Crafty Tuesday: Random Thoughts Post-DragonCon 2011
Posted By Kathleen David on September 13, 2011
DragonCon went well. Not as well as I would have liked but I do know that I amused a bunch of people and got a lot of compliments on my work.
There is something about artists that one admires telling then that their work is art and very good art that. One is validated by ones peers. I never thought I would be talking puppets with Jim Steranko and having him compliment me on my artwork. I am a big fan of his work and the style that he created for comics that is emulated to this day by various artists.
I took Lockheed to Artist Alley with me and had a lot of the people behind the table stop me to get a better look at Lockheed. They recognized him for what he was so I must have done something right.
I need to work out my schedule for the next year in terms of what I want to get done by when. While leaving time for those surprise projects that seem to crop up.
I have one project I have to do by the end of the year but I think I can get it done in plenty of time.
In doing Lockheed, I figured out that I can do more than I have been doing with some shapes and sizes. I am more confident in moving from a 2-D representation to a 3-D translation. Also the glowing eyes were a lot of fun to do. I’ll have to get more of those LED finger lights before they are sold out.
Charles and Erik were lessons in detail. And I forgot one that I need to add to both of them but everyone knew who they were and which was which. I have more confidences in recreating the little details and making them look right.
Castiel was a lesson in clothing and drafting patterns that fit the puppet. The Wings were a challenge too but I like the result.
I have about 6 dolls I want to do over the next three months but I am also hoping to land a contract for about 6 puppets for a show which would pay nice.
It is interesting to me how far I have come from thinking of myself as just a craftsman with a set of skills to an artist. It took me a long time to claim the word “artist” as my own.
I still can’t draw worth a lick but my drafting is improving a lot. I would like to be able to draw but I don’t think it is in the cards for me.
I am thinking about take the puppets and doing photos of them in action shots and selling them as prints. Good idea? Bad Idea? Do you have another idea that I could use?
I am going to be taking photos for my Etsy Shop and putting some stuff there for sale as a trial ballon. I’ll announce when I have something to look at.
I still have more ideas than time and that’s a good thing.
I am grateful for all the things I learned at DragonCon.
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