Tag Archives: art

Dragon Comics 10

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You keep on using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

You keep on using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Good news! I was able to complete 3 comics over the weekend, so I’m going to try to update 3 times a week for the foreseeable future, with an end goal of eventually having the ability to deliver dailies. This is dependent on whether I can deliver dailies and make progress on the graphic novel. Time will tell. But I’m pretty confident that I can stick to this schedule, and actually get far enough ahead that I don’t miss any days if I have an off week or go on vacation someplace without electricity. Plus, I’m really happy that my hand lettering is improving. I know I could just type the text, but I love hand lettering and would rather do it myself, even though it’s less than perfect.

In further good news, I had dinner with the real life Fox and Otter and made sure that they knew how much I really love them both. Fox said, “In all the years you’ve known me (about 8) I’ve never had a boyfriend.” I said, “I’m fine with you having a boyfriend. I’d just like you to have a boyfriend somewhere in the vicinity of where I am.”

What else? This comic is based on a real life conversation I had with the Man. I can never tell if he’s serious, but apparently he felt left out because his comic persona was not invited to the fictional comic drawing party. Well, now you can all suffer through enjoy a week’s worth of the Man. Because he spends the most time with Dragon.

3-Dimensional Dragons

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If Cox took all the energy they direct into trying to sell me cable and long distance for 2 devices I don’t even own and devoted it to maintaining the network that renders the device I do own fully functional, this post would not be so late.

For your Friday pleasure, please browse an assortment of 3D dragons, I models with my own little hands.

Dragon number 1 sprung forth into existence some 2 or 3 years ago when a game-maker friend mentioned that 4 little lumps of clay were reserved for the construction of a dragon figurine to be used in a game she had created. I took control of the project and came up with this handsome fellow, Perhaps his details are a little rough, but he’s only 1 inch high, and my hands aren’t that small.

Screen Shot 2014-09-05 at 12.46.30 AM

It took 4 shots to encompass all his adorable qualities.

It took 4 shots to encompass all his adorable qualities.

Next on our list we have a rather old dragon. In 1993, student teaching at a private elementary school for hippie children with rich grandparents, I came across a lump of dried clay, in which I couldn’t help but see the whorls and angles of a dragon’s face. The principal told me that I was wasting my time, that the lump would crumble, that it was too thick to ever be fired. I ignored him and coaxed this friendly face into the world.

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A rather serene dragon, with only a little chip missing from his horn.

Finally, completing our triumvirate of dragons, a dragon pendant I made in 2006 while playing with my ex-boyfriend’s daughter.

Of course, the fuchsia fellow on the right is actually a cat, not a dragon, but he came into existence at the same time as the dragon, and they are the best of friends and go everywhere together.

Of course, the fuchsia fellow on the right is actually a cat, not a dragon, but he came into existence at the same time as the dragon, and they are the best of friends and go everywhere together.

Wait, what’s that you say? You want a hardworking bubblegum punk mandala before you go. BAM. Enjoy.

Pentagram mandala is in the house!

Pentagram mandala is in the house!

In case you wondered what Dragon is up to, Dragon is doing well, thanks! I already have one comic for next week, and if I finish a second one this weekend, maybe I’ll try to create them on a M-W-F schedule.

Dragon Comics 9

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I apologize in advance to any splendid otters who may just randomly stumble upon this comic strip, and also potentially any foxes even though obviously any similarity of these characters to any people/animals/mythical creatures, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Clearly, drawing a comic that is really only a thinly veiled depiction of ones friends and family could be a very dangerous pastime, unless all of ones friends and family have a really great sense of humor. Which, of course, mine do. But still. Purely coincidental.

I drew that otter around 1 a.m., looked at it, and then laughed for about 10 minutes straight.

I drew that otter around 1 a.m., looked at it, and then laughed for about 10 minutes straight.

I definitely do not know any large, muscular, barrel-chested otters. That would be utterly ridiculous.

Origami Lotus Candy Wrappers and Other Beautiful Trash

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From the scraps of a bulletin board (I think it must have been last winter's lantern design) I idly constructed a magical paper landscape for two little sisters to enjoy.

From the scraps of a bulletin board (I think it must have been last winter’s lantern design) I idly constructed a magical paper landscape for two little sisters to enjoy.

My dear old friend, the artist Jeffrey Woods, went through a period when a great deal of his work involved covering glass with tiny vinyl dots, painting the glass, and then peeling off the dots. As a result, his entire property (I’m talking the inside of the washing machine, the cat’s tail, the artist’s feet) to this day remains infested by colorful, sticky, vinyl dots, forming their own patterns across the landscape. There’s a metaphor in there about the persistence of art, I think. If you ever visit his workshop (which you wont; you can’t; he doesn’t let people in) you’ll notice that his trash is gorgeous. Picture paper plates which have sat on turntables inside an airbrush booth, sporting rings of complementary colors, crammed beside gracious curves laser cut from clear blue plastic, stuffed stuffed alongside sinewy white stencils into a plastic bag with the remains of yesterday’s lunch. Splashes of color on the walls and floor from which those prone to pareidolia cannot help but search for meaning: constellations of random mess.

As a child, I spent a fair amount of time folding origami. I used to have a decent repertoire: shrimp, cranes, swans, boxes. Now the only thing I remember is the lotus blossom, which somehow looks more like a water lily than a lotus to me. Anyway, these were folded from chocolate wrappers. Endangered Species Chocolate is my favorite.

As a child, I spent a fair amount of time folding origami. I used to have a decent repertoire: shrimp, cranes, swans, boxes. Now the only thing I remember is the lotus blossom, which somehow looks more like a water lily than a lotus to me. Anyway, these were folded from chocolate wrappers. Endangered Species Chocolate is my favorite.

When I was little, I was always intrigued by artist’ palettes, the random smears of color sometimes more lovely than the finished works. I seem to find patterns spelled out on a piece a paper that I’ve used to blot my paintbrushes or wipe my fingers.

Testing markers on this sheet of paper, both sides. Paint pens always jam on me. The doodles on this paper came out way better than whatever it was I was actually trying to do with the paint pens.

Testing markers on this sheet of paper, both sides. Paint pens always jam on me. The doodles on this paper came out way better than whatever it was I was actually trying to do with the paint pens.

I’m the kind of person whose hands sometimes go on without her, particularly when it comes to small, malleable pieces of refuse. I remember once, years ago, picking a twist tie off my cousin’s counter and, without really thinking about it, curling it into an elaborate butterfly. Her son took an instant liking to it and, shades of Hawthorne’s Artist of the Beautiful, smashed it into a wad. My cousin was horrified. I laughed. It was perhaps beautiful, but it was also a bit of trash.

I'm just as likely to curl paper as to fold it. With the right material to hold their form, these scraps could easily be beads.

I’m just as likely to curl paper as to fold it. With the right varnish to hold their form, these collaging scraps could easily be beads.

Challenge yourself to find something pure and shining in the discards of your life and watch the world made magical.

Lisa and Robyn Got Married

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Friday night we were out with some friends, dinner and karaoke (in case you’re wondering, I *rocked* “Only the Good Die Young.” The entire bar was into it), and then headed back to another couple’s house to chill out. I brought the Wacom tablet because sometimes I just feel like messing with it all day. (I almost skipped karaoke to go draw.) Demonstrating to my friend, I said, “Hey, I’ll paint a picture of you.” The first image I came up with of her was one my husband took on her wedding day a few months back.

“You’re really going to paint that?” she asked.

“Sure, why not?”

The “why not” would probably have been because she was wearing a birdcage veil, and her wife a necklace made of 10 thousand tiny beads. Those would have been reasons not to paint that particular image anyway, because those things were not easy to draw. But I was committed. And it took 3 days. And I did this.

So in love <3

So in love ❤ I had a WAY better background and Photoshop crashed as I was saving it! Tried to recreate but it’s so late and it’s not going well. 

I had fabulous plans for a background, but every time I attempted to execute it looked awful. I’m not 100% satisfied, but I’m not entirely certain how to make the pixels do what I want them to do here, so I’m sticking with this reminiscent-of-the-’80s design for now. The great thing about digital paint is that you can always come back. I can easily put the background in the trash and try a new one.

Eilat, Coral Reef Nature Reserve, August 1999

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Under the sea, under the sea...it's the Red Sea, in case you were wondering.

Under the sea, under the sea…it’s the Red Sea, in case you were wondering.

I was living on kibbutz in the south of Israel, and a guy that I liked took me to Eilat to go snorkeling. He had bought a waterproof disposable camera and he was determined to get his money’s worth. The results were unspectacular. The reef was crowded. I was sexually harassed in French while standing in line (my French was not sufficient to defend myself, but the guy I was with was a native speaker, and when he came back and saw what was happening, he cheerfully chased my offender off and stood a little bit taller afterward: “I called him ‘tu’ and he answered me with ‘vous,’ he said, a little bit dreamily, as he was a small guy and not used to coming out on top in those situations). The reef was, sadly, dead. No one else seemed to notice, but I’d seen enough nature documentaries to know a dead reef when I saw one. There were fish, but hardly any living corals and no anemones, sea stars, urchins, or any of the fine little creatures you expect around a reef. 

My friend wasn’t confident in his ability to take good pictures, so he gave me the camera, and I did my utmost, but the only really interesting shot on the roll was the last one I took underwater, as we were about to get out. Approaching the steps, we saw hundreds of these beautiful striped blue fish swimming around the legs of the people who were about to get in. It was a magical moment.

As for this drawing, I have mixed feelings about it. If I had another 10 hours to mess around with it, it would probably be as interesting as the original. The perspective is OK, but the light was crazy hard to work with, and capturing the light on the water nearly impossible. I managed to get something there by lining the brushstrokes up, but overall it’s too dark and heavy to really give the appearance of water on a sunny day. However, just completing the exercise taught me a lot, and analyzing the piece now helps me learn even more. I could definitely revisit this at a later date and smooth all the light and shadows out, even if the ripples and bubbles in the water are kind of hopeless from this perspective. 

The thing is, I tried to commit to this blog for the purpose of seeing things through. Otherwise, I’d probably just chuck this image, give it up as too hard and feel like I hadn’t done anything creative today. I might tell myself I’d finish it later and probably not follow through. Promising myself to post something new every day gives me the freedom to suck. I don’t think this picture sucks, per se. It’s just that my skill doesn’t match my vision, and I’m impatient, and learning new things feels new and unusual still after spending almost 30 years obsessively focusing on learning one skill.

So I guess this picture isn’t completely done, but it’s after midnight, so up it goes. 

 

Dragon Comics 7

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Three cheers for insomnia! Weirding up my world since 1977. This is the comic that Dragon deserves, but not the one that Dragon needs. 

Is this a webcomic? Everything is confusing when your brain forgets to power down once in a while.

Is this a webcomic? Everything is confusing when your brain forgets to power down once in a while.

Truthfully, silencing my demons is a full time job. This comic is OK. The lettering is influenced by my lack of sleep. Sorry about that first word bubble. Too tired to see straight. If only someone would buy some T-shirts, I might have more time to write better comics. 

Painting with Thick Pixels

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Quite a few digital artists whose work I admire post drawings in this sort of hasty style, comprised of thick brushstrokes, almost a modern kind of impressionism. At the Grand Canyon, I couldn’t help but think it might be easier to render all those strata of rock using a technique like this, but even with all the shortcuts I took, the Grand Canyon is not an easy thing to capture. 

Sorry I couldn't do you justice, majestic view. You're kind of close to being something like what I meant to draw.

Sorry I couldn’t do you justice, majestic view. You’re kind of close to being something like what I meant to draw.

I worked on this one for about three hours or so, then realized it was after midnight and I needed to upload it regardless, then realized that at some point in the process, I had completely ruined the bottom part of the sky, which I had been pretty pleased with to start. So then I tried to draw over it and fix it. Needless to say, the results were not as good. Ah, well.

Overall, it’s not a bad drawing. The Grand Canyon just has so many colors. Not to mention all the layers. And rocks. And trees. Perhaps I will attempt this technique with a less complicated image. 

 

What are you doing, Dragon? Part 3

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Just to set the record straight, nobody bullies me about art. I am a grownup with an MFA in creative writing. If someone steps to me, I eviscerate them with my razor sharp intellect and sesquipedalian vocabulary. Trolls don’t know what hit them. The snake represents my own crippling sense of self-doubt.

Set up, conflict, resolution. That's what it's all about, kids.

Set up, conflict, resolution, denouement. That’s what it’s all about, kids.

There’s at least 2 more of these, maybe more. But I’ll still post a mandala this week just in case anyone’s here for mandalas.