Hallowe'en Is Coming!!!

For the next little while, I'm going to be talking about Hallowe'en. Why? Because August is when I usually start making costumes and stuff. I have quite an elaborate costume planned for my boyfriend this year, and I've already bought the materials. One thing I had to buy was leather..........ah....but , I'm not going to give it away THAT easy.

Here are some photos from a couple of years ago after I went nuts checking out ideas on the internet on how to make certain Hallowe'en props. My kids helped design the above Jack'o'lanterns (but I did the carving for them). I loved the idea of a "13 hour clock", but I have to admit I rushed through the project and it could have turned out better....but it wasn't bad for a first try. I glued rubber bats and mice to the wood, after painting it black and aging the oval in the centre to look old.
I also wanted to try my hand at an "Axworthy Ghost"....one that flies along a clothes line.....but I only got the ghost part made. I wired it's eyes with LEDs and it looked pretty cool. But it was windy that night, and using no flash, I had to rely on a timed exposure, and the photo turned out blurry.

Kids!

Here are my kids. My son, doing his impression of the Amazing Spiderman, and

here's my little girl imitating her Mommy. I had my camera set up on a tripod, and I was trying to pose glamorously. She decided to do the same. Going through a divorce isn't easy on them......but I want them to know I love them immensely.
I know this post has nothing to do with art or animation.......it's just a personal thing.

Pazyryk Tattoo

This is a picture from National Geographic, October 1994. It was drawn from the mummified remains of a woman who died 2500 years ago. What was my first reaction when I saw this? I must have it! It has to live again!
I had to flop the design, because my left arm was already occupied by a Bee. And I felt the curve of the creature's body was too abrupt. So I drew a slightly different version for myself, and showed it off at work, (Nelvana) to get some other people's opinions.

Well, here are a couple of reactions I got. The drawing in the upper right corner was mine, and the other two are from these other layout artists I worked with. They were totally against the idea of people getting tattoos, and they thought I was crazy to want one. I actually had two already.....but they were small. It's funny in animation.....we're all artists, but we are a very diverse group.
Another guy I worked with WAS into tattoos, and he drew THIS for me on my birthday.
I thought it was really cute. That was back when we were working on "Eek The Cat", several years earlier. But I already had a dragonfly on my leg. So I guess I had crossed into the world of the "Tattoo People" back then.