CrashOctopus Blog

8×10″ gouache and ink on Canson paper

You all have been patiently waiting for more cephalopods, so here you go.

Comrade Derptopus by Meg Lyman

~5×10″ mixed media

SOLD

Another odd-size paper experiment. I doodled this derpy guy at work one day, and couldn’t get him out of my brain until I painted him up properly. This doesn’t happen all that often – inspiration strikes all the time, but rarely is it so insistent. Once I finished the painting, I decided he needed borders, and played with acrylic gel medium and Claybord and La Carte and foam core. Interesting lesson: La Carte can be completely denuded with gel medium. I knew it didn’t like moisture, but I didn’t realize I’d end up covered in a cement-like mix of glue and sand. It was fun.

Bonus points if you can decipher my uneducated attempt at Russian half-hidden in the borders.

Marvin the Octopus by Meg Lyman

8×10″ gouache and ink on cold press

SOLD

Fantastically fun commission for a great pair of Kevins!

I still can’t figure out how to get that famous gouache “smooth, flat area of color,” but I admit I haven’t tried all that hard. I did this with washes instead. Turned out OK.

Sometimes I find it easy to experiment when doing commissions, because of the lack of emotional attachment to the subject. But sometimes it’s tough to experiment, because you don’t want to mess up art that people have already paid you to do… dilemmas.

The Gardener by Meg Lyman

5×7″ gouache and ink on Canson paper

SOLD

More commission fun! I’m trying to take fewer commissions so I can focus on my Master Art Plan, but people keep asking me for awesome cephalopod commissions like this! Fun to do and hard to turn down. :)

Toddler Octopus by Meg Lyman

8×10″ gouache and ink on Canson board

SOLD

Dr. Who Squid by Meg Lyman

8×10″ gouache and ink on Canson

SOLD

A commission of a Dr. Who ceph and a TARDIS! Something got lost in translation between the sketch and the final art – straight lines and perspective are tricky like that.

Lunch Surprise by Meg Lyman

1.25″ x 2.5″ oil on Claybord

SOLD

YUM.  eep!

Knight Nautilus by Meg Lyman

Ink and pencil on ACEO paper

SOLD

Wonders by Meg Lyman

Metallic ink on ACEO

$25 – e-mail to inquire about purchase

I feel like this toucan today. There is inspiration in the air. It’s probably because it was a beautiful, full-blown spring weekend, the sun was out, the daffodils were peeking up through the pine needles, and I spent yesterday afternoon out in that beauty, arms deep in my car’s engine compartment. Ahh, spring. Too bad it’s going to get cold and nasty again this week.

I haven’t done much art the last few months, and let’s face it, the end of February is a bit late to be planning the year. The weather is partially to blame. But I also think I needed a break to decide the direction I want to go with my art, which is why it has taken so long to figure out what I want to do with this year.

I doubt now that art is ever going to be my main source of income, and I’m OK with that. A lot of my inspiration isn’t terribly marketable, and I just don’t want to paint things for other people for the rest of my life. Luckily, all my commission work has involved cephalopods so far, which makes it enjoyable, but 1) it doesn’t pay very well and 2) it’s hard to knuckle down and do it when you have a dozen more inspiring ideas clamoring for space in your head. Because of this realization, I decided to do fewer conventions this year. After two years on the circuit, I know which ones are money makers and which are the most fun with friends. I’ll stick to those, and probably mail in art to the rest. Note that most of those I’m attending are in Atlanta, or nearby, which cuts down on expenses.

2010 Convention Schedule

• FWA (Atlanta) – Artist’s Alley, volunteer at the art show
• OutlantaCon (Atlanta) – Dealer’s Table
• Mobicon (Mobile) – Mail in art
• Imagicon (Birmingham) – Mail in art
• RCFM (Huntsville) – Maybe attend with a Dealer’s Table; depends if friends go
• Anthrocon (Pittsburgh) – all in (Dealer’s Table, Art Show)
• Dragon*Con (Atlanta) – all in
• AWA (Atlanta) – all in
• Con on the Cob (Akron) – all in

Other than conventions, I of course want to keep improving my art. I also want to focus my inspiration more in order to refine my style and start giving my art more meaning. Just because I have a vision of a tractor tire nautilus shell doesn’t mean that anyone will buy it. It needs to tell a story or make a point… otherwise, it’s just my subconscious barfing on the canvas. As fun as that is for me, very few other people dig it enough to pay for it.

I’m using mind-mapping to help me focus. Specifically, I’m using the tool “VYM” for Linux. If you are having problems with art block or with inspiration, check out mind mapping. It can be done with a pen and paper, and can really help you filter through your ideas and pick the ones that will take you somewhere. Without it, I probably wouldn’t have posted this plan until July.

Glow-in-the-Dark Shark by Meg Lyman

ACEO, gouache

SOLD

Color experiment!