A Moment

A Moment of Music

5.3x7 inches
ink on bristol board
original for sale -here-

A bit of a breather today. Had a chance to do a couple of ink drawings. I haven't touched my piano in almost a month. I think this one was a subconscious reminder to let my fingers relieve their itch. Perhaps later tonight.

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Moonshadows
5.3x7 inches
ink on bristol board
original for sale -here-

I had this sketch languishing in my sketchbook for a while now. It was a first pass at brainstorming ideas for the illustration I did for "Sultana Lena's Gift" for Realms of Fantasy Magazine, some time ago. The final painting focused more on the mechanical bird, but I had some initial ideas to center more on Lena.

Black Knight of Dark Night

Black Knight of Midnight

Size: 19x18.5
Medium: watercolor
Detail closeups: -here-
Prints and original available: -here-

The third and final piece in the series, "The Witch's Three". Baba Yaga's trio of knights. I particularly had fun painting the tree in this one, getting the upper branches to fade into the shadows the way I had in mind. I mentioned in an earlier post about a tree I once saw with huge swirling roots that inspired this. Here it is:

Photo from 2004. It's an enormous ficus tree at a botanical garden on Kaui'i. I loved the swirling ridges that the roots shaped. Anyway, the tree in this Black Knight painting is not a ficus, but definitely borrowed from the shaping of this photo.

Black Knight progress & keyword cards

Finally got started painting this yesterday. I find it frustrating that the less time I have to paint, the more I procrastinate about finally setting brush to fresh sketch. These days I only have a couple hours that I can snatch in the middle of the day, and then evenings. But often by the time evening rolls around, my brain is too tired to really engage in a piece.

It's not as hard to get myself sketching, but for some reason getting the colors in mind and actually starting to paint starts to get intimidating. As if too much time to think about it, just gives time for the anxiety to start ratcheting up.

I've been frequently asked in emails what do I do about artist block, and I never really had an answer for that in the past, because I didn't ever feel like I got blocked at all. But I think now I do have an answer for it: If you're feeling blocked or unmotivated, perhaps the answer is just that you're not drawing/painting enough.

When time spent art-making becomes too precious, then the pieces themselves start to become imbued with this sense of "preciousness" -- this need to be perfect. One can't get caught up in that, because then a painting becomes about the expectation, and not the actuality of doing and creating. Sure it's nice to have a finished piece at the end of the day, that you're proud of. But as soon as a painting is done, it's on to the next one, the next story to grip and involve, the next process and evolution.

My minutes and hours have become precious, and it forces me to feel that each line and stroke and color choice has to be important. It has made staring at a white sketch laid out on a board intimidating, and it surprises me that I can revert to such a state after being immersed in creating paintings day after day for so many years. It reminds me that I can't take for granted the ease I have with creative processes. It's something that comes with practice and has tto be maintained.

It's why last week I did a couple of quick paintings, trying a spontaneous shakedown to just jump into mini-paintings without over-thinking them. I think I'll need to do those more often!

Despite a couple of scheduling setbacks, I've managed to make some good headway in this piece. And after the initial dragging of the feet, I'm eager to dive into it now!

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And a few more keyword sketch cards for a batch of orders going out next week.

left to right: dna, unicorn, yeehaw, wolf, fulfillment

Night Magic

I was reviewing some of the keyword card sketches I've done in the past year, with some thoughts of starting to gather together ink drawings for the next installment of an Inklings book. I came across, for keyword "nostalgia". On this evening when the cricket-orchestra is loud outside my screen door, it stirred some thoughts.

My own nostalgia frequently coalesces from my memory in the form of fireflies.

I left Summit, New Jersey when I was 7 years old, and there are no fireflies in the places I have lived in California. I remember nights that seemed so black and muggy you were swimming through them. The voices of the older kids I played with bounced from the trees around me as we delved into the darkness. Were there flashlights? I don't remember. I remember the blinking pinpricks of light. I remember the pine trees, and fragrant needles underfoot. And fireflies piercing the fabric of the night. I remember catching the sparks in our cupped palms, and watching them glint from inside the glass jars.

I was squeamish of bugs. Elizabeth was the tomboy, the oldest girl, and the alpha of our group. She would pick up caterpillars from the tree outside my house, hold them between her fingers as they slowly curled up into a tight fuzzy black and yellow ball, and then wriggle straight and arch again in a mesmerizing fashion. She would try to put them in my palm, and I would just stare at her with my fists clutched tight behind my back, shaking my head emphatically, "No no no." She would casually pass her hand across the thread of a dangling emerald-green inchworm, and offer me that living writhing jewel. Sometimes I would tentatively take the proffered gifts. I wanted the older kids to like me and didn't want to be excluded from all their games.

But the fireflies needed no social prod to fascinate me, to entice me into chasing after their sparking flashes, and capture their blinking lights in my hands. They transcended being insectile. They were summer magic. Inevitably, after capture, they would glow and flash in our jars for a while, but then the lights would fade, like banked coals. We watched hopefully, but when they lay dark and still, merely insects once again, we reluctantly unscrewed the jars and let the cloud of lights lift up into the night.

Black Knight finalized sketch

Finalized sketch for Black Knight of Midnight!

Lots of Ink Drawings, and Etsy Update (at last!)

A bunch of ink drawings that I did during the quieter moments at Dragoncon. Fortunately, there weren't too many "quiet moments" -- it was an extremely busy show, I'm happy and thankful to say!

Dragon and fox themed. Well, I did happen to be at DRAGONCON, and foxes were on the mind because a friend had lent me the book The Fox Woman, by Kij Johnson. It was a quick, but engrossing read, and I recommend it to any fairytale/folktale or kitsune lovers.

Leap
6.5x9 inches
ink on bristol board

Faery
5x6.7 inches
ink on bristol board

Dragon
5.5x6.5 inches
ink on bristol board

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A batch of ACEOs. These are all available at my etsy shop, ranging from $18.00-$25.00

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And finally, a big batch of pendants. New designs from recent paintings will be coming in the next month or so.

Dragoncon, keyword sketches, and rethinking black knight

A couple more days until Dragoncon. Packpackpacking. It's a little bit easier that I just had a show this past weekend, so at least all my print inventory is in order. It's just a matter of figuring out how to distribute everything into my suitcases and carry-on. Heavy bags -- augh.

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Bunch of keyword cards I've been negligent about uploading.

clockwise: beauty, siblings, journey, dragon, submission, guardian

from the left: jewel, dragon, tree, oblivion, dreams

harmony, fox, medusa, beauty

clockwise: weatherwax, butterfly, joy, monster, sweetness, roots, oak, hedgewitch

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Rethinking the black knight sketch. I think I like the other composition better. Going with this one instead.... Though who knows, after a week away from it at a convention, I might come back to change my mind again. I'm beginning to think that when I have more time to paint, paintings are just EASIER. I don't have time to question my own judgment - which can be a good and bad thing!