Illustration Friday: Match

"...as he held aloft the sacred torch, the shaman of the pygmy moles wondered what spirit visions he would view this night..."

Birthday: 21st August, 2006.
Method: MS Paint and some filters with Wacom tablet.
Comment: Obviously these are VERY small moles...who live in the desert...and save the matches they find for sacred rituals :)

Rats

Birthday: 20th August 2006
Method: MS Paint on WACOM INTUOS3 9x12 TABLET
Comment: Yes, the first piece I've done with my new tablet. You know, the pressure to do something enormous and cool and detailed on a piece of equipment like that - enormous. So I say "Pooh to you, pressure!" and chose to draw some cute rats instead. Don't worry, I'm sure bigger and better stuff will come soon. Considering I was watching Nelly Furtado's "Maneater" video on MTV at the same time I think it's OK :)

NEW WACOM TABLET

My fella gave me my birthday present last night. The only wrapping paper he had left was Christmas wrap so he wrapped it up in a doona/duvet/eiderdown cover instead *an9ie rolls eyes*. I was forbidden from entering his room during the enrobing process.

After a very long wait, I was finally allowed in and saw a huge wadded up rectangular object.

"Surprise!" he said, "It's a puppy!"

I unfolded layer upon layer of cotton material, and finally unveiled...

A Wacom Intuos 3! 9x12! With an enormous, gigantic, humongous* A4 active drawing area! EEEEEEEEE!!!

"It's so big!" I exclaimed, as I sat on his bed reading the back of the box.

"Could you say that a little louder please?" he said, "I want everyone outside to hear."

After I swatted him, I proceeded to admire my new toy (bl**dy expensive toy, that!) It comes with three pen nibs, and a copy of Corel Painter Essentials that I can't wait to try out. Ooh, hurry up, Friday! I want to know what the next Illustration Friday theme is!

*I'd been using a 4x5 before so forgive my excitement :)

Music choices

Funny what you find lifts you up when you're in a dark mood. I tried to listen to Within Temptation but this made it worse, Apoptygma Berzerk wasn't helping either way, and then I tried Ben Lee, and his happy gentle folky stuff is finally helping. Funny, isn't it?

I've found myself swinging from one extreme to the other emotionally these past two days, my little sketches have been very cathartic. I can't bring myself to call them art as I feel this would be pretentious. I apologise for the ugly ones, but I felt that they had to be made, and I also felt that I had to put them all out there, not just the pretty nice stuff.

Forgive me for assaulting your eyeballs?

P.S. It's OK, for my own health I've decided to be less negative and nasty. Yesterday I mysteriously broke out in hives, and then last night I dreamt I was engaged to Tom Cruise. The horror! The horror!

Reflection

Birthday: 15th August 2006
Method: MS Paint with Wacom tablet.
Comment: Something to chew on, and a reminder that we should work on what's inside as well as outside.
"You know, looks can only get you so far. But when they fade and you find that all you have left are your brains, and your personality - then watch out!" - my friend, Nicky.

My picture for Illustration Friday's Play coloured in

Birthday: 15th August, 2006
Method: MS Paint with Wacom tablet
Comment: Not sure if I like the plain one below or the one above better

Illustration Friday: Play

Birthday: 14th August 2006
Method: MS Paint with Wacom tablet
Comment: Apologies for such a simple picture. This is my first Illustration Friday entry - when I saw that this week's theme was "Play", I thought of growing up in South East Asia, and how, when the monsoon rains came, we imagined we had banana leaf boats and went sailing around the world. Those imaginings were so strong I remember them as if they were real memories.

Also I thought I should enter something in before I lost my nerve!

15th August 2006 - coloured in the picture and added more detail, you can see it here.

King Hal the Pirate Hound

Birthday: 14th August 2006
Method: MS Paint with Wacom tablet
Comment: On a cheerier note, here's something I drew for the lovely Halinka, to say "thank you" for my great birthday present - an illustrated book called "Pirateology", full of great odds and ends and secret little envelopes to open, and lots of facts about pirates!

Bye Bye Spine

Birthday:14th August 2006
Method: MS Paint with a Wacom tablet
Comment:
"This above all: to thine ownself be true
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."
- the character Polonius, from Hamlet, Act I, Scene III.

A quick thought (sinking boats and being positive)

...while I'm typing up stuff about my birthday party and the trip that Nicky and I took to Margaret River...those are going to be long blogs and I'd like to get them semi-coherent.

Nicky, my fabulous friend from high school who constantly amuses me with her boldness, originality, and twisted sense of humour, says she has several imaginary boats, one of which is the boat for people with annoying accents. This particular boat would have Keira Knightley and Kristin Scott Thomas on it. She then demonstrated their accents with appropriate gestures.

"Can I join in too?" I asked after I picked myself off the floor. "I'll let you have Keira as long as I get to watch."

"Sure, hon!" she replied with enthusiasm, being the generous girl that she is.

I think the prime figure on my boat would be Bjork*, because her voice and fashion sense make me feel like bjeurking, big time. Pick a note and stick to it, lady! Seriously, I was in a friend's car once going to the gym (he really likes Bjeeeeuuurk) and it was the longest 10 minutes of my life. I actually got motion sickness from listening to her. Argh!

HOWEVER, I was reading a cheery little book of optimistic sayings by Louise Hay, and one of them said something like "Instead of being against something, say that you are for something. So, instead of saying that you are against poverty, say that you are for prosperity." See? Positive thinking.

So, instead of being against Bjork, I am all FOR putting her on a boat and scuttling it.

Aah, I feel better already.

^_^

*Note that I care so little that I can't even be bothered putting the accent over the "o", even though I'm usually incredibly pedantic about things like that.