Christmas Caricature Commission

I meant to post this in January, but I forgot! I did a couple of caricature commissions for a friend last December. They were Christmas presents for his dad and his brother. I think they turned out great (and so did my friend and his relatives).

Click on an image to see a larger version

The brother's, I think, was the most fun. It was a take on the Army of darkness movie poster. Here's a side by side:

Click to see a slightly larger version

His brother works on a golf course (and loves golf), rides mountain bikes, has a cute little daughter, and apparently is a fully-licensed chainsaw operator. It was my friend that suggested the Army of Darkness poster theme in his original email, and I just ran with it.

I'd love to do more of these. My only hangup was that printing costs were quite a bit higher than I was expecting. There's no Kinko's (FedEx Office, whatever they're calling themselves now) equivalent here, so all the printing places have a base startup cost, even if you're just printing a couple of pages (which I was not told about when I got a quote). I may just try to go through photo printing places, as they're less expensive, probably have better paper options, and I know a few people who have used such services for art prints before (and they turned out lovely).

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In other news, the job search continues. It feels a bit futile sometimes. I keep looking though, and sending out my CV.

I'm going to work on getting a portfolio website set up, and get more stuff up on Etsy. I was on a roll with that, and then it all got held up by the move last month. Then I went all gotta-get-a-job crazy, and when I do that it seems to zap my creative juices. It's like my brain can only focus on one thing at a time. I really need to work on that. 

I want to get back into doing illustration and paintings. I'd love to do freelance work, but other than registering for websites that require a large yearly or monthly fee, I don't know how to go about it. If any freelance illustrators happen to stumble upon this... do you have any advice?

I've also thought about offering my services as a caricaturist for local kids' parties and all that, but I'm not sure how to go about it yet. It requires more research.

Happy Holidays!

I apologize for the lack of posting yesterday. After I had my fasting blood test in the morning the flu I had been developing decided to kick me while I was down. I was a little out of sorts. I'm feeling better now though. Pictures of the new triptych and Harold the bear are still coming, I promise. But for now, I'm going to enjoy watching Christmas telly with my husband. Have a great day, everyone!

Twas the night before the night before Christmas

A few things have happened lately, so I thought I would share. First, I've finished both the posh giraffe triptych (finally) and my first attempt at a crocheted plushie (a bear I'm calling Harold). I'll put up pictures of them both here tomorrow, but you can see them on my twitter feed for now.

I went to see a doctor on Monday, and they're having me come in tomorrow for a blood test to see if I have diabetes. I'm a bit nervous about it, as my mom had it and I've kind of had my suspicions for a while. So we'll see how it goes. Hopefully I won't have to wait too long to find out.

In slightly more exciting news, Michael and I were playing 1 vs 100* on xbox live last night, and he got chosen to be the one! Not only that, he went on to knock all 100 members of the mob out and won the game... winning him 10,000 microsoft points and a £1500 holiday voucher! Which means that we'll have enough for our trip back to the States in the summer! What a crazy Christmas gift, eh?

That's all for now, but I'll be back tomorrow with our holiday card, and pics of the giraffe paintings and Harold the bear.

*1 vs 100 is based on a game show of the same name, in which the One goes up against a mob of 100 people in a trivia game. You get to stay in the game as long as you keep answering questions right. If a member of the mob gets the question wrong, they're knocked out. If the One gets one wrong, the game is over and a new One is chosen. The goal is for the One to knock out all 100 mob members. The more mob members that get knocked out, the higher the prize (and like other game shows, you do periodically have the chance to walk away with what you've won so far). In the xbox live version, the mechanics are basically the same, except that besides the One and the mob, there is also the crowd who are playing along, but not for points.

Local farmer's market, Christmas shopping, and feeling dreadful

On Friday, the last day of term, Michael got an unexpected snow day. We went down to the local farmer's market (which was scaled back a bit due to the snow). It was a bit of a treat! We bought fresh eggs, three different types of sausage (some which we had for dinner that night with some mash), two types of cheese (some with black pepper and some with mustard, which will go great with some sausages), Christmas chutney (I've never had chutney before), an elderberry and sloe drink that's like a squash (for the Americans: you dilute a bit in water to drink it), as well as some honey fudge that was lovely. I can't wait to see what they have next month!

We both started feeling a bit ill on that night, but went down to the pub with Michael's coworkers anyway. We had an okay time, but ended up ducking out after just a few drinks. The next day, we didn't feel much better. Michael was feeling especially rough. But we somehow insanely braved the crowds in town to pick up our Christmas presents for each other. Not really a surprising Christmas this year, as I didn't have my own money to spend since I'm still working on getting the shop off of the ground. In fact, all my presents from Michael (per my request) were art supplies to make more stuff for the shop! But keeping busy with that the past few weeks has really made me happy.

That night, though, I experienced the worst bout of insomnia I've had since I've been here. I was up until about 6:30 in the morning. I ended up watching the Hollyoaks Omnibus just because it was on. I used to be on medication for it before I came over, but my doctor here wanted to get me off of it. And I wanted that too... so I decided to try Nytol (as it's herbal) and chamomile tea and the like. None of it works. I have an appointment with a doctor tomorrow anyway (for other ongoing problems), so I'm planning to bring it up and see if I can get something so that I can avoid nights like last night.

Today we were both still feeling terrible. I made Michael go back to bed for a bit, since he was sleepy and needed it. As for me... well, once I'm up, I'm up. I don't nap unless I'm seriously ill, and this flu thing isn't that bad at the moment. I wish I could say I'd gotten some work done, but mostly it's just been TV and a little bit of gaming. I feel like a bit of a failure in that regard, but oh well.

Tomorrow will be more productive, if just out of necessity. I have the aforementioned doctor appointment, I need to run down to the post office to sign for a package (and get a Thank You card for my aunt who sent us a big box of food from back home), as well as finally get some painting done. I need to start pushing myself a bit more, and making myself work even when I feel like crap.

Time for bed soon, as it's a little after midnight. Here's hoping I'll be able to fall asleep and not end up back here on the couch in a couple hours...

SNOOOOOOOOOOOW!!

This morning, I saw snow falling for the first time in years. Every other time I've actually seen snow fall, I've been in a car, and it was hard to see. So watching it fall outside my living room window this morning (even though it was just a small flurry), was a wee bit magical. Growing up in the central valley of California and then moving to San Diego, I really didn't get the chance to experience snow all that much. Snow was something you visited, after it was already on the ground.

So yes, I was very excited today. And I found out that it does look just like it does in the movies. I always wondered about that. A bit silly, really, but there you go.

I've finished the ghosty trio, and it's up in the Etsy shop.

I've got the initial sketching done for a posh giraffe triptych, and I'm really looking forward to painting it. I've also found out about Amigurumi, which are little crocheted stuffed toys! I have some extra yarn, and I know how to crochet a bit more than I know how to knit (not to mention the fact that I've crocheted in a spiral several times before), so I'm going to give it a go.

I've just about finished our Christmas/Holiday e-card for friends and family. Instead of drawing something, I took a photo of the lights stung up on the High street. I'll be sure to post it here when it gets closer to Christmas day.

Speaking of Christmas, I got to play the middleman in a Secret Santa delivery thanks to a purchase from my store... which was awesome. It completely made my day, and made it actually feel like Christmas. I love wrapping things and helping spread a bit of cheer. Makes me feel all warm inside.

Coloring Pages

Here are the Christmas/holiday coloring pages I drew for Michael's third year class.
They're just quick doodles I made with my tablet, but I think they're pretty cute!