Corvine Crayon

New Site and New Blog!

2010-10-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

Excitement! I have a new site, courtesy of my ~~useful minion~~ wonderful husband:

www.sallyjanethompson.co.uk

Still a few sections in progress, but most of it is up, including a new blog, so I can keep things in one place! Bookmark the blog, which is unsurprisingly at:

http://www.sallyjanethompson.co.uk/blog/

See you there! Thanks for reading this one, I hope you'll follow me over to the new one ^_~

Current WIP

2010-10-02T14:16:00.001-07:00

Inspiration Post - book-page stopmotion

2010-09-28T04:10:00.000-07:00

Will try and remember to post now and then with some gems from my favourites folder. Was just looking through some and (re)came acrosss this wonderful, wonderful video, featuring a town of book-page cutouts:

http://25thestate.com/

Check it out!

Also, for those who haven't seen the Ikea herding cats ad, you absolutely must. Yes it has cats and is very very cute, but it's also very beautiful.

It was done in a UK branch, and Ikea's also posted a making-of on youtube, which has some lovely shots not in the ad:

Events this week!

2010-09-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

This week I will be at two events!

On Tues the 21st, I'll be at This is Bazaar:

http://www.thisisbazaar.co.uk/

And on Saturday I will be at J-Culture Con):

http://www.j-culturecon.co.uk/

A few stationary designs I'll have for sale - I'm quite pleased with them ^_^ Hopefully will get some colour versions done in future.

Very pink and girly

2010-09-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

The Greenbelt Post!

2010-09-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

This is the Small Stories comics corner at Greenbelt festival, including drawing supplies, a small comics exhibition next to it, and a small press comics reading library, for inspiration!

The comics presence was fantastic this year. Mike Maddox was running a collaborative comic, with a script by Mike and character designs by myself, which festivalgoers could draw a panel for - and tons of people did, of all ages! One of each panel was put together to form a comic that was printed in the Greenbelt newspaper produced on-site. You can see the fantastic results here.

We moved indoors for a comics cafe on the Saturday evening, with drawing supplies, the reading library, music, snacks, and artists tips and advice available - and had to restock on paper and snacks during the evening due to the amazing response. My estimate is over 60 people came, including a few who had come because they thought it involved comedians but stayed anyway.

Amazing thanks to Sammy Borras, an amazing comic artist with a fresh style who contributed work to the exhibition and spent the weekend offering visitors her comics wisdom. Go check out her site!

Also to Si Smith, who also let me steal a fantastic comic for the exhibition and did a tremendous amount of work organizing the vis arts program for greenbelt. And to my poor husband who spent the weekend running around finding extra paper and carrying heavy things in the name of art, and took some fantastic photos while doing so.

The reading library exists thanks to donations from Sammy Borras, Faye Yong, Fehed Said, Factor Fiction, Naniiebim, Ushio (if I forgot anyone, forgive me, and thank you!) Thank you! I hope it'll get bigger for each event!

Next place to catch Small Stories: The Big Draw events around Derby in October! See you there!

Upcoming, yay!

2010-07-03T07:22:00.001-07:00

Logo for a little exhibition of short comics at Greenbelt this August - it involves a drawing lounge, and with any luck I'll be able to take it on to other locations in future!

Sketching at the Natural History Museum

2010-04-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

Sketch

2010-03-07T08:26:00.000-08:00

A PS sketch I'm redrawing to do into a more finished piece because I rather like it. Realized I hadn't done any Chinese New Year art, so sketched a tiger-inspired lady. Will post resulting pieces/progress too ^_^

Dr Sketchy's!

2010-02-23T09:08:00.001-08:00

Great fun at Dr. Sketchy's on the weekend! Theme - Betty Page! Models were Anna Fur Laxis, Fanny Divine, and Betty Jane.

And she finally gets her Christmas art up (after New Year)

2010-01-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010 people. I hope you were able to have a restful (don't laugh!) and refreshing holiday with people you love, and that the coming year will be a blessed one. ^_^

Update!

2009-12-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

Just checking in on this poor neglected blog! I will hopefully in the new year do a better job of working it into my schedule. I've lately been off moving house and...getting married! So I thought I would pop in with the limited edition print I did for our guests (printed on slighly greeny cream textured paper - looks nice!) Inspired by some robot-y nicknames and the cool retro tin robots we used next to our cupcakes (given they wouldn't fit on one! :P )

Recent canvas-paint-sketch-thingys!

2009-08-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

More swap stuff!

2009-07-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

A craft swap here and there keeps me sane! (And makes lovely handmade things appear on my doorstep!)

For this one my swapee is a Sailor Moon fan, so did some fanart to throw in (Neptune is one of her favourites)! (w/ egl-y outfit since that's another thing she likes ^_^)

Uterus!

2009-07-03T05:41:00.000-07:00

I made a uterus! It's for a swap on craftster.org....my swapee recently had a hysterectomy, so she needed a new one.

I put wire in the fallopian tubes so they're posable!

Minibooks for Expo ^_^

2009-05-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

Teeny tiny comics! A very short little handmade book for Expo ^_^ See you there!

Also, decorating GETS! I've been wanting a vintagey dressing table for ages, and today got this one for free from someone who no longer wanted it! Will probably paint (cream/off-white?) - just need to find basic cheap little table to put it on ^_^

MA work preview

2009-05-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

Very very busy lately, but assessment for stage 2 of MA is tomorrow, so that'll be nice to have out of the way!

Here's a quick preview of some stuff I've been up to - doing some exploratory work with a local museum, which I'm hoping will turn out well as it's a good way to combine personal formal investigations with client requirements. Anyway! This one's about a local Georgian house, with some formal and style attempts to communicate aspects of their lives, structure, and front-of-house vs. back-of-house environments ^_^

Free Comic Book Day

2009-04-30T12:58:00.001-07:00

Quick reminder to all - this Saturday is Free Comic Book Day!

Check out the list of participating shops on the site - UK list here. If one's in your area, be sure to toddle on down!

Coffeebot needs coffee

2009-04-03T05:04:00.001-07:00

The Thing!

2009-03-26T08:43:00.001-07:00

IndieManga shall be at the UK Webcomix Thing on Saturday, yay! We'll be at table 81 sharing with the lovely Caroline Parkinson - hope anyone who's coming will stop by and say Hi ^_^

Here's a cover painting I've been working on for an upcoming comic:

A Valentines Story

2009-02-14T09:38:00.001-08:00

Girl meets boy:

Girl dates boy:

Girl leaves boy for viking warrior:

The end.

(PS not really. Don't worry Cubee boy.)

Awesome blank cubee template can be found at: http://www.cubeecraft.com/template.html so you too can be a narcissist and create Cubee likenesses of yourselves! (Or other people. Or aliens. Or whatever.) They don't need any tape or glue even - wicked! ^_^

(By the way, I really hope someone got the reference in the first pic!)

Preview!

2009-02-03T07:24:00.000-08:00

A few preview shots from one of the things I've been holed up working on, a project with a writer - it's a great project that I'm really enjoying!

Happy Chinese New Year!

2009-01-28T04:47:00.000-08:00

(Yes, I'm a couple of days late but oh well)

Jing! Birthday! Frog!

2009-01-26T13:48:00.000-08:00

Birthday sketch for Jing, who is brilliant, talented, full of life and immensely huggable, although sadly not from overseas. And who loves frogs, although the frog in this pic kind of just looks like an anthropomorphic green blob. Sorry Jingy!

Atomic Sheep Christmas Story!

2008-12-21T06:08:00.001-08:00

Yay, I can now announce this! I've hooked up with Markosia to put out an online serial, Atomic Sheep, which will be published on myebook.com. It's a really nice readable platform, and will allow me to update several pages at a time fortnightly, which suits my style better than page-at-a-time. The actual serial will be starting in the new year, and as an introduction, there's a short Christmas story available now!

Hope you enjoy it, and come back to read more when the serial starts! ^_^

Clicke here for the comic!

Christmas gifts!

2008-12-21T05:43:00.000-08:00

Been a while! Busyness has been happening. Now that's it's Christmassy and I can breathe a bit, doing a little giftart. First pic is Ella from Emma Vieceli's Dragon Heir, and second is Juliet from Katherine Holden's FanDanGo (check them out!); third is an original gift for someone.

Glare-y Computer Screen...

2008-10-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

I suppose when my computer screen has enough glare for me to do self-portrait sketches just by looking at it, I ought to re-arrange some furniture...

(Birmingham Roundup coming soon!)

IndieManga debuts at Birmingham International Comic Show!!

2008-09-29T12:05:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it's been a bit quiet here lately. Has been non-stop for a while, and in the interim I've been at Greenbelt Arts Festival (doing live art/prints/interview), the Reading After Empire conference at the University of Stirling (presenting a paper), and at Alcon (doing a panel and workshop), as well as back to the MA grindstone.

But I've also been working away with some excellent people on a project we've been getting ready for many, many months - IndieManga!

This new small press group is debuting this weekend at Birmingham International Comic Show with our first book, and anthology titled Origins - the cover of which you can see below!

Be sure to bookmark Indiemanga's site for more news, articles, tutorials, and books! Short event reports to follow for the other things mentioned in this post, both here and on the Indiemanga site.

THE SITE!!

Little Thoughts will be moving into the Indiemanga house as well, so for anyone going to Birmingham who still needs a copy (yes, needs ^_~), we'll have some there. Looking forward to seeing some of you there!

Girls, sketchbook and sickening schmaltz

2008-08-05T13:03:00.001-07:00

Sketches from London

2008-08-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

Summer concerts in London - sketches from Joanna Newsom and the Proms!

Summery Watery Sketch

2008-07-07T15:55:00.001-07:00

Happy Canada Day People!

2008-07-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

Canada, you're pretty frickin' sweet and I totally love you. <3

In other "day"s, I didn't miss Bloomsday this year. I came across this fantastic project, 1000 Joyce Walks, which allows you to transpose the routes from one of several chapers of Ulysses onto your own city. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get in to town to do my own version on Bloomsday (June 16), but I will get to it, and sketchbook will come with me ^_^

Haddon Hall statue

2008-06-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

The beautiful marble statues you find in stately houses here with all their crazy drapery are irresistable for sketching. This one is in the chapel of Haddon Hall on the tomb of Robert Charles John Manners, Lord Haddon, died Sept 28 1804. He looks like he was a child.

Digital painting from a pen sketch I did while standing in the chapel being pooped on by bats in the eaves.

Either/Or and Refugee Week

2008-06-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

this past week was Refugee Week, which saw a lot of fantastic events around the UK getting people connected and motivated, and fostering education and understanding and all that good stuff ^_^

On Friday I went down to Loughborough University for a seminar on Women and Migration, which had a nice mix of policy and art-related groups present.

I thought it might be appropriate to post one of the stories from Little Thoughts (my mini-comic) - and if you're in London btw there are a few copies at Gosh at the moment! (Go! Buy! ^_^)

Refugee Action is a great group, so check out their website to learn more, keep up to date, and get ideas on what you can do to help. Their Refugee Awareness Project booklets ("Make Your Neighbourhood Nicer: How to Welcome Refugees and Asylum Seekers in 11 Easy Steps" and "Mobiles, Money and Mayhem: The Facts and Fibs About Asylum") are also gorgeous pieces of design as physical booklets, and are downloadable on their site.

http://www.refugee-action.org.uk/

Extra note: in the latest Geek Syndicate podcast (85) (www.geeksyndicate.co.uk/) there's a very very lovely little review of Little Thoughts, which totally made my day. Thanks David! ^_^

Oh yeah, final note - trying "normal" sized text (above) - even though I think the "small" (here) makes the blog much nicer looking as a whole, wondering if people are less inclined to read small text. Thoughts?

Reminder to VOTE FOR GEEK-GIRL!

2008-06-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to add in your vote for Geek-Girl at Small Press Idol! I've ended up shifting from colourist to doing art for the zero issue of this project, and enjoying trying something different for me! Here's a pinup for the series, plus, check out this comparison from art to lettering! I've never had something I've done lettered by someone else, and I'm amazed how he's managed to do it without covering up the art or looking awkward - I finally understand the job of a letterer! ^_^ Lettered by Jaymes Reed.

To check out the fully-finished, lettered pages, click on the link below--then click 'post reply' at the site and type a big 'YES' to vote for Geek-Girl, so I get to draw a cover (need votes to keep a cover slot for Mysterious Visions Anthology)!

http://www.dimestoreproductions.com/ForumsPro/viewtopic/t=4296/start=260.html

Bristol Roundup

2008-05-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

Okay yes, this is supercrazy late. In all fairness though, I came back to MA evaluations and a photography exhibition (looked awsome, and we had 800 people through over the long weekend, so that's all good!)

Anyway! Obviously, I met loads of fabulous talented people at Bristol, so I definitely needed to post some links. Go look at at least some of them, otherwise you'll be missing out!

Firstly, I somehow ended up in the most awesome corner of the whole hall. Yes I did.

For starters, I had Caroline Parkinson as my tablemate, who brought her some gorgeous new work. Check out her recently redesigned site!

Then on the one side, we had as neighbours the amazing trio of Jamie McKelvie, Marc Ellerby and John Cei Douglas! (I missed picking up a copy of John's gorgeous minicomic Buffalo Roots, but he was kind enough to send one to me! It's beautifully done)

What's more, on the other side, I had Thomas Plaskitt, whose work is some of the most thoughtful and inventive I have ever seen, ever. It will be to your detriment if you don't check out his work. I came home with a copy of his minicomic Dreams, which is packed with surprises and oddities - it's seriously a wonderland.

Moving on from this fabulous little corner of the world I ended up in, I had as my roommate the lovely Blossom, and got to see some of her new work - exciting stuff!

A couple of minicomics I picked up that I really enjoy:

If you want breakfast in bed eat in the kitchen, by Cliodhna Lyons

Hazy Thursday by Oliver Smith

Also lovely to see some Emma and Sonia from Sweatdrop, to (briefly) meet the very talented Kate Brown, (also briefly) meet the Geek Syndicate guys, and to see the very cool John Aggs and meet illustrator David Andrews.

Had a lovely chat with Yosh from Yokaj Studio. Also, couldn't help doodling on one of their doll templates for their onsite Yokaj Doll contest, which won and has been turned into an adorable icon on their bbs. Go look, it's cute ^_^

Oh! And finally, for something that is not comics (gasp!), go check out The Polaroid Press, Matthew Sheret's art and writing project featuring weekly updates of polaroid art and flash fiction. Gorgeous site design and earthyy, atmospheric writing.

Whew!

Little Thoughts - MiniComic preview!

2008-05-05T14:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, here we go! This is the minicomic I'll be bringing to Bristol with me. It's 24 pages, and features four short stories - Tango, Joined, Either/Or and Distance. Here's a sneak peak at the cover, and the first two pages of Tango.

Bristol poster

2008-05-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

Okay people, Bristol con is next weekend! If you're there, come and say hi - I'll be very findable because this monstrosity will be attached to my table somewhere in poster size! Worth checking out the full size version to hunt for monsters, birds, ghosts and guitars!

PS - Don't forget to vote for Geek-Girl in Small Press Idol - voting is still open this weekend! Scroll down to previous two posts for voting links and instructions!

Geek-Girl illo

2008-04-29T06:31:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to give Geek-Girl your votes!

http://www.dimestoreproductions.com/ForumsPro/viewtopic/t=4163.html

Voting stays open until May 4th for Round 2, and remember that you can vote every day!

Vote for Geek-Girl!

2008-04-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

Voting is open on Round 2 of Small Press Idol! I've jumped on board as colourist on Geek-Girl, so go support it! Better still, you can vote every day until voting closes, which would be super-helpful! Thanks in advance ^_^

Voting instructions be here:

When 'Little Miss Popular' Ruby Kaye lands a pair of super-tech glasses in a game of Strip Poker, she's granted flight, super-strength, and--due to a flaw in the glasses' programming--super-klutziness.

Ruby Kaye is GEEK-GIRL!

To check out our entry and Vote, click on the link below, then scroll to the bottom of the page and click on 'Post Reply', where it will ask you to register.

Once you've done this, it will bring up a comments box; if you want to leave any comments, please do, but in order to vote you just need to type 'YES'. Without a "YES" it will just be looked at as comments...not counted as a vote.

Voting runs until May 4th, and if you’d like to vote more than once, you can, as long as you don’t vote more than once in a day.

Click here:

http://www.dimestoreproductions.com/ForumsPro/viewtopic/t=4163.html

(Btw, the lovely promo illustration is by Matt Olsen over at http://www.flexible-elf.com/ )

Sketching! A foresty...thing...

2008-04-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

News post

2008-04-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

So Bristol International Comic Expo is almost here! If you happen to be there, do come and find me - I'll be sharing a table with the very talented Caroline Parkinson.

Sneak peaks at what I'll be bringing will be cropping up here over the next couple of weeks.

In other news, I'll be having a photography exhibition, Now and Then: The Wirksworth Regeneration Project, at the end of May in conjunction with the Wirksworth Heritage Centre, combining new photos with archive material. I'll post sample photos here sometime during May.

And finally, I've been helping out with some colours on the character art for Geek Girl, which has moved on to Round 2 at Dimestore Productions' Small Press Idol. Check it out here, and, should you be so inclined, support it when voting opens!

MA development peak

2008-04-11T13:58:00.000-07:00

Some of the work I've been developing for my MA, around themes of migration/globalization/diaspora/hybridity.

Photography post - Cumbria

2008-04-07T15:27:00.001-07:00

Bits and bobs

2008-04-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

Rose from Street Fighter :

A dancing robot (...) :

A WIP - almost done, I'm thinking it needs a little more contrast :

Next stage WIP!

2008-03-10T04:57:00.000-07:00

This one sort of changed approach mid-way, making my layers a confusing mess! But it's been good practice, and is almost done! Here's another WIP preview shot - not the full pic here. I think I may need to fractionally lower her right eye.

Momiji / Don't Panic design contest

2008-02-29T05:21:00.000-08:00

Momiji dolls and Don't Panic have a design contest on at the moment. Please consider voting - for me would be nice (^_~) , but there's some tough competition!

Here's a little preview of mine:

I have two sets up, which you can check out here:

Sai, Twig and Evie

Lily, Pax and Miki

Don't forget to vote!

Pepper Project and Parable

2008-02-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yay for alliteration! Just sent in my entry for the Pepper Project (http://pepperproject.imaginaryfs.com/) :

Also of note, the Parable blog has been featuring interviews with the contributors, which are a great read. Mine is up at the moment, for anyone interested. www.parablecomic.com

Happy Valentines/Chocolate/Capitalism Day!

2008-02-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Shrove Tuesday / Pancake Day!

2008-02-05T11:39:00.001-08:00

WIP

2008-01-22T08:20:00.001-08:00

WIP - not done yet, but I'm pleased with it so far.

illo snippets

2008-01-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

Two preview clips of an illo I just finished for a competition. Pretty pleased with how it came out.

Winter Lights

2008-01-08T08:48:00.001-08:00

Was going to post for Christmas, but I forgot. Uh, Merry Christmas everyone?

MIMC entry preview

2008-01-07T16:07:00.000-08:00

First 5 pages of my 24-page Kodansha entry, which will probably be self-published (unless it happens to win anything ^_^)

What is this myserious valley? What will happen to it? Oh, the suspense!

RSOM and painting

2007-12-14T07:56:00.000-08:00

So RSOM results are out - I didn't win anything this time round, but am still glad to have made it to the finals. Results are up here, with a link to all of the finalists entries, which are still up for now.
http://www.tokyopop.com/RSOM_PeoplesChoice/tp_article/1023144.html

In other news, I finally have the internet at home again, so hopefully more regular posts will follow.
Here are a couple of new experiments, done with ink, marker, pencil, acrylic and oil pastel on canvas. I accidentally used my bottle of textile medium instead of acrylic medium, so they are very sticky.

UK Rising Stars of Manga!

2007-11-20T03:28:00.000-08:00

People's Choice voting is now up, so go and read my manga, yo! (Look for "Alice Fogarty Hates Small Towns"). And read all the others too, because there's some really fantastic work.

http://www.tokyopop.com/RSOM_PeoplesChoice/tp_article/1023144.html

New illustrations

2007-10-27T02:18:00.000-07:00

Colouring experiments (unseasonal I know - I do actually like autumn though ^_^)

The First Emperor at the British Museum

2007-10-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

Autumn Walk

2007-10-04T06:45:00.000-07:00

Autumn is upon us, and yesterday I found this ancient sketch in the depths of my computer. Obviously quick 'n basic, but I kind of like it.

Paintings in Progress (plus beautiful pallette)

2007-10-01T08:08:00.001-07:00

First update from England

2007-09-14T07:03:00.000-07:00

Well, have moved country, and continue to be internet-less at home. But will do my best to get things up here anyway. For now, here's a girl. And a tree.

And here are a couple of preview images from my entry for a short manga contest at the Japanese embassy. Rising Stars previews to come soon!

Variations on a Theme - NANA Day and Live Earth

2007-07-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit

2007-06-16T23:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Bloomsday everyone - June 16th, the day on which Leopold Bloom travels both an epic journey of human experience and an ordinary day in Dublin in 1904. Thank you, James Joyce.

Done and done

2007-05-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

Now that school is done (and not just the year - I finally have my BFA!), hopefully I can give this poor neglected space some more attention.

For now, have some trees that I came across while packing boxes (big move to England upcoming!)

Christmas paintings

2007-01-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

The first pair are my niece and nephew - done with acrylic, marker and ink on chunky little wood blocks, for my brother ^_^

Christen it with monsters

2006-12-14T14:49:00.000-08:00

Perfect timing to start a craft blog, since school's just finished for the semester, and I'm busy making Christmas gifts! What better way to christen a new blog than with monsters.