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maniraptoransand here is, just as i promised, the June general update! earlier this month, i wrote an essay-style post about Terry Pratchett, Discworld and leftist politics, which i really enjoyed making. the July fun post will probably be a bit simpler, since I'm doing things and then on holiday for the end of the month, I might write about one of my worldbuilding or story concepts.
Site Updates:
nothing much new around here!
although, i do have an idea for when i next get some time to really sit down and work on this website, i'd love to make wiki pages for my worldbuilding projects and OCs. i have this habit of making tons of detailed lore and ideas and never really posting them anywhere, and i'd like to store them here for my sake as well as for sharing them with other people. would probably mainly cover Cast Off, My Darling and EXPULSION ZONE.
Art Updates:
i posted this on my projects page, but i didn't include it in my blog - i painted my first ever mural! it was a crazy project, because i'd never made a mural before and it was HUGE, but it ended up coming out absolutely amazingly, with the support of a wonderful local cafe. the mural itself has finished, but the work keeps on going somewhat - i designed tie-in badges and tote bags to be sold at the cafe at a launch event! it was suuper interesting designing for physical products and co-ordinating that, and both products came out wonderfully.
i'm also working on my next mural, at a local nursery inside their kids' garden. here's the design!
the painting itself is a difficult process, what with the fence being uneven meaning it's difficult to get clean-looking shapes, and just in general it feels a little amateurish and not very polished - but i suppose it is only my second mural ever. the commissioner is very happy, so that's great! it's a good taste of what working freelance feels like.
another project i've had a big hand in is MOONSAULT, a pro wrestling art charity fanzine! this has been in the works for a while, i honestly started it out not knowing if it would ever become a real thing, but all the artists are working on their pieces at the moment & it's looking suuper exciting! you can read more about it on our official tumblr page or twitter—keep your eyes peeled for more updates!
i'm also doing ArtFight this year! it's my first time entering in about 5 years, i think, and i'm trying to keep it lax and fun for myself, and practise playing around more with traditional art - lots of ink, copics and coloured pencils. i've almost finished my current sketchbook (about 10 pages left), and it's lasted me about 2 years now - i'm aiming to finish it by the end of the summer so i can start with a new, fresh slate. check out my AF with my Cast Off, My Darling OCs & the stuff i've been making here!
speaking of a clean slate... i finally picked my university degree and i'm beginning to get really excited. i start in exactly two months, which is... augh scary, but i'm really looking forward to it! i miss having access to a print studio, haha. recently i've been full of ideas for risoprints that i really want to make - i've done lots of riso in the past but i've felt like i've never quite used it to its strengths. every so often, like with the murals, i forget that i'm always still learning, and i'm not going to be perfect from the get-go. (now i just gotta hold all those good ideas in my head until i can get into the studio in september :0 ) i really do love a studio enrivonment, it feels like parallel play in the best way. lots of people around me largely in their own space, but we can talk if we want and i can learn so much from just being around other awesome artists.
What I Love!
here's the little bit where i tell you what i've been enjoying recently.
books! my reading pace has slowed down a lot since i stopped regularly commuting for about 1.5 hours 3 days a week... obviously, but i've still been enjoying some good stuff.
movies & tv:
hope you have a great day, ellis
Site Updates:
nothing much new around here!
although, i do have an idea for when i next get some time to really sit down and work on this website, i'd love to make wiki pages for my worldbuilding projects and OCs. i have this habit of making tons of detailed lore and ideas and never really posting them anywhere, and i'd like to store them here for my sake as well as for sharing them with other people. would probably mainly cover Cast Off, My Darling and EXPULSION ZONE.
Art Updates:
i posted this on my projects page, but i didn't include it in my blog - i painted my first ever mural! it was a crazy project, because i'd never made a mural before and it was HUGE, but it ended up coming out absolutely amazingly, with the support of a wonderful local cafe. the mural itself has finished, but the work keeps on going somewhat - i designed tie-in badges and tote bags to be sold at the cafe at a launch event! it was suuper interesting designing for physical products and co-ordinating that, and both products came out wonderfully.
i'm also working on my next mural, at a local nursery inside their kids' garden. here's the design!
the painting itself is a difficult process, what with the fence being uneven meaning it's difficult to get clean-looking shapes, and just in general it feels a little amateurish and not very polished - but i suppose it is only my second mural ever. the commissioner is very happy, so that's great! it's a good taste of what working freelance feels like.
another project i've had a big hand in is MOONSAULT, a pro wrestling art charity fanzine! this has been in the works for a while, i honestly started it out not knowing if it would ever become a real thing, but all the artists are working on their pieces at the moment & it's looking suuper exciting! you can read more about it on our official tumblr page or twitter—keep your eyes peeled for more updates!
i'm also doing ArtFight this year! it's my first time entering in about 5 years, i think, and i'm trying to keep it lax and fun for myself, and practise playing around more with traditional art - lots of ink, copics and coloured pencils. i've almost finished my current sketchbook (about 10 pages left), and it's lasted me about 2 years now - i'm aiming to finish it by the end of the summer so i can start with a new, fresh slate. check out my AF with my Cast Off, My Darling OCs & the stuff i've been making here!
speaking of a clean slate... i finally picked my university degree and i'm beginning to get really excited. i start in exactly two months, which is... augh scary, but i'm really looking forward to it! i miss having access to a print studio, haha. recently i've been full of ideas for risoprints that i really want to make - i've done lots of riso in the past but i've felt like i've never quite used it to its strengths. every so often, like with the murals, i forget that i'm always still learning, and i'm not going to be perfect from the get-go. (now i just gotta hold all those good ideas in my head until i can get into the studio in september :0 ) i really do love a studio enrivonment, it feels like parallel play in the best way. lots of people around me largely in their own space, but we can talk if we want and i can learn so much from just being around other awesome artists.
What I Love!
here's the little bit where i tell you what i've been enjoying recently.
books! my reading pace has slowed down a lot since i stopped regularly commuting for about 1.5 hours 3 days a week... obviously, but i've still been enjoying some good stuff.
- after i kind of bounced off The City & The City because i found the concept interesting but the characters and plot rather dry, i picked uo Railsea by China Mieville and really enjoyed it. it's YA, and it shows - the main characters feel flat and annoying, but the worldbuilding is incredible and i feel mieville's unique prose shines through a lot more than it does in the city and the city.
- continuing on with some Discworld, i'm currently reading Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. it's really interesting and there's definitely stuff that plays into what i talked about in my recent essay, which is very fun.
- as a light-hearted fun read, i'm reading What If? 2 by Randall Munroe, because i adored the first one and, although i find the reliance on basic estimation annoying sometimes - that is what most of physics is, and i connect to the whimsical approach to science. science gets taught and talked about in a very boring way a lot of the time that hides what people actually really like about science, and it makes me sad.
movies & tv:
- AEW Forbidden Door was really good. Ospreay vs Omega II was the match of the night & it was genuinely incredible. i don't think it was as good as the Wrestle Kingdom match, but i tend to prefer the more cinematic & dramatic NJPW presentation as opposed to AEW presentation, with the interference and all, and playing a lot to the crowd, which i feel makes it land a bit weaker. still, the match psychology was fantastic & really built on their dynamic from the previous match and made kenny accepting ospreay regaining the title feel honest and impactful.
- i saw Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse in the cinema! it is, as you have heard, good. it's a shame about the work situation behind it, you know... it's difficult because what i loved about the art of it is that it felt like it was full of enjoyment and love for animation and art and comics and that the people behind it were being treated like shit, that just sucks.
- i saw The Thing at home with my mum! it was a kind of silly movie for me bc it would build really effective tension and drama and then as soon as it really got somewhere with that it would quite literally explode into absolutely fabulous nonsense-gore. both of these were delightful to me, but the ping-ponging between them contributed to a kind of weird vibe. i loved the colour palette (the red & pink flares against the blue winter background? amazing) and macready smacks of gender
- it's that time of the year where i lose all of my nerd cred due to my utterly genuine love of the Tour De France bike go woooo. i once again am rooting for Wout van Aert despite the fact i know he's not even in general classification, i just really like him for some reason?
- new King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard album is great. nice to see them get really into some harder stuff & it sounds awesome. best track: Gila Monster
- new body rhumba by LCD Soundsystem has wormed its way into my brain. it's good
- i mentioned The Crane Wives last blog, so i'm going to mention a somewhat similar band, The Amazing Devil. they have some good tracks, but their music is just SO deeply warrior cats AMV at points that it gets kind of difficult for me to listen to. like, when the background chorus hits over the dramatic folk-y guitars? You put too much warrior cats in this one. I can see Bramblestar. He's in there. best track: King.
- Harness Your Hopes by Pavement rules. The bass is fun and it has such a good vocal cadence to it.
hope you have a great day, ellis
