THE GUILLOTINE!

As if I needed more things to apply my over-worked brain to, I've opened a new shop on etsy with, what I think, is a great idea. Summaries is a project where I'm painting little portraits of fictional people and providing them with small fictional biographies. Some of them are funny, some are sad, some are something approaching touching. They're all one-of-a-kind and handmade, so click here if this sounds great to you. I'm going to keep these up for awhile and I'll be taking some custom orders in the future. Bookmark the shop and check back often!


In other news, I've been crazy productive on everything but Olde Jersey, sadly. This is not to say that I've given up, just a reminder that production of my eventual epic has to follow my insane schedule. I've also been trying to learn to play better chess and I've been exercising and eating well. I am a lighthouse of self-improvement on the rocky shores of twentysomething apathy.

From time to time I discover someone who appears to inhabit almost the same humor niche as me. I don't claim quite as all-encompassing a grasp of obscure historical figures as Kate Beaton, but I can't remember the last time I've laughed so hard at someone's comics. Here are a few examples taken from the history series on her website.



Seriously. This girl is almost too hilarious.

Ok, I'm going to go paint something and then get some sleep.

DOMINE!

This is #3 in my sudden series of nautically-themed designs with which I've been experimenting with coloring in Photoshop. I'm not completely happy with it ... her tail is far too short and it could use a few things here and there. Also the coloring is not where I'd like it to be. But hey- I've only been seriously trying to crack Photoshop painting for 3 days, so I'm happy with my progress. Stay tuned for more!

"Colloquial" is one of my favorite words

So is "fathom".

Perseverance builds character.

I'm finally working on some tattoo flash for the masses. I finished the outlines of this one and decided to mess around with Photoshop for coloring. Most of you know how much I hate Photoshop but I'm really keen on doing some rough-looking coloring on some of my future pieces.

The boy's a time bomb.

I don't buy a lot of clothing. When I do find something I like, I keep it until it just falls apart. And when it falls apart, I usually simpy buy a replacement. See the fact that I've worn the same style of black Dickies for the past 10 years or so. I've worn the same hat almost every day for the past 4 years, and before that I wore a green version for 5.

I've worn the same pair of low top Doc Martins for many years. I honestly don't remember if I got them in 2000 or 2001. I've worn them at least half of the year every year since and now I'm retiring them. Since I've been wearing them for so long, they bear a great deal of archeological evidence of what I've been up to in the intervening years.

So here they are on my desk this evening. Note the large amount of wear on the toes... in some spots they are worn all the way through. The wear on the toes started back when I worked at Giant Eagle in 2002-2004, and I would constantly stub my toe on the bagger carts. The poor things never fully recovered.The eyelets no longer wish to say in place from years upon years of lacing and relacing.When we first brought Ico home he had tiny little needle claws, which he just adored digging into my poor shoes. There are tiny little pinholes all over the darn things. Stupid cat. From years and years of walking, particularly the circuit I've been running in the South Side, the very thick, durable Doc Martins rubber sole has worn through almost all the way through.

Oh yes, there are holes. They let the rain in.

Doc Martins are notoriously difficult to wear out. Honestly, they are forged in the fires of Mt. Doom and can really only be destroyed there. But I did it. Oh yes, I did it. There are multiple holes and places worn-through, the interior padding is more or less non-existent. I have literally worn them to death.

Oh, and in case my mom is worried, I have new ones. This year promises a lot of outside time and for that I'll need some decent shoes. I like the updates to the style that Doc Martins have implemented over the past decade. Now all I have to do is endure the ridiculous breaking in procedure. Stay tuned for blisters.

They are awesome.

Since I had the camera out, here are some pics of my desk and a few of its attendant ecoutrements.

A RARE EXAMPLE OF LITURGICAL ARTWORK!

This is a commission for my dear friend Justun Wanted.

Oh, in case any of you are wondering what is going on with Olde Jersey, I offer this - be patient. I've been very busy lately with art and life and all kinds of stuff. I'm working on a new multi-page installment and our little comic friends are about to embark on a series of crazy happenings, so stay tuned - I haven't gotten lazy or given up, I've just been otherwise engaged.

Apparently no one at the tattoo shop likes The Postal Service, which is unexpected.

Hey! I did this for a client!

This week I've walked several miles. It was good for me, but I'm sore now. I've also logged some hours on the great, brilliant, etc TEAM FORTRESS 2.

I already have it for 360 as part of The Orange Box, but the xbox live community sucks for TF2 and really, I don't feel like paying Microsoft for what I get free from Steam. So I grabbed Team Fortress 2 for the PC and it's awesome. If you play on Steam, my tag is bombsfall. Add me and lets go crazy.

Cleo had round 2 of the mom tattoo tonight and I took pictures.

Jess was tattooing Derek in the same room.

Cleo tends to pay Travis in baked goods. Today she made cinnamon rolls from scratch and they are probably her greatest baking achievement ever. Here, Twitch invites Travis to sniff the insane smell of baked awesome.

Bobby says everything is cool.