📺 Kaos (mini-series streaming on Netflix)

I like that this is a modern telling of Greek gods. Cars, concerts, and cell phones, and everyone knows the gods exist. At first glance, Jeff Goldblum seemed like an odd choice to play Zeus, but he does a really good job portraying someone so powerful and so paranoid.

Watching the relationship between the humans and the gods was really interesting. Most of the gods think humans are beneath them and don’t matter, but at the same time, the gods pay a lot of attention to human actions.

I recommend watching it if you like Greek mythology. But content warning: There are a few gory scenes in every episode and when it’s gory, it’s really gory.

🎵 New music from Linkin Park - “The Emptiness Machine”

I’ve seen a lot of comments on Instagram with, she’s great! And also comments like, ugh this is bad.

But I like how the new vocalist sounds and mostly, it’s great to have new music from Linkin Park.

I love fall but this is fully unnecessary. 😄

You should make a /chipotle page so when a friend is picking up Chipotle for you, you can send them a link instead of having to redescribe/retype your Chipotle order

– Slash Pages via Robb Knight

This is genius. I would make a page like this for acai bowls. 😃

Balancing stock and flow

This is from a blog post that’s 14 years old, and it’s still relevant today:

Flow is the feed. It’s the posts and the tweets. It’s the stream of daily and sub-daily updates that reminds people you exist.

Stock is the durable stuff. It’s the content you produce that’s as interesting in two months (or two years) as it is today. It’s what people discover via search. It’s what spreads slowly but surely, building fans over time.

– “Stock and Flow” by Robin Sloan

I’ve been sharing my stock on Mythical Type for years. But with the loss of Twitter (I stopped using it in 2022), I haven’t had anywhere for text-based flow.

When I found out about micro.blog, I got excited for the opportunity to have a place for short text posts again. That’s primarily what I want for this space. And, I operate with the mindset that smaller, shorter work can build into larger work. So stuff in the flow isn’t only for the flow. Some of it could become stock in the future. This is how I hope to stay in balance between what I post here and what I post on Mythical Type.

I made these mini zines earlier this year as freebies to hand out at events. Here’s a freshly folded batch for a public library fundraiser I’m going to in a couple weeks. 🙂 🎨

September page is ready in my bullet journal. I use this page to note appointments and events during the month. The “CO” column is “creative output.” A checkbox for each day I’m working on something creative (outside of the day job).

Here’s my About page, all proper-like. ☺️

📺 Currently watching Terminator Zero on Netflix. I like that they aren’t rehashing stories from the movies. It’s the same universe with new characters.

Millennial lunch 🤭

Two pieces of avocado toast, each with a fried egg on top.

🍿 I watched the movie Predestination last weekend. It’s based on a short story, called “All You Zombies” by Robert A. Heinlein.

The movie is confusing in that you learn info out of order. But if you’re okay with that, I recommend watching it.

🎵 New music from Dom Fera - “More You Know”

My first post! Hello micro.blog world! I’m excited to use this space as my digital notebook. 🙂

The hot air balloon in Elemental

I watched Elemental without knowing what to expect, because Disney’s marketing missed the mark (again). But I liked the movie overall. One of my favorite parts was seeing how each character used their element, like Ember inflating a hot air balloon.

I wanted to draw the scene with the hot air balloon floating over the city. I started with a pencil sketch. It’s rough. I wanted to figure out the foreground vs. the background and where the balloon was in the sky, in relation to the skyline.

A rough pencil sketch of a hot air balloon floating over a city.

Here’s a photo of when I was painting the larger areas. I simplified colors and composition (all those buildings!) because it’s so much detail.

A painted illustration of a hot air balloon floating over the city. The buildings are painted in blocks of color, without many details at this point in the process.

Here’s the finished drawing.

A painted illustration of a hot air balloon floating over a city at night time. Blue and gray skyscrapers are in the background, against a starry sky.

Wayne Manor

Here’s an illustration of Bruce Wayne’s mansion (Wayne Manor).

A painted illustration of Bruce Wayne’s mansion. The building is painted black with blue highlights. To the right of the building, there is a bat symbol in the sky. The sky is painted a cool gray color with blue clouds. In front of the building, in the foreground, there are small trees painted in black with blue highlights.

I really like how the blue highlights contrast against the black on the building and the trees.

Here’s the pencil sketch I started with.

A sketchbook displays an outline drawing of a building with geometric shapes and a Batman signal, accompanied by a mechanical pencil resting on the page.

Bluth’s Frozen Banana Stand

Here’s an illustration of Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand from Arrested Development.

A colorful sketch depicts a stand labeled Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana with two people inside.

I started with a pencil sketch to draw the outline of each building.

A pencil sketch of the banana stand in Arrested Development.

Metropolis at night

Here’s an illustration of the Metropolis skyline at night.

A hand-drawn cityscape illustration with tall buildings, a DAILY PLANET sign on a domed structure, and art supplies at the bottom.

I started with a pencil sketch to outline each building.

A sketch of a geometric cityscape on a spiral-bound notebook is accompanied by two pencils.

I started painting by covering the large areas first: slate gray for the sky, black for some buildings, and gray for some buildings.

Painted city scape with blocks of colors and no details: slate gray for the sky, black and light gray for the buildings.

Then I added in all the details.

A stylized illustration features a cityscape at night with tall buildings under a starry sky.

Walking into Hill Valley

Here’s an illustration inspired by a scene in Back to the Future: Marty walking into Hill Valley.

A person wearing a red vest walks on a path in a grassy area, approaching a sign that reads Hill Valley 2 miles.

I made this as part of a course on illustrating with Posca pens. The assignment was to use two shades of the same color as the main colors in the piece. Since a lot of this image is grassy fields, I chose two shades of green. I kept Marty’s outfit realistic (orange vest and blue jeans) to signify that he’s out of place…or, more accurately, out of time.

Here are some thumbnail sketches I did prior to painting the scene. I wanted to test out colors–what looked good for the grass and Marty’s outfit.

Thumbnail sketches using different shades of green.

And here’s the simple pencil sketch I started with.

A sketch of a lone figure walking on a road with a blank sign in the distance.

The Candy Bar from Jimmy Neutron

I took an online course on illustrating with Posca pens taught by James Chapman. He has posted lots of his sketchbook pages to his Instagram.

I had a couple Posca pens for a few years, but I hadn’t done much with them. I saw this course and thought it would be a great way to practice with Posca pens.

The course covers how to create a pencil sketch to get the composition down. Then it explores various color schemes to determine how to color the illustration. I especially like the challenge of limiting the number of colors used.

I like the process I learned in this course. It takes me several hours to finish an illustration, but I really enjoy the time I’m spending learning and practicing.

The course encourages choosing a theme that will motivate you to keep working on sketches. I chose places in movies, TV shows, and books. First up is The Candy Bar from Jimmy Neutron.

Here’s the pencil sketch:

A pencil sketch on a notebook page depicts a modern cityscape with buildings and a storefront labeled Candy Bar, alongside a Pentel Sharp mechanical pencil placed beneath the drawing.

I chose to go with realistic colors, so I used Posca pen colors that are close to what this location looks like in the show.

Here’s a progress photo, with the larger areas of color done:

An illustration in progress with large areas of colors for the sky, buildings, and street. The Candy Bar in the foreground does not have details painted in.

And here’s the finished illustration:

A colorful, whimsical illustration depicts a candy-themed building labeled Candy Bar, surrounded by urban buildings under a blue sky with clouds.

I really enjoyed making this as my first attempt at a Posca pen illustration!

Steal Like An Artist: Routine Art

This is the best advice I have read about creative work:

Be boring. (It’s the only way to get work done.)

It’s from Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon, which is an excellent book for anyone interested in creative work. It’s full of practical advice.

Most people have to practice their art for a while before they can make a living off of it, so in the mean time, they need a regular job. Austin says, get a job you can tolerate, pay your bills, and build a routine. When you have regular hours that you work, you know what time you have left, and you can carve out time to write stories, compose music, take photos, draw…whatever it is that you do.

Better yet, Austin points out that if your job doesn’t take a lot of creative energy, you’ll be happy to pour that energy into your hobbies. You take care of yourself, and you keep your mind in the right place to produce art.

This is more useful than the advice I’ve seen that focuses on craft. Other books I’ve read on writing tell me to set a daily word count goal and find a distraction-free space—which is fine, but they don’t connect creative work to the rest of your life.

Steal Like An Artist is the first book I’ve read that blends creative work with the average, day-to-day things. It’s the first time I’ve said, “Yeah, that’s something I can try today.”