Sighthoundlady V.2

Fri, 16 May 2008 15:08:06 GMT

Fighting a bit of a head cold currently, two others of the staff have already fallen victim to it. I’m hoping mine doesn’t get as severe as their’s. Last night I took some cold medicine to help me sleep and it didn’t help much. I did have some mighty strange dreams, including one about a special Celtic knot made out of bat skeletons. It was very beautiful. Wish I could remember more about it so I could actually draw it! Dreams are so fickle.

Ugh. I slept bad and I have a Nyquil hangover.

Thank goodness for puppies

Thu, 15 May 2008 03:16:15 GMT

Yeah, Olive being cute. Again. It's kinda her thing.

More Knots.

Tue, 13 May 2008 03:23:55 GMT

Made some more knots today.

I’m beginning to experiment adding extra embellishments and details. I had such a good time making these today.

This one is for equine exchange here on LJ, haven’t participated in that community for almost a year and decided to sign up this round. It’s probably my most favorite exchange community, they always get a lot of participants and the characters are always so cool, they’re equines, how could they not be? So this is guy in for Hollso and he gets one of my shiny new Celtic knots for his background.

My secret to fantastic Celtic knots.

Sun, 11 May 2008 23:13:22 GMT

Before you go congratulating me on my skill with Celtic knots, please know that I did not draw this knot on my own, I always get considerable help from various sources. For those artist out there who actually do design and create their own original Celtic knots and patterns, kudos to you, you are amazing. My brain doesn’t work that way. For the rest of us, here are some resources and the methods you can use to create knots.

The above piece was created using this book:
“Celtic Knotwork Borders in Repeating Sections” by Bradley W. Schenck

http://shop.webomator.com/cgi-bin/celtic_art_books.cgi?i=celtic_art_patterns/celtic_art_book.111215757

The knots can be pieced together in various ways and once having bought the book, you have free use of the knots you create from it in your projects, you just can’t sell the individual sections yourself. All and all I found this a fantastic resource and it was worth the effort of scanning the entire thing in, all 100 pages of it.

Still even with this significant help, laying out this knot in photoshop, preparing the linework and then coloring it took a lot of time and work and I’m proud of the result.

If you are curious about the knots in my other pieces I’ll share this other secret. I use a Celtic Knot Font, that can be downloaded for a fee from here:
http://www.clanbadge.com/knots.htm

Any other knots I use in my art come from public domain sources like medieval illuminated manuscripts.

Music is my Beach House!

Wed, 07 May 2008 03:04:45 GMT

Yay! My iPhone is back! Goodness and light have returned to the world!

They couldn’t fix my original phone unfortunately, so they sent me a brand new one, AT NO CHARGE!!! How cool is that.

Anyways, I’m awfully excited to have an iPhone again.

To celebrate, have one of my favorite “i” commercials, the iTouch commercial featuring the song, “Music is my hot, hot sex.”

I think I like this song so much because it sort of reminds me of the Spice Girls, which I now admit to being a big fan of.

Don’t tell anybody. I’d have to kill you.

Attack of the FanTards?

Tue, 06 May 2008 14:36:35 GMT

People on the internet are stupid. I like how I do a couple Heralds of Valdemar inspired pieces and suddenly I’ve got people telling me that Farfalla is a Companion rip off. Excuse me? Farfalla has been around long before I was exposed to those books and if anything is more inspired from “The Last Unicorn” movie I saw as a child. Her tack is a combination of the heavily tassled Arabian horse tack and the decorative tack seen on horses in Medieval art and tapestries. But no, Mercedes Lackey must have the entire market on decorative horse tack so anything anybody else does MUST be a rip off of her. *eye roll*

This is why I generally stay away from fanart these days. It can be a good way to get a little exposure to your gallery and I admit I do make use of it like that on occasion. That’s the main reason I leave up all My Little Pony Art and The Last Unicorn Art, it draws people to my gallery. But sometimes it can get out of hand and people can get a little rabid. Then suddenly you’ve got people saying your original stuff are rip-offs.

Really, overall, this does not bother me that much. It’s just internet drama. Which is laughable. The main point is that I enjoy making art and what other people think is just secondary.

"Damn not given."

Keepsake Boxes

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:48:13 GMT

I purchased one of these Keepsake boxes with my art on it from CafePress and I was really impressed how well made and beautiful they are. I was so impressed that I decided to open my own CafePress online store to sell these.

The boxes are made of solid hardwood with high-gloss lacquer finish and showcase a ceramic tile with an image on them, the interior is fully lined in velvet; the bottom is covered with felt. The wood comes in mahogany or black. The spring-loaded hinged lid stays open without tipping the box over and snaps closed securely. Measures 5.5" x 5.5" x 2.25" with a 4.25" x 4.25" ceramic tile.

My shop has many more boxes featuring some of my favorite pieces, I also put the designs on framed tiles as well. I'll add more products when I have time.

CafePress Site!

LULZ

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:26:42 GMT

I just got a call from a credit agency that wanted to help me “grow my tapestry business.” Because my website is Tapestry Hounds, and I must therefore be in the business of making tapestries. O.o

I actually had to argue with him that that is not the case. It’s merely a hobby site where I post my art. This was incomprehensible to him.

Gotta love telemarketers. *Sheesh*

New art and some musing on the nature of fan art.

Mon, 05 May 2008 15:21:47 GMT

I drew another piece inspired by the Heralds of Valdamer books by Mercedes Lackey. Fan Art is an interesting thing. People can really get up in arms about it. Now I’ve only read 2 of the books so I’m no expert on the series nor do I claim to be, mostly I just find drawing white horses with blue and silver tack enjoyable. I wanted to draw a Herald to go along with my companion and so took a little liberty designing some dress garb for her, this is the part that people are making a fuss about because it doesn’t look exactly like the “whites” the Herald are shown wearing on the book covers and “OMG, that’s not the official whites that “Misty” made.” *Eye roll* My attitude is this, it’s my picture, I drew it if you don’t like my interpretation draw your own damn picture.” LOL, fans can be scary. I personally like seeing new and different approaches to fan work and enjoy novel interpretations.

Anyways, here is the piece in question.

Technically speaking, I think the horse turned out well and I had fun with the tack. This is also me trying my very hardest to draw a human and design clothing, neither of which I’m very good at, and I know I need to work on that. I was trying to design something that could be considered “dress whites” something that could be worn at court where riding was not necessarily needed but the individual could still be identified as a Herald. The dress is such that the legs have freedom of movement and she could jump on her Companion and ride if the need arose. I also added some blue trim because all that white was getting boring.

In other news, I’m getting another desk for my art room! Now I’ll have a separate space for working on traditional medium. Chris picked one just like my old one at the Ikea in Portland. I’ve been wanting another one for ages, I’m so excited! Next I’d like to get some sort of organizational thing for my closet for all my traditional art supplies, right now everything is heaped into a box in the closet and very chaotic. I’m so excited to get my art room all organized and cool.

Co-Ed Dorm ROOMS

Sun, 04 May 2008 03:11:33 GMT

Oh, hell no.

I believe in being open minded but so open minded my brain falls out.

The answer to my son or daughter would be, "No, no, no and NO!"

Sun, 04 May 2008 01:15:50 GMT

Chris is gone this weekend, I’ll probably starve to death since he isn’t here to cook. Nah, I know how to scrounge, you’d be amazed what I manage to eat without actually cooking anything. I’m so lazy like that. In fact I have an entire container of Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough in the freezer. I MIGHT even cook it before I eat it too. Might not. *Shrug* It’s all good.

The repairs on my iPhone were completed and I should receive it back in 2 business days. Yay! I’ve been using Chris’s old Treo and it’s positively dinosaurian compared to the iPhone! I can’t wait to have mine back! It’s so funny because I remember when Chris got this Treo, I was so jealous, I though it was so super cool and awesome. Now I think it’s just lame. Hah! It so sucks not having my iPhone this weekend, I can’t send Chris a constant barrage of email’s, text messages and photos of the dogs being silly while he’s gone. :(

And, oh man Elfwood is such a riot. I swear the only reason I still keep a gallery up there is for the amusing comments people make, people try to be all smart and witty but they usually just manage hurting themselves with the effort.

Comments left on this image:
http://www.elfwood.com/art/j/m/jmsanders/coffeehorse.jpg.html

Commenter #1: “he he. ha ha. so funny! i hate starbucks though. love the way you’ve turned starbucks into a horsey thing. because bucks is to do with horses!”

Commenter #2: “Loading...
Bucks is not to do with horses, it is to do with DEER
good pic thou, love the expression”

Gotta love Elfwood and gotta laugh hard at the stupid.

Okay, I’m off to eat some cookie dough and drown in geeky heaven, I have new episodes of BattleStar Galactica, Dr. Who, Torchwood, and the Sarah Jane Adventures on the DVR to watch. I think I’ll make a chocolate martini to go what that cookie dough too. Mmmm. ^_____^

And I have the next two days off! Hooray!

Sat, 03 May 2008 15:16:17 GMT

I’m such a vet geek, I just pre-ordered a copy of the new Plumb’s Veterinary Drug Handbook to be released the end of May. And I'm EXCITED about it.

Oh, blah.

Sat, 03 May 2008 03:43:12 GMT

Ugh, worse Mexican food I have ever had. I think they boiled the carne asada or something. So gross. *barf* And I don’t think their was a drop of actual alcohol in my daiquiri. I’m not sure if I’m just getting pickier or restaurants are just getting worse. Never going back to that place for sure. I went with my coworkers tonight since Chris is out of town. I’m a strange combination of wanting company yet not and just wanting to be alone.

My iPhone is off for repairs too and I’m having the worst kind of withdrawals. I feel naked without that thing. Email, web, text messaging, pictures, phone, voicemail, all gone. How did I ever get along without that thing? I have so much of my life on there too that I feel positively adrift without it. All my contacts, my calendar and reminders, everything! I want my iPhone back soon! *sob*

I have to work tomorrow *suckage*

The good news is that Olive did not poop in her crate on the car ride home tonight.

It’s the little triumphs that we have to celebrate.

Fri, 02 May 2008 15:12:24 GMT

Having a pretty crappy week, things at work are getting me down and my iPhone is busted. Working on the work situation and the phone is under warranty so it’ll be fixed. But still, slogging through all the turmoil on the way has been draining this week.

So, to not drag this journal too far into the muck with complaining, have a cute puppy video:

Olive is such a vicious little puppy, she’ll bite your face off. ^__^

Whisper the Winged Unicorn

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:35:03 GMT

Anybody remember “Whisper the Winged Unicorn” book series from the eighties? They came with stickers, and stickers were pretty fantastic when I was a kid, I had a ton of unicorn stickers. I loved the books too. I used to collect them and I cherished the pictures. I don’t have any of them any more but I found a website that has a lot of the art from those books. I remember thinking how beautiful and wonderful the art was when I was a kid, I was a little bit amused when I saw it again and realized it actually wasn’t all that well done! The horse and wing anatomy is not the greatest. But still, very nostalgic looking at those images again.

The website:
http://whisper.mylittleponycollector.com/main.htm

I don't have to go to work tommorow!

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:22:13 GMT

Ahhhh. I’m feeling more Zen than I’ve felt in a long time. I don’t have to go to work tomorrow. I have the day off! No pissed off clients, no sick Pets. I’ll be at home. Yay! So marks the first week in 10 months that I’ll actually get two days off in a row. This is going to be my regular schedule now, thank goodness. I hated not having two days off in a row with a passion, it made me incredibly bitter. I can see myself actually feeling content again.

Companion

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:23:49 GMT

I read a couple of the Heralds of Valdemar novels by Mercedes Lackey last summer. They were okay, I would have fancied them much more if I had read them when I was 12. I couldn’t help but love the Companions though, especially the idea of them, that YOU could be especially chosen by one and he’d be bonded to you for life. I was likewise infatuated with the Dragon Riders of Pern books, which had a similar theme and those were books I did happen to read them when I was that young impressionable age of 12. Those are books I’ll never bother to re-read, it might ruin how special they were and how special they continue to be in my memories. Some things are better left alone, lest the memories be spoiled. I’m not 12 anymore, I’m a long way off from that, but deep inside there is still that little girl who loved animals and fantasy.

So here is my Companion.

In other musings this is only the second complete piece of art I’ve completed this year that wasn’t a comic page. It’s been nearly 7 weeks since I drew anything at all. I guess you could say I’m suffering art block of sorts, but not really. It has more to do with a dissatisfaction I’m having with my art, they kind of art I’d like to be creating is just so out of reach for me because of lack of time to devout to it that I hardly feel like bothering with it at all. I can’t make it like I want so why try? Spending time on art means neglecting something else that needs to be done and so just ultimately results in stress. I’m really sad about the loss of the therapeutic benefit I used to receive when I worked on art, I miss it.

Make the scary people go away.

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:27:41 GMT

It has been stupidly slow at work this week. I’m so bored I can hardly stand it.

Even today, Saturday, a typically busy day for us, we saw one patient the whole afternoon. A gentlemen, and I use the phrase very loosely in this case, missing most of his front teeth and perhaps barely 25 years of age, overweight, dirty son in toe, had just purchased a wormy, emaciated black lab puppy from the back of a pickup truck in the parking lot for the momentous cost of $50 (he complained about it) and came into our office with a coupon for a free exam. I could literally hear banjos playing somewhere off in the distance when I entered the room. We could not even convince him to spend $12 on worming meds for the poor thing and he complained about the wait…which was all of 5 minutes, and left our office without spending a dime. Sweet.

So business is not good.

In better news, I have the next two days off…IN A ROW and the weather is supposed to be nice for once.

*sigh of relief*

MyFursona.com

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:00:45 GMT

Oh look, bandwagon *jumps on*

http://www.myfursona.com/user/Sighthoundlady

Though I really fail at this whole fursona thing, my online name for years has been sighthoundlady though my predominant avatar/fursona has been my Arabian horse character, Farfalla. Yeah, confuzeling, eh?

Realization

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:23:55 GMT

Realization just dawned on me last night…Olive is almost 4 months old now, I should really start trying to…you know…actually teach her stuff now!

She’s still a baby but she can have some training. I’ve pretty much been letting her be a wild, free puppy but she could learn some manners now. Haha!

It's Olive Time!

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:42:18 GMT

Flickr
Sailor and Olive hanging out in a sunbeam.

Olive's New Harness...it's pink and has rhinestones.

She wants out!

Youtube Videos:
Olive Barking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr2kt3ZQyig

Sailor Chasing Olive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxrbvd2v1AY

Oops!

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:43:29 GMT

I accidentally set off the alarm when I came home for lunch. Oops. Hehe. Good thing we have a 7 day trial period where alarms are not reported. They just call and make sure it is indeed a false alarm. Chris did it when he came home yesterday too. Man, that thing is loud!

Good news!

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:51:23 GMT

Olive made it through the whole night without pooping! *Angels rejoice* Well I rejoice anyways, cleaning up poop blizzards every morning is getting old. I’m really excited. ^__^

And have a bible quiz.

You know the Bible 67%!

Congratulations! You know a lot about the Bible - the books, the characters, the events. You are able to remember a lot of what you have heard and read!

Ultimate Bible Quiz
Create MySpace Quizzes

I got a 67%. Boo. Guess I need to brush up a bit. I'm actually pretty familiar with the stories in the Old and New Testament, I even know a lot about the book of Mormon, but I sucked at this quiz!

Opportunity knocks?

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:02:45 GMT

A door has opened just a crack, I’m going to take a peak at what’s on the other side.

Coffee, bad.

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:08:59 GMT

Ugh, I need to stay away from coffee. Seriously. I gave up coffee a few months ago now because I it would make me feel so gross…nausea, jitteryness, anxiety…so I had a SMALL cup of Starbucks coffee this morning and it has not gone over well at all. I feel awful.

No more coffee for me. Bleck.