Experimenting with screen-casting of me drawing in photoshop.
Some drawing
Reply
Author Archives: Megan
Altered Art: Sleeping Surprise
Clint is a huge fan of the Alien movies. So I knew I needed to keep my eye out for any paintings that I could add aliens into. When I saw this one, I knew I needed to do something with it. Those girls…. the did NOT look like their sleep was anything natural. What could have happened to them? Hmmm.
Here is the before and after:
The original painting is “The Sleeping Beauty” by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. It is a bigger painting, I think about 24″x48″. Acrylics painted over the poster board print. It is now hanging in the hallway by our front door. And I love that you have to glance at it twice before noticing the facehuggers.
UPDATED: Website changes
Pardon my dust as I do some changes to the website!
UPDATED: Okay, I think I have all the kinks worked out, but let me know if you find anything wonkey!
Camp NaNoWriMo July report
I spent the month of July doing something I’ve never done before. Writing a novel. Well, to be accurate, I wrote half a novel–50,000 words worth.
I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo (Nation Novel Writing Month), a summer version of the original November version of NaNoWriMo. This year there are two camps, on in July, and a second round in August. When I heard about Camp in March, I knew that I had to participate. No more excuses.
I took the time to work up an outline, character studies, etc. And then jumped in when July 1st rolled around. My original goal was not only to “win” by writing 50,000 words in 30 days, but also to actually complete the story, which I thought would take something closer to 60-70,000 words.
I quickly realized that writing 2,000 was going to be harder than I thought, even with my detailed outline. Especially since I’d never written every single day before. I told myself that if I managed to get the 50,000 words done by July 30, I would considered it a victory.
I fell behind in the third week, just about the time my outline came off the rails. Suddenly my character decided to do what she wanted.
It was hard. Harder than I thought. Even the scenes that I had very clear in my mind were hard to get onto the paper.
I found it took me longer to “get in the grove” of writing than I thought. And I had to fight very hard to tune out my inner editor, who screamed at me to go back and fix the sentence I had just written.
But, in the end, I did it. I spent the last three days glued to the key board, ignoring my friends and husband, and managed to catch up and validate.
To reward myself, I’m allowing the editor loose on the first several chapters of the book that need to be seriously reworked. My goal is to get those chapters fixed and back in line with the plot changes my strong willed character insisted on.
And then, I’m going to go for round two in August. This time, I’m going to rebel, and not be concerned so much with the final word count at the end of month, but focus on getting the first draft completed.
Thrift Store Altered Art
So, yes, I’ve jumped on the band wagon. The principle is: find some old/bad/unloved art from a thrift store. Buy it, and then add your own addition to the image, turning into something completely different. And hopefully more interesting.
When a friend of mine Susanne was looking for something to hang on her empty wall, this method came to mind. Her and her husband are big into robots. So I hit up the local Savers and found the perfect framed lithograph from the 70′s. It was only $3. Perfect!
The design of the robot was based on an image I love “Come, Come Little One” by Szymon Biernacki. Since this was really just an experiment, I didn’t anticipate how much I would love the final produce. Therefore I failed to take a before picture. Whoops. But I was able to find the original image online (the version I bought had been cropped down to a much smaller portion of the photo):
I loved the result so much. It was so much fun to add these guys into the picture, and the challenge of matching the color tones and style was delightful. Then another friend Erin gave me the idea: TARDIS. I hit up Goodwill on my way home from work, and picked up another few images.
The original art was a photo print of a painting by Gregory F. Harris. I used acrylics to add in the TARDIS and K-9 and sealed the whole thing with varnish. Print available here. Before and after:
I am hooked. I foresee many more of these in my future. Oh yes. I am bursting with idea. And it combines two of my favorite hobbies. Painting. And “junking” as my Grandma would call it.
Here are some other artist’s thrift store alterations.
Source: twistedsifter.com via Megan on Pinterest
Source: veryirie.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest
Source: blog.makezine.com via Megan on Pinterest
Forest paintings
Here a few paintings I finished recently. They were inspired by my visit to see my family in Maryland a few weeks ago.
Wooded stream: 8×10 acrylic paint on canvas board.
Stone Stairs: 5×7 acrylic on canvas board
A new WIP and I’ve gone a bit crazy
It has been….a really long time since I sat down at the computer to do some art. Some of that because my computer has been brain-less for months. And lots of stuff going on in the real world that has been zapping my energy. So I’ve been in a little bit of a dry spell creatively.
But, now, I’m back! The main thing fueling my creative juices at the moment, is that I’ve decided to stop making excuses, and participate in Camp NaNoWriMo this year. I hate that NaNoWriMo is in November. I have to many things going on at the holidays to even consider taking a month off to write a novel. But then my friend Joi pointed out that they have started Camp NaNoWriMo, which takes place in June and August. Alas, there go my excuse.
So, I am in the midst of finished up an outline for a book I plan to write in June. I really really just want to complete at least one book before I die. Many if I have a chance, but I’ve got to get over my block and finish the first.
My notes have been filled with sketches of the characters and pieces. I’ve worked out a thumbnail for what I would like to do for the cover, when the book is done. (Note, I have no idea what I’m calling this book yet.)
I will probably work on the cover after finishing the outline, to give myself a break. I would like to have it done before I start writing, so I have some visual motivation/inspiration for the story. In addition to the cover sketch, I started painting a picture of the main character. I won’t give away any details, but I will say she is pissed off in this picture, I don’t want to be in the shoes of the person she is glaring at. I may get it done tomorrow.
