Sketches at Oak St.

Kids took me on a walk today and gave me five minutes of art-time.  Haven't sat and just sketched in a while.

All Done Bugs

*Note to self: regularly check the dollhouse to see what Sophie has stashed away.

Concidering Eve in the garden...

Patio furniture

I haven't not been drawing and busy and stuff...

Although they are rough, sometimes the drawings seem much cuter in their unfinished forms, and maybe it's pencil vs. ink.  At any rate, a  few sketches for an upcoming Guerrilla Toons.

"Ever After" sketch for magnetic paper doll

A project I've had in mind for a while and might bring up from the back burner.
Hmmm, decisions, decisions...

Sibling revelry

Parental inspriation

I would like to thank my dad for creative encouragement and for helping with finding an appropriate title. *smile*

Introducing: 'The Obscure Afterlife of the Tudors'

Since I started working on the comics, I've gradually found myself thinking in chibis. They populate more and more of my mind, taking over the mental imagery.

And enter the Tudors, a Welch upstart family that took over the English throne for a century plus and threw their dramatic weight around. I found myself wondering how the different family members would relate to one another after death, how their grievances would play out, how they would interact without the pressures and traumas of their actual lives. I've also wondered at the nature of afterlife in general, of course, and I think that one form of afterlife exists as the imagination of the living, "living on in the memories," "living on in the pages of history books," etc, etc. This is my obscure take on the afterlives of the Tudors.

Before I knew it history was cohabitating with my imagination, and here, most humbly…er, no, somewhat humbly, I present the resulting love child.

Urgent disclaimer: I suppose, since I am of a semi-modern 21st century mind imagining all of this, my own vocabulary has seeped into their conversations. What I guess I'm trying to say is: don't be expecting me to adhere to the language of their times; they took up residency in my head, so they get to speak with my vocabulary, limited and vulgar as it is (my inner Eleanor is reeling at the thought). I'm fairly disgusted by liberal licence taken to fictionalize history for the entertainment of the current masses...but that doesn't stop me from hypocritically taking licence myself. Wow, it's refreshing to admit to hypocrisy. *deep breath* Okay, then, on with the show!

Dora and Eurico drafts

Dora and Eurico from "O Auto Da Compadecida" (a Brazilian miniseries which you can read about here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271383/)

This was done as a test for a request from Marcelo for a bumper sticker with the characters. I'll keep plugging away at it--feeling much better about tackling it these days (*mumble mumble* something about greater self-confidence...).

The coconut crab and the honey badger...

Ladybug

Sounds like a "yes"

Lull in productivity...

In a serious funk...though, obviously, not too serious as to not post something, but in a funk nonetheless. No ganas to even crack open the box of markers. Sad day.

Horoscope

We Got Lucky

*Gasp* In-box!

Onions

Eleanor's Current RPM: 42

Eleanor's children send her spinning in her grave. Again. They were such decent, upstanding children, but oh my, see how low they have fallen--roller derby! And who could have foreseen that Nina would be such a bad influence?

Being Specific

From two consecutive conversations with Mama Jeanne and then Alicia--thank you, ladies.

We got a "dusting" (Becky is rolling her eyes and is detailing why 2.67 inches is not a dusting), recently, but nothing major. Universe, we I would like major. Snow. Now. Sometime within the next three months but not after April 1^st. With no casualties and the minimum of fender benders. Danke.

P.S. yes, Carl can get his determined self out of the ranch in just about anything under 3 ft. of snow. Determined, I tell you!

Recovering

What I mean to say by this is: thank god Christmas is over and we are headed into a new year. And I mean this in the most kindly-yet-glazed-over-still-recovering-from-Christmas sort of way.

Before this year closes, I want to thank my friends and family for their support and patience--very important since I've been a complete dingbat since I started the comic some three hundred and fifty something days ago. Special thanks to Celao for his particular close-to-home patience; Carl who offered me a monthly gig for extra practice; Alicia for technical advice and a life preserver in the sequential doldrums; Eliaz for helping me handle the multiple personality disorder known as Photoshop; and the lovely Harmonydawn for being my best friend and dispensing kick ass, sage spiritual advice and the best hugs ever.

Family photo time

Hey, it's December, aka: family photo time. Takes some organizational skills. Good thing Marcelo wants that job...

Oh, no. Wait, wait, wait. We can't use this for the Christmas card. One more time, guys, and smile this time, dang it!

Aw! That's better. Thanks guys!

Reporting From the Not-So-Rainy Northwest...

Side Effects of Therapy

My imagination has been taking some interesting turns this last year and it's been fun.

Sophie's Mural

I almost did document it, but I was on the warpath and couldn't stop for the camera. Sophie contributed actual art for this comic, however. Not wall art, but some well supervised, old fashioned crayon and paper art that she then allowed me to scan.

Only Sigourney Weaver gets to say that...

Estevan has difficulty pronouncing this but the other line he's memoriezed from 'Avatar' is: "Where are my g*dd*mn cigarettes? Guys, what's wrong with this picture?" Dad, between laugh attacks, asked if I'm thinking about censoring the movies Estevan watches...to which my inner smart ass replied that at least I don't let him watch Cheech and Chong.

Help me to accept the things that I cannot change...

Fuzzy Dice

I was completely surprised by the gift of fuzzy dice...man.

New Schedule

Harmony let me know of the philosophy of there being two kinds of people in life: those who have a zombie-plan and those who do not. I don't but Harmony says her zombie-plan includes me and my family, and I feel really safe knowing she's looking out for us. She didn't specify further.

Spilt Rice

Everyone, this is Brandy, my sister-in-law. I've been wanting to cartoon this for a year and a half. I'm not sure if she'll like this or not--but I've dressed her up in greens, her favorite color, and hope she doesn't mind much.

Note: my family sometimes calls me "9" and it has to do with how my name is pronounced. People get funny about the pronunciation and spend ridiculous amounts of time correcting each other. I've given up caring and answer to both "Ni-nah" and "Nee-nah".