Lindsay Mays

Hello,

As some of you may know, I have two blogs. Here on livejournal I like to write about art, and on Myspace I write about everything else. It gets a little annoying keeping both, so I decided to start over on Blogger. I won't be writing here any more (although I'll still be here for the groups and my friends) and I won't be writing on myspace anymore either.

You can now find me on blogger...

http://silentorchidstudio.blogspot.com/

After two days of training, I quit my new job. They had advertised for a photography assistant, but almost all of my training was for sales. Not my thing...so I'm back at the beginning.

In other, much better news...Barack Obama will be president!!! Yay!!!

Tomorrow morning I start my new job at JCPenney Portrait Studios. I keep going between feeling really happy and being really freaked out. I haven't had a "real" job in a very long time. I just hope that I'm good at it and they like me. I have training every day this week...I just want to pick everything up quickly and not suck.

Wish me luck!

Happy Halloween everyone! I had such an awesome day!

First, I found out that I got the job at JCPenney. Yay! I'm employed!

For Halloween night, Justin and I went to the party at Barnes and Noble. It was really fun. They had scavenger hunts, where they would say some clues about an author (mostly horror writers) and the first to bring back one of their books got a prize. (Justin got one!) And of course there was a costume contest.

I dressed as a Medieval plague doctor.


And I won!

I got the most awesome trophy ever...and a gift card, and a fortune teller/ghost writer kit.

Then, we came home and watched the Doctor Madblood Halloween special. It was fun, as usual. Madblood really needs to get another weekly show...I miss him.

This was definitely one of my best Halloweens ever :)
You can see some more pictures of my costume on my Flickr page.

I got a very interesting message this afternoon. A French book publisher is doing an art book on contemporary plushes, and they want to include pictures of my work!

AAAAA!!!!! wait....what?...Please excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor...

This was very unexpected, to say the least. I don't even have my own website yet...how did they find out about me? (especially since they're in France...) Did they see my DeviantArt page? Did someone I made a plush for contact them?

I looked at the publishing companies website, and they make beautiful art books, full of gorgeous pictures. A bit like Taschen, but all in French.

I just replied to the email. I'm giddy with excitement about this opportunity! I'll update you all when I hear back.

Leeann won Project Runway! Yay!

Monsterfest was last weekend, and I had a blast! Two years ago I had a booth of gothic and monster themed jewelry...it didn't do very well. But this year I brought a bunch of my plushes to sell, lots of monsters and freaks and skulls, and I nearly sold out! (for the first time ever!)

Here's some of the things I made. (I have the patterns for all of them, so if you're interested I can make more.)

Siamese Twins plush doll by ~silentorchid on deviantART

Cthulhu plush by ~silentorchid on deviantART

Nosferatu plush by ~silentorchid on deviantART

Robot Monster plush by ~silentorchid on deviantART

The movie marathon was really fun this year. I love-love-loved The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra...so fucking funny!

And I made another cake (you may remember my severed head cake from last year...) This time it was a zombie graveyard!

Zombie Graveyard Cake by ~silentorchid on deviantART

I can't wait for next year's Monsterfest!

Sorry for not posting anything lately. I've spent the last month getting ready for MonsterFest, a local horror convention here in Chesapeake VA. I'll be sharing a table with Justin. He'll be selling preview copies of his novel, Divita (which I did the cover art for) and I'll have some of my plush toys and dolls for sale (all monster themed!)

We made a preview video last night. Have a look, and I'll see you at Monsterfest!

You may have noticed that I haven't been posting lately. All summer I've been feeling really bad. I've been sick and worried. Everything I ate seemed to make my stomach hurt and bloated, which made me worry more...which made me feel even worse.

I finally saw my doctor last week. After talking to me for a bit, and doing a couple of tests, she knew right away what was wrong with me. A combination of IBS and anxiety disorder.

When she was talking to me about anxiety, it all made perfect sense. I've always been a worrier, and I've never dealt with stress well. On really bad days, even thinking about stressful situations will make me panicked and upset. About six years ago, my parents were separating and I was worried about school and the future and everything around me changing. My doctor tried to put me on anti-anxiety meds then, but I didn't think I was that bad...just stressed.

So for the last week I've been on meds (for anxiety and IBS) and I'm feeling so much better. I haven't felt that panicky twinge in my stomach at all and my digestion is getting back to normal. I feel like my old self again...the old self I was on really good days.

I'm also supposed to change my diet. More fiber, less dairy and fried things. Oh how I miss cheese! My grocery store doesn't seem to carry much dairy free things. I need to find somewhere that I can get soy cheese. I did find some substitutes for deserts. Odwalla Bars (the chocolate chip Peanut ones are wonderful) and some yummy non-dairy chocolate "ice cream."

Anyway, now that I'm starting to feel better I'm going to be posting more often. I'm working on a bunch of things at once...Queen of Spades character designs, some new plushes, and drawing the cover of the Divita preview for Justin. And I've been playing with watercolors! So much fun!

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...