So…Much… Catch up! Sketch dumps!

Its been forever! And I feel awful about that. Work, combined with a busy con schedule, combined with working on my first novel (and writing the second one) makes for a busy, busy Cindy. OYE!

So here I am with a massive art dump!  Since my last update I hit two other Steampunk cons with Colleen of Wyng’d Lyon Creations: Wild Wild West Con in Tucson, AZ and Gaslight Gathering in my home turf of San Diego. I was also at ConDor in San Diego Ca as well!

I want to give a big thank you two all those who have commissioned me at the Wyng’d Lyon booth. You all have kept my drawing hand mighty busy at conventions which is exactly how I like it! I truly appreciate not only you taking the time to commission me but for also being so very nice and fun to talk too. I always love the people I meet on my travels.

So without further ado: Heres my commission sketch dump!

A couple of commissions from ConDor. A gentleman asked me to sketch Anna and Elsa from frozen as mermaids. I couldn’t pass that up!

 

At Wild Wild West Con I had tons of awesome Steampunks ask for sketches of their personas. doing these busts are some of my favorite commissions to do at cons. Please don’t ever be shy in asking for a sketch of yourself!

   

And last, but certainly not least, Gaslight Gathering, my favorite steampunk con of all! I also entered the art show with four full color pieces. I will be scanning and uploading those for next week!

  

Once again, thank you everyone for not only your patience for my uploading all these sketches, but for seeking me out at cons! You’ve made this year a lot of fun for me!

I’ll be back in another week or two with some full color works as well as information on my upcoming novels!

Until then, cheers!

Sketches, Sketches, and MORE Sketches!

Its been far too long since I did some leisurely sketching for myself. And over the last month, I managed to get a few in. GO ME!

Trust me, with my schedule, this is no easy feat. It felt good to revisit some older characters and play with my pencils again.

So with no more fanfare…

I mostly worked on just straight up character costume sketches. This one if of my character, Cassia from a Greek/Roman themed RPG.

And my friend Doug’s character Pankratios from the same RPG.

 

As some of you may know, I’m beginning my adventures as a Romance writer. And being the big nerd that I am, I not only write Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance, I have to sketch my characters too.

These are the two main characters in the book I’m currently working on, Siren’s Song. Jack, the dragon and Adelle Constance, a half blood siren.

 

And then my inspiration took a ride on the Way-Back Machine…

Much to my surprise, I was named Gargoyles Fan of the Week over at Gargoyles Reawakening. WOO! I was deeply honored since the Gargoyles fandom holds a deep place in my heart.  So in a fit of nostalgia, I sketched up Link and Eden in between commissions at Steampunk Symposium.

It was so much fun revisiting these two. I really need to do some more old characters. Oh, and Link belongs to my oldest internet friend Jeff a.k.a The J-man. :)

And that’s my sketch dump for the week! Next update I’ll be giving a sneak peek of the new print series I’m working on.

Steampunk Symposium Recap

And we are back!

What a fantastic time! As always, Steampunk Symposium was a blast. It’s definitely a con Colleen and I look forward to every year. A fun con combined with the beautiful scenery of the Queen Mary makes for a very memorable con.

Thanks everyone who dropped by the booth!

This year, we were joined by Andee from Twylite Creations.  And when the three of us together, you know its going to be a fun time full of shenanigans.  So without further ado, here’s a few pics of our weekend antics!

Granted my hat made me look more like a steampunk park ranger but eh, I’m still refining it. I should have more of a handle on what I want it to look like by Wild Wild West Con.

We ran into some awesome folks that first day too. And I even remembered to take photos. Who knew?

This crew here were awesome folks. The gentleman in the fur hat and the lady with the horns were hilarious!

So Much Fabulousness!!

I’m a sucker for a period bathing suit. Isn’t she adorable!?

Even more fabulousness!

A fantastic apparatus.

And adorable pajama clad lady from Last Wear gave us cupcakes. They were quite tasty.

Day 2 I donned the Annabelle costume and was busy taking commissions. I was surprised how many people were interested in sketches!

A Steam Powered Giraffe fan asked me for this one. I loved sketching the boys. So much fun!

Someone asked for a Cthulhu/Slender Man mash-up,

Loved these two girls!

A fabulous lady and her husband hit me up for a quick sketch as well.

Pirate comedian Bluebeard dropped by our booth as well. I couldn’t resist getting a photo with him.

My one of two con buys. Silhouettes by Jordan did this lovely one of me as Annabelle with my ferret, Senor Squeakypants.

Day 3 was Airship pirate day!

My second con buy. I have a love for octopus. I named him Winchester. He looks like a Winchester to me.

Once again, thanks all who dropped by the booth, and a BIG thanks to all who commissioned me and picked up a print or two.

Our next stop is going to be  Wild Wild West Con in Tucson, AZ. I’ll be taking commissions again so don’t be afraid to come find me and ask if you plan to be there! I’ll also be debuting a new set of prints there.

Stay Tuned! I have a bunch of new sketches to scan and show.

Until then, cheers!

Steampunk Symposium This Weekend!

That’s right!
Colleen and I are back on the road with Wyng’d Lyon Creations doing the steampunk cons! Our first stop is Steampunk Symposium! This is our third year doing this con and every time it has been a blast.

This year, we’re joined by Andee from Twylite Creations. She does amazing paper quill work. If any of you swung by Gaslight Gathering last year, you probably saw some of her fantastic pins, fans, and earrings at the booth.

 As usual, Colleen will have her amazing custom vests, ascots, and some new men’s wear that you should check out. So many surprises!

 

I will have my Cthulhul and Ladies of Steam postcards among other prints available. I will also be taking on site black and white commissions if you want a custom sketch of your own.

$10 for a sketch and $15 for a B & W inked piece. Just come find me and ask!

Hope to see you all there! I’ll be returning next week with a recap of the mischief us ladies will have causes.

Until then, cheers!

I return!

Faster! Stronger! Better!

…Okay, maybe not.

But I am back! I apologise for the long month absence. October was a crazy busy month with work, Halloween, my five-year anniversary with Max and best of all, DISNEY WORLD!!!

Photographic Proof!

Yup! After years of  I finally made it to Disney World. Believe me when I say that this was my dream vacation since I was eight years old. Max and I traveled to the Happiest Place on Earth with our two dear friends Mark and Ty and spend an entire week visiting all the Disney parks in Orlando.  Max and I scrimped and saved for the whole year for this. I got to admit it was worth every dinner out we missed, and SCA event we decided to save gas on. (No offence to my favorite hobby in the whole world!

And I have to admit, after experiencing it, I am now a complete EPCOT addict. Seriously. The science pavilions, the world pavilions, the food. OH GOD THE FOOD! We were lucky to have visited during EPCOT’s annual Food and Wine Festival. If you ever get a chance to visit during that time, go! If you love food, its worth it. Just make sure you have a lot of cash on you because its pretty easy to get carried away with all the Noms being tossed in your direction.

I have tons of photos. And when I say tons, I mean TONS. Seriously. It would probably take five separate blog entries to post them all. I rather not completely bore you with my vacation photos so no worries about an epic Disney photo dump anytime soon. But if you all WANT to see them, well far be it from me to not post. Just drop me a line if the need strikes you.

So thank you so much to my amazing hubby, Maxwell Adam Diamond for helping me take my dream vacation. You went above and beyond to make this the most amazing trip I ever took with you.   And thank you Mark and Ty for not only joining us on that amazing week, but for also being our guides! Mark, is a bit of a Disney World expert. Thank God for that, because without his navigation skills I probably would have never even made it out of the airport terminal.

Aaaaanyways, despite my touring through the kingdom of the mouse, I have been doing an epic amount of writing as well as art-ing.  As some of you may (or may not. Probably may not) know,  I’ve been working on breaking into romance writing. Its new territory for me, but so far its been extremely fulfilling and a new challenge. I recently finished my first draft of my first book, Siren’s Song. It will be the first in a paranormal series I’m writing. Right now I’m in the clean up phase. But its moving along!

And I actually DO have art to post today! Who knew?  I have tons of Works in Progressed I still have yet to scan, but those will be coming next week. I also will be participating in a December drawing challenge this year. So keep an eye out for posts on that wackiness.

On with the show!

For our Leif Erikson tourney, I was asked to donate artwork as prizes for our winning fighters. This was really a fun project to play with. I found some great references to pull from as well!  These two gentlemen were the winning prizes for Unarmored combat and Heavy Combat.  They were my favorites.

And while we’re still on the SCA kick, our baronial newsletter had a contest to design its new mast-head. This was my venture. It didn’t win but considering how gorgeous the winner was? I’m perfectly fine with that.

I finished this one a while back but never had a moment to post it. This is a commission piece for my friend Christine. She asked for a piece of her and her adorable husband. I love drawing Christine’s wonderful smile.

And a little NSFW cheesecake pin-up under the cut. ;)

A commission for my friend Patrick, of his two ladies, Jezabella and Andrea. I really had a blast doing all the detail work on this.  If I had more time (and patience) I would have added even more. Well, maybe next time.

My next entry will be brimming with…well..unfinished stuff. But stuff none the less!

Cheers, All!

Adventures in GISHWHES

 

 

If anyone knows me personally, they know that last month I participated in GISHWHES also known as the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen.  This is my second time with Team Nightstone and hopefully not my last.

GISHWHES  promotes goodwill, creativity, and charity all while doing some rather…well… crazy things. Each team gets one week to complete as many items from a master list of over 100 items and tasks. In the end, the winning team gets a free trip to some place in the world (this year its Vancouver, Canada) with actor, Misha Collins, who created this event. This year, Our team managed to get 100 out of 156 items done. Not to shabby!

But to be honest, I’m not really aiming for the prize. For me, GISHWHES is a wonderful way to jump start my creativity with fellow artists and friends. It truly forces you to think outside the box and the results are if not amazing, the hilarious.

Now that the hunt is over and we’re all waiting for the results, here’s a few items that were among my favorites Team Night stone finished.

Enjoy!

Item #109 Make a suit or evening gown from watermelon rind.

 

Item #22 Model this summer’s hottest fashion trend. Let’s see a swimsuit made entirely from tea bags.

 

Item #120 Let’s see your most dramatic interpretation of “Death by Chocolate!”

 

Item #36 Make yourself into a truly irresistible pastry or desert. Place yourself where we might find such a treat: on a countertop, in a display case, at a buffet, in a picnic basket, etc.(Dressed as an Irish Coffee in an Irish Pub)

 

Item #50 Little Jack Horner, Little Bo Peep, Peter Pumpkin, Little Boy Blue and the Queen of Hearts at a late-night vice-ridden poker game. (Artist Lynn Anderson drew characters from the show Supernatural as each nursery rhyme)

 

Item #144 Children behind the counter of a post office, dressed in postal wear, dealing with adult customers. They must look really bored.

 

Item #34 A roach retirement home. Must have live cockroaches in it and must be sized to their scale, for their comfort and enjoyment.

And we did some videos too!

Item #89 Create a dynamic, documentary short film exposing little-known facts about your hometown (two minute video).

Item #91 Pitch a quoit in your finest medieval ware at a popular dog-walk park.

Item #71 Dress up in your finest “steampunk” attire and get behind the wheel, rudder or other steering instrument of a steam-powered vehicle (train, steamboat, thresher, etc.).

Item #59 Hold a pillow fight that involves 10 or more people all in pajamas.

Item #3 Modify a stationary exercise bicycle so that when you pedal, the spinning wheel powers a mixer that whips heavy cream into whipped cream. Make the whipped cream and eat it. You should be dressed in late 80’s style aerobics wear. The finished video should look like a short infomercial.

And my favorite of the bunch…

Item #42 Film your team’s GISHWHES experience – you all communicating with each other via the Internet, doing courageous items in public, items at home, laughing, crying, screaming, running – we want to see it all. Include a couple of personal voice-overs or video clips of one or more of you commenting about how it affected you (bad or good). We want to see the journey. Edit it into a 2-minute video.

 

The SDCC Wrap Up… ITS ABOUT TIME!

I’m a bad, bad, BAD, blogger.

It took me almost a month to get my SDCC wrap up online! YEESH! In my defence, I did catch a nasty bout of con crud after con which hung on for a week. Then I fell right in the GISHWHES (next week’s post will be about that awesome insanity:)). But now I have five seconds of time to put up a nice recap of my antics.

First of all, I wanted to thank Marta de Costa for letting me hitch a ride on her booth. I would not have been able to be there without her. Marta, you are amazing!

So without further ado…

Jen and I got started bright and sorta early on Wednesday, meeting for pancakes with our dear friends, and fellow SDCC pals, Seth and Sammy.

Also pictured is Jen’s daughter, Sydney. It was her second SDCC and it was so much fun watching her geek out at the con. She had a blast!

Here we are, frantically setting up our Troll Market on Preview Night. Okay, maybe it wasn’t frantic. We actually were leisurely setting up our Troll Market since we didn’t have too much to rig.

Here’s my little corner of our market. Thanks to everyone who popped by to pick up some goodies. My Geeky-Dink earrings were quite the hit at con! You can find them also on my etsy store.

Here’s Jen’s corner. Her Castiel Tree toppers were the hit of the booth! Seriously, they are adorable. She’s currently making a Gabriel one for me…because I loves the trickers. ;) You can pick up a tree topper at her Etsy store, The Other Side of Luck.

Daisy Edwards’s part of the booth. Her artwork is adorable! I especially love her pin-up heroes. Check out the SnakeEyes one!  Find more of her work here!

Marta appreciation post. Here are some of her incredibly Cute-thulu’s she sculpted for con. Seriously, these are amazing! The detail  is mind blowing!!

Marta can rock the swag, yo.

Break.com took over Dick’s Last Resort this year. They had the whole place decked out with old school video game decor. Here’s Sammy, Marta, and Greg Weisman for our annual “hanging out for dinner” night.

 

OMG! Giant video game console! Hilarious entertainment ensued.

So this guy gave me a free T-shirt. Actually, the T-shirt fell on me. I was sitting on the floor waiting for our table and a t-shirt landed on my head. But since it was a promotion, he had me take a photo of him and stick it up on Instagram and I got to keep the T-shirt. WOO! free T-shirt!

Later on he gave me some wind up chattering teeth… not sure what that was all about, really.

Thanks to my new awesome friend (and author) Tamela Burke, my husband Max and I scored tickets to see the Serenity screening, hosted by Nathan Fillion! They screened the film in Petco Park and we got to sit out on the field and watch. It was a great event!

So, half way through con, I twittered that if you dropped by the booth in costume, I’d happily take your photo and post it on the blog. Well, TONS of people dropped by in costume! Granted, I’m sure many of them didn’t read the tweet, but still! So many wonderful cosplayers and amazing costumes! I had to group them all here since I had so many. Thank you for letting me take your photo and post it on my blog!

Next update will be some quickie sketches as well as my adventures in GISHWHES.

Until then, cheers!

Its the final Count DOOOOOOOOWN!

Do Dee Doo Dooooo!

Do Dee Doot Doot Doooo!

Okay, only a handful of you will get that, I’m sure.

But here I am in the final stages of getting my act together for San Diego Comic Con International!

So drop on by Booth #4419 under the name Marta de Costa. I, Marta, Jennifer Anderson, Colleen Rodriguez (From my home away from home, Wyng’d Lyon :) ), and Daisy Edwards will all have lots of fun art and crafts to browse through! Come drop in and say hi! We won’t fuss if you buy something, either.;)

Lots of prints are packed and ready to roll!

The tree of nerdity!

And my original art necklaces. So far I only have two styles, but if you want one of my other prints as a charm, please let me know. I will be able to fill orders out while I’m at con.:)

And my retro flower clips and tribal hair falls with be there too!

We’ll be across from FOX with a wacky banner that says Troll Market. Hope to see you all there!

WOO HOO!

More Updates!

Labyrinth Ball came and went.

And what a ride it was!

I had a fabulous weekend with my lady friends and took tons of pictures! To catch up with my Labyrinth Ball antics, check out Costumed Nonsense to see photos of great friends and wonderful costumes!

As I’ve been saying (ad nauseam,  I’m sure) I’ll vending be at San Diego Comic Con for the first time ever. Can you tell I’m excited? Because I am!

You will be able to find me, Jennifer Anderson, Marta de Costa, Colleen Rodriguez, and Daisy Edwards at booth #4419 near Fox media. Come by and say hello!

Here’s another sneak peek at what will be at SDCC.

Hot. Shrinky-Dink. Action!

Seriously. They were hot. I burned my fingers more than once.

 I love how the Supernatural ones turned out!

My friend Jen and I think they should be called Geeky-Dinks. I’m considering this.

I will also have some new hair falls and retro clips available as well. Here’s a sample of the few I’ve started on.

And of course, prints and postcards will be available!

Below are the pieces that will be available as prints:

And the following pieces will be available as postcards:

 

If you have a particular piece you would like to have as a print, please feel free to drop me a line on the Facebook page or here in the comments section.

Hope to see you at SDCC! :)

What’s Cookin’ for ComicCon?

I’ve been posting a few cryptic things over on the facebook page as I prep for San Diego Comic Con. Of course I’ll have my usual variety of prints, postcards, and clips available, but I wanted something more along the lines of SDCC to offer. So I’ve been experimenting with some things. The main one being, Shrinky-Dinks.

Yup!

Shrinky -Dinks.

I used to love Shrinky-Dinks when I was a kid, even though I never got them to turn out right. But thanks to some help from my friend Jen, I have unlocked the secret to getting the dang little buggers to work!

My first experiment success! Mr. Happy Mouth shares my glee.

Once the secret was unlocked (by the way, the secret is not being an impatient cretin, like myself), I started in on my designs. My goal here is to make some adorable geek icon earrings for us ladies who want to show off our nerd-ity in STYLE.

A few designs, pre shrinked and dinked.

Above are only a few of the designs I’ll have available: The Dark Mark, The Death Hollows, Thor’s Hammer, The Flash, and the Arc Reactor. I will also have Captain America’s Shield, Sam and Dean’s tattoo from Supernatural, Green Lantern, and of course Cthulu.

Seriously, watching this happen is hypnotic.

If you have any requests, please drop me a comment here or on the FB page!  With only two weeks before con, now is definitely time to do it!  Also, if you’re not planning on being at SDCC and want a pair, let me know and you can order via online. Of course, they will be making an appearance on my etsy store as well.

Tiny marks of evil!

I’ve been having a total blast making these things! I really believe I’m addicted to Shrinky-Dinks now. I just want to keep sketching things on the paper and watch then curl up and shrink. It makes me feel like a kid again… It also makes me feel like I made be in need of therapy.

My love of tiny things continue into my crafts.

So come find me at SDCC in two more weeks! (two more weeks? OMG!) Our booth number is #4419 under the name Marta de Costa, a fellow artist who spear-headed this booth and is sculpting adorable Cute-thulu figurines for sale!

We will be located across from the FOX booth and will look like a crazed troll market. Oh us artsy folks. ;)

Hope to see you there!