Lenore fan art

Lenore, the cute little dead girl by ~lunavalse on deviantART

I got acrylic ink for Krismas so this is my first big practice piece. I did a bunch of ATCs, too, but I can't find them right now.
This is Roman Dirge's character and the books are just great.

Posting

Phew! I gotta get posting. Now that Abe has a job, I think I need to start scanning my own art in. :| So lazy. He will still have to photograph the color ones for me though.

Amy Farrah Fowler from last weeks show. Her head and body are out of proportion, but let's say I did that on purpose. Almost none of the gray scanned in either. Bah.

I got an awesome new fountain pen - Noodlers. It uses a plunger to refill from a bottle of ink straight into the nib. Crazy. I love it. I got blue-black ink, but Abe scanned this in black and white.

This is an image Torrid posted on Facebook, I think. Someone's "nice" look from a naughty and nice contest. The gray didn't scan well.

I also posted a Nadine and Cob drawing on Ink Tub, so don't forget to check there.

Blacksad

Blacksad, written by Juan Diaz Canales and art by Juanjo Guarnido
Published October 20, 2010

At Stumptown last year, Abe picked up Blacksad from the Darkhorse booth. The lady there gave it such praise, he couldn't resist. And it was worth him having to carry another hardback in his backpack for hours.

The art is by Juanjo Guardino, who worked at Disney in Paris for a while, and you can telll. Amazing art in the great classic-style Disney illustration. I kept thinking of 101 Dalmations because of the style and the actual setting. Subtle watercolors add to the nostalgia. The characters are all animals with people bodies (essentially).  And Disney animal faces they are. Those expressive eyes! It was a little disconcerting to see my childhood-memory style used for such adult themes, but damn it looks good.


The book actually contains three stories that follow the cat John Blacksad. His life kinda sicks, bu he does help some people. The characters are all essentially caricatures of themselves, in a good way. Seems like a method that Eisner could get behind - the animal heads are like shorthand to the type of person we are dealing with.

The only negative I had is that the women were less animal than the men. I often couldn't tell you what animal they were supposed to be. I can always tell with the men. The women also had earrings where their human ears would be instead of on their animal ears. But these are minor complaints even though they really bugged me.

Anyways, by the end, all I wanted was more. Warning, though. These guys pull no punches and really use this animal shorthand to discuss some painful topics from that era (and now unfortunately), like racism and war crimes. Like Maus, the animal metaphors are a good way to soften teh blows into more easily managed chunks.

I assumed based on the date of the publication that I shouldn't expect more. That would be too much to ask, wouldn't it? NO! There is another one that came out this July. I will definitely be grabbing it when I can.

I like it enough, I drew a little bit of fan art.

I also did some practice by copying some of the faces in the book. Seriously good stuff - I am not that good.

Nadine practice

Ah, good version of some of my COB drawings.

 There you can see the blue! That the scanner erased.

She looks a bit stoned there, I think.Ooh, you can see the blue pencil lines...

Superhero Woman

So here is a sketvh dump, a bit. Now that Abe has a job, it is harder to get him to do my bidding, so I guess I will have to scan in my own art. Though if I want good ones of my color art, he will still need to do it.

 Here is a first attempt at drawing Superhero Woman and Sidekick Dog, a pair I made up in high school or junior high. I liked the idea of super heroes, but the only ladies ones I knew, I didn't like. Wonder Woman was too scantily clad and I only knew the movie version of Batgirl. So I made up my own. It had a much more literal style. Less violence and darkness. Superhero girl was me, der, and Sidekick Dog was my dog, Patience. Their nemesis was Madame Nutmeg (or something) after my mom's cat. Not that I had anything against poor Nutmeg, but we needed a villain. I even made us outfits with blankets for capes and cut up old socks for masks. Her name wasn't Patience for nuthin'. She also had little shorts and I wore my converse. We would run around our property all dressed up. Not much because it is kind of cumbersome to run around the woods in a blanket cape and Patience did have a limit.

Here's some standard fare Sartorialist drawing. I keep trying for more cartoony style. It is difficult.

 And some practice for the story I am working on with the working title COB. This is a scan of copic markers, so all the light blue is gone, but there was some sky in the window.This is definitely at least one of Nadine's outfits for the book.

And here is Nadine all dressed up for fencing. I think I will change the skort thing up a bit. And the copic marker blue is so much darker than that. But I think I will add some gold embroidery along the blue edges of the skirt instead of black and give her gold buttons instead of black. As you can see, I also haven't decided on an eye color yet. Her hair will also be more yellow than red. Boy copics scan weird.

Corgis and stuff

Drawing dump.

So many corgis.

 Fawn unicorn thing I drew at Drink and Draw

Top two characters there are from Poirot, my newest mystery show.

 From Sartorialist.

 Another from Sartorialist.

Some Nadine practice. Not quite the right dress.

Watercolor of Nadine. Same dress. I love the hair.

Not feeling well.

Some drawings from the week. I wrote a post about commas for work that included a Batmower.

 This is actually from my head. I saw a girl sort of dressed like this the other day. Not the hat.

And I think I have a bit of food poisoning after eating out today for lunch. But it was kind of ... slow... so I played video games on my tablet while I waited. :S

Steampunk and stuff

Some drawings from lately. First up, from The Sartorialist.

 Some practice for my first big story. There's more tree, but whatever. I was testing the paper because it bleeds really bad with a nib but seems fine with a brush.

 More practice for a different story. I'm not really going to say much on that...

 Practicing steam punk ladies from images on Deviant art. The top row is based on images from DestinysGarden and geoectomy. Second row is from crimson-shirou and voluptas-designs.

 This one is by Leder-Joe.

And finally one from MADmoiselleMeli.

Chapped-lip kitty

Some comics about the chapped-lip kitty.

Chapped-Lip Kitty by ~lunavalse on deviantART
Chapped-Lip Kitty v. Fat Donkey by ~lunavalse on deviantART

Hands! Abe let me draw his hands as a model, but I went for a style like the amazing Marlo Meekins. So much fun.

Some practice for my next big story. This is Nadine and Cob.

Catty Cat

We got to go to drink and draw tonight. So much fun. So here is what I drew. They were talking about xmas elves, so I drew some.

I was also day dreaming about this cat today for some reason. So I spent the rest of the time drawing it.

And last nigh, I drew the ladies from Reading in Skirts.

Butts!

I was inspired to submit to the Butt Zine that was going around, so I did the following, but I don't think any got in. So here they are in all their glory! Click the images to see a bigger version on deviantart.

5 Butt Haikus 
by Angela Boyle
1
Peach curves create lust.
Swaying bottom calls out, but
Sometimes too loud. Poot.
2
Cat calls from behind—
A mystical derriere
That can drive men mad.
3
Those thing, bony butts
Cause pain while sitting, lose heat.
That’s why big butts rule.
4
Best butt names: arse, buns,
Badonkadonk, patootie,
Caboose, kiester, tush.
5
Blubber butt’s just rude.
More cushion for the pushin’?!
Bubble butt’s so cute.

 
I like big butts by ~lunavalse on deviantART


That's my butt by ~lunavalse on deviantART


Corgi Butt by ~lunavalse on deviantART


Butts in the air by ~lunavalse on deviantART


Butt Yoga by ~lunavalse on deviantART

INKtober Day 1

It's INKtober. Here's some inkings.
These first two were from yesterday, so Day 1.

 From The Sartorialist.

Water beast!
This is a drawing a did based on the cover of Regina Spektor's new album "What we saw from the cheap seats." Enjoying that album, by the way.

Here's some fan art for Witch and Knight, a top notch web comic. Go read it. It's awesome. She's busy for a couple weeks, so now's a good time to catch up.

Poison Ivy

Started this last Wednesday at Drink and Draw. Finished it Sunday evening when relaxing after Jet City Comic Show on Saturday (when I got to draw on it a little, too).


Poison Ivy by ~lunavalse on deviantART

Review: Understanding Color

The following was originally published in Technical Communication, Volume 59, Number 3, August 2012.

---

Understanding Color: An Introduction for Designers

Linda Holtzschue. 2011. 4th ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
[ISBN 978-0-470-38135-9. 259 page, including index. US$65.00 (softcover).]

Color plays a part in everyday life; designers specifically choose many of the colors. I remember learning about color in third grade; the teacher put the three primary light colors on the overhead projector to prove that color mixes differently as light than as paint. Understanding Color expands on those classes, explaining basics like the color wheel, to more complex issues like the bezold effect and fluting.

Understanding Color covers everything from what makes color to how color interacts to how designers work with color. Most of the book is about color basics, which can be a mind-boggling topic. More than one person has had a hard time wrapping their mind around light. I learned a few interesting facts. For example, the possible effect of mathematical harmony on having seven colors for the ROYGBIV (red-orange-yellow-green-blue-indigo-violet) color wheel even though most people cannot distinguish indigo. “Despite his genius, Newton was a product of the seventeenth century. He may have elected to include seven colors because the number corresponded to the musical notes of the diatonic scale” (p. 135).

Holtzschue’s explanations are thorough to ensure that you use the same vocabulary. She defines that “Lamps are the principal man-made light source. ‘Lamp’ is the correct term for a light bulb. The fixture that holds the lamp is a luminaire” (p. 22). You can always have the glossary to use if you forget what a term means when it
comes up later.

Many graphics illustrate each point. Two illustrations of leaves, one blue/green and the other red/orange, illustrate that “analogous color groupings contain two primaries but never the third” (p. 75). Nearly every page has some graphic illustrating a recent idea that while not always referenced or adjacent to the related section, the caption does clearly define them.

The book’s last two chapters contain information about how color applies specifically to designers. The most important point is that “printed colors, for example, are not exactly the same as product colors; designers strive only to get the closest possible match” (p. 189). Much of the information is on the history of how designers have used color, and this is where Holtzschue discusses how to work with monitors. Yet, it seems a big oversight to not cover color-blindness in a book on color for designers. She may have skipped this information since the book does not cover how to use color. Holtzschue does explain the history of color theory and the expansiveness of the field.

I would have liked information about how to apply the various color ideas in design. A PDF workbook is available that includes a lengthy supply list and involves plenty of variation.

Understanding Color is a great place to start learning about color. It contains the information you need, how color interacts, before you start learning about color theory, and how to use color interactions for an end result.

Family Portrait

Yo. I will be at Jet City Comic Show on Saturday. Booth AA07 as Flying Dodo Publications. And here are some drawings from Drink and Draw last night.
 
Family Portrait by ~lunavalse on deviantART

And here's a weird dude, probably high Abe mentioned to me later after hearing the story. He was waiting to cross the crosswalk and kept starting then would look around and stay where he was. And the whole time I was waiting at the light, he was tucking the shirt in his hand into the back of his pants.

My pirate name

My pirate name is:

Mad Anne Bonney

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Harley Quinn

Harley will protect you Joker by ~lunavalse on deviantART

I am really enjoying trying out some different Harley Quinn outfits.

Wilfred

I am loving the show Wilfred, so here is some fan art.


Wilfred couch by ~lunavalse on deviantART

I also love Murder, She Wrote, so here is some more fan art! Not as good though.

Edward Gorey and Adventure Time

Did some Adventure Time in an Edward Gorey style.
 
Gorey Adventure Time by ~lunavalse on deviantART
We also rode our bikes to the park today and I did a little drawing of the trees on the other side of the park.

In other news, I started watching Wilfred on Netflix Instant Play and holy cow, that show is weird, I really enjoyed it. I look forward to more. I only watched half the first season last night (when I did all the hatching on the drawing above), so I have a bit left, but there are only 13 episodes available right now.

Some ladies

Inklies! Do I need to do more color? I have copics and they are super duper fun. Anyways, some drawings. Of ladies, it seems.

Amy Farrah Fowler from The Big Bang Theory in heels. She is so adorable I can hardly stand it.

Trying on a hat. That is not me, but I did buy that shirt and I was trying on hats. 

From The Sartorialist.