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My younger brother and I would wait for our father to come home from work--that totally exhausted and beaten down wonderful man--and jump on him with hugs in what we called, "Daddy attack!"

Now my own kids wait at the door, usually only in diapers, for their own completely tired daddy to come home so they can have, "Daddy time!"  This consists of my husband faceplanting on the bed while the children climb on his back and head.

Here's to those overwhelmed workers who come home and patiently let us glomp them with love.

Masters of Fashion

We are all masters of fashion...after the fact.

Procreate App and Surprise Faces

The last two days I had so much fun with the procreate app on my iPod. I did this drawing of my 4 year old over the course of yesterday and today. 

A cool thing about this App is that it records what you've done, so you can see the progression in fast play.  Check it out here!

https://youtu.be/WzCTcHPPfWY

Sailors, Take Warning

Ages ago (aka 2010) I started the canvas and got as far as the sky colors with some waves sketched in.  Tonight, after a glass of Riesling and with Netflix playing in the background, I finished it up, lightened the sky, and worked on the waves. 

Pretty happy!

Love that Alizarin Crimson!

Don't Quote the Quote of the Quote Board

Almost as soon as I joined Pinterest (however many years ago it was...two?...thirty?...are there such a thing as years in Pinterest based on the number of pins pinned?  Because I have 12,656 at the moment of writing this post, so I'd make a pretty Methuselah right now), I began to see an increase in low morale amongst the female of my kind.  No, not just the Mom-breeders, but the crafters, the non-crafters, and us over-sharers of memes.  Blogs like Pintrosity gave us some hope that others were also failing as miserably as we at making everyone's first pin: the impossible cookie ice cream bowl, but after a while I began to see despair memes.

These memes displayed depressing expressions that I recall from my college days when people would see that I was an art major and then basically hate-compliment me.  You know, the kind like, "I'm so jealous that you can draw."  "Ugh, I can't draw a stick figure, I hate that you can paint realistically!  Haha, just kidding, you're so talented.  I hate people like you."

Okay...thanks?

Image from despair.com

I know that I won't survive a zombie apocalypse by running or hitting things (except by accident or at very very close range if the zombie has my Dove Chocolate), but I don't hate you because you are a graceful gazelle of a human, who could wield a battleaxe to chop off a zombie's head while leaping over the rest of us meerkats.

But back to those memes.

New ones appeared that were about how we were pinning but not doing, looking but not baking, planning but not marrying (you should see the amount of wedding boards!), and then ones about how angry we were that others were doing things better than we ever could.

So I leave you with this thought, plan, look, pin, then DO or do not.  But don't compare yourself based on the myriad of ideas that you're not doing right now.  It will only steal your joy.

And to husbands, don't quote the quote board if your wife only wants affirmation that her store-bought playdough and pixelated images are just as good as Becky's.  Please.

Origin Story--Throwback Thursday

The cartoon that started it all.  <3

But when did Lucy really start?  

In 2009 I considered writing a written blog, one based on my life but with pseudonyms to protect myself in my workplace.  It was going to be called "Lucy and the Lion's Den" and would showcase Lucy, Leo her husband, and their baby son Luke.  But I didn't get beyond naming the characters, because I found that writing a fictionalized rant about my own life was too draining.  If I wanted it to be real rants, then I wasn't going to post about it publicly (also, I didn't want to lose my job and many of my rants were work related).

I came home to mom around full-time when another baby was born.  That year I did more art than I have in ages when I illustrated an eBook version of "Little Women."

But once the book was published, the art waned.

Fastforward to 2014 and I was bitten by the Bitstrips bug.  I put off buying the app because I thought that I could do better.  But I didn't.  I mean I just didn't do any art at all to tell my story.  Like most people, I scoffed at the badly conceived Bitstrips scenes and sneered at some of the captions they provide. The ability to change my characters movements and the captions on the computer made me warm up to the Facebook version. Then, after a while, I was back to feeling rather frustrated with their whole setup and its limitations. The artist in me was gnashing her teeth.

So I began to write down ideas.

In the dentist's waiting room I started to character sketch.  (This guy really needs to make it into the comic sometime.)

Over the course of a few short weeks, I doodled some more--more ideas, more expressions.

Then I put the question out to my friends.  Should I go with my gut and start rolling out a weekly web comic? I was asking like I pretended that I had time outside of momming around all day.)

And after 13 likes and these replies...

• Yes!

  2 June 2014 at 19:41 · Unlike · 2
• Oh, wah wah! Nice!

  2 June 2014 at 19:43 · Unlike · 1
• Mommying comic please!

  2 June 2014 at 20:50 · Like
•  Heehee! Momming around, eh?

 I started Lucy & the Lion's Den.

St. Paddy's Debacle

For all of you under 30's (or probably under 40's, if you never had a mother like mine who would say, "Just try this movie for FIVE minutes," and then found yourself two hours later watching the credits), Brigadoon is one of those rare gems that you're not sure if you hate it, love to hate it, hate to love it, or just love.

Also, some useful links in time...Irmgard had a run in with these wee folk at her Karaoke Christmas and the poor dear also appears to be stuck with Mr. Wickham from Pride and Prejudice at her beck and call, much to her dismay.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Inventory

Do you know how long it takes to fold, stuff, seal, and inventory 370 greeting cards?  As long as it takes to make a comic.  So here's some photos of upcoming listings on my etsy shop, Artist Ave.

Hidden Horizon

Another one nighter ocean (what else?) painting. I listened to good old Bob Ross, but didn't paint what he was painting. 

I'm curious how this will look when it dries and isn't so glossy. 

Something Wickham This Way Comes

This comic took quite a while to do and it's worth noting because, if you rush art (like Irmgard will here), you end up with disastrous results.

Remember, if you can't read the comic, click on the image.

HOT HOT HOT!

There's two ways to politely deal with hot food. Wait patiently until it is cool or, if you tried it too soon, discreetly use a napkin to remove it from your mouth. 

Then there's the option to yell, "HOT!" repeatedly around the mouthful, hoping that it helps. 

I've done this.  Around a mouthful of coffee, home fries, or bacon.  Been there, shouted that, got the tee shirt.

Beach Rambling

Putting away the paintbrushes and calling this night's beach rambling good. Tried a day seascape instead of a sunrise/set.

Also, let it be noted that painting to the Doctor Who episode with Van Gogh is highly recommended.

Jumping back in

...to painting waves and ocean and, well, more water!

I had an unexpected break today when my brother and sister-in-love took the three kiddos for the afternoon. Having been of a mind to fix some old seascapes, I first started with a fresh one. It needs to dry a bit before I finish it, but so far so good!

Can't even...

Cards cards CARDS!

Another day with no comic???

I have two answers as to why.

Well, three.

Maybe four.

But you will get two.

One is that I AM working on a comic, only it's an Irmgard and Krystall multi-panel, which takes a while longer.  Here's a sneak-peak.

Then there's also these cards that I'm ordering to post on etsy.  Some of them will be available soon.  It's only a matter of logging onto etsy before the kids notice.  Keep your eyes peeled!