Original Art Sundays (Monday) No. 371: Last Sharp Invitation covers

 Been a few weeks, yes? I've been obsessively preparing for tabling at Autoptic this coming weekend. I have tabled numerous cons, but this is the first time I've tabled my own work. It's exciting and a bit intimidating.

To that end, I've been printing books like a madwoman. Formatting, reformatting, conferring with my printer. Where did that file go? Oh yeah, here it is. All done!

Since the 64 page chapter on Curt in Sharp Invitations is complete, I have decided to print it as a stand-alone book. In case you don't recall, this is the chapter on domestic abuse and survival. It is titled The Last Sharp Invitation, and it will still be included in the larger book.

I did two covers for it. Here was the first thought.

This was inspired by a Coles Phillips painting. It's a combination of ink, walnut ink, colored pencil and marker. There was a lot I liked about it, but it didn't have a direct connection to the story, so I decided to go in a different direction.

This is more intimate. Possibly it's too quiet for a cover image, but it does relate to a scene in the book. I used the first image as an annotated back cover. Typography and trade dress were added in InDesign.

The book has been printed and will be available at Autoptic on Saturday, August 17 at Coffman Union. I'm proud of it and eager to share it with you. Come on by!

Original Art Sundays No. 371: Inktober '23, Day One

 This promises to be a very hectic week: midterms, two concerts and a visit from my sweetheart. Yeah, I know, first world problems. Be that as it may, I did want to get art posted, whether I had time for a new page today or not. As Inktober has begun, here's Day One!

This was inspired by a panel from the Phil Jiminez chapter of Wonder Woman: Historia. Rather than to try to bring my modest skills to the pinnacle of Phil's work, I made a couple modifications to make it my own.

The core concept, poses and basic layout are all Phil's, of course. Somewhere along the way, I garnished a small stack of Canson colored papers. I noticed by sepia inks, which got quite a workout during Inktober last year, and inspiration struck. I've been fascinated by the notion of white color pencil highlights on color stock, so that came into play as well. Not sure if the clouds are working, but they were a whim, and I'm fine with them as such.

Last two years, I made it through the whole month of Inktober. I hope to make it 3:3 this year. As with past years, I don't give two figs about the suggested prompts. I just want to try to stretch myself as an artist, as an inker, and see where it takes me. 

Tools:

• Canson textured paper
• 4B lead and holder
• Rubber eraser
• 2 shades of sepia ink
• Pen nib and holder
• Connoisseur Series  7 Kolinksy brush # 0
• White colored pencil

Next: More Inktober, the next page of Sharp Invitations, or possibly both!

Original Art Sundays No. 254: Sharp Invitations, Cover Preliminary

Bad news, folks. My Adobe license is down. This was discovered just now. I'm reasonably certain I can get the situation remedied tomorrow.
Until then, here's a piece to tide you over.
This is a quick painting I did on Wednesday. I have plans to add typography to it as soon as software permits. I suppose I could try doing so in Word, but it somehow seems- well, dirty.
I have two different ideas for the execution of this piece. It was originally intended as an alternative cover for Sharp Invitations, but something happened that may modify that. More on that later.
Here's the painting.

Materials:
Windsor Newton colored inks
Aquabee 80# Rough finish watercolor paper
Richeson Synthetic fan brush #8
Richeson Synthetic brushes #2, 4, 4 Filbert
lead holder, eraser
More soon. Glitch solution imminent, I hope.