CrashOctopus Blog

Nautilus macromphalus by Meg Lyman

11×14″ gouache on Pastelbord

$225 - e-mail to buy

I am beginning to think I set unrealistic goals at the beginning of the year. I underestimated the amount of time required for things like, say, putting my house on the market. It has been hugely time-consuming. However, having that list of goals has helped keep me motivated during the long, full days, even if I’m not perfectly on track to finish everything.

N. macromphalis WIP 1: Background. See this post for my laments about Pastelbord, the Magical Brush Eater. The cheap synthetic brush I used to complete the painting held up surprisingly well.

Here are the goals and my 1st Quarter commentary.

• Register my business by March - Done. I want to frame the certificate.
• Redo this blog to greatly expand its content and interactivity - Not done. I had hoped to finish this by now, but… yeah. Still in the works, and I’ve actually done some coding.
• Trim my website into a portfolio - See above, re: coding.
  
• Time all my projects with the new stopwatch Santa got for me - Doing. Doesn’t work nearly as well when I have 5 projects going at once…
• Complete the 100 Cephalopods project - No way is this going to happen. I have a grand total of 2 done. Commissions got in the way. Working for dollars is way better than working on spec, though, so I’m not bummed about missing this one.
• Promote my art on MySpace, etc. - Slowly working on that. Check out my MySpace page if you’re into that sort of thing.
• Do 10 shows and/or conventions - Going to happen! I have done four already and the rest are planned out.

N. macromphalus WIP 2: Whites. I didn’t do much planning for this piece. For example, I hadn’t planned to push the boundaries of color. These are all supposed to be shades of white, but at this stage I kept thinking, “Looks like metal. Maybe I should change the name to Robo-nautlius.”

I have done something list-worthy that was never an explicit goal of mine: I’m getting faster. I knew this would come eventually with practice, but I was pleasantly surprised when I realized it’s already happening. It took a friend saying, “you’re getting faster” for me to notice. Duh.

N. macromphalus WIP 3: Almost done. The oranges really balanced the blues and made the whole thing look properly organic. Nautilus, check. But the background was distracting. I took a sponge to it, which did the trick. Pastelbord is also the Magical Sponge Eater, and I spent 15 minutes picking bits of sponge off the painting.

Another list-worthy mention: I’m making a conscious effort to work on my style. Maggie and Rita encouraged me, and I worked out a list of things that make my paintings “mine.” One of those things, which had never occurred to be before (and never would have without this exercise) is that I love to use warm browns and oranges and cool blues and greys in combination. This may or may not be related to my love of da Bears.

So, that’s where I am after the first quarter of 2008. How are y’all doing in terms of goals this year?

Another week, another delicious dark beer. This week it’s Lion Head Stout. I don’t know what brewery it’s from, because the bottles are long gone, although I recall it being imported from the Caribbean. Anyway, it’s heavy and musty… almost reminiscent of the odor in a barn, or the lion house at the zoo. But in a good way. Really. It’s slightly sweet, but sharp in the middle and has a slightly bitter aftertaste. Pleasant and refreshing overall. Pretty darn good beer.

Ratings:
M: 8
N: 8.5

Gilded Pelican by Meg Lyman

6×8″ gouache on matboard

$50 - e-mail to buy

Remember last month when I talked about meeting with some fabulous people to discuss illustrations for a children’s book? Well, good news! We rearranged my standard contract several times, got it to everyone’s liking, and signed it. I’m currently on the hook for some character development, and if it goes well, full illustrations. Exciting! Busy! Challenging!

I have already started the back-and-forth with sketches, and it’s such an interesting process. I’m learning so much. I won’t get into specifics since nothing is finished yet, but if you have questions, ask away.

Jesus Toucan by Meg Lyman

Digital (vector art done in Inkscape)

Happy Zombie Jesus Day to all! In celebration of this widely-celebrated holiday, have a holy toucan. If you are disinclined to celebrate this day because of your religion, or lack thereof… then here! Have some satire.

This came about because of Jesus Squid. It’s all his fault, and I can see this potentially snowballing out of control, until cute little haloed animal silhouettes are running amok and requiring that we all pay them homage with various morsels of food and bits of our souls.

If you haven’t seen Jesus Squid, there’s a bit of a progression. First, I wanted something very simple; I’m a sucker for simple elegance. Jesus Squid #1 looks like this:

I got several comments saying “it looks like a bird!” and the response, when asked which, was overwhelmingly “toucan.” There was one crow. Anyway, I decided to refine it so nobody would mistake it for an avian:

Good. People liked this one better. It was unequivocally “squid.” Success!

Jesus Toucan has been lurking in the back of my brain since, so I finally got it out. The whole thing made me wonder, yet again, at the nearly infinite ways that viewers will interpret a piece of art. As an artist, you see what you want it to be. Sometimes you’ve been staring at it for so long that you can’t see obvious errors (which is why critique is so valuable), let alone an entirely different interpretation. It’s sort of like the optical illusion with the faces and vases - you see one immediately, and it takes some effort and brainpower to see the other. That the same thing happens with art is fascinating to me. It’s even more pronounced with abstract art, of course, but it’s amazing that it happens at all when the subject is fairly clear-cut.

As an artist, what different (or strange?) interpretations have viewers had of your art? As a viewer, what have you seen that the artist, or other viewers, didn’t?

I can’t for the life of me remember where I tried this beer, but in the spirit of the recently celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, I present: Beamish Genuine Irish Stout.

Unsurprisingly, it’s very much like Guinness… but with more flavor. I am sorry if you’re a Guinness fan, but it’s so very bland that it’s easy for a stout to improve on it. That said, it’s a good “drinking” beer, although I got fairly toasted on St. Patty’s Day and had the worst Guinness hangover ever on Tuesday.

Anyway, Beamish has a tiny tang and bite, which make it a little more bitter than Guinness, but just as smooth and creamy. A tasty alternative and another salute to Irish beermongery.

Ratings:
M: 7.5
N: 7.5

Lady and the Tramp Squids by Meg Lyman

8×10″ graphite OmegaCon doodle; SOLD

OmegaCon was a first year fantasy/sci-fi convention in Birmingham. I had art in the art show and a table in the dealer’s room next to the Wandering Men. The dealer’s room was huge and fabulous and the turnout was phenomenal. The art show organization was abysmal, but it all worked out in the end.

I sold enough to cover my food and my half of a hotel room, which is more than I was expecting! Most of my sales were prints and originals. I took some older illustrations (~5 years old), because they were on-topic for a fantasy convention, and actually sold some of those old ones! It doesn’t hurt to try, especially if your prices are reasonable for older work (unless your old work is really horrible). I didn’t put any old art in the show - it was all in a binder at my table. I was pleased to see it sell but a bit hesitant putting old work out there, even if it was hiding in a binder.

What are your thoughts on selling older work?

Striped Pajama Squid (Sepioloidea lineolata) ACEO by Meg Lyman

Ink on ACEO cardstock

$15 - e-mail to buy

I challenge you to find a cuter invertebrate with a cuter name. I have plans for a bigger one of these guys, matching them up with Atkinson’s Peanut Butter Bars.

I bet they’re tasty, too.

Remember last year when I posted about accuracy of sky color and mentioned a painting I was working on? Well, I finished that painting in time to get it professionally photographed before delivering it a Christmas gift. I finally picked up the CD from the printer, so now I can share it with you. Finally.

Chicago from the Lake by Meg Lyman

12×24″ oil on canvas

SOLD - Limited Edition Canvas Giclee prints available

The biggest lesson I learned from the experience was: gesso your canvas before use. Even the pre-gessoed ones. I had one strip of canvas that would not hold onto the paint. It lifted off even after drying for several days. I nearly tore out my hair. *sigh*

Canvas doesn’t scan terribly well because of its 3-D texture. And most canvas is too big for household scanners. So I had my pals at Silver Dog Digital photograph it for me. Apparently it was tough because I used a lot of medium on the top layer and it dried all shiny. Pretty, but a bitch to photograph, with all those specular highlights.

They also printed it up (archival) on canvas, full-size, and stretched the canvas for me. Actually, they did it twice, since the first one’s color was wonky, but only charged me for one. (This is a sign of a good printer. And the more I order from them, the more perks I get. Yesterday I was waiting for some prints to finish, and the owner let me watch Transformers on his iPhone.) Varnish, frame, sign and number, print a certificate of authenticity, which is required in GA for large reproductions, and I was set. Now I just have to sell it, and cover the cost of the photograph, the canvas print, and the stretching. It was a simple process and the print is full of awesome.

Last night I had a tasty beer at a pub that led me to a quandary. I had Belhaven Scottish Cream Ale, on tap. It was tasty and dark and sweet and complex. I liked.

I came back home and looked at my massive spreadsheet o’ beer and discovered why the name looked familiar - I’ve had Belhaven Scottish Ale in the bottle. It’s dark and tart and bitter, with a hint of sweet in the middle. It wasn’t bad for a Scottish ale, but not my favorite. Granted, it’s been a while since I had the bottled version, and the name isn’t exactly the same, but the two tasted very different. Hmm, beer quandary…

Rating:
Bottle: 5.5
Tap: 8.5

Have some Irish beer this week. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Pucktopus by Meg Lyman

SOLD - traded with an artist friend

Did you know the fans throw octopus on the ice at Detroit Red Wing Games? Did you also know that I won a game of Trivial Pursuit with that particular tidbit?