DollsArtCats

It's not really a tragic hat, but a very silly one that happens to look adorable on my Iplehouse Denzel. And even better, it was a gift, from Laura Buff--I bought back a head from her that I had sold a while ago (you can see the head in The Lady or the Transmission), using the poor doll as a sort of resin pawn shop, and in the box with Amethyst's returned head was a pile of clothes! Buff has taken pity on my poor Denzel's skimpy closet and rolled a few teddy bears for new shirts, pants, and the aforementioned Hat. Buff is awesome :))

Immortality of Soul doesn't have "option hands" and as much as I love the IoS default hands, he can't hold a gun, a sword, a coffee cup or swim too well, so I decided I would make some spare hands out of Sculpey. The color is off because I had to use what Sculpey I had laying around here, and I got it a bit toasty in the oven. My plan is to glue a fabric cuff on it and some thin fabric on the hand itself and tada, a gloved sword hand. Still have to make the sword.

I have a big spider living on the edge of my kitchen door.It's about the size of a small mouse. It has built a web across my porch light, which is probably how it got so fat. It's big enough to almost be some kind of gross pet. I would be happy to not use that door, but I am having an "open house" on Sunday, and I am not sure what to do about the spider. Should I put up a sign? If I say, "Do not open the door, there is a spider" people will think, oh come on, there are a million spiders, I will open the door. This scares the spider, who likes to sit on the edge of the door where it is warm, and then it runs up the web and tries to make itself small and inconspicuous so it is the size of a quarter instead of a golf ball. It's on the left side above the railing and under the awning, but it is right at eye level. I have taken a couple of bad pictures of it, but to get a good one I have to get closer than either the spider or I are really comfortable with. ...

Here's the other cover I was working on..much too long, due to the renovation nonsense. I'm really happy with the type and the central angel guy, slightly less happy with the Brad Pitt look-alike behind him (I met him on istockphoto) and fairly happy with the 500 year-old guy in the back. (He's in pretty good shape for that age). I wish I had done more to match the photo refs and the painting--the difference looks obvious to me now, but at least I am learning.:)

Courtesy of Cassini and Nasa, because sometimes you just need a pretty BIG picture!

Here's a crop of the final--I didn't want to make it too smooth, and I didn't want it to look like photostock or Poser; the idea was to have it look hand done, though with a digital pen. I'm pretty happy with the result, though I doubt any mainstream press art director would put up with the looseness or the style. This is why I am so happy I was able to work directly with the author, who let me just do what I wanted. Stuart Jaffe is a very good writer--he writes very strong characters and keep the reader turning pages to find out what happens next. I might have to go buy a print copy when it comes out!

Still diggin' this doll...he's really big. He's sort of spoiled me for the smaller dolls.

And he is the coolest. Around 7 pounds of Korean engineering. (This reminds me I need to go get groceries today.)

And very messy it is...I paint like a collage artist. The end result will be smoother.

Probably because I am the only one on earth who likes these waxy, toxic-red-dye-no 5 treats.

My Iplehouse doll is still in NYC, perhaps in customs. The doll that is supposed to be his partner is here, with a suitably "any time now" expression. I hate waiting!

Sometimes a dollar wig from Ebay looks like a dollar wig. But it's pink, and Myrtle (Soom Coquina) doesn't care. The azaleas were outstanding last Spring!

Irene seems to have shaken up the bug population in the yard--I'm seeing new bugs, including this 6 inch long Praying mantis, who was (I think) hunting ants, and annoyed that I was pushing a camera so close to him. I also saw a very large walking stick, and a countless number of crickets and spiders. Unfortunately Stripey Cat likes to eat them, and then a few minutes later return them. On my printer.