Working with solid black

A cousin of mine gave birth last Sunday, to a boy, so today was the bris. That meant spending last night over at my parents’ place, and today out in Lawn Guy Land. But I got driven back in the afternoon.

Spent a chunk of the evening at Ground, doing some doodling. I’m trying to work more with shadows and solid blacks. Results so far are mixed....

( More art behind cut... )

Kitties!

One: You’ll need Windows Media Player for this video file, probably taken from some funny home videos TV show, of cats being accidentally amusing. Enjoy your inter-species schadenfreude, with your oh-so-superior opposable thumbs! (Via Ampersand)

Two: No video software needed for Scott McCloud’s latest Morning Improv strip: A Bucket Full O’ Kittens!

Now for some sleep!

Commuting through Hell

The interview went pretty well, except for the bit where I was all ready to impress the guy by talking about how I used to trap colors by hand in Illustrator when he told me that they do digital printing, and thus don’t have to worry about trapping. (And I told him anyway, and he was still impressed.) He had a bunch more interviews that day, and I assume the rest of the week. Next week they’ll call back some folks for second interviews and some hands-on testing. There’s a risk they might want me for second shift, four-to-midnight, which would suit my typical sleep schedule better, but would kick the rusty bottom right out of the dingy dinghy of my social life.

And the place is really tough to get to. Getting there took almost an hour, and involved hiking about a mile over un-sidewalked streets, dodging cars, slogging through grassy shoulder and avoiding hazardous material runoff. Getting back was worse, because I tried to take a bus which turns out not to run this time of year, and wound up having to walk all the way around Liberty State Park, about three miles. There’s one more possible route I’ll try if I get called back, but it’s still about a mile walk. I may have to pass this one up.

Seeds in my sketchbook

Spent the evening at Ground, as seems to be usual. Hey, the coffee’s cheap and the seats are comfy.

This latest round of sketches has given me the seed of an idea for a series of drawings or paintings. Not the full idea yet, just the seed.

( Sketches behind the cut... )

No Arisia for me

Since my only realistic hope for being able to afford Arisia was to get hired right away, it looks like I won’t be going. No Tim Powers for me.

Last year’s Arisia was the last con I went to, so that’ll make a year without one. Arg.