CrashOctopus Blog

Another older commission that I never posted. I’m quite fond of it and its commissioner, Heather Kreiter, an awesome artist and awesome person. I like the look I get from layering red/pink/white for albino cephalopods. I also did this one for another wonderful artist, Savannah Horrocks:

Little Crab II by Meg Lyman

Gouache and ink on ACEO

SOLD

Oldie that I never posted… oops

That’s all.

Blue Crab by Meg Lyman

6×8″ oil on cradled Gessobord

$85 – e-mail to purchase

I’ve painted with oils on Gessobord only a handful of times before. It seemed to work fine. This time, however, was challenging.

I slathered some thinned paint on it a couple years ago to create the basic shape, and promptly forgot about it. When I pulled it out of the closet to finish it, the thinned paint was obviously dry as a bone. I sized it with walnut oil to help the new paint stick – I’d heard that was a good tool to get new paint to stick to old paint – and laid in the background grey. I let that dry a few days and went in with the colors. I had my hand resting on the dry background paint while working, and eventually noticed this:

Great. I must have rubbed it too much or something. I’ll fix it later. Moved on to another area and found a cat hair buried in the grey paint, which is not surprising considering the fuzzy menagerie that lives here. It’s happened often before and I’ve become quite adept at pulling hairs out of wet and dry paint with a palette knife. I went to remove this one, and with one delicate touch, the knife did this:

Now, I admittedly wasn’t this rough on my previous Gessobord oil paintings, but I am becoming wary of the surface nonetheless. It could be any of the following:

1. The years-old underpainting

2. The sizing

3. The Gessobord’s surface

After stories from Larry and personal experience, I have a fear of inferior gesso, and am considering re-gessoing all the prepared panels I buy. Anyone have experience with these things?

I am open for commissions! These are all paintings, made with gouache and ink. Here’s what I’m offering:

1. “Cephalopod” your character
—ACEO: $20 (example)
—5×7″: $45 (example, example)
—8×10″: $65 (example)
—11×14″: $85 (example)

2. Angry Derp badges
—standard badge size with plastic holder and clip
—$15 (examples above, featuring Painted Dog and Likeshine)

3. Non-cephalopod critters
—ACEO: $15 (example, example)
—5×7″: $35 (need examples!)
—8×10″: $55 (need examples!)

E-mail me if you’re interested!

Prices include one character, no background, any hair/ears/accessories/markings you want. Additional characters and backgrounds are extra. I sketch until you’re happy. Once you approve the sketch for painting, changes are extra, unless they’re easily fixed (keep in mind this is actual paint). I require payment up front, or for commissions over $50, half up front and half upon completion. Prices do not include shipping the original – I can deliver it at a con or ship in the US for $4 for 8×10″ or smaller – ask about larger sizes or outside the US.

Angry Cephalopods by Meg Lyman

12×24″ oil on gallery canvas

E-mail to inquire

I couldn’t resist.

A few things I learned doing this painting:

1. You can use pure medium to wipe off wet mistakes, but if you scrub too hard, it takes off dry paint too

2. Sizing with medium is handy when the time between starting a painting and finishing it is, oh, A WHOLE YEAR

3. Oils take time to dry. Waiting several days between applications makes me lose momemtum (see #2)

4. Regardless, I now love oil paint

Toco Squid Juvenile by Meg Lyman

6×8″ gouache on board

SOLD

This adorable guy completes the Toucan Squid family! Here are the parents: Keel-Billed Squid and Channel-Billed Squid. These were commissions and so much fun to do.

YOU GUYS I GOT TO TOUCH AN OCTOPUS

Thank you so very much to Laurie for providing me the opportunity of a lifetime. I have a whole new respect for the Giant Pacific Octopus – it’s not just that their strength is much more that you expect, it’s that each arm has enough strength and dexterity that you’d be incapacitated in a heartbeat, and at the mercy of the six other arms and the beak. I knew that academically before, but having experienced it makes it much more terrifying. And awesome.

Incredulous Owl by Meg Lyman

Gouache on ACEO

$30 – e-mail to purchase

So apparently owls are now a thing. Not sure how long it will last, but they’ve been all over the stores – as earrings, on shirts, as stuffed animals, on towels, in artwork – you name it. I think it’s partially because the owl shape lends itself to stylization and is still instantly recognizable. Here are a few examples:

There is a brewery in Japan, Hitachino Nest, that has an adorable owl as its mascot. I posted about their Hitachino Stout several years ago, and just recently tried their Sweet Stout, which is a milk stout. Delicious, as milk stouts usually are.

Isn’t it cute?

Because of all this owl hype, I thought now would be a good time to finally do the tribute to the Hitachino owl I’ve been wanting to do. I used the opportunity to try a new color scheme, using flat colors and dry brushing. It was a fun experiement!

This was fun to do! Commission, 11×14″ gouache and ink.