More sketches from work

For the first time in a long while, I want to do something in colored pencil:

 Some kind of jellyfish creature:

Re-hatching of an old idea:

C2E2: Brief Notes

I’m not going to write a novel about this, but C2E2 was a completely different type of show for me. Setting up my grid cube display on Friday morning, I felt very out of place. That feeling lasted throughout the whole day; doing everything solo and running on one hour of sleep of course did not help, but a good night of sleep led into a very good day on Saturday. I couldn’t help but be a little sad every time someone bought one of the two bestseller pieces (both about five years old by now), but I also couldn’t really complain.

Because I was running the table alone, I couldn’t really leave to walk around the Artist Alley, which ended up being my biggest (maybe the only) regret. I felt bad that I wasn’t at all familiar with the big names in the world of comics, but just being aware that I was in the same space as some pretty renowned artists was very humbling and encouraging at the same time.
The crowd as a whole seemed to care more about art and actually had a budget for it. I am used to people asking for smaller versions of prints. Not here. Here the question was: “How big does it come?” More than a few times, people told me to just keep the change. It felt surreal, in a very pleasant way. The general demographic was a bit older, a bit more mature.

I also took on a few sketch commissions; a couple that were super quick (more like doodles) and also a couple that were a bit more involved. The people who wanted quick sketches just told me to draw whatever (Friday); the ones that took a little longer were of original characters (Saturday). I normally never ever do con commissions. The closest I’ve come to it in the past was doing a couple of art trades with Coey at Youmacon, but I had never actually done paid at-con commissions before C2E2. This time around, I decided, “Why not?” I think part of it was linked to having developed my own style a bit more, to knowing my abilities and limits a bit better as well as being comfortable with them. Also, of course, there were more people looking for sketches from artists. I still feel a bit iffy about taking on larger commissions from other people unless they completely resonate with me, but to put it simply, doing sketches for people can be a fun way to pass the time.

Definitely not as many costumes as at anime cons. I felt overdressed even in my very casual clothes with my very casual hair and make-up. Also, there didn’t seem to be nearly as many girls in the Artist Alley. A lot of guys in jeans and T-shirts, very serious business. *__*
All in all, I felt very, very lucky to have been presented with this last-minute opportunity; hopefully, I can participate again next year. And even though I came to the con by myself, I got to hang out with a few people I don’t get to see that often, which was pretty nice. :)

A doodle from Saturday morning:

Touched up a drawing from one of my sketchbooks, to be inked later:

Finally got around to drawing this silly thing for Jim:

Sketches from work

Getting ready for C2E2 last minute is not the most awesome experience, and I kind of need a break, so I'll make this bs post, which I actually meant to make a few days ago. :\

I decided to start bringing paper with me to one of my jobs just in case things get slow, and I think it was a pretty good decision---one that saved me a great deal of boredom last week. :P

The first three sketches are from last Thursday--I drew them on Strathmore wet media paper, which feels pretty thin to me, so I'm not sure how well it will actually handle washes, but I guess we'll see~ The last sketch is from Sunday. Would've drawn more that day, but I remember my brain hit some kind of mental wall.

This all feels like recycled imagery to me, but I might return to these later~

"Innocent Bullet" & significance in art

On paper, the human form becomes malleable. To be able to sever limbs, split open mouths, stretch the delicate features without consequence—a privilege that exists within this two-dimensional plane but is not transferable to the realm of actual human flesh.

Finally finished this:

It’s one of the few things I sketched out during the AUSA 2010 weekend—a pretty nostalgic time. :) After finishing a bigger piece, smaller drawings like this are almost a refreshing breeze even though they sometimes seem to sit around forever on the back burner. There’s an empowering realization of: “well, if I finished that project in time, something like this should take no time at all.” There might always be obstacles, big or small, practical or mental—but after a while, you learn the small tricks and triggers that seem to help.

The idea/mental picture I originally got was of an onion-like (or matreshka-like? XD)  contraption, with alternating layers of visually pleasing and gross faces split down the middle, one layer revealing another. As I started drawing, it turned into something a little different than what I originally pictured.
I hope this is not taken the wrong way, but this is kind of a bs drawing. XD What I mean by that is: it carries no inherent meaning that originally sparked the drawing, even if it could be interpreted that way.

It could be simply a freaky-looking monster, a nightmarish apparition, or it could be something representing the different masks we wear as human beings, the different facades we put up, the use of the innocent as a shield or defense tool, the shedding of disguises, etc etc. Take it whichever way you will—to me it doesn’t really matter. Not with this one, and not with many of my other drawings. Meaning is often so ambivalent, so ambiguous—sometimes it simply doesn’t make sense to label or stamp.

In the past, I’ve been stumped when people have asked: “What does this mean?” or “What’s your inspiration?” The latter of the two questions is much less frustrating (as much as I hate trying to find an answer to it when put on the spot), but the former is almost too straightforward. Straightforward without being really penetrating. An “outsider” question. There doesn’t have to be explicit meaning or symbolism in something in order for it to be significant. Significance can be drawn from the aura, the atmosphere, the emotion, the different elements that may potentially form some kind of meaning, but do not dictate it.

While I don’t want my drawings to be absolutely meaningless, I also don’t want every piece to embody something specific. A picture book of symbolism is not what I’m out to develop, and neither is a collection of illustrations devoid of any real personality or soul. Ideally, I’d like to be able to strike a good balance between the visual qualities of the work (“horizontal” significance) and the possible interpretations it carries (“vertical” meaning). It’s something I’ve been paying more attention to recently, at least with the slightly larger projects I start.

Doodleee

Sundays are usually pretty slow, so I doodled this on the back of a specials card. *__* Thinking of adding some quick whites to it with ink and uploading it... Bringing art supplies every time from now on. :P

DPAL happenings; project for March

Getting a bit bogged down by some small things recently, it seems. Luckily, my brain knows better, even though my emotions/energy level are being pulled downward. :P

Last week, I went in to model for a class at the DuPage Art League, and I will be going back for a second session tonight. During the five-minute breaks, I would go out of the room to walk around the main gallery—to check out other people’s entries for the February exhibition as well as to look through the teachers’ portfolio binder that was set out by the entrance.  As I was making my way around the darkened gallery, the space being lit up mostly by the light flowing out through the classroom door, some sort of heavy feeling sunk into me. I was struck by how literally the other submissions seemed to address the theme, by how straightforward their interpretations seemed to be. I also noticed that close to (maybe even over) half of the entries had gotten some sort of ribbon (DPAL gives out a few small prizes and some merit ribbons for every exhibition). Not having a ribbon seemed to be the exception, the minority, and my two wood panels were in that minority (at least they hung them together, unlike last month XD). That itself didn’t really matter, but it contributed to that feeling of isolation that was already creeping up on me. I felt like this was a world I wouldn’t ever belong to, and while I was thankful for that, it was still a lonely, miscast kind of feeling.

That said, doing something monthly for the DPAL is a good exercise. This month, I am finally getting to paint an original idea that I actually want to work on, as opposed to doing something that is either quick or a recreation of a previous work more for the sake of practice. The theme for March is “Green,” and once I thought about it for a bit, I realized that green is a color I almost never use. So I thought I would try to use it to symbolize/express a combination of envy, decay, and growth.

Currently, I’m just a little farther than this:

Next month, I’ll be sure to start working right away instead of waiting until the middle of the month. :P