Lindsay Mays

Yesterday at the book store I picked up "Drawing Words & Writing Pictures" by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden. It's a brand new book about making comics, written in text book format (with homework assignments and everything!) I'm going to be doing the lessons and posting all of my work here in the blog. There are 15 lessons, and I'll be doing at least one every week.

I'm hoping that it will help me with the technical side do comics. I'm feeling more comfortable with the actual art, but things like layouts and storytelling still confound me. Everything I know about comics right now has come from reading them. I have no experience with making them. I want to have some idea of what I'm doing when I start on Queen of Spades.

I also joined the unofficial livejournal group, nomads_ink, and will be posting there as well.

I love to stumble across random art. Parking lot shopping cart sculptures make me happy.

Last week I finished a commissioned doll of Osceola (a 19th century Seminole war chief) It is by far the largest and most detailed plush doll that I've made. I'm quite proud of how it turned out, so I thought I would post it here as well as on DeviantArt.


Custom plush - Osceola by ~silentorchid on deviantART

Now that I've finished it, I've had more time to work on some drawings and art pieces. I've been playing with watercolors and I have some neat characters running around in my head. I'll be posting some things soon :)

I'm number 1728 on the Million Blog List. It's a neat project...trying to see how long it will take to have one million bloggers add themselves.

For the last few months I have been hearing about the newly proposed Orphaned Works bill. As an artist, it worried me at first...mostly because all of the early articles I read said that it was EVIL! Since then I've been researching and reading up on it on my own. I've read the proposed bills, looked into copyright laws, and read a lot of articles and online discussions. And now I've finally chosen sides. I'm supporting the bill.

First, for those who don't know, an "orphaned work" is work (visual art, writing, film, or anything else you can create and get a copyright for) who's copyright holder or creator cannot be found. Currently if a copyright holder cannot be found, the work cannot be used. Many museums and libraries can't make digital copies of older photos, films and other works because of this. With the new bill they will be able to. It will also help anyone who has photos that were taken professionally that they want to get copies of (currently you can't go to a copy shop and get copies of old wedding photos or professional portraits because you don't own the copyright, the photographer or studio does...even pictures taken at Sears or Olen Mills legally belong to the studio.)

So many of the articles and blog posts I've seen don't seem to know anything about current copyright laws. You don't need to officially register to be protected. As soon as you make something (a painting, drawing, song, story) it's your's. It's copyrighted. If you do officially register a work, it's only $45 (not $250, like I've seen some people saying) and you don't need to register each work individually. You can register works as a collection. If you have 100 pieces, you can register a collection of "Sketches and Drawings, 2005 to 2007" and only pay one $45 fee.

The bill will not automatically make your art or photos orphaned! And you will not be required to register or copyright your work. Ever. It's international copyright law that the government cannot force you register a copyright or include your work in a database.

As for people going online and copying your art...umm...can't they already do that? The bill won't really change that (except maybe to make it easier for the artist to be compensated if it does happen.) If you are truly worried about it, put a watermark on your work online, sign your work, and make sure you have contact info on your website (if you have that, I don't see how your work could be considered "orphaned")

I'm all for this bill passing. I know a lot of artist out there will think I'm on the wrong side. But I'm not just an artist, I'm also someone who loves history, libraries, and museums, and who thinks that old photos, films and documents should be seen by the public.

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You can read both versions of the proposed bill online. The version from The Senate, and The House version.

Please also read the statement to Congress by Marybeth Peters, the Register of Copyrights. She explains why we need this amendment better than I can.

As some of you may already know, I'm planning on going to Heroes Con this summer. But...well...it's going to be kind of expensive (with the hotel and gas prices being so high) and I don't have a real job right now. So I'm taking commissions for custom plushes and dolls.

If you would like a custom made plush toy or doll, please contact me (leave a comment here, message me, or email me at silent-orchid@hotmail.com )

I can make any character, creature, or object that you like. I can make your favorite TV or movie character, cute animals, original characters, or anything else you can dream up. You can see my previous work in my DeviantArt gallery.

Prices are based on size and complexity of the plush. The base prices below are for a for a standard plush made from felt. If you would like a more detailed, complex character or any extras (different fabrics, yarn hair, removable clothing, etc.) the price will be higher.

Base prices are:
- Very small, under 6 inches tall - $15
- Small, 6 to 10 inches - $30
- Medium, 11 to 15 inches - $45
- Large, 16 to 20 inches - $60
- Larger than 20 inches tall, please contact me and we can discuss the price.

All prices are in US dollars and do not include shipping. I ship worldwide!

You can find more information on ordering on my DeviantArt page.
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Any orders would be greatly appreciated right now. If you know anyone who is looking to have a doll or plush made, please point them my way.

I have submitted one of my pieces in an online art contest, and I need your help to win. In order to go to the final judging, I need at least 20 people to vote for me online.

Just click below to see the piece I submitted, and vote for me!

"Come Dance with Me...Forever"

Thanks everyone!

You know, sometimes I doubt myself, and start to think that I'm a not a very good artist. And then I run across a page like this...The 40 Worst Rob Liefeld Drawings
and I start to think...my god...I'm a fantastic artist!

...especially a really big piece of paper.

I'm trying to do a few practice pages for a comic book, but I really don't know what I'm doing. I've never done panels before, and figuring out the page layout is much harder than I thought it would be. And as I was sketching out a page today, I suddenly realized that I hadn't thought to leave room for the words! I just don't know what I'm doing or where to start or who to talk to for help. I'm starting to get really frustrated.

And I don't even know if I can make it look like it does in my head. I don't want it to be a normal comic book. I want it to look like my art, but in comic form. I want it to be layered and textured. And I don't want to do it digitally! Every time I google "comic art" I find so much info on doing it digitally...the only thing I plan on doing with the computer is lettering.

Does anyone out there know of a good comic book art forum or message board? or maybe a blog...one that is active and not focused on webcomics or digital comics? I'd like to find a place where I can talk to actual comic book artists.

So...Somerset Studio magazine sent my piece back today. The one I talked about here. They didn't choose it... I knew it wasn't going to be in the Green issue (that's already out) but I was hoping they would at least put it in the next issue of Somerset Gallery. I'm sad that they didn't pick it. I'm quiet proud of how it turned out.

Oh, well...maybe next time.

So, I'm feeling a bit better today. Still feeling impatient and restless, but better.

I finally joined ComicSpace (which is sort of like a cross between Myspace and DeviantArt, but just for comic book people) You can find my profile over here. There's not much there yet, but I'll be posting things for Queen of Spades (sketch and samples) as I'm making it. I think I love this site. Not only are there people like me, but I just found Bill Willingham! I sent him a friend request...that would be so cool, to be "friends" with the writer of Fables :) I've been looking around, and it makes me feel very at home...in a very wonderful, geeky way...

So, I've been kind of depressed today. Not really sad, but uncertain and anxious and worried.

I want my art to be really good. But lately, I've been feeling like it's just average. I've been trying to improve my drawing skills lately, but everything I made today sucked. Which makes me worried that my art won't be good enough when it comes to drawing Queen of Spades. And I haven't even started to do practice drawings for any of the male characters.

I'd really like to talk to someone who does the kind of comic book art that I'd like to be making. But I don't know anyone. I've been looking on forums and blogs, but all of their advice and tutorials and things are for the separate parts of traditional comics (drawn, inked, and colored by different people) I need some advice from comic book artists who do it all, and who use collage and mixed media. But he only comic artist that I know of that are doing anything even a little bit close to what I want to do are Dave McKean and David Mack.

Queen is going to be different. I'm not worries so much about the panels or layout or story. I'm more concerned that I'll make the art, but it won't be the right size. Or the media that I've used doesn't show well when scanned. Or that some of the collage and mixed media elements will just look sloppy.

I really just want to jump in and do it right now. But I have to be patient. It isn't even scripted yet.

For a very long time now I've had a love of old fashioned sci-fi. Anything semi-Victorian, with weird inventions and gears and "flying machines." Only recently did I find out that there's a word for this kind of thing.

Steampunk! Oh, how I love it!

If I can come up with a story, I would love to do a steampunk comic book. I made a little character pic today...kind of an inventor girl (with goggles! and an industrial corset! and the buttons on her shirt are gears!)


Steampunk Inventor Girl by ~silentorchid on deviantART

Test #2 for The Queen of Spades. Roksana was the queen before Beatrix. I love how her collar turned out! I need to work on making the detail in the characters' faces a little darker and more defined.



Here they are, side by side. I love that each one is an actual "character" now, not just a vague idea. I'm starting to get a feel for how the book is going to look. Characters are developing and their world is staring to feel very real to me.

It's an amazing feeling.

A few days ago I found an amazing blog called On My Desk It's filled with pictures of covet-worthy art studios. Oh, how I wish I had a room just for art! I work on my bedroom floor right now, which isn't so bad (I prefer sitting on the floor, to being at a desk) but I would love to have my supplies in easy reach. Right now most of my things are in boxes under my bed, some stuff is in my big antique wardrobe (sharing space with my books) and some is in my entertainment center/TV stand. I would love to have a place to spread out and not have to put things away when I have someone in my room (I can live around my mess, but it's hard to have Justin over when there's nowhere for him to sit...)

Sigh...

This is the first of a few test pieces/character portraits for Queen of Spades. I'm pretty happy with this. I'm not terribly confident when it comes to drawing people (I think that's why I usually gravitate toward collage) but I like how this turned out. I've been experimenting with some different styles and new media (mixing colored pencils with chalk pastels and water-soluble oil pastels) and it's starting to look like it does in my mind (which always surprises me and makes me super-happy!)

I really wanted to scan it and get a nice clear picture, but it is too large for my scanner (it's on an 11 by 14 inch canvas board...larger than I usually work)

A question for the artist out there...when you have a large piece, do you scan it at home in parts and piece the files together? Or is there somewhere to take it that has a large format scanner for this sort of thing? I know that a copy shop can make copies of something this size, but I don't know about getting it as a file. Also, where do you get prints made? I'm using my DeviantArt account right now (which is fine for now, as I only want a few at a time) but I'd like to look at some other options.

Ok, fine! I give up!

Every time I say I'm going to only do one type of art (either I want to focus on my collages or on sewing or something else) something happens and I end up not doing it. This time, I found an awesome art journal group, and I got a bunch of ideas for the kind of art I want to do for Queen of Spades. Of course, as soon as I posted about it, I got seven orders for plushes! What?!? It's not that I don't love making plushes for people. I do, I really do! But getting that many order within a couple of weeks is overwhelming to say the least. I've had no time to do anything else for the last month (and I'm actually still working on three of the orders) It's really starting to stress me out.

I'm not complaining about people ordering things. I love that they like my plushes and dolls! And right now, having the extra cash is really nice ;) I just hope that I have a little time soon to work on art and collages and painting. I want to do a big test piece for Queen of Spades (I think I may have figured out how I want to do the characters...finally) And maybe make a couple of things for Somerset Studio (I still haven't heard about the one I sent in for their Green issue...)

My fingers hurt from sewing :( I want them to be covered in paint and glue for a change.

Wow. I haven't been around here in quite a while. I haven't really been doing as much art as I would like to this summer. I have been making things, though! Over on my Deviant Art page I've been making and selling little stuffed animals and dolls. So much fun to do, but very time consuming. I have a hard time working on more than one thing at once. If I'm sewing, I can't have painting and collage things around or it will make my head spin.

So I'm on a bit of a break from sewing things and I very much want to start my artsy projects again, but I'm having trouble starting. It seems like when I have tons of free time, I have no ideas.

I found a lovely lady on youtube named Suzi Blu. She is starting an art journal club and I think I shall join in the fun. She's been posting video assignments the last few weeks and I think now is a good time for me to start keeping an art journal. You can find her over on her youtube page

I'm starting a few weeks behind everyone, but that's ok. I'm working on the first page right now.

Your Heart is True by ~silentorchid on deviantART

Somerset Studio magazine is having a "Green" themed issue coming up, and I'm going to be submitting this. Last year I was thrilled to have a piece published in their May/June issue. It was the first thing I ever submitted to any magazine. Since then I've been trying to make things to go with their themes, and sent in another piece (it was rejected...) I hope that they like this one.

While looking around at random blogs today, I stumbled across some wonderful news. One of my very favorite magazines, Victoria  is coming back! They stopped publication on it a few years ago and I've missed it a lot. It was always such a lovely, old fashioned magazine. I'm kind of sad that I cut up all of my back issues to use in collages (though I did that before I knew they were canceling it) I hope that the new version isn't too new. There are a lot of decorating/home magazines out there, I just hope that they keep their old format and content and don't make it like what's out there now.