Little Black Marker

This site has been up and running pretty consistently since 2007. That's kind of amazing to me. In all that time, I have not taken the time to explain where the name comes from. Figured now is good a time as any.

the actual LBM in question

During my semester in Rome in college, we spent a lot of time traveling. Go figure. As I was studying German, our class spent a few days of immersion time in Germany. Once of the things I was excited to do was shop at a KaDeWe. It's like a giant department store, but unlike ours in the states its not just clothes, shoes and appliances... Not wanting to come back home with a ton of stuff I got a few small things, in this case, a tiny black permanent marker. I used it throughout my time in Europe and have kept it since then.

While I was in Rome, I started doing short comics based on some of our experiences, both exciting and daily life. I had thought that perhaps I would keep doing them and make it into something, but it never really got off the ground.

I had longer hair then.

I designed myself and tried to get caricatures of the people that I hung out with established.

not sure why this is the answer.

In total there are only about 10 short comics, in various stages of completeness. Figured I would share a few here. Most are inside jokes from our time in Rome.

Joanne and I sunbathing on campus.

the cycle of exhausted study and overwhelmed travel

some girls thought the teachers were hot

our RA was kind of a nut

the famous gelato incident

random d&d story

Looking at these is just another reminder of the progression of skill over time. A lot of time.
Keep working on yourself.

Harold the Tiger

I received a new commission from a friend, for his father who loves a certain comic... Found this pattern for Harold the Tiger by Lottie's Creations on Etsy. If you do a search on Google you can of course find some free ones, but we liked the look of this one best and the price was right.

Yarn used: Red Heart Soft in Tangerrina, Black, and White.
Hook size H8/5.00mm

I used a thicker yarn and larger hook, than called for, to make a slightly larger toy than the one the pattern showed as reference since I wanted it to be huggable.

Head and Body

I only made a few small changes to the pattern: First, I made the ears one row longer so that I could stuff and sew them a little easier. Second, around the tummy piece I did a row of single crochet around the outside ,since I dislike the ragged ends formed by turing rows (see the picture below).

Left is the turning rows. Right is with the edging.

Overall this pattern was really simple and easy to follow. I really liked the link they included to Needle Noodles blog for a less noticeable color change. I used the first technique. Perhaps because I am left handed I needed to turn my work inside out when done to get the pretty side on the outside of the piece. I also kept the yarn going when working the stripes on the arms, legs, body and tail, which meant no constant trimming of ends, as it was all inside the pieces.

Muzzle, Arms, Legs and Tail.

I can't help but think maybe there is a better way to do the muzzle. I thought maybe the muzzle would form a kind of mustache shape for cheeks or something, but it didn't. It formed a kind of long oval tube, but perhaps just a flat oval might work better. I had a lot of trouble sewing it into place and stuffing behind it.

Nose and eyes are felt attached with Fabri-Tac glue. It was my first time to use that glue and it is awesome and dries super fast, so you better know where you want it to go, but so much better than Tacky Glue for felt to yarn. The mouth is a simply embroidery with yarn.

Ready for adventure!

Time to completion: 12 hours. Color changing is a little time consuming and sewing it all together once again was hard for me. I hope I can get better at that, but I had to replace the ears twice...
Difficulty: Advanced easy...
Verdict: Very very cute and huggable.
Size: Ears to Butt 11in, to Tail End 15in

Update: I made a second Harold for someone else from the same skeins from this project and still had yarn left over. So, if you have leftover colors on hand including a good amount of orange, you can probably finish him with no problems.

Update 2: You can see images of the second and third Harolds here!

Update 3: I made a fourth... This time from all Red Heart Super Saver in Black, White and Carrot and a 5.00mm hook. With those yarns, he was the largest by far, sitting from his butt to ears at 15 inches tall!

Left is the second one made, Right is the fourth.

Chibi Iron Man

Once again my brother has seen, and sent me a picture of, something new that he wants made. The picture seemed to have roots in Comicpalooza, a convention in Texas. I heard that these were for sale there. So with that in mind, I will not share my pattern, but if you know how to crochet, I bet you can figure out something similar, like I did, with no issues.

Of the two shown, he wanted specifically the Iron Man. These looked simple enough.
I had on hand all the items needed to make a little Iron Man: red, yellow and silver yarn, yellow and black felt, and a sewing kit. And a little time to kill.

No Face Iron Man.

The head is a basic sphere. The body, is the same width as the head, but taller. I left it open at the neck and sewed it to the head in the right spot. The little arc reactor in silver is a simple magic circle with a few stitches in it. The shoulder details is a long chain that I wrapped around the back of the neck and down the other front.

The face was the hardest part for me since I am abysmal at sewing. I cut out the base yellow shape and two small black shapes for the eyes. I went with a more modern face for him for two reasons... a) slanty eyes are a little more menacing and b) I cant embroider the whole eye. So I tacked the black eyes down to the yellow back with white thread to give the eyes a pupil... or highlight... or whatever. The mouth is a strip of black felt carefully tacked at both ends and in the middle.

Then I sewed the entire face onto the head, going around twice since I didn't want it to fall off and the first time around I left large gaps around the edge that needed to be tacked down further.

Done. Time for crochet: 1.5 hrs. Time for sewing: 1 hr.
Finished size is about 3 inches wide by 6 inches tall. Came out pretty close I think.
Skill Level: Nerdy Child's first crochet project easy...

Cookie Cat

He's a frozen treat with an all new taste, cause he came to this planet from outer space.
A refuge of an inter-steller war, but now he's at your local grocery store.
Cookie Cat, he's a pet for your tummy! Cookie Cat, he's super duper yummy!
Cookie Cat, he left his family behind. Coooookie Cat!  - Cookie Cat Song

So yeah. There's that.

Do you watch Steven Universe? You should. Cartoon Network, Wednesdays (today!) at 6pm (CST). It is now on the my list of amazing new cartoons for kids and yet kind-of not-at-all for kids. (With Regular Show, Adventure Time, and Bravest Warriors, etc.)

Cookie Cat.

Cookie Cat was introduced in the very first episode, called Gem Glow. I was in love at first song. Also, an ice cream sandwich, shaped like a cat head, with half-vanilla half-strawberry filling, is something that I never knew I wanted. We are stuck boring rectangles with plain or off-brand neapolitan... So I feel for Steven when they are discontinued.

Fish shaped spaceship... awesome.

And what's with that backstory for the poor Cookie Cat? No home, no ice cream... tragedy knows no bounds. With no crochet projects on the docket, I set about to make a plushie.

Cookie Cat Pattern:

Colors needed:  (I used a 5.5 mm H hook)

Dusty pink for body and one eye. 

Black for body, ears, arms, legs, pupils and tail. 

White for the other eye. 

Gray for space suit belt. 

Orange/Copper for space buckle.

Head: crown to neck, in black 

R1. Mc (6) 

R2. Sc 2 in each sc around (12) 

R3. (Inc, sc 1)* (18) 

R4. (Inc, sc 2 )* (24) 

R5. (Inc, sc 3)* (30) 

R6. (Inc, sc 4)* (36) 

R7. (Inc, sc 5)* (42) 

R8. (Inc, sc 6)* (48) 

R9. (Inc, sc 7)* (54) 

R10-12. Sc around (54) 

R13. (dec, sc 7)* (48) 

R14. (dec, sc 6)* (42) 

R15. (dec, sc 5)* (36) 

R16. (dec, sc 4)* (30) 

R17. (dec, sc 3)* (24) 

R18. (dec, sc 2)* (18) 

Bind off leaving tail to sew to body. Stuff. 

Ears: make 2 in black 

R1: MC, work 4 sc. (4) 

R2: Sc 2 into each around (8) 

R3: (inc, sc 1)* (12) 

R4-6: 12 double crochet around. (12)

Bind off leaving tail for sewing to head. 

Body: butt to neck, in pink 

R1. Mc (6) 

R2. Sc 2 in each sc around (12) 

R3. (Inc, sc 1)* (18) 

R4. (Inc, sc 2 )* (24) 

R5. (Inc, sc 3)* (30)
R6. sc around R7. (Inc, sc 4)* (36) 

R7. sc around
R8. (Inc, sc 5)* (42)
R9-11. Sc around
R12. (dec, sc 5) (36)
R13. sc around

R14. (dec, sc 4)* (30)

R15. sc around 

R16. (dec, sc 3)* (24) 

R17. (dec, sc 2)* (18)

Bind off. No need for a tail here since head has the tail to sew together at the neck. 

Arms and Legs: in black, make 2 of each (duh). 

R1. MC5 

R2. increase around (10) 

R3-8. sc around, stop here for Legs and bind off leaving tail. Arms keep going.
R9-12. sc around for arms, bind off leaving tail.
I took two pipe cleaners and intertwined them. Then pulled them through the body at where I wanted the arms to attach at the shoulder. I then rolled the ends up and inserted them into the stuffed arms. That way they work together and have less chance of disappearing into the body. 

Bendy arm exposed with other covered.

Tail: in black

I also put in pipe cleaner in the tail along with stuffing. I did the first few rows and used the start tail to tie to a pipe cleaner I had folded in half and twisted. That way the end of the pipe cleaner would stay at the end of the tail. Then I added stuffing around it as I went along. 

R1. MC5 

R2. increase around 10 

R3-20.
Bind off leaving tail to sew to body. 

Belt: in gray 

R1. Chain 45, join to first to form a ring. 

R2-4. chain 1, 45 sc around, join to first. 

This next part makes the vertical strap. 

R4. chain 7, turn and sc 6 down, join with slip stitch at belt, turn and go up and down once more securing with a slip stitch into next stitch on belt. 

Bind off. Leave tail to sew down to body. 

Belt buckle: in orange/copper 

R1.MC4, 

R2. increase around to 8 stitches

Bind off leaving tail to sew to belt. 

Once attached sew complete belt onto body. 

Pupils: in black, make 2

Ch 4, turn and sc2 down one side, sc 2 at bottom to turn, sc 2 up the other side of starting chain. Slip stitch to first, leave tail to sew down to eyes.

Eyes: one in white, one in pink 

R1. MC6 

R2. increase around to 12 

R3. (inc, sc 1)* (18) 

R4. sc 3, 3 half double crochet, sc 6, 3 hdc, sc 3 (18)
The last row there gives it the kind of oval shape. Bind off. Leave tail to sew to head. Sew pupils to eyes, eyes to head. 

Only thing this pattern doesn't have is his bowl helmet, but maybe you can find a round globe votive candle holder to put over his head to complete the look. 

Done! Total time to completion: Roughly 5-6 hours. Nice and easy.

Now go enjoy some ice cream and think about what you are missing out on by not having a Cookie Cat ice cream sandwich to eat the ears off of.

ACNL Doodle

I am sure this joke has been made a thousand times, but since today I actually did get a pyramid out of a tree in my town I wanted to draw it. So sue me. (Please don't.)

Probably should have done the first one, scanned it and used it for the background for the second, but oh well. 

4F pencil, sharpie pen, colored pencils, 30 minutes.

Hourly Comics February 1, 2013

Hourly Comics.
So I guess it is always the first of February, and I have seen it the last few years, but this is my first time giving it a go.

Things I have realized:
1. I draw myself slightly differently every time it seems.
2. If I am going to keep doing this I am going to have to work smaller, and less detailed.

While I was at home I bothered to try to block out some panels...

I look a bit like Anne Burrell until I comb my hair.

in case you can't read it, first panel says: you could make a cat out of all the dog hair.

Perspective is hard. Might help if I used some guidelines, but meh.

That German torture art was cool... they also had one showing a witch being dunked in a lake in a cage.

My dog is the best dog. Also, I'm breaking in a pair of hiking boots, so that's good.

Song is: Love Letter to Japan by The Bird and the Bee

These were like I mentioned, done on the floor in a gym and at a bar... My husband's students are all pretty great.

Aaaand back where I started.

Now time for a nap, or I am going to be useless for the baby shower and party later today...

30DC-MG: Day 19: Cyclops

Forgot for a minute this was a monster girls challenge. Oh well. So I started doodling the old cyclops from those movies, then thought about Cyclops the x-man, but then remembered the best cyclops ever, Leela from Futurama.

She doesn't take a lot of crap. I like that.

The Skees'

My husband really liked the last doodle from this post. So much so that he spun a whole story off it when talking to me about it and then asked if I could make a comic out of it for his birthday. Well, that was last month, but our anniversary was yesterday and I thought I would finish it in time.

I thumb-nailed the comic first. Then drew out each scene in pencil. We took some photographs for reference too. Then inked it when I was happy. Then scanned in all the inked panel sketches separately. Then took them into Illustrator to get vector line art. Then laid out the frames, vector art and text in InDesign. Then saved the file as an eps to keep the transparency. Took that eps into Photoshop. Colored the panels as if in full daylight. Then added a few filter layers to get the color right for a darker evening and the lighting. Added one more layer and tried to paint some backgrounds in for context.

Slowly getting back to comics

So, I have finally set up my new office to be in somewhat working order. It's a great space and all for me! I am contemplating doing the 30 Day Monster Girl Challenge, but I won't start that just yet.

In the mean time here is a warmup for me, going back to cataloging and doing fan doodles for the webcomics I read. Picking up where I left off...

Cat Versus Human by Yasmine. Basically just a comic about cats and the effects they have on ladies, life and relationships. Super cute and minimal look. I live for the rare strips she does about dogs. I can generally appreciate all the cat humor as well, since I do love cats, I just literally cannot live with them. Some of my favorites: This one and this one.

Was going to do a full fledged doodle, sketched out some ideas and realized that a two week hiatus was extremely detrimental to any skills I might have been building. So, instead here are caricatures of me, my husband and puppy inspired by Cat Versus Human.

Avatars are Awesome

UPDATE 6: Powerpuff Girls are getting remade... of course they had a "powerpuff yourself" site, and naturally, purple is a hair color option but not blue, so I took to Photoshop to edit mine.

UPDATE 5: The Peanuts Movie is coming out soon, so I used their website generator to "Get Peanutized". These things never get old. So much fun.

UPDATE 4: Anime yourself

UPDATE 3: New Adventure Time avatar game: Adventure Time Princess Maker
Guess she isn't too princess-y... 

UPDATE 2: Found my saved Scott Pilgrim avatar from their website for the movie.

UPDATE: Found a bakaneko creator!! Super fun = New avatar

 
Just thought I would put up a little post today about something super fun for all those mathmatical Adventure Time fans! Follow this link to play with an adventure time flash character creator.
Adventure Time Character Creator by Eladrin Girl
Here is mine:

And in case you are also a MLP:FIM fan like I am, here is a good pony creator!
Pony Creator by General Zoi
And my pony...

Next comic is Nedroid Picture Diaries, but that will be for Friday...

Rosscott, Inc Fan Art

Today's comic is Rosscott, Inc. (aka. the System) by Rosscott.

Started reading this one in 2009. I knew it was one I would keep up with forever, when it spoke to my soul in this particular comic: The Crap Sandwich. Since then it has made me laugh on a regular basis.

Rosscott uses the universal imagery that we see on signs everywhere to make this comic apply to everyone. However, some of the subject matter is rather specific to one or another group: e.g. office worker, graphic designer, bike commuter, coffee drinker, etc. It also has some just plain weird and silly humor in characters such as Jimmy the Murderdog. Puns are often found here as well. Comics also often remark on technology, gadgets, social media, and fonts. If you like any of those things, you might give it a try.

Notes on this doodle: Started as a pencil sketch in my note book and then once I had the idea and panels arranged, I drew the characters in Illustrator from scratch. Didn't feel it was right to just use the icons he does. Text font is Helvetica New Medium Expanded. The dog eyes in panel two are actually the lowercase letter "o" from ITC Avant Guarde Gothic. I use that font in several of the logos and brands I work on. Since I work from home, often there are design decisions that I need to make, but I no longer have the luxury of asking another designer for their input. I hope that it is not just me who talks to myself, and my dog, when stuck on a choice... I do miss having coworkers...

Hark, A Vagrant Madonna!

And now for something less completely different... or: back to webcomics!

The next on my reader list is Hark, a Vagrant! by Kate Beaton.

Honestly, this is one of my favorite comics out there right now and I'll tell you why... If some of these had been shown in my history classes I would be less bored by history. I have found that putting difficult subjects in comic form makes me want to learn more about that subject; make sense? Not really. Ok, I will try again: History is totes boring to me. Always has been. Except for Art History, that is... and what little "actual history" gets put into art history for context is all I care about. This pains my husband, who is a history graduate and teacher. Part of what makes it so likeable, is that the famous (or not so famous) people in these comics are all humanized. Meaning I can relate to them in some way, which makes their plight or circumstance something that maybe I might just give two cents about.

My favorites: the covers, the peasants, and sexy Tudors, or anything with wolverine, the pony or her younger self too. Even when I have no idea about the subject matter, I still end up laughing and maybe even learning something, after I go look it up. But SHHHHHHH, comics are silly and rot your brain right?

My doodle for this comic has been daunting. I knew I couldn't pass by without doing one, but like I said, I don't like history enough to try and learn something new just for a doodle. I thought about drawing my husband in her style, but I can't cause she's too good at capturing that essence of a person in so few lines. Then I thought about asking him what his favorite historical figure was, but then again I might have to go look something up, so no.

Today I thought, OK, if I did a comic like this, it would be about art history right? So pick something from that... duh. I wanted to do a comic about Dali in his limo full of cauliflower since that story has always stuck with me, but it is funny by itself. So I started looking through all the images I have kept from my art history classes... Oh lord, the Spiral Jetty... that is only funny to a certain few of us I think. Ahah! That will do.

This painting, so strange with the proportions... With a neck like that, it's no wonder Mr. Giraffe liked her. And I am pretty sure that babies do not look like that.

Skipped Webcomics 1

UPDATE: Sin Titulo is now back!! See this great Comic's Alliance article for another perspective.

So the list of comics that I read is ridiculously long (I counted today, there are 96 items in my RSS) and some of them I do not think I will do fan art for and some that I simply cannot, for various reasons, do fan art for.

Since I am super busy today, going into memorial day weekend, I will share the two comics that I have thus far skipped over. I expect as I skip more in the future I will do a few more of these posts, because even though I skip drawing them, they are all good for one reason or another.

First Up: Sin Titulo by Cameron Stewart
This comic is not like the rest in my reader. It is dark, scary, gritty, full of unpleasant things to think about and some stuff that I cannot quite classify. This is a story! Unlike a lot of comics, you have to read this in order, and I would even say close together in time, to maintain your understanding of what is going on. Parts of it remind me of the Sandman comics, parts of it are vaguely Sin City or the Watchmen. It has not updated in a while, but I keep it in my reader because even though I am vaguely afraid of it, I want to know what's going on! It rapidly hooks you into wanting to unravel the mystery presented to the main character. The basic plot follows a man who goes to a nursing home to pick up his grandfathers items after he passed away, along with the items he receives a lot of questions, which lead him along a dark road for answers. Check it out if you want to be confused like I am.

Secondly: Married to the Sea by Drew and Natalie of the Sharing Machine
Possibly one of the most opposite comics to Sin Titulo that I could pull out of my reader... This comic is all one offs. By that I mean they all stand alone, usually. Each and every one could almost be on a t-shirt and often are. It combines an old-style ink line drawings with snarky up-to-the-minute dialog and jargon. You have probably seen one or more at some point as they are very clever. The topics range from politics, food, internet memes, video games and life in general. Be warned, there are over 1700 comics and the first time I found them I spent a good many hours reading through them all.

Hope you at least take a look at these two.
Monday I'll be back with something (and a doodle hopefully) relating to Hark, A Vagrant!

Savage Chickens Fan Art

Today I am sharing Savage Chickens by Doug Savage with you. As one of the more popular comics I read, I should hope that you are already familiar with this one. A few of my favorites are: Meh and I Love You More, the most visited of all time are also all really good. Since "jerk" is one of the most common endearments that I use for my hubby, the latter is especially meaningful to me. The simple style is so nice and clean that the jokes stand out on their own. Also, it is always exciting to think what the next guest character might be. This comic covers subjects ranging from Star Wars, movies, and office politics, to romance, poetry and cats.

In this instance I chose to combine my love of the Chickens with another person who likes chicken, from one of my favorite movies of all time, which you should know. I knew I had to draw it as soon as I started cackling to myself just thinking about it.

As a little bit on the process of this doodle, I first traced the square size of my sticky notes (4x6) on to some blank paper to try and get a layout I liked. Then drew in the comic in pencil. Since I do not have a light board, I got my clear lap desk and put my desk lamp on the floor and traced the image from the paper onto my sticky note and then inked it in. It was not a bad process but my neck is killing me from hunching over my lap for so long.

Para-Ten Fan Art

Para-Ten by William N. Gibbons (Ashwara)... not sure how I found it. Might have been from Happle Tea, or the other way around. It is complete and no longer updates, but I have not removed it from my reader because I love going back and looking at it. It has a style of watercolor sumi-e ink wash paintings and it is very beautiful. It started out being hand inked and then digitally colored and that was inspiring to me. Shortly after starting the author switched to all digital and it was fascinating to see how the style changed to fit the new medium, which was not very much at all!

It follows the main character, Paveline and as the author states "was washed down a river and winds up far from home. She embarks on a journey home, encountering fantastic things, beautiful things, horrible things, disgusting things. It is an exploration of balance, patience, and courage."

I like best when she was traveling around and thought that maybe once her journey was over that later she might still like to wander around with a new found companion. I tried to capture the colors and feel of this comic in my doodle. It was very hard and I tried to learn new ways to set my brushes in Photoshop to create a kind of watercolor affect. I have a good feeling this is NOT how the original was made. :)

Just fyi, that thing is something from the comic and they call it a Millipede...just sayin...

Happle Tea Fan Art

So, moving on. I've decided that I need something else to draw, something fun and something that might last a while. While reading through my RSS feeder this morning I realized that there was plenty here to draw. So for a while I will be doodling my favorite characters from the various web comics I read. Maybe it will help expose you all to new ones you might not know of.

So going in the order in which they are displayed in my reader the first up is Happle Tea by Scott Maynard. Do you like mythology? Of course you do, who doesn't... Then this comic might just make you laugh. Mostly revolves around Lil K and his dad, Sasquatch. Lil K meets all kinds of folks from all kinds of myths and legends. One of my favorite returning characters is Cat God.

So I started out drawing Lil K eating ice cream because it is summer and I wanted him to have a nice time with Cat God for once, who generally says some unpleasant things. Then, since I am obsessed with Kenku, which are loosely based off karasu tengu from Japanese mythology, I thought hey, lets add a kid one in. Who else better might hang with a kid Kenku then Lil K, plus they have similar fashion sense in they are always shown wearing hooded clothes. :) Not sure what type of ice cream truck would have frozen treats to appeal to all three, but I bet it would exist in this comic.

Monster Pulse Fanart

Well you got a little sneak peek in my doodles post, but here it is... the final fanart for my girl for Monster Pulse. Since I basically did myself, I figure it's a self portrait too. And I added in all the bits of stuff like I would have in my room.

Thought of all my organs, ears might be cool to see as monsters. Of course you would get a pair too! Since the inner ear is snail shell shaped, I thought it would be cool if they were kind of snail like. Not much in a fight, but excellent for spying since I feel like they would work like extendable ears, as long as it isn't too far away she could still hear. She wears headphones though, since a hole-y head is super gross.

Without the monster ears, I guess it is a better self portrait... if a bit lonely.

Doctor Cat Contest! WOO!

So, if you need more cute in your life, why not read the webcomic Doctor Cat? It's about a cat, who is also a doctor. What else do you need to know??

Well the creator hurt her wrist and so is calling for entries for a contest. I had to enter, for the prizes and for the opportunity to draw something in Photoshop, which is something I have been itching to for a while now. From sketches to scans to photoshop and color. This comic took me about 8 hours over the course of three days to complete. I am a total novice at Photoshop, but I know enough to make layers for the line art, one for the colors and others for backgrounds and specific objects. I figured out grouping my layers to make moving each panel around easier. (again novice!) In the end I am pretty happy with it. At least it gets my not too funny joke across.

What I had the most fun with, was thinking about
a) how Lawyer Cat gets his glasses and
b) what his office might look like.

His office was super fun to think about. I wanted him to be behind an oak desk, like lawyers are in my mind... but then I thought why couldn't that desk be part of one of those cat jungle gyms?? And where normal lawyers might have a fancy pen in a stand, Lawyer Cat should have a fuzzy ball on a stick. But I also wanted his office to be totally cool, so I put it in a modern high rise building with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the heart of a city. I also tried to make the girl in my comic a nod to the human girl in Cat vs. Human, which is another of my favorite cat webcomics. Anyway. I hope it at least gets a laugh from the creator. Maybe you will laugh too?

UPDATE: At the end of the contest, grand prize winners and runner-ups were announced. So excited and honored to be chosen as a runner up! Thanks!