What? A Month?

It's really annoying to see that a month has gone by without a post. Truly it makes one feel like a filthy piker.

So we'll catch up, with as many days as I can remember and have on hand.

First up is the illustration for Jerry Seeger's Piker Press story "High Desert Blues."

The lines that inspired me were these:

"To the stars, the planets must seem like mad prophets and rock stars, untamed and reckless as they careen about the firmament, but the planets are also bound, their courses charted and known. When planets speak wistfully of freedom, do the stars even understand the word? "

Foodies

It was a collaborative effort.

Bernie told me yesterday he wanted pasta with prawns and peas in a white sauce. We spent a long time trying to pin down just which white sauce he was talking about. He claimed I'd made a really good one but couldn't remember what we had the sauce on. While in the grocery store, we narrowed the pasta down to fettucini; later while he was commuting to work and we were chatting on the phone, I bookmarked a white-wine-cream sauce that looked easy and was reputed to be tasty.

The sauce was easy, and I made it tasty by adding garlic to it.  I think it would have been better, but I used a cheap Italian pinot grigio that was almost flavorless -- sort of pinot grigio soda pop without carbonation.

There is not a bite left, though, so apparently it was a success.

The Waiting Room

I really think that this story is one of Mel Trent's best. "The Waiting Room" has a lot of subtlety and some powerful insights.

By no means does my illustration describe what I saw through her words. I suppose that means that eventually I'll go back and replace it.

Anniversary Issue

Seven years as an ezine.

I called up this pic from the archives, and photographed it. Mel Trent has done some phenomenal work for the Press, and for her own passions. This illustration of her work is one of my favorites.

Cover Semi-Doggett

This was the cover image for Richard Voza's story, "The Accident."

I wasn't really happy with it, but my time constraints don't allow me to nitpick a lot.

I used a non-copyrighted pic and modified it.

This guy looks too much like John Doggett (X-Files) in a too-tight suit.

The Obvious Slacker

I've been slacking, I know.

There are days when I work on stuff, and days when I don't. And the days all run together sometimes, and I can't remember which day I did what.

I know that this was the cover image for the March 30th issue of the Piker Press. It was kind of fun, building layer upon layer, but I really wished I had one of those illustrator's pads that has a stylus and allows one to use Photoshop a little more accurately.

Still, it wasn't bad.

Wading through

I haven't been keeping up my resolution, at least not day to day, but I do have some sketches I've been working on, and recipes to stun the very senses.

(Well, our senses, anyway.)

Lent and Easter are very busy times for us, and time on the computer is at a premium.

More soon.