StoryMonster

All around the cathedral

2012-03-06T20:51:00.002-07:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17269548

:'(

Very few people can transcend with words in such a simple, beautiful way. I feel so heartbroken, like I've lost a friend.

The Day I Got My Dog

2012-03-04T17:18:00.000-07:00

Going through my stuff today, and I found this:

It's something I wrote, by the looks of the spelling, in first grade. The Day I got my Dog. Behold:

"I like Dogs wons I ast my mom and dad for one they" said, yes eney one Just make share you get home and I said ok I got a trampe I Love it it was brone and it had flafy earts it us cute. so I brang it home my mom and dad ware dlitid*. then one day it ran away I got it and I said bad Dog and she hist ant some thing it was a ratlsnacke
I saw it I was scerd then I herd noisise the Dog Kild the ratlesnak"

*delighted

The next page has a picture I drew of my dog:

I never had a dog growing up.

* * * * *

I haven't been posting like usual due to deadlines and stuff, but next post will have real drawings. In the meantime, remember Oregon Trail? Well here is Organ Trail, a game where you try to cross the country in a sea of zombies. Will you be a cop from Kentucky, or a lawyer from Miami? Will your van make it without running out of gas? Will the zombies eat any members of your party??

Play now. Thank me later.

Encounter

2012-02-22T06:20:00.004-07:00

The other day I ran into a high school acquaintance.

This is always nerve-wracking. I was kind of a loser in high school.

She was nice, though. She was like:

"I saw you on campus the other day."

And I was like:

"O rlly? We shoulda said hai!"

And she was like:

"You were talking to yourself."

And I was like:

And she said:

" A lot."

And I was like:

And she was like:

"Your hands were moving and stuff."

And I was like:

"Let's talk about something else!"

Isn't it nice to know that some things never change??

* * * * * * *

I'm delighted to say that the speedpaint blog has taken off! I'm really impressed by the level of talent. If you haven't checked it out yet, go ye therefore! If you want to join, we want to have you! Email me at storyboarder@gmail.com

Here's this morning's speedpaint, a 30 minute of Mary Blair cinderella (actual one first, natch.)

Speedpaints & a new blog

2012-02-16T08:49:00.001-07:00

This year I've done better with the speedpaint thing.

* * * * *

Every so often I get a hairbrained idea. Usually after these ideas I end up with no cash in my pockets, but fortunately this one is free :)

Since I've started speedpainting (thanks to Sebastien Gallego's digital painting class) they have helped me become better superfast. They're good exercises and I want to share what I've learned & improve with others. It's one of those things like a good dessert, where you want everyone to have a spoonful.

Here's the blog: 30-Minute Speedpaint. If you want to join (and anyone can), take a look then email me: storyboarder@gmail.com.

Cherry Peach Parfait

2012-02-05T10:49:00.004-07:00

For Sarah <3

The Tale of the Turkey Sandwich

2012-01-22T21:46:00.002-07:00

The Story of the Turkey Sandwich.

A TALE OF SADNESS AND WOE!

keh-kaaah!

So a few weeks ago we were under a severely tight deadline at work, which meant I had been skipping a lot of meals to do me some quality time with the wacom. So I was starving pretty much.

I thought maybe I could slip out for a little bit and get some lunch, but I didn't want to get lunch just anywhere.

I wanted to get it at a special downtown cafe.

This cafe is totally fancy.
They have oil paintings hanging on the walls.
They have those fancy tinkly wossnames hanging from the ceiling.
They have those fancy swirly wossnames across the floor. (rugs?)

It's fancy.

Ok, in this drawing it looks ghetto. But trust me...this place is fancy.

Best of all, they have the World's Best Turkey Sandwich. It's seriously amazing. It's so juicy you could eat it with a straw.

Here's that picture again to convince you. (The sandwich is in color in real life.)

You know in that wardrobe movie how the kid eats Turkish delight and then craves it forever? That's this sandwich. I had it once and I'll never go back.

Anyway even though the deadline was pretty tight I managed to slip away...

...and found this...

The line was HUGE!

I was craving that turkey sandwich pretty bad though, so I got in line anyway.

And waited.

And waited...

And waited some more.

An old couple stood in front of me, and as we neared the great plains or so, the guy was like,

"I want the turkey sandwich!"

And his wife was like,

"No, dear. You want the oatmeal salad."

And the guy was like,

"Oh."

A quick rundown of the layout at this place:

It's cafeteria-style, which means you order (1) your sandwich gets toasted (2) and you walk past (3) and (4) if you don't want anything else. But, see, if you want a salad, you go straight to (4), you don't bother with (1) or (2). Got it? This is important to the story so pay attention.

When it was my turn at last, I ordered at (1).

Ok remember the toaster? They put the sandwich in and it comes out toasted, due to witchcraft...Mom told me that's how crock pots work so I would (logically) assume the same thing worked with toasters. The point is, the bread gets toasted and jumbled up inside it and you're not sure exactly who's sandwich it is.

So I'll be darned if the guy stuck around in the sandwich line instead of going to (4)!

And the server guy was like,

"What would you like on your turkey sandwich?"

The old guy was like,

"Uuuuh...."

"Uhhhonions...and uh, bacon, and uh, tomatoes...and mayonnaise..."

I stared in horror as my sandwich was massacred before my eyes.

Mayonnaise! Mayonnaise!! Why??

And given away.

And I was like, NO! STOP! That's my sandwich!! You're supposed to eat the oatmeal salad! That's MY sandwich!!

But I couldn't. I just...stood there.

Here's a shot of me just standing there from the back.

Here's a wide shot of it.

And here's a bird's eye shot of it

...just to show you how traumatizing this was!

And then the old dude just sat there for a moment blinking at the sandwich.

And then he left.

And the server guy was like, "What sandwich did you order?"

And I was like:

See, because I couldn't tell him that he mixed up the order, because that would make him feel bad, and I couldn't take it back from the old guy, because that would make him feel bad, and I couldn't have them take more time to make me another sandwich because that would make everyone who'd waited forever crankier than bees.

So I was just like:

"I'm not hungry!"

...and then I fled.

and then I cried in the bathroom.

...but the bathroom had sofas and a television, so, okay.

I worked for the rest of the deadline on an empty tummy. I don't remember if we made the deadline or not...that's just how traumatizing it all was.

However looking back, I realize I can't feel too sorry for myself. Whenever I think of the old guy, I see this:

It's probably the first real food he's had in years. Hope you loved it, old dude. <3

mery popins colorring

2012-01-16T00:39:00.000-07:00

It's the month anniversary of this blog, which I started in...2006 I think. That's 6 years of horrible artwork. You lucky things.

It's sometimes fun to peruse the blog-finding keywords people have googled. This is a kind of weird blog so it gets kind of weird hits. This year I've gotten a bunch of Disney keyword searches, Delsarte, Barbie, Mary Poppins, variations of monsters & stories, Babes in Toyland, etc. However the most popular keyword (by about 3x anything else) is:

Candyland.

I think most people find the blog through google images and if you type Queen Frostine (the most popular of the candyland searches) she's #6 search result. I'm kind of proud of that.

...of course it helps that both she and Lord Licorice (#2 most popular hit) are absolutely ginormous pngs. Take it you thieving dogs and don't say I never did anything for you.

Here are some of my favorite searches of the year:

"poofy dresses"

"barbie stabs ken"

"human heart pickled"

"hitting someone on the head with the back of your foot"

"if you're a monster and you know it color sheet"
(clap clap)

"scared to open window spiders"

O____O

"can a centipede crawl out of a vacuum"

O_________O

"What is being on drugs like?" "being on drugs like" and "drug exhibition"

Welcome to the blog

"a victorian dance called the entwine real?"

Yes.

"Symbolism of green in A Little Princess"

Dear random googler: I want to be best friends with you

"images of bad paper dolls"

Baaaahahahahahaha!

...hey...wait...

"trunk or treat is stupid", "trunk or treat anti", "morally opposed to trunk or treat"

I like trunk or treat...how are these people finding me??

"why boys are so awesome"

I KNOW RIGHT!

"Heather Dixon, artist, monster"

That's me!

My very favorites though are the ones you can tell kids typed. All time winner:

mery popins colorring

This one's for you, kid.

Speedies

2011-12-31T20:00:00.002-07:00

I've been faaaairly pathetic in the speedpaint arena this year. In fact I think I regressed...let that be a lesson to you all. This is definitely a goal for 2012. Also less Samurai Jack backgrounds. coughcough

* * * * *

Bookishish news: If you haven't heard, you can get this

for this!

It's part of an ebook promotion HarperTeen is doing called "Epic Reads Epic Deals". You can get 9 other glam titles also for only 99¢ each until Jan. 31st, which is a pretty screamin deal. Remember, though: Entwined is the only one there that starts with an E, and has the most love interests getting shoved into closets. Which I think is worth 5 ramen any day! Find ye therefore Kindle Nook

Here is a picture.

Family Christmas Party

2011-12-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

Because it never gets old

2011-12-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Oregon Trail

2011-12-18T23:46:00.006-07:00

This past week I visited Portland.

Portland is a neat place. Everyone there lives entirely on coffee and bagels. This makes them young and thin and beautiful.

I didn't get much sketching done though, since I spent most of the time in the hotel bathroom sicker than a dog.

I don't really want to draw this frame.

That's ok though, because everything I need to know about the Willamette Valley I learned in 3rd grade.

YES BABY

Oregon Trail was a computer game they let us play once we finished up Typing Tutor. They say it was educational, but I highly doubt that, since the game was fun. One thing's for sure: Mrs. Pesout's 3rd grade class had the highest wpm average thanks to that game. You should've seen our fingers fly.

The object of Oregon Trail was to get your wagon and family to Oregon without dying. There were lots of different ways to play it.

Kimberly, for example, would play it safe.

She always chose to be a banker, loaded her wagon with food and tools, went at a steady pace, full rations, and always took the ferry.

She never finished the game before class ended.

I think she got to Kansas once.

Ryan, on the other hand, played it like a harp.

He chose to be a farmer, hunted when he needed to, had moderate rations, went at a strenuous pace, and also knew what "caulking" meant so his wagon never exploded in the water. He toasted everyone with his high scores.

I think he might have married Kimberly, actually. Weird how life goes.

Jordan played the game the same way 85% of the boy population played the game.

Like this:

Jordan was the one who found out that if you hold down the arrow key and the space bar, you become a swirling vortex of bullets.

He may have perfected the technique, though I don't know if anyone will find out. Apparently computer games aren't allowed in prison.

Last of all, there was me.

I got my wpm average up to a whopping 42, because I needed the time to play Oregon Trail in my own special way.

And when I say "special" I mean: I tried to kill all of my wagon members.

You may think that this would be losing the game. But it's not, and you know why? Because if all 5 members of your party died, YOU GOT TO WRITE YOUR OWN TOMBSTONE.

And the best part was, the next person who played Oregon Trail on that computer would find your tombstone with the funny epitaph and he would die laughing! Hahaha! Isn't that great??

So every computer class, there I was, trying to get my family members to die as soon as possible.

This was a WHOLE lot harder than it sounds. For a game that's so darn hard to win, it's harder than heck to lose!

But I had Techniques.

I never took the ferry or caulked the wagon. A good ol' fording always did the trick.

Secondly: grueling pace. Also, bare-bones rations. This knocks them off pretty quickly. Until the do-gooders get in the way.

It's like the game doesn't want you to lose!

So after a while of no food and grueling pace, weird unpronounceable diseases start to pick off your characters. (I was in college before I realized dysentery was not pronounced "dentistry.")

Side note: if you are playing the game this way, don't name your characters after anyone or anything you care about.

It will mess you up inside.

All this and you STILL had to do it within the class period!

Talk about nerve-wracking!

Anyway, if you managed to do all this, kill off all 5 members of your party including you, you got the tombstone honor!! It was a beautiful day when I had died of cholera and the screen asked if I wanted to write my epitaph. I did. Oh yes I did.

I only ever wrote one thing. which I thought was the funniest thing ever.

The lucky kid who played next found this:

My sides are splitting.

It's December

2011-12-12T23:07:00.006-07:00

...Babes in Toyland season.

This week is the movie's 50th anniversary! It was released Dec. 14th, 1961. I realize I'm the only person who cares about this. That will not stop me from watching over and over the World of Color Babes in Toyland Backstage Party that some blessed saint has uploaded onto YouTube. On it you can watch the Forest of No Return trees sing to Walt Disney, see Tommy Sands do a bongo solo, and stare at Barnaby for hours. I know I do!

...Barnaby then does a little dance that makes me kind of dizzy and, oddly, want to kiss things. O_______O You can watch the rest here. Yurr yurr, I know I'm going to be the only one who clicks on that link. I'm posting it anyway. Gotta be me.

For the Toon Club topic, "Favorite Stories"

Princess Paper Dolls

2011-11-21T06:32:00.009-07:00

Kid in candy shop time? Ok!

I love me some big poofy dresses. Here's how to play:

You'll need printable magnet sheets. You can find some at Wal-Mart ($6 for 3 sheets) or an office supply store, or Amazon (5-pack for $8.50 or so).

Cut

Dress her dress her dress her in her do-mi-do duds.

Magnet sheets are nice because you can layer them.

Originally ALL the outfits were going to be black, as per the Entwined story, but that was a whooooole lot of work for just a one-note joke, and I am nothing if not a lazy bum. They're historically accurate though*, so now you can impress your friends with your knowledge of garibaldi blouses. You're welcome.

*insofar as the medium allows. They are cartoons.

Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving! ^_^

Cream of the Crop, Tip of the Top

2011-11-06T19:29:00.001-07:00

In case you haven't heard the news, you can read it here.

Plaza Pavilion is the perfect place for a Mary Poppins bakery! I am so excited <3 <3

Costumez

2011-10-30T20:41:00.001-06:00

Well it's that time of year again. You know, that time of year when you realize that Halloween is actually TOMORROW and you haven't got a costume yet, so you go to the store to look for a costume and what you actually find is a costumez.

You've seen costumez before. You probably just thought the costume store got their shipment mixed up with Victoria's Secret.

Fairiez costumez

Devilz costumez

Hermionez Grangerz costumez

Cheerleaderz costumez (That's not actually a costume!!)

It's, like, all the stores will sell. I'm very much against costumez. And I would love to say it's for some noble moral reason, but it's not. I'm opposed to costumez because I'M ANNOYED!! WHY DO BOYS GET ALL THE AWESOME COSTUMES???!?!?

However I've always believed in expressing my opinions in very peaceful and democratic ways.

So this year, I've put a pretty awesome plan in action that will eliminate costumez altogether!!

It goes something like this:

I discreetly hide somewhere at a costume party.

When no one is paying attention...

I ATTACK!!!!

RAAAAAWR!!!

EEEEEEP!! (girl scream)

scufflescufflescuffle

..in which...

The costumez undergoes FULL TRANSFORMATION!!! (Thanks to my awesome thrift-store shopping skillz.)

Because, see, if girls knew they could actually have, you know, real costumes, then maybe the stores would finally sell wookie suits in our size! We must end the madnesz. Starting with me.

Yes. Yes you can.

Boys love a girl with a brain!

I know it's shocking.

I've even put together a logo for the movement:

I'm not sure it's overt enough i might need to add more blood.

...sorry mom.

Anyways, all I need now is to be invited to some Halloween parties! You too could have a piece of this:

Cinemagraphs

2011-10-20T17:44:00.002-06:00

I've had a couple people ask how I did the current header, so here's a (quick) recipe:

Vintage photo, w/pieces painted over in photoshop, so they won't interrupt the animation.

Which one is creepier? You decide.

I filmed my 17-yr old sister sitting very still & doing Creepy Eyes. Import .mov into after effects.

Animate a mask around the eyes as they blink. (Add a little feather to the edges)

Desaturate, superimpose over the top of the vintage pic.

Render as gif

Ta dumm

Here is an in-depth tutorial. If you don't know after effects, you can do it in just in photoshop, too.

My first attempt, with my older sis & her new baby.

Is it nice to have a lot of sisters? Why yes. Yes it is.

So far these are my first and only tries at cinemagraphs, but the looping & composing was surprising easy (took maybe 90 minutes or so.) I think if I do more of this stuff it would have to be a collaboration, as I'm not a great photographer. But boy it sure was fun.

One day I'll figure out how to make them as gorgeous as this.

I like me MORE Mustache Twirlers!

2011-10-15T07:43:00.001-06:00

Now that it's Halloween season, remember last year's post? Here's the sequel:

7 More Awesome Villains You've Never Even Heard Of!

I really like villains. i don't know why....probably because I'm surrounded by all you namby-pamby goody-two-shoes. Here we go!

1. Barnaby Barnicle

I kind of have a thang for Barnabies. In this 1986 Babes in Toyland (starring a very young Drew Barrymore), he pals around with his buddiez Mack and Zack, stealing cookies and inciting Toyland Terror. But really all he wants is love.

Anything else you need to know is here:

I wish I lived in a bowling ball.

2. Fegan Floop

Fegan Floop from "Spy Kids" takes undercover agents and turns them into fooglies--putty-like creatures of their former selves. But really all he wants to do is write children's shows. I sympathize with this guy. And also love his theme song (written by Danny Elfman).

Here's a cabbage patch kid as a fooglie.

I bet you're so glad you visited the blog today!

3. The Prognoviach, from "Condorman"

Hailing from Eastern Europe, the Prognoviach are highly trained assassins-in-cars. Expect high-speed car chases through winding canyon roads, synchronized driving, and falling over cliffs in a big flaming ball of fire. Each one of these baddies is "a dedicated killer." Definitely not something you want to see in your rear-view mirror.

Unless you have a Condorman car. Then you're ok.

My nephew adores Condorman, so my sister made him the Prognoviach for his birthday. Lucky kid!

Each one of those cakes is a dedicated killer.

4. Clockwork Droids, from Doctor Who

The ominous ticking clues you in: these guys are hiding in your room. And they want pieces of you.

Now go break every clock in your house. You'll feel safer.

5. Lina Lamont

Actually you've probably heard of Lina. She can't sing, she can't dance, she can't act....she does however have a pretty neat voice. It's my secret wish to have a "Talk Like Lina Lamont" Day. It'll be filled with words like, "Dope" and "Darn tootin'!" and "Whatsa matter with my voice??" When I've taken over Canamerica that's the first thing I'm going to do.

6. Vogons

The micro-managing bureaucrats from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Don't try to get any paperwork done with them, and DON'T listen to their poetry. It's almost as bad as mine.

7. Princess Mombi

If Princess Mombi from "Return to Oz" didn't give you nightmares, then her Wheelers did. If the Wheelers didn't...then you're lying. This movie still freaks me out. I'm totally watching it this Halloween.

You can re-enact this scene with Barbie Doll heads. I always did. (Yes, my childhood was awesome)

Kids vs. Kids

2011-10-06T21:54:00.003-06:00

Last week, my aunt related a story to me:

Her 6 month old was sleeping in the swing and her 2-year old was watching Dinosaur Train with a bowl of pretzels and she figured that now was a pretty good time to sneak away and take a 90-second shower.

45 seconds in, and she heard a giant crash.

She ran out to discover this:

(Baby was ok)

Anyway, it got me thinking about kids and babies and stuff.

If you were lucky, after the stork delivered you, you opened your eyes to a scene like this:

If you were luckier, however--and I was!--your very first vista was this:

You were a younger sibling!

This makes growing up an adventure, because kids that age only sort their life interactions into two categories:

Toys and Not Toys.

And babies make the BEST toys! They make noises and move and stuff. They're better than matches!

Like a baby chic punching a hole through its shell, this kind of stuff makes babies stronger. If a younger-sibling baby lives past the first 3 months of it's life, that's a pretty good sign it'll live to puberty.

I myself have made a noble contribution to this theory. When I was 3 or 4, I remember my mom's friend had come to visit with her newborn. I think the novelty of my two younger siblings had worn off, so I was super excited to hold the thing. I washed my hands and sat in a big chair and was pretty much ready for some great baby bonding time.

After 3 minutes or so, the novelty wore off.

I wanted to stop holding her, but interrupting the grown-ups did not seem like a good idea.

So I came up with this really awesome idea!*

I'd been to the park earlier that week and remembered the slide and thought it would be a lot of fun if I could make myself a human slide! I would put my legs at an incline and point my toes and it would be so much FUN!

*it didn't occur to me to just set the baby down. Common sense was never my forte.

Here's how it happened in my head:

Wee!

Um. Here's how it happened in real life:

The grown-ups weren't real happy about that.

But it DID prove me right! This stuff makes babies stronger. And the baby? She grew up just fine.

I think. I mean, she did ask me to be her friend on facebook, so...she's mentally sound I think. Or is she??

Anyway, the moral of this story is: Kids, let the world be your playground. It makes you stronger.

...Which is exactly what I told my aunt.

(I don't think she appreciated it)

I've always wanted to do this

2011-09-25T20:01:00.000-06:00

...it certainly can't make elevator silences more awkward than they already are.

Delsarte prt 3!

2011-09-21T23:46:00.002-06:00

Time for round 3? Ok!

Part 1 and Part 2 are here.

In the book, Delsarte studies colors from stained glass windows, colors from India & Biblical tradition, and even Aztec painting, and splits the 3 primary colors into head/heart/body.

Heart is a cinch. Red. I never would have considered blue powerful or yellow enlightening, but it is surprising to see how it all fits. Some iconic pics:

Yellow was especially surprising to me, since it doesn't strike me as a smart color. But light bulbs pop up over a character's head when they get an idea and kings wear yellow crowns, so it makes sense.

The secondary colors are a mix of these. Purple is considered an immature color--is it because there's no head color in it? Brown is considered down-to-earth, which is just a dark version of orange. I don't know as much as I wish I knew about color, but our perceptions of it seem to match Delsarte's. (Color though is so wibbly-wobbly...desaturated blue can mean something completely different than a zingy blue.)

WHITE and BLACK are iconic of course. White is pure and inspirational, whereas black symbolizes darkness and evil. Thank you Mr. Phantom :)

I will never get tired of this picture

Ok! Practical application time! Keeping Delsarte poses & gestures & colors in mind, take a look at these Disney princesses below and see if you can peg which one is:
1) The most romantic
2) The most powerful
3) The most willful
4) The hardest to relate to

You have 5 seconds.

****

Got your guesses? Ok!

Most romantic goes to:

Briar Rose! Check out the huge contrast in her heart zone. Not only that, but her hair flows to the heart zone, her dress's hem and sleeves flow to the heart part of her body zone, and one hand is in the heart zone (& her feet are in heart position, I believe.) Totally romantic...which completely matches her character too.

Most powerful:

Pocahontas. She is in complete body stance--splayed gesture, her hair flows past her heart zone to the body zone, and her hem ends in the body zone too. (She also has a shoulderband you can't see in the body zone that adds more contrast.) I think the yellow dress and necklace offsets this a little, but she is definitely a vital.

Most willful:

Rapunzel. Convex gesture (very willful) hand on hip (sensual) (Delsarte thought a gesture like this was "vulgar") Purple, which has no head color in it. (She does have her feet on a head position, which gives her a sassier tone.)

Hardest to relate to:

Mulan, because her armor is masking her form. So, in Delsarte world she is less readable and relatable.

Which segues into the last Delsarte design stuff this will cover. Which is: the more the form of the character is shown, the more sympathetic, vulnerable, and relatable they will be.

Han Solo has some wicked good Delsarte design. Lots of contrast in his heart zone, and because you can see his form, you can read and empathize with him pretty easily.

At the other end of the scale, this picture of Lady Gaga. She's masked her face, form, and head, and so the audience is distanced emotionally from her.

Like a mask, the character's clothes & shape can alienate the audience from the character. With the Delsarte theory it makes sense why big poofy dresses are considered so romantic--because they distance the person from the body/power zone and focus on the form in the heart zone.

And it makes sense now why melodramatic villains had capes--it covered their form and distanced them from the audience (and if he's wearing black, you know he's super bad)

*****

So that's Delsarte in a cup. Lots to take in and a lot of it is speculation. It seems like Delsarte went out of fashion because the system was being used as shortcuts, instead of actual figuring out the character. At any rate, I do think it's good for the animation/design person to know, because more information is always better than less.*

To end on a happy note, here's an excerpt from the book.

You brought me this wreath? How it smells of the woods!

More gesture funs (Delsarte prt 2)

2011-09-17T18:01:00.001-06:00

Time for round two! You lucky kids.

So the last blog post had the body split up the Delsarte way. Head, heart, & body (or, as a commenter before had mentioned, mental, moral, & vital.) Head, torso, limbs--each with three more splits of the same. And, in those sections, there are even more divisions!

The eyes, for example, are split: head in pupil, iris is heart, and white is body.

(There are also divisions for the nose, mouth, around the eyes, etc...it's a crash course so we can't get in to all of that. But you can always read the google book.)

Hands (the head part of the body section) also have three parts: palm = body, back = heart, side = head.

So, it makes sense why holding the back of your hand to your forehead = romantic faint (heart to head) vs. palm of hand to head (more logical--do you have a fever?)

The power & movement behind the head/heart/body divisions also had those three parts. The more powerful and convex is body, the least powerful, more head = concave, and the happy middle is the heart.

Delsarte took all these movements & pieces and created exercises and gestures that symbolized the characters' emotions & desires.

Here's a (rough) Delsarte gesture lineup:

1) Romeo, with a convex gesture, legs splayed, left hand in body area, comes off as mostly passionate and sensual. It's softened by his hat & feather, giving interest in the heart & head zone, as well as his right hand (giving him a more soliloquy feel.)

2) 2 is strongly romantic, with both hands in the heart zone, and the hair ending in the heart zone as well. Her arms are bent in more of a head way (Arms out = body, arms square = heart, and arms acute = head) which tempers the romantic with concave shyness (concave, head).

3) This guy is a mix of all three parts. His legs are in a head position, left hand in the head zone, but with one hand in the heart zone and both arms in heart gesture. The belt or whatever that is adds contrast in the body zone, giving him a bit of a physical/sensuality

4) GOLLUM

^^ These examples are really terrible. You're welcome.

Ok so below we have our good friend the 1925 phantom, and then a Charlie Chaplin film.

The tone of these two pictures are strikingly different. Beyond the phantom trying to get Christine to Do It His Way & Charlie is giving the girl something, you can figure out why the emotions are so different using Delsarte.

The logic part of the Phantom, with dark rings around his eyes, makes him look eccentric. His gesture is splayed, which is very physical and forceful, and his hands are in the heart zone (almost in the head zone) making him look forceful, in love & complete fruit loops. Staging and values help that out, where he's a dark figure towering over poor will-less, frightened (eyes and splayed fingers) & very romantic-feeling (both hands in heart zone) Christine.

Both of these characters are on equal standing--heart and head. Both of them are in concave, less willful gestures. Charlie has one hand in head, one hand in heart. The girl's cupped hand = less force, hand in heart zone, a concave gesture of kneeling (a 90 degree heart gesture, leaning towards head). Her left hand is in the body zone, but with the back out. So the picture has a very romantically sweet feel to it.

Next time: Colors and applications!

Delsarte Crash Course, prt 1

2011-09-09T20:06:00.001-06:00

This is interesting.

When I was a pipsqueak in college, I took a costume design class where we studied Francois Delsarte's systems of expression. Francois Delsarte was a Parisian who lived from 1811-1871, and believed that emotions and feelings could be symbolically expressed through visual means.

For example:

These are just a few Delsarte poses.

The idea caught on like a man on fire, and was hugely popular in America. Theaters, movies, even kids' classes (complete with kids' books of exercises) learned Delsartism.

Delsarte poses from "Phantom of the Opera" (1925).

Why do I love this picture so much??

A pretty good summation, I think, you can find starting at :13, from "The Court Jester".

So, a pretty stylized way of communicating emotions. As popular as it was though, it fell hugely out of fashion (along with it's buddy, melodrama) in favor of more realistic ways to tell a story. I think it's still ingrained in western culture, however, and is used in more symbolic, stylized storytelling like animation and musicals & other children's media. So, I'm pulling together a 3-post series on the system in hopes that people will find it as interesting as I do.

If not, here are a bunch of crummy drawings for you to enjoy anyway. Hahaha.

In the Delsarte system, the body was split into 3 parts:

Head: These areas symbolize logic and reason. Delsarte refers to it as "Mental".
Heart: Emotion and feeling. Also known as "Moral."
Body: Physical & passion. Also known as "Vital."

Ok, that makes sense so far. Head = logic, torso = emotions/heart, and limbs = action & physical. Each of these segments also have 3 segments of head, heart, and body.

With limbs, the hands and feet = the more logical parts. Hands make gestures to show what we're thinking, feet tap when we're impatient, etc. Forearms and calves, the more emotional, cradling babies, embracing, that sort of thing. The upper arms & legs are the vital, and the more in action they are, the more passionate the pose.

(The elbow, btw, is known as "The Soul of the Arm". In case you wanted to know.)

The torso is split like this:

Shoulders as logic, chest as moral/emotional, and stomach & below as vital.

The head is split the same, the eyes and above as the logic, the cheeks & nose as emotional, and the lips and chin as the action & vital.

I know it sounds like complete crackerjax. In a weird way, though, it also makes sense. Kissing someone on the forehead has a very different feel than kissing them on the cheek (more affectionate) and kissing on the lips (more sensual.)

By this breakdown, it also makes sense why people think blondes are dumb--they have very little contrast in the head zone. People with light skin and dark hair, on the other hand, seem much smarter & more interesting. Similarly with glasses, we don't assume people are smart because they're straining their eyes from reading--it's because glasses add contrast & shape in the logic area!

Crazy!

Anyways, if you can't wait for the next two installments, read the Delsarte System of Expression, a book published in 1885 and now on the internet. If you like small words, though, wait around for the next post & I will try to do justice to this fascinating stuff.

Never Lullaby

2011-08-29T21:54:00.001-06:00

I wouldn’t hope you never knew

How heartstrings loop & knit

The cradle form within my arms

You’ll not not always fit

I have a heart hole in my soul

Your whole heart fills just right

A dim dull darkened part of me

You’ll not not always light

And when you’re not not far away

(as children don’t not grow)

Recall that jigsaw piece of warmth

You’ll not not

always

know

* * * * *

Just a bit of nonsense. I like kids, but I can never finish a whole one.

Harry Potter dream

2011-08-17T23:23:00.004-06:00

Last night I had the coolest dream ever. It had Harry Potter in it.

I haven't had a Harry Potter dream in like 3 years. The last one was awesome. It went like this:

I was working an early morning custodial shift when Harry and his gang came running in. They were being chased by Death Eaters!

I hurried them quick fast like a bunny into the freight elevator, closed the doors and saved their lives! Death Eaters have no idea how to work freight elevators!*

*or, um, how to use the stairs, apparently.

Hahaha. That was a pretty good dream.

The one I had last night, though, beats it by a mile!

It started like this: The school headmaster decided to buy an air freshener for his car.

This was good news for his car but bad news for Harry and his gang.

Harry was like, "But wait Professor!! What will we do if the school is attacked??"

And Dumbledore was like, "Oh I'm sure you'll be fine! TAH TAH!"

...but they WEREN'T FINE.

DUN DUUUUUUUUUN!!!!

Just like Harry had predicted, the school got attacked! It got attacked by giant alien ships!

They beamed down a horrible little creature. It looked like this.

It's a spider. But instead of having a head, it has a needle. The two scariest things in the world combined.

They immediately started taking over the school.

They, um, weren't very aggressive though. They were mostly just underfoot. So, like, the dumb students? Yeah, they were the first to go.

Harry and his gang had to save the school!!

Harry had this awesome idea:

For the next few minutes of my dream, I was entertained by a very energetic Mexican kicking dance.

I have no idea why they aren't using their wands.

Anyways, that worked pretty well until they realized that the creatures were breeding, and had a gestation period of about two minutes.

I think they gave up at this point.

It must have turned out ok though, because my dream had a weird jump in it and it ended with them going to Shopko and picking out an air freshener for their car. It took them like 10 hours to find just the right one, so obviously it was a pretty important plot point.

THE END

Awesome. Am I right? I'm pretty sure when this post goes live I'm going to get a phone call from JK Rowling wanting to buy the rights. What should I charge? $20 maybe? I did spend a long time dreaming it up. You may have noticed that I left out the most important part: Which air freshener did they end up buying?

If you want to know that...you'll have to read the book!

SO...you think you know Disneyland!

2011-08-12T22:14:00.001-06:00

After Comic-Con, I went to Disneyland.

In one picture, it was like this:

Disneyland, I love you.

SO! If you remember the quiz from last year...here is more! Where in Disneyland are these pictures?

Good luck!!

10)

11)

12)

13)

14)

15)

16)

17)

18)

19)

20)

21)

22)

23)

24)

25)

26)

27)

28)

29)

30)

Shark Week

2011-08-06T23:26:00.001-06:00

This past week was shark week. A lot of people wrote sharky blog posts.

But no one posted about the real threat:

The Bearsharktopus.

Unlike sharks, if it doesn't catch you in water...it will find you on land.

You can't outrun it.

You can't outswim it.

There is no place to hide.

Unless you're on an airplane. Airplanes are safe.

...UNTIL THE BEARSHARKTOPUSODACTYLS FIND YOU!!!!!

Comic-Con goodness

2011-08-01T22:08:00.001-06:00

Comic-Con was pretty neat, again. Here is a picture. Ah!

Didn't get a chance to go this year? That's all right! You can experience Comic-Con right there in your own home! Here's how:

1. Dress up in an awesome costume

2. Fit yourself into the microwave

3. Get 100 of your friends to fit themselves into the microwave too

4. Hire a person in a white polo shirt to yell at you for being in one place too long

WALAH!! Man I so cannot wait for next year!!

The costumes were neat. So here is another guessing game! You don't win anything, but you will get a warm glow for being awesome.

4)3)

10)

12)

14)

16)

18)

The best part though was the people I got to meet.

No, not the Pope (although that was cool)

These guys:

Don't tell me you can't see them.

Here's a closer shot:

!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome!!

Stuff I Like

2011-07-20T07:38:00.004-06:00

Babies that wear big flowers on their heads.

Those cheap $1.25 pizzas you get from the frozen food section at the store.I could eat them all day!

Telling stories to my neices and nephews. <3

"A giant spider lives under your house. If you make too much noise, it will wake up."

The Tours Departing Daily blog. If you like Disneyland--and I do!--you will love this blog.

I might have kissed the screen. A lot.

Telling more stories to my nieces and nephews. <3

"When you turn 8, your parents are going to eat you."

Shopping with my mom :)

Indiscreetly taking cool Comic-Con pictures like the creepy stalker I am!
I leave this morning! I can't wait!!

Obscure Movie Monday

2011-07-06T17:47:00.011-06:00

It's time for Obscure Movie Monday.

Obscure Movie Monday is an internet meme I just made up. It's where I talk about obscure movies. Today's obscure movie is:

SNOW WHITE AND THE THREE STOOGES
(1961)

Yes it really is a real movie and it's great. Snow White is played by the Olympic gold medalist, Carol Heiss.
In the opening sequence, she's presented with a swan sleigh full of presents.

A swan. sleigh. full. of PRESENTS!!!

"Oh! They're all so beautiful! Which one should I open first?"

Little Me:

"I wish I had all dose pwesents."

Later on, she gets thrown into the dungeon with only stale bread and dirty water to eat.
This was the saddest thing I ever saw as a kid. The image burned itself into my brain and still makes me a little melancholy.
Lucky for us though, we get cheered up when we meet Prince Charming! Who just happens to be...

A VENTROLIQUIST!!!

(Told you this movie was awesome.)

He has a dummy voiced by, I think, Mel Blanc. He has his own song in fact.

♫♪♫"I'm in love, I'm in love, that's whyyyyyy!"♫♪♫

"I wish I had dat puppet."

The movie also features:

A bizarre-yet-fascinating dream sequence where they ice skate on a pool of water (it really is neat)A minstrel wagon careening off the side of a cliff!
A dude getting boiled alive in a vat of oil!!
...IN SLOW MOTION!!In case I haven't convinced you yet...here's a clip of the trailer. It will make you want to watch the movie. If it doesn't, you probably drink baby panda bear blood for breakfast or something.

Oh...that reminds me. The Three Stooges are in this too. I don't really remember much about them. (No princess. Ergo, I was gone at those parts.)
I managed to get a screenshot though. (This screenshot, it is real):

^^And if THAT doesn't make you love this movie already...YOU HAVE NO SOUL

"I wish I had all dose cweam pies."

Sailhead

2011-06-18T16:46:00.012-06:00

A project I've been toying with.
I wanted to try something new w/the sponge & pastel brushes, then slowly erasing to the higlights. I scrapped it mid-paint due to ugliness.

PINK RESURRECTION!!!!Acrylic bristle brush. The hair might be a bit...wormy but overall I like it. One day I will do hair like Kevin Keele! That's the stuff dreams are made out of.

Window stories

2011-06-06T10:04:00.007-06:00

Fw-ii-ii-iiip.

And then, this:

Fw-ii-ii-iiip.And then...

Fw-ii-ii-iiip.

I've noticed these Things are getting progressively larger.
I'm kind of scared to open them again.

SPEAKING of windows!
Remember my Gibson Girl kitchen? Well I made curtains!

I'm very proud of them. In fact I am so proud, I think I might quit this whole artist thing and make pelmets for a living!
That's all tentative, of course. I still have to figure out how to keep them up. (They keep falling down. Velcro I guess isn't doing the job.) Maybe I should try tape...which is pretty much all they're made out of. You don't want to see the other side of that valance. In fact it's probably good I don't open my blinds anymore. :)

speedpaints schmeedpaints

2011-06-02T20:19:00.005-06:00

Some 15-30 min speedpaints. I think most of them are backgrounds from Samurai Jack, but there's a Grinch and Mr. Magoo in there too.

They are all flat and kind of chalky. I like flat and chalky, but lately I've felt like a bum because I'm not pushing myself. I'll work on fleshier stuff now.

The Dance of...Love...

2011-05-23T14:07:00.013-06:00

Many people don't know this, but I'm silver certified in both Latin & Standard dance.

I'm not real good at it, though. This is, possibly, because I was born with a peg leg.
I don't really want to talk about it.

Anyway, because of this pairing up in dance class was hard. I told myself it was because the guys were shallow, but looking back, I realize it was probably because of Charlie.
Actually I'm pretty sure it was because of Charlie.

HOWEVER this did not stop me from entering a rumba contest! The rumba is known as the dance of love. I don't know why. It hurts like Hades to do.
However I'm always up for a challenge and I feel it a crime to hide the world from my bota fogos!

Also, it was assigned.

The teacher lined us up in rows, girls on one side, and boys on the other, gave us numbers, and randomly matched us.When they got to the best dancer in the class, MY NAME WAS CALLED!! He went like this:
Of course when I saw that, I went like this:So both of us were like this:We got an hour of classtime to practice. It went real well.Oh yes. He was one of those dancers.
That hour was like slitting my wrists and doing pushups in the Great Salt Lake. I had had enough. I didn't care if I flunked the class. I was outta there.However I have a lot of stamina and determination and felt I should continue on!

The next few days, I was on FIRE.
I got new dancing shoes. I practiced in front of the mirror.I went to a dance lab with my partner and practiced for HOURS and lost my favorite earring (and no, he didn't tell me I was New Yorkering around with only one earring in.)

When I found the earring, it had been squashed flat and looked like this:And no I am not still bitter about this!

Competition night came as I finished my custodial shift. I rushed to the ballroom to discover it PACKED. There were about 300 couples there.*
*ballroom dance is like a religion at BYU.

AWESOME. THE PRIZE WAS GONNA BE HUGE!!!
Throughout every heat, I was a dancing queen! My hip action was impeccable! My rhythm was beyond reproach!
I even pretended to like my partner!*
*this was hard

So when the winners were announced on the projector--
Yes, it was true. We had won 4th place.

(!!!!)

They lined up the winners
And gave us our prizes.They were...

candybars.I picked out my bar and stared at it.

It seemed to get bigger.
And bigger...And then the world turned red.RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!
RAAAARGH!!!RAAAAAARGH!!!
RAAAWWRRAAAAWRAAAAWRRR!!!
Well.

Ok.

That might have been...a little different than...what...actually happened.

What actually happened:
And then I walked home in the rain.
You may think that this has been a Very Sad Story with a Very Sad Ending. However, you would BE WRONG.

This story has a very HAPPY ending:
My partner and I avoided each other like the plague after that. I never had to dance with him again!

And I got an A in the class.

And the reese's wasn't bad I guess.

So all in all, not bad for a girl with a peg leg.

Holiday Diptych

2011-05-15T20:58:00.007-06:00

To kind of go along with the Butterfly Diptych :)

It was my birthday this weekend, and my friends gave me a Mary Poppins party (!) We had lunch w/a spoonful of sugar, explored the countryside, flew kites, and fed the birds.

Me feeding the birds

Oh come on, it's right there. You can't miss it!

They also gave me tuppence. Tuppence! They are REAL!!
I am a lucky girl :) :)

"Labyrinth" is probably what being on drugs is like

2011-05-01T19:50:00.013-06:00

And don't you try to deny it.
I have no idea why I did a picture of this, other than it's a total iconic 80s cult film. It was fun as heck to draw. Apparently the girl got to keep the dress after the show! I looked it up. In the dictionary. There's a picture of her under the word "lucky".

Another neat thing: the ballroom is shaped like a ball. (!) A small one. So she's...just sort of...wandering around in circles.

I spent like 8 hours figuring this out

She just goes round and around!
Round and around and around!
I realize that not everyone can stay up til 3 in the morning to figure out the sequence staging of obscure Jim Henson films but as you may have noticed I am a very special sort of person and so it is with a great sense of responsibility that I step into this role.

Want more of that Goblin King goodness? Every year in LA there's a Jareth's masked ball. Fear him...love him...do as he says, and he will be something something. I can never remember that line.

Trailer final

2011-04-29T11:49:00.000-06:00

It usually takes me about 3 complete redo's of a project before I'm pointed in the right direction.

Here's a sampling of the early draft:

Ok, 13 seconds is pleeeenty.

Final draft of the trailer ended up more like this:

And here's the final!

Lots of thanks to pass around--Alex Bell, who helped me with the AfterEffects stuff, rendering and the 3D butterfly (I owe you man), Matt Gates, who composed the beautiful and haunting music, and for the images: Etsy, istockphoto, and especially The Graphics Fairy. Also, thanks to Greenwillow, who gave me the opportunity.

For teh Coloring Win!

2011-04-25T11:57:00.000-06:00

And now...the coloring post!

This post is hard for me to post. I thought ALL the entries were incredible (one had an entire castle panorama and another even had a giant stained-glass window in the background (Egads!!)) and I wanted everyone to win, so it hurts to say that only some people get stuff. BUT then I realized that everyone who entered is a winner, because they received the pure joy of coloring the picture! Your crayons may be smaller, but your hearts are full of love. Yes. You are ALL winners!*

*Except you don't get stuff**
**aaaargh aaargh I'm such a jerk!

Alex Bell, the judge, said it was tricky to decide. He decided mostly on color schemes, so this is Coloring Contest: Hardcore. Alex is a crazy good artist, and has done Artist's Alley at Comic-Con. Here is his blog. Go stalk him!

I promised I would post the coloring contest winnahs yesterday, but it occurred to me I'd better ask the peeps if it was ok to post these. They all said yes and here they are!

Elisabeth Clyde won in the 0-11 yr category

The 0-19 category had a tie!

Josie Phillips

and Keisha Okafor

Kimberly Kay won an honorable mention in this category ^^ (honorable mentions get a beaded bookmark...luckeeeeee)

20+ category winner was Kevin Nordstrom

And honorable mention goes to Julie Graham

Everyone, thank you so much for entering! I was thrilled with the response. You are all EPIC!

Living Downtown

2011-04-20T11:44:00.006-06:00

I don't know what it is, but I've never seen bigger bugs than I have since I've moved downtown. They're not just big...they're LIKE NIGHTMARES FROM THE MESOZOIC ERA!!

I had a centipede invade my house last week! I've never seen a centipede before! THEY'RE HIDEOUS!!!!!!!!

!!!! !!! !!!!

Boy, I Raided that sucker. I Raided it good.

And then I sprayed it from this angle.

And then I sprayed it from this angle.

And then I sprayed it from this angle!!

Here's a top view of me spraying it.

And then I vacuumed it up!

And then I took out the vacuum bag and stomped on it!

And then I set the vacuum bag on fire!!

And then I stuffed the bag down the garbage disposal.
HA! That'll show it.

But just to be safe, I sprayed the entire apartment, including the walls and down the drains and stuff.

The rest of the night I had a weird cough and the world looked like this:

But I still couldn't sleep, because I kept imagining centipedes crawling everywhere.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!

I ended up spending the rest of the night like this.
The shadows were jumping.

I was pretty sure I had the bug isssssue taken care of.

Until this morning.

SLAM!
WHERE DID IT COME FROM????

FFOOOOOSH!! FWOOSH!! WHIIIIIIIIRRRRRR!!!
Etc.

I decided it came back probably because I hadn't sprayed everything well enough. So this time I really sprayed the place!
cough cough

Ok. Well so far I haven't seen any more bugs. But, really...I've got to figure out a permanent solution here. Either I A) Need to find a bug spray that works better, or B) Get me a husband already so he can smash all the bugs. Aaargh! I hate marrying for the wrong reason!

Although, I dunno...
I kinda like how I feel right now.

Trailer pics

2011-04-15T11:06:00.006-06:00

A bit of a com-post today. When books are released, part of the promotion is a book trailer. A book trailer is like a movie trailer except completely different.

Because I like makin stuff, I was really happy when Greenwillow was willing to give me the reins. I had some vague idea to do an animatic, but it ended up being crummy and I'm not ashamed to say it. So, I was glad when they let me scrap the entire thing and make something that I felt was way more appealing. Phew.

Here are some boardy frames from the original. It was a good project, I'm glad I could do it.

Fun runs

2011-04-11T14:30:00.004-06:00

My aunt is in charge of the elementary school's Fun Run, and asked me to do a shirt design for them. For me, running requires...motivation, so I made this:

About 3/4ths of the way through I woke up and thought: What am I DRAWING??

So I did a new PTA-acceptable design.

I like 'em both.

ALSO: in response to folks asking if there were more boy-centric coloring pages for the contest (which ends in just 11 days!), here's one:

And yes, I'm serious, it really does count towards the coloring contest. Why does everyone always think I'm joking??

Conference tasty

2011-04-02T21:24:00.002-06:00

This blog could use a little love. If I were a better artist I could probably give it some. Whatever. New header!

I think Bert might be my soul mate. Bert likes to draw...I like to draw...Bert loves to laugh...I love to laugh...Bert likes to dance like a penguin...I like to watch him dance like a penguin...

swoon

AND--many thanks to you all who are entering the coloring contest! I can't respond to everyone but I'm getting them and am delighted with them all. Yowza ^_^ So many talented people.

Coloring contest!

2011-03-29T01:39:00.004-06:00

I don't much talk about my story work, but today is a little different because it's the release day of "Entwined," a young adult retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I started it over 5 years ago and it's neat to see it finally come to a head. I definitely owe a great thank-you to the generous help from a talented editor, and agent, and so many more. When I can sort my brain out I'll post a better, more reflective entry later this week.

But today: FUN!

Check it out--

Jacket by Lara Jade and the talented Greenwillow team. Talk about glam!

I know you want a piece of this sweet girly action.

I KNOW RIGHT! This glamtastic book could be YOURS!! Here's how to play:

1) Pick one of the pictures below to print.

2) Color it. Any medium is game, including digital.

3) Scan in and send to my email address, storyboarder@gmail.com. Don't forget your name and age and stuff.

DEADLINE: You have until Friday, April 22nd. The pictures will be judged by a real live artist! (not me) and winners will be announced on Easter, April 24th.

These coloring pages feature characters from the novel. You might not be able to tell but they like to dance.

Some additional stuffs:

-The contest will be split into 3 age divisions: ages 0-11, 12-19, and 20+.

-Only one entry per person. Luckily, since it's on the computer, if you botch it you can just print out another one.

-Changes like adding a background & tweaking the linework is a-ok.

-Contest is open to anyone, including international peeps.

You can leave any questions in the comments section too. Thanks guys!

Additional note: I have no idea if anyone will actually enter this contest...it is, after all, kind of untraditional. However if you're looking for normal I don't know why you're on this blog.

A little Bo Welch & Tom Duffield love

2011-03-23T21:34:00.009-06:00

Here is another self-indulgent post with lots of pictures. But since this is my blog and I can post whatever I want, I will post whatever I want. And today I will post about the 1995 movie A Little Princess!

This movie is pretty stupendous. Lots of symbols and parallels and great story meat stuff. It's an incredible reference for staging and production design. I know you can't condense an entire color script into one blog post, but what the heck. :D

The opening scene with the two main colors of the movie: Green and orange.

Green and orange again.

Orange around Maya as she explains about the "magic".

Bright, saturated oranges and yellows again, when Sarah asks her father about the magic.

Contrast with later, when Sarah finds out her father is dead. Dark, unsaturated. The doll, like the color orange, is a symbol of the magic.

What a tasty, beautiful scene. (had to include these stills just for color love.)

"For the princess".

Bright yellow against the desaturated greens.

Sarah shares the magic (symbolized in the rose)

The magic is also symbolized in the orange of Laki, Mr. Randolph's Indian servant.

Magic against the greens. Green is everywhere in this movie. It's beautiful!

Laki's magic influencing Sarah's father, who finally remembers.

The scene with the most orange, and the most magic.
Sarah leaves some magic with the girls.

So beautiful.

Had to include this last still. You know it's a good movie when the baddie gets exactly what she deserves. ♥

Something I've always wanted to do

2011-03-21T06:09:00.001-06:00

Step in Time

2011-03-16T12:28:00.005-06:00

Okee. The blog is back up for human consumption. Went through a bit of rockiness, so I'm really, really glad I could have the time to pull back and ~~be neurotic~~ reflect in isolation.

Here is a picture: ☺♫♪♥♥ Bert ☼ ♥☺☼♫

Also: take a close look at this clip:

Apparently Walt Disney was a chimney sweep in the "link your elbows" part! ...or so they say. I can't spot him. Can anyone guess?

My new friend

2011-02-22T07:58:00.005-07:00

I've never been much of an animal person.

Animals somehow sense this and they are extra affectionate around me. I think they do it on purpose.

Anyway. At my new place, there's a sign taped to the door. It says:

Which is a problem, because "the cat" waits for hours outside the door.

(I didn't know this when I first moved in to this place. Hence, when I left for the day):

Luckily my reflexes are lightening fast!

When I turned to look back, this is what I saw:

I think we're going to be friends. Good ones.

Bosco's Day Care

2011-02-17T09:42:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I drove past this:

All I can think is: those lucky kids!! I never got to play with broken glass when I was little :'(

Bread and Butterflies

2011-02-09T20:58:00.002-07:00

This post is brought to you today by: the vector scatter brush!

My new dig

2011-02-03T21:49:00.006-07:00

This past month I moved to a new place. My family helped so it only took like 2 minutes. They are great.

I drove a huge 17' truck and only crashed it once!

Go me.

I didn't take a picture of the place I'm staying, but imagine a sideways brick with windows. That's the house!
The whole thing was built in 1905. That was like 20 years before the pioneers came. I think it's haunted (!!!) Here's a picture of the studio:

Every morning I roll off the futon, work on stuff all day, then roll back into bed. It is the perfect schedule for a starving artist and I'M ABOUT TO GO MAAAAAAAAAAD

The kitchen is my favorite. I'm going to decorate it like the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor. I really want a giant jade elephant for it.

My budget is about $10.

Best part of the new place? A pipe runs through the kitchen cupboards and it keeps all my dishes warm. Sometimes I just take 'em out and have a snuggle.

Awesome \O/

Art trades

2011-01-31T18:54:00.002-07:00

I have a friend who makes very pretty jewelry.

A couple of months ago we did a trade--a banner for some jewelry. I think I totally won in this.

Here is her etsy shop!

We tried to find the word that described this style, but I only just discovered it last week: decoupage.

An incredible resource is right here! http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/ Internet, I love you.

Many thanks

2011-01-30T21:08:00.005-07:00

Thanks everyone for your kind words :) I had no idea so many people liked the blog #^_^#

There are some complications in going private--blogger puts a limit on how many readers you can have, which I didn't expect. But for now, I think this will be all right :)

Time for a Barbie coloring page? Ok!

Until the wind changes...

2011-01-23T06:29:00.006-07:00

So...

Lately I've been getting some new blog traffic. Which isn't bad, but I'm notoriously shy and I've noticed I'm getting lot more nervous about what I post. Since I gotta be me, I'm making this blog private until I can figure out whether to delete it or not.

Yes Mom, of course you are invited. And so are all friends and family (all three of you.)

If you're an artist and your eyes haven't been burned out yet...you deserve a medal. But you're invited too. :)

The Little Princess Who Wouldn't Stay In Bed

2011-01-07T21:22:00.001-07:00

Once upon a time there was a princess who wouldn't stay in bed. She was always sneaking out for like, more drinks of water and stuff.
Unfortunately there was a monster that lived in her closet and preyed on little girls who got out of bed.
*sluuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrp*

THE END

(I told this story to my 6-yr old cousin last night, and this was her when I was done:)
And now I feel like a jerk. A big jerk. On the other hand, she did stay in bed all night...

Filters

2010-12-28T23:03:00.001-07:00

What is really there:

What I see:

Does anyone else do this?? Am I too isolated?? Does anyone want any pizza coupons????

Merry Christmas and Mary Poppins!

2010-12-25T18:23:00.001-07:00

Here is a page to color.

I hope everyone has a jolly holiday!

**edit**

Already here is a link to a coloring by Sarah Reck, and a LordAlphie deviantart coloring. Cheers!

Ice rink

2010-12-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

There's an outdoor ice skating rink near where I live, with a big Christmas tree that everyone skates around. It's really pretty and inspired me to do a quickie.

It's free and skate rental is only a buck I think.

We took our young women's group there this past week. I'm always apprehensive about doing stuff like this, because -no fail- whenever I'm in a big group that does skating or dodgeball or sledding, someone always gets hurt. This is because I'm curséd. I warned them as we put on ice skates, but no one listened.

Sure enough, fifteen minutes in...

Broken wrist*. The girl says I can sign her cast though, so all's well that ends well.

*I did warn them

"Tangled" shameless fan art

2010-12-03T12:36:00.001-07:00

I saw Disney's "Tangled" on Thanksgiving.

I started crying about two minutes in...

...and stopped about a couple of days ago. Though it still makes me tear up. AMAZING movies do that to me :)

I also bought this:

It's a really great Art-of book, and I recommend it for sure! I love these books and going through them I find so many talented artists. People like Claire Keane, Jin Kim, Lorelay Bove, Lauren Airrie s, Victoria Ying, Shiyoon Kim, along with Lissa Treiman & Scott Watanabe, and a whole bunch others whose blogs I couldn't find. I'm much too shy to comment on any of their blogs, but I did meet Scott Watanabe at Comic-Con! (He was so great and friendly! I was a big dork!) And of course, Dan Haring, who is a talented writer as well as an artist, must be mentioned here too :)

If you haven't seen it yet, you totally should! It made me bawl.

More Candyland Funs!

2010-11-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking of changing my little profile pic (see your upper left.) I've had it for the past few years and like it, but lately it's been looking so kind of yellow to me. So I made this.

Tiny I guess would look like this:

I dunno, guys. I'm not sure I like it. The problem with Mary Poppins is that it has to be practically perfect in every way...O_O Maybe I'll give it a few days.

Ok! Now time for the real stuff!

I went to the store and WHO KNEW?? Candyland has a NEW design!!

I was pretty excited and bought it even though I already have the game. It is candyland, after all. Check it out! (And yes, I know I'm the only person in the world who cares about this.)

Princess Lolly:

She's so kind of like a fairy! (Sorry about the picture quality, btw...couldn't scan in the gameboard)

No more Grandma Nutt--she's Grandma Gooey now!

Here's the new Princess Frostine.

Va-va voom!

Lord Licorice:

You know he's evil because he's holding a snake. (Love the licorice swamp, that's new I think)

And...Who is this?

That's right! It's the Duke of Swirl! He's NEW! He's like...in charge of ice cream and stuff!

I'm totally seeing a love triangle here. Who will Princess Frostine choose?? My money's on Lord Licorice. He's so kind of cute in a creepy way.

Quickie

2010-11-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie I did for the Greenwillow blog :)

Also, take a look at these opening credits from the German film, "The Sandman and the Lost Sand of Dreams":

Doesn't it look absolutely charming? Oh I hope it gets released in the US!

Butterfly Diptych

2010-11-09T08:00:00.002-07:00

Candyland Fun

2010-11-04T09:13:00.001-06:00

I really like the game Candyland. Here are some redesigns I'm doing for a project:

Mr. Mint

Queen Frostine
Lord Licorice

I tried to make him less girly, I swear. He may have to go through another round.

You might be able to tell these were based on the 1985 version, which is what I grew up with. The game's changed since then!

1985 Lord Licorice:Lord Licorice now:

1985 Queen Frostine:
Queen Frostine now:
Except she's not Queen Frostine anymore, she's Princess Frostine. I can imagine younger girls love her pink dress. I'm kinda fond of the old version though.

Anyway, redesigns are ok. Hasbro has been changing Candyland every few years. Here's the original 1947 game board:

Cool, huh? I love the tagline, "A Sweet Little Game for Sweet Little Folks."

And now, they're making a movie of Candyland! REALLY! I think it sounds awesome. Perusing the internets I found these fan-made movie posters:

^^I really like that one. Tim Burton seems a natural fit for this, doesn't he. Still, it's Kevin Lima (Tarzan and Enchanted) that Universal is having direct it. I'm intrigued to see how it turns out.

****EDIT****

Oh! I wanted to mention--Nate Stout, curator of Shoebox of Dreams, has interviewed me on his blog! Thanks Nate! I feel like a rockstar. #^_^#

Trunk-or-Treating

2010-10-28T08:26:00.002-06:00

Halloween is in just a few days and I'm looking forward to seeing all the cute li'l trick-or-treaters.
Now-a-days, though, everyone's doing Trunk-or-Treats.

Trunk-or-Treating is where a bunch of neighbors line their cars up in a parking lot and kids in costumes go from car to car, saying "Trunk or Treat." You then have to give them candy.
The good thing about Trunk-or-Treating is, kids are safer and don't have to work hard to get a lot of candy.

The bad thing about Trunk-or-Treating is kids are safer and don't have to work hard to get a lot of candy.
Naturally, I am morally opposed to it.
WHEN I WAS A KID I HAD TO WORK FOR MY CANDY, DANG IT!!

This year is going to be different, though. This year, I have plans.
Moo-hwa-hwa-hwaaaah! MWAHAHAHAHAAHAAAAAA!

INTRODUCING: THE TRUNK-OR-TREAT TUNNEL OF DOOOOOOOM!!!!
I'm setting up an elaborate obstacle course for the kids to go through to get to my trunk. I've already rented the backhoe and started digging pits and stuff in the wardhouse lawn.

For the first part of the obstacle course, kids will be given a machete and must traverse through a jungle made entirely out of Smith's Marketplace fake trees and houseplants, and Hogle Zoo's python that went missing last Tuesday.
If they get through that, then they must swing over a pit full of poisoned spikes!
After that, the kids must swim through piranha-infested waters!
The trench to this has already been dug and I've lined it with a slip-n-slide. Still looking for the piranhas. Walmart used to sell them with their other fishes but I heard not anymore.

The course is sketchy after that, but it will definitely include:

Outrunning a ghost in a haunted graveyard!
Balancing on a tight-rope over very hungry crocodiles!
Spelling the word "AMBIDEXTROUS" with stepping stones in a pool of acid!!

And the Grand Finale:
Taking a bite of the candied apple that does NOT have a razor blade hidden in it!!

I expect some kids might possibly live through this.
Those that do will find greater satisfaction in the candy they receive, and be much more grateful for what they have.

This is my contribution to Trunk-or-Treating.

If you yourselves want to contribute (as crocodiles do not grow on trees) I need approximately $39,672 to pull this off. Please donate. Together we can eradicate Trunk-or-Treat.

Hushabye Mountain

2010-10-22T14:11:00.001-06:00

Here is a baby shower picture I did for a friend. I wanted to make it really textured and soft.

I'm not sure I pulled it off, but I really enjoyed doing it & learned a lot.

2010-10-20T07:20:00.000-06:00

Here are some more 30 min speedpaints.

They are nothing special. Except the last one, which was a 15-minuter, which I think is very special. Mostly I'm just posting so the blog won't explode.

Speaking of blog news, I was tagged a very nice award by Leisha Maw, who is a great writer and has a funny story about how she got engaged. Thank you Leisha!

There are a couple of people I'd like to tag with this, the first being Heather Keele's blog, the Parimonious Princess, where she gives tips and tricks for clever and penny-pinching housekeeping. Things like koolaid play-do. Awesome.

Second is my friend Lisa Holliday's blog, A Mormon in Kuwait. She's teaching Muslim kids there and it's really interesting to hear her stories and learn about the culture. So go check it out!

I Like Me Some Mustache Twirlers

2010-10-11T05:45:00.000-06:00

So you've all heard of The Childcatcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a villain who sniffs out and hunts down children. But have you heard about the really cool villains? Since it's Halloween season I've been thinking about bad guys a lot, and there are a few who I think deserve more recognition. And so, behold I present unto to you:

7 VILLAINS OF AWESOME YOU PROBABLY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF

Consider it my Halloween present to you all! You're welcome.

1. SILAS BARNABY from "March of the Wooden Soldiers"

He's old and he's creepy. He's also rich, so the other two don't matter. And he's so in love with Bo Peep, he'll incite a bogeyman uprising just to get her in his arms. Ungrateful little Bo. He's just being nice!

In heaven I think all bad guys talk like this. I've brrrought you a little boooqueeeeet my little buttah cop!

2. DR. TERWILLIKER from "The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T"

For those of you who dreaded piano lessons, here is your anti-patron saint: Dr. T. He's constructed a giant piano and kidnapped 500 piano-hatin' boys to play a massive piano duet (hence the 5,000 fingers). If you don't play the piano, he'll lock you in his dungeon.

All right, so he's not so different from a regular piano teacher. But he's a very snappy dresser.

Ok, 49 seconds is pleeeeenty.

3. DARLA DIMPLE from "Cats Don't Dance"

Evil Shirley Temple. 'Nuff said.

4. BOWLER HAT GUY from "Meet the Robinsons"

If you want to see some awesome character development in a villain, watch this movie. Greatest Disney bad guy ev-ah!

Also: his cape is his baby blanket and he has a unicorn trapper keeper. Yes I think I am in love.

5. MRS. MEERS from "Thoroughly Modern Millie"

In the daytime she runs a Hotel for Young Ladies. At night, she poisons, drugs, and kidnaps them away in her squeaky laundry cart. Then she forces them into slavery at firework factories, which was a real problem in the 1920s.

Obviously it takes the combined powers of Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore to down this baddie. Awesome.

6. RAVENHEARST from "The Court Jester"

He wears black, has a mustache and terrific fencing skillz. Oh and let's not forget the suave English accent. Basil Rathbone FTW!

I'm including the entire sword fight. It's just too awesome to trim.

In the end he's taken out by a couple of midgets. Have I told you how much I love this movie??

7. MR. TEATIME from "The Hogfather"

I've saved the creepiest for last. Happy Halloween.

Mr. Teatime (Pronounced "Tee-Ah-Tim-Eh") works as an assassin. Current job: Killing the Hogfather (Santa Claus). Dream job: Killing Death. Now there is someone who loves his job :D