Knock him down! Crawl on him! Jump on his stomach until he hurls! But do it while giggling so the adults in the living room will be fooled into thinking that it is harmless fun.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Like a swarm
So after dinner, as a way to thank Uncle Brian for all of the time he stood out in the cold cooking turkeys and making fries...the children decided it would be great to CRUSH UNCLE BRIAN!
Knock him down! Crawl on him! Jump on his stomach until he hurls! But do it while giggling so the adults in the living room will be fooled into thinking that it is harmless fun.
Knock him down! Crawl on him! Jump on his stomach until he hurls! But do it while giggling so the adults in the living room will be fooled into thinking that it is harmless fun.
more to be thankful for
So, all my food pix are out of focus...these are the best ones I have from Thanksgiving Day. Brian was incredible with the braving of the elements (it started snowing on Thanksgiving morning) to man the deep fry station. He not only deep fried two turkeys, he stayed out in the cold to make french fries! We had regular and sweet potato fries. We thought all the kids would go gaga for them. It turns out that we adults were pleased with our frites and the kids mourned the lack of mashed potatoes! Go figure. The turkeys were brined with extra flavors of apples, garlic,and apple cider. That will be a recipe to repeat. I made some mac-n-cheese and some pumpkin sage cornbread. it was potluck for the side dishes ...you really didn't need any Turkey. Anne Marie made some killer applesauce...there was Christine's greenbean casserole, acorn squash, broccoli rabe, stuffing, cranberries, relish tray with some of Brian's garlic pickles...and more. I haven't even mentioned dessert.
We tried to keep it simple, but we had way too much food. Everyone went home with enough for plenty of "Thanksgiving sandwiches", though. Here's a few pix. I wish the others came out.
We tried to keep it simple, but we had way too much food. Everyone went home with enough for plenty of "Thanksgiving sandwiches", though. Here's a few pix. I wish the others came out.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
miss sarah francis
Look what I got over Thanksgiving! My niece, Sarah made Brian and I some portraits. Other than giving us nose jobs and moving us into the Simpson's racial group, I think they are spot on!
More on Thanksgiving as I scan and download. We deep fried some turkey and made copious amounts of side dishes...
More on Thanksgiving as I scan and download. We deep fried some turkey and made copious amounts of side dishes...
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
happy birthday to me Nov 20 at 12:30 am
Okay, I haven't found my pen sketches yet, but I found these. It's some of the trees I painted for the animators to work from when we were doing the Sacy Godmother show. They built trees in 3D using these as a reference. Then they could place them in whatever quantity around a landscape. I can see the holes in the paper from where I soaked and stretched it. I think that was the last time I used 300lb Arches watercolor paper. And for some background paintings for the show as well. I love that paper, but it is a pain to have to soak and stretch paper if you are working on a 93 page project. So maybe for my next landscape...
I love when there are some trees with autumn leaves and some are completely skeletal. They're usually bare by the time my birthday rolls around. But we still have lots of leaves on our neighbor's tree. I'll be raking and shovelling at the same time.
I love when there are some trees with autumn leaves and some are completely skeletal. They're usually bare by the time my birthday rolls around. But we still have lots of leaves on our neighbor's tree. I'll be raking and shovelling at the same time.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Attention class!
Concerning my love of the ballpoint pen for sketching...that was one of the first things I was taught in art school. I am a graduate of AAA (The American Academy of Art) in Chicago and before I went there I never really did any art other thatn drawings with a pencil. Not even an artsy fartsy one. Just the good old #2 yellowy one with the eraser on top. (Why do those always dry out?) My beloved hardnosed life drawing teacher Arvidas Algiminas (a fine FIne Artist with the oil paints) kicked all our freshman behinds by making us spend the first 45 minutes or so of our 3 hr life drawing class doing super quick sketches in ballpoint pen.
The model would strike a pose and every 3 minutes or so (sometimes more, sometimes less) Al would say "Change" and the model would strike a new pose.
You had to be fast and you could not be concerned with the details.
This is how you BUILD confidence.
You need not have it before you sit down.
If you are too concerned with the likeness or something you are only building your reticence. If you don't want to use a ballpoint, get one of those great big leds that are as thick as a charcoal piece. I got one of those when we were at a convention in Italy and I haven't had much chance to use it since. But I made some great gesture drawings with it...
Also, hold your pen or pencil loosely for this. Someone should be able to walk up to you as you are drawing and pluck it easily from your fingers. Clutching it in a death grip will give you "th' tendonitis! "
I'll dig around in the basement and see if I can find any of my old art school stuff. I know I have something.
The model would strike a pose and every 3 minutes or so (sometimes more, sometimes less) Al would say "Change" and the model would strike a new pose.
You had to be fast and you could not be concerned with the details.
This is how you BUILD confidence.
You need not have it before you sit down.
If you are too concerned with the likeness or something you are only building your reticence. If you don't want to use a ballpoint, get one of those great big leds that are as thick as a charcoal piece. I got one of those when we were at a convention in Italy and I haven't had much chance to use it since. But I made some great gesture drawings with it...
Also, hold your pen or pencil loosely for this. Someone should be able to walk up to you as you are drawing and pluck it easily from your fingers. Clutching it in a death grip will give you "th' tendonitis! "
I'll dig around in the basement and see if I can find any of my old art school stuff. I know I have something.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Hello Miz Crabtree!
I was in Savannah at the Savannah College of Art and Design this past weekend for the Comics Art Forum XIV. I .Other guests included the super talented Bernard Chang, Jeff Parker, Heidi Arnold, Kaz Strzepek, Clement Sauve, Sanford Greene, Mark Schultz, Chris Appelhans and Chris Brunner. I did a workshop on silent storytelling. Which is funny now that I think about it, because I did not shut up the whole time I was there. I have a terrible habit of filling every aural void with chit chat. And, when you are giving a workshop filled with students who are focused on you expecting something , it is hard to let there be some awkward silences. I had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed myself. i think I feel more energized about work than I have been in a long while. I'm pretty jazzed.
I think my Saturday workshop benefited more than my Friday class. On the plane on the way home I really had a handle on the curriculum I SHOULD have taught.
If the opportunity arises to do an artist in residence. I have my watercolor, lettering and life drawing classes firmly planned out in my head.
I think the one bit of advice I gave out more than anything else during the 4+ hours of portfolio review was to ditch the pencil, get a ballpoint pen and sit in a cafe and do gesture drawings. I found that the luxury of the eraser doesn't free up most people's drawings, it actually limits them. Not every drawing is going to be perfect, especially in school. Skritch out a 3 minute figure and move on to the next one. And draw your friends. Especially their clothes and the folds in fabric. Study body language and gesture and the way clothing moves.
If you want to cheat and look at comics instead of doing the homework-study Jaime Hernandez. Can you get that elegance,body language, flow of clothing, and those subtle facial expressions in the minimal amount of linework? Look at the random doodles of Alex Toth. Pure drawing.
Hmmm. I had best take my own advice! I shall sketch over the holidays in ballpoint pen. I want to keep it fresh. Get back to painting instead of cartooning. Use my left habd I suppose. Really tax my hand eye coordination. Use the big brush instead of the number 8.
I miss being a student sometimes. I really liked school. Some of my fave paintings that I have ever done were done in Irving Shapiro's watercolor class. Two of them are framed and on my wall. I'd post them if they weren't framed. And one of them is 20 x 30... that's be hard to piece together from a buncha scans.
I had some time to wander around the lovely historic distict of Savanah and take some reference photos. Many of the city's architectural elements will be showing up in Magic Trixie. And in some future paintings.
I ran across this lovely web while I was admiring porch railings and staircases.
I dined at Mrs. Wilkes boarding house. It's pretty fun if you like talking and eating with strangers. Why? Cuz you are seated at tables of ten and all of the food is on the table when you get there. It had to be sixteen to twenty dishes of things like, mac n cheese, greens, rice and gravy, okra and tomatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, squash casserole, broad beans, green beans, black eyed peas...and then they bring out these huge platters of fried chicken! When you are completely stuffed they bring you banana pudding and blueberry cobbler. "It's wafer thin!"
That's just a spoonful of as much as I could cram onto my plate. The chicken had yet to arrive. And that sweet tea- it revs up your motor really good.
I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city, so I don't feel guilty for making like Harry the Werewolf at the dinner table! I don't think I've ever seen as much macaroni and cheese offered as I have in Savannah.
I got to Norris Hall just in time to see the animal anatomy students studying this wee little owl named Merlin and Cinnamon. Not only did I get to take many photos of him, but I got to pet him as well. He was very tolerant of humans as long as you kept your mitts behind his head. If you skritched his 'neck' ( I think- he's all feathers and tiny bones) he got all sleepy eyed.)
If humans had eyes that were proportionate to our heads as owls eyes are to theirs, our eyes would be as big as grapefruits!
I also went on a ghost tour, hosted by student and storyteller Andre. He lead me and several other of the visiting artists on a haunted tour of some of Savannah's most haunted spots. Technically that could be every six feet as you walk along the historic district. It has so much spectral activity i half expected to see Scooby and the gang zip on by in the Mystery Machine. The next time I visit, I'll have to stay a night in one of the myriad haunted hotels or b&bs. Not that I want to be scared out of my mind or attacked by vengeful spirits...but, I want to experience something otherworldly. And, no, I did not see any apparitions or anything like that, but, I did get kind of creeped out and really quite jumpy as we travelled around. One of the scariest places was in Norris hall /the Sequential arts building. Many of the students and faculty related to me their own experiences of hearing voices coming up the stairs when no one else was in the building and of students seeing misty shapes in the animation room, or of crying coming from empty rooms.
So- tell me what you think about this. I checked my camera before we went on the tour to make sure I'd have enough battery life for the ghost tour. It registered 30 minutes of life at dinner, so I powered off to save it until later. when I powered up at one of the haunted sites, the camera registered 9 minutes of battery left! Those paranormal shows with ghost hunters always say that their equipment goes all wonky and batteries drain and stuff when there is a presence of spectral energy or whatever. (only to resume to normal working order when they leave the scene and stuff...) So I only took pix at a few of the stops.
Now, I'm also skeptical (I know, hard to believe) of these 'orbs' that people say are present in 'ghost' photos. I have plenty of "ghost" pictures from dust reflecting my flash, or from cigarette smoke reflecting the light to create spectral mist. BUT- there were two instances here where I've got some 'orbs' in my pix. One is in a park square where supposedly two little girl ghosts still frolic. I took two pix in rapid succession. In one of them there are two orbs. In the next pic, they are gone. Usually when I take a photo that has dust 'orbs' there are many- because it's dust. Why would there just be two pieces of dust? And they seem kinda off in the distance. The other one was a photo taken looking up at the spot where there was a legend of a person being lynched for the murder of a little girl. Just one 'orb'. Or one piece of dust. I dunno, seems weird to me.
Can you see them?
My battery ran out completely when we reached the cemetery. But the next on the way to the airport, I checked it again and my battery registered that it had 17 minutes of charge left. Coincidence? Or did my camera return to normal once we were away from the ghosty areas? Whooo Knooooows?
I think my Saturday workshop benefited more than my Friday class. On the plane on the way home I really had a handle on the curriculum I SHOULD have taught.
If the opportunity arises to do an artist in residence. I have my watercolor, lettering and life drawing classes firmly planned out in my head.
I think the one bit of advice I gave out more than anything else during the 4+ hours of portfolio review was to ditch the pencil, get a ballpoint pen and sit in a cafe and do gesture drawings. I found that the luxury of the eraser doesn't free up most people's drawings, it actually limits them. Not every drawing is going to be perfect, especially in school. Skritch out a 3 minute figure and move on to the next one. And draw your friends. Especially their clothes and the folds in fabric. Study body language and gesture and the way clothing moves.
If you want to cheat and look at comics instead of doing the homework-study Jaime Hernandez. Can you get that elegance,body language, flow of clothing, and those subtle facial expressions in the minimal amount of linework? Look at the random doodles of Alex Toth. Pure drawing.
Hmmm. I had best take my own advice! I shall sketch over the holidays in ballpoint pen. I want to keep it fresh. Get back to painting instead of cartooning. Use my left habd I suppose. Really tax my hand eye coordination. Use the big brush instead of the number 8.
I miss being a student sometimes. I really liked school. Some of my fave paintings that I have ever done were done in Irving Shapiro's watercolor class. Two of them are framed and on my wall. I'd post them if they weren't framed. And one of them is 20 x 30... that's be hard to piece together from a buncha scans.
I had some time to wander around the lovely historic distict of Savanah and take some reference photos. Many of the city's architectural elements will be showing up in Magic Trixie. And in some future paintings.
I ran across this lovely web while I was admiring porch railings and staircases.
I dined at Mrs. Wilkes boarding house. It's pretty fun if you like talking and eating with strangers. Why? Cuz you are seated at tables of ten and all of the food is on the table when you get there. It had to be sixteen to twenty dishes of things like, mac n cheese, greens, rice and gravy, okra and tomatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, squash casserole, broad beans, green beans, black eyed peas...and then they bring out these huge platters of fried chicken! When you are completely stuffed they bring you banana pudding and blueberry cobbler. "It's wafer thin!"
That's just a spoonful of as much as I could cram onto my plate. The chicken had yet to arrive. And that sweet tea- it revs up your motor really good.
I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city, so I don't feel guilty for making like Harry the Werewolf at the dinner table! I don't think I've ever seen as much macaroni and cheese offered as I have in Savannah.
I got to Norris Hall just in time to see the animal anatomy students studying this wee little owl named Merlin and Cinnamon. Not only did I get to take many photos of him, but I got to pet him as well. He was very tolerant of humans as long as you kept your mitts behind his head. If you skritched his 'neck' ( I think- he's all feathers and tiny bones) he got all sleepy eyed.)
If humans had eyes that were proportionate to our heads as owls eyes are to theirs, our eyes would be as big as grapefruits!
I also went on a ghost tour, hosted by student and storyteller Andre. He lead me and several other of the visiting artists on a haunted tour of some of Savannah's most haunted spots. Technically that could be every six feet as you walk along the historic district. It has so much spectral activity i half expected to see Scooby and the gang zip on by in the Mystery Machine. The next time I visit, I'll have to stay a night in one of the myriad haunted hotels or b&bs. Not that I want to be scared out of my mind or attacked by vengeful spirits...but, I want to experience something otherworldly. And, no, I did not see any apparitions or anything like that, but, I did get kind of creeped out and really quite jumpy as we travelled around. One of the scariest places was in Norris hall /the Sequential arts building. Many of the students and faculty related to me their own experiences of hearing voices coming up the stairs when no one else was in the building and of students seeing misty shapes in the animation room, or of crying coming from empty rooms.
So- tell me what you think about this. I checked my camera before we went on the tour to make sure I'd have enough battery life for the ghost tour. It registered 30 minutes of life at dinner, so I powered off to save it until later. when I powered up at one of the haunted sites, the camera registered 9 minutes of battery left! Those paranormal shows with ghost hunters always say that their equipment goes all wonky and batteries drain and stuff when there is a presence of spectral energy or whatever. (only to resume to normal working order when they leave the scene and stuff...) So I only took pix at a few of the stops.
Now, I'm also skeptical (I know, hard to believe) of these 'orbs' that people say are present in 'ghost' photos. I have plenty of "ghost" pictures from dust reflecting my flash, or from cigarette smoke reflecting the light to create spectral mist. BUT- there were two instances here where I've got some 'orbs' in my pix. One is in a park square where supposedly two little girl ghosts still frolic. I took two pix in rapid succession. In one of them there are two orbs. In the next pic, they are gone. Usually when I take a photo that has dust 'orbs' there are many- because it's dust. Why would there just be two pieces of dust? And they seem kinda off in the distance. The other one was a photo taken looking up at the spot where there was a legend of a person being lynched for the murder of a little girl. Just one 'orb'. Or one piece of dust. I dunno, seems weird to me.
Can you see them?
My battery ran out completely when we reached the cemetery. But the next on the way to the airport, I checked it again and my battery registered that it had 17 minutes of charge left. Coincidence? Or did my camera return to normal once we were away from the ghosty areas? Whooo Knooooows?
Sunday, November 4, 2007
dangerous occupation, cartooning is...
So, I also wanted to let you know why my output has slowed down in the past buncha months.
In August I had another arm injury that really threw me off kilter. It seems I have (big breath) a torn supraspinatus muscle with tendonitis of the tendon of the same name, bursitis and a sprinkling of arthritis in my right shoulder...oh, and my joint was leaking fluid ( where it went I do not know)(Oh...wherever it was- it hurt like burning) I found all this out one morning when I woke up and could not move my right arm. After multiple trips to the doctors, xrays and MRIs, I was diagnosed with the previously described bag of woe. SO, it took an ultrasound assisted cortisone shot (and a few days) to make the swelling reduce enough that I could move my arm. It took two hydrocodone just to fall asleep at night.
I've been doing physical therapy and acupuncture to fix the underlying problems of pain and shoulder instability.
And- it turns out that the motion of reaching from my paint tray to my drawing table to my water container (to clean my brush) was slowly shredding through my rotator cuff muscle. Interesting. It seems implausible, but we figured out that I do that same motion a thousand times a day. And, over the course of hundreds of pages, I can see how that would happen. Like a rope rubbing on the edge of something. I had to move all of my drawing and painting stuff from over by my right side to my left side. (a brilliant idea from my brother, Steven, who has had to deal with injuries and casts and pain and awkwardness from his football days)
That way I load up my brush with color, or clean it off, then I trade over to my right hand and do the painting. I avoid the motion that does the tearing. And, by strengthening the other muscles, I should avoid more problems in the future. ( ihopeihopeihope)
But I think this is something I will have to always be careful about. No more days of heavy lifting or benchpressing for me! I think a good yoga class sounds appropriate.
Although, it has slowed my daily progress. the work is looking good and there is no pain when I move it and I almost have my full range of motion back.
In August I had another arm injury that really threw me off kilter. It seems I have (big breath) a torn supraspinatus muscle with tendonitis of the tendon of the same name, bursitis and a sprinkling of arthritis in my right shoulder...oh, and my joint was leaking fluid ( where it went I do not know)(Oh...wherever it was- it hurt like burning) I found all this out one morning when I woke up and could not move my right arm. After multiple trips to the doctors, xrays and MRIs, I was diagnosed with the previously described bag of woe. SO, it took an ultrasound assisted cortisone shot (and a few days) to make the swelling reduce enough that I could move my arm. It took two hydrocodone just to fall asleep at night.
I've been doing physical therapy and acupuncture to fix the underlying problems of pain and shoulder instability.
And- it turns out that the motion of reaching from my paint tray to my drawing table to my water container (to clean my brush) was slowly shredding through my rotator cuff muscle. Interesting. It seems implausible, but we figured out that I do that same motion a thousand times a day. And, over the course of hundreds of pages, I can see how that would happen. Like a rope rubbing on the edge of something. I had to move all of my drawing and painting stuff from over by my right side to my left side. (a brilliant idea from my brother, Steven, who has had to deal with injuries and casts and pain and awkwardness from his football days)
That way I load up my brush with color, or clean it off, then I trade over to my right hand and do the painting. I avoid the motion that does the tearing. And, by strengthening the other muscles, I should avoid more problems in the future. ( ihopeihopeihope)
But I think this is something I will have to always be careful about. No more days of heavy lifting or benchpressing for me! I think a good yoga class sounds appropriate.
Although, it has slowed my daily progress. the work is looking good and there is no pain when I move it and I almost have my full range of motion back.
What I've been working on
So, to answer the question, "JIll, I haven't seen any of your work lately. Have I just missed it or are you working on something?"
I'm working my way through the second of four painted graphic novels that I'm writing and illustrating for Harper Collins. They are called Magic Trixie. It's taking me quite a while, because they are each 94 pages of painted art. Plus, all the design and cover art... Each story revolves around our main character, a little witch girl named Magic Trixie. She lives in a greystone builing with her folks and grandparents and her cousin Tansy. Her mom runs a cafe from the first floor flat. It is called Elixir. Magic Trixie goes to Monstersorri school with her friends Loupie Garou-the wereworlf girl, Stitch Patch-the patchwork boy, the Twins who are vampires and Princess Nefi-a mummy girl. She also has a littl e black kitten named Scratches. He is her best pal. Here is a sample of what the interiors will look like.
It's a bit more daunting that I thought. Mostly because the publisher wants 3 books in house before they are comfortable releasing the first one. It makes sense becaue they want to make sure they will not miss a shipping date. But, on my end that means drawing and painting about 300 pages of art before anyone will see it! Thanks for your patience. I hope you will find it worth the wait.
I'm working my way through the second of four painted graphic novels that I'm writing and illustrating for Harper Collins. They are called Magic Trixie. It's taking me quite a while, because they are each 94 pages of painted art. Plus, all the design and cover art... Each story revolves around our main character, a little witch girl named Magic Trixie. She lives in a greystone builing with her folks and grandparents and her cousin Tansy. Her mom runs a cafe from the first floor flat. It is called Elixir. Magic Trixie goes to Monstersorri school with her friends Loupie Garou-the wereworlf girl, Stitch Patch-the patchwork boy, the Twins who are vampires and Princess Nefi-a mummy girl. She also has a littl e black kitten named Scratches. He is her best pal. Here is a sample of what the interiors will look like.
It's a bit more daunting that I thought. Mostly because the publisher wants 3 books in house before they are comfortable releasing the first one. It makes sense becaue they want to make sure they will not miss a shipping date. But, on my end that means drawing and painting about 300 pages of art before anyone will see it! Thanks for your patience. I hope you will find it worth the wait.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Halloweekend-Saturday
On Saturday I was lucky enough to be invited to two parties. I had decided to be spider themed this year and spent odd hours beading myself a spiderweb necklace and bustlethingie. Most of my Halloween costumes have long gowns or flowy robes.And gauzy fabric. And that bridal veil material. But black. It's usually made from whatever is on the Halloween remnant table at the fabric store. I guess it's really like Scary Godmother's fancy dress closet. Most of the time, my regular clothing (at this time of year) gets me compliments like "Nice witch costume!" if I happen to be in a long black skirt and sweater with some pointy shoe or boot.(and, I got a lotta those) It happened while Brian and I were on our way to a play for our anniversary last year. I had on a long black skirt, high heels, sweater and coat. "Hey- I like your witch costume!" said two trick or treat moms. Oh- yes, I was carrying a l'il jack o'lantern purse...but still. No hat, no weird makeup, no broom. I was getting into a car. With a guy in a suit jacket.
Still, I kinda dig it. But, if I'm trying to be a spider queen, I want to be recognized as a spider queen.
So, Spider Queen or spider bride or Jill dressed up in Halloween glam went to my friend Suzanne's daughter Julia's Halloween/birthday party. It was cute to see all the kids and parents dressed up. But the best part was that Julia had decorated the house for the party.
It was explained to me that the repetition of Boo meant the ghost was saying it louder.
Next we have what I call "The tragic death of the happy princess"
I'm assuming these are the ghosts of the previous owners of the home who hung themselves using the cord for the blinds. Or it could be a recall warning for that particular brand of window treatment. I know I have been warned about this type of thing on the consumer report segment of the news.
The children dined on black sugar bat cookies which gave their lips and teeth a horrible/wonderful hue. Pair that up with my camera's knack for producing red eye and you've got a good smattering of Children of the Damned...or Darned cuz they were giggly and sweet. But the cowgirl--she kept giving me the eyeball. She was sizing me up. I'd catch her looking at me when she ran into the room. Maybe she was creeped out by the only adult wearing more costume than the kids--or maybe she was going to try and make my head explode with her telekinetic powers.
Here's what she was squinting at.
I thought I looked swell.
I met up with my friends Kristina, her husband Ron, and their friend Erika. We gals were all dressed in black and with Ron to escort us decked out in his fine suit, we all looked like some kind of goth, haunted Charlie's Angels...or Devils as it were.
Kristina (she's the one in the middle-a celtic tree goddess whose name escapes me at the moment) and I went to art school together and she is one of the most talented people I have ever met. I love being around her. One, because she just makes you feel good. She has great energy coming out of her. And, secondly, because she makes me realize how much I actually repress the more bohemian part of me. I love that part of me and I haven't embraced it as much as I should. Sometimes I'm just way too inhibited and caught up in the routine of day to day, you know? Kris makes you sit back to take a good breath and appreciate. It's just a vibe. Plus, we have many of the same interests and you know how it is when you're in the room with someone who just kinda knows the same stuff as you? You can communicate really well because of this shared common understanding. Or at least that's how it seems to me.
So--
We touched up our deadface, gathered our tree branches, our bones and beads, packed it into cars and headed to the Superhero Hallowen party. No, none of us was dressed as a superhero, but I figure, I work in the business so, um, anything I create is some kind of comic book character,yeah! Uh, so really, we fit the bill on a technicality. Or a fib- call it what you like. W could have been some kind of Sandman spinoff or something. I could have gotten really geeky about it and said we were ancestors of Klarion the Witch Boy, or terrible creatures from Apokolips straight from the Boom Tube, but this party was not about fandom acurate Superfolks at all.
Eh- I take that back, there was some accuracy, but that was more about the details of the costumes or costuming itself, not the geek critique. It was, however, quite geek chic! I was kind of disappointed that no one was talking about comics. When you are a comicbook artist and you go to conventions, you espect the costumed people to talk about comics. Here,not so much. It was uper fun. Great imaginations. Wild theme costumes. I never felt more underdressed and under make-uped! Even the apartment was wearing a costume. The walls were painted with a city skyline and word balloons and sound effects festooned the food tables, the bar, every door and even hung from the ceiling. The floor had a replica of an Alex Ross Joker illustration painted on it in full color. I misfiled that photo, so I have tofind the folder to add it. Apparently one of the hosts must be a comics fan, but I wonder how many other people (other than me) knew what they were walking all over on their way to the bathroom.
Still, I kinda dig it. But, if I'm trying to be a spider queen, I want to be recognized as a spider queen.
So, Spider Queen or spider bride or Jill dressed up in Halloween glam went to my friend Suzanne's daughter Julia's Halloween/birthday party. It was cute to see all the kids and parents dressed up. But the best part was that Julia had decorated the house for the party.
It was explained to me that the repetition of Boo meant the ghost was saying it louder.
Next we have what I call "The tragic death of the happy princess"
I'm assuming these are the ghosts of the previous owners of the home who hung themselves using the cord for the blinds. Or it could be a recall warning for that particular brand of window treatment. I know I have been warned about this type of thing on the consumer report segment of the news.
The children dined on black sugar bat cookies which gave their lips and teeth a horrible/wonderful hue. Pair that up with my camera's knack for producing red eye and you've got a good smattering of Children of the Damned...or Darned cuz they were giggly and sweet. But the cowgirl--she kept giving me the eyeball. She was sizing me up. I'd catch her looking at me when she ran into the room. Maybe she was creeped out by the only adult wearing more costume than the kids--or maybe she was going to try and make my head explode with her telekinetic powers.
Here's what she was squinting at.
I thought I looked swell.
I met up with my friends Kristina, her husband Ron, and their friend Erika. We gals were all dressed in black and with Ron to escort us decked out in his fine suit, we all looked like some kind of goth, haunted Charlie's Angels...or Devils as it were.
Kristina (she's the one in the middle-a celtic tree goddess whose name escapes me at the moment) and I went to art school together and she is one of the most talented people I have ever met. I love being around her. One, because she just makes you feel good. She has great energy coming out of her. And, secondly, because she makes me realize how much I actually repress the more bohemian part of me. I love that part of me and I haven't embraced it as much as I should. Sometimes I'm just way too inhibited and caught up in the routine of day to day, you know? Kris makes you sit back to take a good breath and appreciate. It's just a vibe. Plus, we have many of the same interests and you know how it is when you're in the room with someone who just kinda knows the same stuff as you? You can communicate really well because of this shared common understanding. Or at least that's how it seems to me.
So--
We touched up our deadface, gathered our tree branches, our bones and beads, packed it into cars and headed to the Superhero Hallowen party. No, none of us was dressed as a superhero, but I figure, I work in the business so, um, anything I create is some kind of comic book character,yeah! Uh, so really, we fit the bill on a technicality. Or a fib- call it what you like. W could have been some kind of Sandman spinoff or something. I could have gotten really geeky about it and said we were ancestors of Klarion the Witch Boy, or terrible creatures from Apokolips straight from the Boom Tube, but this party was not about fandom acurate Superfolks at all.
Eh- I take that back, there was some accuracy, but that was more about the details of the costumes or costuming itself, not the geek critique. It was, however, quite geek chic! I was kind of disappointed that no one was talking about comics. When you are a comicbook artist and you go to conventions, you espect the costumed people to talk about comics. Here,not so much. It was uper fun. Great imaginations. Wild theme costumes. I never felt more underdressed and under make-uped! Even the apartment was wearing a costume. The walls were painted with a city skyline and word balloons and sound effects festooned the food tables, the bar, every door and even hung from the ceiling. The floor had a replica of an Alex Ross Joker illustration painted on it in full color. I misfiled that photo, so I have tofind the folder to add it. Apparently one of the hosts must be a comics fan, but I wonder how many other people (other than me) knew what they were walking all over on their way to the bathroom.
Friday, November 2, 2007
halloweekend- Friday
So I'm having a bit of post halloween stress disorder...I'm gonna have to take down all my paper bats and the spiderwebs I've made. All the bat cookies are gone,snif. But, also, yum. I'm sad that the fun of this past weekend is over. I really jammed lots of activities into a relatively short amount of time.My pals Daryl and Tony had a pumpkin carving party. Pumkin bread, apple crisp and apple tarts, Kris wine and cocktails and Frankenstein on the t and v. 
The amazing Kristina brought pumpkins she grew in her own backyard. Apparently hers grew like weeds, or strawberries (in my yard) or kudzu in the south. I have not yet had luck with any squash. I get the squash borer bugs and they destroy my vine before I have a chance to see them bear fruit.
Kris is an excellen tjack o'lantern carver and she and I share a big love of Halloween. We both brought our own tools to carve with! She had cool wood carving ones and I had a drywall saw and this old serving spoon that has a flat sharp edge.I only use it for carving. It's great for scooping out the insides.
Here are some of the spirits that inhabited our jack o'lanterns...
These are the best I could do in the light. My camera's stabilizer has gone all wonky. Sometimes it focuses well and other times it's persnickety.
Daryl made a great Ike (from South Park) o'lantern, but his delicate features did not radiate enough light from within to effectively show up in a photo.
I brought an appropriately seasonal Apple Tart with Sage Crust for friends to knosh on. It turned out pretty good. I am a fan of the rustic tart. Even the mistakes look good. Cuz it's rustic.
The amazing Kristina brought pumpkins she grew in her own backyard. Apparently hers grew like weeds, or strawberries (in my yard) or kudzu in the south. I have not yet had luck with any squash. I get the squash borer bugs and they destroy my vine before I have a chance to see them bear fruit.
Kris is an excellen tjack o'lantern carver and she and I share a big love of Halloween. We both brought our own tools to carve with! She had cool wood carving ones and I had a drywall saw and this old serving spoon that has a flat sharp edge.I only use it for carving. It's great for scooping out the insides.
Here are some of the spirits that inhabited our jack o'lanterns...
These are the best I could do in the light. My camera's stabilizer has gone all wonky. Sometimes it focuses well and other times it's persnickety.
Daryl made a great Ike (from South Park) o'lantern, but his delicate features did not radiate enough light from within to effectively show up in a photo.
I brought an appropriately seasonal Apple Tart with Sage Crust for friends to knosh on. It turned out pretty good. I am a fan of the rustic tart. Even the mistakes look good. Cuz it's rustic.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
