Getting back on.

So I see that I have been neglecting this blog much too long. I didn't plan on it. Really I didn't. I guess I just fell off the wagon, and when one falls off the wagon it can sometimes be very hard to get back on (you know how fast wagons go - once they start speeding down that bumpy wagon highway, well, your running self just can't keep up). The truth is that life took over. There were mishaps alongs the way; I moved (once again), became swamped with freelance work, the car broke down once more (remember the lemon?). I also became very ill and multiple doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. Months of bloodwork tests and a great doctor later, I'm feeling better and getting back on track. So you see, a move and being ill can really derail everything (including the wagon that you're on - those are some serious bumps in the road).

But, in the meantime, I was still finding time for creating art. I tried my hand at mosaic (a lot of fun, yet tiring in a strange, slow, fry-my-brain kind of way). I also took a screen printing course and started setting up a make-shift print studio with a buddy of mine. I also have a few other projects I've started up.

Now I plan on being better about posting here since this blog helps me stay on track. I'll try hard. Really.

Really.

(I can't believe I've been absent for almost a year!)

Mumas (moo-mas)

These are the things that live in my head.

There were dark things that lived in the nooks and crannies in my room as a child, and they only came out when I would go to bed at night. I couldn't see them, but I knew they were there. They were faceless and gray, covered in dust and lint, coming and going from dark and desolate places.

I would lay as still as possible in the hopes that I would dissolve into the blankets and bedsheets, become one with my pillows, because I knew they were watching.

Always watching.

Just watching.

And as they watched, I'd fall asleep in my frozen state.

In the morning my grandmother would come in and find me still in bed, afraid of getting up because there might be a muma under my bed, ready to snake out and grab at my bare foot. She'd look under the bed, swatting the floor underneath with her hand, and cheerfully declare that there wasn't anything under there except dust bunnies as she'd pull one out to show me.

I on the other hand knew that those weren't dust bunnies. That was the stuff that the mumas left behind, the stuff that rolled off their gray cloaks.

For Illustration Friday: linked. Three linked figures representing my childhood fear of dust bunnies.

The Rescue (in progress).

Still a ways to go, but figured I'd post it anyway.

Close up to show some of the gold detail.

(Low light and no flash, so color is a bit skewed.)

In progress scan.

Blackline.

Illustration Friday: Expired

The sketch after it was scanned and the line-work darkened.

Ready for transfer to a larger surface.

Snapshot taken with my rinky-dink camera.

I figured I'd better post this now or it would never make it into this week's Illustration Friday. I haven't done an IF post in over three months (look at me talking like I've done sooo many of these when I've only done one before). Plus I figured that since I'm such an absentee blogger.... well, you get the gist.

I actually drew this for Expired thinking I would sketch it so small, and so simple, that I could complete and create a color version all in the span of a few days. Of course, I didn't consider my schedule of many, many other important things that I had to accomplish this week, nor the fact that my right shoulder was still trying to heal up and that any movement within the length of my arm, including the hand, would just set me back another day of being an invalid (more on this shoulder nonsense in another post since I know how much all of you enjoy hearing about my misfortunes).

Of course I fell into the same pit I always do. I started on a small, scrap-sized piece of paper. This not being adequate enough (I had no room to think for goodness sake!), I moved up to my medium sized 6" x 9" sketch book, making a huge jumbled mess of useless sketches. I then realized that I needed even more room to think, so I moved up another size to my 12" x 12" book. Gah!

Gah!

And I still thought I could complete a stained and colored version (still disregarding the ever-all-important to-do list).

Well, I had to give in to the more important things. One has to be an adult sometimes - really - sometimes. (I mean, you can't be an adult all the time because then life would be really boring. How droll.)

I'm actually really excited about this sketch.... so many ideas for this running through my noggin. This was pretty dark stuff coming out of my head (so dark it was blinding! hehe ( ....ok... that was cheesy)).