My client just posted about the huge freelance job I just completed, and the information is also posted on the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund website.
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is offering some very nice exclusives by Neil Gaiman via Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab.
I was asked by BPAL to illustrate all 15 of the Tarot cards for Neil Gaiman's short story, "15 Painted Cards From A Vampire Tarot." Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab will be premiering the 15-month scent and art series at Comic-Con, so make sure to check out their booth and ask to see my artwork for the first card of this amazing series!
Each package will comes with a 5ml bottle of perfume, and a corresponding Tarot card.
I am unsure if T-shirts will be made for all 15 scents, but t-shirts with the FOOL Tarot with my artwork on them will indeed be available at the show.
Along with this job, I did two very large ads for Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab and Black Phoenix Trading Company as well as an ad for Neil Gaiman's story, "15 Painted Cards From A Vampire Tarot."
There you have it. I will of course post pics each month of each new Tarot card once they are published, as well as the 3 ads I just completed for BPAL.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Leeches, Mummified Cats, Cremations and Chocolate
I spent all of last night drawing out the rest of the poster while listening to a book on tape about the Salem Witchcraft Trials and ergot. Here is the finished pencil of just the border below:
This is going to be for a Tattoo poster, rather than doing the old school 40s and 50s tattoo style, I thought I would shoot for a different era.
-------------------------------------------------------
I received a Fortean Times in the mail today and was pleased to see a great article on the use of Mummified Cats as good luck charms - though I am hoping any cats that were used for such purposes were already quite dead before placing them inside walls or up in attics).
When living at SCUD, right after we all moved in, someone was puttering around out back and discovered a very, very old mummified cat tucked away deep inside the ancient cement shed out back. It was brought it in and it became the house mascot, which we named Spike. If you look at the earlier blog post with the photo of Wilum playing the harp, you will see Spike in the upper left hand corner of the photo.
Now I find out from this article that is was very common for cats to be placed inside of walls to ward off evil spirits, keep away witches, the evil eye, avoiding fire and even vermin. I feel so bad thinking about any of those poor creatures being put behind walls while still alive.
One of my SCUD-mates ended up collecting quite a few mummified cats that were found beneath old houses, but Spike was still the best looking of all the mummified cats. I have to say though, having Spike in that old fire-trap that was SCUD (quite literally a tinder-box), we never had a single fire while living there, so maybe Spike worked?
-------------------------------------------------------
The bats have been taking over the nights since it has been warm, and they chatter all night long. It is quite a cacophony of sound and it gets so loud I am afraid of even going outside because you can see them in the sky just swooping and flying everywhere.
And the last couple nights, I have heard an owl hooting and it is a sound that kind of makes the hair stand a bit on end. I love it. And the raccoons, when they get going, it sounds like some beast coming up from the depths of hell because of the racket they make, snorting and squealing. I thought when I first heard them, that the church across the street had become infested with demons, it was a terrifying sound that I had never heard before. Now, it is just a regular sound I barely even notice anymore.
-------------------------------------------------------
The husband and I have been going out for nightly walks, and I can always tell when the local funeral home is cremating someone (as they were last night) because the air smells a little like BBQ, that sweet tangy smell of cooking meat. And sure enough, when we pass the funeral home, the lights are on and you can see the heat shimmers coming off the top of the stack on top.
Back in the early 1990s, Cam and I met a cremationists (who was still in High School and for the sake of the story, I will call him "Ron") who said he worked at a very old and well-known funeral home in Seattle - the night shift, all by himself. Cam and I asked if we could come by and check it out, neither of us had ever been inside a funeral home before and Ron was more than happy to have the company.
So at around 11 pm on a Friday night, Cam and I drove to the funeral home and I have to say, driving up to it was like driving up to House on Haunted Hill, a large and imposing old structure that fit the scary funeral home stereotype perfectly.
We were escorted inside and Ron gave us a pretty extensive tour, starting at the top where the embalmer lived (his apartment was unlocked so we got to go inside) and I was shocked to see a baby coffin in the middle of his apartment. Ron said that it weighed a ton (not really but it weighed a LOT) and it was just too heavy to carry downstairs so it is pretty much a permanent fixture of the apartment for whoever lives there.
Then he took us to the office spaces, where I pulled open a few drawers and plucked out death certificates and other miscellaneous ephemera and from there, he took us to the Coffin Room! Wow, amazing! It was like a car lot, all those coffins open and ready to go. I was hoping to see something resembling those amazing Victorian coffins, but no such luck. These coffins were overly large and gaudy and I didn't see a single one I liked. They reminded me of big, ugly American cars sans wheels.
Then off to the Slumber Room but no one was slumbering at the time. It had an organ (which I read is no longer there) which we turned on and sound came booming over the speakers and I nearly peed my pants! While Ron was giving us the tour, he also told us about the ghost that seemed to haunt this particular funeral home.
Apparently it always starts as a huge swirling black mass and begins its journey from the basement, starting at the cooler and then floats up the stairs to the next floor, then to the next until it finally reaches the top of the building. Once it reaches the room with the baby coffin, it seems to throw itself out one of the small window panes. Below is an old photo of the funeral home, you can see all the little window panes on the upper floors:
When Cam and I heard about that, we made it a point to drive by the funeral home and check the windows and sure enough, invariably one of the window pane were blown out and covered with cardboard. And it was never the same window pane.
After checking out the main floor rooms, Ron then said he would take us downstairs to where the bodies are stored, embalmed, cremated and processed.
This will be continued in my next blog post in a few days.
-------------------------------------------------------
I will finally start a much anticipated framed curio tonight. I have to meet with one of the carpenters who is working on our house sometime this week-end so that he can cut one of my human skulls in half. I like to work with halves rather than whole skulls, easier to put in a frame. He cut another one I in half for me and it turned out just perfectly. Plus I have three or four removable calvarium and I need a large hole drilled in the top of just one of them. I suppose I could do it with a hand drill, but I kind of don't want to be breathing in skull dust, plus I might crack it and darn it, these skull caps don't come cheap.
-------------------------------------------------------
That huge monster freelance job I worked on will be unveiled at Comic Con, dates are July 23-26, 2009 (Preview Night the 22nd) and will be at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Click here for the link.
When my client announces the project that I worked on, I will of course post the info here.
-------------------------------------------------------
As some of you know, I have an odd fascination with leeches and I mentioned in an earlier blog post about a book that was sent to me, Those Amazing Leeches. Below is the book and a wet specimen leech that I just happened to have in my cabinet:
What shocked me, was the land leeches roaming around out there, waiting for dinner to show up. As it says in the book, when it feels the vibration of dinner coming, it stands up and moves by flipping end over end (shudder) until it reaches its prey. I think I would keel over in a dead faint if I saw a bunch of these things flipping end over end towards me! Leeches drink only blood. Like little vampires.
-------------------------------------------------------
The husband handed me a small white bag today and this is what was in it:
This is NOT a Hostess product, but three large locally made wonderful, rich and exotic chocolate truffles. There were originally four, but I ate one. Yum.
This is going to be for a Tattoo poster, rather than doing the old school 40s and 50s tattoo style, I thought I would shoot for a different era.
I received a Fortean Times in the mail today and was pleased to see a great article on the use of Mummified Cats as good luck charms - though I am hoping any cats that were used for such purposes were already quite dead before placing them inside walls or up in attics).
When living at SCUD, right after we all moved in, someone was puttering around out back and discovered a very, very old mummified cat tucked away deep inside the ancient cement shed out back. It was brought it in and it became the house mascot, which we named Spike. If you look at the earlier blog post with the photo of Wilum playing the harp, you will see Spike in the upper left hand corner of the photo.
Now I find out from this article that is was very common for cats to be placed inside of walls to ward off evil spirits, keep away witches, the evil eye, avoiding fire and even vermin. I feel so bad thinking about any of those poor creatures being put behind walls while still alive.
One of my SCUD-mates ended up collecting quite a few mummified cats that were found beneath old houses, but Spike was still the best looking of all the mummified cats. I have to say though, having Spike in that old fire-trap that was SCUD (quite literally a tinder-box), we never had a single fire while living there, so maybe Spike worked?
The bats have been taking over the nights since it has been warm, and they chatter all night long. It is quite a cacophony of sound and it gets so loud I am afraid of even going outside because you can see them in the sky just swooping and flying everywhere.
And the last couple nights, I have heard an owl hooting and it is a sound that kind of makes the hair stand a bit on end. I love it. And the raccoons, when they get going, it sounds like some beast coming up from the depths of hell because of the racket they make, snorting and squealing. I thought when I first heard them, that the church across the street had become infested with demons, it was a terrifying sound that I had never heard before. Now, it is just a regular sound I barely even notice anymore.
The husband and I have been going out for nightly walks, and I can always tell when the local funeral home is cremating someone (as they were last night) because the air smells a little like BBQ, that sweet tangy smell of cooking meat. And sure enough, when we pass the funeral home, the lights are on and you can see the heat shimmers coming off the top of the stack on top.
Back in the early 1990s, Cam and I met a cremationists (who was still in High School and for the sake of the story, I will call him "Ron") who said he worked at a very old and well-known funeral home in Seattle - the night shift, all by himself. Cam and I asked if we could come by and check it out, neither of us had ever been inside a funeral home before and Ron was more than happy to have the company.
So at around 11 pm on a Friday night, Cam and I drove to the funeral home and I have to say, driving up to it was like driving up to House on Haunted Hill, a large and imposing old structure that fit the scary funeral home stereotype perfectly.
We were escorted inside and Ron gave us a pretty extensive tour, starting at the top where the embalmer lived (his apartment was unlocked so we got to go inside) and I was shocked to see a baby coffin in the middle of his apartment. Ron said that it weighed a ton (not really but it weighed a LOT) and it was just too heavy to carry downstairs so it is pretty much a permanent fixture of the apartment for whoever lives there.
Then he took us to the office spaces, where I pulled open a few drawers and plucked out death certificates and other miscellaneous ephemera and from there, he took us to the Coffin Room! Wow, amazing! It was like a car lot, all those coffins open and ready to go. I was hoping to see something resembling those amazing Victorian coffins, but no such luck. These coffins were overly large and gaudy and I didn't see a single one I liked. They reminded me of big, ugly American cars sans wheels.
Then off to the Slumber Room but no one was slumbering at the time. It had an organ (which I read is no longer there) which we turned on and sound came booming over the speakers and I nearly peed my pants! While Ron was giving us the tour, he also told us about the ghost that seemed to haunt this particular funeral home.
Apparently it always starts as a huge swirling black mass and begins its journey from the basement, starting at the cooler and then floats up the stairs to the next floor, then to the next until it finally reaches the top of the building. Once it reaches the room with the baby coffin, it seems to throw itself out one of the small window panes. Below is an old photo of the funeral home, you can see all the little window panes on the upper floors:
When Cam and I heard about that, we made it a point to drive by the funeral home and check the windows and sure enough, invariably one of the window pane were blown out and covered with cardboard. And it was never the same window pane.
After checking out the main floor rooms, Ron then said he would take us downstairs to where the bodies are stored, embalmed, cremated and processed.
This will be continued in my next blog post in a few days.
I will finally start a much anticipated framed curio tonight. I have to meet with one of the carpenters who is working on our house sometime this week-end so that he can cut one of my human skulls in half. I like to work with halves rather than whole skulls, easier to put in a frame. He cut another one I in half for me and it turned out just perfectly. Plus I have three or four removable calvarium and I need a large hole drilled in the top of just one of them. I suppose I could do it with a hand drill, but I kind of don't want to be breathing in skull dust, plus I might crack it and darn it, these skull caps don't come cheap.
That huge monster freelance job I worked on will be unveiled at Comic Con, dates are July 23-26, 2009 (Preview Night the 22nd) and will be at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Click here for the link.
When my client announces the project that I worked on, I will of course post the info here.
As some of you know, I have an odd fascination with leeches and I mentioned in an earlier blog post about a book that was sent to me, Those Amazing Leeches. Below is the book and a wet specimen leech that I just happened to have in my cabinet:
Here is more of a close-up.
What shocked me, was the land leeches roaming around out there, waiting for dinner to show up. As it says in the book, when it feels the vibration of dinner coming, it stands up and moves by flipping end over end (shudder) until it reaches its prey. I think I would keel over in a dead faint if I saw a bunch of these things flipping end over end towards me! Leeches drink only blood. Like little vampires.
The husband handed me a small white bag today and this is what was in it:
This is NOT a Hostess product, but three large locally made wonderful, rich and exotic chocolate truffles. There were originally four, but I ate one. Yum.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Breather, More Ghost Stories, New Skull and Current Poster
Our Internet has been crapping out intermittently over the week-ends. It arrives on Friday and leaves Sunday night, so I have to assume that it is the summer tourist who converge on our lovely tiny town on the week-ends. I believe they are mostly from Portland and Seattle, though I have been shocked to see license plates from as far away as MAINE!
Now the Internet is chugging along nicely and I can finally do a bit of research I've been meaning to do for a while now, but got sidetracked and instead I wasted nearly 3 hours reading someone's blog. Fascinating to say the least!
-------------------------------------------------------
I finished up Part 2 of the big monster freelance job and it went out in the post first thing Monday, which will allow a much needed breather between jobs before the final Part 3 begins. I have to find out the deadline and am waiting on the copy for it, because without the much-needed copy, I cannot even begin to start designing it, since the copy is so much of a part of the design.
While waiting on that, I decided to pull out those four posters I was working on before I began working on this freelance job and happily did pencils for one of the posters. Very, very happy listening to a book on tape about Resurrectionist, Medical Students, Dissections and other morbid medical horror stories from the early 18th century. I was riveted to my drawing desk all night last night, which is the whole point of a good book on tape, or else I tend to wander the house in the middle of the night as a way of procrastinating.
-------------------------------------------------------
One of the stories about this house (long before we moved in) was the previous owner (who turned this house into a Bed and Breakfast) said that old-timey metal bobby pins would show up in strange places all around the house. Like the time the carpet people laid down brand new carpet, and when they left, the previous owner walked through the door and sitting right there in the middle of this brand spanking new carpet, was one of those bobby pins.
Another story regarding the previous owner: Both her and her husband were asleep (in the very same room where another owner of this house had died at the age of 106) and she said that someone or something woke her up by shaking her foot quite rudely. I believe that the "ghost" was pissed off at what this lady was doing to her beloved house, which later caused a bit of a local scandal.
So after the previous owner moves out, the house was vacant for nearly half a year, with lots of folks wanting to get inside and take a look at it (judging by the incredibly huge stack of Realtor cards that were left on the dining room table). We find out that no one wanted to buy a "haunted house" which is why it sat on the market for so long. There was absolutely nothing was wrong with it, just the dreaded stigma of a possible haunting. "Pshaw" we said, and we bought it and moved right in.
Immediately, we could sense that the house was checking us out, an eerie feeling to say the least. It was like something was bearing down on the back of ones neck, constantly watching and waiting.
Well! Not two months later I was in the kitchen cooking when I happened to glance at my wooden spice cabinet (which my Dad made for me and stands from floor to a bit over my head) and noticed that something had been wedged between the glass and the wood trim. It was an old-timey metal bobby pin!!!
About a week after I found the bobby pin, I was downstairs in the main computer room (the one where the owner had died after living here for nearly 60 years) working late when the sun was just starting to come up. I decided to check the Internet one last time before shutting down, and then, quite slowly, the window shade began to move up. Very, very slowly. Like it was telling me it was time to shut it down and get to bed. Which I did. In all the years of owning many, many window shades, I have never seen a window shade go up slowly. They usually always unexpectedly start with a loud clattering whirring noise before snapping shut, making me nearly soil my britches, but this was just the total opposite. It slowly came to a stop nearly at the top.
Another time, we had guests staying in what used to be the guest room (with two large beds and a bedside table between the beds) and is now my studio, when in the middle of the night they both awoke to a loud rapping outside their window. That window is two stories waaaaaay up, and they thought is was either me or the husband playing tricks. Then the wrapping went from that window to the other window, and then the wrapping came inside the room where it wrapped loudly on the bedside table between their beds. And they still thought that we were somehow involved playing some sort of elaborate trick on them!
The husband mentioned that often he would walk into the main living room and see someone standing there and then they would just fade into a mist. My main sighting has always been more auditory, and always late at night.
I would hear voices coming from downstairs, happy talking voices and the sound of silverware and glasses clinking. And every single time I would start to go down the stairs, everything would get all quite. Later we found out that the 106 year-old lady who lived here once ran a boarding house for many years here and that folks would pay dearly for a chance to sit at her table for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Apparently, she was quite the incredible cook and cooked meals for the prisoners ensconced in the jailhouse. One story we heard was the once a prisoner was released, they would always come by the back door begging for just one more meal, and to thank her for making their stay at the jail such an enjoyable one.
She did not allow women to live upstairs (fearing that folks might get the wrong idea) and instead, she only allowed men to sleep in the rooms upstairs. Another story we heard, was one time one of the men had a visitor, a man who was deep in his cups and had problems navigating the stairs (which I even am a bit intimidated by as they seem to be endless) and ended up tumbling down the entire flight! He picked himself up, brushed himself off and went his merry way - I can't even imagine surviving such a tumble!
After about a year, the house backed down and we all came to an understanding, that we weren't going to destroy the integrity of the house (as so many folks often do, which breaks my heart) and "remuddle" the hell out of it. Instead, we have done almost nothing. We found Victorian wallpaper underneath the more modern wallpaper, and the original wood, hardware, doors, just about everything is what is was when it was built.
Even the glass in the windows are the original glass from 140 years ago! So of course, I imagine how many eyes have looked out these windows and wonder what they saw way back then. My view right now is pretty much the same as it was many years ago, a Victorian church and a hillside full of Victoria houses. Even on the sidewalks you can still find the iron rings that were used to tie up the horses!
A Realtor called us last week and wanted to know if we would be willing to sell the house to some folks from California who wanted to turn the house into some sort of spa/retreat thing and of course, we were quite aghast at the mere thought of a bunch of investor types coming in and ripping out the soul and integrity of the house in order to make it look like a damned spa. We of course said no.
With the hammering and painting going on outside, the voices have come back, the dinner time noises from downstairs. And it only makes me happy, because I sense that the house approves of what we are doing, especially hearing our resounding no to the spa people.
------------------------------------------------------- Here are some of the pencils for one of the four posters I am working on:
-------------------------------------------------------
And here is the new half skull I just got in the post. I think I am going to keep this one:
-------------------------------------------------------
I am going to start some framed curios this week because it is driving me nuts having all this stuff here and not having the time to do it. I have just one more freelance bit to do (which I have to say is my very favorite of all types of illustration and my absolute favorite client) so this is not a bad thing, just pinched on time is all. The rainy season will soon be upon us and I need to get all this stuff done by October and November.
So, time to get on it.
Now the Internet is chugging along nicely and I can finally do a bit of research I've been meaning to do for a while now, but got sidetracked and instead I wasted nearly 3 hours reading someone's blog. Fascinating to say the least!
While waiting on that, I decided to pull out those four posters I was working on before I began working on this freelance job and happily did pencils for one of the posters. Very, very happy listening to a book on tape about Resurrectionist, Medical Students, Dissections and other morbid medical horror stories from the early 18th century. I was riveted to my drawing desk all night last night, which is the whole point of a good book on tape, or else I tend to wander the house in the middle of the night as a way of procrastinating.
One of the stories about this house (long before we moved in) was the previous owner (who turned this house into a Bed and Breakfast) said that old-timey metal bobby pins would show up in strange places all around the house. Like the time the carpet people laid down brand new carpet, and when they left, the previous owner walked through the door and sitting right there in the middle of this brand spanking new carpet, was one of those bobby pins.
Another story regarding the previous owner: Both her and her husband were asleep (in the very same room where another owner of this house had died at the age of 106) and she said that someone or something woke her up by shaking her foot quite rudely. I believe that the "ghost" was pissed off at what this lady was doing to her beloved house, which later caused a bit of a local scandal.
So after the previous owner moves out, the house was vacant for nearly half a year, with lots of folks wanting to get inside and take a look at it (judging by the incredibly huge stack of Realtor cards that were left on the dining room table). We find out that no one wanted to buy a "haunted house" which is why it sat on the market for so long. There was absolutely nothing was wrong with it, just the dreaded stigma of a possible haunting. "Pshaw" we said, and we bought it and moved right in.
Immediately, we could sense that the house was checking us out, an eerie feeling to say the least. It was like something was bearing down on the back of ones neck, constantly watching and waiting.
Well! Not two months later I was in the kitchen cooking when I happened to glance at my wooden spice cabinet (which my Dad made for me and stands from floor to a bit over my head) and noticed that something had been wedged between the glass and the wood trim. It was an old-timey metal bobby pin!!!
About a week after I found the bobby pin, I was downstairs in the main computer room (the one where the owner had died after living here for nearly 60 years) working late when the sun was just starting to come up. I decided to check the Internet one last time before shutting down, and then, quite slowly, the window shade began to move up. Very, very slowly. Like it was telling me it was time to shut it down and get to bed. Which I did. In all the years of owning many, many window shades, I have never seen a window shade go up slowly. They usually always unexpectedly start with a loud clattering whirring noise before snapping shut, making me nearly soil my britches, but this was just the total opposite. It slowly came to a stop nearly at the top.
Another time, we had guests staying in what used to be the guest room (with two large beds and a bedside table between the beds) and is now my studio, when in the middle of the night they both awoke to a loud rapping outside their window. That window is two stories waaaaaay up, and they thought is was either me or the husband playing tricks. Then the wrapping went from that window to the other window, and then the wrapping came inside the room where it wrapped loudly on the bedside table between their beds. And they still thought that we were somehow involved playing some sort of elaborate trick on them!
The husband mentioned that often he would walk into the main living room and see someone standing there and then they would just fade into a mist. My main sighting has always been more auditory, and always late at night.
I would hear voices coming from downstairs, happy talking voices and the sound of silverware and glasses clinking. And every single time I would start to go down the stairs, everything would get all quite. Later we found out that the 106 year-old lady who lived here once ran a boarding house for many years here and that folks would pay dearly for a chance to sit at her table for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Apparently, she was quite the incredible cook and cooked meals for the prisoners ensconced in the jailhouse. One story we heard was the once a prisoner was released, they would always come by the back door begging for just one more meal, and to thank her for making their stay at the jail such an enjoyable one.
She did not allow women to live upstairs (fearing that folks might get the wrong idea) and instead, she only allowed men to sleep in the rooms upstairs. Another story we heard, was one time one of the men had a visitor, a man who was deep in his cups and had problems navigating the stairs (which I even am a bit intimidated by as they seem to be endless) and ended up tumbling down the entire flight! He picked himself up, brushed himself off and went his merry way - I can't even imagine surviving such a tumble!
After about a year, the house backed down and we all came to an understanding, that we weren't going to destroy the integrity of the house (as so many folks often do, which breaks my heart) and "remuddle" the hell out of it. Instead, we have done almost nothing. We found Victorian wallpaper underneath the more modern wallpaper, and the original wood, hardware, doors, just about everything is what is was when it was built.
Even the glass in the windows are the original glass from 140 years ago! So of course, I imagine how many eyes have looked out these windows and wonder what they saw way back then. My view right now is pretty much the same as it was many years ago, a Victorian church and a hillside full of Victoria houses. Even on the sidewalks you can still find the iron rings that were used to tie up the horses!
A Realtor called us last week and wanted to know if we would be willing to sell the house to some folks from California who wanted to turn the house into some sort of spa/retreat thing and of course, we were quite aghast at the mere thought of a bunch of investor types coming in and ripping out the soul and integrity of the house in order to make it look like a damned spa. We of course said no.
With the hammering and painting going on outside, the voices have come back, the dinner time noises from downstairs. And it only makes me happy, because I sense that the house approves of what we are doing, especially hearing our resounding no to the spa people.
Top part, left hand side
Middle part, left hand side
Bottom part, left hand side
I usually freehand one side, then do the mirror image of it on the right hand side so it balances out nicely. It actually went pretty fast, I was able to get the left hand side done in one night. I should be able to finish the other side tonight.
I usually freehand one side, then do the mirror image of it on the right hand side so it balances out nicely. It actually went pretty fast, I was able to get the left hand side done in one night. I should be able to finish the other side tonight.
And here is the new half skull I just got in the post. I think I am going to keep this one:
The front, and it is only missing just five teeth!
Here is a view of the side-
And here is the incredible thing about it,
take a look at what is going on in the back!
take a look at what is going on in the back!
This is all one piece, attached to the skull!
Whoever thought to craft out this skull
the way they did really knew their osteology.
Whoever thought to craft out this skull
the way they did really knew their osteology.
And here is the other side.
What is amazing to me is how nicely it sits on its own "hind feet" much like a picture frame would sit on a mantle. I would put this skull in the "Extreme Crafting" category because of the beauty of the skull, how it was well thought out and the lovely patina. It has aged very nicely without becoming porous. Beware of overly white-bleached skulls and bones, as they tend to become porous and brittle over time and my own personal opinion, they just don't look all that natural all gleaming white.
What is amazing to me is how nicely it sits on its own "hind feet" much like a picture frame would sit on a mantle. I would put this skull in the "Extreme Crafting" category because of the beauty of the skull, how it was well thought out and the lovely patina. It has aged very nicely without becoming porous. Beware of overly white-bleached skulls and bones, as they tend to become porous and brittle over time and my own personal opinion, they just don't look all that natural all gleaming white.
I am going to start some framed curios this week because it is driving me nuts having all this stuff here and not having the time to do it. I have just one more freelance bit to do (which I have to say is my very favorite of all types of illustration and my absolute favorite client) so this is not a bad thing, just pinched on time is all. The rainy season will soon be upon us and I need to get all this stuff done by October and November.
So, time to get on it.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Victorian Craniotomy Tools, Haunted House and Necktie Parties
I was fascinated by the Victorian Surgical Tools link floating around and since my own set of tools arrived in the mail the other day, I thought I would share. I had some reservations about posting this, only because of the subject matter, so anyone who is deeply offended by Victorian (and older) midwifery practices, you need to just back on out now.
Below are six midwifery tools that were used during the 18th and 19th centuries. When I bought them, I did not realize how HUGE they are, very heavy and very nicely made. The black handles on the large forceps are Gutta Percha!
These type of tools go by different names, Obstetrical Craniotomy Tools, Cranioclasts, foetal crushers, foetal hooks, foetal forceps, blunt hooks, Perforators, etc.
I put a Sharpie pen in the photo so you can see
just how big these tools are.
A general rule was that when using these type of tools, they were utilized in order to complete a failed delivery, especially when there was sufficient evidence that child was dead, especially in cases when the head was firmly impacted in the pelvis and it wasn't moving.
Here is an excellent site with many incredible "Man midwife" tools that are not only terrifyingly beautiful in their craftsmanship but also are quite rare. Thankfully, these type of instruments are no longer used today.
The Obstetrician's Armamentarium by Bryan M. Hibbard has much more information about the history as well as the doctors who not only invented them, but who used them during the 18th and 19th century, which were used primarily to save the mother's life.
The book is quite pricey, most likely because of the controversial nature of the subject matter. Here it is on Amazon - the starting price begins at (gasp!) $245.00!!!
These instruments will be for sale later this year, and will most likely be sold as a set in a framed curio with more history on how the instruments were used.
-------------------------------------------------------
We are in the process of getting ready to paint the house and redoing the front porch back to its original Victorian splendor, which includes a lot of pounding, hammering, sawing, caulking, and all the other mind-numbing racket that is associated with the upkeep of a nearly 140-year-old house.
When we moved in nearly a ten years ago, this house already had a solid reputation for being haunted and even had a large write-up in the local paper about it. The husband and I have definitely seen, felt and heard odd things in the house, and it comes with the seasons.
Recently, with all the racket which I am certain has been quite enough to raise the dead, I will admit that last night I was very jumpy, on edge and I kept hearing odd thumps around the house, and voices downstairs.
When I was upstairs, I heard voices coming from downstairs, and kept looking out the window thinking someone was outside. Then I would hear the thumps, and would go down to investigate (usually a 3 am thing) and nothing. All calm and normal. While standing in the kitchen, I heard a loud thump coming from upstairs, right above me. So I rushed upstairs, did a kitty count and all four were sound asleep as was the husband. Hmmmmm.
I asked the husband about it and he said he kept waking up hearing thumps all night, thinking it was me, and then he reminded me about how when old houses have work done on them, that it tends to wakes things up.
I did a quick search on Remodeling and I found a link that gave me some quick pointers: How To Solve a Sudden Haunting. Thing is, I am not frightened, and now that I have figured out what all the racket is, not going to worry about it.
I just took a picture of the stairs a few minutes ago, and voila! Orbs!
Tonight I have to pick the colors for the house, I am thinking "Addam's Family" grays and black. We have decided to put in a garden (even though I have a black thumb) and we thought a nice bunch of white Calla Lilies would look lovely in front of the house. They seem very sturdy in this climate, and would really add to the "haunted house" look we are striving for.
-------------------------------------------------------
I got this amazing jaw model in the post today, I just love this kind of stuff, it is just so incredibly beautiful. I am thinking I might just keep this one, put it on my shelf next to my human heart embedded in Lucite.
-------------------------------------------------------
I am currently reading an interesting book all about the history of hangings in Oregon, which were known as "Necktie Parties." Very interesting book and what was even more interesting, was the fact that there were two hangings right here in Astoria!
Here is a photo of one of the hangings that happened here in Astoria. I did a bit of research and asked the local historian (of which we are kindred spirits because we both seem to like the macabre history of these parts the best) and he said the hangings occurred near the old jail (the one that is in the movie, The Goonies).
Right across the street is the lovely Flavel mansion museum. If you were to go to the second floor of the Flavel mansion and look out the window towards the old jail, back then they would have had first row seats for the local hangings.
The only thing not mentioned in the book, was how many stairs were used for the scaffold - which everyone believes is thirteen steps but I still haven't found reference to it in this book. I need to finish reading it I guess. In the same vein, I am looking forward to reading The Hanging Tree: Execution and the English People 1770 - I have always had a morbid fascination with the Tyburn tree as well as hanging rituals and superstition.
------------------------------------------------------- Freelance Update - I just finished and sent 8 of the 16 pieces, plus three ads. Here is the first 8 pieces and one of the ads, which of course is blurred. The stack off to the side is the remaining 8, all of which are nearly completed and will go out first thing on Monday!
Below are six midwifery tools that were used during the 18th and 19th centuries. When I bought them, I did not realize how HUGE they are, very heavy and very nicely made. The black handles on the large forceps are Gutta Percha!
These type of tools go by different names, Obstetrical Craniotomy Tools, Cranioclasts, foetal crushers, foetal hooks, foetal forceps, blunt hooks, Perforators, etc.
I put a Sharpie pen in the photo so you can see
just how big these tools are.
A general rule was that when using these type of tools, they were utilized in order to complete a failed delivery, especially when there was sufficient evidence that child was dead, especially in cases when the head was firmly impacted in the pelvis and it wasn't moving.
Here is an excellent site with many incredible "Man midwife" tools that are not only terrifyingly beautiful in their craftsmanship but also are quite rare. Thankfully, these type of instruments are no longer used today.
The Obstetrician's Armamentarium by Bryan M. Hibbard has much more information about the history as well as the doctors who not only invented them, but who used them during the 18th and 19th century, which were used primarily to save the mother's life.
The book is quite pricey, most likely because of the controversial nature of the subject matter. Here it is on Amazon - the starting price begins at (gasp!) $245.00!!!
These instruments will be for sale later this year, and will most likely be sold as a set in a framed curio with more history on how the instruments were used.
We are in the process of getting ready to paint the house and redoing the front porch back to its original Victorian splendor, which includes a lot of pounding, hammering, sawing, caulking, and all the other mind-numbing racket that is associated with the upkeep of a nearly 140-year-old house.
When we moved in nearly a ten years ago, this house already had a solid reputation for being haunted and even had a large write-up in the local paper about it. The husband and I have definitely seen, felt and heard odd things in the house, and it comes with the seasons.
Recently, with all the racket which I am certain has been quite enough to raise the dead, I will admit that last night I was very jumpy, on edge and I kept hearing odd thumps around the house, and voices downstairs.
When I was upstairs, I heard voices coming from downstairs, and kept looking out the window thinking someone was outside. Then I would hear the thumps, and would go down to investigate (usually a 3 am thing) and nothing. All calm and normal. While standing in the kitchen, I heard a loud thump coming from upstairs, right above me. So I rushed upstairs, did a kitty count and all four were sound asleep as was the husband. Hmmmmm.
I asked the husband about it and he said he kept waking up hearing thumps all night, thinking it was me, and then he reminded me about how when old houses have work done on them, that it tends to wakes things up.
I did a quick search on Remodeling and I found a link that gave me some quick pointers: How To Solve a Sudden Haunting. Thing is, I am not frightened, and now that I have figured out what all the racket is, not going to worry about it.
I just took a picture of the stairs a few minutes ago, and voila! Orbs!
Tonight I have to pick the colors for the house, I am thinking "Addam's Family" grays and black. We have decided to put in a garden (even though I have a black thumb) and we thought a nice bunch of white Calla Lilies would look lovely in front of the house. They seem very sturdy in this climate, and would really add to the "haunted house" look we are striving for.
I got this amazing jaw model in the post today, I just love this kind of stuff, it is just so incredibly beautiful. I am thinking I might just keep this one, put it on my shelf next to my human heart embedded in Lucite.
I am currently reading an interesting book all about the history of hangings in Oregon, which were known as "Necktie Parties." Very interesting book and what was even more interesting, was the fact that there were two hangings right here in Astoria!
Here is a photo of one of the hangings that happened here in Astoria. I did a bit of research and asked the local historian (of which we are kindred spirits because we both seem to like the macabre history of these parts the best) and he said the hangings occurred near the old jail (the one that is in the movie, The Goonies).
Right across the street is the lovely Flavel mansion museum. If you were to go to the second floor of the Flavel mansion and look out the window towards the old jail, back then they would have had first row seats for the local hangings.
The only thing not mentioned in the book, was how many stairs were used for the scaffold - which everyone believes is thirteen steps but I still haven't found reference to it in this book. I need to finish reading it I guess. In the same vein, I am looking forward to reading The Hanging Tree: Execution and the English People 1770 - I have always had a morbid fascination with the Tyburn tree as well as hanging rituals and superstition.
Then, I just have seven more large ads to hand-illustrate and I will be done doing freelance work for the rest of the year. I loved doing this, it has been a dream job but I miss making my own stuff - soon, very soon.
OK, I need to get to choosing paint colors, the painter is coming today!
OK, I need to get to choosing paint colors, the painter is coming today!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Mütter Museum, Freelance, and Skulls
It has been a busy week-end mostly just inking, inking and more inking. I finished up two large ads, and am now inking the 16 other pieces. I have just one more ad to pencil and ink and all of it is to be done by THURSDAY. They get popped in the mail on Friday, then a bit of a reprieve.
Then, 7 more hand-illustrated large ads. I don't know when these will be due, but I suspect the deadline is coming up soon. Thankfully, I already have the ideas sketched out and in my head, so really, the hard part is already done.
Lots and lots of orders have been pouring in, which of course makes me pleased.
-------------------------------------------------------
Here is a photo of me at my drawing desk working on the monster freelance job, with the help of two cats, Blue (the deaf white cat) and Bones (the black cat wearing the tuxedo):
These two are arch enemies and the mere fact they are not squabbling while on the desk is a nice surprise. You can see Blue staring daggers at Bones, who could care less what Blue thinks.
The lamp on my desk is a very cool streamlined lamp from the 1930s (!!!) and it still works just beautifully. When I draw, I need a light source that zeroes in on specific areas which I am constantly adjusting while drawing. The modern desk lamps that are sold today seriously SUCKS and they break constantly. But most importantly, they do not do what I want them to do. This lamp is my pride and joy and I don't think I would ever be able to find another one should it break.
-------------------------------------------------------
The Mütter Museum (the Holy Grail of Victorian era Anatomical Museums in America) gift shop curator sent us photos of my dolls, mini curios and glimpses of framed posters that are currently gracing the walls of the gift shop:
I like the heart decorations, it is a very nice touch.
I will be sending a very large framed curio to the Mütter Museum sometime this week and so when you visit, make sure to look for it, it is one of my all-time favorite pieces.
-------------------------------------------------------
My scout hunters found a vintage human skull for me, purchased it and it is being sent out in the post tomorrow. The husband rolls his eyes and wonders just how many human skulls I need (last count, plus the one arriving will be nine) - I told him that one can never have enough skulls lying around. I keep reminding him that one cannot just pop into Walmart and buy a human skull so when they show up (and especially those that I can get for a song) I try to get them.
I am not too fond of the lily white bleached skulls, they seem too sterile, almost fake looking. My preference is those that have a lovely warm patina, usually with the calvaria cut and without the mandible. I like having some teeth present in my skulls, but most often the four front human teeth were stolen from corpses in order to sell to the local dentist, who used them to put into the mouths of their wealthy living clients. Ew. How would you like to have freshly dead corpse teeth implanted in your mouth?
A human skull with its original mandible, a full set of teeth (with no cavities or fillings) and with the calvaria NOT cut is worth quite a bit of money. Thankfully, those are the ones I am not interested in.
-------------------------------------------------------
I should be getting my Victorian era obstetrical craniotomy set this week, and I am giddy excited like a kid waiting for Christmas! I can't tell you just how long I have been searching for these particular instruments and can't wait to get going on the framed curio exhibits. Soon, soon.
Then, 7 more hand-illustrated large ads. I don't know when these will be due, but I suspect the deadline is coming up soon. Thankfully, I already have the ideas sketched out and in my head, so really, the hard part is already done.
Lots and lots of orders have been pouring in, which of course makes me pleased.
Here is a photo of me at my drawing desk working on the monster freelance job, with the help of two cats, Blue (the deaf white cat) and Bones (the black cat wearing the tuxedo):
These two are arch enemies and the mere fact they are not squabbling while on the desk is a nice surprise. You can see Blue staring daggers at Bones, who could care less what Blue thinks.
The lamp on my desk is a very cool streamlined lamp from the 1930s (!!!) and it still works just beautifully. When I draw, I need a light source that zeroes in on specific areas which I am constantly adjusting while drawing. The modern desk lamps that are sold today seriously SUCKS and they break constantly. But most importantly, they do not do what I want them to do. This lamp is my pride and joy and I don't think I would ever be able to find another one should it break.
The Mütter Museum (the Holy Grail of Victorian era Anatomical Museums in America) gift shop curator sent us photos of my dolls, mini curios and glimpses of framed posters that are currently gracing the walls of the gift shop:
I like the heart decorations, it is a very nice touch.
I will be sending a very large framed curio to the Mütter Museum sometime this week and so when you visit, make sure to look for it, it is one of my all-time favorite pieces.
My scout hunters found a vintage human skull for me, purchased it and it is being sent out in the post tomorrow. The husband rolls his eyes and wonders just how many human skulls I need (last count, plus the one arriving will be nine) - I told him that one can never have enough skulls lying around. I keep reminding him that one cannot just pop into Walmart and buy a human skull so when they show up (and especially those that I can get for a song) I try to get them.
I am not too fond of the lily white bleached skulls, they seem too sterile, almost fake looking. My preference is those that have a lovely warm patina, usually with the calvaria cut and without the mandible. I like having some teeth present in my skulls, but most often the four front human teeth were stolen from corpses in order to sell to the local dentist, who used them to put into the mouths of their wealthy living clients. Ew. How would you like to have freshly dead corpse teeth implanted in your mouth?
A human skull with its original mandible, a full set of teeth (with no cavities or fillings) and with the calvaria NOT cut is worth quite a bit of money. Thankfully, those are the ones I am not interested in.
I should be getting my Victorian era obstetrical craniotomy set this week, and I am giddy excited like a kid waiting for Christmas! I can't tell you just how long I have been searching for these particular instruments and can't wait to get going on the framed curio exhibits. Soon, soon.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Freelance, Dead Friends and Other Goodies
I hit my pencil's deadline this morning, sent in the images and received a confirmation to go forward with inking. I had to get a go ahead from not one but two different clients, and am quite relieved that I don't have to make any changes.
So tonight, I get out my new rapidograph pens, load them up with black ink, get one of my bottles of Liquid Paper out and get to inking.
Here is the schedule:
* I need to get two rather large ads completely inked (actually, it is one ad but with a slight variation to it that gives it the illusion of being two ads)
* Six of the smaller pieces completely inked
* And a THIRD ad for the smaller pieces job, which was an idea I came up with last night and Lucky told them about it and they loved the idea, and of course, I am thrilled to be able to do it.
So that is 9 pieces to be completely inked and ready to convert to hard copy and send to my client. Hard copy you ask?
Yes, since I am "old school" all the way, I prefer making copies of my original artwork using an ANALOG copy machine, which makes beautiful, clean, crisp copies. I mount them on board, touch them up, put a nice cover on them and send them out.
Because everyone has their own way of scanning, I would rather send hard copy and have them make their own digital files they way they want, rather than me making and sending them, even though I know how (and I even know how to make and send PDFs but I prefer doing everything as "old school" as possible.
-------------------------------------------------------
I keep getting requests for photos of me, and because I like my privacy I just don't like photos of myself floating about online. But while digging through my files looking for a specific image, I found this:
This is a photo shoot taken by the multi-talented Cam Garrett (photo copyright Cam Garrett) on February 22, 1991 in the SCUD haunted bathroom. SCUD (for those new to this blog) is where I once lived with about 12 other like-minded souls in the crotch of Belltown, Seattle. We lived in an Edwardian wooden 2-story old hotel building for about 12 years, and those of us who lived upstairs had to share bathrooms.
There were two community bathrooms and one shower room. For some reason, this particular bathroom was hardly used, no matter how many times it was redecorated. We later found out that a gruesome murder happened in this bathroom, a woman went berserk and knifed her boyfriend to death in here, he was found dead crammed as far behind the toilet as possible.
And directly on the other side of that wall was a closet, where another man was found dead in his closet with his throat slit. That room was absolutely haunted, the door would open and close rapidly, until it had to be either wedged open or closed.
All of this happened long before the SCUDDITES moved in (Scud: Subterranean Cooperative Urban Dreamers) but we always knew there was something not quite right about that room and this bathroom. I can't tell you how many times I would go in to use it and turn right around again and walk out, like eyeballs just bearing down on the back of my neck. The absolute worst feeling.
So - Cam was working on a photo series called "Dead Friends" which I thought was the coolest thing I had ever seen. Photos of his friends in different poses of death, I remember one young lady lying in a public park with an arrow sticking out of her back. He asked if I would participate and of course, I jumped at the chance.
I was wearing a long dress and the shoot took so long to set up, that when we were finally ready to shoot, the water was freezing to the point that my teeth were chattering.
I know the photo is small, but on the pedestal that is next to the tub is a straight edge razor with "blood" and on the floor is "blood" splashes as well as in the tub. I think it turned out rather nice. Lucky thinks this should be my official photo, heh - yeah right.
-------------------------------------------------------
And since we are showing photos that Cam did, I had to post this one. Cam and I both came up with this idea, which is a magnificent photo of Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire, Esquire (photo copyright Cam Garrett). I strategically put my watermark over his dangly bits hoping no one will get all offended by such a beautiful creature such as a naked Wilum.
Getting that harp for the shoot was a pain in the ass but worth it. The one flower on the left hand side that is sticking up came off of Bruce Lee's grave (I asked him permission and thanked him). This photo was shot for my second book Discreet Ephemera, and probably one of my most favorite photos ever.
If anyone is into Joel-Peter Witkin, you can probably guess who we were trying to emulate when doing this photo shoot. From what I heard, the photo is going to be reprinted in a book that Wilum is working on and will be out soon.
-------------------------------------------------------
One of my scout hunters found for me a rather truly gruesome set of Victorian era (1870s) medical tools, which I will post photos of as soon as they arrive. I have been searching for a set for a year now, and finally, finally a set showed up.
It consists of five instruments that were used in midwifery, when a stillborn took place and the Mothers life was in peril - well, something had to be done quickly and these are the tools that were used to remedy the situation. By the early twentieth century, these type of tools were no longer used, which makes them incredibly rare. I plan to use them in a framed curio, complete with graphic illustrations.
-------------------------------------------------------
I will post again in a few days with more updates, again this will mostly just be freelance work blather and then after that, framed curios!!! OK, off to work now!
So tonight, I get out my new rapidograph pens, load them up with black ink, get one of my bottles of Liquid Paper out and get to inking.
Here is the schedule:
* I need to get two rather large ads completely inked (actually, it is one ad but with a slight variation to it that gives it the illusion of being two ads)
* Six of the smaller pieces completely inked
* And a THIRD ad for the smaller pieces job, which was an idea I came up with last night and Lucky told them about it and they loved the idea, and of course, I am thrilled to be able to do it.
So that is 9 pieces to be completely inked and ready to convert to hard copy and send to my client. Hard copy you ask?
Yes, since I am "old school" all the way, I prefer making copies of my original artwork using an ANALOG copy machine, which makes beautiful, clean, crisp copies. I mount them on board, touch them up, put a nice cover on them and send them out.
Because everyone has their own way of scanning, I would rather send hard copy and have them make their own digital files they way they want, rather than me making and sending them, even though I know how (and I even know how to make and send PDFs but I prefer doing everything as "old school" as possible.
I keep getting requests for photos of me, and because I like my privacy I just don't like photos of myself floating about online. But while digging through my files looking for a specific image, I found this:
This is a photo shoot taken by the multi-talented Cam Garrett (photo copyright Cam Garrett) on February 22, 1991 in the SCUD haunted bathroom. SCUD (for those new to this blog) is where I once lived with about 12 other like-minded souls in the crotch of Belltown, Seattle. We lived in an Edwardian wooden 2-story old hotel building for about 12 years, and those of us who lived upstairs had to share bathrooms.
There were two community bathrooms and one shower room. For some reason, this particular bathroom was hardly used, no matter how many times it was redecorated. We later found out that a gruesome murder happened in this bathroom, a woman went berserk and knifed her boyfriend to death in here, he was found dead crammed as far behind the toilet as possible.
And directly on the other side of that wall was a closet, where another man was found dead in his closet with his throat slit. That room was absolutely haunted, the door would open and close rapidly, until it had to be either wedged open or closed.
All of this happened long before the SCUDDITES moved in (Scud: Subterranean Cooperative Urban Dreamers) but we always knew there was something not quite right about that room and this bathroom. I can't tell you how many times I would go in to use it and turn right around again and walk out, like eyeballs just bearing down on the back of my neck. The absolute worst feeling.
So - Cam was working on a photo series called "Dead Friends" which I thought was the coolest thing I had ever seen. Photos of his friends in different poses of death, I remember one young lady lying in a public park with an arrow sticking out of her back. He asked if I would participate and of course, I jumped at the chance.
I was wearing a long dress and the shoot took so long to set up, that when we were finally ready to shoot, the water was freezing to the point that my teeth were chattering.
I know the photo is small, but on the pedestal that is next to the tub is a straight edge razor with "blood" and on the floor is "blood" splashes as well as in the tub. I think it turned out rather nice. Lucky thinks this should be my official photo, heh - yeah right.
And since we are showing photos that Cam did, I had to post this one. Cam and I both came up with this idea, which is a magnificent photo of Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire, Esquire (photo copyright Cam Garrett). I strategically put my watermark over his dangly bits hoping no one will get all offended by such a beautiful creature such as a naked Wilum.
Getting that harp for the shoot was a pain in the ass but worth it. The one flower on the left hand side that is sticking up came off of Bruce Lee's grave (I asked him permission and thanked him). This photo was shot for my second book Discreet Ephemera, and probably one of my most favorite photos ever.
If anyone is into Joel-Peter Witkin, you can probably guess who we were trying to emulate when doing this photo shoot. From what I heard, the photo is going to be reprinted in a book that Wilum is working on and will be out soon.
One of my scout hunters found for me a rather truly gruesome set of Victorian era (1870s) medical tools, which I will post photos of as soon as they arrive. I have been searching for a set for a year now, and finally, finally a set showed up.
It consists of five instruments that were used in midwifery, when a stillborn took place and the Mothers life was in peril - well, something had to be done quickly and these are the tools that were used to remedy the situation. By the early twentieth century, these type of tools were no longer used, which makes them incredibly rare. I plan to use them in a framed curio, complete with graphic illustrations.
I will post again in a few days with more updates, again this will mostly just be freelance work blather and then after that, framed curios!!! OK, off to work now!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Poisonous Blow Darts, Liquid Paper, Laudanum and Paregoric
I received in the mail just yesterday, around 12 different books primarily about human shrunken heads (Tsantsa) and the different tribes who took part in this type of "extreme craft." In the other box, I was perplexed because I had no idea what was going to be in it, it obviously wasn't books but a long, cylinder type object stuffed with paper. It was made with what looked like primitive jungle supplies.
I contacted my scout hunter and he said it was a Dayak Blow Dart Quiver. He also said there were darts in the quiver, but all I saw was tissue paper. I got my trusty forceps and pulled out the paper and sure enough, there they were! A nice supply of blow darts - I wasn't sure if these were used or not and if they were poisonous blow darts, I will have to ask my scout hunter more about this. For now, it is boxed up and put up safely away from the cats.
The books will provide some fantastic reading, research and I noticed quite a few great photos, but for now I am slammed against the wall with freelance work.
I finished up nearly half of the pencil drawings - all of which need to be completed by Tuesday and sent via email for approval. Once they get approved, then it is another huge deadline which involved inking. For me, inking is like the cherry on the cake, I love inking and it tends to go much faster than trying to think up ideas and then penciling them out.
Also, I found two things from my past that thrilled me to no end, the vintage style rapidograph (I am always looking for the pump kind) and white out with a brush. I have always used white out (liquid paper) when drawing with pen and ink and then a few years ago, bottles of white out did away with the brush and came out with that stupid foam brush. Well, that was the end for me.
R. Crumb has used white out for years on his pen-and-ink drawings, and it used to be a staple among illustrators for years. Then it all changed, and for years I have been trying to find a suitable replacement. I have tried Dr. Ph. Martin's, white gouache, Pro White, the list is endless trying to find something that worked as good as liquid paper/white out.
On Drawn.ca, there is a great discussion from different illustrators discussing different pros and cons of white ink, so I know I am not alone in this quest for the "perfect white out."
The thing about all the others, they either are too thick, too thin, they don't dry fast enough or they leave groove marks in the white where the rapidograph draws on top of it, which invariably clogs the pen and it gets really frustrating. With my trusty bottle of white out, all I had to do was open it up, dab the brush to get the right amount, brush, blow on it and it was done. My pens would just glide over it and I could keep going in my drawing groove without having to stop everything in order to make up a batch of white out from gouache (which would dry out) and as mentioned in the Drawn thread, Pro White needed a wrench to get the lid off.
On a whim, I did a search hoping against all hope that maybe, just maybe the powers that be that make Liquid Paper would bring back the brush. Well. I nearly fell off my chair when I found that Liquid Paper actually did indeed bring back the Classic Brush!!!
I immediately bought five bottles and I tested it, and I thought I had died and gone to illustrator heaven. Then because I am paranoid about it being a fluke and that they might take it off the market again, I bought 15 more for my stash. Bet you never thought white out could be so important, did you?
Where was I? Oh right, the freelance job. So, because I start a massive amount of inking next week, I am thrilled to have my old friend Liquid Paper back again with my illustrating tools, which will make this job so much easier.
Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to say just who this freelance job is for until my client announces it first on their website, and when they do, then I will announce it here along with their web/blog link. It will be sometime around the end of July when it will all be announced.
So here is an updated schedule of stuff I will be doing in the coming months:
June - Freelance job
July - Finish up Freelance job/begin working on framed curios
August - The entire month of August has been set aside for framed curios -
I have gathered so much stuff, probably 9 human skulls, two human skeleton hands (left and right) a bunch of long bones, a human heart, a human brain slice, 5 (model) fetal skeletons, 7 (model) fetal skulls (three of which are for dolls), a very large leech, tapeworms, that baby snake, two taxidermied bats and a whole slew of other items I have tucked away in cabinets.
September - 4 posters to draw and have printed and then begin working on dolls. I haven't decided if I am doing any more Plague Doctor dolls this year or not, depending on my schedule. I will be doing more Fetal Skull dolls, and I already have 17 to 20 dolls already DONE, all I need to do is make clothes for them. I will probably make more Plague Doctors early next year.
October - Finish up the Dolls and maybe (big maybe here) begin some more tombstone paintings.
October and November, we do a huge web update with all the stuff I accumulate over the summer (like all that weird medical stuff I bought a few months ago).
December - I try to take a breather and just try to work on my book, all while having tried to squeeze book time in on the week-ends over the summer and autumn months.
January - hit the ground running with new projects to make, probably most likely Plague Doctor dolls, tombstone paintings and posters.
So anyone wanting freelance work will have to wait until NEXT year, I am book solid.
I just received in the mail the other day a most exquisite Laudanum bottle, which I will be posting on the website in October. Also coming in the mail is probably one of the very best Paregoric bottles (with full label) I have seen in quite some time. That one will also be posted on the website in October.
From Wikipedia:
When someone (from the Māori culture) with moko died, often the head would be preserved. The brain and eyes were removed, with all orifices sealed with flax fibre and gum. The head was then boiled or steamed in an oven before being smoked over an open fire and dried in the sun for several days. It was then treated with shark oil. Such preserved heads, mokomokai, would be kept by their families in ornately-carved boxes and brought out only for sacred ceremonies.
OK, I need to get back on the drawing table. I am actually ahead of schedule, but I don't like to push my luck with big deadlines and like to give myself plenty of time to roam around my imagination in order create without any pressures. So far so good!
I contacted my scout hunter and he said it was a Dayak Blow Dart Quiver. He also said there were darts in the quiver, but all I saw was tissue paper. I got my trusty forceps and pulled out the paper and sure enough, there they were! A nice supply of blow darts - I wasn't sure if these were used or not and if they were poisonous blow darts, I will have to ask my scout hunter more about this. For now, it is boxed up and put up safely away from the cats.
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The books will provide some fantastic reading, research and I noticed quite a few great photos, but for now I am slammed against the wall with freelance work.
I finished up nearly half of the pencil drawings - all of which need to be completed by Tuesday and sent via email for approval. Once they get approved, then it is another huge deadline which involved inking. For me, inking is like the cherry on the cake, I love inking and it tends to go much faster than trying to think up ideas and then penciling them out.
Also, I found two things from my past that thrilled me to no end, the vintage style rapidograph (I am always looking for the pump kind) and white out with a brush. I have always used white out (liquid paper) when drawing with pen and ink and then a few years ago, bottles of white out did away with the brush and came out with that stupid foam brush. Well, that was the end for me.
R. Crumb has used white out for years on his pen-and-ink drawings, and it used to be a staple among illustrators for years. Then it all changed, and for years I have been trying to find a suitable replacement. I have tried Dr. Ph. Martin's, white gouache, Pro White, the list is endless trying to find something that worked as good as liquid paper/white out.
On Drawn.ca, there is a great discussion from different illustrators discussing different pros and cons of white ink, so I know I am not alone in this quest for the "perfect white out."
The thing about all the others, they either are too thick, too thin, they don't dry fast enough or they leave groove marks in the white where the rapidograph draws on top of it, which invariably clogs the pen and it gets really frustrating. With my trusty bottle of white out, all I had to do was open it up, dab the brush to get the right amount, brush, blow on it and it was done. My pens would just glide over it and I could keep going in my drawing groove without having to stop everything in order to make up a batch of white out from gouache (which would dry out) and as mentioned in the Drawn thread, Pro White needed a wrench to get the lid off.
On a whim, I did a search hoping against all hope that maybe, just maybe the powers that be that make Liquid Paper would bring back the brush. Well. I nearly fell off my chair when I found that Liquid Paper actually did indeed bring back the Classic Brush!!!
I immediately bought five bottles and I tested it, and I thought I had died and gone to illustrator heaven. Then because I am paranoid about it being a fluke and that they might take it off the market again, I bought 15 more for my stash. Bet you never thought white out could be so important, did you?
Where was I? Oh right, the freelance job. So, because I start a massive amount of inking next week, I am thrilled to have my old friend Liquid Paper back again with my illustrating tools, which will make this job so much easier.
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Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to say just who this freelance job is for until my client announces it first on their website, and when they do, then I will announce it here along with their web/blog link. It will be sometime around the end of July when it will all be announced.
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And I can only say that I am having the time of my life, I love this type of illustrating jobs but this will be the last freelance job until next year. I really have to get on those framed curios and posters, I am seriously, seriously behind on my own personal schedule.So here is an updated schedule of stuff I will be doing in the coming months:
June - Freelance job
July - Finish up Freelance job/begin working on framed curios
August - The entire month of August has been set aside for framed curios -
I have gathered so much stuff, probably 9 human skulls, two human skeleton hands (left and right) a bunch of long bones, a human heart, a human brain slice, 5 (model) fetal skeletons, 7 (model) fetal skulls (three of which are for dolls), a very large leech, tapeworms, that baby snake, two taxidermied bats and a whole slew of other items I have tucked away in cabinets.
September - 4 posters to draw and have printed and then begin working on dolls. I haven't decided if I am doing any more Plague Doctor dolls this year or not, depending on my schedule. I will be doing more Fetal Skull dolls, and I already have 17 to 20 dolls already DONE, all I need to do is make clothes for them. I will probably make more Plague Doctors early next year.
October - Finish up the Dolls and maybe (big maybe here) begin some more tombstone paintings.
October and November, we do a huge web update with all the stuff I accumulate over the summer (like all that weird medical stuff I bought a few months ago).
December - I try to take a breather and just try to work on my book, all while having tried to squeeze book time in on the week-ends over the summer and autumn months.
January - hit the ground running with new projects to make, probably most likely Plague Doctor dolls, tombstone paintings and posters.
So anyone wanting freelance work will have to wait until NEXT year, I am book solid.
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I just received in the mail the other day a most exquisite Laudanum bottle, which I will be posting on the website in October. Also coming in the mail is probably one of the very best Paregoric bottles (with full label) I have seen in quite some time. That one will also be posted on the website in October.
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When I am not making stuff or illustrating or doing freelance, one of my most favorite things to do is researching odd things for certain companies. Last week (which I forgot to mention in my last blog post), I was sent photos of a very early Victorian Mokomokai and I was asked to research in order to find out if it was obtained before or after Captain Cook. It was probably one of the most impressive and beautiful Mokomokai I had ever seen and very well preserved.From Wikipedia:
When someone (from the Māori culture) with moko died, often the head would be preserved. The brain and eyes were removed, with all orifices sealed with flax fibre and gum. The head was then boiled or steamed in an oven before being smoked over an open fire and dried in the sun for several days. It was then treated with shark oil. Such preserved heads, mokomokai, would be kept by their families in ornately-carved boxes and brought out only for sacred ceremonies.
OK, I need to get back on the drawing table. I am actually ahead of schedule, but I don't like to push my luck with big deadlines and like to give myself plenty of time to roam around my imagination in order create without any pressures. So far so good!
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