Katamari prince.

A body pillow case is hard to find, and I couldn't help but notice that the dimensions were pretty perfect for a homemade case anyway. My body pillow is now extra snuggly!

Look out, kitty! You're gonna get rolled up!

Uncharted Waters.

Not only do I have a job right now, but that job utilizes the words "mandatory overtime". Also, I spend a lot of my "off" time playing an MMO - my first, because I was previously concerned that I am exactly the sort of person who would become completely absorbed in an MMO. Turns out I was right!

I'm enjoying gutting fish in taverns around the world while sporting the finest West African fashions. If you see the above avatar, say hi. I totally have some Quest Mediation Permits you can buy. There's some in-game economic humor. Snerk!

Oh! And here are some of my co-workers.

I'm seeing a behavioral therapist right now, and it's a pretty positive experience. I've done a lot of really intensive talk therapy in the past, but this current school focuses squarely on my attitudes and self-worth. One of the main reasons I don't draw as much as I "should" (would, could, etc.) is that I put so much pressure on myself that if I draw at all, I'm going to Fail, so why bother? Perfection to the point of constipation. So right now I scribble Totoros on my work bench and doodle while I'm sailing in UWO. Just trying to get back into enjoying it and doing it when I feel like it.

Star-bellied cornhole.

I didn't know about cornhole until I moved to the midwest. It's not really a sport catered to yuppie Pacific northwesterners. But I've taken a liking to it. Recently, the dad-in-law asked me and my husband to make him a custom set. He would do the woodwork and general planning, and I would do the final painting and sewing.

To start with, we did a "test run" on a set for ourselves. I attempted a '50s pin-up beach girl thing with mixed results. We made a lot of mistakes. We learned what to do and what not to do. Well, mostly me. The boards are pretty "meh" artistically, but hey. You can still toss a bag of corn at 'em just fine. So, whatever!

Now that we've got our game faces on, we've done up the official set. Dad-in-law is a huge fan of children's books, and that means, of course, Dr. Seuss. So we decided to go with two teams: Sneetches and star-bellied Sneetches.

I used the lessons from the last set (yellow acrylic does not hide pencil lines! for the love of God, primed wood is not a sketchpad!) to dutifully reproduce some Seussimals. Something I have to keep drilling into my brain is that reference materials are there for a reason; you draw what's there, not what you think is there. It is, single-handedly, the toughest lesson for me to accept in all the art I do - but whenever I do accept it, my work instantly becomes 200% more awesome. I actually sketched a number of Sneetches yesterday, trying to grasp Seuss' linework and flow. So I felt pretty confident duplicating it.

Hard at work. One stroke at a time.

Because acrylic is... acrylic, I went ahead and did two coats of the outlines. Time-consuming, but totally worth it. Of course, I re-discovered a brush that does a mean chisel, but it was when I only had about 10 more strokes to do. Next time. Always next time: a fresh opportunity to do better. For now, I'm still super happy with the results, and pleased that I approached the work in a very thoughtful and successful way.

We had the idea of making star-bellied bean bags, too. Applique is super meditative.

My husband and I are an awesome team. Like Rocky Balboa says, "we got gaps". It's so great to have someone to work next to, on the same project, doing different tasks. And I think dad-in-law will enjoy the set.

Geek drawings.

D'oh!

 

Taking it into the last century.

I haven't cross-stitched since the eighth grade, but it just came roaring to the front of my mind recently. Nobody loves a totally random, useless creative detour like yours truly.

Ragnar and his little friend Healie go on adventures together. They are an unlikely duo and I like to think there's some kind of Brokeback Mountain thing going on here. But let's not think too long about that.

This was going to be a bookmark, but my attempts to incorporate it into a fabric sleeve made it almost wallet-like instead of boookmark-like. Something to consider as a learning experience, perhaps.

#10: HP 2000/2000.

Fast friends.

Moomin!

Another little Postcrossing doodle. Being my first Moomin, it's hard to loosen up and let the shapes flow.

God of War.

Bowie.

I've been pulled into the Shining Force SOS campaign and plan on sending in some fan art, so here's a quick sketch of the protagonist of Shining Force II. Character design is definitely a fun portion of this game (aside from the fantastic turn-based strategy combat). Between centaurs, wolfmen, phoenixes, pegasi, and other creatures, there's plenty of subject matter to choose from. Bowie is fun in his little blue tights and all, but I have yet to decide on the final piece.

Bonnie rides again.

I got a comment from a friend saying that I haven't uploaded any sketches lately! My apologies. I now give you a sketch of the reason why I haven't been sketching. Because I love paradox.

Red Dead Redemption, also known as Candice Rides Around On A Lot Of Horses And Collects Wolf Pelts For Six Hours A Day, is the sort of video game I've been hoping for since Shadow Of The Colossus (which I've also tried to capture in tribute, except its lead is a shoe-in for bishounen of the year, thereby unworthy of my clumsy, non-manga hands). Anyway. The character here is Bonnie M[a]cFarlane, a presence I very much enjoyed in this western epic, and right up my alley as far as character design is concerned. This is very hastily done, but any practice is good practice, right?