page a day: origami

Pink fighter jets and origami.

continuing alterations

More 'work' on the altered book...

I say 'work' because this isn't really a project or even a work-in-progress, it's an art journal. As such I've become much less invested in the outcome of the various pages than I am in my actual projects; I'm more interested in putting down the feeling I have at the moment I decide to make an entry, in whatever media I can use right away.

Sometimes I spend ages layering a page spread with gesso and various bits, while at other times I just want to set marks down as fast as possible. Results range from empty and scratchy:

...to layouts that I'm much happier with:

Mixed media, last spread all Sharpies. They go very well with the paper of this book, although I think they might bleed and soak in over time. Ah well, at least the scan will stay nice.

Altered States

In a stunning reversal of previous practice, I've actually been doing a lot of work lately without posting.

Stay tuned for:

• more of the Sketchbook Project (which has already been sent off to Brooklyn)
• pen scratchings and painting updates
• more Jonsi Project scans
• text-only updates on the Big Book Project which I should be done with in April but isn't scheduled to come out until around September. Oh my God, a real published book all to myself!

In the meantime, I am still doing the altered book art journal, which you may remember from these posts: (first spreads; single pages). Here are some better scans, as well as new(ish) pages:

Desert Seeker

Originally did this for my aunt, who loves the Dune books and especially the Bene Gesserit. Refined and updated it for my mom, who introduced me to both.

Reeves acrylic paints and acrylic medium with Winsor & Newton brushes on Marie canvas board.

Waiting rooms

I have a new notebook! Love Design Life brought me a lovely sketchbook from Bangkok and I've decided to make it my new journal.

I spent a lot of time waiting for specialists today...not all the appointments were for me. The ear doctor (my mother), the internal specialist (me), the dermatologist (me again), and the dentist (my grandmother). I'd discovered how to load comics onto my iPad, but with e-readers there does come a point when your eyes get tired, so I had to find something else to do.

At least I wasn't alone.

Sketchbook Project 2013, Part 3: Greek Temple

Greek Temple, British Museum, London, UK

Back in the late 90s I was part of a fannish mailing list of writers. There were a lot of us, but about a dozen regular posters. We encouraged each other, read stories and bits of stories, critiqued (lovingly), and generally enjoyed ourselves in a productive way. The list became another, differently-named list, and then a blog community which didn't last too long. Gradually though, we found each other online anyway.

Fast forward to the mid-2000s, where I was going to art school in London. One of the writers was going to visit, she posted on her journal. Would anyone like to meet up? Yes!!!

We spent a great couple of days going through the free museums, and clubbing at night. This is still one of my fondest memories.

I like ... and I cannot lie

Has it really been two months since I posted last? The horror. I would blame work...well, actually I do blame work.

Finally finished another stamp collage illustration...

The top half is a geisha stamp I've had for ages, the bottom is Winsor & Newton Emerald ink. The chop is actually a genuine stone carved chop from Hong Kong with my last name on it. The waves are a mix of Higgins indigo and Prang turquoise, I really like the gradating effect they make against the torn-paper edge of the tea stain.

I am less pleased with the teapot stamp--it looks incongruous. That's an ill effect of doing everything on one page instead of Photoshopping in separate elements: no backsies!

Speaking of backsies, I have noticed a trend in my figures:

All my ladies lately have skinny arms and relatively big bottoms (well, big for fashion illustration). It's funny to note that as my body changes, my drawings do too.

I did call this one Tangerine Dreams, and then I changed it to Tangerine Dress. You're welcome. Prang watercolours, black tea, and Winsor & Newton Burnt Sienna ink, which has always been a mystery to me--why is this so-called 'burnt sienna' so dang orange??

Sketchbook Project 2013, part 2: Pembroke

Part 1

Door 2: Wall Passage, Pembroke Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales, the UK.

Henry VIII (yup, that one) spent his childhood here. It's a big, worn, drafty old place, with an enormous cave in the lower levels that dates back to prehistoric times. Pembroke is a tiny town that basically has this huge castle, its huge moat (actually a millpond that extends into a small lake, which proceeds to run into a river that goes 97 miles to the sea), and the ruins of a mill that's older than the castle.

I remember it because this is the first holiday I was ever on which I planned, organised and paid for all by myself. It's also the only holiday I've ever been on by myself. I stayed in an old coaching inn and walked round and round the castle and millpond for three days and felt boring and happy and utterly relaxed. I met a couple of Filipino caregivers, which strengthens my belief that we have infiltrated every level of service everywhere.

I also got catcalled by a car full of redheaded boys. Is this a thing that happens a lot in Wales?

the secret life of things

 More catalogue silliness with the pathetically non-solid Cavallini & Co. ink.

The chairs, the chairs of CB2. Lots of pipe legs in watery ink. The fake rattan weave texture was really fun to draw.

And done in the equally shitty sepia ink, my J. Alfred Prufrock tribute. Actually I drew/painted this whole thing oriented vertically, and only noticed it looked a lot better rotated 90% left. (Or, as actually happened, tossed it randomly on the bed and saw it looked better in passing.)

I would love to turn this second one into a postcard, or landscape notebook, or some other item of stationery.

objectification

Going through my aunt's junk mail is like living a fantasy life in which I'm a character from Revenge or Gossip Girl. West Elm, J. Crew, Athleta, the MoMA Store...where I'm from, catalogues are almost unheard of, so it's like having free magazines dropped off at your doorstep every day.

Today all my stuff arrived from the US, so I spent the day going through it. You've guessed why I'm posting about it here: sketchblogging!

I don't know what it is about West Elm catalogues that makes me want to draw inanimate objects till my vision blurs. I shouldn't question it, I guess.

 The dearth of dip pens in this country forced my to try and work with one of my weird skinny crow quills and forgo my usual death grip near the point. That and the fragility of the nib itself means a lot of variation in the line and a slight unpredictability.

Also, one of the inks I brought back is 'black' ink from Cavallini and Co. Black my foot! Look at those tea drawings! There's a 'sepia' which isn't much better...both inks are watery, with grainy, uneven pigment in the thicker lines. I ended up liking the effect. I think I can play with colourising in Photoshop to get various illustration effects with these inks.

This other ink, which just arrived today, is Visconti and seems to be a much better colour and consistency. You can see the difference. I'm still using my Noodler's Bulletproof Black for my book project though--it's sticky and takes a while to dry, but it's the most gorgeous black I've ever seen in an ink.

So today was an adventure in 'working with what you've got'. It was unexpectedly productive and fun though; I'll work on spending more days like this.