Micro-Pomp and Circumstance

Today's piece was inspired by Lisa Woods' "Insects at Home" diorama series, and commissioned by my UALR labmate Dr. Robin Verble as a gift for our advisor. Each ant represents a member of the Yanoviak insect ecology lab as we received our respective degrees from the University of Arkansas just over two months ago.

Ants were pinned straight out of ethanol to dry in their poses, though some legs had to be removed and reattached to achieve just the right stance. Mortarboards and diplomas are simply paper with embroidery thread. I actually wrote a short message on each diploma, but the whole thing's been sealed in a bell jar now. Species were chosen with regards to research focus or physical similarity.

The players (left to right) are as follows:
Petrus Moriera (MS) and Dr. Stephen Yanoviak (advisor) - Cephalotes atratus
Theodore Sumnicht (MS) - Eciton hamatum
Robin Verble (PhD) - Camponotus pennsylvanicus

The names link to auto-montage images of other specimens of each species from AntWeb so that you can better see the details of each one. As you may have realized, though I do pursue many artistic mediums, I am not much of a photographer. Luckily most 2D material is scanned, but pretty much everything else is taken with a phone-camera. I may remedy this someday, but for now the blurry basics will have to suffice.

Lego people are easier to draw than real people.

WASTELAND:

I drafted this comic a in Olympia, WA on Hourly Comic Day a couple of years ago. Granted this one wasn't part of the event (it took more than an hour, and didn't fit with the subject matter), but the whole day is a nice way to get people motivated and inspired about the medium and it sparks a lot of ideas. If you haven't participated in an Hourly Comic Day (Feb, 1st), I'd highly recommend it.

After having followed the same drafting formats for so long, this comic was really an attempt to play with layouts a little bit and to go beyond the borders of the panels. I know it's not that radical, but you have to realize that most of my comics before this where perfect 2x8 boxes without any deviation.

I hope you enjoy it!



I'm tagging this with the "Lego" label even though this isn't made out of Legos, aaannd these could very well be Mega Blocks for copyright infringement purposes.

Otch

Today's piece is the second in a series of busts created without any foresight. As with the piece presented 9/12/2010, the only direction going in was that it should be an organism of indeterminate sentience seen from the shoulders up. I've entitled this one "Otch."

As with most posts, please click the photos to see them better.




The bust is about the size of a softball. Otch wears a large winter coat, a scarf, and a monocle. His eyes are suspended between stalks so that they can swivel 360 degrees. He is currently investigating a small stone covered in runes and has a set of tinkering tools for . . . whatever it is he does. The gill-like flaps on his chin and the hexagonal pits on his face could be sensory organs or ornamental--who knows.

As with the previous bust, I haven't painted it yet in hope of casting it someday. I've come to realize, however, that there are too many gaps, loops, and fragile bits to make a functional mold so this one will remain one of a kind. In my future sculpting I need to start taking that into consideration.

I look forward to continuing the series. A story may even begin to emerge with enough characters to draw from!