Where is evil, in all the wood?

I’m lucky that most people aren’t fluent in Southwest American petroglyphs! If someone figured out the larger story of Our Lady of Sweet Revenge through them, my face would sure be red. This page will be on the right of a tapestry I posted previously, to contrast the common impression of hags as demon-like savages with Fala, an actual hag (and the titular Lady focused on getting her some of that Sweet Revenge), in the above image. The fairy ring of mushrooms around her are Amanita Muscaria, which are not just iconic for their white-spotted red caps, but have historical use in shamanic traditions. Since Fala is the last hag to preserve her clan’s seer, völva, or shamanic traditions as well as an experienced scavenger, the fungus seemed especially appropriate.

When I set out to design Fala, I studied a number of classic witch and hag characters who already exist in popular culture. Fala’s profile was based on that of the Wicked Witch of the West, which may (partially) explain my excitement over finally owning a Wicked Witch/Elphaba doll.

More pics from the Fairy Language spread! The last illustration from the language page may have featured some implicit swearing (depending on your interpretation of the scene). The header at top is written in Human English, Elven, Fair Common, and Hag respectively. The poor fellow in the image above is an example of why I would not dare to show my readers what the language of dragons looks like. Llewellyn studied dragonspeak without incident, but the first time he read a full dragon-written text, he underwent partial mitosis and now has to deal with one working arm, fifteen fingers, 2 pupils in his right eye, and an extra face that is thankfully asleep or inactive most of the time. Being a fellow who values his privacy, Llewellyn would be mortified if the extra face was awake more often—the mildest effect of which would be that the poor guy has an extra party watching every time he poops! I can’t imagine the second face would be very happy about that arrangement either.

Doing a collab with lilylilymine on a Monster High-related thing. I drew this to break down the geometry on this hat and it turned out nicer than I expected, so I thought I would share!

My lovely friend Ru became friends with a rocking lil’ lady named Cassie, and just hearing about Ms. Cassie secondhand made mutual (and mutually talented) ladyfriend Jessi and me want to contribute to Ru’s efforts to collect as many pieces of art based on Cassie’s Monster High fan character as possible from us and a number of other talented artist in a truly awesome show of love and support. Check out Jessi’s Cassie-art too (it’s amazing)! If the Cassie Herself sees this, text or email me—you sound kickass even in the secondhand stories Ru tells us and I’d love to be a part of your growing group of fans and friends.

Here is the mixed media (mostly watercolor, ink, and gouache) original in a mat as it will be shipped to Cassie on Tuesday!

Cassie’s care package will also include an enamel crystal with a bunch of submerged, dried flowers from my Atlanta neighborhood. Making this with Cassie in mind was by the luck of good timing, but I can’t think of a more perfect recipient for this pendant. Cassie loves nature, I love making molds and casts, Ru loves that I’m showering Cassie with gifts (which sweet Ms. Ru is also doing), and I love how this turned out, so everybody wins! Next post will include jewelry pics. Stay tuned for more flower jewelry from this blog, and eventually some on etsy.

Lastly, friend Jessi introduced me to a wicked awesome band she follows called The Mystery Skulls! She and I brainstormed a little about poster and album cover ideas and I drew this as a cover for a proposed collector’s edition of The Mystery Skulls LP. Record players are cool again, right? The Mystery Skulls sure are so by proxy a The Mystery Skulls LP would be too! I want to be your friend too, The Mystery Skulls, so if you like the sketch I’d love to hear from you.

…and things have been just plain crazy besides. It is frustrating to have to plan work around my disability and sudden bouts of pain and/or illness, and yet I feel like things are looking up! A Very Fairy Coloring Book’s release has been extended thanks to the sick days I was forced to take, but I continue to work on it steadily. I am also involved in a collaborative pitch for my and my partner’s illustrative abilities to a company I admire, which has been a delight to work on.

Here are some of my latest arts!

First pass on a watercolored thank-you card. Who has an art blog and loves drawing forested ruins? (This girl!)

The finished tapestry page from A Very Fairy Coloring Book! The style was strongly influenced by the Bayeux tapestry.

Scientific illustration mania! This was made for my chemist husband’s report on his research at a conference in San Diego, CA.

Much more under the cut!

Read More

It’s hard to choose favorites from the art I’m making for the coloring book, but this activity for the Fairy Language section in A Very Fairy Coloring & Activity Book always makes me smile. After some text describing some of the various fey languages found in Our Lady of Sweet Revenge (for which the coloring book is a companion/introduction/supplement) and how they differ from human languages, the reader is prompted to fill in their own translations for the cartoon below.

The original. Fala, the central character of the comic series Our Lady of Sweet Revenge, refuses to understand why anyone would wear uncomfortable clothes.

Fill in the dialogue!

I didn’t have any particular dialogue in mind when drawing the cartoon, but Fala’s swearing in Hag DOES have the number of characters as “Son of a BITCH!”…

Yesterday I felt well enough to go out with the husband on our first date in a while. Even when I’m able to leave the house, the coloring book work never stops.

The inside back cover of A Very Fairy Coloring & Activity Book will display my dedications and thank yous to the various people who have seen me through the good times and bad, whether they know it or not. Above the dedications will be an author’s/artist’s photo. For a while I thought I would be drawing a self portrait for this page, but when my old obsession with the Cottingley Fairy photographs reignited I knew what I had to do!

Below are the first attempts at a photo with the first of 5 tiny figures I painted on vellum. They were taken by my fella (aka “Mr. Taney”, aka the Gala to my Dali, the Ellie to my Frank Frazetta, the Robyn to my Terry Moore).