After the Ball

A little Steampunk. A little Zombie.
Doesn't get much better than that!

Inspired by and for Muse and the Mode and their upcoming Black and Red Gothmas ball.

The Sketchbook Project

So there's this thing called the Sketchbook Project.



It's sponsored by Art House Co-op. They have all these lovely little projects that are designed to get art to the masses and to provide a sort of gallery for anyone who fancies themselves to be an artist. They believe anyone can create art.

Art House hosts a number of projects at any given time. I had been seeing buttons for the Sketchbook Project on a number of the art blogs I visit so I decided to see what it was all about.
The simplified gist of it is for $25 you get a sketchbook which you have a limited time to fill up with drawings -or whatever your artistic forte is - based on a theme you pick from a list they provide (or they'll assign you one at random if you like). Then you send the book back to them and it goes on tour.
Like a rock star!

Once the tour is complete all work will go on permanent collection at the Brooklyn Art Library.

Here's a neat video that shows some of the sketchbooks from last year. And a PBS article.

Anyway, I thought it sounded like fun and a good challenge for me. So I chose a little blue sketchbook and the theme "Dirigibles and submersibles". I haven't got the sketchbook yet, but I'm starting on some drawings anyway.
Here's my cover idea and first page:

Still Wicked

Hey, remember this?


Well I got an email today that I am she is being featured on an extremely cool website! Check out TotusMel's Wunderkammer. She has all kinds of really cool steampunk stuff and other things from Etsy. Definitely worth a look-see.

Wicked

Yes, she is.

My steampunked version of the Wicked Witch of the West.

If I Only Had a Heart

Number 3 so far in my Wizard of Oz series (see here and here for 1 and 2). I think she may very well be my favorite so far!
My version of the "tin man":

Cowardly

I previously posted about doing my own take on the Wizard of Oz characters. First character was Scarecrow. Now I've (more or less) finished the Cowardly Lion. You've seen it here first folks! One day I will be famous!


Still playing around with the Toto, not sure if I need to make him look more robotic to fit in with the whole "steampunk" thing?

What the...? It's almost September already!?

And I am so ridiculously behind on my blogging!
I have been drawing and drawing but I seem to have little for my efforts so far. I drew a little something for The Wizard of Otin...but you'll have to wait until he posts it.

I am drawing one of Midlife Slices' sweet little granddaughters, but again, she'll have to post it first. Suffice it to say this is one fun project! Once she has it in hand I will post it here.

I am also working on some personal stuff when I get the chance.
I have long been fascinated with fairy tales and such. And even though they are not "fairy tales" per se, I love "The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice In Wonderland" especially.

I started working on Oz characters some time ago. I didn't get very far. (Stuff always comes up, you notice that?) A couple weeks ago I started again, this time on the Scarecrow. I decided to do all the characters as girls, mainly because girls are easier to draw then boys, plus I thought they might actually sell better, too.
So I did this one:
Which I like okay. But then I got to wasting time doing research online and ran across some steampunk stuff, which is great because I kind of want to go that direction with some of my jewelry...and I thought to myself, "Self, what if you do your Oz stuff kind of steampunk?" Self decided that sounded like a right fine thing to do.
So here's Scarecrow #2:


Personally, I like her a lot.
She has some great detail work, like her pocket watch and her crow. I haven't printed her out yet, so I don't know how they will translate to the finished project, but they were fun to make.

Taking a break this weekend, though. We are going to see Secret Agent Man's sister and folks in the Minneapolis/St Paul area for the State Fair. Should be fun. Hopefully not as hot as it is here! (I'm so ready for fall!)

Hope you all are enjoying the last days of summer!