go to local stores or the Pencilated Etsy shop. If you're in the area, come by and observe yours truly perfecting her schtick (bowler hat antics and Charlie Chaplin wiggle-walk still in beta).
 |
| The Gap marketing dept. should totally hire me. |
2. I made a Christmas Card. If you didn't buy one at Winchester's Old Town General Store then too bad, you missed it. You'll have to wait until next December to maybe nab one of the few left . . . but by then I'll have the next one in the series out, which will only cause you endless grief and pain trying to decide which one of the two you neeeeeeed to buy so you should just plan on buying both. See how I look out for you?!
 |
| Cheesy holiday sentiments are what you get when you start with an illustration then try to fit it to a pre-fab cardstock. |
3. I drew lots of bouncy houses. Okay, really it was the same house lots of times because I was working on developing a style (am still working on developing a style) and in the end I had something that (in its draft form) resembled something Disney might have used as background in an animation. I don't know how I feel about that . . . which is why I haven't formally advertised this for commissioned work yet. It needs to be pushed more toward either outrageous or formal, or maybe offer both extremes. I dunno.
4. I tinkered with comic/graphic novel styles. I've got a series of about five of these waiting in the wings for inking. It's a tricky style to wrap my head around, as it's neither cartoon nor realistic but some weird pulled-taffy place stretched between them; I have a hard time figuring out when to back off of the detail.
5. Tooned! Building up from the simple stick figure to more advanced figure and portrait drawing by cartooning my friends and family... .completely bass ackwards from how I should be doing it. Someday soon they may actually look like the people they're supposed to be (heh).
6. I was inspired to write a children's story. Not that I actually intend to write a book! My brain is teeming with picture and story ideas that may never go beyond a one-line caption, but I've been studying Beatrix Potter (for the illustrations) so we'll see if that rubs off. Here's one of the preliminary sketches. . . which will look nothing like the end result if I follow past precedent!
Also, I made this:
 |
| No, you can't have it: it's mine! |
and I started these two projects (for the seventh time):
 |
| Sweaters! These will be the hood pcs. |
and I redesigned these:
 |
| Yup--my business cards double as merchandise tags! See how clever I am?! |
(Also, I stripped all the wallpaper off the dining room walls and insulated the garage in case you were interested, but I'm not including photos of that.)
And THAT is what I've been up to since September.
