Tea, Anyone?

Hello! I have had a little tummy bug, so I have been just hanging around my apartment today. As a result, I have a new pic. Enjoy!

Something new

Hello friends! Talking with a friend of mine about a week ago, we decided that a space theme is great for kids artwork. Therefore, I have launched a new "line," so to speak. Space Babies! I am certainly not abondoning Spacegirl, this is simply in addition. So here is my first picture in the Space Babies line, entitled "Catch a Falling Star." I also have to thank my friend Kristin, for having such beautiful babies, as I was using pictures of her children, when designing this picture. Thanks!

Back on my Forest Moon

Actually, I have been back for awhile, but Spaceman was here for 10 days, and I have been working (erm, in Space of course) every day since then. It is really lonely to be apart from him again, but I am alright. I haven't had time for much drawing, but I have some ideas, so I will be getting back into it soon!

Star Stealer. . . finally!

Sorry for the delay - here she is. This one isn't my favorite, mostly because I scanned the drawing. Usually I take a picture of it with my camera, which maybe sounds like it wouldn't turn out very well, but I like the way my ink lines are not quite black and so standout against the black background. Since I scanned it this time, the outline just blends in. In the future, I may redo it, because I really, really like the way the stars on her jewelry turned out. For now though, here it is:

Exuses and Harry Potter

Hey all! Sorry I have been away for awhile. I have had a terrible cold and have also been super busy. I do have a new drawing that is almost finished. It has actually been almost finished for quite awhile, but I just haven't had the motivation to put the finishing touches on it. Soon though, I promise. To give you a little teaser - it is called Star Stealer. Dun, dun, dahhhhhhh!

In other news, I just finished reading Harry Potter. I won't really comment on it, because I don't want to give anything away. Suffice to say, I pretty much couldn't put it down until I finished it. And now, what is there in life to look forward too? Ah yes, movies 6 and 7 will be out someday. There is still Harry Potter stuff to look forward to! Hmmm, I hope that J.K. Rowling will start another series, but I feel that it is likely she won't. I don't know. I guess I just don't want to get my hopes up. I just really enjoy reading her books. Fantasy is perhaps my favorite genre of all time, and hers are so rich with detail. Anyway, I can always start reading from the beginning again. :)

Living in space takes its toll on Spacegirl's tummy

I'm sick. Not terribly so, but just enough so that I don't really feel like doing anything. Yet at the same time, I am bored. I tried drawing, because I have some ideas for pictures I would like to draw, one with Spaceman and Spacegirl, and one with Green Lady, but I was feeling to lazy to make them as detailed as I want them to be. So I gave up. I promise I will be posting them sometime soon.

Spaceman is at school right now and won't be home for a couple of hours. Poor Spaceman, he has been working so hard. It seems like he is either at one of his two jobs, in class, or doing homework. I am really proud of him, but I miss him so much too. Especially when I don't feel well. Come home Spaceman!

Show Down

Here is my latest installment in the epic of Spacegirl. In this picture, we find Spacegirl and Green Lady in a rare face-to-face confrontation. Green Lady cannot bear it that the stars, the most beautiful things in the universe, are not in her possession. She is determined to collect them all for her private collection, and Spaceman and Spacegirl don't want this to happen, as they believe that the stars are for everyone. It makes me think of famous works of art that have been stolen from museums. The thieves deprive the public of the art, in many cases not for the money, but simply for the feelings of power they get from owning something so beautiful. This is the Green Lady's motivation. She wants to hoard all of this beauty for herself.



This picture shows Spacegirl, who has stolen a star back from Green Lady in order to return it to its rightful place in the heavens, fighting off Green Lady, who is attempting to stop Spacegirl. The fact that Green Lady is able to shoot lightening directly from her hands is very much Star Wars inspired, but adapted to fit this type of art and the design of the Green Lady. The gun that Spacegirl is using inspired a bit of a debate between me and Spaceman. He said that it should look more like a gun. I said I wanted it to be unique and interesting. He said, "a gun is a gun." And therein, lies the problem. I don't like guns. I didn't grow up with hunting or anything like that, and I just don't feel comfortable with them. And I definitely am not interested in them. So, I wanted to make Spacegirl's weapon look really unreal. The other thing is that Spacegirl uses different guns and I want them to be interesting from a design perspective. Anyway, here is the picture.

Green Lady

I have not been feeling well today, so instead of doing the things I should be doing, I drew all day. I am really excited about this new character. I think she adds new depth to the world of Spacegirl and Spaceman. She is, naturally, very cutesy, too cute perhaps to be really taken all that seriously, but that is what makes her so dangerous. I think it is obvious, but I was very inspired by Japanese elements in this drawing. I like that she is space-age, but that her look is ancient. I struggled quite a bit with the color of her hair, but Spaceman and I decided that the blue makes her look colder. Her name is Green Lady, which is what I started affectionately calling her when I was drawing her, and now I can't call her anything else. Perhaps she has a real name, but we just don't know it. She is after all, very mysterious.

On another topic, I would like to give a shout out to two of my favorite blogs on the internet. I have been following Little Grey Donkey's blog since its beginning. First of all, I can't believe what an amazing web designer she is! Her blog is gorgeous! I love hearing about all of her projects, and the pictures are great. And that little donkey is just so darned cute.

A blog I just discovered is Salymander's blog. In her own words, this is a feminist's blog on television, film, literature, comics, media, fandom, & language. Could I be happier? All of my favorite topics on one blog, and from a feminist's perspective, which as you all know, I think about a lot. Read her blog!

Arch Nemesis

So, I haven't exactly started drawing since I got to the planet of corn to visit Spaceman, but I have been doing some thinking. Spaceman and Spacegirl need an arch nemesis. All comic book characters have one. Okay, so Spaceman and Spacegirl aren't exactly comic book characters, but that is the genre I am going for, at least a very girly-fied version of the comic genre. There should be more comics for girls. There is really only Betty and Veronica. Don't get me wrong, I love Betty and Veronica, but they aren't exactly great role models. Veronica is a twit, and Betty will do anything for her man, even if it means a huge sacrifice on her part.

Anyway, I am getting wildly off track here. Back to the arch nemesis problem. I have been thinking that there should be one person who is constantly sending out minions to try to capture Spaceman and Spacegirl. I am thinking this person should be a woman. It would fit in with my whole feminism thing that way. Now hold on! Don't go turning up your nose at the word feminism! My message is simple. Even a girl with cottoncandy-pink hair can be a super hero. Feminine and feminism do not have to be mutually exclusive. Most of the time, female villains are very ugly. Ugliness is used to signify evil, just as beauty is used to symbolize good. Is this always the case in the real world? Certainly not, I know some very beautiful people who are just down right mean. Therefore, I am leaning toward making the arch nemesis and incredibly beautiful woman. With green skin. I just really want to make someone green. It is outer space after all. Oh, and I think she is going to be Professor somebody. I don't have a name yet. She is the one who sends out the moon zombies and the aliens, and the sea monster, etc, to get Spaceman and Spacegirl. What is her motivation though I wonder? I will have to think about that one.

Oh, and by the way, for those of you who may be thinking that I am a hypocrite, talking about feminism, but calling the guy Spaceman and the girl Spacegirl, I am aware of this. However, I didn't really come up with the names. They kind of came up with themselves.

Summertime and the livin' is easy

School is over for the year, and summertime has finally come! In a couple of days I will be rocketing to the distant moon of Illinois to spend the summer with Spaceman. I can't wait; I miss him so much! It is going to be so relaxing, and I will be able to finish my knitting projects, get lots of reading done, and draw of course. Speaking of drawing, I finally finished my most recent project, Sea Monster. In this picture, Spaceman and Spacegirl are fishing. Spacegirl hooks a sea monster, who doesn't respond too favorably to having a hook stuck in his tentacle. Spacegirl is so surprised by the sudden eruption of the sea monster from the water, that she jumps into Spaceman's lap, who immediately pulls out his laser gun. I posted it on etsy, but I made it a postcard size print because I thought it might sell better. We'll see...

AAAHHHH!!!

It is the attack of finals week!

On vacation

Hello to anyone who is reading this. I have been taking a little break from drawing, because I am on vacation. Yay! I am in California visiting one of my very good friends, and her family. She has an adorable almost 2-year-old daughter, and a 2 week old baby boy. He is so sweet and he just sleeps in my arms all the time. They are so cute, but wow, are they a lot of work! I have some great ideas for Spacegirl though, so I will be back to drawing very soon.

Feminism in Art

Here is my latest picture that I did last night. Originally, I was thinking that it would be Spacegirl that was captured by the aliens and Spaceman would rescue her, but I decided that that was a little cliche. I want Spacegirl to be strong and capable. Not that Spaceman isn't strong and capable (he most definitely is! ;) ) but I just wanted to show that Spacegirl is too. My favorite part of this picture is the ray gun. It was really fun to draw and fun to do the neat blur effects. Here it is:

Etsy

So I put my pictures on etsy.com today, which is a website kind of like ebay where you can sell art, clothing, pottery, and other creative type projects. So far, I only have them as prints. I would like to have notecards also, but I need to get some made first. I want some for myself anyway. And I want to get enough pictures done that I could make a calendar. I think that would be really fun. :)

New Drawing

Moons and Moon Zombies

This picture I drew along time ago, but now with my cool new software I can color it in all pretty.

Here is the picture to which I was referring in the previous post, so that if anyone is actually reading this, you can see what I was talking about.

Running vs. Dancing

I am feeling a little frusterated. I have never taken any drawing classes, and I only draw for fun. So I suppose that my drawings don't have to be perfect. But being the perfectionist that I am, I really want them to be. I am having trouble drawing figures in action, because usually I draw stationary figures. It is just so discouraging to spend so much time working on something and have it be not quite right. I knew that Spaceman and Spacegirl didn't really look like they were running, but I was hoping no one else would notice. :) Silly me. Spaceman says it looks like they are dancing, and he is right. They look like they are doing the twist or something. Remember how in Scooby Do, when they ran they ran straight upright. Hehe.

Spacegirl

Here she is! So far anyway. . . I love the pink hair. I am still not sure about the silver. Spaceman says it should be silver, but it just looks so gray.

Redesigning Spacegirl

I decided I want to try to redesign Spacegirl a little bit. Originally she was designed to look like me, because she kind of is me. But I think I want her to be her own person if I am going to try to develop her further. I want her to be brave and daring in a way that I am not. And I think I want her to have pink hair. Because pink hair is cool. Or maybe black hair with a pink streak! That would be awesome!

I really need a scanner. My parents have one, but I don't want to have to run over there every time I need to scan a picture. The good news is though that I found this really awesome program called PhotoFiltre that is a freeware image editing program. It isn't maybe as good as the non-free ones, in that it doesn't do filters, but it is free! And good enough for me for now.

In other news, I am have been knitting a blanket for my friend's new baby Caleb. I am nowhere near finished, but I decided to start making one for his sister Ella too. I got size 19(!) circular needles so that it will go more quickly, and fuzzy pink yarn. I think she will love it.

The History of Spaceman and Spacegirl

I used to have this really terrible cordless phone that would make all of these fuzzy, crackly noises whenever the microwave was in use. My boyfriend thought it sounded like we were astronauts in space, thus the nicknames Spaceman and Spacegirl were born. The rest is history. Or maybe I should say, "the future."