Dragons and faeries and books…Oh my!

Ok…so I haven’t received any pictures of the panels I painted with the layout yet. But from what I understand, he’s not finished building the layout yet. So…I guess the final results are on hold until that gets done in the next couple of months. Not a big deal.

However, I was able to get another piece done. As mentioned before, I went up to my parents’ house over Easter weekend to spend time with my family. While I have my mother and sisters calling our five member group a FOO (Family of Origin)…I still simply call them my family. Difference between them and me? I’m not married with a family of my own to raise and support. So I got to see how one sister and her husband acted around each other during the evenings, and listen to my other sister go on about her husband and kids…and then listen to them both makes plans about family gatherings and such…only for them to look back at me and say something encouraging to include me on in the conversation. And I love my sisters for it, because I know they love and care about me as well; but it does remind me of how much of a third wheel I can be. A spectator, which seems to be my eternal roll in the scheme of life; which I’ve been happy to embrace for the most part.

I miss going out for walks.

So, while I had one project done, I had another that I needed to completely on a deadline; giving myself about two weeks to complete it. And while I had tried to draw during the previous time when I wasn’t painting, my inspiration and skills were working against me when I felt that nothing was looking right, and I couldn’t figure out a way to fix it. But this time around, I couldn’t let it get me down. While on the train ride up, I tried to sketch out an idea with the criteria of the image having a 2 theme to it. Even numbers…I was always taught that even numbers were a no no to an artist, but I wouldn’t make much of a fuss over it. I would make it work. It was based off of another picture I drew for him, though I have to say, this one is looking ten times better than the previous one.

Right…so…on the train I did a very basic…rough…really no detailed framework sketch of what needed to be in the picture; two dragons, books, faeries, and trees. When I even attempted to give it more detail, I think boredom from the long train ride (which was four hours late in getting into my destination due to some idiot in Alexandria who thought it would be a good idea to fortify himself in the apartment he was suppose to be evicted from) stopped me from pursuing the drawing even further. Well…at least until I got a decent night’s rest. The next day I got to spend with my sister, helping her clean the dance studio she learns and practices her Irish Step Dancing in, to which she then took me out for sushi for lunch, and then watch her practice. I enjoyed the music and the show, but it didn’t stop me from working on the drawing. By then, I had decided to simply go straight into inking it without the refined detailed pencil work. Straight from basic framework to inking. And I had decided that I was going to fill in as much space as possible…something I’ve rarely done when creating darks and lights with a ball point pen.

And I’m a firm believer that the ball point pen is not given enough credit in the art world. Seriously…you’ve got all these companies that make brush pens and microns and refillable technical pens, and teachers that show you how to use the pro-quill pens and ink dipping and sumi brushes and such…but a ball point pen? I think the one teacher I had that came close to using an alternative source than the ‘professional’ materials for inking was a ‘Hello Kitty’ fanatic who pulled out a Sharpie marker. And I know I didn’t appreciate his style of teaching much back then, but a part of me wishes I had taken him for my second inking class instead of the newly appointed head of the department at the time. As much as he was the guru when it comes to inking during my time there, I really hated his guts. I don’t know how I managed to pass his class, but I was happy when he openly considered me disturbed.

Anyways, I was happy to show my family what I was working on while it was still all in the works. I like to think it made my dad happy to see the work in progress, since it’s not very often anymore he gets to see what I’m doing. So, whenever there was a pause between Doctor Who episodes Dad and us girls were watching with him, I’d hold up my sketch pad and point out…”SEE!” for the three of them to admire while I bask in their brief compliments. The usual “Looks good”…but when I was finished with it, my oldest sister’s “I can’t wait to see what it looks like colored” gave me a great sense of excitement, because I too was actually eager to color it…but couldn’t during my stay because my laptop lacks the photoshop I use. I guess I could try installing it on there now that I’ve got a hardcopy of it…but with as slow as that thing is compared to my desktop…I don’t think I could tolerate it for long. Besides, my mother’s laptop is made for that kind of fun, with her touch screen that she rarely uses.




THAT LAPTOP IS SO MINE WHEN SHE GETS A NEW ONE! I’VE STAKED MY CLAIM ON IT! Commence battle scene between Kermit and myself, and input Dad’s insistence that if I were to ever get into a fight I would be deemed victorious, much to my sisters’ disbelief. Why? Though everyone seems to agree that they can’t see me getting into such a fight, he believes that I could most assuredly hold my own and my opponent would be regretting it. I don’t know…maybe it’s all the Xena/Hercules shows I used to watch…and the swordplay in the LARPs I used to play in. Go figure.



And of course, I digress. Nothing new there. What’s really nice about the ball point pen work is that I can scan it in as a grey scale image, change the format to color specific, and then change the tones and blacks to another color, which to me creates a nice unified coloration that is shared amongst all the other colors that are later introduced to the picture. Basically, it brings the picture together as a whole without anything standing out too much. And then using the right airbrush/paintbrush tools, adjusting their opacity to the way I like it, and I’ve got a nice watercolor-esque effect that I’ve found looks best with the way I inked the picture. Over all, I’m a happy camper, my friend is a happy camper…all is right with the world for the time being!



And as for payment? This time I am charging in with a tradeoff of my friend (who will be visiting me in the next few days) taking me out for sushi one of the nights he’s in town! HAHA!