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.

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:

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...

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.

New work to see. Not New York. But that'd be cool, too.

The time has come! I have new work! And more, that I can't show you yet. Bothersome! But, as for the days going by... good news on the continuance of I and Lisa's show at Sova: three more pieces sold while it's been up. : ) *jangly dance*

This piece was newly done for the show, but isn't what sold:

We do so like when people like the work we do. Sold were two of the pieces I'll post up here in a moment, and also the ever-popular Hedgehog Fighting Dragon Pterodactyls on an Airship with a Steampunk Blunderbuss:

I'm really happy I'm doing another couple pieces for different clients in the next month or two... or I'd be short on work for our next show. Next Lisa/Evan joint show, details coming soon.

These are the thumbs for my cover at Crossed Genres' Bildungsroman issue, though the one actually chosen isn't shown here:

And of course, we have the other pieces I did 'specially for the show, that we finally went up and scanned today... getting thoroughly in everyone's way and making a racket.

Blogging to resume soon, as the CG cover and my final art for StarShipSofa Stories are both due soon! I won't be quite so busy... though I did join ChildrensIllustrators.com the other day, so hopefully that turns into more work; I'd love to pick up some new projects.

That Kid and His Pear

Another lovely day spent with procrastination, pumpkin, and paints. I'm hereby offering this work-in-progress part iii, for any who keep up with this. I'm nearly done, now. This stage is from around 6 pm.

SOZD

We would like to celebrate the glorious Support Our 'Zines Day by offering some fine publications you may not know about but should. I've had the honor of working with some of these fine people before, or MagneticCrow has likewise, and we are damned glad they keep putting such effort into fine editing. Without further ado:

'Zines To Watch Out For:*

GUD Magazine
Shimmer
ClarkesWorld
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
Fantasy Magazine
Crossed Genres
Leading Edge
Electric Velocipede
Strange Horizons
Steampunk Magazine 

And there are many more. There are podcast webzines, fanzines, pro and semipro books. Go find them. Your local indy bookstore will carry some. If they don't, they're full of fail. Tell them they should carry some of these fine selections of literature. Support the 'zines!

PS- Here's a small list of audio-podcasty-type-zines:

StarShipSofa
EscapePod
PseudoPod
PodCastle

Go support spec fic literature, and your hardworking 'zine creators.
More about SOZD: Damien Walter

*Apologies to Alison Bechdel, of the wonderful Dykes To Watch Out For

Art update second go.

Much more color going into the scene here, though I haven't had as much time to work on it as I'd like. You know... eating, sleeping, working for pay. Those sorts of nonsense pastimes.

You wouldn't know how many times I've had to tell the Gnome King that I can't come to her BBQ because of needing to do my real job. Sadly, she said I wouldn't be getting a Christmas Present this year... *sniff*

More to come, more to come. These Yarka St. Petersburg watercolors are quite nice, though it's weird to use pans rather than liquid WC tubes. I'd gotten so used to the somewhat overly vivid Sakura Koi colors, and these are much earthier.

Yar! I be seein' ye next time, me hardies. Aye, by the twelfth bell, fer sure. More rum!

Art update on the table

Update on the watercolor. See? See? It's a watercolor. With a dragon, and a glowing pear. Like I said... because... yeah.

So, we're past the washes-and-messy stage... and I'm terrified at this point. Every time I embark on a painting, I mean REALLY worried I'll bollocks it all to heck and back. But, you go ahead and do it anyway.

So... weird light sources are a go:

Art update and your daily cookie

Frankly, I'm not sure what havin' a new blog will accomplish, as I'd all but abandoned the old one in lieu of Twitter and Facebook, but perhaps the shift in connotation (demiadolescence to grownup 2.0) will rejuvenate my webloggery habits.

Thankless day of too much heat, not enough breezes, and far too many amorphous gaggles of bar people around the city docks tonight. Lisa and I took a 4 mile meander broken by a frappe-and-cookie moment at Hard Bean Booksellers. The joyous moment was quickly erased by noisy vehicles, smelly smokers gathered against facades, etcetera.

Quite lovely however, was the last night of full Luna on the bright surface of an airliner contrail. That makes a good sight to follow home, no?

Squarely into inking the newest watercolor I've got taped down to board right now. Kid with glowing sphere and angled birds-eye view at night. It also has a dragon. Because night scenes with odd light sources need that extra fantasy trope. And something about a serpent guarding some golden pears. The kid's based on a very solemn boy who I drew at BWI two weeks ago. He was messing with a gameboy like it was life or death in his hands.

Comp thumbnails and the airport kid above. Sorry about the huge signature... I was in rush need of business cards a week ago in LA, and figured I'd just make color copies of him.