Page 1: It was Unexpected

Well and hey, this is finally getting started! I'm posting today to elaborate on page 1 of Siloen. It's a bit early to discuss plot or characters, so let's start with what we see: a letter, a watch, a chain, and a ribbon.

The letter: Did you know that envelopes didn't exist in the 1700s? You would write your letter, fold and seal it with wax, and send it on its way. Stamps hadn't been invented yet either. The recipient had to pay in order to receive their letters! They were charged by the page. Economy-minded writers would fill a page, turn it sideways and fill it again- sometimes, they would then write more on the diagonal, making it thoroughly illegible!
To recieve a black-bordered letter was bad news, usually news of a death. This was true in Britain until around WW2.

The watch: Watches were a sign of social status. A chain or fob for your watch meant you were wealthy. A watch in each pocket meant you were both wealthy and showing off! Soldiers and working men might have a pocket watch, either handed down or stolen, but it would be strung on a ribbon. (And thank you to the reenactor from the Fair at New Boston for your help and your amusing stories!)
It was another Georgian superstition that in the house were someone had died, clocks would be stopped, and mirrors were turned to face the wall, so the spirit would not become trapped in them.

The chain and the ribbon: There were strict rules on how one dressed during mourning, and it went well beyond black armbands. Men wore black or somber colors, of course, removed any jewelry. Shiny and fancy buttons were replaced with plain ones, and unnecessary buttons (there for show) were removed from the cuffs and pockets.
The shiny watch chain is being swapped out for the black ribbon, but its presence is also symbolic, the watch for mortality and the chain for the ties that bind. For more on this topic, I recommend googling 'Georgian mourning jewelry'.

Thanks for reading!

 

Siloen Title Page

The title page was one of the first I inked. It was originally part of a 3-page intro. As I wrote the 1st chapter the intro seemed more and more redundant, so I did away with it. The third page became the basis for the title page. I say 'basis' because of all the changes I had to make to turn it into a title page. Siloen originally had straight hair. I inked a curly replacement, and composited the images with photoshop (still not completely happy with it). I then trimmed the image from 'landscape' to 'portrait, added an oval frame, chopped, redistributed and colored the leaves, redrew her hand and added the watch...

Maybe I should have started from scratch after all.

The image as it was originally drawn held all my feelings for the character. She was captured in the act of turning, like a startled woodland creature. Her hair blew everywhere. Originally she had straight hair, because I felt she had a painfully straightforward personality, but it seemed too plain. So she has wavy/curly hair now but still the skittish personality of a Siamese cat.

The foliage that makes up the background is hawthorn, a plant steeped in fairy lore. You may have heard it mentioned as 'Oak, Ash and Thorn.' It was believed to mark the entrance to the Otherworld. To this day it is considered ill-luck to uproot a fairy tree or fairy fort. I chose it for other symbolic reasons- the young leaves for growth, the thorns for pain, and the blossoms for fragility

Original concept art.

 I was testing colors-

she needed to be green without appearing froggy or slimy.

 

 

Fairy lore on hawthorn, fairy forts and fairy trees is fascinating but too much to recount here- I recommend you do your own digging.

New fantasy webcomic

Well, I'm reviving this blog so I can talk about my webcomic, Siloen. It is an historical fantasy set in the year 1761, England. That is a very specific time and place, but it will be several chapters before I can tell you why! A lot of research went into it, and a lot of imagination.... and a lot of work, too. I am both author and illustrator. There are many fascinating things I learned and so much going on behind the scenes that I want to share with you in this blog.

Siloen updates Monday-Wednesday-Friday.
More on this coming soon!
 

Halloween in Fairborn

So, the renaissance festival is over and we're almost to Halloween. Fairborn, where I live, is a great place for that. There is a costume shop called Foys that is open year-round; but in October they open half a dozen seasonal storefronts. They set up a bunch of prop shop monsters around, attached to, and on top of the buildings... and animatronic displays on three nearby properties. It brings in a lot of sightseers, that's for sure. In one yard are a dozen aliens and two crashed spaceships. Another has THREE pirate ships and a dozen pirates. They broadcast A Pirate's Life For Me. One of the pirates opens and closes shutters, and one of the ships lets off smoke from its cannon. Across the street a bunch more awesome props are gathered in one tiny yard. There's an ornate old hearse that does nothing, but I imagine the coffin inside used to open and close itself. There's a headless horseman on horseback. Every so often the horse will rear up and neigh wildly, while the rider brandishes his sword (and his severed head) in complicated maneuvers for about half a minute. There's also a huge monstrous beast, maybe an ogre of some sort. He has a spear in one hand and a skeleton dangling from the other. When he moves, he draws himself up to 10-12' in height, growls, brandishes his spear, and shakes the heck out of that poor skeleton. It's an awesome display. Um, and down the road from me is a less professional but very amusing yard with a bit of everything. Aside from the standard scarecrows and ghost christmas light cutouts there's a 8' long sea serpent  with orange&pink lights, and a large purple spider that crouches on top of a skeleton rising up out of the ground.

Any interesting Halloween sights in your town?

Good photos vs great ones

I admit, I'm not the world's most devoted photographer. I like creating things. Really, it is just that simple. Photographing, marketing, and selling them afterward is something I have learned to do to keep from being buried alive in art. Ok, the money is nice too. Being a minimum wage faery is not all it's cracked up to be.

I realized that the single image I had of most of my paintings was inadequate. People like to have an idea of the paintings scale. The best measurement I have is myself (several of my paintings are just that big). So myself and two dozen paintings went out in the backyard. 100 mosquito bites later, I have my photos. If I seem to be glaring in them, that's what it is. Nothing personal. Ok, so I hate being photographed. It's still nothing personal.

Photographing sculpture is a whole different kettle of fish. I was taught in art school to photograph things against a white or 20% grey background. I started off doing that, but it just wasn't working for me. The contrast is too high, and the colors look dark and burnt despite Photoshop's best efforts.

Much as the guys at Regretsy like to make fun of reclaimed barn wood, photographing against a wood background gets me my best results. Have a look at this guy, I call him Trash Fire Santa. For max irony, the can is a candleholder:

White background meh, nothing special, wood background... just works. Which one would you rather pay $175 for?

So it's been 2 weeks since I last blogged, and I've been almost as busy as I expected. (The faire was rained out the weekend before last, which gave me an unexpected break.)

Oh, the faire. If I had enough money to not have to work, I'd buy a seasons pass to all the renfaires and travel. I'd have a blog on What Not To Wear- To Faire. In it I'd feature all the people who make suits of armor out of beer boxes, or who come cross-dressed as Dumbledore (yes, both have happened). With a sub-feature of What is that THING on your head? Because I've seen some doozies.

Several of my friends have complained of nightmares in the last week, and I've had some strange dreams myself. I quit sugar about 10 days ago, and most nights in my dreams I am scarfing it down. I wake up feeling vaguely guilty and unsure if I actually binged on sweets or not. Last night I was helping a man sell rabbits at a pagan festival.They came live, though if people requested it I would sell one as steaks. One day he hadn't made much, so instead of money he gave me a large dinner to take home(this was a long dream full of tedious details). There was a chocolate mousse and I ate it immediately. It's just weird, what my brain focuses on.

Finished Goblin King Santa and Witch Costume Santa. The weather has been poor for photography, either too sunny or gloomy- light cloud cover is what I aim for. So I have no photos yet. Got a bid on the Homeless Santa Luminary on Ebay, we'll see how that goes.

Scuse me, I need to mow the lawn before I go to work. All this rain you know. I'll try to post more regularly but since I'm working EVERY day I promise nothing.

Autumn Santas

I would have a lot to show you, because I've finished more wonderful autumn-themed Santas, but my husband took the camera to Dragoncon(lucky bastid), and I don't have a backup plan. So I'll have to wait until next week to introduce you.

I can describe them, I suppose. These are ornaments meant to hang. They are about 5" standing or 3.5" sitting. One is the 'Headless Horseman' or 'Pumpkinhead' Santa. Of course he has a shiny gold jack-o-lantern for a head. He has a black cloak thrown over his Santa outfit, with details picked out in metallic silver & gold.

The second is an Autumn Harvest Santa. He's dressed in autumn colors, and straw peeks out from his costume where fur trim usually is. He's like fat little scarecrow meets David the Gnome. He wears a little brown Santa hat with more straw and holds a pumpkin-shaped sign that says 'Give Thanks.'

Third... can I admit this is my favorite idea? We have psycho Santa. He's a dirty old fellow, his eyes are yellowed and creepy, and he holds a sign that says "I see you when you're sleeping." Great for your horror movie fan, will probably make children wet the bed.

Renaissance festival opens tomorrow. I'm feeling very anxious, but hopefully that will wear off and it will be like I never left. A lot going on at work. Less said, the better, but if it gets unpleasant I may be job hunting again soon. Family owned, family drama, I guess.

But really, life is good and I shouldn't dwell on the little problems. Til next week then!