…And evil cats!
Devil Dog…
Here’s smiling business guy:
Anyhow, I’m offering you, in internet land, to have your own portrait, facebook photo, or twitter avatar, turned into your favourite monster, for hallowe’en, or indeed any time of year. Building the page right now where this would be possible. In the meantime, visit this page on Merrie Destefano’s blog!
But they’re vegetarian Zombies, I tell you.
I had the brainstorm, a little too close to Hallowe’en of offering to zombify, vamp or monsterize people’s twitter icons for that frightening evening. So, I’m drawing tons of zombies. Want to set up a web page where I can sell these, and other art things, but haven’t gotten that done yet. But writer Merrie Destefano, pictured below, is making a nice post with details on her blog.
And more zombies. Here’s Zombie Harry:
Another zombie lady:
And finally, Zombie Jack:
I didn’t need much work to look like a zombie!
Just to give you a breather amidst all the un-death, here’s a sketch of a Rhinemaiden from The Ring of the Nibelungen. There are three of them in the opera, Woglinde, Wellgunde, and Flosshilde. I guess this is Flosshilde.
“Rhinegold” was also the name of an American beer it looks like they might be selling here in this drawing. I don’t know if they make it any more. I can check on Google, but better to leave some things gathering dust inside the deep recesses of memory. In this case it was the memory of a Mad Magazine parody ad. Nothing to do with Wagner, however!
The Rhinemaidens aren’t usually mermaid women, but they’re relatives,and they can be!
Tags: ballpoint pen, sketches, women
Okay, I’m getting there. Excuse the weirdness! I’m noticing that the blank eyes seem to help in doing a zombie, but I don’t want to rely on that all the time. Also little flecks of blood.
It’s raining cats and dogs outside, and seems to have done so all day, keeping me from errands I wanted to run. So, I’m just going to sit in here and paint zombies, while listening to podcasts.
Tags: sketches, watercolour, Zombies
That’s my thing at the moment. This is a link to some of my research material. One of those brilliant ideas I hope works, though I wish I had it earlier. We’ll see how it goes. Tough doing creepy monstrous stuff when you’re mainly used to cute and quirky. But always good to expand one’s horizons. Here’s a row of Zombieish characters:
An airy-plane, which is a way to procrastinate while still drawing:
And a woman who was going to be zombied, but I didn’t have the heart to do it:
Which is which? He’s maybe a missing link, or Dr. Zaius’ cousin. Beauty and the Beast? Just a quick morning sketch.
Tags: Animals, watercolour, women
Hey, my cartoons and those of some of my pals got mentioned in the Montreal Gazette today. [link] They even published a link to my site. That means I’ll have to update the Skinny Nameless Punk as well as put up some more stuff.
Tags: collaboration, comics, Montreal Comic Jam
Painted this guy in the book. Then cut out the pic and stretched the paper. So, it’s a little more easy to scan, etc.
Tags: men, watercolour
A writer pal of mine sent this to me. She’s not as plugged in blog-wise as I am, (This has since changed: see here) so I thought I’d post it for her. Just wanted to add, she said she didn’t want “Chicken Soup” style stuff!
(This is one of only two snapshots, the only photo images I’ve got, of my own mother, who died in 1979. That feels inconceivable in this age of digital photography, where I rattled off several shots of my cats today alone.)
GENERAL CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Dear All,
We (Marion Witz and Carol Krenz) are creating an anthology entitled Lessons I Learned From My Mother, a collection of stories, anecdotes, plays, notes, essays, poetry and assorted vignettes that recall various pieces of wisdom and observations we absorbed from our mothers in early childhood and well beyond.
The book will document personal thoughts and memories that touch on humour, drama, compassion and other aspects of the mother-child experience and we invite you to share your stories with us.
Our focus is based on the unique ways people learned from their mothers, often without even realizing it, or perhaps, in typical rebellious fashion, how they rejected many lessons in youth, only to rediscover their merits later on.
We welcome stories (real or fictional) that illustrate how those lessons made an impact – how they changed or coloured lives for the better. Regardless of the complex relationships we have with our mothers, how did we emerge? Perhaps by examining our mothers’ challenges and the arcs of their lives, we developed compassion, humour, kindness and patience in living ours.
Lessons I Learned From My Mother will contain the accumulated wisdom of hundreds of daughters and sons and provide real-life observations from first-hand accounts that are uniquely inspiring.
Contributors are encouraged to write about any subject. Our chapters include such topics as: VALUES, HONESTY, LOVE, KINDNESS, LEADERSHIP, DISCIPLINE, FAMILY, MORALITY, STRENGTH, HUMOUR, PRACTICALITY, COURAGE, PARENTING, SEX.
All contributions are strictly voluntary. Your work will be fully credited (byline) and listed in the Acknowledgements. Additionally, each contributor will receive an author’s copy of the book.
Our sincerest thanks,
Marion Witz and Carol Krenz
GUIDELINES AND DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS:
1. Submit one or two stories, vignettes or essays (about 800 words each to max. 1500) – you may suggest longer works, subject to editorial review.
2. Manuscripts may be double-spaced in Word format, or pasted into the body of your email, with your name, home address, phone number and email address on the upper left corner. Your age is not mandatory, although we’d welcome it.
This call for submissions is open to everyone over the age of 18.
DEADLINE is December 1, 2010
3. If your work is accepted, we will forward a Permissions slip for signature.
4. ** Send electronic submissions and documents to:
Carol Krenz – carolkrenz@gmail.com
** Please write SUBMISSIONS in your email subject header.
Feeling more confident about my watercolour work. That means, along with doing stuff in my books, I’ll work on some stretched, better-quality paper, which will make things smoother, and easier to scan. I like painting in the books, and putting a lot of effort into preparing something makes me nervous, and leads to bad drawings. Still, if I can work that out, I’m on the road.
I don’t have a lot to say. He was a funny guy, courageous, and I’ll miss him. I’d see him mainly at YULblog events, where bloggers based in Montreal would get together. Groups would split off at these meetings, and I would, often as not, be hanging out with him. He was easy to talk with. He didn’t seem to make his illness the center of his life. It affected him, of course, and he participated in projects about it, which might help other victims of cancer. Another blogger has explained all that better than I can. [link]
At any rate, here’s to you, Alston.
Tags: obits
One of my sketchbooks is almost full. So, I went through it, painted new pictures, and coloured old ones. That means a real grab-bag of images. Which are attractive? Which “work?” It’s interesting to figure out.
The things I like the most are the ones that help tell a story. That means comic “strips,” (none of which are here), and more coherent colour schemes (not so much here, either). Beleive it or not, this is encouraging. It’s always nice to try things out. If you’ve got a successful “formula,” then your work comes to a stop, and doesn’t develop. That’s like those successful childrens’ book authors who draw nothing but the same character for the rest of their careers. Are there such animals?
Tags: Animals, Brush Pen, colour, dogs, men, sketches, watercolour, women
I can’t think of a title for this post. It’s just a lot of paintings, etc. I’ve been doing.
Tags: colour, men, sketches, watercolour, women
One of my more hipster-y sketchbook characters has picked up a partner I like a lot:
Still working, sketching painting. In a better mood today, but the weather is changeable. Here, I was interested in spreading large areas of dark paint smoothly, which I’ve almost accomplished. That often leads to very dull drawings, which I was complaining about on Twitter. But, if you look at other people’s work, which can be exciting and original, it helps to recharge the batteries. That’s the state I’m at, today.
Tags: Brush Pen, colour, sketches, watercolour, women