The other day, Becky asked...

Side note: I'm eagerly waiting for Becky to dye her hair again so she can match her chibi.

Words to describe my feelings around death...

This came up in a conversation with my mom in August.  I struggled with my words and this is what came out.  A friend said that he felt like calling Ines to tell her about this great woman he knew who had just died...then he remembered that it was her.  Everyday, I have things running through my head that I'd like to bring up in conversation with her and get her opinion, but she's gone.  I'm grateful to have known Ines and to have had her for my comadre.

Oh, and the popsicles: that was the last thing we did together.  She brought over papaya popsicles and we enjoyed each other's company the night she left for a road trip.  I never had papaya ice cream before, but it has become a regular tradition around here since. *smile*

Comadre Ines

I shouldn't have waited so long to chibi Ines.  Taking a leap in incorporating her into the comics, I don't wish to offend anyone.  I think this is my way of trying to communicate my love to her and it's another way to keep her alive for me.  So, here's my initial quick drawing of her chibi, with much love:

Ines Marques da Silva
March 12, 1977 - June 24, 2011
Godmother of Estevan and Sophie

No good idea shall go unpunished...

Well, that's insightful (referring to Henry VII).

I read Wolsey's quote in an Alison Weir book and I had five light bulbs go off in my head...and then I short circuited.  "No good idea shall go unpunished" is something I hear my dad say (quoted frequently at staff meetings at work) and could almost have been tailored for Wolsey.  Lovely.

Hmm, what else: many thanks to young Sophia who was kind enough to let me get this idea on paper this morning.  It was a noisy struggle on her part but deep down I know she's super supportive of my divided attention.

Spice gauge dissonance

Conche and I don't see eye to eye on our spice gauges.  What for him is a 1/10 is a 7/10 for me.

Motivational speakers

It was that or the 109th viewing of "Cars" or the 32nd viewing of "Madagascar" or the 19th viewing of "Avatar."  Needless to say, between the two of us, we got the boy to go out for the night.  Welcome medicine, I think.

The best part of my day today...or pretty darn close!

Good therapy: conversing with Harmonydawn.  Sometimes it's like getting the bestest prize ever from the bottom of the cereal box.  Or like that one fortune cookie that summed up your life in a nut shell.  But if nothing else, she got me to laugh when I least expected it today. *giddy-smile*

Am I okay? Not so much...

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!