Process

Where have I been with my daily paintings? A little sporadic, honestly, thanks to my toy making schedule. But I have been posting them to my tumblr. Good news is I have now made over 100 toys, and they are all on sale! Woo!

I've been developing a new, less stressful way of getting illustrations done. It's been rather fun, although painting on the slick surface of dura-lar was also fun, and also aggravating...

Posting now the three steps of my latest works, for science:

 

How to Steal the Sun, 005

Our heroine: the SHORT one.

A tween full of determination. This girl wants to steal the sun. As tenacious as the SHORT one is, she also realizes such a large feat can not be achieved alone, and must convince her friends to join the expedition.

How to Steal the Sun, 004

In progress: the NEVER-ENDING STOCKINGS.

The sad tale of a girl and her wool, knitting a pair of socks for her future significant other. But she is so shy, and so tall, and rather unmarriable according to the village match-maker, and continues to knit the socks indefinitely.

After experimenting with some double pointed needles for the first time today, I've come to realize that top-down socks in progress look more like this:

The more you know ~*

How to Steal the Sun, 003

a SHEEP.

How to Steal the Sun, 002

Meet: the DOG.

Faithful companion to the BOY, the DOG is actually the oldest of the adventurers out to steal the sun. Initially brought along to be a sled dog, he is terrible at his job and ends up being pulled by the children instead.

How to Steal the Sun, 001

I suppose in the rest of the North American hemisphere, citizens are enjoying the beginning of spring. April showers for May flowers and all of that nonsense.

But here in Cleveland we're still enjoying the lovely bone-chilling wetness and cold of snow. Yay.

So I don't feel this sketch is out of place.

I'll be taking a leaf from Johanna's book and start painting once a day. (You can see her daily art adventures here, at her tumblr.)

To start out, I have a plethora of character designs drawn out for a story I was planning on telling. It takes place in a small society in a northern arctic world where it is always gray, bleak, and cold (much like Cleveland) and involves a young tween's attempt to steal the sun to find some warmth.

First introduction: the WIDOW.

When he was still alive, her husband collected EXOTIC goods from other countries. In reality, he was a hoarder of what less arctic-rural persons would call 'the norm'. Now that he is deceased, the WIDOW continues to nest in her house of oddities.

The WIDOW is the only person who will listen to our heroine, and sells her the following exotic goods to help with the seemingly impossible quest:

sunglasses

sunscreen

oven-mitts

But no one knows if she actually believes in our heroine or is just a good businesswoman.

Sketches