New Year, New Blog

  Hey, y'all, Happy New Year, Prospero Año!

I've been on deadlines, sick, cooking, and traveling . . . what have YOU been up to?

ALSO, I've seen some GREAT TV and MOVIES: I highly recommend BOYHOOD, THE IMITATION GAME, and THE COMEBACK, as the most recent stuff I've watched - also I rewatched (because they never get old) ALL of the Christopher Guest mockumentaries I could find: SPINAL TAP, WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, A MIGHTY WIND, BEST IN SHOW, etc.

I'm working on inking my latest submission to MAGIC BULLET, DC's comics newspaper, which we distribute at bookstores and comiccons all across the country.

I am working towards making my blog the most efficient thing it can be, work-wise for me, and communication-wise for you - I have 3800 followers on Pinterest (not really sure how that happened, but glad :) ), and about 2500 as Facebook friends, and about 800 followers on Twitter and a coupla hundred on Instagram, and about 500 LIKERS on my Facebook Laughing Redhead Studio page . . . I'd like to get all connected and . . . oh, also a coupla hundred on ETSY? And my ZAZZLE store, too, that needs to be updated (though there is lotsa good stuff going on in my Zazzle store already, according to my mom, who is my biggest fan!) gotta doublecheck that one. So, my goal this year is to get my site to where I want it to be. I'd like all my art to be in one very navigable place, and I've been so busy with deadlines and holidays that I haven't been posting much here lately. Soooo, you will see some weird reconfigurations and appearances on here - as I try to make sure I'm finding the most efficient designs for my needs as a writer/storyteller/artist. I have enlisted two interns to help me get my work loaded and ready for viewing/sale/discussion/whatev. I'm not a big fan of "buying" followers, or following folks just to get followed, so it's a slow, but genuine build, and I hope you'll be patient with me! I love Twitter and INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST, and I post a lot of pix of works-in-progress, as well as finished work, on all three of those, so if that interests you, check it out! Right now, I'm trying to figure out the best way to publish my horror stories and my "storytalks;" these are short true stories which I've "performed" in NYC at Gotham Comedy Club and the Metropolitan Room. Some have been published by big publishers, but I own them, so I'm thinking of publishing them here, and also printing them up to sell at the trade shows. What say you? Feel free to leave me a PM here, on Facebook, Tweet me, or message me on INSTAGRAM. Whew.

The safest bet is to follow me on Twitter and INSTAGRAM (is that showing up here? It was before I changed "themes"),  and to LIKE my Facebook "Laughing Redhead Studio" page. I post there regularly. My TWITTER and my INSTAGRAM are both @LaughingRedhead. You would also probably really like my PINTEREST boards, I'm obsessed with them. Besides drawing and writing every day, the only other thing I do every day (besides drink Diet Coke and wear trifocals) is that I pin to my PINTEREST boards. Every. Single. Day.

I am also working on teaching a good bit of art this spring, summer, and fall, in addition to writing horror short stories and working on two horror/spooky graphic novels. May take up RED BULL.

peace y paz,

trl

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