I haven’t really drawn anything substantial for a very long time. My life has been in a state of constant flux since MoCCA and it’s been very hard to focus on anything. I’m now trying very hard to get my life back together! This involves getting a new job and moving out of my parents’ house, but it also involves getting back to what really matters to me: my art.

I’ve been reading and (trying) to write a lot for my graphic novel. I’m also trying to draw everyday. I’ve been keeping my sketchbook open on my bed with a pencil tucked in it and I draw when I wake up and right before I go to sleep. I decided that it’s time to really make some decisions the character designs for my novel so that’s what I’ve been working on over the past several days.

This is the main character:

And his friend (Who may or may not be written out yet. I haven’t decided.):

Next I’ll be drawing the brother, the father, and the uncle of the main character. These five characters are the main players. Then I’ll probably work on some supporting characters, settings, and the animals in the story.

As for the story itself, it’s undergoing major changes. (Again.) I’ve cut out a LOT and I’m now restructuring the whole thing. I’m also re-naming all of the characters which has been a struggle. I don’t want to make up names and I don’t want to use literal translations (like “Littlebird,” etc.). I’m thinking about using Basque names because of the romantic theory that the language may have been used by the Cro-Magnon people. There’s no real proof of this, but it is a very old language, the names are very beautiful, and I want to keep the names in my story uniform in some way.

I’ve learned a whole lot from the research I’ve done for this story over the past two years. But now it’s time to remind myself that this is a work of fiction! I’ve been thinking way too hard about the little details and missing the bigger picture. However, I’m seriously considering writing a research paper as an Afterward to my novel. I want to share what I’ve learned and I know I can’t incorporate everything into the comic itself without impeding the story.

It’s been a long road and I still have a long, long way to go, but somehow I will make this comic! One step at a time.

I’ve been sort of non-existent since the MoCCA Art Festival. For this I apologize! My life feels like it’s taken a dizzying, fast-forward step and all of a sudden it’s mid-July. When did that happen?!

Here’s a recap of some of the things that have been happening recently.

A little ways in the past I was asked to participate in a faculty show with the Great River Arts Institute where I teach comics. Our show is being hosted by the Spheris Gallery in Hanover, New Hampshire. I have a silk screen print of my Loveland Frog from my book up in the main gallery. In addition to our main gallery piece, we were asked to create 2X2 inch pieces to sell to raise money for GRAI. I created 6 tiny watercolor drawings of tiny monsters.

(I asked my parents to buy back the yellow one when we were at the opening because it’s my favorite. Haha.)

A local paper in Hanover did a review of the show. This is what the writer had to say about my tiny monsters:

“It’s hard not to be taken by Megan Baehr’s precise colorful watercolors of cartoonish animals. They have great wit and clarity.” – Alex Hanson, Valley News Staff Writer

HOLY COW! That’s the NICEST thing anyone has ever said about by work. Out of the 110 2X2 pieces that were donated, mine were the only ones that were mentioned.

This combined with a few more encouraging events, I’m feeling more energized and excited about my work than I have in quite awhile. I went though a very hard emotional break down late May/early June that threw me way off balance. Things are finally coming back together and my withered confidence is beginning to bloom again. I’m inspired again.

I’ll probably continue to be a bit elusive through the month of August, but come fall this site is getting worked over and you can expect regular, enthusiastic updates!

Work on this comic is going slowly (as usual), but I’m very pleased with how it’s turning out so far. Here’s a panel that I had fun drawing. I’m still in the penciling stage so I slapped on some photoshop to give it some atmosphere. I’m not sure how the inking will look in the end yet.

Onto the next project! Yippie! It’s a 15 pager about an abandoned subway station that I wrote 3 years ago and have always wanted to draw. I’m trying to get it finished in time for MoCCA! I’ll hopefully be sharing some pages soon. But until then, enjoy this quick sketch of the main characters, Chad and Macy. Brought to you by my awesome space ship pencil I got in a goodie bag when I was a kid and PhotoShop. YES!

Sorry for the lack of updates! I’ve been insanely busy working on my comic for Trickster. It’s almost done!!! Once it is, I’ll be trying to update more regularly with arts and comics. Until then, please enjoy this drawing I made!

It’s me! This is the cover of my copy of my most recent class’s mini comic anthology. I make the anthologies with blank covers which the students decorate on the last day.

I’ve been really busy with my new job and my project for Trickster. The comic is going very slowly, but it’s getting there! I’m on page four of 14. I’m starting to get more comfortable with the materials which is helping things go faster. Basically I realized when I started that I can’t make any major errors. I’m using off-white paper and watercolors so white-out is a NO NO. I decided early on to do the lettering on my computer to save heartache over my terrible habit of messing up my lettering. (I swear I’m mildly dyslexic sometimes!) I’ll be using my font that I made for my Monster book. It should look nice! Anyhoo, I’m finally past the point where I’m worried about making a mistake and I’m just diving in. I think the choice to use a limited pallet is helping, too. All in all, it looks GREAT! And I’m really proud of it. I can’t wait to finish it and taunt you guys with teasers until the book comes out.

In other comic related news, I’ve been starting to think about my graphic novel again. I haven’t touched upon it in a LONG TIME. I’ve decided that after the Trickster project that I’m not taking on any more outside projects. I want to give 100% to MY story and MY ideas. I think it’s good that I waited and did some other things, but now I’m ready to give my all to my graphic novel. I had some confidence issues last year that are pretty much gone now. I feel up to the challenge of creating a beautiful book all my own! I’m hoping to have at least the starts of a pitch book together by the end of this year. Basically the entire script and finalized character designs. I really want to go to Europe before I do any serious drawing of the cave scenes. I want to experience the caves for myself so that I can bring life and context to my comic. I want people to look at it and say, “Gee, this kid really did her homework!”

I’ve been struggling with the design of the antagonist of the comic I’m working on. He’s an alligator. I want the design of the comic to be iconographic, but detailed enough so you know right away what each character is. The alligator has been the most difficult. My early drawings were either way too simple or way too detailed. I had to draw a LOT of alligators before I came up with this one (he has smooth yellow skin in the story):

I think I’ve finally nailed it! I’m totally in love with this design! Hooray!

I’m no cook. Most of the things I make end up looking strange, but more often then not taste just fine. This is the case with the cookies I made today. They are sort of dense little nuggets rather than nice round flat cookies, but they taste really yummy! I bastardized a recipe I found on the internet for honey wheat cookies. I didn’t have wheat flour or baking soda. So I just fudged it and added my own little flair.

Cinnamon Sugar Honey Nuggets
(A bastardized version of this recipe.)

1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of butter or margarine – softened (I used margarine.)
1/2 cup of honey
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1 egg
2 cups of flour (Original recipe called for wheat flour. I used all purpose flour.)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda (I didn’t have any baking soda so I used baking powder. I’m not sure what difference that makes.)
some white sugar
some cinnamon

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix brown sugar, butter, honey, vanilla, and egg in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
3. Mix in salt, baking soda, and flour a little bit at a time until smooth.
4. Blend some white sugar and some cinnamon in a small bowl.
5. Roll dough into small balls and coat with the cinnamon/sugar mix. (Like a Snickerdoodle!)
6. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake in the oven for 8 to 11 minutes or until golden.
8. Remove cookies from pan to cool on a cooling rack or (in my case) a plate.
9. EAT!

While flipping through a magazine today, I came across an article about eliminating everyday stress by Richard Lewis. I was just skimming through it, but had to stop and read this one sentence a couple of times:

“Time really does fly by, so, as stupid as it might feel, live your life with passion and enthusiasm, even if you have to fake it sometimes.”

Wow. These words. It’s like Lewis infiltrated my brain and wrote this quote just for me.

In other news, Trickster now has a blog! This is the first time I’ve seen any work from the other contributors. There is without a doubt that this book is going to be amazing. I’m so honored to be part of it! My fancy shmancy watercolor paper came in so I’m getting started on my contribution in the next couple of days. Keep an eye on Tricker‘s blog for sneak peeks!

I updated the Artwork gallery today. I finished up the 2007 section and started a 2008 section. Most of the images I put up won’t be new to those who read my LiveJournal, but there are a few that I didn’t post. Just to give posting images in my blog a whirl, here is one of them:

Also, I installed a plug-in that will cross-post my Blog entries onto my LiveJournal! Now I can blog on my website, but not abandon my LJ community. Awesome!