SICK DAY!

"Fetch" - 8 x 10" colored pencil on colorfix paper.
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.
Click here to bid.

Are there sick days in the blogosphere? I struggled for a long time (well, my attention span is shot today - something about all that snot) to think of something to write about on the blog tonight and I just couldn't focus long enough to do it. So I decided to do what radio DJs do when they're sick and they can't come in to work. Replay an old show! And because I have snot coming from my nose in waterfall like proportions, this post is even relevant. See you guys tomorrow, I hope.

"ART BOOGERS" First published 9/18/06

Tonight I would like to take you behind the scenes of art-making to the soft, unprotected underbelly that no one else sees. See, here's my secret. When I tell people that I'm going to go spend an hour creating art, I spend 15 minutes actually painting or drawing, and I spend the other 45 minutes doing an activity I believe some people refer to as "dicking around." (pardon my French). So I'm uniquely qualified to work at the DMV.*

*Don't hurt me, DMV employees! I really love the DMV -- that's why I spend so much time there every time I go. Oh, no, wait, that's just the insanely long line. Never mind. Let's talk about something else.

So yesterday my non-art activity of choice was getting rid of my art boogers. What are they, you ask? This, my friend:



Dried crusties of paint that have not been used or cleaned up at the end of the day. Paint dries faster in the heat, so I had really developed a back log of boogers by the end of my outside horse show that I was painting at last weekend.

As you can imagine, these little crusties are a lot more resilient than most nosejobs and are more like the sort you'd get after a good long sleep: those ones that crust your nose over entirely so that you look like you've got leprosy.*

*everyone with leprosy, I love you as well. Don't be offended.

So it takes more than a tissue to get these suckers out. It takes . . .



And finally, whoo! Doesn't that feel better? Don't let Mom catch you with that one!

The Gaze - Work in Progress

"The Gaze" - 4 x 9" colored pencil on paper (exactly the right size to fit in a business envelope - coincidence?)
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.
Click here to bid.

Let me know if you guys get tired of these work in progress posts. This is another colored pencil piece I did today - probably only two hours on this one - and I took some more work in progress photos of it. They're not completely terrible photos this time so I'll try to explain briefly what I was thinking at each stage.



Step 1-4: I rarely do a preliminary drawing on my actual drawing paper. If I'm confused about the shapes or the values or I need to make sizable changes, I'll do a value sketch in my sketch book, but otherwise, for one of these quickies, I just dive right in.

So I start with the eye, always. I put as much dark value in as I can because I'll want to bring the rest of the values up to that level to match. When I need to "explain" a shape to myself as I work, I tone the paper with a light layer of a midtone to form the edge, rather than drawing it with an unnatural line -- you can see that on the edge of the leopard's face, right?



Step 5-8: I need to start establishing some more shapes here. I use the eye as a flat measurement and measure distances relative to that: i.e., the nose is two eye lengths away from the corner of the eye, the ear is two and half. Again, if I don't "understand" a shape quite yet, I tone the paper lightly where I think it ought to go. I can always adjust a little if I don't like how it turned out. I'm using a lot of greens and yellow-browns at this point.



Step 9-12: This is where it's getting fun. I start pushing the saturation. If I'm using a burnt ochre, I grab magenta or process red to push the colors a bit more. If the area's cool, I lay in blues. I want his face to come forward and his neck to move back, so I use lots of colors on his face and greys and blues on his neck. I never forget that Value is King, so everything has to look right in black and white -- the colors will work themselves out.

The Bag Wine Gourmet

"William Street, Going Up" - 4 x 6" colored pencil on paper.
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater
Click here to bid.

Tell me what you think I mean when I say this phrase: "Pure Vanilla Extract."

Pretty simple, really? I'm guessing it's part of vanilla. An extract, one might say. And pure. Nothing else. What other possible meaning could the phrase "pure vanilla extract" mean?

Well, if you're McCormick and other major packagers of vanilla, you could mean 35% corn syrup. Am I the only one intensely irritated by this? Here I am, trying to be a kitchen goddess, and McCormick is having me turn out cloyingly sweet cookies and cakes that rot thy teeth from the inside out (like a Hilary Duff concert).

What giveth? Is not vanilla good enough on its own? Then I found this article and my eyes were opened. I've been buying the vanilla equivalent of bag wine. Other gourmets are probably laughing at me and expecting me to show up on Jerry Springer.

Oh, the shame.

Looks like I'm going to have go south of the border if I want the good stuff (boy, I should get me some good google hits off that phrase). You'll see me, brown bag under my jacket - police officer searching me and withdrawing a vanilla bean.

"Ma'am, you do know you could just mail order this."

a

Secrets of the World Revealed . . . Sort Of

"Checking out the Competition" - 4 x 6" colored pencil on Bristol paper.
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.
Click here to bid.

Y'all should be flattered. I spend 2.5 hours today working on creating a detailed work in progress for you guys, pausing every so often to take photos of the wondrous maggic that is my technique, imagining your shining faces when you opened up your inboxes to find the wonder of this illustrated education.

Except my photos sucked.

I didn't have enough light in my studio for my camera to take nice pictures so I got a bunch of weird-colored things with no real value, like a tartan-colored possum.

But I'll throw them up for you anyway, to make of them what you will. Um, good luck.

Art Biz Blog

I had a real "duh" moment this morning. I was reading Alyson Stanfield's weekly art business newsletter, which I always get ideas from, and I realized I'd never mentioned it on this blog. If you're an artist and you're looking to sell your art or you're already selling it, she always gets the creative juices flowing with her Art Biz Blog. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Making Time

I just wanted to pull a question out of the comments. Last night, Vinora sent me this comment:

Hello,
I was just browsing the web for some inpiration.I love to draw,and read.I started with prismacolor,and I just love it!When I read some of your stuff,I just got hooked.I never take this much time to read through anything specific on the web,because it's too overwhelming...but your so funny!And I just love a good sense of humor.It's been a pleasure to have come across your blog,and your art is amazing.I only hope to be that good.I'm a Mother of 3 young children,and don't really have the time to think about me,what I want.Never mind have the time to do anything that I want.Not that being a Mother is not something I want...anyways,you know what I mean.So my question to you is this:How do you find the time in life to draw?I just can't seem to find any time!

It's a question I get a lot. So I just wanted to make sure everyone knew where to find my epic post on the subject: How to Juggle and Other Parlor Tricks and, more recently, The Notebook.

And I wanted to thank everyone for commenting -- I've been terrible at replying to them lately, but I have been reading them. And if anyone has emailed me (portraitswithcharacter AT gmail.com) and I haven't responded, e-mail again, because I think I've caught up and if I haven't replied to you, it means you need to resend it!

And I'll be back today with some Media Munchies.

Not Maggie-related Maggic

This is awesome. I wish I'd written this post.

Sleeping on the Edge

"The Red Pillow" - 6 x 6" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas.
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.
Click here to bid.

The second I got an offer on my novel (which I'm still trying to think of a title for - how pitiful is that), the first thing I thought of was what I was going to do with my advance money. No, that's not true. The first thing I did was squeal like a little girl and race around the house. Then I thought about the inexplicable march of destiny that had taken me to this point. Then I thought about what I was going to do with my advance, because I'd been planning it for months.

Buy a mattress.

Our current mattress is pretty awful (if you're a reader who followed me from my old blog, you can see that it wasn't great a year ago either) and in the past few weeks it has reached new depths of insomnia-ripened hellishness. While I've never been one for being practical, I had to put aside my other dreams for my advance money and either get a mattress or else suffer some of the more horrible effects of sleep-deprivation, like homicidal mood swings.

(Other top choices for advance money expenditures: 1) 1970 Camaro project car, 2) a manservant, preferably named something like "Jeeves" or "Roger," 3) a Krispy Kreme franchise)

Anyway, last night really cinched it. My husband, who only snores when he's tired (a side effect of sleeping on our mattress), spent the night snoring softly and radiating heat like the sun. I clung to the edge of the mattress to avoid excess UV exposure, but nothing could eliminate that ever so soft snnnnnnnnnnzzz that escaped from him every few breaths. By two o'clock in the morning, I was thinking of just getting up. By four o'clock, I was thinking of smothering him. By six o'clock, I was thinking of smothering me.

Today, after spending the day helping my grandmother with a yard sale in 98 degree weather, I'm plagued with the symptoms of sleep deprivation of females:

1) vampire-like cravings, but for chocolate instead of blood. And like a vampire, the more I get, the more I want. Give me that brownie, human, and you will live.
2) homicidal weeping. "I'm so tired -why are you looking at me like that? Oh, so you think I don't really feel that bad? Why don't you come over here so I can smack you!?" (and the squirrel scampers away, looking a bit put out)
3) intense desire to close eyes as if I were watching a horrible Jean Claude van Damme movie (that includes all of them).

I must go make some cookie dough now, and revive myself. There really is no cure for this feeling, is there? Siggggghhhhhh . . . .

Practice Safe Art

"Pink" - 6 x 6" acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas.
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.
Click here to bid.

A reader and fellow artist, Bethany Caskey, sent me this e-mail today:

I was contacted last week by a couple that wanted to purchase five paintings. They gave an address in England. I received a cashiers check today - for far more than the amount of the paintings and shipping- and thinking it was fishy, took the check to the bank to have it looked at. About 30 minutes of sleuthing later, they came back with the information that it was indeed a phony check. The couple was using the names Kelly and Frank George and claiming to live in London and Alabama but the check was from a bank in Maine. Hey, they had good taste at least.

You may have already heard about this scam -- it's been around for as long as there have been cashier's checks -- but if not, be wary. There will always be people trying to get something for nothing. Which brings up an important topic for artists: security and money. I generally like to follow ten important rules on this front, and I'll share them with you here.

1. People are evil. Okay, perhaps not all evil. But for every innocent Adam out there minding his own business, there is definitely at least one Eve who is not only going to bite into that apple, but convince some other schmuck to bite into it too. Just realize that there are more Eves out there than a friendly person would like to think, and keep your apples close.

2. Get it in writing. It doesn't have to be in the client's own blood or anything, but definitely ink, and definitely signed. If you're doing a large commission with a new client, you'll both be a lot happier if you have limits set and on paper for the world (and any courts) to see.

3. Get it up front. Thou shalt not set pen to paper until thou have received a deposit. I didn't use to do this. Then I had an Evil Person commission a work and never reappear to take it or pay me. Oh, I weep for my lost innocence.

4. Money's money except for when it isn't. Cash is pretty much always cash. I suppose someone could slip you counterfeit bills but I haven't heard of it yet. Checks, believe it or not, are almost always money. I know it's easy to give someone a bad check, but I've never gotten one. And considering the number of times I've been paid with a check, that's pretty good odds. But money orders and cashier's checks . . . wait until your bank smiles over them before releasing any paintings anywhere. And since they're the most scam-worthy currency, turn on Ye Olde Gut Feeling when deciding when to accept them as payment.

5. Keep receipts. From the post office, the art store, the bank, the costume rental place . . .
wherever you spent money for your art, keep the receipt for Mr. Tax Man (who definitely falls onto the Evil side of the population, especially if you cross him) and also for clients. If someone quibbles over how much they paid for shipping (and this does happen, because people assume you're Evil too), you want to be able to show them the receipt from the post office, saying that it really did take $90 to ship that ceramic baby hippo that you mailed to them.

6. Have a credit card or debit card from a purely business account to buy things. It's easier to keep track of things, you feel really important when you say "put it on my business card, would you?", and life in general will be rosier with more cupids flitting about.

7. Make all your art purchases at one time. Shipping costs can add up faster than calories on a donut spree, and it will make a big difference to your overall budget if you can both cut shipping costs and get bulk discounts on items like frames and paper.

8. Watch out for your clients' well-being. If you have a client who loves to buy but her desire outstrips her budget, think about talking with her about it. I've had clients who loved my art but they bought so much they couldn't even hang it on their walls. The idea of it stacked somewhere in their house . . . that's not what art is for. Leave your clients feeling good and guiltless about their purchase and they'll come back to you later -- and recommend you to their friends. Talk them into a higher priced piece and they'll regret it like that Mercedes they bought last year.

9. Be quick to offer refunds on your mistakes. If you overquote shipping, offer to refund or give a credit. If they accidentally paid twice, get on it like a tacky button down on a computer geek. Even if they refuse, they'll know you're honest. Every step you can take to convince them you're an Adam and not an Eve will be one closer to repeat business.

10. Reward yourself. We're starving artists, I know. We hoard. It's what we do. But when you make a great sale or you sell a piece you've been dying to sell . . . reward yourself. Just a little splurge, and you'll feel motivated to both pay the electric bill and paint the next big seller.

Cloning Yourself & Others for Fun and Business

"Not So Still Life with Sunflower" - 8 x 10" colored pencil on pastelbord

Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.
Click

to purchase a mounted canvas print for $45 or

to buy the original for $300

and click "send payment" to portraitswithcharacter AT gmail.com

Today I wanted to talk about prints a little bit more. Why? Well, first of all because I'm gearing up for the Richmond Craftsmen Classic Show this November and I'm stocking up with prints out the wazoo. And also because my brother has set up shop as a printer just down the road from me and I've spent all day helping him tweak his printer and getting to be the guinea pig. I'm now the proud owner of a gagillion gorgeous prints on canvas. Seriously, they look great - even better than what I'm accustomed to from iprintfromhome.com and qualitycanvasphotos.com, my usual suppliers. And I'm not just saying that because he's my brother - you guys know I'm picky.

Anyway, he's just getting his website up and running (his company is Lucky Pig Printing I think) and his capability for credit cards straightened out and then I'll share his contact info. I'm just excited that I can run a CD of images a few miles over to his shop and get my prints without shipping and handling. What can I say, I'm easy to please.

Actually, I'm doubly pleased because his low overhead = low prices = Maggie gets to lower her print prices (think prices starting at $13.00 for an 8 x 10" canvas print). So first I want to encourage my artist readers to start thinking about how they could market prints and how prints could change their buyer profile. Then I want you guys to look through the ones that I've just done today and buy some! :D


"Coffee After Dark"
8 x 10" canvas print mounted on masonite - $45.00

"Little Black Dress"
8 x 10" canvas print mounted on masonite - $45.00

"Gawain"
11 x 14" canvas print mounted on masonite - $75.00


14 x 18" canvas print mounted on masonite - $120.00











"The Writer's Cat"
8 x 10" canvas print mounted on masonite
$45.00















"The Best Seat"
11 x 14" canvas print mounted on masonite
$75.00














"Lawrence"
11 x 14" canvas print mounted on masonite - $75.00














"Isgard"
11 x 14" canvas print mounted on masonite - $75.00














"The Novelist"
11 x 14" canvas print mounted on masonite - $75.00

Maggie's Media Munchies - 8/20/07

"Work in Progress" - 8 x 10" colored pencil on pastelbord.

Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.
e-mail me at portraitswithcharacter AT gmail.com for prepurchase info.

I've been fascinated by Neil Gaiman's Coraline ever since I read it the first time, because it breaks all the rules of writing and still works. This strange and spooky little novel (more properly a novella) was recommended to me by my favorite local indy bookstore, Fountain Bookstore. Though it's technically a creepy story for middle-graders, I dare you to find an adult who won't enjoy it and be at least slightly given the willies by it. I'm actually glad I didn't read it as a middle-grader . . .

Coraline, a clever girl who is small for her age, opens a door in her family's large house one day and discovers a dark hallway -- curious as it previously opened to a solid brick wall. On the other side of the hallway she finds a mirror copy of her family's apartment, complete with an "other mother," with sewn-on buttons for eyes, curiously long and curved nails, and a deep love for Coraline ("or perhaps she's just hungry," remarks one of the other characters to Coraline "it's hard to tell with creatures like her.")

Sound weird? It is. What's not weird is Coraline herself, a brave, often funny, and taciturn main character who leads this deliciously wicked bedtime story down increasingly eerie paths with an increasingly endearing voice. The plot unfolds in perfect dreamlike style, where the silliest of subjects can turn scary when seen a different way.

Verdict: I can read this novel in three or four hours and I often do. Gaiman remarks that this book took longer than any of his others to write, spanning years, and I think it was worth it - definitely one of the top middle grade books I've ever read. (And I'm not the only one who thinks so: Melissa Marr (of Wicked Lovely fame) agrees).

5 out of 5 cookie dough scoops (and I'd do 6 if I had them.

Next up: The Sun and Moon by The Bravery. I really wasn't going to buy this album. Seriously. It had mixed reviews by former fans who liked their last album but not this one (I guess the last one had more of an electronic tilt, which is not at all in evidence in The Sun and Moon) and every DJ playing them had some dig to make about the band.

But I couldn't help it. They snagged me initially with their single, "Time Won't Let Me Go, " with a style bordering on something between British Invasion and Ah-Ha. I swayed dangerously, but I haven't bought an album based on one single for years. Then out came "Believe," a tremendously catchy tune that aches. One of those tunes that makes you get up, desperate to do something about something. Yes, I know they're channeling U2 and Coldplay. I don't care.

The rest of the album is a solid effort with no stinkers and some pretty nice ones (check out Fistful of Sand if you're clicking on the soundbites on amazon), and then you get to the final track "The Ocean."

Ahh.

This was what I was waiting for. As a composer and arranger myself, I can appreciate the structure; the careful building of instrumentation until you're rattling your cage at the last refrain. This song of loss sneaks up on you, pretty at first with Beatlesesque finger-picked guitar and strings, lyrical as counter melodies are introduced, and finally crushingly beautiful by the time you hear the final words of the album, "I lose your hand through the waves."

Verdict: I would love to give it 5 cookie dough scoops because I love "The Ocean" so much, and "Believe" and "Time Won't Let Me Go" are great singles, but an album only gets 5 stars from me if every song is a killer. So ignore the 4 scoop rating and buy this one anyway. ;) C'mon, it's cheap if you buy it used.

4 cookie dough scoops out of 5.

The Ants Come Marching Two (hundred) by Two (hundred)

We have ants.

At first we had a handful of them, coming in to check out a grape that had fallen on the floor and been forgotten over night. So we bought some little ant killer thingies. You know, they look like pyramids, only they have ant poison in them.

Now we have lots of ants. They just can't get enough of this poison. I'm beginning to think perhaps the ant poison is actually ant crack and we're getting our ant population high. They can't get enough.

Reinforcing the ant crack theory is the fact that they show up in the stupidest places, where there's never been food. On top of the TV. Under my standing mixer. One the side of the fridge, marching from nowhere to nowhere. Inside my DVD player.

I've figured it out. They aren't coming for our food. One day we're just going to wake up and the appliances will be gone, carried back to the hive.

Helium!

My fellow Fine Line Artist and blogging monarch Katherine Tyrrell recently reintroduced me to the article site, Helium. It's a site a bit like wikipedia in that the articles are submitted by muggles such as you and me, but the similarity pretty much ends there. Readers rate the articles and the fun bit is that you get paid if you write a really popular article. I figured I'd give it a try and see what happened. Anybody else wanna give it a whirl?

This is my first effort, tips on colored pencil -- what else?

95 SUX

"The Writer's Cat" - 8 x 10" colored pencil on pastelbord.
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.
$300 - email me at portraitswithcharacter AT gmail.com to purchase or to arrange for a commission.

I know that all of you pined for me during my long and unexplained blogging absence yesterday, and for that, I am slightly sorry. Explanation to follow, but first a blurb about Christmas. Get up off the floor. It's not that close. You're not allowed to panic yet. It's only August, for crying out loud.

Anyway, about Christmas. As it's already August and I find myself up to my breathing holes in art and novel business, I've decided I'm only taking on four guaranteed-by-Christmas commissions. That's 4. And the cut-off for ordering is the end of next week. So if you've been considering a Maggie portrait commission for a loved one or an enemy with exceptional art taste, check out my website at www.portraitswithcharacter.com, drop me an e-mail at portraitswithcharacter AT gmail.com, and we'll do the whole spit and handshake thing, except without spit or shaking hands.

But only the first four. And no, I ain't budging on that number. See? This is me, not budging.

Okay, so now onto my explanation of why I didn't blog or do any artwork on Friday.

8:30: Buy one dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, which are nice and hot and slide down my throat without any protest, depositing an instant 200 calories in my stomach.
8:32: Wonder how I ended up with only ten donuts.
9:30: Drive to D.C. to meet with a favorite client of mine. Get there an hour early. Find a bookstore and manfully struggle against my desire to buy something.
10:30: Meet with client, who is as pleasant as I remember. Also is forgiving of my bad habit of fudging deadlines, which is an excellent trait to have if you're going to befriend me.
11:00: Hit the CPSA Exhibition. Ooh. Aah. Heckle. Etc. Seriously, Marion made this sooo fun.
1:00: We lunch at the Irish Inn at Glen Echo. Damn. Guinness Ice Cream. Sooooo good.
2:00: Hit the interstate home.
2:05: Change langes as traffic crawls, realize the license plate of the car in front of me reads 95 SUX.
3:00: Still five miles away from where I was at 2:00.
3:30: Notice three topless guys in a jeep standing up and yelling at a gigantic woman in front of them, who is burgeoning from her sun roof and shaking fist at them.
4:00: Ten miles later from my 2 p.m. location, ditch the interstate in search of sweet tea and a map. Have fascinating conversation with the owner of a service station, made more amusing by his heavy Indian accent (that's Indian like Brits riding elephants, not Indian like trading Manhattan Island for beads):
Service Station Dude (seeing me holding map): Where are you from?
Me: Fredericksburg. But I'm stuck on 95 so I'm looking for crafty shortcuts.
SSD: Most people, they come in here from traffic, they're mad. You're happy! You look
happy!
Me: It's what I do.
4:10: Give two donuts to hungry McDonald's employees in exchange for tea so sweet I lose a few teeth getting back on my way.
4:15: Find out there are no short cuts.
6:30: Arrive home, having made a normally 2 hour trip in 4.5 hours.
7:00: Make stuffed shells.
7:30: Fall into coma. Dream I'm pregnant with seven puppies.

And the next thing I knew, it was Saturday.

Witless

"Soft" - 6 x 6" acrylic painting on canvas.
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater
Click here to bid.

Today I am completely lacking in wit so I defer to a great and funny blog post that I read the other day, from the successful author Libba Bray.

I will mention that I'm going up to see the CPSA's exhibit in Bethesda, MD tomorrow morning so if anybody's in the area, drop me an e-mail and we'll congeal at the gallery. My internet stalkers need not apply.

And if anybody has any suggestions for making a pregnant dog stop farting, please drop me a line as well . . . she's killing my plants.

More Blabbing

Okay, I know you guys are still laughing over my inability to keep up on my cooking blog, but hey, I just kept eating my food before I got a chance to take a picture. Seriously, it's harder than you think to get a photo before dinner.

Anyway, I've begun a new blog and this one is here to stay, I'm afraid. At the advice of my editor, I've begun a blog for my "writing persona" (somehow appropriate as my husband frequently remarks fondly on my multiple personalities) and it's going to be about writing, folklore (since I write urban fantasies), news on my novel, and all that jazz. And because I'm human, it's not getting updated everyday. We're going to shoot for twice a week and see what happens. Are you ready for the link?

Words on Words (blogger version)

Words on Words (livejournal version)

Feel free to wander over periodically to see what I'm up to and to kick me into shape.

20,000 Leages Under My House

Sketch for Musicians Piece - in my sketch book (which remember, once it's full, I'm drawing a random member of my blog subscribers and giving it to them - so if you're a reader - subscribe!)
Colored Pencil on paper.
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.

Y'all may remember that my computer crashed last week, sending me plummeting eons behind on my shipping and commission work. Well, as insult looks best when accompanied my injury, today the water company showed up on my front door step and inquired as to how my family had managed to use 160,000 gallons of water in the past month.

I normally have a fast answer for most questions, but that one made me stop and think for a moment. Obviously, the first response that popped into my head ("to wash down 160,000 bags of potato chips?") wasn't appropriate.

So I followed the Water Guy out to our water meter, which he said was spinning like a front wheel car on a wet road (I'm paraphrasing) when he'd first checked it. Well, the sucker wasn't moving when I got there. Appliances tend to behave when I'm around. They know I'm always up for a good appliance-smackathon.

"It was spinning," insisted Water Guy. "And you have used 160,000 gallons of water. I think you might have a leak."

Ya think?

He then looked around our dust ridden yard as tumbleweed blew gently across the dunes and camels pined for want of water and asked if I'd noticed any large puddles lying around. I didn't tell him that the only puddles I'd seen lately were the ones of barf left by my morning-sick dog. I did tell him I'd call my landlord. I did thank him for sharing my usage of hundreds of thousands of gallons of water with me.

Now I'm sitting in my house and wondering if I'm about to sink into a bottomless pit of water and the potato chips I used it to wash it down with. Ah, these stressful times . . .

Whoopsie . . . forgot the art

"The Space Between" - 2.5 x 3.5" colored pencil on drafting film. sorry - it's blurry - my son broke one of my expensive camera lenses!
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.
Click here to bid.

Maggie's Media Munchies - 8/13/07

There are two sorts of reviews that are fun to write. The reviews that earn five cookie dough scoops out of five and the ones that garner zippo cookie dough scoops out of five. What fun that this week we have one of each. Our first offering is . . . .

The Echo Maker by Richard Powers. I bought this one at my favorite indy bookstore, the beautiful and mysterious Fountain Bookstore in Richmond (which looks like what all independent bookstores should look like - pretty, dark holes in the wall), based upon the sticker on the front calling it a National Book Award winner. I figured they must know what they were talking about.

Uhh . . . no.

Just because something is incomprehensible doesn't make it literary. The premise of the story is that a man falls into a coma after an accident, and when he wakes, he claims his sister is an imposter. Sounds like it could be interesting, doesn't it?

It's not. Much of the book is told from Sister's point of view. Said sister has no personality of her own, a lackluster relationship with an environmentalist also curiously lacking character and a decided disinterest in exploring any activities which might result in a plot. I find these drawbacks in a main character.

Oddly enough, the most interesting sections of book are told from the point of migratory birds, who also do nothing during the course of the novel. That their ruminations upon standing still should be more interesting than the brain-damaged brother and simpering sister ought to tell you a lot.

Powers swaps point of view to a happily married doctor halfway through, and the doctor's subsequent casual affair finished off the rest of my interest in the plot and most of my desire to live.

It takes a lot for me to despise a book, but this one managed it. Verdict? I'd rather curl up with a root canal than this novel.

0 out of 5 cookie dough scoops (I should have an empty spoon icon, shouldn't I?)


Just thinking about rereading the Echo Makers gave me a vaguely bile taste in my mouth. Must cleanse! Must cleanse! My next review for today isn't a new album, but it's worth bringing up because it is, hands down, the best Celtic music CD I have. And it deserves those italics. This is no mean feat as my Irish or Scottish traditional music collection goes on for hours.

I saw Lunasa live about six years ago and I was blown away. And the album was no disappointment. Driven by Kevin Crawford's otherworldly flute and Trevor Hutchinson's awesome bass, this is a traditional album that rocks. The tunes have great hooks, the orchestration is contemporary and seamless, and the musicianship - ahhhhh.

Verdict: why don't you own this already?


5 out of 5 cookie dough scoops (I have to reinvent my icons for this - my hard drive died with them).

Author Websites

Just a quick post to say that I'm getting ready to design my author website for moi and my upcoming novel from Flux and I'd love to hear suggestions from y'all -- any author websites or artist websites you've visited lately that you've loved? Send 'em to me. I wanna know.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Well. Those of you who read my blog this week know that my computer had some issues. Well, issues turned into coming in for work tardy turned into my hard drive quitting cold turkey without leaving a two week notice.

Damn insensitive, if you ask me.

So instead of spending today packaging artwork that is now hopelessly late or working on commissions with photos stored digitally, I instead stood in my local Radio Shack and watched someone who was used to manhandling miscreant drives. As he arm-wrestled with my hard drive, I sighed wistfully as I remembered all of the good times I'd had with it and all the memories written poignantly upon its megabytes.

And then Smart Computer Dude said, "This is toast." Well, I'm paraphrasing. He'd managed to deliver a healthy, full size folder of my print files before my hard drive breathed its last, but no more was forthcoming. I wept bitterly for my loss, not least of which was every novel except for my most recent three, the lion's share of my references, and the photo of me throwing a friendly but high-volacity punch at my husband.

So I returned home, a chastened and mournful Maggie, all hubris knocked out of me by the digital slaughter. Yes, I had a brand-new 200 GB harddrive, bigger and better than the now deceased 80 gig one I'd left behind, but it was like buying a new puppy after your old dog dies. You just can't replace it. You can't just call it Junior and expect it to know all the same tricks. Now I have to bond all over again.

Oh yeah, and upload every program I have ever used in the past 5 years. That's gonna sting.

AAAAGGGGH!

okay guys . . . my computer crashed overnight. i'm carefully typing this on my parents' computer but i'm probably going to be down for a little bit. sigh . . . . if any of you blog readers are waiting for packages from me, they're probably going to be a little late, because i can't access any of that address info or print any labels.

i'm sorry! back soon i hope!

BARF!

"Study in Neutrals" - 9 x 12" colored pencil on paper.
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.
Click here to bid.

I think it's safe to say that my dog, Peanut, is pregnant. Aside from her hormonally induced lovey-dovey behavior, she has morning sickness. Yes. That sort of morning sickness. Some days she'll be perfectly fine, snacking on her food and vacuuming up after my toddlers as usual. But some days, the very sight of food makes her gag.

I so wish I was joking.

The other day, she ate two goldfish crackers the kids had dropped on the carpet, and ten minutes later she rewarded me with a pile of dog barf the size of a small city, all colored bright orange. Those stinkin' goldfish must be potent, because it didn't take very many of them to color the entire mess.

That same day, I was painting cheerfully at my desk and I noticed Peanut lying behind my chair, licking her lips and looking nervous. And shifty. She gets very shifty looking when she suspects she's going to make a stain on my carpet. Sensing disaster, I picked her up, held her in front of me, and ran for the door.

Yeah. Instead of one pile of dog ralph, I managed to create five in a line between my desk and the door. Five. My two year old, Will, who's the resident stain maker, was impressed.

Will (pointing to pile): It's a mess!
Me (scrubbing grimly): Yes.
Will: And another mess!
Me (wondering why I wanted my dog pregnant): Yes.
Will: And five mess!
Me: Great counting.

Don't even get me started on her cravings . . .

Five Degrees to Hades

"The Summer Girls" - 8 x 10" colored pencil on paper.
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.
done for the Wicked Lovely art contest.

The Five Degrees of Hot according to Me:

1. No Sweating. Need water but not sweet tea. T-shirt and jeans.

2. No Sweating. Need sweet tea but not ice cream. T-shirt and jeans.

3. Mild Sweating, not Yet Gross. Need ice cream but not iceberg. T-shirt and shorts.

4. Gross Sweating. Need iceberg. Tank top and shorts.

5. No Sweating. Sitting inside air conditioned house eating cookie dough waiting for the weather to break.

Guess which stage I'm at now?

The Notebook

"Summer Girls - work in progress" - 8 x 10" colored pencil on paper.
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.
e-mail me at portraitswithcharacter AT gmail.com if you want to call dibs on it before I'm done.

I know Monday's supposed to be my day for art business posts, but I got off a day and I don't want to wait until next week to talk about it. My topic for today is . . . duh duh duh (not quite the same effect typed as when said out loud) . . . time management. I've talked about this before in my How To Juggle post, but now life is getting more complicated for me for two major reasons.

1) getting a book deal that means my novel has to be completely revised according to my revised synopsis in short order
2) having two toddlers whose naps are getting very Very short

As it's just not an option dropping anything out of my schedule, I'm going to tighten my ship. I just know there's enough time for it all in there if I work hard enough. Soooo. What am I doing, you ask? Cloning myself? Hiring a manservant? Neither, dear readers! I've bought a notebook.

GASP! duh duh duh (okay, that really doesn't work in print . . . I need something new to indicate suspense).

In it I'm putting every day of every week for this month. First I'm crossing out every Sunday. Sunday's my day off. I don't do anything productive that day at all. Just lounge around. I need that so on Monday I want to go back to work so bad I'm crawling the walls.

Then I'm crossing off every Friday evening and every Wednesday afternoon. Those are going to be my writing times.

Then I'm pencilling in "commissions" on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Then "shipping" and general art on Mondays.

And general art on Saturdays.

And I'm sticking to it. I already know that if I give myself a deadline, I work better. Better even than if someone else gives me a deadline. Because I'm less forgiving! I'm also going to pencil in the exact commissions I'm working on each day so that when I sit down, I don't spend any time going "uhhhh . . .", I just get right to work.

My finding is this: the less time you have, the more you have to schedule it. So who else is buying a notebook this week?

Maggie's Media Munchies 8/6/07

I know, I know. I'm off schedule again. Media Munchies are supposed to happen on the weekends. Well, don't you think Maggie's Monday Media Munchies is so much catchier? Okay, okay. I'll try harder next week. But today was a very exciting day! Without further ado, my media selections for the week. First up:

The Devil You Know, by Mike Carey. Warning to those faint of heart: I grew up reading Dean Koontz books. Giant invisible animals that chew on townspeople at night make horrible neighbors but great fiction. This witty gem of a novel is in that same vein. Fix Castor, a blunt and amusing narrator, is a professional exorcist in a world where ghosts have become commonplace. He takes on one too many jobs and suddenly he's battling succubi and were-animals of all sorts.

The plot was well put together, the mystery tied up properly at the end, and the narrative was so wonderfully funny that I wanted to give this five cookie dough scoops out of five. But I couldn't. I just couldn't. There was a chunk towards the end that dragged when it needed to fly, and some plot holes were filled in by one character's lengthy exposition. So alas, that one cookie dough scoop that would've made a perfect score slimed slowly off the spoon and onto the floor.

Verdict: Not the world's greatest novel but a very, very, very enjoyable way to lose a weekend. Recommended.

4 out of 5 cookie dough scoops.




Next up, another book - nonfiction this time. This one you might notice in my sidebar as one of the books I highly recommend for artists. I usually don't go in for artist career books because frankly, they all seem to say the same thing. They describe the traditional gallery route, gloss over the good details, and say precious little about the mentality associated with successful artists.

Cay Lang's Taking the Leap stands out from the crowd. I bought it about seven months ago, thinking all the time that I should've just borrowed it from the library, and now I'm glad I didn't. It's not a book that you can just read and return. It's like a cookbook. Some of the recipes you can use that night. Some of them you won't use for a year. Some of them look like something you'd never try, but you go back and take a look later and give it a whirl and wow -- you like what you get.

Most of all, this is a thought-mover. One of those books that gets your brain chugging into gear. "Maybe this won't work for me - but something like this might . . . " Really recommended on every artist's shelf.

5 out of 5 cookie dough scoops.

PUBLISHED, BABY!

Okay, I can announce the news to you guys with some confidence now. I've just accepted an offer to publish my first novel from Andrew Karre of Flux Now, a newish imprint of Llewellyn Books. It will come out in Fall 2008 (think August/ September) and will be available in Barnes & Noble, Borders, and WHOOO HOOOOO

Wow, I almost got that whole paragraph down without that, didn't I?

I had some opportunities to look at larger houses, but Andrew has been awesome to work with and I'm gonna see what happens with this one. I think it's going to be great.

Oh, it's tentatively called "The Queen's Bidding" at the moment, but I'm hoping to change that. It's an urban fantasy (fantastic events happening in the real world) about a soulless fairy assassin who you wouldn't feel too bad bringing home to meet your mother.

Homework for the Lovers of Maggic

Yes, I know, I'm late on my Media Munchies again -- I'm going to do them first thing tomorrow. Promise! Well, maybe second thing.

But, most importantly, I have homework for y'all. I just watched The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith. It's based on a true story.

Two hours long.

Watch it.

Afterwards, ask yourself one question: you have a dream, everyone does -- are you trying that hard to get it?

Dreamers have no business giving up.

MIA

No trees for today, though I've started an awesome horse piece I promise to show you guys tomorrow night. I've just got back from The Bourne Ultimatum and IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!

Okay -- I'll be at a show all day tomorrow so I gotta run and pack up the car!

"Trees 1" - 6 x 6" colored pencil
copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater.
not for sale; in my sketchbook which will be given away to a random subscriber to my blog once it's full (so subscribe if you want to get a change to win it!)

Remember I said that I was going to do 30 days of trees? Well, here's the first one. Yes, I know. I started easy on myself in mostly black and white and a close up to boot. Just sticking my toe in the water. Who else is doing trees with me? Hmm? C'mon, Jo, I know you want to!







Yesterday we went to "the city" to run errands and had lunch at a restaurant. It had been awhile, and I'd forgotten how much the enjoyment of a dining experience with toddlers depends on the personality of your waitstaff. Our waitress was . . . hmm. I think bad waitstaff falls into five categories.

1. The National Geographic Waiter. This was what our waitress was. Like a National Geographic documentary filmmaker, this waiter adopts a strict policy of non-involvement. Though they may see that endangered animal cub starving to death before their camera, a documentary maker is merely an observer in the circle of life, not a participant. Likewise, the National Geographic Waiter watches you from a safe distance as you struggle to eat without the proper number of forks and slurp noisily at an empty glass.

2. The Bad First Date Waiter. Like a lousy first date, this waiter has no sense of personal space and sits on the booth next to you to take your order. When you look mildly disgusted at the uninvited contact, the Bad First Date Waiter perceives this as interest in their life, and tells you all about theirs. He doesn't just want to know what you want to drink -- he wants to know where you went to college and how you came to be blonde and what your favorite color is.

3. The Comic Relief Waiter. After suffering through a meal of this waiter's lame jokes, you leave a 1% tip and then cut your wrists with the edge of your receipt.

4. The Forgetful Waiter. This waiter amazes all by taking your order without writing any of it down. He strides with confidence to the kitchen and thirty minutes later sends you a tableful of menu items you didn't realize existed. While he's apologetic about his mistakes, he doesn't write down the next table's order either.

5. The Angry Waiter. "What do you mean it's not cooked enough!? Fine I'll take it back."

I was a waitress, by the way, in college. For a week and a half. Yes, I was one of those waitresses that walked off in the middle of my shift. But at least I made sure everyone had refills before I left.

Maxfield Bookended & A New Project

"The Color of Winter" - 8 x 10" colored pencil on paper.
Copyright 2007 Maggie Stiefvater
Click here to bid.

All right, I know I said I was going to wrap up Maxfield Parrish's month today, but I'm afraid I've decided to leave it partially open-ended. I'll explain in a bit, but first of all, here's been the posts on good ol' Maxfield for the month:

Maxfield Parrish #1
Maxfield Parrish #2
Maxfield Parrish #3
Maxfield Parrish #4
Maxfield Parrish #5

I still am fascinated by him and his commercial success and I think that I still have more to learn from him -- I'm going to be tracking down more books on him in the months to come.

I was feeling frustrated this entire month as I like to do a piece in the style of my monthly artist, and I just couldn't figure out what do like Maxfield. Then I realized I was coming up against the same wall I had with Waterhouse. I can't do trees. Both Waterhouse and Parrish do trees for breakfast. Well, that's probably a horrible analogy, but you get what I mean. Trees are their bread and butter. They rock at landscapes.

I, uh, suck at trees. That's the polite way of putting it.

So this is what I'm doing for my Maxfield Parrish project, and it's also becoming my August Monthly Artist Project as well. I'm doing 30 days of trees. A sketch of a tree or an animal piece with trees featured prominently, once every day but Sunday for the entire month. Until I figure those buggers out. Anyone who wants to join me can blog about it and send me the links and I'll try to remember to link you in my project posts.