The Challenges Of Real Media

One of the reasons I've been so blog-quiet is that I'm working on some artwork for a charity auction. All of us story folk at work are donating/creating artwork so we can decorate our new story pod, Joe's Place. The trick is that, since it's being auctioned off, it really needs to be original, non-digital art. Eek!

I can't even tell you how long it's been since I've bought art supplies - I've been drawing digitally for years now, even on my own projects (like the Happy Beaver comics - I know, I know). I stopped by Blick's Art Supplies, and dropped enough cash that it made me wonder if it might not be better to simply give the story team the money! Still, the more I thought about it, the more excited I got.

My original plan was to rough out the drawings digitally (since that's the most malleable step), back-light some watercolor paper, and do the Sharpie 'inking' that way. I wouldn't have to worry about bleeding, since Sharpies are waterproof. If I still had any courage left (it usually evaporates after the line art is done), I'd color the art with Dr. Martin's dyes, just like the old school guys did!

As you can see, the line art is finished for three pieces - the poster design, plus two others. All of the planning has worked out so far - I bought a light box for the back-lighting, and it worked great - so well that I didn't need to use the sheets of treated acetate I bought as a backup. The biggest question mark was using the dyes, since I didn't have any experience with them.

I was going to try to hedge my bets at first and paint the treated cels - I could frame it with the art as an overlay, and if I messed up the color, I could grab another cel and try again. But even though the cels were supposed to be able to take watercolors, washes were just plain invisible on it. I took it to mean that God wanted me to grow a pair and paint on the original, so I did.

I started with the poster design, since I needed to get it finished first. The results were mixed - the parts that I knew what I wanted were labor-intensive (it took me four hours to paint one drawing) but successful. The part that I was the least clear on my approach going in - the auction crowd - was much less so, and I wound up really overworking it:

It turns out that these dyes aren't great for layering - they bleed in really unpredictable ways, and it's best to use them as solid colors. It's ironic, because that's the way I color ninety percent of the time - this particular piece seemed to ask for a little more nuance. I learned a lot about the medium, though, and I still have enough time to redo the line work and try again. If I run out of time, well, at least I've got something for Monday!

New Pinstriped "Happy Beaver" Toy Auction!

Here's pinstriped beaver #2! Unfortunately, in all the Cow Palace craziness, this toy was left unsigned - none of us have any idea who did it!

It's not as crazy as Coop's, but the belly pattern on this one is still cool! Perfect for those those who'd prefer a more restrained custom.

Anyhow, it's currently up for grabs on eBay, so put your bid in now! You've got just ten days to change your mind...

At Last! A New "Happy Beaver" For Sale!

It's not a new colorway, but a one-of-a-kind custom! My buddy Greg "Coop" Cooper did a beautiful pinstriping job on one of my "Happy Beaver" toys, and I'm offering it up for sale on eBay! I just started the auction, so you've got about ten days to bid. Good luck!

Over The Weekend

Last night, Anita and I went to the Maverix Studios charity art auction, benefitting the Alzheimer's Association. There were plenty of prints, sculptures and drawings to bid on, many of them done by friends, all of them cool!

Most of the evening was socializing and silent bidding. I hadn't done this type of auction before - everyone gets a bidding number, and you jot it down (along with the amount you want to bid) on a slip of paper posted next to the piece. Then, you wander around the party, checking periodically to see if anyone jotted down a higher bid. If so, you jot down a higher one and keep jotting and checking until the auction time runs out!

There was a little extra twist - several of the most hotly contested pieces were then put up for live bidding - the final silent bid then becomes the starting one for the live auction! Oof.

I wasn't in a party mood initially, so the first half of the auction was a little rough. The two of us bid on three different pieces, and we stuck around, knowing that if we took off early, we'd probably lose all of them (and that was true). My eBay personality kicked in, and the mixing got easier as more people arrived.

We decided to focus on a great Catwoman drawing by Ted Mathot, a nifty illuminated Tron - like sculpture by Tony Candaleria, and another item that I can't list here (we bought it as an early Christmas gift, and you never know who's reading). We bidded and hovered and chatted. Anita kindly offered to sell tickets for the raffle items, and we kept an eye on the clock.

The evening definitely picked up as the live auction began - Anita helped present the most hotly contested pieces, and the bidding kicked into high gear! It was very entertaining to watch folks grit their teeth, bidding higher and higher. The live auction was clearly a good call, as almost every one of the last pieces went for far more than they had during the silent phase. People had gotten used to thinking they'd won in the first half (what I call "the eBay effect"), so now they really weren't letting go without a fight! Fortunately for the charity, they didn't, and literally thousands of dollars changed hands at cash-out time.

Oddly, none of our personally coveted pieces 'went live', so we got off light at cash-out time - our bill was a little under three hundred dollars for everything that we won (all three pieces, as it turned out). Of course, it went to a good cause, too!

I donated a beaver toy, but not surprisingly, it didn't cause nearly as much of a stir as the original pieces. Next time I'll try to whip up an original drawing - those certainly did the trick!

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Today, Anita and I went up to Napa - there was one of those temporary outlet stores there, and this one specialized in Disney theme park overstock. We didn't really have money to throw around after the auction, but you never know what kind of bargain might surface. We jumped in the hybrid and went to check it out.

It was a bizarre section of Napa, one that I didn't even know exisited. Rather than rows of neatly manicured wineries, this area had strip malls, fast-food joints, gated communities and industrial parks. I felt like I'd somehow teleported down to Valencia or Burbank!

There really wasn't anything there that we wanted, so we grabbed a quick lunch and started on our way back home. That's kind of how collecting works - you have to lose on a lot of long shots before your horse comes in. You just have to hit the stores like a metronome, and sooner or later, you'll find that thing you've been looking for. This, though, was not one of those times.

There was a flea market in its last throes on the way home, so we checked that out, too. It was mostly brand new stuff, but for whatever reason, there was a lot of bootleg toys there - more than I'd ever seen anywhere else. Most were Ninja Turtle/Voltron/superhero variations, but also plenty of Nemo/Incredibles/Cars rip-offs. They weren't hilariously ugly, but I did find a few choice mutations that I picked up and will try to shoot next weekend at the latest. Four words until then: raptor with a saddle.