As far as things that I can’t seem to shake off are concerned, it’s this fact that a place like Edinburgh where I live is akin to a village where everyone (artist folk in particular) seems to know everyone, and the patterns or quirks that emerge from this said thought process. In most collectives I’m a part of and/or are associated with, there’s what seems like an endless sense of crossover and overlap with fellow artists etc for lack of better words, which is lovely as it is insane... you know? All in all though, even if it drives me mad it does so in a strangely positive way and I’ve learned to live with that. So yeah, make of that what you will. :-)
Being autistic and neurodivergent means I’m liable to mishear things quite a bit, especially when watching films where the sound mixing is utter shite (thanks sensory differences!). On that note, there’s a bit towards the end of Alien where Parker shouts “get out of the room” which I always interpreted as “get ready to roll” for years on end. Only recently did I realise how wrong I was!
Considering it was the final act of the film, I guess I can’t be blamed for assuming as such, right? If you know, you know as they say...
I keep seeing the word 'binary' crop up a lot in various discourses I’ve caught a glance at recently, whether it pertains to discussions around things like cancel culture or countless other things too numerous to mention. Funny what the lack of a middle ground these days does to certain people, irrespective of their political/ethical viewpoints...
When you find a mondegreen in one of your favourite Magnetic Fields songs and it sets off your creativity...
Can’t be only one mishearing things here? Stephin Merritt sure knew how to mumble back in the ‘90s, that’s for certain: https://youtu.be/UGNKhVJbDM8
I started by thinking up the most awful things I could, which wasn't particularly difficult. When I had made things as awful as possible I took a run and bounced off the floor and flew away from everything, leaving it all behind me in a deep well. Down there the whole town was burning. Down there Poppolino was padding around in the studio in the dark screaming with loneli-ness. Down there sat the crow saying: it was your fault that I died. And the Unmentionable Thing crawled under the mat.
But I just went on flying.
- Sculptor's Daughter by Tove Jansson
#dailydrawing #tovejansson
Last spring we had nineteen canaries. I must tell you, once and for all, that canaries are very virulent birds.
It starts with the mother bird and the father bird.
They have babies. And before the babies get a single feather on their bodies they have to leave home and the father bird sings again and the mother bird lays new eggs. That's how things go with canaries.
- Sculptor's Daughter by Tove Jansson
#dailydrawing #tovejansson
Look I give my cats when they pee or break something. It's like why? You have boxes and why you need to be breaking things? Half the time you don't want me. I don't own cats...they own me. I should have known this.
Continuing to consolidate the colour profile of the White Bird. Even if the photo fails to capture it, those pale shades are actually a sophisticated mixture of grey, sky blue, pink, and purple shades, managed with eraser and finished with white.
Have been working on my ability to manage lighting, softening the shades and contrasts. Colouring white things are actually not easy, because you will notice all the minute colouring differences much more easily.
This is another dragon. They're the Bringer of Great Destiny, and basically tell you you're destined for good things. It was designed by my sibling, and this is a redesign I made. Sorry that it's hard to see. My camera is bad and my house is dark.
What's a zombie girl to do in a world of...chaos? In this post-apocalyptic tale, Beast wakes into a whole new world that is anything but...human. But unfortunately zombies have an expiration date, unless she can get herself to eat...brains. But can she bring herself to do it? As she races against time before her initial decay. Beast has a bucket list of things she wants to finish.
Coming 2026 to Webtoon Canvas
So my mom gave me some watercolor paper, and I decided to paint one of my sibling's characters they made for me. This character is NOT mine!!! Also sorry for the spotty quality I have a bad camera on my laptop.
Anoia is an actual Goddess, and not a Patron Saint, but I really wanted to draw her.
Anoia is the Goddess of Things That Get Stuck in Drawers, a minor goddess on the Discworld (by Terry Pratchett - and if you don't know who he is, you should read his books! You can start with Small Gods -it is a standalone in the Discworld world. Or Guards! Guards! is another good choice).
When someone rattles a drawer and cries "How can it close on the damned thing but not open with it? Who bought this? Do we ever use it?", even though the person might be genuinely irritated or even exasperated, it is as praise unto Anoia. Faithful Anoians (worshippers of Anoia) purposefully rattle their drawers and complain every day. Anoia also finds objects that roll under other objects and things stuck in sofa cushions, and is considering handling stuck zippers. She eats corkscrews. Her name is clearly derived from "annoy".
Anoia she was formerly the volcano goddess Lela. She mentions that she has not been in her current position long, but what constitutes a long time to a god is unclear.
discworld.fandom.com/wiki/Anoia
#patronSaints #terryPratchett
Truman Capote (1924–1984)
He compulsively added numbers in his head, refusing to dial a telephone number or accept a hotel room if the digits made a sum he considered unlucky.
“It’s endless, the things I can’t and won’t,” he said. “But I derive some curious comfort from obeying these primitive concepts.”
- From Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey
“Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act.”
― Truman Capote
#dailyrituals #inktober #TrumanCapote @masoncurrey
Umberto Eco (b. 1932)
Eco says that he is able to be productive during the brief “interstices” in the day. He told The Paris Review’s interviewer: “This morning you rang, but then you had to wait for the elevator, and several seconds elapsed before you showed up at the door. During those seconds, waiting for you, I was thinking of this new piece I’m writing. I can work in the water closet, in the train. While swimming I produce a lot of things, especially in the sea. Less so in the bathtub, but there too.”
- From Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey
“When men stop believing in God, it isn’t that they then believe in nothing: they believe in everything.” ― Umberto Eco
#dailyrituals #inktober #UmbertoEco @masoncurrey
A unicorn pegasus gracefully perches on a high mountain side, it eyes filled with curiosity. A mountain landscape crowned with fluffy clouds is in the background while a river flows into a lake in the valley below. 8.5" x 11" on sketch paper
I have been making a lot of thank you cards lately and I thought I’d share. Haven’t had a ton of experience with watercolor lately, but I find the best way to get back into using a medium is using it on small projects and gradually working up to bigger pieces.
This one is important to me. I had been having a very long dry spell, not making any art, and then one day last Fall, while on a road trip, camping in Mesa Verde park, I drew this using some copic grey scale brush markers and a fine liner, and it was like my vision was returning. I got really into seeing, and imagining ... Anyway since then I've still been struggling to make more work, but have been making more creative things when I do get productive, and been organizing older work... It's also interesting that I titled this piece Phase Transition back in Nov '23, and subsequently had quite a sea change of life experiences, adventure, and new visions. Now if I could just sit down and draw more...
Some (over ten years old! Wah!) Ed, Edd, 'n Eddy fanart I did under the username MsArduousFieldWorker eons ago. Would have posted some of these separately, but this site only allows things over 500px wide and I only was able to save the flattened PNGs from my ancient XP laptop. Everything here was drawn traditionally, inked with a brushpen, then scanned and colored in PS7.
The Count,
Is a vampire character who like to count things. He is a character who is from the children's show, sesame street. I caved this pumpkin for a Trunker Treat event put on at the King of Prussia mall around Halloween time. This pumpkin was carved in one sitting. Took about 9 hours to carve. I have been involved in compactional pumpkin carving for 17 years. Never won yet.
Have been so sick lately, wish i could explain to my body what a waste of time that is. Luckily i have friends checking up on me, and they brought me all sorts of nice things: orange juice, flowers, chocolate, the largest banana i ever seen.... and then i realized i live in a city, and food delievery is an option! So four times i got the most delicious junk delivered to my door.
