This weekend I decided to put some curtains in the living room. There are times in summer when I just want to sit down for a little video game break, and the sunlight coming from outside is way too intense for my little projector to throw a visible image. I’d been taping up some spare art board but that was (a) a pain in the ass and (b) ugly.
So I did some research online into the basics, and walked up to Northgate to hit Bed, Bath, and Beyond for a double rod, some swirly finials, and some clip hooks, and the fabric store for about four and a half yards of dark purple velvet. I’m planning to add some sheer red behind it once I get things arranged to my liking; one thing at a time.
I just got it up and liked what I saw, then took it down because I was using holes the previous occupants had drilled, that weren’t really up to the task of holding these heavy things up. I’m going to have to slip some screw anchors in there tomorrow for a solid grounding. I’ll also see how well it cuts down indirect sunlight reflecting off the white building next door; I may have to add some sort of lining to make them a bit more opaque. They’re not amazing but for about $300 total they look pretty good, and will likely look even better once I spend maybe a half hour hemming it, sewing some folds into the top of it, and hooking the rings in so they’re hidden by the top.
Hmm. What else have I been up to? I haven’t updated this in a week or so. Nothing amazing: slowly working on the next page of Rita, which includes a crazy background; getting some flowers to put on the coffee table in the studio, going to pole dance classes. I’m still not even anywhere near “terrible” at pole but I’m learning, and getting in shape as well – there will be days when my legs ache all day long, and I just grin, because it’s the ache of shaving stretched them like crazy the day before.
I’m also getting definite results from having that chin-up bar on the bathroom door. Unless I’m completely wiped out from doing something else beforehand, I can very consistently get my eyes up past the top of the door, go up and down a little bit a few times, and then bring my feet back to the ground in a slow, controlled fashion.
And now, some progress shots from that page…
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- Initial rough of library panorama, drawn when laying out the page.
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- Better rough after googling some huge libraries and looking at a book full of staircase porn. Most of this will be cropped out on the page but I’m going to reuse this bg later, and it’s honestly not that much more work to build it all now and get it right.
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- Eventually it becomes complicated enough that Organization has to happen. Floor 1 is the one at eye level; all others are numbered in relation to that. The weird order is so they overlap properly; it may seem kind of OCD to make this many layers but it pays off when it comes time to draw things like “various people wandering around the building” and I’m not constantly putting the railings back in front of them or something.
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- Draw one column, cut and paste!
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- More columns on higher floors.
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- Starting to build out edges of floors and railings (draw one line, create perspective with the width tool, alt-drag vertically, reshape to fit perspective)
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- Trace a cool Art Noveau railing out of the staircase book, use as pattern brush, apply perspective distortion, wonder why the weight’s all screwy.
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- That’s better! I had to apply the ‘outline stroke’ effect to all the lines that made up the pattern brush.
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- Cameo appearance by Marigold Heavenly Nostrils and her friend Phoebe from the second panel.
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- So many railings! So glad I didn’t have to draw them all by hand!
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- Starting to block in walls and the beginnings of bookshelves. Also note the extra copies of the noveau ironwork in white/dark green to provide lighting/shading and contrast against midtone.
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- Quick books: use line tool, slash ’em in. If you want to be more detailed you can make them different widths, and for perspective views you may want to think about the tops and sides, but this is often all you need if you’re not close enough to read the spines.
Hopefully I’ll get this page done tomorrow. Just in time for me to go off to Portland for Furlandia!