with coffee spoons.

trampling out the vintage

2010-05-23T19:45:00.004-04:00

Technically a done piece, waiting for ink to dry.

Michael (from our UTVG-verse), an archangel, as he appeared to St Sorrows before a seizure. He's been on a bender since 1865. But he's sober here.

sketch roundup

2010-05-17T18:07:00.003-04:00

Ean is unamused, but has a sweet jacket.

Art is making worried faces, as usual.

I started drawing Art, and of course somehow it turned into Sam Winchester because I was watching Supernatural...

disorganized schizophrenia

2010-05-08T22:17:00.002-04:00

I will get better about posting things once finals are over, promise.

portfolio self portrait wip

2010-05-04T20:43:00.002-04:00

I don't know what I'll do with the background yet.

The view from Kate's apartment.

2010-05-03T09:42:00.002-04:00

It's aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!

2010-05-02T11:37:00.004-04:00

I'm resurrecting the blog after a long, long, year-long hiatus/forgetting to post.

Here's the thing-- I rarely use my dA anymore. Why? Because I don't like to post "doodles" on my dA. I like to post finished stuff, like comics pages, etc. But very rarely do I ever do finished illustrationy-pieces anymore.

So, yeah. This is the place for drawings in limbo-- not finished enough to post on dA, but finished enough to see the world.

canananada catch up.

2009-05-26T21:47:00.005-04:00

WHOOAAAA. It's been a long time since I posted. I apologize.

First, I got swamped with school. Papers, essays, finals, they suck the life out of me. Then, as soon as I was done with school and a sweet mini-comic that can be currently found on my dA called "Daniel Dreams of Crows", I was packing and going on a train to Ontario! 12 hours. After the first 4 hours, I was ready to die.

TCAF was amazing. Steph and Kate are awesome people, we met some awesome people...Paul Pope, Emmanuel Guibert, Michael Cho, Adrian Tomine, Liz Baillie, Nate Powell... Oh, and Toronto is a great city. I wouldn't mind living there or in the area (Kate is cringing across the border).

Anyway. Here's a big sketch dump from my trip.

Trying to keep up with Italian.

Fat Batman saves the day on train rides.

"Nobody's waving from between the bars at Kringsjø
or from the mines on 16"

We always need a little fucked-up Matt once in a while.

And angst-ridden Arthur.

Oh, an obligatory creepy mafia type.

pseudo-comics page

Um, yes, did I mention, the cabbage rolls Kate's mom made? Amazing.

sketchupcatchup April 11-19?

2009-04-20T18:41:00.010-04:00

2009-04-19T21:43:00.002-04:00

I'm not dead.

I'm just ridiculously busy with school, writing many many papers. It's not that fun.

Tomorrow or Tuesday I'm going to make a serious effort to get to my scanner and use it for something other than copying source material out of books for English Comp.

I'm also preparing for the Toronto trip. That thing is a huge deal.

And now, back to my Western Civ paper.

Catch up post, April 5-10?

2009-04-10T21:30:00.006-04:00

Not even sure.

I've been having a minor conflict of faith. It's a conflict that's always lingered in my mind, but Pinkie brought it up the other day and it's been weighing on me. It's become clear to me that it seems like art is no longer a contest of skill. It seems to have nothing to do with how well you draw or even if you're a genuine person or not. It's like, "What's your gimmick?" What's your thing? What's your quirk, manufactured or not? How are you eccentric, weird, different? And not in your art-- no, what kind of person are you? Not whether you're a good person or a bad person, even. How are you weirder than everyone else? What is the front you put on?

And I've realized, I don't think I have any of that. I don't have a "thing". I've spent a long time trying to be genuine, trying to be enthusiastic, dedicated, trying to pursue perfection to the best of my ability. But I'm sort of a boring person, at the same time. Maybe it's just high school, but it seems like the stranger you are, the cooler people think you are, the better people think your art is, even if it's not. People chase being outside of the norm because they know it will make them friends who think they are edgy and cool, when they're not.

I'm not saying people with quirks can't be or aren't good people. But people are so fake, they fake weirdness, they pick to emulate something that is weird or different or not normal to be cool, to be marginalized and popular at the same time. Is it for attention? Do they doubt their ability to be themselves? Do they realize what they're doing, and if they do, do they think it's okay? And why do people fall for it? Why does everybody love the 'crazy' person?

It's all rhetorical, but it's all bullshit, too. It's all bullshit.

hey guys.

2009-04-06T20:59:00.002-04:00

Just so you know I HAVE been keeping up with the doodle blog thing...I just have not had the time to sit down at my scanner and properly scan stuff in. I'll probably do a massive post in a day or two.

On another note, my passport came in the mail today, which means all I have to do is buy my tickets and Toronto and TCAF is so on. :)

April 4- free choice

2009-04-04T19:22:00.003-04:00

Inserting Past into my existence at Starbucks.

some woodblock printing fun.

2009-04-04T19:04:00.004-04:00

So I'm a week behind in my Japanese Woodblock Printing class, taught by Chris Creyts. The class is really amazing, it's a great group of people...Chris is a great teacher and artist. But the class. It's so difficult. It is so labor intensive. Not only is the carving process really difficult, but the printing is difficult as well.

However, the carving process is really zen for me. I've never done wood carving in any form before, so not only is it a learning experience, it's kind of enjoyable for me. When you work on just sketching and drawing for so long, making something 3-D and tangible is a nice change.

Anyway. here is my first block, on that has been driving me nuts. Probably because the lines are so thin-- my poor judgement. I gave up on it for now because I chipped so many of the lines.

The whole block

Artsy picture, gives a better idea of how deep I have to carve...

Close up to see where the lines chipped. The left side and the ears.

So I decided to start a bigger, easier block so at least I have something to print.

The block

The original sketch.

I'm supposed to start on a 5-colour print. Yeah, okay. I'll figure something out.

April 3- Feather.

2009-04-03T21:23:00.004-04:00

Norwegian word of the day: fjør. It means feather.

I cheated, I ended up with two sketches today for today's theme.

I started this one...

And then as I was working on it, "Død Manns Tango" by Kaizers Orchestra came on. And then I remembered the translation of the bridge of the song. So this happened.

Yay, Conradas makes an appearance.

april 2- bouquet

2009-04-02T20:43:00.004-04:00

I got really frustrated with this. Just couldn't draw anything right (thankfully, Pinkie texted me with similar sentiments as I was working on it).

I'll probably revisit the idea of Present with flowers, probably for Cris' birthday.

The sketch of the day. Theme: bouquet.

Abandoned first attempt sketch.

Now a bonus sketch for Cris.

doodleblog- April Fools!

2009-04-01T22:23:00.004-04:00

Quick unfinished Viticus sketch. If I didn't have Art History papers to write...

"No one ever died for my sins in hell

As far as I can tell..."

sketches from sat/sun/mon

2009-03-30T17:35:00.004-04:00

NYE1158PM

"Sweet Hat, Matador Guy!"

The Matador, Manet

Degas dancer.

"Tuesday wakes up silent..."

"If you could hear the dreams I've had my dear

They would give you nightmares for a week"

Present, for Cris

Random things for Mel's cubicle

Even more random things for Mel's cubicle.

2009-03-30T07:09:00.003-04:00

Some sketches. I'll post more museum ones tonight or tomorrow.

"all those nights in the basement, the kids are still screaming...

on and on and on..."

backstabber!

2009-03-27T20:34:00.003-04:00

Backstabber! Hope grabber!

Greedy little fit haver!

God I feel for you, fool

You shit lover! Off-brusher!

Jaded, bitter joy crusher!

Failure has made you so cruel

Some cell phone pictures of sketches, uploaded to Twitpic at random over the last two days.

"Sjå kva katten drog inn..."

Claudio in sunglasses.

Roger Nowlen, aka "Caravaggio", according to Emily Dresden.

I have Caravaggio's "St John the Baptist" as my computer background right now.

"Lately I've been feeling like a falling bomb..."

"Men eg vett at eg har arbeid i KGB."

More Claudio in sunglasses.

Morning view from the train. Hello, Jersey.

relevant discussion with Cris.

2009-03-24T21:33:00.002-04:00

Cris is my BFF "MFR". She is also the writer of the comic I'm plodding my way through and losing my mind because I can't work on right now. But anyway, we were discussing the Drifters today...

Me: Because as much as I want to work on the Drifters, I'm like..."Fuck, man, I need to write stuff myself. I need to write my own story." But it's like, "Fuck, I'm so committed to The Drifters now." I have to convince myself it is as much my story and ideas as yours, kind of. Like, it's your story, but it's my arrangement and it's got my imprint on it with the comic.Since you didn't give me a straight script. I have to write my own things and dialogue at some points. I'm always torn with that. Part of me is like, "Cop out!" with this project, the other half is, "No, The Drifters is fucking sweet."

Cris: *nods* I know I've brought it up before, that sometimes I wonder/worry if I might be stifling you too much with projects like these and reminding myself that you find it just as awesome as I do, and that you would say so (I should hope) if I was being too...the word just slipped out. I've been very verbally deficient today.

Me: Nah, I feel the need to do something like the Drifters, something long term, because I need something to show for myself. But at the same time, I feel a little like, everyone must think I'm this idiot who only knows how to draw and make nice-looking pages and can't tell a coherent story for shit. It's not that I can't tell stories, I can't tell long stories. I could do a book of short WWII stories, but don't ask me to write one long WWII saga.

Cris: Trust me, I will consider it an achievement once I finish The Drifters, because look at all my other long-term pieces.

Me: The Drifters is great because it's so non-canon, and it's also pretty batshit because it uses stuff from the canon. Like Jack the Ripper in Texas with a gang of WWII soldiers who can turn into wolves.

So how do you guys feel about it? What's your opinion on collaboration? Do you like it? Dislike it? Think it's a cop out? Think it's the way the world turns? I want to hear your opinion, Kate, damnit!

a near miss or a close call

2009-03-24T19:18:00.003-04:00

"I don't know if it's your environment that makes you withdrawn, or the fact that you have the ability to live in your head and you would prefer it that way, I think that's more of what it is. When I realized I had, as a child, an affinity to create things and make things up, that weren't lies either, it wasn't about lies, they were fiction, they were stories and characters, places, and I was basically just dreaming. And when I realized that I kind of dream out loud like that, that's what made me withdraw, because I preferred living in my own head. "

-G.W.

"What She Said" - The Smiths

Venganza sketch.

The generic response to zombies and kids who gotsa pee.

"Accident Prone" by Jawbreaker

If I had to pick one song that is basically Past in one song, it is "Accident Prone". Actually, it is the whole album "Dear You" by Jawbreaker.

is it just me, or does blogspot not like Safari?

2009-03-22T12:46:00.000-04:00

So my day keeps getting worse and worse today.

My external hard drive is MIA, I tore apart my room without any luck.

My tooth and jaw hurt like a motherfucker. My head also hurts in general.

I can't figure out what to eat in my house (except leftover chinese, but that might be dinner), so I'm drinking diet coke. What a healthy life I lead.

I'm going between doing English homework and (attempting) writing a resume, because I am a bum and I can't get a job.

However, to shut Kate up, here are her stupid questions answered.

1.Which artist(s) influences your work the most? Cartoonists, feel free to talk about writers and fine artists too!

You caught me. :| You know the first one I am going to say is Gerard Way. I always get warm and happy when artwork that he does pops up on the internet or in books. The cover of 'Three Cheers..." was really what influenced my artwork the most, and it still does, when it comes to style and medium choice. I also envy his storytelling and batshit insanity. I also love Mike Mignola, Alex Toth, Tony Moore, Lee Bermejo, Will Eisner, Joe Kubert... Lauren Weinstein's "Goddess of War", and I'm not saying that to suck up. Like I said, I love Eddie Campbell and Vince Locke, I wish I could ink like them. Edward Gorey is another love of mine, as an illustrator/when it comes to working with ink. Oh, did I forget James Jean? James Jean.

As for fine artists/periods of art, I love El Greco, Velasquez, Murillo, Goya, I love the Spanish painters from 16th/17th cent. I love paintings that use chiaroscuro. I love a lot of the New Objective/Post WWI German artists, especially Otto Dix and George Grosz.

2.Why do you want to make comics, or are currently making comics? And at what point in your life did you come to this realization?
I think it started as a rebellion thing! I had started doing SVA in 2005, and took a Cartooning class with Tom. I thought I sucked at it, so I started doing a lot of fine arts stuff, too. I started doing the fine arts stuff because I wanted to impress people, I think. I wanted people to respect me for being a good artist, but people tend not to unless your art is photorealistic. That backfired, though. Turns out I wasn't as good at fine arts as I thought I would be, and I realized that no matter how hard I tried, the people I was trying to impress would never think I was nearly as good as the person they had been fawning over... Not to say that I'm rejecting fine arts like drawing, painting, etc. I love oil paint and I love watercolour, and working on huge things with charcoal or conte crayon is really freeing. I'm glad I took those classes and tried so hard in those classes for so long, because they pay off when I'm making comics.

But it was a rebellion thing. I was tired of sitting in drawing and painting and feeling like an alien. So I did comics. I guess I'm slow, it took me until almost senior year of high school to figure this out.

To me, comics are like...the underdog, the punk rock of the art world. Not only do you have to take shit from people who only respect fine arts, you have to take shit from people who think they should only respect fine arts so that they look intelligent. If you're doing a photorealistic drawing or painting, no one is going to give you shit. They're going to think you're amazing. If you're drawing a comic, people will laugh at you. You could be the best artist, but once you say 'comics'...

Which is why, to me, comics are so special. You have to deal with all these preconceived notions (some of which are true), you have to delve through and find the counter-culture within the culture. It's not all superheros in tights--even within that formula, you have stuff like Watchmen or Doom Patrol taking that and putting it in a blender and throwing it back at you. For me, it's freedom, it's defiance against what people think of as 'good art' or 'good literature'. It's storytelling. It's conveying a message.

3.What is your favourite thing about comics (storytelling, the accessibility of it, the sense of community among artists, etc.)?

Okay, I will say it now, half the reason I did Cartooning at SVA the second year was because I thought the Cartooning kids were the coolest motherfuckers ever. They were the coolest kids, the nicest kids. A little eccentric but not as eccentric as the computer animators/animation kids. Crazy, neurotic, quirky. Brilliant. And in art school, yeah, I think Cartooning majors are cool people. The hardcore manga addicts, they scare me a little after a while. Once they get cliquey, it's like an impenetrable fortress. But for the most part...

For me, it's storytelling and drawing. I'm not fantastic at the writing end of it, but that's what collaboration is for. I enjoy drawing, and comics allows me to do a lot of that. Working with Cris is also a pleasure. She gives me a story and I have free reign with it. She lets me put things in other places, rework scenes, cut scenes, add scenes, change dialogue, etc. So in a way, I am involved with the storytelling.

Now if only I could write this much for English class...

"Half a faaaaace"

2009-03-21T19:30:00.000-04:00

Translation: I have a cavity or an abscess in my tooth. And it hurts. It is not fun. It hurts down into my jaw now.

But here's some more Drifters sketches:

And Drifters pages 1 and 2. Still in the process of being worked on. I can't work a page straight through. I have to jump around a lot or I start to get ADD.

And non-comics related: My original design and a woodblock for my Japanese Woodblock Printing class in the process of being carved.

I literally work until my fingers bleed in that class. It is so difficult, so labor intensive...it is also a nice change from Cartooning and drawing and painting. You have to think differently about things. It's also neat to work with a physical object like a block of wood, rather than a piece of paper...

I'm going back to school this week, but I still have a list of reading material. I'm still on a Batman kick from reading "Joker" by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bremejo (I probably spelled their names wrong), so I'm reading "Batman: Year 100" by Paul Pope. I'm also studying Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell's "From Hell" like a bible this week for The Drifters inspiration. Eddie Campbell's inking and drawing makes my aching jaw drop.

In another post I'll rant about how much I like Brian Azzarello and '100 Bullets'.

show me your war face! REEEEEAAAAAWR.

2009-03-20T19:57:00.000-04:00

So I had a pretty terrible day today. Very bipolar and up and down.

However, things started to look up around this point.

I know it is itty bitty and tiny, but my Venganza piece for MCR's Venganza contest got into the Featured Photos on Buzznet. So even if I don't win....

A couple of Drifters sketches now.

2009-03-19T10:11:00.000-04:00

So Kate made me get a blog. So, Kate, I hope you're happy.

I have so many blogs, I don't know how it happened. I have my deviantart and my LJ. But LJ is mostly for my fangirly rampages and I feel like a jerk if I update my dA without adding art, too.

(So remind me to watch "Warriors" on History channel tonight. They're in Norway and I want to scope out the Scandinavian boys. )

But yeah. This blog is going to be devoted to my ramblings on art, cartooning, comics...my sketches, my pages, etc. Because then you guys following my blog can prod me to finish stuff.

If I could figure out how to put pictures in this, I would. GOD, THIS IS COMPLICATED. I am hopeless at this stuff.

Oh man! I got a picture to work. That is my art desk, don't mind the unreadable text at this point. It has actually changed since then, because my speakers and Zune are not present there.

So what was I going to say...Ah. The purpose of this blog/an introduction.

So I'm Sally. I'm almost 19 (just another week or so). I've been pursuing art seriously since I was 12. I can't see myself doing anything else, and trust me, I've tried since I realized I could never pay to go to SVA, my first choice school. Until then, I'm bogged down with completing a Liberal Arts degree at Middlesex County College and trying to keep my full academic scholarship for two years. After that, who knows. I don't. And trust me, multiple papers for multiple classes a week definitely keep me from getting anything done art-related. I love comics, I love cartooning. I love drawing. I'm a terrible writer but a pretty good artist and storyteller, so I think I can get by.

I did SVA Pre-college for 3 years in high school. I started out with cartooning and sort of got away from it for a little bit, did some Fine Art stuff...that was mostly out of external pressure. I had to deal with a lot of, "Why aren't you good like so-and-so?" in high school, so I pushed myself to do will in Fine Arts, drawing and painting, being super-realistic, but it never quite worked out well for me. I'm glad I did it, though, all that figure drawing and watercolour actually helped out with my comics...

Then in summer 2007, I was sitting in a Fine Arts class on the first day of SVA summer pre-college, and I was thinking, "What am I doing here?" I felt so alien, so weird. I knew I didn't belong there. I went to admissions, switched to Cartooning, and felt totally right. Keith (Mayerson) adopted me into the class (since then Tom Hart and Lauren Weinstein have kind of adopted me too). I absolutely fell in love with comics and have been trying to play catch-up since. I'm sort of a late bloomer.

People seem to think I am smart and interesting. I don't get it.

I get migraines a lot. They get in the way of getting stuff done, too.