Blog entry
Working on the next stage
If you read my last blog, then you know that one of the (MANY!) projects that I'm working on is a series exploring the five stages of grief. I'm currently working on "Bargaining". This piece reflects my feelings on the pandemic - caught between a rock and a hard place. When I think of bargaining in terms of grief, I think of the cho
ice between two ugly options. Neither option is particularly good...
Pencil vs Paint
In the beginning, I worked strictly in pencil and charcoal. I was young and wanted to just stay in my comfort zone. I used my hands to smudge and blend for my shading. I couldn’t wrap my brain around painting because I didn’t like working with a brush - I couldn’t blend paint the same way with my hands.
Anniversaries
Today is June 12, 2018. This day, this month, this time of year...it means a lot of different things to me. Not all of them are happy..and still some of them are. I have so many things on my mind right now, I'm just freezing up. So I think I'm just going to let it all out. If you stick with it, great. If not, I totes understand.
Another Cartoon Break
Once again, I thought I'd take a little break from exploring Misery and Mal and post another of my little comics. *Spoiler Alert: in these little comics, Misery and Mal represent two sides of myself. I'm trying to convince myself to stay positvie...
Telling stories: One story becomes a book
I wrote the first two stories about Misery meeting Little Bear and Misery meeting Miss Spider. Click the link to check out this earlier blog post that features the first story of Misery and Little Bear. They took a little while. I came up with the stories right away - it just took awhile to actually draw it. I was working on it while working on other projects at the same time. And, still, I was writing with no real goal. As I was writing the first story, I realized how much I liked the look.
Telling stories: Misery evolves
When I first started drawing Misery, I mounted the original paper drawings with nails to wooden plaques 
that I dry brushed black. The overall effect was dirty, imperfect, handmade - exactly as I hoped. This was a truly rare phenomenon! Nothing ever comes out they way it looks in my head. But, right from the get go, Misery was different.
Cartoon Break
So, I love Misery and Mal so much that I have doing doodles with them. This is important because, although I am an artist, I have never been one to doodle. My creativity has never quite worked that way. But these two little rag dolls inspire me! So, to take a little break from my heavy analysis of my creative process, I thought I'd share a few of my doodles with Misery and Mal.
Telling stories: How It All Began
In the fall of 2013, I became obsessed with voodoo dolls. I saw them everywhere: on tv, in movies, toys, cartoons. I wanted
to do something with them. I started sketching some ideas.
Telling stories
Soooo, those of you that have been following me for a while know of my consistant inconsistancy of blogging. I start them well enough..then...well....Look! Something shiny! Lol. Such is the life of an artist. But this is truly different. This is the blog of a process. Not just the meandering musings of my crazy mind. With this blog, I have a clear purpose.
If at first you don't succeed...
I've been working on a commissiion for a pet portrait. This is a real challenge for me because it's a dog. I am a crazy cat lady after all! But it has been fun. So far, I've been just working on the sketch. That's part of my process. I sketch my paintings fully before painting them.
