Take me out to the ball game

I'm going to see the Washington Nationals play tomorrow, so baseball is on my mind! (In as much as what the Nationals play is baseball.) Ok, ok, the Nats have a winning streak going. (Which is in danger as I type.) Either way, I am going to jinx the heck out of SOMEONE tonight. (I'm sorta rooting for the Nat's opponents, the Blue Jays, because Blue Jays are cool and Canada is cool in other ways.)

In Precocious baseball, it seems natural to have Suzette was the catcher. Problem with sketching her as a catcher - How does one draw a catcher's mask on a muzzle like that... without, er, muzzling her too much. I finally had to to Schroeder from Peanuts to get a catcher's mask I liked for her. What other strip does baseball better?

Feast-Sized Paintings!

I've been working small for so long, going big again is rather jarring. This ginormous bugger isn't going as fast as the other giants, and that does bug me. Ginormously.

Oh well, it's going someplace fun and I have faith we'll get there in style. The big question is whether I can get there during this current visit to DC, or if I'll need to finish it next time.

Bite me!

Tonight may be the night that the bite-sized paintings finally make it to my fine art site! (This early-stage one is #12 in the series.) I'm going to take a different approach to this one and eschew the thumbnail approach. After all, they're little paintings! This cuts down some time in updating, so yay! If only all my series were tiny and consumable...

And note I said "may be" - I MAY BE working on a GIANT painting instead. All I know is that either project will take me past midnight and I need to post something new and fun every day! Bite me!

Who the heck are you?

Is this kid somehow important? No, not really. Is this kid even a character? I won't say! Is it the baseball bat that matters? Let's find out!

The sketch represents some thoughts I'm mulling over about Precocious... but I don't wanna share them quite yet.

Artist's block (the good kind!)

Enjoy my block of 12 bite-sized paintings! Last night I put the finishing touches on this group, so now it's on to more! First I'll be working on Precocious paintings, and then it's back to fine art in an affordable size! Eat 'em up!

I don't like the drugs, but the drugs like me

If you've read my bio on the Precocious website (or ever met me in person) you'll know I have the brain-addling despair that is ADHD. When I was put on Ritalin, it really did save my life. Precocious wouldn't exist without it. Currently my cocktail of choice is 20mg in slow-release form in the morning and regular Ritalin in small doses throughout the evening. When prepping for my trip to DC, I packed my pillbox with my morning pills. (No I am not a walking pharmacy. There's TWO, both of which are optional!) Guess what I forgot? Oh, right, EVENINGS! When I do ALL MY WORK! For this week, instead of firing up at 5pm, my brain will be melting down. Dumb dumb dumb. This has been a stupid week for me, hasn't it? (OK, so it's not a huge deal, but I wish I had the option available to me if I needed it.)

I chose Vincent for this illustration because, spoiler alert, he's got an undiagnosed ADHD problem - which leads to much merriment for all of us! Y'know, whenever he shows up. Which is not for a long time. Yes, this means he wouldn't be freaking out over meds, as he doesn't know he needs them. Shut up! It's close enough to be apt anyway!

Oh, anyone who thinks ADHD is fake just because it's often misdiagnosed can preemptively go fuck themselves.

Paintamajiggery

If I am going to sell out properly, I must have lots of wonderful little things to sell! Work on painting continues, and I'm mixing in some adorable Precocious characters. Once a suitable horde of paintings is finished, I'll increase the attention whoring. For now, enjoy the process!

Consume my bite-sized paintings!

These little guys are kinda fun to make. I got so used to working large, that I needed the change in scale. Here we have a pile of bite-sized paintings (actually 9"x12") in various stages of completion. You know you want one. Gobble them up! OM NOM NOM! (Click the image to embiggen.)

I just bought a bulk box of canvasses, so I have lots to play with now. I have another box if 12"x12" canvases too, so I can branch out into the land of SQUARE. Oooooooh!

All these art supply purchases are putting a hurt on my wallet, so I've gotta start selling something. Anyone interested? Or are you all waiting for more Precocious paintings? I can do those too!

The day the music died

In today's "I'M AN IDIOT" moment, we feature Chrispy and his new iPod speaker!

I listen to music constantly. Without it, I get all twitchy and panicky. I had been using my old desktop to play my music through iTunes. It worked fine, until everybody died. The desktop is unreliable, the speakers are aging badly and I knew I couldn't keep relying on the aging system. I decided to go with an ipod speaker system in anticipation of me upgrading to an iPhone soon.

I was a good consumer, doing my research and narrowing down my choices to match my need. I thought I was going for Altec Lansing Inmotion mini player, but I was worried the sounds wouldn't be full enough for my needs. I'm not a music stickler, but fuzziness drives me insane. That's when I spotted the higher-end model on sale for only $10 more! It was the top-rated player on CNET! The reviews made it look perfect, as the features it lacked were ones I'd never use. I bought it!

Oh wait, NO I DIDN'T! I bought a lower model that looks almost exactly like the higher end model. WHOOPS. This one... not so good reviews. For insance, it won't change iPod Nanos. IT WON'T CHARGE IPOD FUCKING NANOS! This was a feature that should be assumed in ALL MODELS OF IPOD PLAYERS.

So, earlier today, the music goes off. The battery is dead. I am confused. I pull out the manual. I look for the product name. I curse. I curse LOUDLY. I'm an idiot.

I can work around this, of course, but it requires me remembering to charge my nano during every moment I'm not listening to it. Aside from that stupidity, it works fine for my needs. Doesn't stop me from stewing over this, though. Can't believe I screwed up like this. I can only hope it charges the iPhone when I get it. If it doesn't, I can't be held responsible for my actions.

Edit: Salt in the wound: It is now on sale, so it cost me an extra $10 to screw up too.

Restrained Creativity

Since this is the most popular design, I pulled out the original and went to work on making it more t-shirt-ish. It's set up now as a one-color print with a gray shirt as background. This would be the cost-effective approach. Is it acceptable? (Click the image for a larger version.)