Chrysanthemum

A chrysanthemum ATC for a swap over at ATCards. Pen and ink and then some more pen and ink.

My copy of Plants was a constant companion over vacation along with another book I'll post about later. It felt good to just draw.

And now it's time to return to the diss. My advisor is still abdicating some responsibility in connection with one of the chapters, but what can I do at this point? I need to finish now. At least she's raving about the sections of the diss that she's decided are her responsibility. Let's just hope the rest of my committee is as keen.

Moth Wing

I don't like moths. They are the insects of nightmares, as far as I'm concerned. But this moth wing was so pretty, that I had to paint it. It also gave me an excuse to break out the gold paint.

It looks like a busy revising day today and a busy revising weekend in general. I printed out the next chapter yesterday and I am relieved to know that my last two chapters will not involve anywhere near as much work as the previous chapter and the chapter now under revision.

And somewhere amid all this revising, I need to get the rest of my brother-in-law's gift and some new shoes.

There's nothing under the fold.

I Love Poppies

Since figuring out how to draw poppies, I haven't been able to stop. Here are two more.

Below the fold is my second poppy sister ATC, which will be heading out to Ottawa with tomorrow's mail.

Poppy Sister I

Below the fold is an ATC for a themed blind trade with Miss Fish. Cuteness awaits you!
watercolours and india ink

Poppy ATC

If you read this here blog regularly, you'll know that poppies have been giving me fits. By fits, I am not refering to opium-induced highs, I am instead talking about tantrums worthy of a two-year-old. Poppies are so simple. And yet such a pain in the arse.

Well, after gawking at many photos of poppies over on flickr, I think that I've finally gotten the hang out of drawing them. In profile. Anything else would be too complicated at the moment.

Here's a poppy ATC done in watercolours and india ink. Maybe now I can finally finish up those poppy sister ATCs that I owe a certain someone.

There's nothing below the fold.

I recently looked through some scans of my older work. Beth just did the same thing over at her place. I can't believe that it's already been two years since I first decided to try the whole art thing. It's been fun and man, have I improved. I hadn't realized it until I saw some of my first ATCs, scans of which I am not posting. So there! Instead, here's a scan of an ATC from about a year ago. I still love this motif: monsters dressed up as animals.

I was going to tie the art tehcnique learning curve to the diss. I am amazed that all of the sudden it feels like I have actually learned something about my topic. But I'm not. I'm tired of the diss-related navel gazing and I'm sure that you are too. My recent dissertation posts are actually me trying to convince myself that I can do this. I'm sure that you've also already figured that out too. So here's another Regina Spektor video for your enjoyment and a link to some truly killer letterpress elephant cards and a link to something I probably shouldn't like but do. Back to the song: this one's plucky. Literally.



There's nothing below the fold.

Transformation ATC

This is my second go at a transformation ATC. You're welcome to find some sort of deeper meaning in the card, but all you really need to know is red + yellow = orange.

I've had a hard time working on these because all I want to do at the moment is work on the dissertation. Really. I read my second Czech chapter yesterday and it's actually really pretty good. I've got some cleaning up to do, I have some sources to hunt down, I have a really good point made by a friend to incorporate in my introduction (Thanks!) and make more explicit in my chapter, and I've got some background to provide. Should be tasty and done by Wednesday evening.

In case you're doubting my recent dissertation obsession, I'll offer further proof: I didn't want to watch Project Runway last night (and I didn't). It was the penultimate episode too! But, when it comes right down to it, I don't really care. It's just teevee. It is the best friggin' show on teevee, but it's teevee and my heart isn't in it these days. It's stuck in interwar Czechoslovakia.