[livejournal.com profile] nextian sent me a meme and i am passing it along. the gig is: i answer thirty questions with one (or none or several, apparently) name(s) each, and you only find out the questions if you comment and promise to do it yourself.


1. [livejournal.com profile] pithhelmet would take names.
2. [livejournal.com profile] redcoatcat, by all means.
3. i would wish this on [livejournal.com profile] yozakura
4. honestly? no one on my flist. not my cuppa.
5. [livejournal.com profile] ironichles: understated and observant.
6. [livejournal.com profile] ssglain, because i've seen some pictures!
7. [livejournal.com profile] amberdulen, but i couldn't say why exactly
8. [livejournal.com profile] groundbyground: so down to earth
9. [livejournal.com profile] jdalton because i know what he'd look like!
10. [livejournal.com profile] geckobird!
11. [livejournal.com profile] cathellisen (i couldn't resist)
12. no offense, [livejournal.com profile] sparowe, but i'm picking you knowing your gentle nature and horror of bloodshed!
13. probably most of my flist, but i'll pick [livejournal.com profile] scarlite
14. [livejournal.com profile] utter_scoundrel for obvious reasons.
15. no offense, beloved flist, but i'm opting out on this one!
16. [livejournal.com profile] faynudibranch, just 'cuz.
17. thank you, no (again, sorry).
18. it'd be fun to do this with any of you! but just for a week!
19. [livejournal.com profile] akirad
20. [livejournal.com profile] christastrophe
21. definitely [livejournal.com profile] littewings04 and [livejournal.com profile] baranoouji.
22. [livejournal.com profile] bachsoprano ~ easy answer, since she's the only one.
23. [livejournal.com profile] sb77
24. [livejournal.com profile] romanticizing!
25. [livejournal.com profile] bachsoprano
26. well i hope this would be most of my flist!
27. [livejournal.com profile] gwyn_hwyfar
28. [livejournal.com profile] gwyn_hwyar and [livejournal.com profile] java_fiend
29. too hard! i don't know you all well enough.
30. [livejournal.com profile] shutterbuginfl

sorry about all the blanks in my list. this was a lot harder than i thought. [livejournal.com profile] nextian, i left you off the list deliberately since you already know the questions, though i might have put you specifically at no. 16.

: D

~ * ~

meanwhile, it's been an up/down weekend and lj is making the option of skipping over the permanent account sale very easy. they even moved the selling window to december ~ guess they're trying to fix the hideous profile page before sale (too late: they've lost my money).

it's 26 degrees right now, which is about just right for an indoor temp in the ballpark of 58-60. i'm wearing fleecy jammies, muffy socks, and a light nightgown (and hell no, i didn't get dressed all weekend, which was my plan ~ weeeeee!)

okay, but on to business.

the challenges of the challenge: spent the earlier part of saturday morning painting the first three strips. i'm not unhappy with how they came out, though there are things about them i could criticize (aren't there always?). the real problem is that between the drawing, inking, painting, and lettering, i have to do four passes with each strip and by the third pass, i'm feeling kvetchy about the whole project. this is me being overly fussy and lazy and undisciplined, but it's a serious problem because right now i wish i'd never drawn a single panel and i'm ruminating on the simplicity of just writing pert little bon-bon novellas and not bothering with all this falutin' "art" nonsense.

you have no idea.

: o p

i think i keep going in this circle because i don't want to be defeated, because i have in mind this concept and the concept includes pictures, but i can never quite get a handle on what it looks like in a physical form.

right now, sam ita's Moby Dick (is that ironic or what?) and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea come closest in spirit, but without the pop-ups. i keep looking at book designs and illustrations and there are dozens out there that i would love to emulate and dozens i've thought were "right" for this untenable creature but which proved too stiff (the victorian periodical was in the win for a long long time, but there was something inorganic about it that bothered me: the lack of color and the density of the text, mostly). and i have poured over william morris, whose designs were as close to a modern-day illuminated manuscript in the 19th century, but morris was a genius and ultimately i want something softer than the print block. i want something somewhat luscious, but also gritty ~ like pie. pie is vibrant, crisp, warm, melty.

anyone on my flist know of a book that mimics the experience of pie?

well, all sunday i toiled and moiled and despite several highly experiment stabs, came up with something pretty traditional and that's where it stands (still). i don't hate it (you can see it here). i used a lot of layers to get the color just right (hope everyone likes yellow, because that's what it is!). i guess i can only see how it goes from here.

nice frost on the ground this morning ~ still wish it would snow.

: o p


from sam ita's Moby Dick: not a very
good picture, but it might give you an impression
of the complexity of the book
ext_161: girl surrounded by birds in flight. (Default)

From: [identity profile] nextian.livejournal.com


Maybe that's because your LJ email bounces so you can't get the questions! Just a theory. PS my addition didn't mean "I don't know why I chose you," it meant "I totally know why I chose you, but in this circumstance, you would never tell ME why you are good at [x]." SO ... HAH.

From: [identity profile] bachsoprano.livejournal.com


I am, of course, quite curious about being on that list....

Took a look at your new images. Dead birds, flowers, and ghosts - isn't that pie-like? The hands you drew are beautiful, and aren't hands supposed to be one of the hardest things to draw?

From: [identity profile] lookingland.livejournal.com


i will send you the list ~ !

i've always found drawing hands to be somewhat easy ~ though i have heard hands are hard. i have much more trouble with noses, ears, and overall proportions. i think i learned to draw hands by copying pictures from MAD magazine, strangely enough.

: D
ext_161: girl surrounded by birds in flight. (Default)

From: [identity profile] nextian.livejournal.com


Awww, thanks! :)

I agree re: [livejournal.com profile] amberdulen. It's probably something around the work ethic.
ext_161: girl surrounded by birds in flight. (Default)

From: [identity profile] nextian.livejournal.com


I don't know what you're talking about. Boots, quick, hide the documents! She knows!

From: [identity profile] amberdulen.livejournal.com


Okay, answer me this: is there any question on there for which I could conceivably not be able to find a flister who'd be flattered to be the answer?

I mean, untangle that, then answer.

If not, I'll take it. :) I'm at amberdulen at yahoo.
ext_161: girl surrounded by birds in flight. (Default)

From: [identity profile] nextian.livejournal.com


It's distantly conceivable that #3 and #30 might pose some difficulties... this is much better than the last iteration in that I'm fairly sure I would be thrilled no matter where I was put on it.

From: [identity profile] amberdulen.livejournal.com


All right, I'm in. If I have trouble filling those, I'll just put you. :)

From: [identity profile] romanticizing.livejournal.com


I have an exclamation point after my name so I guess I have to do the meme :)

Aww I want pie now. Or your book :D I'm glad you are back to posting bits of it! I love how dedicated you are. It's really inspiring.

From: [identity profile] lookingland.livejournal.com


thank you! i'm trying to have fun with the project.

and i sent you the questions!

: D

From: [identity profile] gwyn-hwyfar.livejournal.com


Four and twenty blackBIRDS baked in a PIE....there, your new drawring reminds me of pie.

*is dying of curiosity about the list*

From: [identity profile] lookingland.livejournal.com


it is intolerably provocative ~ i don't normally follow these things, but i couldn't resist either.

i have sent you the questions ~ good luck!

: D

From: [identity profile] utter-scoundrel.livejournal.com


I am confused by the meme (and I don't have enough friends to apply it to, I guess), but am digging Reconstruction 2.0. Or is it Reconstruction Redux? Reconstruction Continued? Batman Begins? I'll shut up now.

From: [identity profile] lookingland.livejournal.com


it's Reconstruction part deux: son of the smell of fear (or something like that).

: D

the meme is just silliness ~ the question for which i put your name was "who on your flist would you have for a partner in crime?"
.