Holiday Hangover 2012!

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday, cause now we're in for 352 more days of people freaking the eff out because they don't understand Mesoamerican culture at all!

So for the first post of this new year, let's see what I got for Christmas. The short answer is, I got tons of books. Which is fine for me, since, as has been established, I am a huge nerd.



I finally have a decent collection of MC Escher engravings, and I got the companion book to Imaginative Realism and the already-read-and-excellent Hark! A Vagrant! collection. Best of all might be Animal Anatomy; I can finally stop annoying the library since I have my own copy.



More art books! I am under good authority that the Don Hahn book is amazing, but I am curious as hell about the Terryl Whitlatch book and Disney Lost and Found.



My cousins got me a lot of hilarious little gifts. That mug in front has a neat hidden secret:



(The one off to the side is meant to be a Deinonychus. Yeah...)
 
Project Feederwatch!

Week of December 25, 2011:

American Crow 1
Tufted Titmouse 1
Black-Capped Chickadee 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 2
House Sparrow 25

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Sketch of the Day!



Sarcastic comics from me watching the New Year's Rockin' Eve Special are the first drawings of 2012!

A Welcome to New Readers!

To anyone reading this blog after meeting me at Boston Comicon earlier today, welcome! I'm so happy you decided to check my humble little website out. Every page view makes a rainbow in my heart, it really means a lot you don't even know.

I not only showcase my illustrations and sketches here, I also write (an awful lot some would say) about drawing, animation, film, literature, and anything else interesting that comes up. (For example, right now, I'm in the middle of a vintage paleoart kick.) Note that comments are moderated, but welcome. Some of my favorite older features are listed in this anniversary post.

I'll have my Comicon thoughts after they're organized, hopefully there will be a new post this coming Tuesday, maybe a little later and more off-the-cuff than usual. It is going to take me a long time to sort through my freebies, purchases, photos, sketches, and contacts. As always, I've had a lot of fun and met a lot of really awesome people and exchanged lots of business cards with other illustrators. Illustration isn't a very social career choice, so anytime large numbers of artists get to talk face-to-face is wonderful. (Plus, it's like Christmas 2 if you like to read.)

My DeviantArt Page can be found here, and if you'd like your own Awesome Overload shirt, my Zazzle Store is here. (As a word of warning, Zazzle unisex tees run a little large.)

For those of you standing, please hold on to the handrails throughout our journey and stay clear of the doors. Por favor mantangense alejado de las puertas! For the comfort of others, no smoking please. Thank you, and welcome to our highway in the sky!

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Art of the Day!

Instead of the usual sketch of the day, here's a grab-bag of a few character designs and drawings from observation (highlights from my portfolio in other words). These are all from Flickr, so click the image to see it big:

Things I Must Post About!

This is partially for my benefit, partially for you readers to laugh at. I just finished an archive binge on my own blog and here are all the subjects I said I would write more about "someday":

* - WACOM Tablets and why they own so hard.

* - Jeff Smith's Bone. Actually, let's just get this one done: It's very good. Great art, terrific story. Just be aware that this is the kind of graphic novel that starts out like "Pogo" and ends like Dragonlance, and we all know what those are like, right?

* - Executive Meddling. Though I think between Don Bluth Month and the "Alien 3" review, I think that's been adequately covered. If you just can't get enough sad stories about an artist's vision being screwed by the higher-ups, you may read the namesake Trope, or listen to the whole spectacular debacle that the director of the film "Fanboys" suffered in this episode of the /Filmcast.

* - Speaking of: Podcasts! I got another shout-out by the very nice guys at "Science... Sort Of" in a recent episode. I think it's time to return the favor.

* - Obscure and or strange cartoons and shows like the previously and very briefly mentioned 1990's "Land of the Lost" reboot, "Kidd Video," and"Glow Friends".

* - The 1980's "Dinosaur" documentary with Phil Tippet animation and the PBS "Dinosaur" documentary with cel animation.

* - Reviews of illustrated books that somehow influenced me. William Stout's Dinosaurs, Rien Poortvliet's Gnomes, and Wayne D. Barlowe's Expedition.

* - Hazel Hedgehog and the Smurfette Principal. Maybe. Once again, the namesake trope pretty much covers it. Hazel herself is mentioned in the "Comics" section.

* - Classic Ranger Rick, though this is seeming less and less likely, and that makes me sad.

* - "Inception" and how much it melted my face off. Actually, yeah, there's my review. "Inception" = Awesomesauce.

"Trish, this is a movie that is essentially a victory lap for one of your favorite directors, stars an actor you've been a fan of since forever, the rest of the cast is incredible, it has amazing music, a brilliant fight scene unlike anything ever attempted before, and many shout-outs to M.C. Escher and Jungian symbolism and other stuff that you find awesome. And all you have to say about it is, 'It's Awesomesauce'? You know you wrote an entire blog post about a Tinkerbell book..."

Yeah. Yeah I know. It's just that I'm very late to the party and better writers have beaten me to everything interesting I could say about "Inception". I'm pretty sure I don't need to sell the movie to anyone at this point either. And I consider the Tinkerbell review an Old Shame.

By the way, Christopher Nolan was totally robbed. Bad Academy! Bad!

* - Other good 2010 movies I haven't got a chance to review yet and deserve long write-ups because they are underrated/obscure/whatever.

* - MOER OLD PALEOART!!! Especially the tale of Syntarsus (got that ready for Thursday!) and the Simon and Schuster Encyclopedia.

* - "Fraggle Rock" for cryin' out loud! Jim Henson's stuff in general.

* - "Invader Zim" and "Super Mario Brothers"

* - Movies That Are Good But Have a Ton to Answer For.

* - Expensive bird seed failure.

* - Dinosauroids and maybe other weird pop culture paleo-stuff.

* - And maybe this will be the year I write about the classic Christmas specials, yah?

OK, I'm promising nothing, but there's a good long list of subjects. Hopefully "someday" will be "over the next few weeks".

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Art of the Day!

I have updated my DeviantArt ID finally! I don't know, I think Spewey is a good mascot don't you?


DA ID 2011 by ~babbletrish on deviantART

Welcome new readers!

I'll have my Comicon thoughts after they're organized. It is going to take me a long time to sort through my freebies, purchases, photos, sketches, and contacts. As always, I had a lot of fun and met a lot of really awesome people and exchanged lots of business cards with other illustrators. Illustration isn't a very social career choice, so anytime large numbers of artists get to talk face-to-face is fantastic. That feeling of nerdy belonging is very rare.

Plus, it's like Christmas 2 if you like to read.
To anyone joining the Blog after meeting me there, welcome! I'll be writing about drawing, animation, film, literature, and anything else interesting that comes up. For those of you standing, please hold on to the handrails throughout our journey and please stay clear of the doors! Por favor mantangense alejado de las puertas! 😁

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Sketch of the Day!
Finished piece, rather. Meet Smok Wawelski. Click the image for the "all sizes" option.

Welcome new readers from your tired (but very happy) hostess.

As usual, let's have some art (from last year, but still awesome) first. Click to go to the Flickr page and see the larger version.

I'll have my Comicon thoughts after they're organized. Heck, I am probably going to wait until after Halloween and devote the entire next week to it. It is going to take me a long time to sort through my freebies, purchases, photos, sketches, and contacts.
It was a very long and exhausting weekend in general, but I had a lot of fun and met a lot of really awesome people and exchanged lots of postcards with other illustrators. Illustration isn't a very social career choice, so anytime large numbers of artists get to talk face-to-face is fantastic.
I actually ran out of promotional postcards about an hour before I left - but that's definitely a good thing.
To anyone joining the Blog after meeting me there, welcome! I'll be writing about drawing, animation, film, literature, and anything else interesting that comes up. For those of you standing, please hold on to the handrails throughout our journey and stay clear of the doors. For the comfort of others, no smoking please. Thank you, and welcome to our highway in the sky!
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But because it's holiday-appropriate, if Mario and Princess Toadstool are reading, the "Twilight" features can be read here and here.
And if anyone still needs to find a costume for Saturday, I have some last-minute suggestions at The Realm.
I you have a Geocities website, you have until tonight to rescue it!

Spiffy New Layout

I like blue.

Obligatory First Post

Yet another Art Blog in the wide, wild Internet-Land? Why not?