CrashOctopus Blog

The Devotee by Meg Lyman

8×10″ gouache on matboard

SOLD

Another con, another good time! If you’re going, stop by my table in Artists Alley and say “hi!”

It was a rousing success! I had such a fun time. I’m still exhausted, though… so I will share the new art and adventures with you this weekend.

In the meantime, check out my kick-butt octopus corset from Marvelous Mayhem! I hope to get better photos of it soon.

Steampunk Octopus by Meg Lyman

Notecard-sized gouache and ink on paper

SOLD

And actually made some cash and had fun! A rousing success!

This was the most fun I’ve had at a convention since Con on the Cob ’06. I’m glad I covered my expenses, but what really matters is being with all those awesome people. Highlights:

• Giggling girl art homework party
• Watching the AMAZING Pittsburgh fireworks from our room on the 22nd floor
• Seeing Tekfox do his DJ thing. He rocks the Drum and Bass genre.
• Receiving art from so many different cool people, via trades, gifts, and purchases
• Doing a commission of a squid-colored-like-a-puffin! I need to look into doing cephalopod in striking animal patterns. :D

And 8 of my 12 pieces sold in the art show (one to one of my favorite artists). I am overwhelmed with happy. Thank you, everyone!

Another quick digital sketch, companion to this one. Tried to increase the contrast, but also had a fun time exploring complimentary colors + opacity to create the shadows.

I am in crazy con preparation mode again. Anthrocon is next weekend! I have all my “preorders” done, meaning people who ordered small commissions to pick up at the convention. All I need to do now is pick out art show pieces and pack.

I have several step-by-step posts to show you in the near future. I have this “small character commission with no background” thing down to a science.

Shy Anteater by Meg Lyman

4×5″ gouache and ink on paper

SOLD

Wow, I’ve been quiet! It’s not for lack of motivation, though. I’ve been super busy. It’s convention season, and I’m getting ready for so much – asking for preorders, getting prints made and matted, updating prices and signs, and packing. I also just got back from Washington, where I visited my 98-year-old grandmother, who is a constant inspiration to me about how to life a happy life. I’ll show you some (hopefully) fantastic photos from the trip once I get them developed.

Busy busy! I just got back from Rocket City Fur Meet, which went fairly well sales-wise. I have several commissions to do and a website to finish and I noticed I broke my blog pictures for the older posts. :/  I’ll try to get that fixed soon. In the meantime, have a cute squid!

I’m going! It’s been crazy prep this week for FWA, where I’ll be volunteering in the Art Show and selling things in Artists Alley. Plus I’m mailing art in to Imagicon, which is the next weekend. I did all Limited Edition prints for the show. It’s so much easier (and affordable for the buyer) than sending originals. CRAZY!

Plus I have 6 new little oil paintings to show you soon. They’re all half done because the oil takes so freakin’ long to dry. But it’s worth it.

I’m back, and in one piece! Conventions are really good for the artistic soul; I got a lot of art done, and I’m inspired. That’s the good news. The bad news is, I had a lot of free time to do art.

Not sure if it’s the economy or what, but I sold very little. Nothing went in the art show, and I barely made enough at the table to cover the cost of renting it. I was thinking that merchandise was the way to go, since art is a luxury item – put it on stuff people can use! But I sold not one t-shirt. They went like hotcakes at Dragon*Con. I still haven’t figured out the ebb and flow of cons and art purchases. I may never figure it out.

But! I met some cool people. I sat next to the neatest gal, and bought some beautiful handmade jewelry from her. This stuff is art as much as it is jewelry. She puts so much time and love into her pieces and each one is unique and has a story. Go check her out at Moonkist Designs. There’s not a whole lot on the website, but she’ll update it soon.

So… Chattacon 1, Meg 0. But I have a new friend and a knitted Cthulhu. That makes everything worth it. ;)

Still no new art. Still coding. But! Getting ready for Chattacon next weekend in Chattanooga, TN. Maybe see you there???

Also, a quick question. Do you like animated things in websites? I’m considering a new logo design for the new website, and I’m wondering if I should make it a flash animation that plays only once, when the main page loads. What do you y’all think?

One of my Turn-Your-Character-Into-a-Cephalopod Commissions

In the beginning of 2008, I posted a list of goals for the year. Now, with just 4 short weeks left in 2008, I’m revisiting those goals to see how I did. I want to see how realistic they were (to help me set goals for 2009) and to see what was really important to me and my art business.

• Register my business by March

Done last February. Early next year I have to renew it.

• Redo this blog to greatly expand its content and interactivity

Um. Yeah. I have great plans, but when it comes down to it, I’d rather paint than write code. Maybe over Christmas vacation. I’d love to make this thing chock-full of good information and daily content updates.

• Trim my website into a portfolio

Over Christmas. I swear. This is easier than redoing the blog, and probably more important…

• Time all my projects with the new stopwatch Santa got for me

I did pretty well at this, especially for the big paintings. Knowing how long it took helped me figure out how much to charge.

• Complete the 100 Cephalopods project

I did, like, four. This goal was way too ambitious. It’s still on my list, but I think it’s a lifetime goal rather than annual. It’s too time-consuming and not very profitable.

• Promote my art on MySpace, Facebook, etc.

Waiting until I redo the website.

• Obligatory really vague goal: strive to always improve and learn

This one worked! I learned something new with each big project and maintained previously learned skills. That rocked. I highly recommend it. Focus on one small aspect of improvement for each project.

• Do 10 shows and/or conventions

I attended 7 conventions and showed art at 2 others. 9 total, pretty close! I may trim this down next year simply because I ran out of vacation days at work and haven’t visited my grandmas in waaaay too long.

All things considered, I think I did well! Next year may be tough, art-wise, because I recently got engaged (that wasn’t on my 2008 list) and am likely getting married in 2009. YAY! But! Business will grow. Damned if I know how yet, but it will… I promise. Hold me to it.