Bunzum's Ex Libris

Recently, I was commissioned to do a bookplate for a 3-year-old who loves to tell stories. Something which could serve in the coming years as she grew up and read more books. The parents wanted something including her favorite plushies and the stories she tells about their ongoing "battle" for the basement. 'Cause children always have armies of mice & bats led by rats & rabbits, right? It's such a fun idea, I wanted to do something using household goods as materiel, but that was getting really complicated for a 3x4-inch block... So I got to come up with some cozy images of the protagonists reading together up during a lull in the fight.

The alphabet behind them is a nod to this excellent dresser the kid uses, composed entirely of drawers shaped like giant wood type.

After a serious, all-day printing session, the bookplates are drying prior to posting off to their anxious patrons. Some photos of the print session. : )

Now, I hope I have time to make our holiday candy... luckily Lisa wrapped all our presents this year. Off to do all the (remaining) things!

Some Bookplates I'd Neglected

Somehow, these two bookplates slipped through and didn't get shared (except with their commissioner, of course). He asked that I kindly wait until after his friend's birthday, but then I plum forgot... for almost 2 years.

Here's a matched pair of bookplates for a client in Australia (other-side-of-the-globe art) from 2011. The theme was SF/F. The blank spaces in each were to be filled by the client's and his friend's names. I carved them rubber stamps for the purpose.

Nautilii Herds for Fun and Profit?

At the request of Lisa Grabenstetter, I drew some Fiji mercreatures herding (or hunting?) some giant nautilii. Because you do. I'll take any excuse to play around more with my new Pentel Aquash brushpen. It's one of my favorite tools, now. Great variety of line, and always carrying a color wash! (these are walnut ink, undiluted in the resevoir)

Sketch Spillover

I've been kinda slumping this year on bigger projects, so here's a sketch dump. Not sure what of these I've posted before, if any, so forgive me if I'm repeating myself.

Nat'l Cathedral Bishop's Garden bench, some creature thumbs & a rat sage.

Fairy concepts for garden sculpture.

Beasts of burden.

Pen doodle. Mutant at a space bar.

1st round sketches for Thorn Apples album cover.

Final design for the Thorn Apples.

Final exterior & interior album art for "Oops, It's the Thorn Apple

I'm Alive!

Contrary to internet rumor, I haven't been mulched into a tasty beverage sold at cons. I've been trying to get out of summer funk and psyched for autumn as it oozes in from below the loose soil of abandoned hospitals, forgotten graveyards, and the shadowed recesses of old growth forests. But as it's still 90F almost daily, this will take a bit.

Again, I didn't make it to Dragon*Con, but Lisa, Galen & I look like we'll be sharing a table at next year's Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! in Kansas City. That's really exciting! We might do IlluxCon this fall, too. Who knows! Everything's tangential and up for grabs!

In current work, I just did this quick t-shirt design for a corporate event at the Downtown Houston, Texas aquarium. The back of the light grey shirts simply reads "Volunteer" with a little water droplet. I hope it screens alright... I'll see when I get my shirt in the mail, I guess.

The alternate look they asked for (same, minus the yellow) isn't nearly as snazzy, but might print cheaper?

Otherwise, dayjob eats my lithesome calm, encouraging me through helpless rage to "move West, young man!" Which is the current Above All Else Goal.

Flying Books now with iPhone app

Some pretty great news from the publisher of my "12 Days of Christmas" ebook, Flying Books:

They now have not only their iPad app, but a version for iPhone/Pod as well! More people can see the books, which is always awesome.

Portfolio Updates

Quick note here to mention that while I've been pretty quiet lately, I haven't been slacking! Just updated the fathomless box with some new work (and works that hadn't been posted there before).

Here's one from Crossed Genres Issue 22:

Guest Blogging for the InkPunks

A friend of mine, Galen Dara, asked me to contribute something to the InkPunks blog earlier this spring, and today the post went live! Took me a while to figure out what topic to cover... the blog's focus is on publishing and advice for freelance writers... but they've been opening up to visual artists recently, too. Galen herself is AD over at Dagan Books.

Follow to my guest post: Don't Lock Yourself in a Dungeon to Work (or, Creating a Workspace).

Also, check out Lisa Grabenstetter's recent guest post on website avoidances for artists.

12 Days of a Winter Holiday

You believe I'm a professional? Ha! Look at how long it took me to just slip some of these up on the blog, when the book's been published since December? Yeah, Procrastination and I, we're chums. <.<

Some samples from my slightly askew version of The 12 Days of Christmas, which was published over the 2011 holidays by Flying Books, LTD (iPad App Store link). They let me play with the story as I wished! That's just AMAZING. It could have gone bad, Space Opera Christmas bad. But ended up setting it in a tiny urban apartment and a more modern time, rather that the usual Edwardian-maybe-18th-century-maybe-earlier-England look. The text has little quips poking at the absurdity and inconvenience of the whole gift exchange in the song.

It was a spectacular experience all around, working with Hana, my contact point on this. I'm looking forward to doing some more books with them when the chance arises. Maybe even something... I... might write? Chances of that = chances of me running across Nebraska in my knickers... not impossible, see.

11 Ladies Dancing at all hours of the night...

Whistling Teeth in a Storm

While I was waiting for the train to deliver Lisa, I ended up sketching two images based on random people in the parking lot, in two very different styles. One seems to be a nod to Eric Orchard's work.

In case you missed the late evening twitter post, here's the two graphitey things.

These were drawn with one of these huge mechanical pencils that grasp chunky thick graphite sticks. I don't know what they're really called; I got mine in Paris and have yet to use up the lead it came with... I'm a wee bit worried that when I do, I won't know how to find replacements.

Horror movies and reasons to look sad on the Metro, we are GO.

Happy Belated New Year & Near-end of Meteorological Winter

Enjoy a hedgehog on ukelele with a wyvern.

Prodding at the Digitals

Poked a little more at the digital painting. I now feel like I want to keep painting, which is a big step for me. Any time I was using a tablet before, I felt like I was trying to shape antithetical butter. You know, not soft at all. Contrary, even. This isn't even Cintiq-centric. I did most of the further work on the Intuos.

Learning stuff. Huh.

I think it's a goblin.

On a side note, if you like hedgehogs or newsletters, there's gonna be an interview/article thing about me & my hedgie adventurer paintings in the March/April e-newsletter from the Hedgehog Welfare Society.

Trying out a Cintiq

I haven't had much any opportunity to try the Cintiqs, so I just snatched the one left behind by a departing graphic designer this morning. 21UX, for the tech minded, and it's BULKY. Huge thing, but got it connected and doodled a little to get the feel.

Gotta say, I do like it a lot, even if it's weird to use Photoshop as yet.

12 Days of Christmas Out on iPad!

So the fun of the holidays (and the likewise chaotic evil scheduling) have finally let go over the past few weeks, and I can make the awesome that I've got my first tablet-based book out! It's only on the iPad at the moment, but maybe one day the publisher will release for Android, too?

The app (and publisher) is FlyingBooks, and if you download the app (free), you can buy whatever books catch your fancy (not free). They're a children's e-book publisher, and they have some really nice books available.

Back in December, I super-rush adapted The 12 Days of Christmas for them, from a modern standpoint, in a small, urban apartment. Go see! 12 Days of Christmas! You've seen the chickens and the sneak peeks, and the whole book is definitely available. : )

If you're like me, and don't have an iPad, we can mope sadly together, with bedraggled pigeons.

I got a chance to see the 12 Days on a friend's iPad, and it looks so goooood. Really happy with how it transferred from traditional media to digital display.