PAISLEY

I obsessively design, draw, and doodle paisleys, when I'm not cartooning, and I have for years. I have a fantasy about going to the PAISLEY MUSEUM in Scotland and just spending ridiculous amounts of time staring at paisleys (or IS IT ridiculous? I should make a plan!) This is a piece I'm working on currently - with a new Holbein gouache set I got at New York ComicCon (from Vermont Art Supply/HOLBEIN booth, on the main floor! It's always a great one.) The colors are SO deep and rich! AND the HOLBEIN gouache is smoooooooth. In a word: JUICY. I carry travel paints with me most of the time - a very minimal set, usually black and white plus one other color, usually red (this time blue). This travel set is an AVEDA eyeshadow compact I'm upcycling - it has a magnetic strip in the bottom, and these are beer bottle caps with gouache in them. I've added a tiny travel brush which fits in the case when it's closed. The silver pill bottle can carry a tiny amount of water, which is all I need when working with a limited palette (and it's easily changeable with a water bottle on hand, which I usually have anyway!)You could easily do this with any old compact, which has a metal bottom, by adding magnets to your beer, wine, or soda bottle caps.

This system also easily works with old ALTOIDS and MYNTZ and FISHERMAN'S FRIEND tins, as well :) If you follow me on TWITTER or INSTAGRAM, you've seen my concert drawings - this is a great system for that, too, easily takeable in a small bag. This past Wednesday I went to hear Daniel Lanois at The Hamilton DC and got some fun drawings from that - I always give them to the artists after. It's great figure drawing practice to draw musicians on stage (fun, too!)

In other news, please check out my MUSE CRUISE 2015 FACEBOOK page - we have a great group going so far, but plenty of room for more! I'm teaching Art Journaling, and the amazing writer Vicki Kuyper is teaching the writing (she's authored well over 50 books - for many publishers!) Art journaling, writing, and photography on the Caribbean. Some of my favorite things in the world, combined! You are welcome to sign up, details on our FACEBOOK page, and feel free to PM me with any questions!

In FURTHER other news, I've become obsessed (yes, I've overused that word today) with podcasts, particularly those from Nerdist Chris Hardwick (you might know him as the host of Talking Dead, the WALKING DEAD aftershow?) - they are frickin' hilarious, and great to listen to while I work. Yesterday, though, I had to lift my brush from my work because I was cackling too hard to keep it steady. So, it can be risky . . .

Have a great weekend, y'all. peace, trl

FOG OF WORRY: SCARY WITHOUT MAKEUP

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, Y'ALL!

NEW YORK COMIC CON!!

And now to the Con!! I'm so dang excited to find out (just last night, doh!) that there will be a panel of . . . YAY-ISS!!! THE WALKING DEAD!! And my friend (well, not to name drop, but we had sushi 'til 4 a.m. once in LA together, so I hope she remembers me) the VERY TALENTED AND LOVELY YVETTE NICOLE BROWN will be moderating that panel - she's a regular on COMMUNITY and a great guest on TALKING DEAD!! And, umm, hello, Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus and . . . and . . . anyway, I'm excited. BUT the main reason I'm going isn't to stalk the "Walk"ers, it's to show my wares. So, COME VISIT ME in the SMALL PRESS SECTION, BOOTH #1162, with the amazing CURLS STUDIO http://www.curls-studio.com, and I'm listed with them - LAUGHING REDHEAD STUDIO! New logo, new banner, new focus on my spooky art. The pen-and-inky ghosty stuff. I'll also have my THE OLDER I GET, THE LESS I CARE books for sale, as well as my character minis - small originals for sale!

And, I'll be laughing out loud a lot, as is my wont. (Just ask those stern Licensing show ladies who had a booth next to me) . . .

Here's my new logo, blue-line and all! - my banner is BLACK &WHITE &GREY . . .

I hope to see you there!!

(Okay, so I confess I've been outta touch the last week. But I'm kinda thrifty, and I was on a Premier Cruise doing comedy! And swimming in my clothes! So, I took the opportunity to unplug. Which isn't great timing, since I will be doing a booth at New York Comic Con starting tomorrow! But, was I gonna pass up the opp to do comedy on the high seas, and hang out with many fun women and stare at the stars over the Caribbean? Umm, noooooooo.)

Baltimore ComicCon doodlin' . . . minis

This is what I did while sitting my table at Baltimore ComicCon this weekend - I met so many great people, and was inspired by all that cosplay happenin'. It's like Halloween, which, as you know is my FAVORITE. Happy Monday, y'all. peace, trl

FOG OF WORRY: REASONS I STILL FREELANCE

A self-portrait. :) BTW, following me on Twitter is a really good idea, if you are interested in the art processes here and at my Etsy shop . . . links to both are in the right-hand column ON MY HOME PAGE here. I like to post often, photos of pieces in progress, as well as notes on materials, etc. ALSO, ON TWITTER, I post a LOT of smart-alecky thoughts which never make it onto a page or into a cartoon. (See below for how my mind generally works . . . )

This piece is a stream-of-consciousness real-time (as if you couldn't tell) thingie. Sometimes I just need to encourage myself . . . and I figure I might as well encourage y'all at the same time. I have tons of actor, comic, writer, screenwriter, director, artist, musician friends . . . creative friends of every kind. Sometimes it gets hard, and some get lost along the way - so here's to us all, the success is in the HANGING IN THERE! peace, trl

FOG OF WORRY: THOUGHTS ON ZOMBIES

FOG OF WORRY: HOARDING BOOKS

TODAY'S FOG OF WORRY: MY "GROWN-UP" XMAS LIST

FOG OF WORRY: LADIES NIGHT

FOG OF WORRY: Dude and Death

Space Invaders . . . Or, Me Last Friday

I love city life, but I am also a bit of a claustrophobe. Not big into crowds. Don't like that feeling when there are so many people milling around that you get stretch marks just trying to get off the Metro. Also, do NOT get me started on that semi-catatonic walk many sight-seers do. Dear Sight-Seers: I wouldn't mind so much if you didn't hold hands 5-across. And shuffle aimlessly like extras in The Walking Dead. My favorite show, but I wouldn't ride the Metro with the Zed Ones. The Walking Zed!! A new title for my fav show in Canada and Eng-uh-land! You never know when genius will strike. See? But I digress. Saturday was kinda wonky in DC - Cherry Blossom tourists, St. Paddy's Day tourists, and the Rock-n-Roll Marathon tourists. I spent the day in the National Gallery of Art. Me = Happy Puppy.

I live kinda in DC and kinda in Virginia. Long story. Won't bore you with it. BUT, I spend a good amount of time in both places. So, my world is a contrast between sloburbia, full-on country (I find I'm such a swamp-lovuh!!), and full-0n city (my comfort zone). I am a fast walker, and I like to sorta land in my own space. As in, I like to sit and listen to Amos Lee and Jack White and Imelda May and cartoon away awhile slamming water, Diet Coke, or a prissy latté - and I like public places now and then, because I'm a people watcher. These people find their way into my cartoons. hee hee

Last Friday, (why does she go back in time in today's blog? I dunno) I went to Pret A Manger (a coolio little sandwich place - they make everything fresh and give their leftovers each day to the homeless. AND they are inexpensive. I love all those things.) So, I'm sitting there, in an empty section, eating my yummy little half-sandwich, and this woman is hovering behind me, waiting on this nice young man to clean the counter next to me. Then she steps forward and runs her finger across it to see if it's dry enough for her. It isn't. Still no one but me at the counter, facing the window out. She hovers more, then sits. Right next to me. In an empty section. Hmmmm. Then proceeds to stare at everything I do. Everything. What I'm eating. What I'm drawing. When I go to the trashbin . . . So, I used an iPhone evasion tactic. Look at me, whoa, I'm soooo into my music!! I don't even notice your laser stare at my paper and pen and my face, ugh!!  think sometimes people think if you draw in public you are asking for observers. Like those plein air painters with the floppy hats who start conversations with strangers about the virtues of cerulean blue and hemp studio wear. I would understand if I were leaving a little hat with change next to me, inviting onlookers, but I'm just mindin' my own biz.

Anyway, it's a little unnerving sometimes. Feels like Space Invaders. Fo reelz.

Then, I went to the movie theatre to see "The Forgiveness of Blood." It's an Albanian movie, very good, btw. If you cannot already tell, I'm VERY comfortable doing stuff alone. The theatre was completely empty when I got there. And then two women came in, separately, and about ten minutes apart. One sat next to me. One sat behind me. Whut the - ?!! REALLY? THREE of us in here. Taking up about 6 square feet of space. Brrrrrr.

Soooooo, here are the cartoons. I only drew ONE of the women in the theatre, because, frankly, I didn't turn around and look at the woman behind me. I just sorta shifted in my seat. THAT burns calories, right?!

peace, trl

p.s. - Are you a fan of The Walking Dead?!! Omigosh, I'm ADDICTED. Must find activities to fill time until Season 3. (she pretends her taxes are done) Perhaps watching Prometheus trailer in an endless loop? I'm a-skeered . . .