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.

Just like being home.

For those who haven't already been informed by the other 3,000,000 social media I use, I have been experiencing a killer withdrawal from one of my psychiatric medications. It makes me do things like sleep until lunchtime, eat chocolate at every opportunity, and run away from home like a 5 year-old. Not kidding. I went to the park and sat in a tree for about 3 hours. Or maybe that's more like running away from home like a cat?

Anyway, I am finally on the up-tick, at least for the time being. Let me tell you, it's N-I-C-E... like, actually being able to experience happiness when it's warranted. NEW CONCEPT. In the midst of this new energy, I recently decided to try some more game/world design. I love terraced cities. So I'm trying to design a small, self-sufficient mountain community fed by an aquifer and/or glacial melt that begins at the temple, traveling through a system of canals. Caste clusters receive the water at different stations, and with varying degrees of contamination from higher castes. Sort of like the concept of a family bathing in the same water, with the head of the household receiving the fresh water and the youngest getting the skunky leftovers from everyone else (hence the saying "throwing the baby out with the bath water"). THE HIGH PRIEST HAS PEED IN YOUR WATER. DRINK IT AND BE GRATEFUL. There's also a cemetery and a couple pastures for grazing rotation. Did someone say yaks?

The fun little sketch that makes my designing chops probably look more impressive than they actually are:

Shrawl, anyone?

My mom-in-law bought me some amazing fabric, with which I promised I'd make her a skirt. I trimmed off some leftovers from the pattern and decided to get acquainted with the stretchy purple stuff through a "practice" skirt for myself. Somehow, I ended up with this.

I started out making a loose "shrug" (apparently that's what kind of a half-jacket or slightly-ambitious sleeves are called) and decided to leave the other end free. So it can pretty much function as anything from a scarf to a top. What I really love about it is that it has kind of a kimono tone to it. I took my little shrawl to the local business that sells my clothing creations (well, two of them, including this!) and the shopkeeper acted wildly impressed that I designed this myself.

I just spend a lot of time playing with fabric. I love saris. I love folding and pinning. So a shrawl was really not that wild of a departure. Still, I'm happy with how it turned out and hope someone with a lot of matching evening gowns adopts my little creation.

More wrinkles! More!

I am really having fun with this. Despite the fact that each one takes SEVERAL HOURS of nit-picking.

1) Matronly figure! She's supposed to look like a kindly grandmother type, which is why I went with a model that was looking down - as if she's greeting little munchkins. While the photo was of a Mexican woman with an "oh God, I'm being photographed" grimace, a little tweak gave her a full smile. One gray pixel means a gap in the teeth. Phew!

2) Grown-up Tabrin. Thanks to Ms. X for the modeling! Here it is! It's not a precise match because I only have, really, 3 colors with which to cover the skin tones of a young person, and the photo was taken under fluorescent lights of death. But, all things considered, I hope it's OK!

3) A vastly improved seer. I was scared to go with the crinkly eyes at first, but seeing the weird clown-looking face changed my tune. So I let her wrinkles go wild, along with some pursed lips and better-defined face paint. I mean, come on. She may be old, but she can apply her makeup!

Talking heads.

I've been on a tileset-making blitzkrieg the last several days, including character portraits!

Young Tab'rin (modeled after me, proportionally adjusted for a child's facial anatomy), the Seer (modeled after an old Mayan woman) and grown-up Tabrin, which was also kind of modeled after a Mayan girl, but looks more like my neighbor. So I think I'll scrap that one. But, still, here's a few hours' worth of pixel work.

Today I was getting my script filled when I looked up at the pharmacist and thought "IT'S TAB'RIN!". Through all the awkwardness that a flaky artist can muster, I managed to get permission for a few camera phone snapshots so I could try the portrait again. I then learned that this pharmacist has an Aztec name! HOW AWESOME, and a true sign that this face belongs in my story that likewise features huipils and stone temples. I'm excited to have Tab'rin that looks more like the Tab'rin in my head than the pictured Tab'rin that cat-sits for me.

So if you're reading this, Ms. X, hi! And thanks for contributing for my nebulous science fiction project. E-mail me sometime! Otherwise, thanks for the bipolar medication. (The irony is that my project probably makes the most headway when it's NOT working!)

Pixel art!

I started by modeling a few things off Dragon Warrior 4 (which I have been playing for like 3 hours a day) and I'm hopeful that I can end up with a nice tileset.

True-to-pixel size:

300% size:

It'd be fun to use some game editing software to create a little mini (very mini) RPG. I just adore these '90s wonderlands.

Daisy chain.

Four individual threads and a plethora of beads! The most complex beading I've done. It actually warrants a spot here, I think!

Sunflower!

I have been attracted to plants lately. I think it's beginning to hit me that winter's coming - I wanted to draw the deadly nightshade that is growing around my house (!) but the blooms have already disappeared. So perhaps I'll draw more dying flowers than fresh!

Yakety yak.

The comic has moved!

While Blogger is nice, it's just not a good format for webcomics. I intended this space to be for little, well, sketches.

You can now head here for more daily comic updates!

http://candicenorcross.net/dontcallmecandy/

If you're an RSS-haver, you can subscribe at this URL.

feed://candicenorcross.net/dontcallmecandy/inc/feed.php

It's ugly, but right now, it's more important to ditch the image-heavy blog for something more streamlined. Thanks for reading!

Yup. That's right. More than two weeks of my "trial" and I've decided to stick with it! Here we go!