Staying Motivated in the New Year. Again.

There always seems to be a large gap between collections of entries.  The past year has been pretty hectic. Running a cat rescue through your home is no joke.  Cute cute cute, and very time consuming. Now we are down to just three adults that have decided to stay, and one lovey Mama who will be going to her forever home at the end of the week.
In other exiting news, Spring semester starts tomorrow, and I am looking forward to two studio classes- Color Theory and Intro to Digital Art. While these are essentially repeats, the classes I took at TCC were credited to electives, and these are a bit more specific. Either way, it will feel good to be back in the studio (and not just because mine is covered in cat fur. lol) I also came across this awesome site for professional readers. This will be especially awesome when DJS becomes more than just a business plan.



I have also finally broken down and ordered a few varieties of colored pencils, which will be arriving over the next few weeks, and I plan on testing thoroughly and sharing my findings here in detail. I have read so many reviews and watched other people's videos where they have compared products, and maybe it is because I am looking for something so specific, but I just haven't found any to be conclusive for me to invest hundreds of dollars into any one brand. I will probably just pick and choose, then use them all just like I do every new medium I come across anyway.  :/

I have been continuing on a portrait series lately, so will leave you with my latest.

Dust Jacket Studios is now on Facebook!

Dust Jacket Studios is now on Facebook!

Thievery and copyrights

Finally home, finally back in the studio- and now I have about  a week before I go back to my regular job.  With so much going on this past month I really haven't gotten the studio time I had hoped for, though I did finish a portrait of my best friend's beautiful daughter.

Elliott Quinn

I had a 16x20 canvas sprayed silver, then sketched the portrait with charcoal before finishing it off with acrylic.

In other good news, I have a new site up!  Dust Jacket Studios is up and running online at an, albeit temporary, spot that at least gets the job done.  There is a gallery, spot to order, links to merchandise, and some good info.       It's not all of DJS, but so far encompasses my own art.  I am still working on a logo.  A problem I have been running into lately is  "rights to celebrity."  What this is doing is pulling any merchandise or prints I post using my paintings because they are recognized as celebrity portraits and companies like CafePress don't want to be held responsible in case someone wants to sue for using their face.  I guess I will just have to make these items personal and just offer them exclusively through my website, which kind of sucks since I won't have all the exposure of CafePress users, but I suppose it's better than nothing.  I did an awesome mug for The Legend of Billie Jean that I wanted for myself anyway. hehe.

Awesome, so, in looking for a link to just use, I came across another LOBJ item using my painting.  This is kind of like the whole rights to celebrity thing, only here is my argument.  If you are a celebrity, you expect your image to be everywhere, you even want it out there for advertisement.  The difference being, artistic interpretation belongs to an artist, and stealing that image is just that- stealing.  It would be different it the image was once again artistically interpreted, then it would no longer be my own interpretation.  The problem I keep running into here is that people just slap the image of my painting on their own products without giving credit to me or asking my permission.   All I did with the original movie poster image was Photoshop it until I got the look I wanted, then I painted that altered image.  I have found my painting on half a dozen unauthorized products the past few years when all these people ever had to do was Photoshop the movie poster the same way I initially did and leave my painting out of it.  Ugh.
omg, so I spent the better part of the past hour searching around and found two culprits- one on fanpop.com and the other on photobucket, where the other supposedly was linked from.  The original Photobucket image was one I had put up at least 6 years ago and forgot all about since I no longer use the site.  I rock. Well, hopefully it will now be taken care of and I will no longer see such thievery of my images.  Phew!

R&R

I am proving to be very inconsistent with my blogging.  In the last couple of months I haven't finished any new artwork, but have managed to make some good headway in my book project.  I have also been home on R&R and finally got to see my finished studio!  While I still have to make an actual studio out of it when I get home for good, I did make it a little cozy for the two weeks I was home.

backgrounds ready to go

working with what I got. 

working on a new home portrait using grid method

I love how the wall color came out, and plan on doing my desk and shelving with that same rosewood stain as the windows.

Also while back in the states, I came across this amazing artist in an unlikely place.  While visiting Olympia Candy Kitchen in Chambersburg, PA, I fell in love with the prints throughout the store by Ray Hendershot.  All I had was my phone to take pics, but I took one of every print in the store.

I actually liked how the lights on the Christmas tree reflected off the glass

so much to chose from!

Definitely making it a point to go back to make a purchase.  Actually, I already ordered a copy of his out of print book on Ebay.  I was, however, disappointed to find that the building I had been using to base my model of Dust Jacket Studios off of has been sold and will be turned into a parking garage.  It made me slightly ill.  Seeing it in person there were parts that would have been amazing as far as turning it into a gallery, but there was some structural damage that explained the low sale price.   Nevertheless, I always hate to see history torn down to "make way for progress."  Yuck.

Instead of a recipe, I suggest some chocolate therapy via the Candy Kitchen online store.  Mmm... their turtles are my favorite!

day off

So I have the whole day off to sketch and relax.  Too bad we don't get mail until around 1pm.  Hopefully my books and pencils I ordered will arrive today. Until then I'll be going through the Better Homes and Gardens and Food  Network magazines I was lucky enough to get my hands on at another base.  It may be a little cheesy, but  there is actually plenty of great creative inspiration (not to mention yummy recipes) to be found in them.  Plus, I am a sucker for Thanksgiving and Christmas decorating.  I also found a couple of recipes to try when I get home to see if they will fit well on the Dust Jacket Cafe menu.  I plan on having a seasonal menu to keep things interesting, and take advantage of the freshest locally grown foods.
I have considered having a "build your own float" menu to include choice of ice cream and soda flavor combinations,but I'm not really sure.  It would fit with my book, in which the main character renovates an old cafe, which used to be an even older soda fountain.  I guess I'm just not sure if it would be popular enough to be worth the cost of including it.  There was a restaurant in the Cleveland airport that had smoothies and wraps.  It was actually the closest I've seen to what I had envisioned the Dust Jacket cafe to be like.  I even looked into the cost effectiveness of the franchise itself.  I decided against it though because I believe the local and "hometown-ness" of the Cafe to be more important.  It still was helpful to get a realistic idea of what I have in mind might look like.
Sketch of the day!  Actually, this was part of a letter when I was stuck on duty in the middle of the night.  I think it's actually the only drawing I have ever done in pen.

wish you were here

Recipe of the Day!
Author Sarah Addison Allen was kind enough to donate to our book club out here, and included a sheet of recipes to coincide with her book Garden Spells.  If you haven't read it, please do- you will LOVE it!  Recipes like this, from books themselves, I hope to be able to include in the cafe.  I am always looking for new ones- and ones people have found in books and actually tried themselves.  I myself have made fried green tomatoes using the official seasoning mix.  I got it at K-Mart, but you can also find it online.  I gave it to my partner's mom along with a basket of fresh local tomatoes and she and her husband loved them so much she has made it multiple times since!

ROSE PETAL SCONES

rose petal -- encourages love...

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

4 Tbs unsalted butter

1/3 cup unsalted coarsely ground pistachio nuts

1 cup heavy cream

1 Tbs rose water

2 Tbs edible rose petals - finely shredded

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine and sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda,

sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cut in the butter and mix until crumbly. Stir in the

pistachios. In a separate bowl, combine the cream and the rose water. Stir in the

shredded rose petals. Add the cream-rose mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring until

a soft dough forms. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for

10-12 minutes or until golden brown

Christmas Greetings!

Well, I finally have internet in my tent, so this will be much easier to do!  I've had alot going on as far as my artistic ventures are concerned.  As much as can be expected from the middle of nowhere, that is.  Thanks to an Amazon gift card for Christmas, I have a few books, pencils, and paper on they way (and a much needed electric kettle to make my tea!)  I will also have a little more time to get back to some good old fashioned drawing since I wasn't able to sign up for any classes in the upcoming semester- too much uncertainty in my work schedule.
So, I am taking advantage of the opportunity to get back to my roots.  I used to love drawing houses as a kid.  I threw in landscaping, cute little windows, and there was always a swing set.  I've decided to hone my skills in doing home portraits while I am here.  That way, when I get home I should be ready to offer the service openly. I've got to do plenty of initial runs for practice and testimonials first. Unfortunately, GoDaddy sucks and somehow took down my website even though I just renewed it.  I can't get them to respond to my emails, and I'm just sick of their crappy service anyway, so I'm just giving up on it anyway.  I will do a whole new site when I get home and get everything a more established anyway.
I'll post pics as soon as I get started.  I did do one drawing since my last post- the first in quite a long time, too.  Not perfect, but not bad for being out of practice. : /

LEO

In DJS news, I've pretty much completed a mock menu for the cafe to include in presentation packets for investors.  I know it's very early, but I want to make sure I've got everything ready to make it happen.  The space I had scoped out turns out to be around the corner from a small family owned book shop that also sells original paintings (mainly by the owner.) Hm.  Well, location will still also depend on where my better half is willing to be. location location location

Where to now?

I started this blog awhile ago  to easily keep thoughts and progress posted on how my artwork ventures were going. Well, little did I know that so soon I would be deployed overseas where there is not a single canvas in my near future.  Meanwhile, back at home my new studio has been built and all of my stuff moved in.  From the pictures I've seen, it looks great.  On a positive note, my sketchbook has arrived, so when I find something other than sand to look at, perhaps I will have a worthwhile post.
Actually, I have spend alot of my down time here working on the business plan for Dust Jacket Studios, which is, for all intents and purposes, my dream for my future. DJS is the environment I have in mind where you can enjoy fresh made food, cozy up with your favorite dog-earred book, and see for yourself other peoples visions and creative process.  This dream is far from being realized since I have so many other paths to walk, but when I get to that one, I will be more than ready.
In the mean time, I will leave you with this link to my website where you can check out my gallery.