A Troll for You and a Troll for Me

Troll from Atom's Monster

Something about trolls fascinates me. A troll in my first children's book, Atom's Monster, is the
catalyst for change, helping the boy hero to move from fear to courage--though not in the most comfortable way! I wrote the story for my 4 year old son Atom, when he was having nightmares, and found that the story was loved by many 3-5 yr olds.

The troll isn't TOO scary; as Atom says, he "doesn't look as though he eats little boys"! In fact, his beard and patched pants might have reminded the real Atom of his beloved papa.

We imagined trolls in the woods a generation later, when Atom's son was 4 years old, and a very different troll emerged. For one thing, the boy's fears and frame of reference were different.

 I think the troll my grandson was afraid of was based on the troll under the Freemont Bridge in Seattle--a monster bigger than a house! It eats VW's for heavens sake! And to think there might be trolls such as this in our woods--pretty scary!

 He would not go into the woods after that, even with his grandmother. Something had to be done.

Troll; work in progress

The boy's parents suggested he could make friends with the trolls by giving them fish heads, and so a new Troll Story was born.

This troll needed to be scary/not scary. It needed to embody the strangeness and wildness of the woods, but not be overpowering, so  I made it wild and animalistic, but childlike.

The teeth, the fir, the ears, the whiskers, all make it animalistic--almost cat like. Since the family has cats, this brings a familiarity to the troll, making it less frightening.

The big head and eyes, childlike expression, and bare tummy with the belly button showing make it even less threatening. Size is important, too. This troll is actually smaller than the boy.

Troll; work in progress

This story is a work in progress, and I will be showing drafts of it, along with published and unpublished paintings from Atom's Monster and my coloring storybook, Peacock Princess, at the Vashon Tea Shop, during February and March.

Some Character Development

I am learning to use the shapes in a character's face to define a character so that I can make the same character again as well as to give an indication of what kind of person it might be. Traditionally, long skinny triangles and sharp points spell danger and are useful to show a villain, while round shapes indicate friendliness and harmlessness.

By observing these two people closely and analyzing the shapes in their faces, I was able to remember enough of their features to draw them from memory later. The round faced man really did shine with love for everyone. The long faced man did not actually look villainous--just haggard and tired.

With a little more exaggeration, these faces could become a true villain and a truly jovial wise old man, for use in a story.

BTW, the round faced man is a Sufi teacher from Turkey I went to see last night, and the long faced man is his translator.

I'm back! and working hard on character development, life drawing, and watercolor technique.

How do I illustrate the magic of the woods?

Good heavens, it's been nearly a month since I last posted!

If you've been following my watercolor techniques series and I have left you hanging, I'm sorry. It's

January, my time of going inward—and perhaps yours as well. And...well, there's something about getting immersed in Christmas activities and turn of the year introspection that erases last year's concerns. Some of them.

I'm all on fire for new projects and new learnings.

And for delving into projects I've put on hold for years.

Oh, I haven't forgotten you, those of you looking for watercolor techniques.  I'm honing my skills in this medium, which means re-visiting some basic techniques.  Please do come along for the ride!

This year—well, at this moment anyway—I've put aside my painting on silk to focus on storytelling in words and images.  I've stories to tell! Some are mine, some are the stories of people dear to me.

I have much to learn about how to illustrate my stories. How to draw characters so that you can see who they are and a bit about how they think. How to paint the magical/real world my characters live in. How to show you the magic I experience on the beach and in the woods.

my first ever children's book was Atom's Monster

First on the agenda is my upcoming show at the Vashon Tea Shop. I've decided to show some of my progression illustrating fantasy, starting with my book Atom's Monster and ending with my current project, which I am calling “the Troll Story”. This show opens February 5^th at the Vashon Tea Shop, 17610 Vashon Hwy SW, Vashon, WA 98070, reception 6:00pm to 8:30 pm. I hope to see you there. 

I will be showing unpublished paintings as well as published illustrations.

Concurrently, I am developing my skills in figure drawing, character development, and watercolor painting. I have found teachers online, in books, and in the studio.

For figure drawing, I am drawing with Will Forester and Mike McGrath in the studio. Also, I am using Mike Mattesi's book Force as well as his online videos.

For character development, books by TomBancroft are my principle teachers.

I'm honing my watercolor painting skills with Imaginary Landscapes by Toni Smiber, and drawing inspiration from Stephanie Pui-Mun Law.

I am approaching this as my “art school”, expecting that I will have the discipline to “go to class” with my teachers consistently. Do you mind if I occasionally share here lessons from my studies? You will be exposed to some of my failures as well as successes.

The Holidays are upon us! Every year I need to re-asses what they mean to me THIS year.

I love the many traditions about this time of year; they are all about light--spiritual or physical--coming in a time of darkness. I cannot do justice to any of them here, but here is a smattering with links if you want to explore further. Be sure and add any I may have missed!

• The day Buddha realized the way out of earthly misery and experienced Nirvana is celebrated by many Buddhists on   Bodhi Day, Dec 8th

Golden Phoenix raising the sun, a Chinese Solstice Story

• St Lucia's Day, Dec 13  is a Swedish holiday I love celebrating with children. Lucia--or Lucy, meaning light--is said to have brought food to Christians hiding in the catacombs in Rome in about 300 AD. When I ran an earlychildhood program, we made crowns with paper "candles" and cinamon rolls to bring to the elders.

• Solstice, Dec 21st --I love calling Winter Solstice the day of the Birth of the Sun (Son)!

• Many Sufi celebrate the Urs of Rumi on Dec 17th. In this tradition, the day a saint dies is the day he or she is reunited with the Divine. It is called the Wedding Day and is celebrated as a day of joy!

• Christmas--Some of my friends consider Christmas to be unChristian because the date and some of the customs we still use are based on Roman holidays of Saturnalia and Dies Natalis of Sol Invictus (Birthday of the unconquerable sun).

• Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday celebrating the one days worth of oil that kept the temple light and kept burning for  8 days. Like many other winter holidays, candles are an important part of the celebration.    
• Yule--remember hearing about the yule log?

How do you celebrate the winter holidays?

Its a Wrap: Vashon Island Studio Tour--Profit?

Cloud Study, Tramp Harbor (6"x9") -- Sold!

How does one figure profit? I plan to give all my profit to the International Rescue Committee, but 
how much is profit?

It's not as simple as looking at how much I spent getting ready for the show. I spent a lot of money on things that didn't sell this time but will over time, and on equipment I will use later. In fact, I believe I invested more than I brought in. Not to mention the hours spent making materials, getting things ready, setting up the space. If I counted my return only in dollars, I would be seriously in the hole!

And yet...there is something very nourishing about telling people the stories behind my paintings. I believe my core mission, to bring people closer to nature and to the Divine Within through my art, is served when I tell the stories of the paintings, and when people buy the art.

I am nourished when people buy my art! It gives me courage to keep on painting, and to keep on showing and telling my stories.

It also serves my core mission when I give money earned from my art to meet some need in this world. So I look for models on how to figure profit.

I remember long ago when Greyhound Bus boasted a %15 profit margin. That was a lot in those days; now corporations are expecting a larger and larger profit margin, but is Greyhound even still around?

Now that the Vashon Island Holiday Studio Tour is over, I need to crunch the numbers and see how much is left over after cost of goods sold and the expenses of renting the space, among other things. I need to look at what I need to spend on materials and on professional development in the near future (long term planning is not really my forte'). Even if all this exceeds the money I brought in, I want to give at least %15 of my gross to the International Rescue Committee.

Just to let you know....

small (6" x 9") watercolor of Orcas we saw--sold!

I plan to resume my series on watercolor techniques on Monday or Tuesday.

Coming up is the second (and last) weekend of the Vashon Island Winter Art Studio Tour. I sold some paintings last weekend! Also sold some of my Peacock Princess story coloring books and my calendars with my photos of Vashon Island. Not a way to pay the bills, but I think I've made expenses so far, and a little profit to give to the International Rescue Committee.

I feel so blessed to be living a wonderful life! I have time and inspiration to pursue my art, money for materials, a sweet loving man for a partner, healthy compassionate children and grandchildren. I wish this happiness for you as well!

#35 on the Studio Tour

Oh, man! I've so much to do and so little time. I need to put the watercolor painting tips on hold until next week. So sorry!

Today, the 4 of us artists and 2 friends sat down to plan how we would get the old Grange Hall ready for our show opening on December 5.

You've heard the term "herding cats"? Well, that's us! Of course it was very interesting learning about Will's experience in New York, and what George will charge to replace the roof, and why we are #35 instead of our usual #1.

Not very time efficient, though.

And those last minute changes about how we will use the space....my brain ached!

Still, the camaraderie that develops as we work together is priceless!

Thank you to Will for getting us motivated and for doing so much of the grunt work!

Thank you to Rifaat and Paul for pitching in to do those "guy things"--pounding nails, hefting heavy boards,  using noisy equipment.

Thank you to Marcia for quickly cleaning very grody spots.

Thank you to Valerie for mapping where we would put the signs.

Artists showing at #35 on the Vashon Island Studio Tour:

Will Forester: watercolors, oils
Marcia McKinsky: watercolor batiques
Suzanna Leigh: hand painted silks
Valerie Roberts: abstracts

Also appearing
All Things Rich: artisan spices and blends
Jasper Forester: products from Green Man Farm