April showers bring May canvassers...

I love spring, but I hate that it means all the street canvassers come out in full force. Especially the ones who look dirty and bored and give you attitude.

Art is long.

As a kid I devoured art and comics. In grade school I read Doonesbury (even though I didn't understand much of it), Calvin & Hobbes, and most of the Sunday comics. In middle school and most of high school I was immersed in fantasy and sci-fi novels, I hit onto early/classic comics like Batman, Superman, and Green Arrow. I fell in love with Batman really quick, though I haven't stuck with the most current stories, but he is in my heart, along with Cat Woman. I came upon Wonder Woman and Captain American later.
In high school, my funky art school, so much art was thrown at me I almost drowned. That's when X-Men, Ghost World, and Maus showed up. I never really liked the name, but I found out about "graphic novels" like Love and Rockets by Jaime/Xaime Hernandez (he is one of my heroes and favorite artists all wrapped into one) and Doug TenNapel's work (Black Cherry mostly), along with Jim Mahfood who draws like I wish I could draw.
At crazy, hipter art college, I fell in with an awesome comic/nerd crowd and they fed me Scott Pilgrim, Bone, Pride of Baghdad, and countless others. I was going to comic book releases, I was in a comic collective, I read almost nothing but comics for awhile. I love the world, the culture, the booming rise of women in the comics industry.
I love comics. I am an enthusiast. I just wish I wanted to make them. I don't. I've made a few and printed two or three which failed to make any thunder; looking back I think they mostly didn't sell because my heart wasn't in it.
With that, though, I feel that some people are just made for it. An old friend of mine from college is booming: Just check out all his stuff, he's fantastic http://terryblas.com/thegnerdpodcast/archives/4.

I am an illustrator, but for now I feel dormant.
I have been having some strange mental problems, which are most-likely self-imposed. And doubt and regret and depression.

I find now that I am out of school and on my own (as they say) making art falls into a lower bracket. I do it for the kids at work, which is awesome, but once I am home I feel consumed with bills, and food, and drama, and roommates, and roommate drama, and all that other crap that's out there. I want to figure out how to find my level. It's hard and it's taking a lot to not quit my relatively stable job and just move to somewhere new and just sit around painting in my underwear all day trying to start over and be different. But I can't. Can't or won't? Probably mostly can't.

That being said, I'm uploading art today.

Love,
Nat.

If my life is mine What shouldn't I do?

Tiger Lily is not mine, but I still like to draw her.



Penguin!




Birdie!



Viking!

More Crayola nonsense!

Nat.

Mini me.

So, I did these way back when: http://nathaliesart.blogspot.com/2009/04/personal-injury-art-therapy.html but I think it's time to revisit the concept in a slightly more positive light. Instead of being about recovery, these ones are about living out my life so far. Most of my life is great, except for the being poor and not having the job I want. But those things can and will change.

Love.

Nat.

Mid-fish

So, sometimes I like to look at my stuff when it's at a halfway point. It's interesting to compare pencils to inks to color. Here are some pieces I'm about mid-way through.

Nat.

pencil stuff!

So, over the last two or three weeks at work I have watched Disney's Alice in Wonderful about 5 times. All the way through. And few times I've watched just the beginning because the kid doesn't have enough time to finish the whole movie. Long story short, themes get stuck in my head. I had to let it out. I always thought the queen of Hearts would've been younger. Kind of a Marie Antoinette thing, where she becomes queen super young. It makes her a sort of careless and self-absorbed leader because that's a rough role to impose on someone so young. Also, Disney has a way of portraying evil people as fat and cranky, or super thin and sallow... I don't think that's true of her either.


Fionna! She is from an episode of Adventure Time! where the sexes of all the characters are switched. Now, I love the heck out of Fin (the original lead character), but I kinda love Fionna more. So, I show it by doodling her a lot.

LOVE
NAT

Adventure Time (in Crayola) !!!

Zombie pirate?


My favorite Chameleon from Tangled!


Bluebird of Happiness


Spring colors.


Some monsters LOOOVVVEEEEE grape popsicles!


Moody Tink. "Getting too old for this shit!"


Fox.



Sheep.


Unicorn.


Pig.


Made-up bird! Bespoke ornithology? Whaa?


Goldfish.


Fancy pretty seahorse!


Posh Mr. Lion.

Not a lot to clarify for this post. So, I'm a 25 year old who loves crayons. I work with children who enjoy taking home fancy, colorful pictures, but when they leave, sometimes there isn't much for me to do. Coloring passes the time, and sometimes I kinda like what I end up with. My favorite in this set is probably the seahorse.

Comments please.

Love,
Natty

Also, I got a haircut. It's weird, but I like it.