Art Journal for Grace D. Palmer

Cute Tiger 2.0

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:19:26 GMT

I'm trying to get the cute animals a little closer to my normal style, so it doesn't look like there are two different artists on my convention panels. I think that this may be a little more effective than the previous try.

About 8x10, watercolor, ink and pitt pen on watercolor paper. Original and prints available.

Pygmalion and Galatea Colors - Day 2

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:39:28 GMT

Since I put up progress shots last night, it's probably appropriate to do it again. Tomorrow's going to be really busy at this rate, since I still have to do gobs of matting, which is hard on my back and my brain, and usually makes me want to cry a little. Hopefully I don't have to go buy matboard. I think there's still some behind the bed somewhere.

Started on the floor, couldn't figure out my lighting, and accidentally turned it partly to mud. So Pitt pens came to the rescue. I want all the colors! There's also a little acrylic in this, though my acrylics are really low quality and have begun to separate from nonuse. But the floor is finally dark enough, and the lighting on the wall is coming together. The sketches may need darkening, as that negative space box shape in the upper left is bothering me, but that's a matter of a quick wash. So tomorrow I can turn my attention to all the junk on the floor, and finally the figures. Here goes nothing.

Pygmalion and Galatea progress report

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:25:20 GMT

Remember this thing? Well, I've finally gotten back to work on it. I've printed out and elaborated on the linework (which should be shown here, but which I've accidentally saved over. This is a not terribly well advised piece I hope to finish by Windycon. Otherwise known as Friday.

It's currently pretty naked, with only the lower layers down. This is in part why it's so very green. However, I haven't killed the lighting yet, which is good, because I have no idea what I'm doing. By the time this is done, I should be able to at least rudimentarily backlight. Learning is fun, especially when it's on a deadline.

12x16, watercolorand ink so far. The dark grey bits are gunmetal sparkly and the brasswork is shiny. Failed to scan as usual. The line in the middle is from quickie scanner piecing. This old thing seems to be creaking toward oblivion, sadly enough.

Okay, this one's just silly.

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Mon, 25 May 2009 04:27:13 GMT

Though I did try to do some of them as quickly as possible to see if I could stay acceptably on model. Where that was possible, that is.

It stirs! 25 expressions of genji

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:23:15 GMT

Slowly teaching myself sequential stuff. This is practice work for a project that may or may not pan out, but it does at least amuse, and now I can draw 25 of the same character.

Some 16th century noodlings

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 04:47:20 GMT

Not doing much art these days, and what I've been doing has been practice stuff. Going through another or the same case of the hacks and not content with much. I did fix an old Judith and Holofernes sketch from ages ago and transfer it to Claybord, though. Thinking of trying it in tempera or tempera grassa with oil glazes over it (if I still have any oils) or maybe just tempera and tempera grassa.

8x10, walnut ink on claybord. The inconsistency in color is due to the fact that my ink isn't as dense as it probably ought to be.

Books!

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:49:47 GMT

Just got my contributor's copies of Hellas(ancient space Greeks!), and boy are they pretty. This is the shiniest RPG I've seen in a long time.
If you scroll down to the bottom of the page here, you can see a prelim version of some of the stuff I did. The finals are black with glowy red outlines on black, rather than black on red as shown there.

Pygmalion and Galatea

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 02:05:19 GMT

This one's been in the works for well over a year, but I've finally gotten the RAM and the energy to finish the linework. It's been printed out on a nice piece of watercolor paper and awaits coloring, which probably won't happen today.

Started in Photoshop, finished up in the GIMP. Original is huge - 9x12 at 600 dpi. Pose shamelessly stolen from William Bouguereau.

Hopefully the colored version will be up soon, but one never knows.

Getting back in practice

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:15:27 GMT

It's been a while since I've painted much of anything. I'm getting back in practice tonight, and trying to see how quickly I can turn out a really simple digital piece from heavy photo reference. No content here, just a pretty lady.

9x12, from heavy reference, the first piece I've done totally in the GIMP on the Linux install. Still getting back in the swing of things. Maybe someday there will be backgrounds.

Cute Faerie Art

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 03:29:03 GMT

Feeling a bit down and aimless lately, so I've amused myself by drawing

Jenny Greenteeth

Redcap

Nuckelavee

Duckon

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:04:22 GMT

How Duckon went depends on the aspect you're talking about.

Programming-wise, I was in my happy place. I got to go to a talk about art and business that was much more informative than I'd feared, another on writing and the IRS that also applies to art. Both have told me I need to get myself a great deal more organization than I have currently.
There were giant noise-making Tesla coils, with playback quality only a little lower than my NES, and a man in chainmail and chickenwire holding up fluorescent lights and making them glow.
There was also a fellow with a variety of fun static electricity devices that were clearly for Science! Bits of puffed rice were tossed about the room by electrons, and small motors were created. I am delighted by the fact that you can apparently make Leyden jars with large spice bottles and tin foil.

Sales-wise, the whole dealers room and much of the art show had a slow convention. Gas prices are hitting a lot of people in the wallet, and making them reconsider luxury items, such as art. I may decide to take a little time off of vending, and spend it bettering my technique and putting together a more attractive body of work. I'll still do mail in and take commissions, of course. New booth set up, complete with signs from the Department of Obvious Advertising, was reasonably successful. Corset got plenty of compliments - next time I'm vending at a con, I want to be able to hand out business cards when I get those compliments.

Otherwise, it was mixed. No problems with the hotel, room was nice though bland. Consuite was unexciting, but kept calories and caffeine in the body. Serious difficulties sleeping. One cannot blame a snoring roommate - it's not like it's under conscious control. I will be reconsidering my rooming options in the future, however. Sleep is important, and last night I was seriously considering just staying up all night at one point.

Got to meet Elizabeth Bear, though it was when she stopped briefly at our booth - I didn't make it to any of her panels. Managed not to be a foolish fangirl, sold her a small composite-stone platypus instead. Art got plenty of compliments in the art show, but no sales. We seem to have reasonable success in getting attention with weird, but the problem where those who love my work are poor persists. Perhaps an improvement in quality will tempt people who actually have cash. Hoping to complete at least one large egg tempera piece this fall.

Looking at attending WindyCon this year, but perhaps not vending. I'll have art in the show either way - if I'm not there, I'll mail in.

More Rodent Based Pre Convention Art

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 07:15:01 GMT

6x8ish, matboard, watercolor and ink

4x6, illo board, watercolor, ink, acrylic

Prints and originals available, as always

Duckon Prep - Still More Cute

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 03:19:55 GMT

Two Great Things Combined!

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:57:03 GMT

Anachrotech and Australian fauna, together at last.

A commission, so there are, alas, no prints to be had. 8x10, watercolor and inks, with a tiny bit of acrylic. Support is illustration board. In real life, it's very shiny, owing to the metallics.

Cute II, the return of cute.

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Mon, 26 May 2008 05:40:03 GMT

With a con coming up, it's time to start on artwork again. Here are a couple more cute wildlife pics.

They're watercolor and India ink on illustration board.
A little larger than usual, these are 6x8, and for sale as usual. I'll be offering prints as 5x7s.

Unnecessary memage

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Sat, 03 May 2008 00:57:08 GMT

Picked this up from http://davario.livejournal.com/30861.html, via lokabrenna

Most of the people who did this are better cartoonists than I am.

My Tribute To Aquanet

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 05:19:07 GMT

I should be working on RPG illustrations, or portrait commissions. The brain's gone a little soupy, however, so I pulled up an old and very silly piece and finished off the linework

Kinda afraid to color her.

H&R Block is my master now

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:37:06 GMT

Just did the taxes via the computer, and I shall say that it is well worth the sixty bucks I had to give El Tax Conglomerate not to have to do it by hand. Maybe this year they don't come back with "ur doin' it wrong" stamped on them. Of course, the bank account is going to take a hit, but it's survivable. Just gotta be poor and work my little tuckus off for a bit. Art folks - be wiser than I. Don't do your taxes without a computer or a helpful tax person. It really is worth it in the end.
And now, back to sketchy sketchy.

Squid Have Ten Tentacles. Ten!

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 03:58:32 GMT

Writing projects have kept me hopping, and art is seriously lagging. I have a host of commissions that have been waiting far too long. Those of you who are being lovely and patient, I thank you, and I'll be on em ASAP. Dedicated arting time is being created, because I clearly cannot wait for an opening in my writing schedule. To get the old drawing fingers warmed up, I did this:

6x8 on matboard, colored inks and Prismacolors. For sale as usual - inquire if she strikes your fancy.

Well, That's Done - Webpage

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:08:39 GMT

This migration began some time ago, but it took a while to finish matching the design. My gallery has now officially moved to http://gracedpalmer.necropolisstudios.net
You can see a bit of my business partner's work at http://angelarose.necropolisstudios.net if sculpture is your thing.

Updates have not yet resumed, as it's time to get out of the house!

Return From Capricon

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:34:14 GMT

Necropolis Studios was at Capricon in Arlington Heights this weekend (Chicagoish). Art was made and sold, though not huge quantities. It is needful to work on our booth a bit. Strategies exist, however, and we're strongly considering going to Duckon in June. May mail in to MARcon as well.
The art block has been broken, which is nice. Here are some things I drew, some in sketch format, and awaiting finishing.

Precious Rodents

Wearing My Nonsense Hat Again

An Aether Pirate. The aether is oxygenated, but very thin. Thus, breathing apparatuses!

Angela and I had our photos taken by a man with really fascinating eyebrows. Here's some pics of us arting at the booth:

Mr. Giant Wax Dragon will be done sometime in April, we think, and will have casts made out of him. He's on a 6x6 base and 16ish inches tall, which means that you could theoretically use him as Colossal D&D mini.

Where the Hell Did All This Art Come From?

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:36:29 GMT

I barely remember drawing most of this stuff. The hell?

Imagine all the printing

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:33:48 GMT

Last night, the Epson 2200 was pronounced either dead or in critical condition. I'll try to salvage it after the con, and see if maybe some refurber on Ebay wants a printer with a possibly clogged head and a CIS. The ink's prolly worth a bit, too.

Today I went to Staples and bought a new Epson 1400. Dye-based ink, rather than pigment, because I'm tired of dealing with clogs and they've got the longevity up. How amazing, to turn on a printer and make a print without swearing, running three cleaning cycles, printing a nozzle test, and getting covered in ink spatters. In general, the prints are a touch dark, and heavy on the magenta, but that can easily be fixed. Print-tasticness is underway. (Sun Carolyn - I have your dragon!)

Con on Thursday, have mild crud -already-. Printyprintyprinty.

Getting the Printer Back Online

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 03:53:19 GMT

The short of it: I now own a lot more screwdrivers, there are fewer screws than when I started, and you can find anything you need at Farm and Fleet.
The long of it:

If you were thinking about getting a CIS (continuous inking system) and you do not literally print every day (not just hope you will, not print every couple of days), or you ever need to move your printer again, don't. I have one, and I'll deal with it, but I fix my printer a LOT (you may have noticed!) (also, lots of parentheses).

Provided I can get the head unclogged again, which is always a trial, it should be up and running, however. If not, I'll Ebay the corpse for what I can get out of it and buy a new damned printer.

Good news for Lex (and possibly others): I do have a high res file of Death and the Rodent, if prints are desirable.

The ink, the terrible ink!

EMG Zine

gracedpalmer@gmail.com — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:30:52 GMT

I'm the cover art at EMG-Zine this month. The theme is rats!
Our Lady of Narrow Spaces is tucked away in the gallery, too.
There are some fun articles up, and toeknuckles has an excellent painting walkthrough up (painting glass is scary!)