Even over a three day weekend, there is never enough time to do enough art.
So, it’s 9:30 p.m. right now. I feel as though it was just Friday evening. Time flies when you let yourself sink into a hobby or pastime. But it really seems to fly when you have a second job. Especially when that job is one that is isolation based creativity. I have to be at work in about another eight hours, and I can just feel the third round of creative juices starting to flow.
I never meant to draw at night, I never intended for this to be the time when I would be illustrating.
But, like most artists in my field, you need to have other income that will allow you to do what you really want to do. So, most weeks, I work forty hours on various problem solving sort of situations as a production artist. Things could get a bit interesting now that I have pushed forward into trying my hand at voice over work for Hallmark.
My average day consists of that during the day, and then coming home to attend to home things like chores (which I am terrible at), and other things, and cramming in time to work on artwork.
This weekend always is a bit of hit for me, because it’s Memorial Weekend. It’s one of remembering those who have served in the military in my family and friends, and so many others that I never knew, who stood up for the freedoms that I have to be able to work hard and have a choice to live a good and full life.
I figured this weekend, the best I could do was buckle down and think and create, write and ponder, and make the best of my time.
Ever since I quit working late nights at my other “go to a place to work” job, life has been a bit less hectic, and I spend a whole heck of a lot more time working on things I had no time for prior. So, I thought I would slow down a bit, and share a few things that I managed to get done, and show off a few things that I like.
Artwork progress…
(from upper left to right) Chun-Li, Harvey Birdman, Animal, (from lower left to right) Danny Phantom, Roman Soldier, Rooster Bard
Illustration efforts went pretty well this weekend, as I managed to mostly finish up six new 4″x4″ wood panels. These, along with another group will be added to my online store soon. I really enjoy this size format, and I’ve been working to push a bit more dynamism into each. I have a goal to have between fifty to seventy five of these ready for my next major show, Strangefolk, and for a slew of gallery shows I recently came into participation on. (More on that later.)
There is also a new set of illustrations that are all part of this wood panel series that I plan to debut at next year’s Planet Comicon. I am extremely excited about these, but I really want to wait to show them until they are completed.
These are hat boxes that would be put together to form a Mickey Mouse head shape.
One other project I completed a few weekends back was this commission for a Disney castle and fireworks. This was the first illustration that I got to use my Copic airbrushing system and it worked wonderfully. I managed to get some footage for a new video podcast episode reviewing the Copic Marker system, which I hope to have online by the end of next month.
Some of the most fun I'd had doing inkwork. Normally I don't do architecture, but this was really a joy to do.
All you see there above was ink, and Copic markers used traditionally, and in airbrush to achieve the final work. If I do anything like this again, I will probably use more watercolor and inks to push the saturation of color. The substrate was one of my old standards, cold press ragboard by Crescent.
Prior to getting this airbrush option for myself, I had always worked with spray paint to lay in colors on larger projects (the last one I did was for the large fiber glass shark project). As well as for a personal project to dress up my cubicle at work.
The panels were black foam core panels that had velcro strips on the reverse.
I got to figuring that if one is going to spend a lot of time in a cubicle why be a victim of mustard yellow walls? So I decided to paint the panels to look like worn rusted sort of metal panels that evoked design cues from aircraft and steel plating on warships. It’s still a work in progress, so I will post up better photos after I have more time to finish detailing these.
18" Gypsy Danger
The above is just a bit of showing off because most all of my other stuff is still in various areas of storage while I work to have a finished basement. I am a huge fan boy of del Toro’s film Pacific Rim, and when I found out that Neca was going to be releasing massive collector versions of the Yeagers, I had to get the first one. Here’s to hoping all the rest are made, because this… I really can’t call it a toy, it’s more of a poseable statue… is probably the nicest large format figure I have ever owned.
Emergency Sewing Kit – How To
When I found out about these science experiment baby soda bottles that were both water proof and crush proof, I knew I had found the perfect, affordable, compact carrying case for an emergency sewing kit.
I pride myself on sticking to the lessons I have learned from the years I spent as a Boy Scout, and I like to be as prepared as possible. And although I carry a lot of things in my daily bag, I didn’t have a sewing kit of any kind. As a traveling artist, something like this is just as important as carrying a sketchbook, a leatherman tool, or a water bottle.
I wanted to be able to have a case that was visible, air tight to prevent water from getting to it, and for the container to be compact and strong. So let’s start with a breakdown of what my thinking was behind this and how it all came together.
Parts of the portable sewing kit: (top row) Baby Soda bottle and white cap, 110 yards of sewing thread, thick metal thimble. (bottom row) Four buttons, paper clip, 3 varied thickness/utility needles, 4 locking safety pins.
Now, most people might ask why would you ever want to carry a sewing kit? Well, drawing from personal experience, these are times and events that I had needed one prior that could have saved me a lot of headache had I had this on hand.
- Torn clothing – if you’re out on the road, and cost is an issue, sometimes you might have a tear or rip that could be much better to repair, especially if it’s nicer clothing
- Lost button – sort of like the above, but can be much more important especially if you want to put a professional appearance forward
- Puntured/torn tent – now sure, it’s probably a good idea to maybe carry a bit of extra canvas to help with this, but for slits or torn straps, this kit can be a big help
- splinters – both needles and safety pins can help here
- tumbtack aid – the thimble can be helpful here if you get split or sore fingers if you tack a lot of stuff up
- and whatever else you might encounter unexpectedly…
The needles I got are able to slide into the spool that has the thread on it just fine, but I used some transparent tape to layer onto the bottom part of the spool to prevent the needles from poking through. I also used a bit of tape to hold the needles together, just so when I open up the kit, I don't have random needles falling all out separately. I then also put a single layer of tape (inset photo) to hold the needles in.
You can place up to probably 10 or so sewing needles if you like inside the spool.
The order of items goes like this. 1) drop in the four buttons 2) drop in the spool with the needles already in the center into the tube next, 3) then place the 4 safety pins upside down on top of the spool. 4) slide in one or two paperclips with the safety pins 5) then slide the thimble over the bottoms of the safety pins, and finally 6) put the cap on.
There is just a bit of room above the thimble that if you wanted you could put a bit of cotton (recycled from a pill bottle) or a silica pack (which could be used to keep humidity down if you open it in a wet environment), which is what I plan on using. Check any new shoes or electronics you buy for these little packs.
So there’s a bit of food for thought, and hopefully a helpful tip that can help you out. Total, I think I might have spent around $8 total to put this little kit together, and most all of this was stuff I already had.
Until next time, support your local artists, be kind to all your fellow beings, and I’ll see you next time! – Mario, the Artisan Rogue