Taking Care of Business

It's been almost a month since I've updated. Crazy how when you go from unemployed to working full time you spend much less time blogging and tweeting than you used to! I need to work on that.

The super secret project is plodding along. I've finally forced myself to complete a concrete summary/strip-by-strip outline of the story, because bits keep evolving in my head, and if I just let it go on I will never finish this. Most of the summary is complete; I'm just fidding with how things will go during the climax, as there are many threads to tie in and I might need a short flashback to lead up to it (and I'm not sure how to integrate that yet without disturbing the flow of the narrative). I'm also looking at comic books and artists I enjoy in order to nail down the overall look. I have some ideas (and all the characters but one are nailed down), but I'll need to experiment a bit before I find what fits. Normally my style is fairly static, but I would love to put much more energy into my lines and images, like Dave McKean, Craig Thompson, and a few others I can't quite remember off the top of my head.

Michael and I ended up watching a show about Picasso on BBC1 last night, and it was amazing and inspiring. His paintings are another reason I want to try to capture more emotion and energy in my work. I also now have a really strong desire to paint again, on large canvases; maybe even try oils. And learning that Picasso worked in so many varied mediums (more than I knew he had) makes me worry less about the fact that I like to create so many different kinds of things. It made me want to work with fimo clay again, too, and get my Etsy store back up and running with new products. I'll be working towards that over the next few weeks.

We're heading off to a wedding in Glasgow next weekend (volcanic ash permitting). It'll be my first trip to Scotland! Yay! And I met a good chunk of people that are going to be there this past weekend at a housewarming party, so I won't feel as awkward as I could have. This is good.

The weekend after the wedding, we're having a party of our own for Eurovision! It's my first one ever. I still don't quite get it, but it seems like good, awful fun. There will also be much Rock Band and SingStar and crazy board games and (of course) Doctor Who. Because we're all nerds.

So that's how things are going at the moment. I've got to go, as my lunch hour is ending, but I'll be sure to post about the trip up for the wedding.

Convulsing Enter

The internet is working superbly now! Hooray! Now I can make posts with photos and used a proper keyboard! Granted, it's got a European layout, and I forget where the @ symbol is all the time since it's not above the 2, but that's okay.

Now on with the good stuff!

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While out and about in Milton Keynes, Michael and I stumbled upon this awesome mural in one of the pedestrian walkways:

I really love the weird cute style, and the drips from the spray paint. I wish I'd gotten a better picture.

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Speaking of finding things while in Milton Keynes, we were in T.K. Maxx (T.J. Maxx in the States) and ran across this tennis racket for kids in the toy section. Nothing weird about that, right?

It's also got oddly translated phrases on the packaging. Take this for example:

EVERY STYLES FULLY WONDERFUL!

The best welcome gifts for the children.

Okay, so that's not really that bad. It's just a bit awkwardly phrased. But then there's this:

CONVULSING ENTER

WHAT convulsively enters? I'M SO CONFUSED!

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We did manage to get out of the Milton Keynes area, and headed down to Bedford for wandering and shopping. We didn't really manage to buy much, but it was really nice to walk in and out of shops that weren't in a big mall. We also got to see this rad sculpture:

I didn't realize at first that I was looking at it from behind! I liked the shapes of the silhouettes, though. Here's a shot from the front:

 

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In other life news, I've ramped up my job hunt. I'm heading into town to register with another agency on Monday, and have applied for about ten jobs this week Here's hoping I find something soon!

I've also been updating my weight loss blog a tad more than this one. The good news? I'm up to five pounds lost so far. It's slow going, but that's better in the long run, really. 

That's all for now! 

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!