Lady Loki WIP and Accountability

I had mentioned before about the accountability swap I’m doing with my friend Meg. We were both absolutely swamped the last couple of weeks so it ended up falling off the radar, but we’re getting back at it. Our last topic was the Avengers (Meg’s choice) so I decided to do Lady Loki. Here’s the work in progress of it.

ladyloki-sk

Lady Loki channeling her inner Xena

One of the things I’m hoping to get out of this project is to work on my anatomy skills and attempt to draw some more dynamic poses and more realistic styles. I felt like doing a super hero was the perfect time to try to push myself on both of these things. I’m somewhat happy with it, though I’m definitely still struggling with anatomy. I used a comic book reference of Loki himself for the pose. One thing this is teaching me though is that I’d really like to start going to figure drawing classes again. I think it’d be a good reminder on how the human body works and moves.

What this overall exercise is also teaching me is that I really need to start actively making more time to draw. It’s so easy to let work overrun everything and then just climb into bed and ignore the rest of the day. I have a full-time 9-5 job and a part-time job on weekends (and some evenings), so drawing tends to be the first thing that falls to the wayside. But when I make myself actually sit down and be creative and force myself to set aside time, I always feel better. There’s a certain zen to drawing that I don’t feel with anything else and so I’m thankful that this accountability is there.

Anyway. If you have some anatomy advice or anything else, feel free to comment and let me know! ♥

Hey look! I remembered how to be an artist!

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.

asyr

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

edi

Topic: Mass Effect | Sketch: EDI

luna

Topic: Harry Potter | Sketch: Luna Lovegood

orianna

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!

I don’t really bake cookies with Neil in this post. I’d like to. But I didn’t – I just liked the title. (Neil, if you’d like to bake cookies with me, or would like me to send you some cookies, just tell me your favorite kind and you’ve got it.)

I spent most of this weekend in my pajamas. Yesterday, I finally got up, got dressed, and ran errands with Ash in town, but as soon as we were home, I was back in my PJs. (Honestly, I think if more people spent weekends in their PJs, we’d be a happier humanity.) Despite the happy PJ time, my spirits were low.

In fact, I’ve been moping for the past few hours about Things That Suck when, out of nowhere, while reading Mr. Neil Gaiman’s Magical Tumblr, I felt this brilliant moment of clarity, as if a breeze had blown the clouds across the sky and a bright star (or possibly Venus) had suddenly winked into existence and brought with it a shining, glorious epiphany. An epiphany that lit up my mind and the night like a million fireflies and then. And then. Well. Then it blinked out. Just as quickly. Unfortunately I wasn’t really able to decipher what the epiphany as a whole was about, but I could see, just around the edges, words. And THAT meant something to me.

You see, ever since I was laid off in April, I have been slowly (and quickly), embracing many of my old hobbies. Things that at one point in my life, made me ME. Painting is one of them. I’ve been painting and drawing and sketching again and it’s ALL I ever want to do anymore. Oh I’ve missed it. I’ve also been baking. Cookies, brownies, yummy little chocolate chip bars oozing with caramel, goodies that will clog your pores and leave you guzzling milk from the carton. And I’ve been gardening. We have fourteen happy little okra plants in the front yard and a brand new garden bed in the back ready for planting. I’ve been playing video games, catching up on cooking shows, hanging out with Ash. So many wonderful things to bring me back to ME, but I have yet to do what I spent five years of college doing in order to get my Creative Writing degree.

Write.

I’m constantly jealous of my friend Meg of Bow Ties are Cool because all she does is write. She writes and writes and writes about writing and she’s wonderful at it and I wish I had her dedication and enthusiasm. But why don’t I? Why is that I sit here and wish it but don’t do it? What’s stopping me?

NOTHING.

And it’s that NOTHING that came to me while reading Neil’s many insightful responses to people asking him writing advice all the time. (Was that the epiphany? Maybe…) Neither him nor Meg ask for permission from anyone to write. They just do it. I’ve been sitting here waiting for someone to tell me that it’s okay to just sit and write. My fear is in the sitting part I think. I hate just sitting because I’m scared that it will look like I’m not doing anything. Like I’m just sitting. Staring at paper. Or a blank computer screen. And don’t ask me why I feel that doing design and development work is different – it just is. It’s for other people, at least that work. Even painting is for others – it’s for my shop. But writing? It’s not for anyone but myself. Even blogging is for the most part. It’s writing for myself, my thoughts, my beliefs, my stories. So it gets pushed away. Even as I write this, it has taken two days to write because I feel guilty writing it and keep stopping to do something else.

So how do writers stop feeling guilty for doing something that’s mostly for themselves? How do you get over your fear that people will think you aren’t a proper, productive member of society if you just write?

In school, I had classes that I was SUPPOSED to write in. And it made me happy. I was supposed to do it. Nobody could stop me, so I let myself just sit and write and the world was good and I was happy because I was MAKING THINGS UP and that was my JOB. Now? Not so much. So despite all the activities I’m doing to be ME, I’m still not entirely ME. Does this make sense? See, now I’m just writing to write. Because I like it. Blah blah blah I’m writing and nobody is in the room to stop me. Blah. WRITING.

Alright. So there’s my question. And there are my thoughts. All written down nicely for you. Now, I’m feeling guilty and unproductive so I’m going to go bake. Cookies. For Neil. Or Meg. Or for my girlfriend because she would probably be the one most likely to eat them considering she’s the only one in Texas. Go me.

THE END.

Artist Showcase: Meg Smitherman

Okay, so not only is today’s Artist Showcase a phenomenal artist, but she’s also one of my best friends and favorite people. I’ve known Meg for a little over eight years now and she’s stuck with me through thick and thin, regardless of all the hell I sometimes put my friends through (love!). And while dealing with me, she still has time to send into the world some truly amazing pieces of art.

Meg Smitherman 01

Meg resides in the beautiful realm of Missoula, Montana, where she dresses in fancy clothes, plays lots of MMORPGs, and lives with her extremely geeky, tousled-hair boyfriend (Hi Greg). I met her through her writing when we were in high school, but to me, it’s her art that really stands out. Her character “sketches” are amazing and really bring out the personality of each and every one of them. She has a talent for filling even the simplest postures with emotion. And she likes to draw geeky things like World of Warcraft characters and dressing her and her boyfriend up in Star Trek-esque outfits. This makes her full of win in my book.

Meg Smitherman 02

Go check out her art and her fashion blog (which she needs to revive!), and tell her how wonderful she is. Because she is. And pretty, as always. Yep.

Meg Smitherman 03

Find Meg at these other Places:

DeviantArt: Rethe
Tegaki-E: MissMeg
Fashion Blog: Meg Sue & You
Twitter: @Megsauce

Previous Artist Showcases:
Viet-My Bui
Danielle Corsetto
Lois van Baarle
Erika Moen
Anne Julie Aubry
Jason Chan