An Incredible Graphic Memoir
Illustrator/authorRuth McNally Barshaw introduced me to the work of David Small at the Society of Children’s book Writers and Illustrators regional conference 2011. David Small’s story Stitches is about a 14 year old boy who goes to the hospital for a “harmless operation. ” He awakes with a long scar on his neck created from the removal of his vocal cord. After snooping around, he later finds out, it is because he had cancer and that he was not expected to live.
Later, he discovers it is his father that has given him the cancer. His father was a radiologist and thought that massive doses of radiology would help with a sinus infection.
This horrific tale is not a story; it is a graphic memoir of the author David Small. I have not read the book yet; it is, however, ordered. Small’s graphic black and white scenes strike me. the story telling from a man who, later in life, finds healing through the telling of his story.
Anyone who has had childhood difficulties, trauma, etc should watch these videos and put the book on their reading list. It is important to note that healing from these things, can often be extremely hard, and as you go through it, you feel restimulated. Small talks about drawing his mother,
“I think the worst thing, the worst part was when I started drawing things out, they really got worse for me… when I began to draw, especially my mother, when I saw her face on the page…. It was if she was with me again… I began to get very, very anxious. When I brought her back to life….”
I’m astounded with the emotion found in the story and the drawings. I’m drawn to it as I work on my own novel. I am trying desperately to think and feel as a 15 year old boy who feels he is betrayed. Small says, “teenagers are feeling like they are not being told everything about the adult world, that there is a deep hypocrisy, that they are desperate to know about.“
Here are a few videos–the last being an interview with the author/illustrator. I’m thankful to be introduced to the young adult literature and images of David Small. I wonder how it will help form my own character in my novel, and I’m interested in hearing other’s thoughts on the book Stitches and the author.
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Sculptor, Writer and Speaker
Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor, writer, illustrator and educator as well as a public speaker.
Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com.
She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series
Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter twitter.com/creategodsword
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/bridgette.mongeon
Listen to The Creative Christian Podcast or the Inspiration/Generation Podcast Click on Podcast Host Bios for a list of all podcasts.
Listen to the Art and Technology Podcast
Sculpting Tiny Hands
hand with Classic clay.
When creating a figurine, as I am now, I usually sculpt the head and hands separately. The difficult here is making sure your head, and hands match the size of your sculpted figure.
Because this is a commission piece, I have a full figure photograph of my subject. I can measure how many heads high my subject is and then I can be sure that my head is in correct portion to the body. Believe me there is nothing worse than working on a head for a week and then discovering it does not match the proportion of your sculpture. At this small size a sixteenth of an inch can make a huge difference.
the hand in comparison to the face.
Once I have this done, I can move on to the hands. If you take your hand and put the wrist area at your chin. This is the portion that has the creases in your wrist, and then roll your hand up your face, you will find that your middle finger will come to your hair line. Unless of course you are a middle age man and losing your hair.
To create the hand, I start by making a wire armature. You will see that these fingers in the armature actually have two pieces of wire. I have narrowed the fingers to just one piece of wire later in the process.
Fingers are actually much easier to make when they are not on the hand. Roll small tubes of clay, being sure that you make some smaller or larger (thumb and pinky) than others. Also being sure that right hand and left hand are mirrored and similar in size and shape.
Once I have all of these sausage shapes I’ll roll the side of the sausage in two spots, just above the middle knuckle, and just below. I usually do this on a round tool.
I can then add some more clay for the knuckles and underneath the finger carve out the areas below the knuckle where the finger will bend. A simple angular cut with a knife will do fine. I did that with this tiny finger and then stuck it on the wire. Pushing the tip of the finger up , at the bottom, makes it look much more natural.
FINGERNAILS
Fingernails are really quite easy. With just two strokes of a sharp object I have the basic nail. In this case it is an X-acto knife. Place it on the side, and scrape it over the nail in an arch pattern. Then place it at the other side of the finger nail and bring it to the middle again. A third stroke to separate the nail from the finger at the top is the last portion of sculpting the nail. Push the sharp object in and pull down over the finger tip.
Though I have a good start on this hand, there is one more area that I would like to point out. Note that when your hand is flat the skin flap where your finger meets your knuckle. The pinky and ring finger have a crease that goes to the ouside of the hand and between the middle finger and the index finger the crease is to the thumb.
The two on the right point to the right, the one between the middle finger
and index finger point to the thumb.
MORE SHAPING
The placement of the thumb is also an area that new students will have difficulty with. The thumb is not placed on the same plane as the figners but instead points down to the ground when the fingers are straight up. Also note that the top of the hand is curved and not flat. Because this is a very expressive sculpture, I will be counting on capturing that expression within the hands as well. More on that later. This short little tutorial will get anyone started on a good sculpted hand.
Unfortunately there are two figures in this sculpture and four hands as well as 20 fingers. I can expect to spend a good full day on or a day an a half on hands. I am just thankful thee are no bare feet in the sculpture.
I’ll post some more photographs as I continue.
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Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor, writer, illustrator and educator as well as a public speaker.
Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com.
She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series
Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter twitter.com/creategodsword
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/bridgette.mongeon
Listen to The Creative Christian Podcast or the Inspiration/Generation Podcast Click on Podcast Host Bios for a list of all podcasts.
Listen to the Art and Technology Podcast
How to Create an Ebook.
At every writers conference, the topic will eventually turn to self publishing and e-books. You can bet you will see a lot more posts on this blog about just how to do that. I am learning quite a bit about e-publishing. There are e-publishers out there who will take your manuscript and publish it for you as an e-book. Are there ways you can do this yourself? That is what I will be looking at on this blog.
Be warned, if you plan on creating an e-book and self publishing everyone says the same thing. Be prepared to do a lot of work on marketing that e-book. Traditional publishers expect their authors to market themselves as well. A page on Simon & Schuster talks about just that.
Here is another warning. Be sure your book is good and is proofed. Everyone has been paying attention to Amanda Hocking and her success in e-publishing. I have read a few of her things online and one thing keeps coming up EDIT! As I am working through the edits on my first novel I realize that this cannot be stated enough, edit, and then edit again. Here a quote from Amanda’s blog
“My biggest word of advice to any new/future writers thinking about diving into Kindle: Edit. I don’t care what you think, you didn’t edit enough. Some people won’t care that there’s errors, it’s true, but enough of them will. And they paid for it, so they have a right to. So edit more. And then again. Really. “
My first focus on creating an e-book is what software do I need? I was ever so surprised to find out that my investment into Srivener, the software that I purchased to do my first novel and to write my college thesis, can actually prepare your e-book in several different formats. Here are some videos on using Scrivener to prepare your e-book for publishing one by Avery Breyers.
I’m thrilled about this, now to get that novel finished, and edited a few hundred times. I’ll be posting more on self publishing e-books so do check back. It is a very exciting time to be a writer.
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Sculptor, Writer and Speaker
Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor, writer, illustrator and educator as well as a public speaker.
Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com.
She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series
Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter twitter.com/creategodsword
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/bridgette.mongeon
Listen to The Creative Christian Podcast or the Inspiration/Generation Podcast Click on Podcast Host Bios for a list of all podcasts.
Listen to the Art and Technology Podcast
The Final Results of The Presentation Using Daz, Poser, Zbrush And Photoshop.
After two days of Daz, Poser, Zbrush and Photoshop I finally have some images ready to send to the client. Having two figures increases the cost. So, I created an alternate version of one figure. Curious to hear what others think.
from eye level, as it sits on the table is important.
Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor, writer, illustrator and educator as well as a public speaker.
Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com.
She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series
Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter twitter.com/creategodsword
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/bridgette.mongeon
Listen to The Creative Christian Podcast or the Inspiration/Generation Podcast Click on Podcast Host Bios for a list of all podcasts.
Listen to the Art and Technology Podcast
Working Through Presentations- Daz-Poser-Zbrush-Part 2
As I stated in my last post. I am trying to do a presentation for a client. We are working on the design for a small bronze sculpture. I wondered what would happen if I brought my daz model into zbrush. The most I could hope for is that it would take it out of the color version of Poser and perhaps I could display it in clay, add a base and some other elements. To my surprise it came in quite nicely. The process was simple I made the Poser file as an obj. and imported into zbrush as a subtool. And for a greater excitement I found the mesh was not that bad. FYI a good mesh for sculpting is made up of quads without triangles. This mesh is not that bad and I might even be able to sculpt on it to give it more movement for the presentation. Of course once this is done I have to go downstairs and work in the real clay, but for now this really helps the client and I to be on the same page. Now, back to the drawing board as I really want to sculpt on this and perhaps even do one or two other designs for the client to see.
Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor, writer, illustrator and educator as well as a public speaker.
Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com.
She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series
Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter twitter.com/creategodsword
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/bridgette.mongeon
Listen to The Creative Christian Podcast or the Inspiration/Generation Podcast Click on Podcast Host Bios for a list of all podcasts.
Listen to the Art and Technology Podcast
Working Through Presentations- Daz-Poser-Zbrush-Part 1
Poser– In my life as a sculptor I rarely do to show clients, not hand drawn sketches. But over the past years I have begun utilizing 3D resources for presentations. I have mentioned this before in my blog and also talked about it in some of my online videos. I am presently trying to come up with a design for a figurine of a person playing ultimate Frisbee.
Of course the first place I turn to when I am creating these type of presentations, if I don’t already have what I need, is Daz. I liked the Michael model as he had the youthful appearance I was after. Plus he also came with many different things. And to discover he was free was a plus. Of course I also invested into his clothes, as I felt these would give me the closest look to an Ultimate players clothes. The model posing set for this was definitely worth it as it comes with individual arm, and leg poses. Of course if you have worked with Poser you can pose the model yourself, but it is much easier to do that if the model is close to what you want, then you can tweak it as necessary.
I must say my Poser 7 was giving me a little bit of a trouble if I tried to pose these two characters individually and then merge them-crash after crash. I was much better to pose one then bring another into the scene in neutral position to pose that one. I should probably choose to use the free daz program, and I have downloaded it but I am quicker at Poser. I am not sure that upgrading to Poser 8 will make much difference for me.
I am working with a couple of different designs with this piece. I really want to get the main character off of the ground. Flight seems to be such a big part of ultimate. However, flight is hard to do when you are working with bronze. Sure, I can have him coming up into flight with a foot touching the ground. But that is something that must be engineered. Depending on the size and weight of the piece it can be a nightmare.
After watching hours of ultimate video and stopping and rewinding, I decided I could have my main character “secured” in flight to another person. Especially if they were kind of body slamming. So this is the beginning of one design using Poser. I know my client may like to have just the one figure in the piece, but I think having two really adds the action to the sculpture.
I’m not sure why Poser is giving me the “banding” on the pants. But I have future plans for this presentation before the client sees it. Stay tuned- more cool stuff coming in the next posts.
Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com.
She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series
Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter twitter.com/creategodsword
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/bridgette.mongeon
Listen to The Creative Christian Podcast or the Inspiration/Generation Podcast Click on Podcast Host Bios for a list of all podcasts.
Listen to the Art and Technology Podcast
Hey, If They Can Do It Maybe I Can
Do you had dreams of writing or illustrating children’s books or young adult novels? I certainly must recommend the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). SCBWI is a huge organization, and you are bound to find a chapter in your area. Join the chapter and you are joining the national organization. How cool is that? But you don’t need to join to attend their local meetings. What are the benefits of joining?
Meet people who are struggling and have insecurities-just like you.
- Meet people who made it after struggling and share in their excitement. You will be saying, “Hey, if they can do it maybe I can.”
- Learn about your craft.
- Cull from vast amount of resources and information that is always part of a professional group.
- Get inspired.
- Stay inspired.
Get connected- Join a group!
The Society for Children Book Writers and Illustrators National website.
Find a chapter near you
My Houston Texas Chapter of SCBWI
LinkedIn For Those In The Arts?
I created a recent post HOW DO I MAKE A LIVING BEING CREATIVE AND DOING WHAT I LOVE?
I asked a friend who is beginning a new career if she was on LinkedIn. She is working hard at a masters degree, and she would like to become a science writer. She told me she did have an account but did not know what to do with the account. I thought I would try to write a bit about LinkedIn and how to use it.
We are probably all familiar with social networks, especially ones like Facebook. People find you on Facebook, “friend” you and you get to have connections to long lost friends, old classmates, relatives you have not seen since you were two or whatever. Linked in is a social network but there is a difference. Facebook is a big open party and LinkedIn is like going to a networking social for your business. You would act differently in each setting; therefore, your profile should be different, as well. Consider LinkedIn as a way to present yourself as a professional.
NOTE: LinkedIn, in some ways, is not like Facebook. I will friend just about anyone on Facebook, but I covet my LinkedIn contact. I only link to those I know or those I really want to know and that I feel I have something to offer. Remember, those who you link to have access to all of your connections. Think of it this way, you are at a cocktail party with all of your LinkedIn friends. Would you recommend them to your best connections?
Many of the sites below will tell you how to get connected with others on LinkedIn. It may start as simply as connecting to those who are in your field or that you know through your work in that field. Don’t forget those who you have worked for. If you are a student then do try to connect with your advisors or with the places where you intern.
If you are trying to learn how to use LinkedIn LinkedIn has a New Users Start up Guide
There are many articles on the Internet that tell you how to use LinkedIn.
- Here is one from the linedinelligence.com website titled 100+ smart ways to is LinkedIn.
- A blog talk radio show by Nicolette Tallmadge giving LinkedIn Tips for Artists.
- Here is a wonderful article title Artists Online Presence- How one artist does it? by Moshe Mikanovsky. It talks a great deal about marketing int he arts and some on LinkedIn.
- Renee Phillips talks about Getting Linked on Linkedin
- Merly’s Notes talks about LinkedIn
I hope this helps to get you started. Your marketing goal for this week might be to spend time pulling together your profile and a designating a few hours reading about using LinkedIn. The point about all of this social networking is getting connected.
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Bridgette Mongeon-Sculptor, Writer and Speaker
Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor, writer, illustrator and educator as well as a public speaker.
Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com.
She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series
Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter twitter.com/creategodsword
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/bridgette.mongeon
Listen to The Creative Christian Podcast or the Inspiration/Generation Podcast Click on Podcast Host Bios for a list of all podcasts.
Listen to the Art and Technology Podcast
HOW DO I MAKE A LIVING BEING CREATIVE AND DOING WHAT I LOVE?
I know of several people who are searching for work in the arts. In this economy, it can be difficult at best. Here, are some suggestions to assist you in, “Making a living while living a dream.”
LINKED IN
Are you on Linkedin? If not, create a professional page for Linkedin. You can also link your blog and twitter account to Linkedin, however, if you are tweeting crap or “woe is me” posts or “someone hire me stuff,” then don’t link it to Linkedin.
If you do create an account, and have people that you have worked for that, are also a member of Linkedin, ask them for a recommendation.
If you are a student and have an internship, ask the company that you are interning with for a recommendation on Linkedin.
NOTE: Linked in is not Facebook. I will friend just about anyone on Facebook, but I covet my Linkedin. I only link to those I know or those I really want to know and that I feel I have something to offer. Remember those who you link to have access to all of your connections. Think of it this way. You are at a cocktail party with all of your linked in friends. Would you recommend them to your best connections?
NEVER LET THEM SEE YOU SWEAT
“Never let them see you sweat.” “Bullshit until it becomes real.” You can disagree with me on this one, and I am stepping out there by saying it, but I think it is important to make it look like you are a sought after creator. Avoid blogging or posting any negative stuff, or things that say, I am trying to be a whatever. Instead, find information that will be of help to those looking for you or find someone that does what you do and post about that. Find those who you love who are doing what you are doing. Write a blog about what they are doing and how much you like their work. Link to their blog. They will get a ping back and be thankful that you wrote about them. ( A pingback is a a notice to a blogger that their blog has been mentioned somewhere on the web.) Is it your favorite author, or illustrator? Ask if you can put their work on your site. It is a terrific way to contact those in your industry. While you are doing this, you are giving positive information that others will want to come back to your site to see.
BLOGS
Some people are overwhelmed by blogging. Blog posts don’t have to be long, a 500 word post is a good length. It is also good to bullet items or provide some graphics. The eye gets tired of reading long posts, and bored. Short posts may help you to contribute to your blog on a regular basis. Also posting about others work gives you content. How often should you post? Once a week is a terrific start. Try to work yourself up to 100 posts.
Be sure to link your blog. My blog is linked to several different sites. It is linked to my Facebook (warning Facebook is temperately in this. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.) I also have my blog linked to several other sites. That means, when I update my blog about five different sites are being updated at the same time.
Search engines search Blogs, so if you can put keywords in your blog it helps. Keywords are words that people will search for when looking for your services.
DO I HAVE TO CONFORM?
The hardest part about being in business with your art is that we want to create what we want to create, but the government determines if it is a hobby or business by our ability to conform to the needs of clients. Sorry creatives, we will have to do some conforming. That means we need to evaluate what the market needs and create what they need in order to market ourselves and get work.
GET CONNECTED
Social media offers a host of ways to get connected. Again, find those who are doing what you love and talk about them. Take the focus off of what you don’t have and put it on to their success. You can also do this concerning the tools that you are using. Do you have a favorite software or medium? Talk about using that medium or tool. Do this through posts on Facebook, blog posts and Twitter. Find those who you love and read their blogs, follow them on twitter, retweet what they are tweeting. Take the focus off of what you don’t have (work a career) and put it on to what someone else is doing or how you can help. I promise you it will come back to you.
LINKING
I hope some of these suggestions assist you in your creative marketing endeavors. Please drop me a line and let me know if they do. You are also welcome to repost this article in your blog or online. Please give me a link back when you do. My last suggestion, when you link your articles or blog or when you are linking to others it is best to link a phrase or key words to your post instead of just the url. For example, you could link this article like this. This is a wonderful article about marketing for those in the arts. Or, help yourself get employed in the arts by following Bridgette Mongeon’s suggesting. That is much better than saying Here is an article.
These suggestions may take time, but they may also help you to develop a business with your art that feeds your soul. Good luck and be creative.
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Bridgette Mongeon-Sculptor, Writer and Speaker
Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor, writer, illustrator and educator as well as a public speaker.
Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com.
She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series
Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter twitter.com/creategodsword
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/bridgette.mongeon
Listen to the Art and Technology Podcast
The Internet is Great, But Sometimes You Need Hard Copy. My Suggestions For Three Printers
The Internet is great for marketing, but sometimes you have to have things printed. There are advantages to having hard copy. You can hold it, save it, file it and put your hands on it when you need it. The studio is working on several different snail-mail marketing campaigns. It is important to have things printed. I thought I would share with you the three printers that we have been using.
This printer does a great deal of wonderful photograph printing in a variety materials. Christian Sizemore at Diliberto Photo Design had recommended them. WHCC does some nice work.
Color Printing Central is doing all of my printing on the marketing material we are creating right now. In this economy, price is a strong factor and Color Printing Central gives me the best price. My rep there is Jenny Gilchrist.
We just sent off the new marketing brochure to Color Printing Central.
OVERNIGHT PRINTS
Again, when price is a factor, I would check with this company. Like Color Printing Central Overnight Prints is quality printing at a good price.
There you have it. Three suggestions of printers to use for your print work. Happy marketing!
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Sculptor, Writer and Speaker
Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor, writer, illustrator and educator as well as a public speaker.
Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com.
She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series
Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter twitter.com/creategodsword
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/bridgette.mongeon
Listen to The Creative Christian Podcast or the Inspiration/Generation Podcast Click on Podcast Host Bios for a list of all podcasts.
Listen to the Art and Technology Podcast