FOG OF WORRY: TODAY KICKED MY BUTT

Actually, this cartoon is about yesterday . . . but that will let you know HOW MUCH yesterday kicked my butt, no?! See, my butt was sooooo kicked, I couldn't even finish the cartoon until TODAY!! AND, IT'S NOT EVEN FINISHED!! It's my LAZY version of a sketch on a holiday weekend!! Back to full-on professionalism tomorrow, dear ones. peace, trl

Inspired

 

I like making visual journals of all sorts - and even my sketchbooks have pages in them which I've devoted to inspiration-to-go - collaging images and colors which get my juices going . . . here are three of those pages. Hope you find some inspiration in them! peace and happy Friday, y'all! trl

When You Buy Art . . .

My message to independent artists (writers, actors, visual artists, comics, singers, writers, musicians, directors . . . ) HANG IN THERE, Y'ALL! I posted this on my Facebook page the other day, sharing it from Utrecht Washington DC's page . . . it says a lot. My comment was as follows: Support independent artists, musicians, actors, singers, writers . . . what do you value among these? Almost all artists pay a high price to continue to focus on our work (and, though we love what we do, IT IS WORK) . . . and it can be very feast or famine. You can buy original art, see live theatre, and support live music, buy independently published graphic novels and books . . . if you only make it a priority. Show that you see the arts as things of value. (What do you spend in a throw-away manner? . . . on coffee, on gas, on fast food, on clothes, new shoes, spa dates, mani-pedis, movies, travel?) Tuck away a portion to go support some live arts events . . . and independent artists. Here's to all of you, for hanging in there . . . it ain't easy, and, you rock, for still doing what you do!! That, in itself, is a victory won.

Hang in there, y'all. Keep making the art you feel driven to do, and passionate about making . . .

peace, trl

Great Wave at Paisley-gawa

Today's art journal post (with apologies to Hokusai!):

Thought note: Today's art journal post is an homage (a modest one, of course!!!) to Katsushika Hokusai's "Great Wave at Kanagawa," which is a gorgeous piece of artwork, which I never, ever get tired of staring at. I dunno if it's because it's such a technically amazing work of woodblock cutting and printing, or because I love the ocean so much, or because there's a picture of it on a ruler I got at The Metropolitan Museum of Art many years ago . . . but I love it. I doodle paisleys sort of obsessively . . . and am working on some acrylic works incorporating designs such as these. Will post when finished with those . . . I plan to start showing them publicly by early fall.

Tech note: Faber-Castell Superfine pen + a Faber-Castell grey brush pen (#272) . . . in my Moleskine notebook (thick pages, 5.5x8.5 each page); if you want to buy the thicker pages and they don't have a sample open at the store, just look at the page count. The ones with a lower page count (which are the same thickness) are the ones with thicker pages. These take watercolor and acrylic and gel medium, and Mod Podge, and collage, and almost everything else I've thrown at them.

Happy Art-making,

trl

Psych Book Drawings, Day 15

thought note: i love to draw angels - and iconic women - Anywayz. Yesterday, i buried a little tiny baby bird  - outside my studio window, between the daffodils. I found him on our driveway, i think he left the nest a bit too early - and just didn't make it. made me really sad, even though i'd like to be all philosophical and talk like The Lion King "circle of life" stuff (remember when Simba asks, "hey why do we eat our friends, Dad?" - Yep. "Circle of Life."  i like to think he's in a better place now (the bird, not Simba), but i don't know how all that works . . .

tech note: Faber-Castell artist pen, "F" (fine)

Psych Book Drawings, Day 13

Thought note - This is a vintage psych book, and the subject of this page is frustrating . . . but there it is. I was thinking of this, driving around in Williamsburg, VA (aka "the obstacle course"), and then listening to politics on radio and TV. Sooooo, this is my response.

Tech note: Faber-Castell brush pens and Copic Sketch pens (brush end only)

I'm Not OK, You're Not OK . . . But That's OK

We are all on a journey . . . and we should remember that. People can change. We can grow. And we are all in the middle of silent (or not-so-silent) struggles . . . in which we try to better ourselves, we beg God to make us better and/or we beat ourselves up for not being better. Hang in there. A cliché I love.

A Very Different World

Illustrating yesterday's Tweet . . . I think that if when people had sex, we didn't know whether the man or the woman would get pregnant, we would have a VERY DIFFERENT WORLD. So, here's my art journal page about that . . .

Revival Meeting?

I like juxtaposition. Here's a photo of an old-timey revival meeting (very UNlike the ones I attended growing up in Tennessee!) - and a photo ad from a 1960s mag - advertising what they thought air travel should be like. LOL!! If they made her pack her toiletries in a quart bag, take her hat, sweater, belt, and shoes off, and inspected her laptop and her Aveda foot cream it would be more accurate. But, that snifter of brandy looks quite pleasant. I know a pic is worth a thousand words - but I just had a lot more fun at church than these ladies are . . . and this pic seems to be the antithesis of anything being "revived!" People of faith, hello . . . what ARE we up to? Anyway . . . compare and contrast. peace, trl

Homebook

I've put together so many pages of stuff I love, that it's hard to fathom getting it all posted to share - but I'm starting here, and using my Pinterest page to get the word out as well! So, follow me on Pinterest (laughingredhead) and on Twitter @LaughingRedhead, to keep up with all the visual inspiration and cartoons I'll be posting. I LOVE decor and interior design, as well, and I'll be posting from my Homebook (as I call it) as well as my art journal pages . . . lots and lots of things. I'm very visually oriented, and love to put things together. So, here goes!

No Regrets - really?!

You know sometimes when you hear that movie quote "LOVE means never having to say you're sorry," and you think, well that's a crock o' crap?

That's how I feel when I hear people say, "No regrets," meaning, I presume that they don't regret, or allow themselves to think about regretting, ANYTHING. Which would be either, that they have delusions of perfection, or that they are totally in denial. Though, I'm sure I could use summa dat denial stuff, now and then. Like I'd like to forget about posting that Calista-Gingrich-has-woman-arrested-for-breastfeeding-in-public article, only to find out that it totally wasn't true. That is totally what I get for breaking my never-talk-about-the-candidate's-family-members-unless-it's-Todd-Palin rule. (Because, I mean, how can you NOT?)

Anyway, not to be sidetracked by my temporary dopiness, (hey, that IS a word!), THIS post is about regretting not having said or done certain things. When you lose a friend or family member, and you wonder what you could have done or said that would have made everything better . . . made things easier for that person in their last days, communicated how you felt and how much you truly loved them  and were glad they were in your lives. I think the best we can do in this life is to make sure we are more OPEN than CLOSED.

It causes a lot of embarrassment, of course. Exposing yourself in certain ways can cost you.

But I remember when I decided to leave my job as an artist/writer at Hallmark - it was tough. I got to write and paint all day, and had lots of cool friends! But, I knew if I didn't leave to learn the craft of comedy, I would always look back and be sorry. I never wanted to get to my death-bed and be worrying about myself in that way.

I probably won't die by something like parachuting out of a plane, it will be something stupid like "She fell off her platform shoes into a tub of water while holding a plugged-in radio," or "She drank her turpentine instead of her Diet Coke while painting her last masterpiece," which, btw, is something I've actually done. Yes, I once drank a sip of turpentine by accident instead of my Diet Coke. Not much, obviously . . . I'm still here. (DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.) Also, now, I keep the turpentine v. far away from my beverage while I work. Also, I've switched to acrylics, so now it's just murky water tempting me.

Anywayz, I want to be more like Oscar Wilde and say something like (slight misquote): "Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."

Try to achieve great things, fail a lot, make fool of yourself, achieve some stuff, love your family and friends, (and your ENEMIES, too, if you are VERY evolved, like Jesus), and laugh a lot along the way.

Allrighty, then.

No regrets.

peace,

trl

 

p.s. - In tagging this latest post, the auto-fill jumped in when I typed "Jesus," and tried to fill in "Jerry Lewis." That was jarring.