Blue Moon Blog

Emily’s Alphabeast this week is a sculpey Mermaid, done on her 12th birthday!

Don’t forget to visit her eMinis etsy shop for turtles, doughnut earrings, aliens and Jake the Dog.

Alphabeasts is a 26-week project, a blog where artists of all types and stripes contribute a mythical beastie any old way that suits them, as long as it’s a new drawing or sketch of a creature whose name begins with the letter for that week. Check out a cornucopia of crazy creatures by an amazing array of artists at the Alphabeasts archive, and be sure to check in every Monday.

My daughter, Emily decided to contribute this week to the Alphabeasts project with one of her eMinis sculptures. “L” is the letter this week, so she chose Ljósálfar, a Sun Spirit from Norse mythology.

If you like the looks of this, check out her eMinis etsy shop!

Alphabeasts is a 26-week project, a blog where artists of all types and stripes contribute a mythical beastie any old way that suits them, as long as it’s a new drawing or sketch of a creature whose name begins with the letter for that week. Check out a cornucopia of crazy creatures by an amazing array of artists at the Alphabeasts archive, and be sure to check in every Monday.

My daughter, Laura agreed to pose for me today, so I could try my hand at pastels again for the first time in years. I mark it as a failure: I used pastels too large on paper too small; her nose is too large here, face not wide enough. The drawing doesn’t do her justice, either – she’s prettier than this. Not horrible for a half hour, I guess. I see more coming in the near future….

Happy Halloween from Blue Moon Studios! Check out our Halloween-related posts from the last four years…

I spent Saturday drawing with kids in the Children’s Pavilion at the Twin Cities Book Festival. Tried to teach ‘em a thing or two about cartooning, creating characters and stories. I learned from them, too. Always do.

All kids draw. Some don’t stop.

At the Festival, some kids drew known characters, some created their own. Some scribbled abstract shapes and textures. Some were off on their own, others wanted some pointers. Others called out ideas and suddenly I was taking requests. It was fun! I drew some cartoons versions of some kids who stayed by the table a while, gave ‘em a little memento.

It’s funny, at an early age, kids draw free ‘n’ easy. The sky’s the limit. There are no rules. In all my drawing sessions with kids, I try to encourage that. Sure, I offer tips, tricks, guidance and insight, but It seems a mistake to shackle young kids with too many boundaries and guidelines. There will be a time for that soon enough. At some point, if a kid keeps drawing, they’re gonna put in a lot of hours, learn the rules before they can break them again.

Lots more pix of the day and event viewable for anyone at my Facebook page.

On Saturday, October 15, I’ll be appearing as a featured author at Rain Taxi’s 11th annual Twin Cities Book Festival, a FREE event open to the public. Thousands of book lovers attend each year to meet their favorite local and international authors, for readings, panels, talks, and to snatch up a bunch of books, of course!

I’ll kick off the kid’s book events at the Children’s Pavilion with a reading of my Night of the Bedbugs at 10:30 AM, followed by an all-day drawing/cartooning workshop from 11AM-4PM. I’ll be on hand to show young artists how to draw features and expressions, create their own characters and start making their own book. Paper and drawing implements will be supplied; you just need to bring your curiosity and imagination. Drop by anytime!

Copies of Night of the Bedbugs will be available for purchase from The Red Balloon. I’ll be happy to sign and do a sketch in your copy. See you there!

My Toth book review is further delayed as I’m stricken with a horrible ear ache which has really knocked me for a loop the last several days. At least I’m on antibiotics and have ear drops now, so I’m on the mend, but still a mess. The Ear Ache Effect!

A Toth panel from Eclipso’s Amazing Ally (House of Secrets #63)

And on top of that, I’ve got a bad cold, too, so I’m drippy, sniffly, coughing, nose-blowy, weak and wobbly.

Another Toth panel from Eclipso’s Amazing Ally (House of Secrets #63)

This too shall pass, yes?

It started raining last night after dinner and a rousing game of Pounce (the rules at the link are close but not exact to how we play). The girls wanted to go out – so we did! Nothing like running around like goofs in the pouring rain, splashing around in the backyard grass, getting thoroughly soaked. Whether middle-aged, teen or tween, we were all kids last night. Showers & laundry followed. Totally worth it!

We didn’t catch any pics or vid, so I drew up this quick sketch in SketchBook Pro, experimenting with layers, tools and effects. I don’t really know what I’m doing with this program yet.

I spied from the corner of my eye a fly who’d died.

Seemingly balanced on the tip of its head, this fly was kissing the sidewalk. Had it taken a nosedive?

Nope. I moved a nearby figurine to get a better look and the fly lifted off. It was caught in a web.

Passed time to clean the studio!

I was a bit lost for a couple days, the server that supports my direct domain name down. So, no bloggy bloggy, no email, no web site. ARRGGH!

Pollack…or no?

All right, I still had access to the internet so was on Facebook and Google+, my virtual lifeline. But recalled near too late I could use my .mac email account. D’oh! So, I drew a bit on the Cintiq and at the drawing board, finished Doug TenNapel’s Ghostopolis while taking in some sun on the patio, and saw X-Men: First Class at the theater with my daughters. Not a bad day, despite my frustration.

Not being able to compose posts for my blog, though, I was forced to postpone the last two posts on my 14-part series on Alex Toth’s Adventure comic, The Land Unknown. The penultimate post appears on Thursday, the final installment next week!