Aikido Mice was inspired by tonight’s activities. Along with some other members of our Dojo we dojo stormed a neighboring dojo about an hour and a half away. We were invited to attend classes to celebrate their 20 year anniversary. It was amazing, as always. Also there were 4 dojos in attendance. We just had so much fun and I’m still hyped up. Also, their juniors reminded me of mice.
ink on paper.
Protector Rory is keeping his friends safe with his stance and this big umbrella. This didn’t work out as I had planned. I was working with a new supply of paper that was given to me, I didn’t expect too much from it, but since I wasn’t planning to layer too much I thought I would be safe. Well one layer in and the paper started to tear. It is actually worse in person, I touched up the worst tears after scanning it in. The paper isn’t even good for writing, since it is so textured. So I flipped it over and think I can use the back as practice sheets for lettering. Sadly, this supply is a bust. Let that be a lesson to me, don’t use untrusted brands.
Watercolor on paper.
Conversation hearts in honor of Valentines day. I’m not a big fan of Valentines day because of the pressure it seems to put on people. It’s one of those things, when you are single you think, if I was with someone this would be a great day. Yet when you are with someone the pressure that is put on this holiday can be overwhelming. You end up feeling bad about yourself no matter your relationship status. When I was a kid I loved Valentines day because my mother would sneak chocolates under our pillows. We would wake up to a tiny sample of chocolates. It wasn’t much, just enough to make us feel special. My first year out of the house I was living with my sister and my mom arranged for her to put my chocolate sample under my pillow that first year. It was awesome and made me feel really special. That is the kind of stuff I love, yet most of what you hear about this day, is pressure. Pressure to be in a relationship. Pressure to show someone how much you care. Pressure to feel like you partner has done enough to show that they care. It’s frustrating and while both my partner and I know this is a made up holiday and don’t really celebrate it, I see this continue to hurt a lot of other people. Instead of focusing on relationships I thought I would focus on self love. I asked for some suggestions from a Fat Acceptance group I belong to on Facebook to help me come up with some empowering conversation hearts. Some of these are my own, and some are important to others. I would buy a whole box of these.
Fountain pen Ink and digital pastels.
With all this talk about Disney buying parts of Fox there is the discussion, does that mean the Xenomorph is a Disney Princess? So of course I had to draw that. I’m not sure if the Alien franchise was part of the deal, but it is enough for me to be a big ‘ol geek about it. Colored pencils on paper.
Daily Creativity: Rory as a Union Soldier – Union DragonTek and I visited Gettysburg before going down to Balticon. I highly recommend this trip, it has changed so much since the last time I really explored there, twenty years ago. The roads are paved, there is this auto tour you can buy (in CD form now but there is an app in Beta) and they built some overlooks. All while preserving the integrity of the historical site.
We learned a lot we didn’t know. Even having studied the Civil War I missed a lot of things that I learned on this visit. I was inspired to paint Rory as a union soldier. Artillery of course. I’m thinking the war might have been won faster with Dragons on the Union side, but it would have been a very different war.
I started painting this at Balticon, doing some work on the few moments I wasn’t on a panel or getting my 5-2-1. I finished it when I got home. So yes this does break the rules of Daily Creativity as it took more than one day to finish, but in the time total it wasn’t more than I would spend in a day, I think. I am pleased with how it came out and had Tek check my work with the depiction of the enfield riffle Rory is holding. I painted some dirt on his uniform and fur, and tried to make it look dirty. Faded blues too. I’m really happy with how this piece came out. I may be the only person who wanted to see Rory as a soldier, but it marks this trip for me.
watercolors and ink on pressed paper.