Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Monster Girl Challenge 2 - Days 12 thru 20

Day 13: Sphinx
Well, this challenge's days are not matching up anymore, but I'm still truckin' along.  I WILL finish all 30 of the challenges even if it takes me 45 days instead of 30.

Day 15: Will-o-Wisp
In this batch, we have some fun ones:  a sphinx, a creepy gargoyle and a cameo by by the Boogervampire (in no particular order).  Enjoy!

Day 16: Gargoyle Girl

Day 12: Maenad

Day 14: Djinn

 
Day 17: Tengu

Day 18: Troll Girl

Day 19: Oger Girl

Day 20: Vampire Girl
So happy to say that in two days I wrap up on season 8 of American Dad, which means, it's HIATUS TIME!!!  This year's hiatus is not nearly as long as last year's, but looks like it will be a month longer than I had expected so I'm going to announce here first that I'll be reopening my Etsy shop, the Crypt of DOOM, a month earlier than originally anticipated.  So, I'll be reopening the Crypt of DOOM for the Holiday season on October 1st, 2013.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Boogervampire Mini-Painting and Another Monster Girl Challenge

"Snotty Big Slurp"; 4"x6" Gouache; 2013
 Greetings all!  It appears that I let half of July slip away from me again.  I recently looked back at all the posts from 2006 and back then I updated like CRAZY!!!  Now I'm lucky if I remember once a month.  So sad.  Of course, every time I start to think about how I'm not updating my blog I remind myself that it's been over a year since I've truly updated my website and then that makes me feel better about the blog.
Technically the 13th color comp was the charm.
Anyway.  So remember that "Boogervampire Mini-Painting" I did some color comps for a month or so ago?  I FINALLY had the opportunity to get back to that!  I wound up sitting down and doing one last color comp.  I truly wanted to do a purple and green background and although the other backgrounds were great and fun, at the end of the day it just wasn't what I wanted.  So I figured out how to make it work.  Why was I so dead set on the purple and green color scheme?  Well I'd like to use this little guy to help with website promotions (#1) and I've had a frame floating around the house for over a year that I wanted to use really bad.  And it was lime green.  Wanna see?

Lime green frames are always awesome.
July 1st, at 12:01am I closed the Crypt of DOOM down for an extended hiatus.  Since then I've already been up to all sorts of creepy cute fun stuff.  Specifically, I decided to take on the second round of the 30 Day Monster Girl Challenge.  I had so much fun back in February, that I wanted to see if I could challenge myself to do it again!

Day 1: Nymph

Day 2: Werewolf Girl

Day 3:  Yeti Girl

Day 4: Minotaur Girl

Day 6: Gorgon Girl

Day 6: Golum

Day 7: Selkie

Day 8: Witch

Day 9: Ghoul Girl

Day 10: Reaper Girl

Day 11: Banshee
Sadly, I've been slipping up on my dates, but I'm trying to get on track.  Here you'll find the first 11.  I'm hoping to catchup in the next week or so.  There have already been three I'd love to take the time to render digitally.  I'm thinking when I go on hiatus from my day job in August I might try teaching myself (or, take a class on) how to paint in photoshop.  As times change and evolve, I need to start adapting as well.  BUT, I'm never gonna stop painting for real.  I HAVE to disconnect from the computer or I'll go nuts.

So what's next?  Let's see. . . I still have to finish the wedding thank you card, which as I said previously, I'll spare you the in-progress shots of; trying to learn how to paint in photoshop; and possibly starting a Macross themed art piece for a Macross convention in August.

Monday, July 01, 2013

Godzilla's Paper Cranes: Part 3 and Wrap-up


"Little 'Zilla's Wish"; 6x6 inch Gouache on watercolor paper; 2013
 So, as a way of practicing for future show's where I may be contractually obligated to wait to post images of my paintings until the opening, I thought I'd practice on "Little 'Zilla's Wish".  He was soooo fun to work on, as I'm sure you gathered from the other two posts.  What started as a smart ass, sarcastic  conversation to a friend turned into something truly endearing and fun.

Details!!  if you look super close at the shoreline you'll see some white squiggles.
Yeah, they're actually seagulls.  I got a little lost in the pretty.
I actually saw someone comment on tumblr (yes, I have one of those too) that if they thought my piece had anything to do with the non-fiction kid's book "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" they were going to start balling.  I can honestly say, I wish my imagination was capable of something so moving.  The idea of everyone in the world, including Godzilla, trying to help that little girl finish her quest to make 1000 paper cranes after her death is indeed touching and would make me cry too.  Sadly, as I stated in the last post, it's just because he doesn't like humans and wants them to go away so he doesn't have to resort to violence.  Considering how many Godzilla movies there have been, I think we all know he didn't finish his 1000 cranes.

The other pile of cranes.  He's a long way from hitting that 1000 mark.
So, yeah.  The last few pictures of this and then we'll move on to other, boring, projects.  Namely finally getting the thank you card made for my wedding which was nearly a year ago.  According to the etiquette guides I still have time. :P  Unfortunately, according to my conscience I'm about 4 months over due.  Don't worry, I won't post that one up til it's finished.  No one really wants to see more Halloween themed wedding crap, do they?  Exactly.

Not the best pic, but here's all the pieces on the wall.  Wonderful show!!
My dear friend Natasha Kline's piece "Bean's Beach Bungalow" turned out beautifully!
Oscar Rosales' Bleenkies pieces always bring a smile to my face.  The little book below is now part of our collection.  Carlos couldn't resist a little piece of kid's art called "Mr. Poo Poo's trip to Vegas. 
Even more of the artwork.  The random hand is pointing to Jason Leung's Moby Dick inspired piece.
Look!  There's the painting!  Monkeyhouse Shows are always so diverse.
So lastly,  I'm taking an extended break from my Etsy Shop the Crypt of DOOM!  I've basically taken too much on for one person to manage and something's gotta go.  Right now it's the Etsy Shop.  I'm hoping, if things go well, to have the shop open again in time for the holidays (probably around November 1st, 2013).  The plus side of closing is that #1) my husband won't feel so neglected anymore, #2) I can focus 100% of my daytime attention to my day job, which I'm very lucky to have and #3) I'll be able to focus more on my painting when I'm not focusing on numbers 1 and 2.  I have a million ideas in my head right now and I need to get some of them out cause they're eating at me.

Til the next update. . . later ghoulies!!