Tulips

What I've been working on lately:



Done from a photo I took at the Muttart Conservatory a couple years ago. Pencil crayon on dark green paper, 5x7 inches.

I think it turned out well, except for the blotches in the background. The paper wasn't all that great, and by the time I'd decided that I wanted them toned down there was too much wax piled on. I couldn't really lift much of the colour off, and I couldn't cover it up with the indigo blue, so I had to live with it.

I might try toning the bottom-left leaves down a bit before I hang it up.

Figure Studies

I made it out to another figure-drawing class. I'm not sure I did all that well this time around. The short poses were more loose, which was good, but I think the tighter poses weren't as great. I did bring a bigger sketch pad this time, though.

The highlights:

3-minute pose:



5-minute pose:



15-minute pose:



30-minute pose:



Anyway. It was a good session, although there were more chatty people there this time. One was sitting beside me, and it became difficult to concentrate at times. I like it better when it's quiet.

Inspiration Monday

And while I'm here... today's inspiration was flying fish.



Baron von Catfish? "Cat" Addams, the flying ace? Whoever he is, I like him.

Pencil Sketches

A couple of sketches I did at a party a few weeks ago. Our host collects antique gramophones, and the house was filled with them.



I also sketched the family cat.



It was a board-game party, but I had an upset stomach, so I just vegetated on the sofa and drew all evening.

Green Apple Pie

I'm calling the journal comic "Green Apple Pie", because I like green, and apples, and pie.



I don't know if I'll do a lot of these, but they're fun for now. I'm working on a 5"x7" pencil crayon piece (I don't know how some of these artists manage to make 20"x30" pencil crayon drawings... One artist from India spent eight hours a day for three months working on his; it boggles the mind). I'm looking forward to finishing it. It looks very nice so far, and I think I will definitely frame it and put it on my wall.

Comeeks!

I always feel bad that I don't finish more of the little journal comics I scribble in my sketchbook. Well, today I stumbled on the site of some guy who draws comics on business cards. So I dug out some index cards I have in my backpack and thought... "if he can do it, I can do it."

It's kinda rough and the lettering is terrible (there is a reason why I letter by computer), but at least it's inked! And I can always clean it up and letter it nicely in the future. When I hit the time lottery jackpot.



So, the first day of spring has arrived, and although it was still -10C on the 21st, there were students out in Quad selling hot dogs. (Sometimes, there are students out there selling hot dogs mid-winter, but not only are they crazy, but I am not stupid enough to go outside and buy hot dogs from them.) It's not really going to be spring until oh... about June. But hot dog season at least marks the end of winter.

Oh -- and if you can still see a wiener under all the mustard? You haven't put enough mustard on yet. :)

Wallflower

Another version of the wall girl.

Inspiration Monday

Sometimes, newer artists complain about lacking inspiration, or running out of inspiration. If you or someone you know are ever in such a bind, you can borrow some from me. I have plenty of odd ideas to go around. I don't guarantee you will like them or that they will make sense, but I'm willing to share if you're hard up.

This week's inspiration was mice. In lederhosen.





I didn't know this (before this week) but "lederhosen" actually means "leather shorts" or "leather pants".

Son of Bus People

Soon to Be Anniversary

Good gravies, it's been almost a year of sketching already. How time flies when one is obsessed with one's hobbies. I'd say that I ought to sketch something out to celebrate, but I'd just forget to do it and then I'd feel silly.

I've uploaded 198 pictures I've drawn and/or coloured in this past year. Even with all the unfinished or just plain awful pictures out of my sketchbook, I don't think I quite made a sketch a day. On the other hand... it's certainly an achievable goal. Maybe that's what I should go for in this upcoming year.

In any case... on with business.

Son of the Bus People

This girl had an interesting face, but I don't think I managed to capture it well.



This guy had a great face... but he wouldn't sit still. So very frustrating. He looks quite a bit older in the sketch than he was in real life.





This guy was perfect. He looked exactly like an urban wizard might look. Too bad he was only on the bus for a few stops. I'd have liked to have done a better job on him.



This sketch turned out all right, but in the process of inking it I learned that dip pens and Moleskine sketchbooks don't mix. Not even a little bit. I managed to save it with pigment pens, but not before I had nearly ruined the picture.

Things Change

The Computer is your Friend

Nothing to see here, Citizen. Move along.

Actually, there will soon be things to see because I've got the computer up and running again. At least... I have *a* computer up and running. And it's got Photoshop, and Internets, and tablet drivers, and all is good except for all the programs I have left to reinstall and all the settings I have to reset.

In the meantime, I tested out the tablet to make sure it was working correctly.

When shall we three meet again? Is Thursday good for you?



Can you tell I've been re-reading Pratchett? :D

Computer! Down!

Arrrrgggghhhhh!

It probably just needs an XP reinstall. Windows had some sort of nervous breakdown after I tried to update it. I hope it's not hardware.

I plan to spend tonight alternately petting and kicking my computer. I obviously won't be posting any pictures until my scanner is hooked up to something that works. I hope I don't have to resort to hooking it up to the laptop.

* * *

As of 10:53 tonight, the score stands at Broken Computer: 1, Princess Rockstar Scientist: 0. I tried repairing the update. The repair hung. I polled my friends for ideas. They said "don't bother repairing, just do a fresh install." I worried about whether it was my hard drive that was the problem.

Neil said "hey, don't you have a new hard drive hanging around somewhere?" I said "I do?" (This is more or less just like the last time I had to upgrade my OS. I had a 30 Gig hard drive hanging around. It was in my sock drawer. I am not making this up.) So, yeah. There was another hard drive I'd completely forgotten about. We put it into the patient. I loaded a fresh, clean install of XP on it. I logged in. There was no Internet.

There is no driver for the network card installed. Well played, Mr. Computer; well-played. I dragged the motherboard driver disk out of the software drawer, and started installing drivers.

The install hung.

So the question that I am asking myself is... is it my motherboard, or just a coincidence with a bad CD? Do I feel lucky, punk? Well? Do I?

Orange

I just needed to do something that wasn't cleaning up comics for half an hour. Also, I really, really needed to get her out of my head.

Sketchbook Page

Here's something I've been meaning to post for a few months:





Two halves of a two-page spread from my old journal sketchbook. You can see the whole spread here, in my DeviantArt gallery. I'm also planning to erase the join sometime, when I'm a little less busy. Still, it's been about half a year since I drew this, and it's about time it saw the light of day.

I'd been meaning to work on more scenery and backgrounds. At the time, I had quit Kung Fu and was in the process of quitting World of Warcraft. One night while my husband went to Kung Fu class, I decided to get a ride to the University campus with him and sketch while he practiced. I had been intending to do some outdoor sketching, but by the time we arrived on campus it was raining and quite cold. I was looking for a vending machine that sold hot chocolate, and I ended up in the Central Academic Building, staring down at this little nook.

The area is surrounded by buildings and is always in shadow, so hardly anyone uses it. Sometimes people sit on the bench and smoke. But in the summer, there is hardly anyone at the University -- especially in the evenings. I think I might have been the only person in the building.

It was almost dark by the time I finished sketching. I got all the shapes down but didn't get the reflections from the wet sidewalks. When I came back the next day to take a photo so that I could finish the picture, much of the water had dried up. The dark blob beneath the bench is the last great puddle.

I haven't really done anything this complex since. I finally quit WoW, but I'm back in Kung Fu and it takes up a significant amount of time per week. Plus, I end up with shaky arms when I've overworked them. Still, it's better than sitting at home playing videogames all night. I hope to do more sketching this summer, when I switch from Kung Fu to cycling while the weather is good. The nice thing about cycling is that it takes you to new and interesting places, you can take a break there and draw something, and if you feel tired it's your legs that shake.

She Plays Violent Videogames!

I'm not usually one to talk technology when I don't have to but... did anyone else notice on Blogger Buzz that there is now an Emacs client for Blogger? I'm positively *agog* with excitement. I'm going to try installing it at work on Monday. To, y'know -- increase my productivity.

Aaaanyway. Back to the art. I went and cleaned up my old Angry Gamer Girl sketch. I just got the two Penny Arcade volumes offa Thinkgeek last week, and I thought... "Hey! I play violent videogames!"* And then I thought that my angry inner gamer could use a bit of ink and colour. Anyway, here she is:



* - Actually, I don't play violent videogames, unless you count running Link (or Moof, as I have named him) into walls over and over, and then dropping him into a pit of lava.