Gencon Exhaustion & Etsy Update

Whew, back from Gencon. Pretty exhausted now, but it was a good weekend. Thanks everyone who stopped by the booth!

I was introduced to the art of Omar Rayyan, who was the guest of honor this year. A different approach to the application of watercolors from my own with a whimsical fairytale touch. Which he somehow managed to maintain even when he painted gritty or bizarre subject matter.

Just this very quick update before I go crawl into and fall unconscious in bed (MY bed! It always feels so good to be home after a trip). But I wanted to post a bunch of things on Etsy. So here they are:

*14 new original paintings available* - these were the pieces that I did for White Wolf's Mage Tarot a while back. The Cups suit. Prices range from $125.00 - $275.00





*a bunch o' pendants* - new designs and old. As always, if you ever see a design I've sold in the past that you like, I'm happy to recreate it. $25.00 each.

Zodiac Scribblings - Gemini

A few more sketches. It was hard to motivate myself to get much sketching done today because it was so hot! I wanted nothing more than to stretch out on the couch with the fan next to me and a tall glass of icy water, and maybe snooze a bit. But I'm trying to keep myself to an early schedule for the next couple days because I leave for Gencon on Wednesday morning, in Indianapolis, and I'll have to be getting onto that earlier time zone. Might as well stick with the hours I've been doing lately and make things easier for myself.

Going to try and get all 12 sketched out before I start painting. Partially because for now I'm still awaiting feedback from the art director, so I can't really proceed anyway. But also because the deadline for the cover piece comes first, before all the interiors! Marketing department needs a cover to start advertising as soon as possible. This makes things a bit tricky for me since it means I have to figure out the gist of all 12 paintings within the next two months so that it can be incorporated into the cover.

Dreamscapes 2 had a similar situation, where the cover was required far in advance of the interior material. That was easier to deal with however because the cover didn't necessarily have to reflect the interior pieces, just to encompass the general theme.

* * *

1st sketch. Toyed with it a bit. Might use it someday for something else, but it wasn't really calling to me for this.

2nd sketch. Liking this one much better. Hopefully the art director does too.

Had to modify the format of the image a bit too from the sketches I did the previous few days, as my contact initially forgot to mention that the pieces didn't take up the full page area. The right margin of the 12x12 inch calendar is needed for all the astrological information.

Madly Matting

Past few days have been spent doing one of my least favorite things -- matting. Lug out the heavy mat cutter from its storage in the closet, dig out the sheets of mat board from behind the piano where they spend most of their time serving as sound dampeners (piano in a mostly empty, hardwood floor room is loud!), and set about measuring and cutting. Preparation for Dragon*con, though unfortunately I will miss actually attending that one in person this year! But I will be at both Comic-con (next week), and Gencon (next month).

Though I hate the mat cutting part, what is a little bit more fun is what I do after I've cut them. For convention auctions, I like to do a bit of custom ink art on the borders to make each piece unique. Here's a couple that were just finished today:

Upcoming Appearances:

Shadowscapes will be at San Diego Comic-Con from July 23-26. Look for me at booth #4813, listed under Ruth Thompson's Tarnished Images. If you have any requests for books/originals/prints that you would like me to bring to the show, now is the time to ask for it. Feel free to drop me a note with your requests.