Tag Archives: cartage

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Paints, Pebbles, and Progress

Here’s a smattering of updates for your perusing pleasure:

Alice Moran painting: Slowly but surely, she’s coming along. Finished underpainting & non-churned water (more or less), started background details (city & sky). Remember all those remarks about dormitory lighting when I was working on the M. Moran? My latest location isn’t any better. Here’s a snapshot of the mildly methodical madness from a few days ago:

amoran_p1
The mildly methodical madness goes like so:

  1. Lay down a colored wash
  2. Get those big blocks of color painted (water & sky)
  3. Apply detailed layers from background to foreground
  4. The intervene-whenever-you’d-like step: when done for the day, say “Gosh, look at all those leftover bits of mixed paint on the palette,” and use them somewhere before they dry out.

Do You Have a Pebble in Your Pocket?: Finished revisions & started transferring images to canvas paper. That means I’ll be able to start painting tomorrow or Saturday.

Seagull & Spoon: I revised the story a few days ago and have since relegated it to the backburner whilst I figure out a title and just what to do with this quirky turkey.

Cartage: Continuing to develop designs. Last night I spent the better part of an hour researching and sketching shopping cart designs for a high-speed chase scene down the deli meat aisle. (There’s not actually a chase scene, but there is a rollicking ride on a shopping cart.)

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Hopping Happenings

It’s hard to believe we’re already more than halfway through June! Things are hop-pening as I bounce between many projects every day. Here’s the latest.

Do You Have a Pebble in Your Pocket?: Met with the author last week to review rough drafts. No major compositional changes are needed–hooray! The author also explained her vision for the artwork, which was helpful as I finalize the spreads before painting. Consequently, I borrowed some field guides from the library to research what plants, animals, etc., I could incorporate. Learning about regional wildlife is fun, too.

Alice Moran: After a lot of sketching and rethinking the composition, I’m ready to start painting.

Cartage: My graphic short story project (“graphic” as in “graphic novel,” and “visual,” not “gory”). If you’re wondering what a graphic short story is, good question! It doesn’t actually exist as a genre yet. I came up with the idea 2 1/2 years ago and recently resumed figuring out just how it works. Last month, I submitted Cartage (text only) to a short story contest; in the meanwhile, I decided to move the art part along–currently designing characters and learning to draw a Mojave Wrangler. It doesn’t look like this. =)

Splugger

Other Story Endeavors: Completed a rough draft of a children’s book about a seagull and a spoon, which has turned into a bit of an odd bird (the book, not the spoon–the seagull is already an odd bird). It could either end up demonstratively quirky for elder children or significantly reduced for younger ones. Or both. We’ll see where, if, and when it goes. For those of you who are familiar with the event that sparked this story, yes, the spoon is plastic and orange.

Additionally, I’m working on plot outline for a new script and revisiting some John Churchmouse; once some other projects are nearer completion, it’ll be his turn again to hop on the scene.

Hop, hop, and away!

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Summer Summary

A week ago I finished the rough drafts for John Churchmouse (very rough, but workable enough to proceed towards more finished art). Then I went out of town and, now back, am ready to advance. Despite the approaching term (which means back to intern work) and corresponding preparations, I can still squeeze some storybuilding into the schedule. =)

Summary of summer projects’ progress:

  1. Completed first draft of The Antiquary libretto
  2. Revised libretto several times to arrive at current and final draft (with obligato perpetual tweaking)
  3. Revised and formatted Terry Treble Writes Rhythm, with subsequent edits to it and Terry Treble & Letter H Write Rhythm
  4. Revised John Churchmouse text (final form)
  5. Completed rough drafts for JC spreads
  6. Thumbnails & other exploratory sketches for Cartage
  7. Watercolor sketches (thistles, daffodils) & note card possibilities (tested tulips)
  8. And, of course, the “Just Married” seashell sign (Congratulations, N&H!)