Fanime Tidbits - "hardcore thirty or something"

Halfway through the weekend. Some Fanime tidbits:

* I watched a guy stake out the corner of the hall near my booth as his personal lightsaber skillz showcase arena. Basically a much more agile version of the infamous Star Wars Kid, done right out there in the open: at least twice as old, completely unashamed, reveling in his audience. That's the fun of cons -- letting yourself just be a big kid with no excuses and no self-consciousness. Letting go!

* Chatted with a fellow who stopped by my booth. He turned out to be a lawyer from D.C. on a business trip to San Francisco. He was told by someone back home, "Oh, you should just stay in San Jose. It'll be quiet and peacefully dead there. Nothing ever happens in San Jose." Well he showed up at the Fairmont Hotel, to find this strange thing called an anime convention going on, with a constant parade of costumes and huge crowds of people. Not exactly "peacefully dead". He took it all in stride and jumped right into the fun with a weekend pass. He was talking to me about how after seeing all the artists here, he wanted to go home and see about starting up some pro-bono work for artists. I told him there was definitely a need for that. Far too many artists naively walk into contracts that end up biting them, and there's little most artists can do about it because the size of the jobs just doesn't make it economically feasible to consult a lawyer for every contract. We learn by trial and error, and hope that we don't land into too big of an error.

Incidentally, something I recommend for anyone who has an important contract to review -- look up to see if your state has a Lawyers for the Arts group. They charge a nominal fee, but can give you very good advice, and look over contracts that you really don't want to get screwed on. Unfortunately each state has their own group, and some I hear are better than others. I have had very good experiences with California's.

* Overheard from a fan who was gushing at a neighboring artist a couple of tables over. "OMG! You're only twenty-four? I've been watching your art and I always thought you must be like this hardcore person that's like THIRTY or something."
Gah. Didn't that make me feel old!

Inklings II shipment arrived!

Well that's a huge load off my chest. I was worried that UPS wouldn't arrive in time before I had to leave for my hour long drive to the south bay tonight. Having had all kinds of UPS-woes in the past, I have low expectations; though the situation seems to have greatly improved once I moved out of an apartment and into a house instead. I used to scream curses at UPS and Fedex on a regular basis when they foiled my plans.

At any rate, Inklings II is here. I'll probably be spending a good portion of Fanime doing the cover sketches for the pre-orders. It'll give me something to do during the downtime at the show! I should have them ready to ship by the next Friday.

For any other artists looking for a POD company with good quality greyscale (NOT the laser dots that you'll see with most PODs, which incidentally was what made my search take so long, I recommend QualityPOD. Tell them that I sent you. :)

Inklings II

* $20.00 (+$15.00 for an original ink drawing on the inside cover)

* 56 pages of b&w ink drawings

* 8.5x8.5 inches, perfectbound

Unfurling

Ah ha! Managed to finish this in one day (sort of) by limiting my distractions. Approximately 15 hours of painting (with a few interruptions and a couple of short errand-walks), and maybe another 5 hours of an early start yesterday. She's given me a tough time. This was definitely one of those paintings that I struggle with on the colors the entire time. I'm still not sure I'm satisfied, but there comes a time when you just have to set it aside and let time mellow the inner critic.

* * *

"Unfurling"
13 x 18 inches
Medium: watercolors
details, prints, original, all that good stuff, *click here*

Like a strange blossom, or a butterfly emerging from its cocoon with crumpled and still-damp wings; she stretches out her tendrils. Uncoiling, unfolding, unfurling so slowly you might not notice it. She shakes her filaments, and reaches to the firmaments.

Like the turn of the seasons, one stretch-tumbling into another, and all tied in a linked cycle of no ends and no beginnings and no ends and no begin---

Like death decaying into the soil to spring out with emerald fronds of life.

Like a phoenix's flames fading...dimming...dying...to surge up in its own successor!

She tilts her head up. She closes her eyes. She feels the pulse within her: no ends, no beginnings.

Unfurling sketch

"Unfurling"
That's what my garden has slowly been doing after the most recent rains and then the heatwave. Tomato plants have shot skyward happily, and the poppies are poking through with ferny fronds.
Prepped sketch on the board for the next painting coming up, roughly based on that border ink drawing I did a couple of weeks ago. I liked it enough that I wanted to spend more time with the concept and do a full painting of it, after some revisions to make it a more balanced composition instead of a lopsided border.

13x18 inches. I wonder if I can finish this by mid Thursday when I have to leave for Fanime. I don't work well on paintings away from my desk, so it won't be coming with me; and once I return, it'll be time to start on the Phoenix chapter of Dreamscapes. Which means if this isn't done by Thursday, it'll have to be tabled for a while.

Expecting the shipment of Inklings II on Thursday as well. Cutting it close for the convention!

So, enough blogging, and start painting!

Sketches That Want to Grow Up to be Paintings

In addition to rooting through my office preparing for Fanime, I've similarly been rooting through my sketchbooks for a little project I'm not quite ready to reveal the nature of (yet). But I'm coming across various sketches that just never got the opportunity to become paintings. I've got stacks of these Strathmore recycled paper sketchbooks that I start scribbling in whenever I get into Brainstorming Mode.

These books are like a bank savings account of concepts to an artist. Random doodles. Discarded alternate poses for commissions. Lightning inspiration that fades as suddenly as it strikes. They might seem like garbage at the time of sketching. But they are a treasure trove of ideas for the future when I'm stuck and I need a good starting point for a vague idea in my head that just hasn't found the right paper incarnation yet. Sometimes I won't even take a whole sketch, but just a hand or a facial expression; but that little bit will be enough to get me out of a current rut.

I'm often asked, "Do you ever run out of ideas?" (i.e. Artist Block)

Well first of all as a professional illustrator, you can't afford to be blocked. Perhaps some pieces might be less inspired than others, but creating a composition is a lot like solving a puzzle. In a strange way, it can be as logical and straightforward as designing a computer program (says the inner programmer in me). Once you find the right spark to jump start the piece, the rest falls into place in a natural way.

And as for my personal work that is not done on commission, there's never enough time to be blocked. There's always a dozen little bits waiting to be discovered in old sketchbooks. They just need that moment to be able to see them with the right frame of mind, and suddenly the possibilities are opened.

Kicking up the Dust

A few days before any convention seems to be the time for really kicking up the dust in my studio. Diving headfirst into the closet and mounds of prints and trying to sort them out into portfolios and boxes in order to bring with me to the show. The frequency of my attending shows is spread out just enough that I have time to disperse all the products back to various corners of the house, garage, basement, and office, until the next convention rolls around. There's probably a better way of managing this, but physical organization has never been my strongest suit.

Fanime is coming up this Friday. Fortunately this one isn't too far; just an hour's drive south of where I live, in San Jose. Close to where I grew up. It's a good chance for me to hang around with old friends during the evenings, and with the few of them brave enough to venture out to see what conventions are all about. Most of them are a bit wary of the prospect. My mother-in-law came to visit me at New York Comic-con one year. She came back to my booth after an hour of exploring, and exclaimed wide-eyed, "There's someone there selling Voodoo Babies!" And we won't even go into my own mother's reaction after a quick trip to the restroom at Baycon a decade ago. Let's just say she was a bit perturbed at some wardrobe malfuctions that were being fixed up.

Taking a break for now. Experimenting with various Riccarelli recipes. Haven't quite found The One I'm looking for yet. Well, they ended up looking quite nice.

Sun Worship

"Sun Worship"

10x15 inches
watercolor
Prints, details, and original available -click here-

I walk along a dark path in a dream.

Sidewalks edged by the crashing sea. It is a strange juxtaposition. The glint of no-light on seaspray is the only illumination. But there is no scent. There is no wetness amidst the turbulence. It is curiously silent.

In the burn of morning light, the mists peel back from the ground. The last stray tendrils evaporate in the golden haze of sunlight as if physical fingers reach out to brush away the clinging tenacious cobwebs.

That strange pathway is a half forgotten vision within the first few moments of the glimmering day, so distant, a world away. The sun beckons from beyond the slated blinds, with the myriad voices of the birds, in a dozen notes, in a hundred singing dust motes. Let illusions fall away beneath this brilliance!

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Matched piece for Moonbathing from a few weeks ago: