Hot weather and art and other things.

I tried to post yesterday but there was a glitch and a distant shrieking that suggests that particular entry died in a rather horrific fire.  

So we'll cross our fingers for the safety of today's natterings. 

I don't think I am a) old enough or b) British enough to use the term 'nattering'...I think you have to be at least one of the two.  

The weather in western Pennsylvania is getting solidly warm.  A friend helped me install my AC unit, so I will probably survive. 

I wish I could simply skip to autumn. 

Honestly, if it weren't for the detrimental effects it would have on production of food and probably life on the planet, I'd be happy to switch back and forth between autumn and winter, avoiding the more annoying months completely. 

But at least I can keep my apartment cool enough to work in.  Otherwise I'd be haunting diners in the small hours, just to find an air-conditioned place to draw.  I'd probably die of a pie overdose.  

I actually had time to do a lot of personal work this weekend, due to a conjunction between being caught up on freelance and having no plans with other humans.  I didn't make much GOOD personal work, unfortunately (isn't that always the way?  Finally have the time you've been dying for and inspiration flies away on leathery wings, cackling darkly as you beg for it's return?) but I did a bit of playing with color and started on a larger project-let.   Something for me.  And the internet, because I like to share.  Whether the internet likes it or not. 

I've also been doing regular warmup drawings. 

Some are good and some are...not good.  

Here are some of the good. 

Or at least, that I like. 

Also, I made this for a friend.  He wanted a picture of a giant squid. 

Finally, speaking of art stuff, if you have not yet listened to Neil Gaiman's speech at the University of Arts commencement, do so now. 

Quick update

Wow, have I been slammed lately.

So, I just realized I never said a thing about my cool opportunity, I think.  I got asked to illustrate an animated short.  SUPER exciting.  AWESOME opportunity.  UTTERLY exhausting.  

I have been continuing with my '5 hours of sleep' schedule, which I can MOSTLY pull off...but when drawing on my lunch break yesterday, I totally just fell asleep in my chair.  

However, this is definitely in the category of 'killing me but worth it'.  I want to work on personal projects.  I want to sleep.  I want to spend days goofing off.  But then I think about the project I'm working on and what it might mean for my future and how cool it is to be involved in something like this and...well, I get a second wind.  

Also, I am finding time to sneak in the occasional snippet of personal work.  I have found that doing a proper warm-up sketch at work really knocks my brain into gear, so I've been doing some photo studies and character studies.  Also, I have claimed Thursday nights for Spain.  That was my pizza night with the ex, but since he traipsed off to New Zealand, I have decided that having one night that is for ME each week is probably healthy, and on that night, I draw, or I write or I curl up on the couch with a cup of tea and a cat and read fan fiction.  

Sorry for this rambling and disjointed post.  Have I mentioned that I'm not getting as much sleep as I should?  Oh, excuses...my journals are generally rambling and disjointed.  

Here are some of my warm-up sketches: 

...and a few smatterings of fan art doodles, experimenting with style, color, and character design.  Sherlock, of course, because I am stupidly obsessed. 

(a gift doodle for a friend of mine, a response to her Sherlock/Friendship is Magic crossovers)

Anyway, until next time, kids...eat cupcakes for breakfast and watch BBC shows!   

Things That Frustrate Me - Rantlet

I love art.  I love drawing and am successfully pursuing a career in illustration.  It’s like, the best thing ever.  I see art that inspires me and want to draw stuff.  I see flaws in my work and want to get better.  I have 500 ideas I want to bring to life. 

For me, curling up and putting on some background tv and drawing for hours is pretty much the ultimate. 

And I feel like my brain should realize this and WANT to draw all the time.  It is logical.  

And instead I’ll spend hours on a day off just poking around the internet aimlessly, rather than working on anything, just because of a general feeling of ‘don’t wanna’.  

It makes me want to punch past me in the face.  Especially when present me has reached a point of ‘no more time to work on anything because I have stuff to do now’.

Now, it's not like I'm utterly lazy about it...it is possible that, right now at least, part of the problem is that I AM burning my creative candle at both ends and in the middle...I work a 10 hour creative day, work on freelance or personal work over my lunch hour, and then after going to the gym, coming home, doing quick chores and throwing something quick in my stomach for dinner, I go back to freelance or personal work.  So, by the time my first day off rolls around my brain is tired.  I want to sit on the sofa with cats on my feet and browse tumbler and read smutty fan fiction.  So, I generally spend a few hours doing exactly that.  

And I know brains need breaks.  I get that.  

But since I love art so much, I think that spending time doing art should constitute a break.  Maybe.  Or my brain could stop whining and grow a pair and I could spend the morning being productive rather than feeling depressed and guilty over doing nothing of consequence for hours on end.  

What is the up

Spring is here, conditionally at least.  I mean, we practically had no winter.  So I've made many many arts full of winter and, though blossoms are bursting everywhere, I continue to stick snow in all my pictures.  

A group on DeviantArt, of which I am a member, has started doing monthly themes (theme posted at beginning of month, draw something for theme by end of month) and for March, it was 'A Dream of Spring' -- stolen from the name of one of the upcoming Song of Ice and Fire books, because we are, largely, a bunch of geeks.  I actually had a couple of ideas, both of which include an amount of snow.  Hey, I'm just trying to pretend it's a normal March.  That's all.  Last year it was snowing until the end of April.  

This is the first of the two -- the second is still in progress, but I'll probably post some WIP pictures tonight.  

In this, I am clearly still trying -- and failing -- to do interesting and accurate things with perspective.  I swear, I'll see other artists' work in which the angle is like, some crazy 'above to the left and upside down' thing with multiple characters, and it will be perfect and like...a sketch.  Just some doodle.  'oh, I just thought I'd spend five minutes making some crazy perspective drawing of these characters for no specific reason and it was totally effortless'.  HATE them.  Whatever, plugging away here, forcing myself outside of my comfort zone.  

Well, except for my second 'ADOS' painting...it is really pretty un-daring...which is probably why I chose to develop this one first.  I'll be playing with color and value and lighting a little, but it's going to be pretty fast and dirty.  Well, hopefully not too dirty.  We shall see.  I need to finish it before...what...midnight Saturday.  And on Saturday night I'll be drinkin'...so really like, noon Saturday. Or something.  Busy weekend ahead.  

Busy everything lately.  I've discovered that I can get by on 5 or less hours of sleep a night, so I've had a little more time to work on stuff at night...but that results in me pushing it a little further each night.  When I go insane from sleep deprivation, it will not be a surprise.  I actually got 8 hours of sleep one night this past weekend and being so rested felt...very strange.  

So, I've been using my extra evening time to work on personal art and some writing (along with the requisite goofing off on the internet, obviously), and am still working on the freelance project with my friend from California, though things are going slowly, since there has been a lot of back and forth regarding the base for the packaging design, and it is really hard for me to commit to a design direction without knowing what it is going on...and yesterday I got contacted for a potential very exciting opportunity that I won't say anything about until I know more, but could be a VERY cool something and would probably result in me just writing sleep and social engagements off entirely, but I'm pretty much okay with that.  

I have now arrived at the point at which I have no more to tell, but no elegant way to wrap up this particular entry, as I suck at planning ahead in my journals.  So instead, I'm going to cop out by posting some BBC-inspired warm-up sketches from this week.  

Oh, and also a few quick studies of girls doing archery because, yeah, watched The Hunger Games and now want to draw girls doing archery:

 

Doctor Sketchy's

Last night was the grand re-opening of Doctor Sketchy’s Pittsburgh chapter after something like two years.  I have been wanting to go since first hearing about it through some other people who go to chapters in their own cities, but by the time I knew what it was, the PGH DS was no longer running.  So, I was pretty thrilled that it started up again. 

I was also terrified and surrounded by strangers and horribly socially awkward.  

I also got to draw models dressed as The Baroness, a "Japanese Tourist" and a sexy burlesque dancer (who just happened to be a fire dancer as well).  

I also got chosen for audience participation during the fire dancer performance because I looked terrified of getting picked.  

I also won an adorable vinyl Elvis for my final drawing of the night.  

I also got home at nearly 11pm and still had to shower and feed cats and fish and go to bed with wet hair. 

I don’t think I can go next month, as it is on a Sunday and starts late, but I definitely want to try to make it in may.  Any Pittsburgh-centric art people who want a fun place to draw stuff and drink booze and see people draw some stuff that may not be family friendly at all should really consider checking it out.  

Anyway, here are a few of my sketches from the longer poses: