CrashOctopus Blog

Angularfish by Meg Lyman
Gouache (and glow-in-the-dark acrylic!) on notecard
Going to Anthrocon

At my last convention, I was fishing around for something to doodle. My dear friend asked for an anglerfish. Except she said “angularfish.” It stuck.

It’s Acute Angularfish.

…yes, I’m a nerd.

Music is a big part of life. It is pervasive - almost everywhere we go, we hear it pumping through speakers. Whenever I drive, the music is on. Whenever I’m at home, the music is on. Whenever I’m doing art, the music is on. But unlike other activities, I pay special attention to art music. Do you?

First of all, art is one of the few activities I do that makes me lose track of time. I’ll sit for hours, painting or drawing. I’ll forget to take a drink of my beer, forget that my butt has gone numb, and forget that I was supposed to change the laundry 3 hours ago. But I’ll notice if the music stops. It’ll interrupt even the most intense session. So, I do my best to avoid having to change music during art. Streaming radio, CDs, or hard drives full of MP3s are good for that.

Second, if a song comes on that doesn’t fit my mood, it’ll distract me. That’s the drawback to streaming radio. You can pick a genre, but sometimes you’ll get a song you just don’t like. Then you’re jumping up to change the station every half hour, and that’s not conducive to concentration… plus it’s as annoying as having to flip channels to avoid watching ads. (I’m not the only one who does that… right?)

And finally, music can be so emotionally powerful. A song can fill you with joy, longing, sadness, or despair. You can find a song for any mood, and any painting. Have you ever felt inspired to paint something because of a song? Or have you had ideas rolling around in your head for ages, when all of a sudden, a song comes on… and now you just HAVE to paint that idea?

It’s hard to plan for the moods you’ll be in or moods of the paintings you want to do, but I have a system - I get a good collection of songs for that day set up on my MP3 player, hit “shuffle,” and press play. I make sure the volume knob is handy in case I want to crank something. The emotions associated with music are some of the most powerful feelings I’ve had. They’re up there with beautiful scenery, nature, and being with the people I love. Now if only I could take a vacation with those folks to somewhere isolated with impressive scenery and listen to music while painting… wow.

Post a link to a song that inspires you. Share it with us!

Here’s one of mine. [link]

Also, do fish actually have ears?

The Hairdresser by Meg Lyman

8×10 colored pencil commission - SOLD

Commissions. The double-edged sword. They are often an essential part an artist’s living, but they can be so draining creatively. When someone wants me to do custom artwork for them, I am thrilled and terrified at the same time.

I am beginning to set myself up with a style - the more work I do for myself, the larger my portfolio, and the more likely I am to get commissions that I will like. However, there are always commissions that just suck it out of me. If I accept a commission about which I am less than enthusiastic, can I use it to practice a new technique or style? I’m at risk of providing the customer with a product unlike any of my others… and they hired me after seeing my existing work. If an experiment goes wrong, I’ll have to start over.

Luckily, this hairdressing cephalopod commission was right up my alley.

For the artists out there, where do you draw the line when accepting commissions? Do they have to interest you, or do they simply have to pay the bills? For the potential commissioners out there, how much leeway would you give your artist in terms of style?

We’re about due for a beer-related post. I have a few more ratings up my sleeve… but as for new beers, I’ve exhausted the supply at my local store. They don’t get many new dark beers during the summer. So I’m asking you, my dear beer-drinking readers, to suggest some beers for review. They have to be local or nationwide, since I can’t get anything shipped to me. OR, if you have some favorite local stouts or porters, and want to do a guest review, let me know!!

Nothing like a convention or show to drag you up out of art block, whether you want it or not. I got a lot done this weekend, some of which was even on my to-do list!

This is the setup for my dealer’s table at Rocket City FurMeet. I didn’t do a lot of business, but nobody did - it was a fairly slow con. However, note the t-shirts for sale in front (and hanging up). It was my first convention for shirt sales, and they went pretty well! Having that banner and the shirts hanging up helped, I think. Nobody else had something up on the wall, and it was very visible from the entry. I had a good spot. I got to sit next to my friends, too, which made it wonderful, no matter how much or little sold.

Off to do more art! Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Life of the Party by Will Bullas 

Over at Greywaren Art, Maggie posted a challenge to her readers: feature an artist you admire and let your readers know why. Spread the love!

There are a lot of artists I admire, but if I had to pick a favorite, it’d be Will Bullas. He’s been an artistic inspiration ever since I first saw his work. He’s creative, funny - no wait, hilarious - and cute. His technique is constantly improving and refreshingly unique. And the puns! Wine-ocerous? Crabernet? A man after my own heart!

I have these two prints above my bar. I love them dearly for their weird, clever, punny originality. And the drink theme, of course. And the ducks. Gotta love the ducks.

The Bar Bill

The Capybara Club

His bold use of flat color and wonderful texture are very appealing to me. He lets the subjects speak for themselves, using simple compositions, plain backgrounds, wonderful expressions, and witty titles.

Between the Sheeps (OMG funny)

Third Day of Christmas (I can’t stop laughing. Seriously.)

Vineyard

He can do realistic, serious work as well, and excels at it. But the best part of being a Will Bullas fan is snorting your coffee up your nose because you are laughing so hard.

An Oyster’s Cute Doom by Meg Lyman

Digital

As I slowly rebuild my desire to create and wean myself off my recent spate of physical exercise, I can’t help but wonder what I’m supposed to learn from it all. I mean, I feel guilty for not doing more art, but I feel great otherwise. It seems like I have time and inspiration to exercise my body or my spirit, but not both at the same time. I need to find a balance.

Maybe some spiritual artwork will be therapeutic. This is the last piece I finished, and it turned out to be way more brooding and sad than I planned. But I still like it, and it reflects the way I’m feeling about making art. I guess that’s how you know you’re an artist in your heart - when you don’t feel like making art, you make art to express how you feel.

Sketch commission, don’t ask by Meg Lyman

Art slumps. We all have them. We usually have reasons. But they’re rarely good enough to be anything but excuses.

I have been busy, so much so that I’m rarely at home. I’m keeping in shape at the gym and playing sports, and cultivating my social life by hanging out with friends. I don’t regret making the decision to go out instead of staying in and doing art, because I’m creating some great memories and spending time with people I love and enjoy. But I miss being productive, too.

Even though I’ve been busy, I could still slip in a little sketching here and there, but I haven’t much. I’m beginning to understand how I operate - make something a habit, and you’ll want to keep doing it. Stop doing it for a while, and all of a sudden it’s a habit to NOT do it. I need to work hard on making art as much of a habit as brushing my teeth or feeding my cat.

I can’t show you the cool art I finished for the illustration contest last week, but I can show you a peek. I used gouache for the color and then outlined it with a big, thick india ink brush pen. I loved experimenting with this style and will probably do it again, especially for childrens’ work.

Gotta run, just captured a stray cat that was in my backyard, wigging out in my catnip plant.

Snoozy Anteater by Meg Lyman

Gouache on notecard

$25 - e-mail to buy

I need to go to an art store for burnt umber gouache and masking fluid to replace the masking custard I found last week. Going to art stores is dangerous. My wallet cringes.

Make sure to check out Lisa B’s awesome alphabet sketchbook project. It’s inspiring.

I got two paintings finished this week to close out an illustration contract. It rocked. But I can’t post them here because all the rights were purchased. That also means I can’t update my website with them yet, and my update for May is going to be pitifully small. Sigh.

I doodled this anteater in the airport last year, promptly lost it, and found it again last week when pawing through stacks of illustration board for the aforementioned project. I got out the typical browns and blues to make a grey anteater… but then I sort of lost control of it, and now he’s ready to go to a rave when he wakes up.

When I start a painting, I don’t usually plan to push the boundaries of color. But when I’m successfully able to drop my “I’m going to ruin it” fears, I always end up unintentionally experimenting with color. And it usually turns out well. I encourage the lot of you to do the same, because it’s so fun.

May all your anteaters be fluorescent.