And now I’m trying something new: working backwards from the desired ending of Volume 3 to cross that vast zone of ??? to get to the end of Volume 1!
This was inspired by a Threads post on writing by Charlène A Bagcal:
Category Archives: Influences
Influences: The Deathworlders by Phillip R Johnson
“The Deathworlders” is a shared fiction based on the premise that Earth is an unusually dangerous place, and anything that can survive there is also unusually dangerous.
I first heard of the idea through Reddit and Tumblr comment threads posted via the aggregator site MediaChomp. But I was able to track it down to its original archive.
The Deathworlders is now a major story with at least 90 chapters. I am currently somewhere near Chapter 67. Here’s the beginning, which was originally posted as a stand-alone story:
The Kevin Jenkins Experience.
More info:
https://www.facebook.com/HamboneHFY
https://deathworlders.com/books/deathworlders/
Influences: Karen Hallion
Karen Hallion has a clear, lucid drawing style that I quite like. I am just discovering her works. She has published a series of inspirational drawings, the “She Series“, which has become a book.
Find out more!
https://www.karenhallion.com
https://www.facebook.com/KarenHallion
Two charming children’s books: “Kindness Pie” and “C is for Camp”
My former co-worker Rebecca Thompson has illustrated two charming children’s books. Both books were written by Kirstin Dias.
C is for Camp
The first book, published in 2021, is called “C is for Camp”. It’s an alphabet book that describes the journey of a family of bears to their cottage, or “camp”, in the woods. It is utterly charming and makes me intensely miss going to the cottage. Running off the end of the dock into the lake… the way the waves sorted the beautiful multicoloured sand of the beach… the smell of the woods… I miss it intensely.
But I was thinking… we always called it ‘the cottage’, not ‘camp’. To me, a ‘camp’ is an organized thing for public-school students. However, my sister lives in Sault Ste. Marie and calls it ‘camp’. Imagine my joy when I saw that Kirsten Dias, the author of “C is for Camp”, is from Sault Ste. Marie!
Continue readingAnd Now: Sequels to The Lonely Little Fridge!
Yes, today a passing remark from a co-worker crystallized a lot of stuff in my head, and now I have titles and ideas for the first two sequels to The Lonely Little Fridge!
I give you…
The Lonely Little Fridge: Spin Cycle
Little Fridge is settling into his new home, in the apartment with the guys. He starts to connect to the community of appliances and other devices in the apartment. But one day he is covered in damp clothes! The apartment is crowded with hanging damp clothes placed everywhere! It seems the apartment clothes washer and dryer has broken down.
Little Fridge sees the repair tech arrive. He’s afraid. Will the washer/dryer be thrown away like he was? And then the tech opens up the washer/dryer! What is this frightening event?
But then suddenly the washer/dryer is put back together, and starts operating normally. The guys rejoice and start gathering up the clothes to re-wash and finally dry them. Little Fridge can feel the joy of the washer/dryer, knowing it has been cared for and saved.
The Lonely Little Fridge: Spin Cycle will be followed by The Lonely Little Fridge: Rest Easy.
This story will be about the guys rescuing an abandoned chair. It’s inspired by the picture nearby, which was forwarded to me by another co-worker with the words, “This reminded me of you.”
Influences: Pegah Arabi
And now for something completely different: the figure drawing and background artwork of Pegah Arabi. It’s done in a painterly style. Some of the portraits are in black and white. Look at the proportions and light and shadow! I have a lot to learn about drawing necks…
Pegah Arabi’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pegah-arabi-5846775b/
Influences: Simona Cojocariu
Another of the stunning artists from Linked!n. Her work is also magical rooftops and cityscapes, but it’s completely different in feel than Camila Nogueira’s. The colour palettes are different, the style is less rigorously technical, and it feels friendly and small-scale, showing quiet moments in peoples’ lives.
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simona-cojocariu-221074179/
ArtStation portfolio: https://www.artstation.com/simona03
The artwork that grabbed me: Morning Coffee: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/QrzVLx
Influences: Camila Nogueira
Camila Nogueira is a Portuguese illustrator, one of the artists I found on LinkedIn. Some of Camila’s works show the rooftops and alleys of fantastic cities, but others show fantasy landscapes and floating buildings. The style is a fusion of technical illustration and magical realism. And the colours are stunning. And apparently some of the artworks are of real places…?
I recently dreamed in Camila’s drawing style…
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camilaillustration/
Website: https://camilaillustration.pt/
…and this is the work that grabbed me. Porto Alley II:
https://camilaillustration.pt/work/portoalley2
HtDBPv2
The book came! How to Draw Black People volume 2.
Books: How To Think When You Draw (and Write)
Kickstarters I Have Known and Loved #2
After 2018 I started following things on Kickstarter and Patreon. After pledging to a Kickstarter project to create a clock-radio using actual nixie tubes for display, I started to look at descriptions of other projects.
One such project was a series of cookbooks of art and writing tutorials by the Etherington Brothers out of England. Lorenzo Etherington handles the drawing; Robin Etherington handles the writing.
Lorenzo has a very intriguing, very traditional style of drawing. It’s very 1940’s dieselpunk, all big internal-combustion engines strapped to race cars. It reminds me of the old CARtoons magazine I used to read when I was a kid, or the original Mad Magazine, or even some of Will Eisner’s work (for examples, see Eisner’s Comics and Sequential Art).
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