scribbles & sketches

Not Frightened or Running

2008-07-12T00:39:57Z

drawn 2008
copic markers on paper

it's finished! this is the next print i will be selling. will post link when i have it up on my etsy store.

leslie fairy

2008-07-10T23:48:48Z

drawn 2008
copics on paper

drew this as a baby shower present for my friend, lkemp.
her request was an image of her then pregnant self as a fairy, with pink and purple wings. i finished the sketch at the shower, but i didn't get it done, however until a few weeks ago, as the gang got together for a cabin trip on the river. for awhile, i had though i had ruined the image when i started inking (outlines wwaaaayyyyy too thick).
leslie, if you want to use the art to make an lj icon, etc, consider this permission to do so. thanks again for scanning it for me. i hope you and macphile enjoy the art and the baby is adorable! much <3s to you both.

wow, i've been MIA! have tons of frakking stuff to post. will do so a little at a time.
and for those of you who are interested, photos from CAPE 4.0 live art night.

CAPE!2008 (report to follow later)

2008-05-06T04:12:14Z

thanks to mattdocmartin for the photo! it was awesome seeing you and all the YABSters!
pastel, marker and crayon on matte board
art from the Live Art Night benefit

will be posting a full con report later, with art. still recovering from CAPE.
i didn't get many photos, too busy drawing and seeing stuff. will post links to other's photos so you who didn't go can see what you missed and why you need to go next year!

it was great seeing everyone again. thanks again to all who came by my table and bought a sketch!
special thanks to wayfarersgirl for coming out, visiting and being a super nifty booth bunny for girlwithoutfear and me! i'm sooo happy i gots to see you again!

tshirt art!

2008-05-02T00:51:27Z

tshirt design from work, back imprint
pen and ink line art, scanned and vectorized, corel draw

just a quick note while i scramble to get things finished up for CAPE.
this was for a rush job at work and i'm so tickled on how it turned out that i'm posting it here.
boss, if you have a problem with it being here, let me know and i'll take it down with no hard feelings.

still trying to finish up the miss muffet print for CAPE. *crosses fingers* it's down to the wire.
stupid local kinko's, closin' at 11pm. *shakes fist at stupid local kinko's*

girlwithoutfear and i leave early tomorrow morning. expect a con report when i get home.
i'll try not to hit any deer this time on the way home. 9.9

getting ready for CAPE

2008-04-30T00:03:32Z

mixed media (digital art, drawings inked and color with copics.)
reduced to fit the web a bit better.
original size=24" x 63"

this is my banner for my table at CAPE. it should be in my hands on Thursday. can't wait for it to be back from the printer. the colors are a little off here...sorry about that. the colors were in CMYK and when it got converted to RGB, it just made things look funny.
had a minor adventure getting the art to the priner. thanks to JT over at nightgig for giving me a place to upload it.

so, i'm excited about CAPE! i hope it's even more fun than last year's. i'll be sitting by girlwithoutfear again and my dear friend wayfarersgirl will be on hand to assist us, *cough cough be our booth bunny cough cough* so that's all kinds of awesome right there.
just look for the banner and you should find me. i will once again be doing commissions, selling ashcans/mini comics and i will have art cards of superheroes/anime & manga characters to sell. plus, since they are going slow in my etsy store, i'll be selling copies of the "Save Yourself" print, and i'm finishing up a new print.

also, looking forward to the fun that is the live art night. this year, it's to benefit the ronald mcdonald house. making sure i pack extra art supplies for that. watching all these talented people create art in front of you...there's nothing like it!

i'm sad that kotasworld will not be able to attend CAPE this year, but that's the way things go, especially since he's starting school. there is always next year.
oy. just reminded myself that he and i are more than likely going to get teased mercilessly by the entire nightgig crew at next year's megacon. *facepalm*

work in progress - new print

2008-03-27T05:05:36Z

no title as of yet
work in progress
pencil on paper

jtpokie suggested at MegaCon that i do more art like the "Save Yourself" for prints. broadening the topic to include nursery rhymes, i came up with this. this will be the new print.
still working on the background, gotta flesh the trees out. very proud of that cottage in there. 8^)
gotta fix some anatomy flaws on miss muffet, but otherwise, i'm likin' it.
miss muffet's legs will be breaking the panel, dangling off the edge.

debating on whether to color with my copics or to use watercolors. *ponders*

will have the "Save Yourself" print for sale at CAPE. sales are slow right now in the etsy store.

MegaCon 2008 report

2008-03-23T02:03:41Z

drawn March 2008
MegaCon Commission for mattdocmartin
copics, brush pen, and white opaque ink

i managed to sell quite a few of the custom art cards this time. 8^) real happy about that.
i got photos of all, but i think the lighting wasn't so hot and some of the photos blurred.
will post them later.

MegaCon this year was so much cooler than last year and quite a lot has happened. This was a big one for me.

This year, instead of a booth in the small/indie press section, the < ahref="http://www.nightgig.com">nightgig</a> crew took over a load of table in the brown section of artist's alley. Instead of tons of cartoonists and comic artists crammed behind one tiny booth and fighting for chairs, we all had equal chances of foot traffic, greeting other con goers to promote our works and enough chairs for all.
The gig crew had also pooled together funds to rent a condo, similar to last year's, but in a better location. Lots of fun. 8^)
Also, we introduced jtpokie's daughter, ailish, to krispy kreme! and the "hot now" sign was lit when we got them, too. yum!

Day one started with us eating breakfast at denny's, then while the rest went to set-up, Karl graciously took me to a nearby kinko's to get copies of my ashcan made. Thanks, Karl!
I was just a little late getting back, still setting my table up as the first con attendees began to stroll through artist's alley. tim made awesome little signs out of foamboard to mark the nightgig tables.
See my previous entry for how the first day went.

Day two was much busier! the aisles were crammed with people. I didn't leave the table very much, but the one time i did, it was very frustrating to move through the throngs of people. usually the only thing i left the table for was snacks, i.e. pocky and lots of it. as a result, i didn't get to explore the con as much as last year. but this is more than made up for by being kept busy in artist's alley. didn't have too many people pick up the new ashcan, but since it's more artsy-fartsy and not a more polished piece like the blue canary one i did last year, i don't mind.
my big moment of the day was when scott wegner, the artist for atomic robo, bought a custom art card of robo.
i am proud of this one! it turned out the best.

this was also the day of the WCCA presentation. congrats to the winners.
the most fun was hanging out in the condo, joined by mark mekkes and his lovely wife, as jtpokie recorded a report for the gigcast and another episode of jt ukes at 40.

the last day was a bit slower, but by that time, we were all tired. last minute trading of ashcans and stocking up on pocky was the highlight of the day.

idea for future cons: create an image file notebook of popular comic book/manga/anime character so i can get the details right when i draw them.
so, who should i include in the book? suggestions?

Photos from the con, courtesy of myself and my fellow nightgig members:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32424945@N00/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jtpokie/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kotaotan/
i think there's more, but i don't have the links yet. will edit post when i do.

and there is a little more to the report but that's friends only. 8^D

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

in other news, my laptop is fubar. 8^(
i'm borrowing becca's for the moment.

and yay! wayfarersgirl is going to get to go to CAPE! woot!

Work In Progress

2008-03-08T03:19:45Z

oil pastel
work in progress

been meaning to post this, just haven't. *shrugs*
still working on it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

first day at megacon has gone well. it was slow, but i sold an ashcan, an art card, 2 custom art cards and a black and white sketch.
girlwithoutfear, i haven't sold any buttons... yet!

i'm taking photos of the commissions since i have no scanner here. the quality will be crappy, but it's better than nothing. i'll prolly post them here.

very excited about tomorrow, should be more people then. 8^D

hey, tanukitsune! i'll be working on your sketch for the Nightgig Sampler this weekend!

Altered Clock: It's Running Out!

2008-01-27T19:37:03Z

</center></div>

"It's Running Out!"
altered clock, collage, mixed media
26 January, 2008

ok, everything i just typed went bye-bye. *shakes fist at lj!* i do not like the insert media tag. why? why won't you do right? grrr. and if i try to edit those extra html tags to where they won't show...then it tells me "invaid video url." 9.9

my boss gave me an old clock. she has tons of them in the office as display samples to show our clients. this was an extra she didn't need. i decided to cover up the old imprint by altering it. the theme is dealing with my constant running late/procrastination problem. i'm pleased with the results. can't wait to get it working and on my wall.
i'll need to get new works. the current ones will get caught on the paper crane or scrabble tiles.

the photos were taken outside. couldn't get the lighting right inside. either washed out by the flash or too yellow by incandescent bulbs. my skills in color correction in photoshop are woefully lacking. need to work on that.

x-posted to my dA account. i won't be posting that art from dA to lj live i was. the images are just too small!
if i have to make two separate posts to make it look better, then so be it.

Commission: Lyn

2008-01-21T04:04:51Z

Commission: Lyn by ~bluecanarykit on deviant ART
portrait of just_lyn, commissioned by apexofgrace.
copics and brush pens.
8^D yay! it's complete!
wished the marker lines didn't show up so much in the background, but what can you do? *shrugs* the colorless blender wasn't much help here.

originally, i was going to have her flip the viewer the bird, but the hand refused to be drawn. I compromised and now she flips us off, British style.

Edit: accidently posted twice, oops.

Blue Canary: Caffeine Fix

2008-01-16T03:50:08Z

Blue Canary: Caffeine Fix by ~bluecanarykit on deviant ART

First page of a 6 page story originally drawn for my ashcan comic for last year's cons. Polished it up with a splash of color and it will be in this year's Nightgig Sampler. Wish this DA things weren't so small on my lj, though. i'd like for the preview to be bigger. *shrugs*

Apologies to Tim & madscott for my delays. sorry to be the last to turn her pages in. *hides head in shame* Blame all printing delays and some such on me.

Now, i have to draw a new 6 page story to replace this one (can't sell the black and white right by the color verison!) and, if i want another ashcan, 2 more stories. I better get crackin'!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

My wacom tablet started acting up yesterday. The eraser nib worked, the wacom mouse worked, the pen nib on my stylus would not. However, i talked with wacom tech support tonight and they are shipping me a new one. Yay!

chasing snow faeries

2008-01-06T05:01:44Z

Chasing Snow Faeries by ~bluecanarykit on deviant ART

first art of the new year.
i bought a wacom tablet last night. 8^) enjoying it muchly.
drawn this morning using Corel Painter Essentials 3.0.

also, notice the DA account? that's where i'll put finished works. i'll prolly crosspost it here, too. sketches will still remain here. i'm not going to put sketches up at DA unless it's of a fannish nature.

still have some stuff i'm gifting to people to finish. lots to draw. lots to do.
apexofgrace, still working on the drawings of you and lyn.

bluecanarykit @ 2007-12-24T19:56:00

2007-12-25T02:18:06Z

danny and darliss, ken's parents, have been so wonderful and supportive to me. i'm always touched and flattered that they keep asking me to visit and invite me to family holiday dinners.

this year is no exception.
now, these wonderful people have surprised me beyond measure.
they bought me a laptop for christmas! i just, don't know what to do, other than continue to profusely thank them and let all the world know just how generous they have been to me.

*insert tears and stupid grin here*

brush pen sketch

2007-12-07T04:32:07Z

brush pen on paper
2007

just a quick, little sketch i did a few months back and never posted.
enjoy!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

my altered book nears completion, but, alas! the binding it starting to fall apart. i didn't cut enough pages out in the beginning and the added items, such as the disected 3" floppie disk, add to the thickness, causing strain on the binding. *sigh* i'm hoping book glue will fix all ills.

starting drawing in the second altered book. did some prep work on it over at girlwithoutfear's house as we watched "tin man" earlier this week. i took more pages out of it tonight. hopefully, i won't have the same problems with this book. 8^)

oh! and dad ordered my christmas present this week!! yay! now i won't have to panic when my copics start drying up!

fangirl squee moment: david mack's kabuki: the alchemy #9 is out! i'm in the letters section. o.0 (thanks, david! you're an inspiration. can't wait to see what the next kabuki storyline will be like!)
back at CAPE 3.0, < shameless plug>you really need to attend CAPE next year! i don't care who you are! it's fun and free! </plug>, i tracked him down and gave him a pressed four-leaf clover. i think i found, like, 10 or so of them back in march and pressed them for collage material.
he mentioned in an email that he collaged it into the book! *sssqqquuueee!* i will be getting an issue of it shortly. it should be excellent art and writing as always.

lastly, i need to edit the sizes for the web, but i took some awesome photos of an abandoned store in Cord, AR last month. will post here and x-post to rural_ruin soon.

hey! who's that playin'? hey! the guitar!

2007-11-07T02:40:21Z

pencil on paper
Nov. 5, 2007

i've been thinking more and more that the character of amelia will become a musician. plus this was just fun to draw. besides the guitar, i'm also thinking of having her play the mandolin.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Went to my first TMBG concert this past weekend, with girlwithoutfear. it was very awesome. TMBG put on a good show. the opening band was great, too. got their cd and a giants sticker for my little car.
i'm working on a sketch to commerate this historic event. will post it soon. right now, flansy is drawn, but linnell is hard to capture on paper.
the only down thing is that ken couldn't be here with me. he loved the giants as much as i do and i know he would've had so much fun at the concert. i kept imagining him there, expecting to see him by me if i turned my head.

right now, photos! sorry for the poor quality. forgot my camera and had to use the one on my phone.

setlist-not much lighting so it's hard to see. there's a sketch of a sleeping cat in the lower left corner that my thumb obscured. oh well.

best moments of the concert:

flansy was singing "Spy", and instead of the big dramatic "sssspppyyy!" at the end of the song, he started singing "kum bah yah." linnell and the rest of the band had a "wtf?" look on their faces as all music stopped. some of the audience sang along and waived their hands inthe air. when looked like he was done, he then started on the 2nd verse! i lol'd!

discovered that linnell's accordian is named "main squeeze" according to the little engraved plaque on it.

when flansy jokingly threatened to throw an axel rose type hissy and walk due to the lack of smoke, several folks in the fronts row obliged by lighting up a certain illicit substance. alice later heard from someone as they passed by, (do they follow the band like deadheads or do they know or work with TMBG? we don't know) that even the drummer could smell it!

they sang "Birdhouse in Your Soul"! *sssqquueeee!*

girlwithoutfear

quilt project

hunka hunka burning chibi

2007-11-01T00:37:04Z

"Chibi Elvis"
Thanks to girlwithoutfear for the suggestion.
pencil on paper
Oct. 29, 2007

Yup, nuthin' says "Happy Halloween" quite like Elvis. still waitin' on the trickertreaters to show. so far, nothing. it's said when you've got a big bowl of candy ready to share and no one seems to want to come by. *shrugs*
what i can't eat, i'll take to work. *evil grin* share the calories!

asqmh nudged me to update. haven't felt artsy lately. *sigh* best cure to that, and i have to constantly remind myself everytime i get like this, is to get up off my butt, get paper and pencil and start drawing.

also, first update from a mac. safari does not have the built in edit tools to link the lj user names and such. i shall have to look them up the hard way and hope lj reads the code right. if not, sorry for the sloppy entry.

"up on the fire escape"
Inspired by the song "Up to the Roof" by Blue Man Group (vocals by Tracy Bonham)
pencils on paper
Oct. 29, 2007

Love, love, love that song! had this idea in my head for awhile now. info on the song can be found in the album blog here.
will be coloring this one.
lyrics to the chorus surround the image. i would make it into a print, but since it has someone's lyrics on there, i don't know about that. don't want to get sued.

Dealing with my issues

2007-09-20T02:48:49Z

oil pastel
painting in progress

when Becca and i moved in to our new place, i noticed that my coffee table, an Ikea cheapie, had a busted leg. It was broken right where it screws into the tabletop with no possibility of fixing it. I decided to remove the remaining legs and turn the top into art.

I prepped the surface with clear gesso and waited for an idea. About a month went by.

The words in the background are from an english translation of a sonnet by Pablo Naruda. Becca turned me on to his poetry. She was showing me and girlwithoutfear this as we were listening to a recording of the choir she was in at KU. the choir had a performance with a theme on love and grief. this poem has been set to music and as we listened, Becca told us about the poem. Once she reread it, however, she didn't want to show it to me, thinking it would hurt.
It did, but i just can't keep avoiding stuff do to the pain. i'm eschewing the annual district fair this year because of memories, but i know i don't need to let it become an excuse. anyhow, after reading this touching and heartfelt poem. i knew i had my answer to my painting.
i ran out of room, so that's not the complete poem and i messed up and accidently switched a couple of lines around.

we'll see where this painting goes. i still miss Ken. not a day goes by that i don't wish he was still here.

more random sketches-concepts for kid's book art

2007-08-11T18:32:19Z

becca reading
pencil on paper
drawn 7 Aug 2007

ah, the new house. moved out of dad's back at the beginning of the month. jocelyncee's sister, rebecca, has moved back home to finish her music degree at ASU. most evening this past few weeks has seen us just reading, unpacking and watching dvds.

it feels so good to be on my own again. the house itself is a gorgeous old 2 story that was split into 2 seperate apartments. our is downstairs. the neighborhood it's in is very pretty and we have a front porch! can't wait for the weather to cool down a bit here so i can walk in the area and sit on the porch and draw.

haven't had a chance to get interwebs hooked up at the house yet. will get on that soon.

annie & buddy
concept sketches for "scaredy cat"
drawn 7 Aug 2007

i'm working with becca's mom, elizabeth, on a children's book she's writing.
here are some of the concept sketches for the characters.

annie, xandra & buddy
more concept sketches
drawn 7 Aug 2007

Posted using TxtLJ

2007-08-09T00:20:51Z

Still unpacking boxes @ the new place i'm sharing with jocelyncee's sister. If u could ever truely <3 a place, we do. The house is beautiful!
More later.

"the mark is on my arm, the mark is on my arm, we'll send in the air and it'll cause some alarm"

2007-07-23T04:14:36Z

brush pen on paper
7-22-07
the dark mark

had a blast with face painting at the potterparty.hillarygayle's prediction that the dark mark would become one of my biggest requests that night came true. there was also lots of painting house symbols, owls, snitches, lightening bolt scars, etc. lots of good times.
when someone first requested the dark mark, i had to think fast to design one! i then just kept repeating the design for the rest of the night. one kid came back and had me do one on his other arm, too! o.0 i guess he wanted to be twice as bad as everyone else.

the kids kept me busy right up until...about 10-15 minutes 'til midnight. very busy. helped clean up a bit so got home later, aroun 1-1:30. read until 4 am, collapsed into sleep, woke at 11 and finished at 5pm yesterday. been rereading bits because i know i read it too fast!

only bad bit about the potterparty was i couldn't hang out-i was too busy. at least the painting was fun. i did feel i goofed some of the painting up, but no one complained, which means to me that everyone was satisfied.

called ladykeats and we gabbed and gabbed about HP7. we both agreed that it was a roller coaster type of book. 8^) i want to read it again.

alas, my digital camera is still missing. no photos from me. i was too busy to take them anyway.
will post links to the fun when i find them. please tell me, hillarygayle, that you have photos! please! what about you, asqmh?

edit: forgot to mention, the subject line is lyrics from philosopherock's very funny "the real mad-eye moody." go get their cd!

posted by request from hillary

2007-07-23T03:48:12Z

hillary, brittanie and ganon at the mall
7-10-07
copics

another page from my altered book. it's nearing completion.

was hanging with the ladiez when i decided to sketch a bit. above is the result. i have discovered in scanning this image that the copic color "cool shadow" is a lot like non-photo blue: it really doesn't reproduce very well. i can't see it at all in the scan. 8^( ah, well. *shrugs*

chemistry geek humor

2007-07-18T03:52:06Z

"convert to moles"
17 july 2007
copics and pen on paper

back in the fall, i overheard hillarygayle, starry_midnight and mustangtracy talking about chemistry homework. they kept saying something about "converting to moles" before working the equations...0.o and this is what my mind produced.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

oh! congrats to wayfarersgirl - check this out! she and her sisters have several gigs this week. break a leg, ya'll! 8^)

and speaking of harry potter, i've volunteered to help out at the local b&n potter party. they've asked me to do face painting. now i must to find face paint! 0.o so far, hobby lobby has been a bust. boo.
not for sure if the acrylics i have would work. i know very well that my watercolors won't and i don't want something that would stain or cause angry parentage. that would suck.

most of my art so far has been in my altered book. will post that soon.

and lastly, end of the month i'll be moving out of dad's! i'll be sharing an apartment with jocelyncee's sis, becca. very excited about this. however, i'm scrambling to make sure i have enough for deposits, first months rent and payin' my current bills! *out of breath*

tentacle pron bad pun alert!

2007-06-04T05:45:35Z

pencil on paper
drawn 3 June 2007

for the record, i think the heroes for hire #13 cover is sexist and disgusting. bravo to divalea for the remix of it. it improves it 100%, but IMHO marvel would be better off with a totally different cover altogether. not to say that cover artist, sana takeda, isn't a good artist. it's just this cover concept that i don't like. i don't look at that cover and see strong, female characters. i see fanboys drooling and, and...ewwww. >.<
there are tons of better and far more eloquent posts against this cover out there on the web than i could ever write. go check out When Fangirls Attack and scoll for links about H4H.

so, upon hearing tentacle pron being discussed in lots of places due to this cover, a visual pun entered my head. truly, i have a twisted mind when it comes to bad puns. 9,9 true tentacle pron is squids and octipi ogling magazines featuring other cephalopods in suggestive poses. this is as close as i will ever get to tentacle pron manga or anime. i will go no closer.

i'm thinking of inking and coloring this sketch. i love bad puns.

"Save Yourself"

2007-05-29T05:16:47Z

completed 28 May 2007
copics and white ink

prettywendylady, here's your commission!
details on prints coming soon

Edit 5-29-07 @ 12:30 a.m. : prints for sale here! 8^D

bluecanarykit @ 2007-05-27T19:41:00

2007-05-28T00:51:10Z

altered book, mixed media
photos by alice woodside
2007

progress on the altered book from this entry.
i'm almost done. i still have some blank pages to deal with and some pages to glue together.
alice was experimenting with her camera and volunteered to take the photos. thanks, alice!

i don't know what has happened to my camera. i saw it last saturday and haven't seen it since. 9.9 oy.
there are more pages that we didn't get photos of, but hopefully i'll get some of those soon.

this project has been one of the most therapeutic for me. i'm starting to get a feeling that i can do things again.

more pages soon.