The Transformation – nymph illustration on bark paper

                                           Copyright 2011, Kat Micari

This was done with the same tools and style as Spring Hope. I had considered doing another two and creating a series, but I never was struck with inspiration for a subject matter.

Spring Hope – a fairy illustration on bark paper

Copyright 2010, Kat Micari

This was drawn in ink with a bamboo pen and spot-filled with watercolor on bark paper.

Almost Completed “Sword of Truth” Illustration

Again, please forgive the poor quality of the photo.  This was snatched this morning on my way out the door.  Good scans will occur once the illustration is 100% complete.  All that is really lacking now is going through and accenting with white ink.  I may try to clean up some of the edge work, or I may wait and digitally clean it up later.

Sword of Truth Illustration Progress

I FINALLY have some pictures to share of my Sword of Truth illustration.  Please excuse the quality of the photos.  I unfortunately do most of my painting at night, and the quality of light is not optimal for photography.  They will be scanned in before being added to the poetry collection.  You probably don’t remember, but a long time ago I posted this image of the pencils (darkened to actually show the image):

And here are the layers of ink as I’ve painted them.

First I painted in the sword with a mid-level gray (achieved by mixing water into the black ink only).

Then I decided that since I really wanted a dark background, I better do that next in case I messed it up.  No point spending hours detailing the serpents in the background if I mess up the black background.

Here is round two of the black background!  No major mistakes, but you can still see the wetness from the ink.  Both these layers were done in straight ink, although I did wet my brush a few times when the bristles started to, well, get too bristly.

And here is the final layers that I’ve added.

I’m excited to have most of the basic wash done on all eight illustrations.  Soon I will get to go back in and add the shading, then detailed line work with pen(s), and finish with popping highlights with white ink.

 

 

We have a title!

A novella title, that is.  And it is (drum roll…) Penumbra.  Here is the dictionary definition, if you need it:

pe·num·bra

[pi-nuhm-bruh] Show IPA

noun, plural pe·num·brae [-bree] Show IPA , pe·num·bras.

1.Astronomy .

a.the partial or imperfect shadow outside the complete shadow of an opaque body, as a planet, where the light from the source of illumination is only partly cut off. Compare umbra (  def 3a ) .

b.the grayish marginal portion of a sunspot. Compare umbra (  def 3b ) .

2.a shadowy, indefinite, or marginal area.

Origin:1660–70;  < Neo-Latin,  equivalent to Latin paen- pen- + umbra  shade

(From http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/penumbra?s=t)

I also have a tentative idea for the cover that I am going to sketch out tonight.  I’m thinking of one that’s more graphic-oriented than picture-oriented.  But we’ll see how it goes.

In further updates, my illustrations are coming along finally!  I don’t know how long it will take to finish, since I have a set of eight to complete and I want them to be very detailed, but I’m going to see what I can get done this week.  I may need to make the decision to get Penumbra out before The Little Book of Insurrection, or the Poetry of my Discontent, but we’ll see.  I really wanted to release both ebooks simultaneously and then both paperback versions side by side as well.

I’ve also been thinking about my next big project after that, which will be attempting to raise money to complete my first music album including the songs that are included as part of the poetry collection.  I worry that if I stick with songs only in the vein of the ones in my collection that people will get really depressed listening to the album, but if I include any upbeat songs, it will detract from my message.  Maybe play around with some of the music behind the lyrics?  I feel like I need to include SOME songs of beauty and hope, but a lot of what I write lyrically along those lines comes across as schmaltzy or preachy, and I do NOT want that to happen.  But I’ve got some time to percolate.

Also, I’ve got a post brewing about violence towards women and rape and our current culture, but that needs time to percolate a little too.  It kept me up a while last night thinking about it though.