Tag Archives: sketchblog

Valentine’s Day 2015 – news and downloads

Latest news!

Happy February! I’ve been spending most of the past month quietly chugging away at the New Comic. At this stage, I’ve finished a first draft and am going over absolutely everything to get it looking more polished. Also, not yet done with the cover.

Here’s a quick preview of how it’s looking now:

A preview shot of the latest comic progress!
A preview shot of the latest comic progress!

…which reminds me, the comic will be in colour! I’m keeping it pretty simple for now, but am excited about it. The story for this one felt very different to a lot of the work I’ve been doing over the past year, and in a way it felt more like a return to my roots. It’s kind of exciting.

But in between all that busyness, I nearly ran out of time to do something for Valentine’s Day! (Well, sort of – if you follow me on Instagram you’ll see some of the miniature fake sweets I’ve been playing with. But they’re a bit harder to download.) So here’s something for other people who haven’t prepared for it either. I think it’s appropriately last minute for us.

Free download: Heart patterned giftwrap

Valentines Day 2015 - Giftwrap!
Valentines Day 2015 – Giftwrap download freebie!

Quick and dirty gift wrap pattern! For wrapping! You could potentially use it as a card, but that might look a little too lazy.

At least it’s a pattern you can use at any time of the year!

Actually, I changed my mind. They were designed for gift wrap, but I think you could do more interesting things with them. Like origami. Or paper sculptures. Let me know if you do!

Design 1: Chocolate and pink!

VDAY2015 download freebie: Chocolate and Pink hearts giftwrap in A4
VDAY2015 download freebie: Chocolate and Pink hearts giftwrap in A4

Just the sweet colours for a sweet occasion. Get the printable A4 version here.

Design 2: Black hearts on white

VDAY2015 download freebie: White and black hearts giftwrap in A4
VDAY2015 download freebie: White and black hearts giftwrap in A4

For a cooler, more modern feel. Get the printable A4 version here.

Design 3: White hearts on black

VDAY2015 download freebie: Black and white hearts giftwrap in A4
VDAY2015 download freebie: Black and white hearts giftwrap in A4

For the even more sophisticated gift recipient. Or someone who likes black better. Get the printable A4 version here.

Preview of what’s next – Lunar New Year goodies!

Okay, so I have been pretty apathetic on the Valentine’s Day front. But I’m preparing something else for the Lunar New Year…

If you haven’t finished your hongbao (or angbao, depending on your preference!) prep yet, come back next week – I’ll have some red packet patterns for you to print, fold and give away! Or keep.

WIP: Lunar New Year 2015 illustration
WIP: Lunar New Year 2015 illustration
Digital, 2015

EVENT wrap up: Otakufest

A convention sketch of Sailor Jupiter, shortly before I erased all the pencil lines and found it a new home. Marker, 2014.
A convention sketch of Sailor Jupiter, shortly before I erased all the pencil lines and found it a new home.
Marker, 2014.

I went to Otakufest on the weekend, and it’s kind of fitting that my last market for the year was my busiest!

I met a lot of cosplayers and very friendly people who made the day more fun. My favourite new-people-to-meet that I met while trading include:

  • J, who came by and made a beeline for, of all things, Sweet NV issues 1 and 2. He wins favourite new person of the day just for that, but then he went on to tell me that he digs shojo manga and practiced some Japanese with me. (If you’re reading this, I hope you enjoyed the books!)
  • The excited young lady who made a beeline straight for the sweets deco stock I had out. I promptly showed her all of the extra stock I had (hidden away because there wasn’t enough space on the table!), and offered her the marker sketch I’d been working on that morning because her enthusiasm made my day.
  • The Eliza and Donny cosplayers from the Wild Thornberrys. I didn’t see the Nigel cosplayer (*sad* 🙁 ), but those two were so fantastically in character I can’t get over it.
  • The many friendly, talented and cool young women who came by to chat comics, sweets deco and art. You ladies made my day 🙂

I’m also not counting the most excellent friends whom I already knew who stopped by to say hello.

Overall the event seemed to go well. It was fun trading at a pop culture type convention in such a large open space. I did end up getting rained out and leaving early with most of the other comics sellers but the time I had at the show  was good. Outdoor markets are great, but can be dangerous for paper-goods sellers if the bureau of meteorology predicts a “high chance of rain”. More signage would have been good (as is my usual complaint with events), but the market was so spread out over Garema Place this wasn’t much of an issue. The good part about being spread out was there weren’t the usual pop culture market tiny walkways for human traffic jams and spontaneous, but poorly placed, cosplay photo shoots – the one photo shoot that led to a human traffic jam near my booth still left enough space for people to walk around.

The show was, for me, very different in ways I’m not used to. It’s also given me plenty to think about for next year and what I want to prioritise. Hm…watch this space!

Conflux 10 winddown

Conflux10 was on Saturday. It was perhaps not the market for me (and I wish I had had the chance to drop in on some of those panels!), but it was a great place for meeting some very fascinating storytellers and making new friends.

And I got two Harlan Ellison anthologies, so win.

One promise I’d made to myself, I did make come true: I got a few pages of sketching done over the convention! If you follow me on instagram, you may have noticed the spamstream of Inktober posts (a very cool idea that I have been almost participating in).

Conflux 10 - convention sketch of the day! unerased pencil markings, sharpie and copics
Conflux 10 – convention sketch of the day!
unerased pencil markings, sharpie and copics

this was one of my favourites from the day.

until next time!

The day before a market…

2014-10-03-17-45-20_deco
Our newest book – The Thing That Should Not Be, 24Hr Abyssal Journey Edition! Out of the depths of madness and into our hearts.

The Conflux 10 Saturday Bazaar is on tomorrow, and I will be there! So tonight was for con prep.

Stock, sorted. Bags, packed. Clothes, vaguely thought about. Sustenance for the day, most graciously handled by the better half.  Ideas, bouncing madly.  New books, ready! (eeee!) Presentation for the sudden avalanche of sweets deco I find myself bringing? Um…and there it is. There’s my kick into panic mode. That last blog post where I said “events keep me honest“? What the hell, past-me? I’m going back in time to slap my past-self. At least she had post-show ice cream. >:|

(As a side note: I will be bringing those earrings from that same post to the show tomorrow. They could go home with you!)

Taste of Spring - sketch Digital, 2014
Taste of Spring – sketch
Digital, 2014

I’ve had a busy week, but a busy week that didn’t allow much time out for convention prep. The last market I went to was so relaxed and routine that it wasn’t so much of an issue – once I got there, the biggest thing I learned was that I didn’t bring enough consistently displayed clay crafts for it to look like the crafts were either mine or for sale.

I got the “didn’t make enough” part fixed, but I’m still working out the best way to display everything! It feels like this convention will be a test for the next, outdoor (eep!) market too with the sweets deco presentation.

I’ve been sketching some postcards and prints to tie in with the sweets. So far, the only finished postcard is the one on the left, for my seasonal spring range which I am very excited about, and will post photos of soon! And it was a good excuse to draw The Nightingale again, although with his new blue do.

Despite all the nerves and the rambling, I am excited about tomorrow’s market. It’s part of a writer’s convention, which is different to some of the more recent markets I’ve been to. I’m looking forward to it. At most of my recent markets I’ve spent most of my time being a salesperson and very little time drawing. I’m hoping that tomorrow, in between the sales, I’ll find some people willing to trade me their words for my drawings, storytellers who will introduce me to new characters.

I’m looking forward to it.

Welcome home

Looking Back, ACEO. Markers, 2014
Looking back
Markers, 2014

I’m back! (And so is the prints and paper-comics store) And I’ve returned with the awful problem of wanting to do everything at once. Between the break and the sheer busy of the start of this year, June suddenly feels lonely. Quiet. Like I’m not doing anything, despite the to-do list and that the month has only just begun. What I really need to do is sit down and plan out a few (big!) things, but it’s so much easier to just busy myself with all the little things instead.

Like this new card.