I saw Wolfwalkers with my sister and her kids last week and oh my, what a movie. I didn’t think anything could possibly top Song of the Sea, but Cartoon Saloon absolutely outdoes itself with the art in Wolfwalkers.
So, I couldn’t resist doing a little warmup drawing of Mebh Óg MacTíre today. That girl has sass in spades.
I was watching The Brokenwood Mysteries the other night and it dawned on me I’d never done any fan art for the series. So, problem solved.
I’ve had The Ghost of O’Donahue stuck in my head for weeks. And if you’ve got to have a song endlessly looping in your head, this works rather nicely.
I keep adding bits to this days. Fifteen minutes here, ten minutes there. Slowly, it adds up. Not as fast as I’d like, granted. But it’s more on the paper by the end of the day than when I started.
And that sweater sleeve is the Shore Cardigan pattern, which I finished up late last autumn and basically spent the winter (and most of the spring) wearing.
I had a chance to print the block that I was carving last week and have a few prints now up in the shop. It was a fun change of pace to step away from pixels and get ink on my hands.
Also, I have two illustrated coasters available for sale over on the Nucleus Portland site. There’s some great art over there, from a wide range of artists, so be sure to have a look.
Early aughts Travis is always good for whatever ails you.
I bargained with myself that if I could get X, Y and Z done on my to do list, I could hit the library’s used book sale, get my hair cut and start work on a new block print. I like used books. I dislike frizzy hair. And I really, really like love block printing. So needless to say, my to do list actually got finished this week.
I’ve based this illustration on photographs of women peat gatherers from the 19th century (who also frequently knit while hauling their baskets, which is hardcore multi-tasking). The image on the left is a Photoshop mockup, where I traced over a scan of my original pencil sketch. I then printed this and transferred the design to the block. And at the stage pictured, I painted over the pencil transfer with ink. In the past, I’d start carving once I had the pencil sketch transferred, but found myself struggling to envision the final print while working. But painting the exact areas I want to print has helped a ton, removing a lot of guesswork. I’ve gotten a fair amount of carving time in this week, so am hoping to start printing next week.
Also, I held my breath for most of the time I was cutting those facial features. And that is decaf in my coffeee mug, because sharp objects and being overly caffeinated don’t mix well, in my experience.