Merry Foxmas

Cards! Banners! Miscellaneous other things!

First, a new card design that I'm counting as a spring 2011 design, because it's kind of spring-ish and spring 2010 is long past.

It came about when I was working on (finally) finishing my fox girl banner design for my soon-to-be-something-you-can-look-at anime project. First, the banner:

Which then became a digital illustration (which was supposed to be neatly sized to work as a card that would fit in a standard business-size envelope, but looking at it now, I think I put the dimensions in wrong):

Then I realized the bamboo would be lovely as a letterpress element. I added a fox design that started life as an illustration for a intaglio project (as yet unfinished, though the actual prints are done--maybe I'll get it done in time for the holidays), then got adapted for a jewellery project I'm planning to attempt (the bits are laid out on my worktable, but I haven't tackled them yet). Now it's a card element. I'm thinking about maybe using the fox with other background elements to make a seasonal series. Maple for fall, snowy bare branches for winter, tall golden grass for summer? Yes, I think I'll do that.

And, speaking of foxes, I finally remembered to take an in-progress shot of the snowflake-catching holiday fox. Here's a few of them on my messy table, with just the black.

In a normal printmaking situation, I'd actually print the black (or key [hence the K in CMYK]) plate last, but because the red and blue plates don't register to each other and I don't want to waste the amount of cardstock necessary to add registration marks, I need the black down first so I can see where to put the other two. (In printmaking, you generally print lightest to darkest, though that can vary depending on how you want the colours to lay on top of one another.)

Other than that, I have a print job to be paid for, one to deliver, and one coming up to order paper for (which I really ought to have done today, but forgot). Also possibly a binding job (which I was supposed to email someone about, and also forgot). Three more wood type letterpress classes, during which I hope my students will have time to do a second small project once their cards are done. (And I know that was not actually a sentence.)

And two more images: the small, acrobatic thief who raids our bird seed.

Teaching and Foxes and Other Things

So one of the things that's been occupying my time lately is teaching. I'm teaching a wood type letterpress class at the Dawson Printshop for NSCAD Extended Studies. We've had two out of the six weekly classes so far and I'm having fun. I hope my students are also having fun. I haven't had the presence of mind so far to remember my camera or even snap some photos with my phone, but one of my students and fellow Bookbinding Etsy Street Team member (and also fellow Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild member, I believe) Rhonda Miller has some posts about the class on her blog here and here.

If all goes well, I should be teaching an intro letterpress class (metal type, I think, though I don't know for sure yet) in the winter/spring semester). I'm hoping this is the start of a regular schedule of classes and workshops at the Dawson.

And speaking of the Dawson Printshop (and CBBAG), we'll have a table at Word on the Street in Halifax this Sunday, so if you're in the Spring Garden Road area, drop by and see us (and hope it doesn't rain). I think there will be a small tabletop press going with some of the cuts from the collection available to pint your own keepsake.

I've also made a little progress on my fox girl illustration (which I had hoped to have finished ages ago). I'm still getting used to colouring in Photoshop, as you can no doubt tell. The background is a placeholder again, until I figure out what I actually want to do with it (probably something fairly plain, as it's going to be on a long top-of-the-page banner on a website). The background image is a photograph by Brian Jefferey Beggerly of the Fushimi Inari Shrine (used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license), processed in Photoshop (yes, using a filter--how tacky).

And in other news, I finally got a rejection letter from Cricket magazine for a story I submitted a million years ago.

Niko Does Anime (and a Fox Girl)

I had intended my next post to be either a new in-progress image of the steampunk satyrs or something letterpress. Alas, I haven't started printing my letterpress projects yet as I somehow got almost no sleep last night and decided an hour+ drive to and from Halifax was probably not the best idea. So I'll start on that tomorrow. And the satyrs illustration got pre-empted by a banner image for another project I started working on, which I'll explain more later, when I have more to show.

In the meantime, the image I'm working on for the banner . . . It's for an anime-related project, so I wanted anime/manga style art (which is not my forte). To my surprise, I ended up with a sketch I really liked. So I inked it, scanned it, cleaned it up a bit, and got this:

Now I'm in the process of colouring it in Photoshop. I have the flats done, and am about to start adding shading and highlights.

I'm going to keep the image quite flat, so it will (I hope) resemble an animation still, rather than going for the fully-painted look. The background colour is just a place-holder. I'm either going to add some stylized foliage or maybe process a stock image of an Inari shrine somehow. I haven't decided yet. Also, it will be rather more banner-shaped. I'll post again when the image is done and the project is something you can actually see.

Fox Holiday Card 2010 Digital Proof

Keep in mind that the colours aren't set (especially the sky), and that a digital proof really only gives a general idea of what the card will look like letterpress printed and in person (because so much of the appeal of the card is in its tactility and debossing) . . .

I call it "Catching Snowflakes." I hope to get it printed next week, but that will depend on how quickly I can get finished the actual paying print jobs I have. There are two--one very small, and one small in number of pieces, but large in number of press runs. Once those are done, I can work on this card.

Holiday Card 2010 Sketch (Fox!)

I'm planning to drive into Halifax several days next in the next couple of weeks to print at the Dawson Printshop, as I may (or may not) have a small print job. To make it worth the trip, and to get myself to stop being so lazy, I need to get my own work ready to go and print at the same time. Which means I need to get my files for polymer plates sent to film by the end of the week.

I have two holiday card ideas: the fox below and one with a squid and a pulp magazine theme, which I may or may not be able to pull off.

Now I have to figure out the exact proportions and boundaries of the card, and decide on colours. I'm thinking black, red and something very transparent and almost colourless (possibly a blue). The tongue should really be pink, but I'm not sure I want to do a whole separate press run for that. I usually try to keep multi-colour cards to three colours for the sake of economy. Two is even better.

I'm also starting to plan my 2011 letterpress calendar. It would be nice to have it finished in time for the Halifax Crafters sale this year (assuming I go). Last year I had a couple of pages done and took pre-orders and emails, but I think I could have sold a lot more if I'd had them done and on the table. It'll be similar to last year's, and I may even re-use the same wood type and number plates, but I'll use different colours and images, and maybe even a different proportion for the pages.

So what I'm thinking is cephalopods (that is, octopus, squid, cuttlefish, nautilus) OR rayguns. They'll be my own drawings this time, instead of vintage images. Anyone out there have any preference? Or a better idea? Someone on Facebook suggested cephalopods with rayguns, which I like, but it might be a bit over the top.

Word Counting

Testing out a little word count widget, to see if it'll help motivate me to write. . .

White Foxes, Full Moon

The Fabulous Forays of Aeryn Daring: A Serial Novel

Something to put in the sidebar, perhaps. . .

Satyrs, Again

I decided to tackle the colouring of my steampunk satyrs digitally (though I may also do a pen/ink and watercolour version later. Here's the cleaned-up scan of the pencils.

I have to decide now if I want to add the background elements first, then colour, or colour, do a background separately, and then drop the one on the other.

Work in Progress: Steampunk Satyrs

On the drawing board (or, rather, in the sketchbook):

Now I have to decide if I'll scan it and attempt digital colouring, or transfer it to watercolour paper and do pen and ink with watercolour. Or both.

Also, I need a background. I'm thinking a vague futuristic cityscape with neo-Victorian and Atomic Age elements. Too bad I'm worse at cityscapes than I am at clothes.

A Few New Books: Fans and Rayguns

I added a couple of things to the Etsy shops today, items I've been working on over the last little bit.

One is the first of a series of little raygun journals. You may recognize them as the monochrome spectrum books I posted a while back, only with monochrome paper rayguns on the covers.

The black one (way above) is now listed in my anagramforink Etsy shop, and the white one (above) will probably go up tomorrow. The actual spectrum of colours will follow soon after.

I've also got a handful of little greeting cards with the same motif, only in more colourful versions. I'll post more about those in a few days, once I get organized and get them posted for sale.

Second, I finished and posted a transforming book. Well, not really, but it works as both a blank journal and a fan. It arose from me complaining about the heat and BillyZ saying, in jest, that I should make myself a book-fan (or fan-book). So I did. The blue one (above) is now listed in my WhiteRavenArts Etsy shop. The red/gold one (below) will remain unlisted until I order some brass screw posts which I plan to do soon, as soon as I decide what else I can't live with from the same supplier.

[BFG] Recent Reading: Mostly Manga

You know, for some reason I thought I had a lot more books I started ages ago and finally finished to put on the list this time, but actually there are none. Well, one novel that took me a while to get through, I guess. But I see I've mostly bee reading comics lately, and most of those comics are manga. There is a reason for that, and for some of my other reading, that I'm not quite ready to reveal, but more on that later, maybe.

22. Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi (fiction) buy from amazon
    
    I like anime, as you may have figured out, and sometimes I like to find the original sources of favourite films and series. Often it's manga, but almost as often, it's a novel. Vampire Hunter D was one of the first anime movies I saw (though not the first anime--that would be G-Force), and while it's actually not very good, it has those gorgeous designs by Yoshitaka Amano. Well, the novel isn't very good, either. In fact, it may be worse. Sure, it evokes some delicious weird futuristic horror, but that's in spite of the terrible prose. Which may be an indication that the original Japanese novel is quite good and it's the translation that's lacking. I don't know, but it's well enough liked that the novel got 20 sequel novels. I haven't decided if the weird atmosphere and Amano's drawings are enough to get me to pick up another one. 
    
    
23. Once by James Herbert (fiction) buy from amazon
    
    Once, I probably would have liked this novel, but now it just feels like something other writers have done before, and better. I think it's because it seems like Herbert thought fairies would be a cool thing to use in horror novel, but doesn't have much invested in it. What I mean is, fairies are cool, but they're a decoration. Er, not that's not quite right. And I may very well be totally wrong. Anyway, it was an OK book, but not one I'll ever read again.
    
24. White Cat by Holly Black (fiction) buy from amazon
    
    Now here's one I'll treasure and read over and over. I loved Black's faerie urban fantasies, but this time she goes for magic, curses and conmen. Very cool, and I'm so looking forward to the next book.
    
25. Spice and Wolf Volume 1 by Isuna Hasekura, art by Keito Koume (comics) buy from amazon
    
    In this case, I haven't actually watched the anime yet (it's in the to-watch pile, though). I started with volume 1 of the manga, but I've also got the first two novels waiting on the shelf. The art is lovely, the story is engaging, and the worldbuilding is pretty well-done. This is a series I'll add to my regular books (or, at least, the ones I keep trying to catch up on, since "regular" is not a term applicable to my comic-shop trips seeing as I live in the sticks).
    
26. Shaman Warrior Volume 4 by Park Joong-ki (comics) buy from amazon
    
    And this is one of those "regular books" I keep trying to catch up on. I haven't found very many Korean comics I like, and I'm not sure why. Possibly because the ones that get published in English are usually the ones that most closely imitate Japanese comics instead of going their own way (I may be wrong about that, and it might just be the comics I happen to have looked at). But Dark Horse seems to be really good at choosing books to translate. Shaman Warrior has a similar combination of gorgeous art, intense action and gripping storytelling that made me love Blade of the Immortal (not Korean, but also published by Dark Horse). Plus the beautiful covers are irresistible.
    
27. Bone: The Great Cow Race by Jeff Smith (comics) buy from amazon
    
    I couldn't remember how far I'd got in this sweet, funny fantasy comic, so I started with volume 2 again. Plus, it was what I found at the library in Truro (checked out with my shiny new Colchester County library card). This is a great all-ages book with plenty to delight kids, and intelligent writing for grown-ups.
    
28. How to Spot a Fox by J. David Henry (non-fiction) buy on amazon
    I love foxes, and this slender book is full of very cool info (including advice for wannabe fox biologists) and fantastic photos. This was also a Truro library find.
29. American, Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (comics) buy from amazon
    
    Love this book. Simple, cartoony, but skillful drawings and quiet storytelling. I wish I didn't have to take it back to the library, because I will definitely want to read it again.
    
30. Anime Explosion by Patrick Drazen (non-fiction) buy from amazon
    
    Ignore the terrible cover and read this book if you're interested in anime. It's one of those rare scholarly-level books that are also completely accessible to the casual reader. It's got thematic chapters, like sex, religion, war, mothers, death and the like, and chapters on specific series and/or creators. This is the second time I've read it, and I only wish there was an updated version.
    
31. xxxHolic Volume 9 by CLAMP (comics) buy from amazon
    
    Here's another series I'm slowly trying to catch up on. Though I can't say I've loved everything CLAMP has ever done, they do tend to make interesting stories with super-stlyish character designs. Plus, this one crosses over occasionally with the next item on the list. Oh, and there are oden-selling foxes and a creature called a pipe fox that I really, really wish was real because I want one!
    
32. Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle Volume 9 by CLAMP (comics) buy from amazon
    
    Another stylish book from CLAMP that I'm hopelessly behind on. This series is (sort of) connected to Cardcaptor Sakura. I've actually read this volume once before, but there's no "previously . . ." blurb, so I went back to refresh my memory a bit before continuing the series.
    
33. Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle Volume 10 by CLAMP (comics) buy from amazon
    
    
    And after volume 9, I kept on reading . . .
    
34. Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle Volume 11 by CLAMP (comics) buy from amazon
    
    . . . and reading
    

And about those "buy from amazon" links, it's the usual affiliate deal. Buy something via those links and I get a little bit of money from the sale. I solemnly swear that any money I get will go towards more books and geeky things to write about here. Total amount made from amazon so far = $0. Yay! Also, I use the image ones primarily to have pretty pictures on the blog.