It’s been awhile since I drew on a daily basis, but I’ve been attempting to make it a regular thing again. Thanks to my awesomesauce friend Meg Smitherman, I’ve been at least doing it weekly. We’ve been doing an accountability sketch thing where we give ourselves one weekly topic and then draw it or sketch it however we see fit. Figured I’d do an art dumb of some of the sketches I’ve been working on for the challenges.

Topic: Star Wars | Sketch: Asyr Sei’lar, Rogue Squadron

Topic: Mass Effect | Sketch: EDI

Topic: Harry Potter | Sketch: Luna Lovegood

Tiefling Barbarians FTW!

That last one isn’t for the sketch thing – I just wanted to draw up an avatar for my Tiefling Barbarian that my play in our D&D campaign. Her name is Orianna and she’s loud and brash and likes shining things. She’s also very sarcastic and smooth with the ladies. I love her.

I’ve also been doing a little post-it note doodle challenge with myself to try and get the creative juices going in the morning. Usually I do these while I’m on client calls when I’m not taking notes (having my hands moving keeps my mind focused on what I’m listening to – I was a notorious doodler in classes too but it really does help) so they’re pretty small and silly. You can find these over on my twitter account. I try to post them pretty regularly. When I’m not sick. Fighting off a bad cough and cold right now so I’m a little slow.

Will post more art later! Working on finishing that Asyr sketch and the Luna one. Wish me luck!

Haven’t done one of these in awhile, so let’s bring it back. Today’s artist showcase is of Natalie Sklobovskaya – an artist I discovered years back and haven’t been able to get out of my mind since. Her work is colorful and dark all at the same time and reminiscent of some of the old gothic romanticism-era artists.

Natalie studied Fine Arts and Communication Design at Washington University in St. Louis. A lot of her projects in college combined illustration with videos and her ability to tell an animated story in this way is pretty amazing. One of my favorites of hers is a video she did of Roza Shanina, a 20 year old female sniper from Russia. It’s a gorgeous piece of animation and you should all watch it.

When not illustrating, Natalie is a user interface designer and developer for software in California. She likes to learn languages (both of humans and of computers), writing, and eating desserts.

You can find more of Natalie’s work here:
Website: http://sklobovskaya.com/
Behance: https://www.behance.net/sklobovskaya
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/sklobovskaya
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sklobovskaya

Previous Artist Showcases:

A little over a month ago I was in glorious San Diego with my fiance, drinking local beer and eating some of the largest portions of food I’ve ever had (like seriously, California you sure don’t know how to portion control – I thought Texas was bad). San Diego Comic Con has been a bucket list item of mine for EONS and finally, after years of trying, I managed to score both of us tickets. And it was everything we could have ever hoped for.

Comic Con Internation!

Jake and I at Comic Con!

I didn’t take as many pictures as I wanted – there was just too much to do and look at and I think most of the time I was just walking around with my eyes opened wide trying to take it all in at once (that’s what she said). I had actually hoped that maybe SDCC wouldn’t be as great as everyone says it is so I’d never want to go back, but sadly (happily), this was not the case and I am planning on going back next year because you can’t just go once. It’s like getting a tattoo – it’s now become an addiction. I need more SDCC in my life.

And because I already miss it so much (Was I really just there last month? It feels like a dream.), I am going through all the pictures I did manage to take and I’m living vicariously through Past Nikki and feeling all the feels again. Here. You can feel them with me.

Click here to continue reading this article.

For the last few months, my feelings about marriage were conflicting. Wait, let me say that better. My feelings about my sudden newfound ability to get married were conflicting. I had only been in relationships with women for about nine years before Jake came along (and yes, I realize I haven’t updated in almost a year – A LOT HAS CHANGED). I always thought that if I were to get married, it would be to a woman I love. Therefore, marriage wasn’t something we could have without a fight. When Jake asked me to marry him back in April, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I wanted to, but it came with a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I slowly began to recognize as guilt. All of a sudden, I had a right that I hadn’t had for a long time, simply because I was with a man. I hated how easy it had suddenly all become. There was (and still is) a lot of identity struggles over my now seemingly hetero-looking relationship, but this is what brought me the most guilt. But just because I now found myself with the law on my side didn’t mean I would stop trying to change that law. And when Jake and I started planning our wedding, we immediately started incorporating LGBT-support into it – we found equal rights stickers to put on tables, rainbow ribbons for guests to wear, and we were going to put out tip jars to nonprofits working to improve the rights of queer couples. We are still planning on doing as much as we can, but there’s a huge difference now.

Love won. Love won and now every couple can walk through those doors and marry the partner of their choosing, regardless of gender. I woke up to texts and emails and just lay in bed sobbing because I didn’t believe this would happen. I’d grown cynical over the years and didn’t actually think it would happen. But it did. Nothing will change in regard to the support we will show at our wedding, but the knowledge that love has won this day will make our day that much more special. I may not be in a same-sex relationship anymore and maybe some think this should no longer matter to me like it did before, but it does. In a way, it matters to me even more now because in no way was my last relationship of six years with my girlfriend (and domestic partner) less legit than my relationship with my fiancé now. I remember being with my girlfriend and crying over how unfair it was. And when Jake and I started planning out our wedding, it hurt over how easy everything was – how unjust that we could just do this because we LOOKED like a straight couple. I love him with all my heart but it wasn’t fair that suddenly I could have this just because he’s a man. It made me angry – angrier than I had ever been about marriage before. It wasn’t fair. I’m still as queer as I was before I met him and I vowed to never give up on this fight.

And now we won. The battle has been won. The fight is far from over, but today, love won out. And this right to get married and be recognized is shared by all couples. My heart is so full this morning. I don’t think I can adequately explain all the feelings I have inside but today I feel whole. I should not have doubted. I am so glad that the Supreme Court proved me wrong and that there is more good in the world and in our justice system than I gave them credit for. It is a good reminder.

Today love won. Love is genderless and fluid and beautiful and now it is recognized. I think today I am going to spend some time working on our wedding site in celebration. Rainbows and glitter and unicorns for everyone!!

Of course it’s one of my favorite holidays ever. So in honor of today, I am watching my favorite movie pirate (Long John Silver) in my favorite pirate movie ever (Muppets Treasure Island). And forcing my cats to walk the kitty plank into the bathtub – they do not find my humor amusing.

“Hey ho ho
It’s one for all for one
And we’ll share and share alike with you and love you like a son
We’re gentlemen of forune and that’s what we’re proud to be
And when your a professional pirate
You’ll be honest brave and free
The soul of decency
You’ll be loyal and fair and on the square
And most importantly
When you’re a professional pirate
You’re always in the best of company!”
– Muppets Treasure Island

My favorite real life pirate? I have a soft spot for Henry Morgan (you have to admire a pirate that actually makes it retirement), but of course my favorites are Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Honestly, did you think I’d have any other answer? They were the badass sirens of the sea. And Calico Jack was a pansy.

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day!