Meme Day!

Good day Blogger world! 

I'm gong to try to do one meme day a week here on Sketches and Swatches :P.  Here is the latest one from Steampunk on facebook:

Lady or Lord + First Name of the Last Video Game Character you played + Name of the last tea you drank + Favorite weapon = your Steampunk name

So today I'm writing to you as Lady Bubbles Chocolate Monkey Scimitar :P.

Steampunk is awesome.  I have come to believe this.  I'm not even totally sure I can explain it fully.  Maybe it's the sci-fi aspect with Victorian aesthetics.  I'm definitely a fan of Steampunk fashion, as well as books and tea (2 other important things in the Steampunk world).  Needless to say, the movement has inspired some beautiful artwork.  I've attempted to create some of my own in the same spirit:


Woman With Octopus Fan by ~Eseopia on deviantART


Inkblot Steampunk Gentleman by ~Eseopia on deviantART


Ink Scratch Steampunk Gentleman With Gears by ~Eseopia on deviantART

I DO NOT consider myself a Steampunk expert.  I can name (and have even seen) some Steampunk movies, such as Wild Wild West, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and the Sherlock Holmes movies (I gather that these count).  The fact that I'm still discovering Steampunk makes it extra fun for me, especially now that there are so many ways to explore the movement.  Conventions, communities, artwork...and yes, even internet memes :P.

BTW, I should also include this drawing, which is actually half of a drawing mirrored:


Ink Scratch Octopus 1 by ~Eseopia on deviantART

Octopi are a part of Steampunk culture too, which I'm told has to do with Jules Verne.  Whatever the reason, I'm for it ^_^.

All of these drawings are done in pen (brush pen for "Inkblot Steampunk Gentleman") on paper.  Lady Bubbles was of course coloured in Photoshop.  I look forward to doing more work on this theme.

This seems like a good place to end this post right now.  Thanks for reading, and have a good day Blogger world!

Book Review: "Is There Life After Death?" by Anthony Peake

Book review # 2! I don't plan on always doing 2 books in a row, but I had reasons for doing so this time. Hope you enjoy!


I finished reading this book about 2 years ago, but it continues to be one of my favorites. I had originally picked it up off the sale table out of passing curiosity, thinking I knew what I'd find: anecdotes and ancient belief systems, but very little scientific proof regarding the afterlife (or lack thereof). What I found was a turning point in my understanding of quantum physics (which, I admit, had been next to nothing before this), accompanied by fascinating accounts of scientific investigation on this and related subjects. Anecdotes and information about various belief systems also make up the picture, and it is a very detailed picture in the end.


The range of subjects covered by this book is broad and varied, reaching to various parts of the world, history, and science. Unlike what I might have expected, this book doesn't shy away from conclusions or possibilities that may seem less than appealing to the reader. This is not a self-help or motivational book - it is a scientific study. That said, don't be surprised if thoughts of the Matrix come to mind, and you find yourself more interested in movies like Groundhog Day and Vanilla Sky. This author does a good job of keeping the reader's attention on some very complicated subject matter. You won't be a quantum physicist by the end of this, but you may have a better understanding of the scientific conclusions to be drawn on the subject.


While one goes in thinking to learn more about what comes after the end of life, this book has a lot to tell us about life itself, in terms of the nature of reality. You may find yourself thinking of everything a little bit differently, including time, matter, and your own psyche. The fact that the author is explaining things that the human brain does not have the capacity to perceive leads to that exciting feeling that you are learning something you're not supposed to know, which is definitely part of the overall appeal of this book.


I won't give away anything more, because the book does save its ultimate conclusion for the end. I will say that the eventual answer is very much theoretical - the best answer that science can come up with at the moment, but as plausible a conclusion as I've come across anywhere. This, of course, is only one part of what I got out of this book, and hopefully it will be as fascinating a read for you as it was for me.


February 22nd, 2013:  Birthday Effects... by ~Eseopia on deviantART


February 21th, 2013:  Beach Birthday Sunset by ~Eseopia on deviantART


February 20th, 2013:  Blackout at the Beach... by ~Eseopia on deviantART

Do I really have to sign up for everything?

February 16th 2013:  Priorities... by ~Eseopia on deviantART

February 15th 2013:  Another Day... by ~Eseopia on deviantART

February 14th 2013:  Wriggley Oversees... by ~Eseopia on deviantART

Hello blogger world!

I'm trying to edit this entry to make it sound more civilized.  I am writing today with regards to the amount of signing up that is involved in job hunting these days.  Some places still accept a resume and cover letter and let you let that be that.  Others, as I may have mentioned before, have full-on psych exams to fill out so they can make a profile of you, to go with your resume of course.  Ideally, this makes it so that if you want to apply for multiple jobs, you can just select whichever ones you want and they do the rest.  What really bothers me is the number of passwords I have out there.

There are a number of things you may have to sign up for during your job hunt.  With some places, you just have to create a profile with the company itself.  This on its own can lead to quite a few profiles depending on where and how many places you apply.  Some companies hire through job search/hiring sites like CareerBeacon.com.  This can potentially cut back on the number of passwords you need to create, but only when applying for jobs at places that hire through the site.  And of course, you have to sign up for the site itself.

One thing that has become a little bit irksome for me is when I find a job I want to apply for on one of these sites, only to find that it's been posted by another, similar site, who is doing the hiring for said company.  In theory it's good to have profiles on 2 sites instead of one, but I've often found the second site to be a little more weakly structured, and honestly, it's just one more layer of 'security' I don't feel comfortable being compelled to deal with.

Beyond that, I recently discovered a new potential layer of password-guarded security.  While applying for jobs at Michael's (arts and crafts), I was required to create a profile with PeopleAnswers (the site that created the questionnaire I had to fill out for my Michael's).  Granted, this ultimately made it easier to apply for job openings, but it occurs to me that my information is getting spread around quite a bit in an age where information is a hot commodity.

So let's review:  There's the company itself one may have to sign up for, and the job search site that lead you to that company (and potentially the job search site that posted on that job search site on behalf of that company), and even, potentially, the company that created the questionnaire you must fill out in order to create a profile on the original company's site.  So far I haven't run across that many levels of passwords, but in theory, it could very easily happen.

On that note, it's easy to feel gypped when job searching.  I can't help thinking someone out there (probably a few someones) are making money on my efforts to find gainful employment.  I'd like to be making money too here.  Every site I have to sign up on starts looking like a password guarded information eater.  Maybe I should ditch the job hunt and start an internet job search engine.

So that's been my pet peeve of late.  Thanks for reading!  :)

'Till next time, blogger world!

About Work From Home Ads And Affiliate Programs

Hello Blogger world!

Sorry for being in absentia :(.  I return with more of a a game of catch-up to play than ever, but play I shall!

February 6th, 2013

February 5th, 2013

February 4th, 2013

Fortunately I haven't been completely idle in my blog work.  I've been composing entries sporadically, one of which I finished today:

I've seen these ads, as you probably have, boasting $55/hour earnings working part time online.  I've checked this out a couple of times.  Never taken it so far that I can actually say how effective it is, but it appears to be some website that claims to make it easy to make money through the Amazon Affiliate program.  The sense seems to be that they take care of the technical stuff, so you don't have to be a web designer or some such.  This kind of thing seems to be cropping up everywhere, not just on facebook.  Sifting through local online classifieds, these ads are all I see in some categories.  They promise work-from-home opportunities with handsome part-time earnings.  With the Facebook ads, they even specify that they are looking to "fill positions" in my local area.  Maybe they are, but I'm finding myself doubtful that the Amazon Affiliate program needs people specifically working in certain areas for this kind of thing.

I've looked into the Amazon Affiliate program.  THAT seems legitimate.  That they had any part in those Facebook ads is something I doubt, but the program does exist.  It's something you can plug into a website or going online concern that you already have, not something you can start from scratch with and expect to have it work.  You need to have a "thing" already.  With the Amazon Affiliate program, you can run ads for products related to your content.  You can even have your own little "shop".  I've searched some videos on this.  Here are a couple of youtube videos to give you an idea of what the Amazon Affiliate program is like (They are both pretty realistic.  Despite the title pic of the first video, the narrator points out right off the bat that she doesn't make a lot of money with the Amazon Affiliate program, though it is enough to make it worth it for her.)





This is for avid bloggers and people who know how to get traffic to websites.  Having a pre-existing  following is what really makes this work.

What these ads seem to promise is to make this process easier for everyday people.  But can they really do that kind of work for you - generating a following and everything?  And even if they can, is it worth paying them, or putting your trust in them?

The Amazon program isn't the only affiliate program out there either.  There are more than a few big companies out there who are willing to pay ordinary people a little extra to advertise for them.  That's what this comes down to.  Businesses want advertising time.  It's what allows Youtube to remain a free service, and it's why events have sponsors.  We've had it for quite some time, but now people not necessarily in the biz can benefit in a small way.  Maybe that can even be a big way, if you've got the mind for it.

Where am I going with this?  Bottom line, I still don't trust these work-from-home ads, but I think they're cropping up everywhere because they're just inside the boundary of legal.  Kind of like pyramid schemes.  If I were interested in affiliate programs (and I'm not saying I'm not) and had a going online concern with a following, then I would go straight to one of the programs themselves.  I don't believe there needs to be a middle man if this is really going to work.

Catch Up and Job Hunt

Good Day, Blogger world!

(I started this entry a while ago, so bear with me.  Most of it was written earlier today, and only edited just now.)

I actually just got back from Cayo Coco, Cuba.  Hadn't counted on having zero internet access for most of the week, so I am REALLY playing catch up now.  At this particular moment in time, I have gotten caught up on another online job application process.  Wasn't the first thing on my to-do list, but I have to grab these things as they go by.

Job application in the digital age is always more time-consuming than you think - kind of a series of nesting-doll steps, where you don't know where or when the process will end.  Time was you just passed in a resume.  These days you have to create a site profile just to apply to work in a store.  That's how this all started.  I saw the ad on Facebook:  The Home Depot, looking for workers.  Sounds not bad.  I go to the site, from which I can apply to any Home Depot in the country. With some business you can apply to locations in other countries, but I guess The Home Depot is more of a down home type of outfit.

At first it looked pretty straight forward:  Create a profile, upload a resume, write a little cover letter...discover my references list is crooked because one 'tab' is off, even though I've corrected it repeatedly >_<.  Hit back, find that the information I entered just now has disappeared, (had intended to copy the fresh new cover letter I was typing, so of course that didn't happen), get frustrated, give up, go back to the resume screen, submit it as is and hope the original cover letter made it too....I'm currently at the part where the "machine" has tried (unsuccessfully), to fill in my work history from my resume.  This might take longer than I thought.

Now I've gotten to the "Education" section.  Better try on the part of the machine.  I must fill in the name of the institution, then the "Subject or Area of Study", "Qualification", and grad year.  The term "Qualification" threw me just a bit.  The machine had chosen the word "BACHELOR" for this slot.  Just "BACHELOR".  So I'm going to assume they mean the qualification I achieved (ie, what I earned).  Sometimes you have to interpret.  I think they'll understand, though sometimes I wonder if there's any "they" to "understand".  The way the machine has interpreted my resume, I must think (and hope) that there is.

There is the constant reminder that by pressing "next" I am submitting the Home Depot Privacy Policy.  That's another potential time sink - the Terms and Conditions, followed by the Privacy Policy.  I generally give these a look, but not much more.  It is ever so slightly infuriating when certain sites (so far not this one) feel the need to tell you that you "MUST" read these terms to know what you're agreeing to.  Terms that could easily take at least an hour to read.  Terms not designed for the human mind to take in and process in one, two or even three tries.  There must actually be that many people out there looking for a loop hole, or else we are all just hopelessly entangled in a web of fine print.  In the meantime, I have a job to apply for.

OK, on too...a questionaire.   What kind of employment am I seeking.  Full Time, Part Time, Temporary/Contract, or "Flexible".  Since I can only choose one, I'm taking a chance on "Flexible".  I'm hoping this is similar to "All of the above", because I'd like to keep my options open.  Now they want to know how effective their recruitment techniques are.  How did I hear about this job?  The list is lengthy - The Home Depot is not one to be left out of the loop.  They have a list of possibilities beginning with "Online".  "Online - JobBoom.com", "Online - Monster.ca", "Online - Workopolis",...I'll have to go with "Online - Other (banner, ad, adword)".  OK, almost done, I think.  Yes, I do, once again, consent to the Privacy Policy.

"Please Answer a few additional questions".

It's a survey, and it's optional.  *Procrastinates on Deviantart*

I'll bite.  It's an equal opportunity survey.  Questions pertaining to my gender, ethnic background, whether I am disabled or otherwise challenged... and that's it.  Short, which is nice.


Overall, the Home Depot application process was not bad.  They have me on file now, so hopefully that'll make other applications easier.

The new job market can be by turns amusing and infuriating.  It's convenient to be able to do some much online, but harder to know where one's information is going.  Some of the recruitment techniques out there seem a little extreme, like the veritable psych test that began the last Chapters/Indigo/Smithbooks application I filled out.  Then there are those ads that are big on pep talks but never quite get around to telling you things like the name of the company or what, specifically, the job is.  These are just some of the things I get to thinking about while on the hunt for additional income.

Well, this ended up being a long one.  Thanks for reading to the end, and for visiting my humble blog :).  Later Blogger world!

Space Jam

Just finished 2 more entries for my year of pictures and I'm abuzz with the exhiliration :)!  Well, exhiliration and stress - equal parts.  I also just discovered how stupid easy it is to move pictures around on this blog :P!  I learn something new every day.

I saw the performance of Chris Hadfield, Ed Robertson, and the Wexford Gleeks on video this morning.  Obviously it was cool, but I hadn't expected to like the song as much as I did.  I was into the inspiration and the wonder of it all to a degree that I hadn't expected. (Just heard they're just about to air it on CBC radio 2, which I'm listening to at this moment). Here's the link to that if you haven't seen it yet:

Premiere of ISS Is Somebody Singing

I liked the part of the song where they reference how outer space exploration had its roots in conflict, but now we're all in it together, with so many different nations represented at the Space Station.  Just started following Chris Hadfield on twitter, and it's fun to see what he tweets, as you may have heard.  Awful good of him to share this with us all ^_^.

I think I'll make this a short one today - or is it already long?  Either way, glad to have the last of the January pics posted - and only 8 days into February ^_^.  Hopefully I can pick up the pace a little more after this.  I'll have to get snowed in with my drawing implements.

Later blogger world!

Not finished yet....

Good evening/morning/day blogger world :)!

I had to put my picture-within-picture project on hold for longer than I would have liked, but I haven't given up yet!  Hence how this posting is a double feature - pictures for January 28th and 29th, which I actually feel pretty good about.   I used a sketch from the life drawing session I went to on the 28th as part of my design for the 28th, but the rest of that one and the next one were done this evening.  We'll see how fast I can get caught up :P.

I've been busy trying to attain employment such as will allow me to stop going broke, which is why I've gotten so behind.  Haven't given up on that either, but I had to do a little project in the process of chasing after this one job, which I actually feel somewhat optimistic about.  More optimistic than I've felt about a job opportunity in a while, at least.  In the meantime, residual income does find its way to me through Cafepress, and other sources occasionally.  I'm still going broke, but it's happening slowly.

In anticipation of Valentine's Day (depending on how you feel about this holiday, I suppose), I've made a new mug design.  I made the original heart design a while ago, a combination of pen work and Photoshop colouring, and I was thinking it would look so good on a black mug.  Then I realized I could put more than one on a mug, like this:


3 Beating Hearts Mug Design by ~Eseopia on deviantART

Or like this:


2 Beating Hearts Mug Design by ~Eseopia on deviantART

Both of these designs are now available on mugs through my Deviantart print shop (holy shameless self promotion, Batman! :D).   I should mention that the original singular version is available too, as mugs and other items :).


Inkblot Beating Heart by ~Eseopia on deviantART

So now that I've plugged this design to within an inch of its life, I think I should wrap this up.  I feel kind of proud of this one, in case you hadn't guessed ^_^.  Hopefully I'll bring you two more nested pictures next posting  Catching up slowly but surely.....

Later blogger world!

Hot Cocoa on a Monday...Also, Theories About Time

Good day, blogger world!

The title of today's blog was the first thing that came to mind as something I'm doing/having right now.  As with most of my Mondays, I have most of it free to fill my time with tasks and projects.  Tomorrow I have a job interview, at a place I think I would actually like to work doing something I might actually like to do.  So wish me luck on that, if you would.

Feeling pretty good about this pictures-within-pictures project, all told.  Already thinking of ways I could do it differently, of course, but that's a thought for later.  About 352 days later.  What you're seeing here is my illustrations for the 26th.  Hopefully there won't be too many hiccups like these, but I suspect this won't be the last.  While I wasn't thinking about this when I created the line art, this image makes me think of a book I read a little while ago that changed my perspective on a lot of things.  It's called "Is There Life After Death" by Anthony Peake, and it was quite a bit different from what I was expecting.  One of the things I got out of it was a crash course in quantum physics and a lot of different theories about time.  That we should be able to remember the future the way we remember the past, that time may simply be a mechanism of our minds for interpreting the world such that it makes sense to us, that everything that has every happened is always 'happening' and always will be 'happening'.....A real interesting read.  Some of these things actually did occur to me when I started this project.  We measure time in a forward, linear fashion, with each moment followed by another, and another, disappearing as the next one takes its place - but what if one thought of it in a picture-within-picture kind of way.  As we get farther away from each moment, and the next one is revealed, what we experience in that moment just becomes part of the next, and each becomes part of the bigger picture.  So that the final picture, if there is one, is the whole of time, with everything that's ever happened all in one place.  Not completely different from how we think of time now, the only difference being that all of time is right there in one moment.   Maybe that's what one or more of these theories was getting at.  I really need to find time to do some more research.

Anyway, that's my entry for now.  I may try to get one more in today just to get up to speed.  Until then, later blogger world!

Day 2

Day two of the 1-year-of-nested-images-journal-project (I decided I'd like to have the pictures figure into one another - hopefully it works out).  I haven't thought of a particularly good name for it, and it may well take the entire year to think of one.  Thinking of names for things often annoys me because they seem so irrelevant to the actually things.  You can have the best idea in the world, but if there's nothing to call it, it can be very hard to put it into reality.

I'm looking up at the picture of Broccoli, Ham 'N' Cheddar Strata recipe on my milk calendar, thinking I'd love to make that up for supper some night.  Then I remember that every-present to-do list that never gets any shorter, and realize I only ever seem to find time for a few things and special cooking isn't one of them.  Seriously, I think the days have shrunk since I became an adult.  Of course, speed has never been my strength.  The only thing I seem to do with speed is drawing.  By contrast, ask me to ring up a sandwich or prep a pair of pants for hemming, and I apparently enter a time vortex.  That's how I lost 2 of the worst jobs I've ever had.  I'm just worried it could be costing me things I like in the long run.

On that note, I guess I should wrap this up.  I'll tell you about today in a picture tomorrow.  Until next time, Blogger world :)!

About many things.....

(Started at an earlier date)

Hello blogger world!

     Just got in from some errand running.  There were some guys canvassing for Plan Canada on my way.  I almost walked by, but I stopped to hear what one of them had to say.  He gave the charity speal as best he could, but I think it was a bit of an ordeal for him, being put on the spot like that (probably having been passed by for most of the day).  I'd have felt the same way, and honestly I might have done us both a favor by walking on by.  I haven't been in a financial position to make many charitable donations lately.  He didn't ask for any donations up front - just gave me some information.  If you're curious, here is the Plan Canada website URL he gave me:

http://plancanada.ca/

While I generally think it's a good thing, the subject of charity brings up a lot of mixed feelings for me.  In a way I depend on it myself, as I've been earning little enough lately that I don't pay taxes :/.  NOT looking to stay that way, but I'm grateful for every break I get.  Giving coins to panhandlers on the street is a real source of mixed feelings because I never truly know where the money goes.  I don't doubt I've helped prolong somebody's drug problem, but then I may also have helped pay for somebody's baby formula.  True story, I actually had a panhandler (politely) refuse my offer of a handful of pennies.  Seems my own lack of funds has become conspicuous :S.  My own parents weren't that well off when they had me.  Mom once described how my father's aunt's donation of 20 bucks was the lucky break she needed to buy a milk pump to feed the baby (me).  Things got better over the next few years, and my childhood ended up being pretty ideal.

(Fast forward a few days)

I wasn't sure how to end that last part.  I guess I wasn't reaching a conclusion so much as sussing out a situation.  I'm still getting by, myself.  I'm listening to a song on CBC Radio 2 about this guy who walks by this guy on the street selling colourful pencils every day.  "Hey Hollywood, wanna buy a pencil?" is the refrain. I'll have to look that up sometime - it's a little  neat story/song.  "Hey Hollywood" that's the name. Billy Joe something.....Time and again I think of where I might sell my own wares.  Seems like I ought to have started doing that by now.  I've been making some residual income through Cafepress at least.

(Fast forward to present day)

I apologize for the disjointedness of this post.  As a consolation, here is my latest deviantART posting:


Ink Scratch Octopus 1 by ~Eseopia on deviantART

This is actually only half of the original drawing, mirrored.  I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I'm pleased with myself if anything turns out these days.  I've found it a little big harder to make art these days, or to concentrate on anything that isn't going to make me money immediately.  I spend a lot of time perusing job listings, and working on my Cafepress.  That sounds kind of bleak when I write it out, but lets not think that way, shall we?  I still manage to make art, and apply for jobs, and do the other things in life that need doing.  The keeping going is what needs doing, in the end.  If you can keep going, it's not nothing.

It is high time I wrapped this entry up.  'Till next time, world!  

A Day at Home Art Making, Remembering I am lucky.....

Greetings, Blogger world...

I spent the morning and afternoon of this Rememberance Day at home, drawing.  I observed a moment of silence, along with the radio announcer on the program I was listening to (I think it was In Concert on CBC Radio 2), and then went back to drawing.  Whatever it is I'm doing at any given time, chances are I have the veterans of past wars to thank for the freedom to do so.  Not all wars are justified, but the ones that allow us to live in freedom and peace are worth fighting.  When I was little, all the veterans I ever saw were elderly, and wars were something that happened in other places.  Hard to believe there was any span of time at all when I child could think that.  Hopefully there will be more of them as the decades and centuries pass.  

Here is the work I finished today.  I wasn't thinking of Rememberance Day when I drew it, but it ended up being kind of appropriate....

Title:  Shade XII

My First Youtube Upload! Also, Recent Work.

Good day, blogger world!

I just finished uploading a short video to youtube - finally, after years of having an account, I have actually uploaded some content. It's not much - mostly a test, but it features one of my current projects. 




Usually I don't go quite this largescale, but I've had the idea in my head for a while, and I wanted to try it. 

Life is interesting.  I am still in 2 jobs, and the problem with the latest one has become not so much the job itself, but rather the co-worker element.  Specifically working with the same co-worker who answers every question with annoyance and or frustration and deals with her stress by browbeating me each time I make a mistake.  Asking her to explain things yields precious little, as she is low on patience and clearly unimpressed with the fact that I was not borning knowing how this particular workplace works.  Every gaffe on my part is a source of grief, and I've come to think of this job, or rather this job situation, as a form of torture.  Fortunately I don't do full-time hours there yet.  Unfortunately, my earnings between both jobs are only just covering my mortgage payments and condo fees.  So the job search continues.  On the plus side, I have been making a little more money making art lately.  I've had a couple of commissions, and some sales in my Cafepress.  Not much, but it's not nothing. 

To wrap this up, I'd like to show you one more piece of my latest work.  The inspiration was a beautiful performance by Anya Nesvitaylo of the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada, dancing the part of Carmen in a short pas-de-deux during theABTC's  "Intense" Gala. 

 

 

Anya is one of the principle dancers of the ABTC, and her roles have included Christine in Phantom of the Opera and Lady X in Don Juan.  The ABTC has had some really good work out these past few years, pushing boundaries with established storylines, and more recently addressing serious issues, as in the production "Ghosts of Violence". 

 

I have to wrap this up now.  Thanks for stopping by, Blogger world, and I'll see you next time!  :)



Life Shift

Good day Blogger world!

I hope you'll forgive me for being a negligent blogger.  I've had a bit of a shift going on in my life.  Moving into a new place - first time actually living in my own place.  Also a new job.  I do clothing alterations now.  It's daunting, but there are a few things I'm good at here.  I've been in survival mode for a lot of this.  Hopefully I'll have the energy to do more than just survive before too long.  

Not to say I haven't gotten any new art done.  Here are a few that I feel pretty good about:  

Cat at the Window by ~Eseopia on deviantART

Girl at the Window by ~Eseopia on deviantART

Art Minis - Snake I by ~Eseopia on deviantART

At least I know there's something I can still do while running on empty.  For some reason, drawing fits into that category.  Pen and ink, to be exact.  They can stain things something awful, but there's no dust to clean up, and pens are nice and portable.  

This is my offering for today.  Hoping to bring you something more substantial in future days.  Later world!  

Just Keep Blogging

Good day, Blogger world!

Getting the blog postings out has been a little bit harder of late.  Could be because I'll be moving soon.  There's never been enough time in the day for everything anyway, but there's a little more pressure under these circumstances.  Still, I have a few things to show.....

These are some smaller ink drawings I've been doing.  Pre-work for work I want to sell on Etsy.  All of these are available as Prints on Deviantart.


Art Minis - Angel I by ~Eseopia on deviantART


Art Minis - Dragon I by ~Eseopia on deviantART


Art Minis - Raven I by ~Eseopia on deviantART


Art Minis - Scorpion I by ~Eseopia on deviantART

I have in fact posted a couple of items on my Etsy already.  Yes, I finally worked up the guts to try selling on Etsy.  Here's hoping something comes of it :).  This is what I've got so far:



This is my "Etsy Mini" - a widget that I can paste here, or on my website.  I do so like widgets ^_^.  The prospect of moving has made the need to get my art career moving that much more real to me.  I am hoping it will help, having my own space in which to conduct my practice.  At the moment, I'm utterly distracted by the moving process.  At least I'm not so distracted that I just can't make art.  Until next time, Blogger world!

Rainy Day Updates

Good day, blogger world!

Not such a good day weather wise.  No wind, but plenty of rain.  Glad not to have to be anywhere today.

I've got some new pics of the ink work I've been doing lately.  A was feeling a lot of uncertainty in the process of these.  The Sirens and Raven were actually works in progress, but looking at them now I might leave them finished as they are.  I often find that my unfinished work will give my finished work a run for its money.  It's less a matter of finishing than a matter of knowing when to stop.  Similarly, I often find that my sketch work is at least as good as my finished work.  Spontaneity is ever my friend, if an elusive one :/.


Ink Tiger Lillies by ~Eseopia on deviantART


Ink Tiger Lillies 2 by ~Eseopia on deviantART


Sirens by ~Eseopia on deviantART


Raven by ~Eseopia on deviantART

In other news, I've started a new blog.  It is significantly more craft focussed than this one - in fact its major function will be as a place to post my craft book reviews.  I've decided I have enough craft books that I ought to put them to good use, and this might just be the way to do it.  Here's hoping, at least.  That's all for now - until next time, bloggers!

PS - Here's a link if you're interested.  :)  The Art Rat Craft Book Review

About Ink

Hello again, Blogger world!

I've been painting. Or drawing. Rendering with ink, brush, and occasionally water. Drawing continues to be my strength, and ink my material of choice. Most often because it's portable, but in this case I'm enjoying the effects of it when applied in different ways. Seems like it could lead to watercolour. We'll see.

Maple Leaf Ink Drawing by ~Eseopia on deviantART This was done just with pen, ink, and brush. I love working with the brush strokes. It started out as a still-life sketch just with pen as I was out and about one day. Then I finished it when I got home. Dragon Ink Panting by ~Eseopia on deviantART This is an example of me working with ink with brush and water, plus pen. I'm enjoying that a lot. I feel I've only scratched the surface of what I can do with it.

Ink is surprisingly versatile. It seems like it wouldn't be because it's so permanent, unlike pencil or chalk pastel. It's true that there isn't much going back once you've put the ink down, but there's so much to be done with it! I love having pens around to work with because I'm not constantly having to sharpen them or clean up eraser bits, spray noxious fixative on the finished work so it won't smudge. I still use pencil quite a lot in the under sketches, but in a pinch I can make do with just a pen. I've noticed some similarities with silk paint, which I've been exploring, and watercolour too. I like when different parts of my art practice can inform each other.

That is all for now. Until next time, Bloggerverse!