Underpainting

February 28, 2009

Yesterday afternoon's work: a burnt umber & white underpainting of Ian. Next week, I'll glaze color over it. I'm pretty happy with the likeness, though I made him slightly older. I don't know why it's easier for me to pull out form when I'm starting with a dark or neutral background, than a white one. But it's so much easier for my eye and hand to work together when I do.

Why That Favor I'm Doing You Isn't Done Yet

February 26, 2009

John Scalzi hit one out of the park today with his "10 Things to Remember About Authors" post. I want to replace 'author' with 'artist/art director/writer' and send the entire thing to oh… hmm… about 40 people. Only I'd call it "10 Reasons Why That Favor I'm Doing You Isn't Done Yet."

Especially this bit:

3. Authors have lives: Writing is not all we do. …

…we authors also have some required and desired physical and mental activities. We need to eat, sleep, poop, (somewhat more rarely) exercise and (even more rarely, alas) get laid. We may also choose to pursue activities that have no immediate profitable purpose but which refresh our brains through amusement: Watching TV, playing sports, arguing with people about absolutely pointless things online, collecting stamps, traveling, attending conventions or conferences, staring at pictures of other nekkid people, and so on and so forth. Likewise, there are some things we would prefer not to do but have to anyway, like take out the trash, do the laundry, pay the bills, call up publishers/editors and ask where our damn money is, be civil to people we don’t like but have some reason not to say “kindly piss off, would you?” to, attend meetings or therapy, and so on. While none of these things is directly related to writing, it’s likely without doing them, our interest and/or capacity for writing might be in some way compromised.

And beyond these things are the “Life is a drunk driver and you’re the poor bastard pedestrian what just stepped into the crosswalk” items … because it’s hard to be creative/funny/interesting/engaged in writing when your world is falling apart around you. This isn’t asking for an extra dollop of sympathy. It’s pointing out that being creative often works best in congenial surroundings.

Preach it, brother!

I sometimes mention on this blog that I have about 16 free hours a week, once all my work obligations, classes, homework for classes, and chores and commuting are done. Seriously. 16-20 is about right, and that's with usually only sleeping for 4-5 hours a night. I have to cram in social time and favor-doing into those hours. Factor in that I'm surrounded by people for whom face time = love, and I feel like I'm constantly disappointing people.*

So trying to jam in doing favors for people is… well, tough. Very tough. On the order of mucking out the Augean Stables tough. And all I've got is a thimble. Be patient. I'll get there. Eventually.

*I'm not one of those people. The amount of love I feel for someone has very little to do with how often I see them in person, and a lot more to do with how much I talk to them. If I'm making the sacrifice of my free time to spend face time with you because I know you like me to do that -- I like you a LOT. Not even my mother sees me as much as she wants, and she lives less than five miles from me. If, however, I'm chatting with you on IM and calling you and emailing you -- I'm very, very fond of you.

through a gel darkly

February 25, 2009

For the last few weeks now in Saturday's color theory classes, we've been painting either still lifes, models, or color wheels. Only, to make it more difficult for me, I have to paint the subject while looking through a color gel.

Like so:

And so:

This isn't nearly as easy as it looks.

Sunken Treasure media kit

February 24, 2009

My Best Internet Acquaintance, Wil Wheaton, has released his Sunken Treasure chapbook out to the general public, and now you can buy a copy of your very own without having to go see him at a convention. You can also get it in PDF format, if you don't want to wait for a hard copy. Buy both, what the hell!

If you haven't yet read any of Wil's work, Sunken Treasure is a great introduction. His writing is authentic, witty, and heartfelt. I've enjoyed watching him hone his skills as a writer on his blog over the last couple of years, and in Sunken Treasure, he's really hit his stride and come into his own voice. It's "This American Life" for geeks. I've urged quite a few friends to go and read his blog, and now I'm strongly suggesting you all check out his book to get a feel for what his longer books are like.

If you'd like to promote the book by passing out flyers, as it happens, I've also done a media kit for Sunken Treasure. How about that? When Wil asked me if I was down to do a media kit for Sunken Treasure, my answer was HELLS YEAH! I believe in supporting the members of the Creative Geek tribe as best I can, and this is a great way to do it. You can get the media kit right here, from me, until such time as it goes up at Monolith Press.

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