The Girl Who Lime-Eyed

Cut.  Clipped.  Edged out of a piece of Bristol board to draw a smaller picture.  Or what initially was going to be a mini-comic that just wouldn’t… mini!  So instead, I sketched a quick drawing.  As always, I found conflict with what to do with her hands.  Nonetheless, I went for the simple and clean approach.

The inking followed.  With no specific character in mind, I tossed around her eye color until I just decided to make them a limey green.  And because she’s a person of color, I shadowed her a Copic Deep Orange.  At first I wanted to leave her lips without lipstick, to instead go for a Copic Flesh Pink tone.  But later, as you’ll see, that simpleness went out the window.  Fact is, I love my girls flashy when it comes to lipstick, nail polish, etc.  Anything outside of that seems… well… basic.

Now comes one of my favorite parts: scrapbook implementations.  I’ve had this slice of cherry-themed paper for a while.  It’s smaller than my usual pieces, so it’s hard to use on bigger projects.  But since this was a smaller drawing–on a smaller piece of Bristol board–it fit perfectly.  And because it’s been years since I use dollies, I thought adding the two would work this go-round.  As always, I X-Acto Knifed her from the negative space.  Which, thankfully, wasn’t much nor complicated.

Color.  Color.  Color.  Paint and pastels.  Layers on layers.  Where to start?  Okay.  Her eyes have my traditional gradient effect.  The theme–as mentioned–is lime.  Lips colored soft pink alongside a darker shade of pink for her nails.  Her skin tone has a soften blend of clay-colored chalk pastels mixed with a peach.  To be honest, I had these scrapings (I used my X-Acto Knife to scrap chalk pastels into a pallet before blending) left over from my last drawing HERE.  I saved them, and had just enough for this girl.  I water colored her hair purple, which is tradition for me when drawing characters with dark hair.  Following the watercolor, I spotted her hair with black chalk pastel.  It always looks a little rustic look until I blend.

More layers.  Gave ground to her pupils, and an iris effect where I black-dot around her full iris (not sure where I learned that from).  Also, and it’s been a while, but I added eye shadow using a soft rub of pink chalk pastels.  Too much?  Maybe.  I followed my tradition of using three colored pencils to streak and layer her hair.  But I felt like I missed the flow around the part where she tucked her hair behind her ear.  There needed to be some definition on where that piece of hair broke from the rest of the flow.  So you can see where I added a darker line to separate the two.  But from there, I got into this mood of using the black colored pencil to begin adding more fullness by shading her hair more with it.  Experimenting I guess.

So yeah.  Basically got to the final step, scanned, and realized she wasn’t complete.  Pulling the drawing out of the scanner, I add the stickers.  I’ve always wanted to use these–as the majority of them were featured my older project HERE.  The left overs made it to this girl in the form of a cherry earring and floating fruit.  In other words: CUTENESS IN EFFECT!  No, for real.  I love stuff like floating fruit.

But yes.  In its digital process I added:

1.  Revived her color for the digital look.

2.  Retracing and filling her outline and other dark areas outside of her hair.

3.  Filling her lips and nails with color before highlighting their shine with a touch of white.

I believe that’s just about it.  So what should her name be?

Also, you can buy a journal featuring this drawing at my Zazzle Store HERE!

The Babysitter’s Club #1 | Why I Loved Kristy’s Great Idea

"Kristy thinks the Baby-sitters Club is a great idea.  She and her friends Claudia, Stacey, and Mary Ann all love taking care of kids.  A club will give them the chance to have lots of fun–and make tones of money.

But nobody counted on crank calls, uncontrollable two-year-olds, wild pets, and parents who don't always tell the truth.  And then there's Stacey, who's acting more and more mysterious.  Having a baby-sitters club isn't easy, but Kristy and her friends aren't giving up until they get it right!"

So let’s go ahead and get any “gender specific” matters straight.  Okay?  Great!  So as a pre-teen, I read the hell out of The Baby-Sitters Club series.  And, trust me, I could get away with it freely.  Nobody had any reason to think twice about me, as a guy, reading these books.  So from that small bit of perspective, I’ve always wanted to write posts on Ann M. Martin's series of pre-teen books.  Or, the years I discovered the joy of escapism through various book series during my own pre-teen years.  And just to push a little bit further into my reading past, I recently learned a kid in daycare bit me on the forehead over a book.  I'm sure it was a book I refused to give up, or the bite must have been worth it.  I also learned my daycare teacher used to report how I would always enter the room, grab a book, and settle in for the day.  At least on that count, nothing has changed.

Nice to know books have always been there for me.  Especially when all along I thought my reading bug struck around 6th grade.

Zazzle Unboxing: Notebook/Journals

*ZAZZLE JOURNALS*

Now I Know Where Kinsey GETS It | Marcia Muller Pushes Through! PART TWO

So let’s get into those quotes/passages I mentioned in my previous post on Marcia Muller’s Edwin of the Iron Shoes.  But if you haven’t followed me to this post, these are the stand-out lines I loved.  They're the lines where I received a flood of realization on how Muller’s protagonist, Sharon McCone, gave roots to women investigators in hard-boiled in crime fiction.  Particularly roots for Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone and Sara Paretsky’s V. I. Warshawski characters.  For more information, please refer to the previous post.  I’m going to have to try to reduce this down to a few, though.  If not, I’d probably serve up the entire book.

So let’s go!

“He was pushing too hard.  I kept my voice level.  ‘I’m not on my own; I’m an employee of All Souls.  I joined them after the detective agency fired me for refusing to jump at a special assignment that would have humiliated me and set up an innocent man for a very messy and expensive divorce.  And I don’t know about being what you call a “super-sleuth.”  I’m competent.  I’d say my strong point is knowing how to ask the right questions.  Without trying to cram my words into other people’s mouths.’”

Four chapters in and I already love McCone.  She has morals.  She has limits.  She has genuine concern for the individuals involved in her profession.  Most of all, she’s humble.  Yet brassy in a subtle way.

“On my way out of the kitchen, I grabbed a handful of cookies from the big jar that was always full of chocolate chips.  They would be my dinner.  Hank grinned and led me down the central hall to the second office on the right.”

This screamed Kinsey Millhone to me.  Anyone familiar with the character knows she’s obsessed with cheese/peanut butter and pickled sandwiches.  As well as Quarter Pounders.  (For a good while, I actually ate a few myself.  Didn't like them, but since Kinsey did....)  However, just the fluidity of McCone’s voice and actions in this scene stole me.  

I would say between the three, Warshawski has the best appetite.  Though she drinks too much.

Now I Know Where Kinsey GETS It | Marcia Muller Pushes Through! PART ONE

I would not have believed it until seen.  Actually, that’s not the case.  I believed it!  Intrigued it!  Embraced it!  Ran with it on my Amazon wishlist for about two and a half years (pitiful of me).  Put it on my Kindle for over a year (double pitiful of me).  And just this  past February finally received it!  You’re probably wondering what in the world am I talking about.  So let me just get to the point: I finally read the first book in Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone hard-boiled private-eye series, Edwin of the Iron Shoes.  I know.  I know.  Big deal, right?  Well for me–a female-controlled crime fiction junkie–it most certainly is a big deal!  Though I'm awfully late about it...

Most of you guys know I LIVE for Sue Grafton’s California private-eye, Kinsey Millhone.  ("LIVE" is an extreme, extreme understatement).  And you’re also familiar with my apathetic, strange off/on relationship with Sara Paretsky tough ‘n’ tumble Chicago-based woman of the same profession, V. I. Warshawski.  But here’s the thing.  The ticket.  The point of this erratic and fervent post–beginning with a little history lesson. 

In the early 80’s, Grafton and Paretsky transformed the voice of crime fiction.  Through, respectively, their characters Millhone and Warshawski; the authors released the female private-eye alone into the playgrounds of her male counterparts.  And their leading ladies came in just as hard-hitting, proficient, and uncompromising as the male investigators.  But, thankfully, their characteristics weren’t channeled through the virility associated with men.  

Millhone and Warshawski utilized a certain degree of wiles, ingenuity, and vocal consensus to turn a given case in her favor.  Though also dogged at times for answers, they would see cases to the end with just as much profession and dedication as men.  Yet, when push came to shove, they were sometimes afraid to shove back.  They had concerns about the use of violence, as it was first considered a defense and hardly a course of action.  So as level-headed and determined as they could be, force and violence always seemed a final recourse.  Neither were always necessary in the end–as the ladies were likely to have already outsmarted a criminal.  Nevertheless, what I described is precisely why I love the female detective.  She’s afforded an unassuming element that serves as a lethal surprise that never gets old when it's called upon.  Basically, I love a calculating bad-ass woman.

So the opportunities for the lone female private-eye to take stage arrived from Marcia Muller’s 1977 influential debut, Edwin of the Iron Shoes.  It's here Muller introduced the world to private detective Sharon McCone.  McCone was the first unshackled female detective to toss conventions previous held by women in her profession.  She wasn't a side-kick to the male private-eye.  She didn't use anything other than her brains and interrogating acrobatics to mine for information.  She had a voice–a retort–for societal affairs.  She had a heart, though took the zero nonsense approach.  She was brave.  She also meant business, needed to get paid with as little moral compromising, and was well-adjusted to standing alone.  And, well, she had a gun in her purse just in case.  You know, for those occasions she just may have to shoot somebody in the face for her own protection.  

So Muller opened the doors to this new field of detective fiction.  (I'll get into P. D. James' same decade debut of Cordelia Grey at another date.)  She employed a modern, realistic, and liberated woman to traverse the minefields of deception and murder.  All of which beamed on me as I finally read McCone’s first case.  

After the last page, I understood where Kinsey and Warshawski got her voice.  And Muller reminded me–so clearly–why it is that I love this genre when led by women.  Seriously, I highlighted a bucket of passages as I read the book.  Passages that screamed to me, “Kinsey would do/say this.”  Or, “This sounds like an argument Warshawski would find herself in.”  The revelation was too plain not to acknowledge and recognize.

So yes.  I’ve finally gotten down to the root of the modern, free-sprinting, hard-boiled female detective.  And clearly, I'm dedicated to moving forward with Muller and McCone.  I have a long way to go to catch up but, as of now, I’ve found myself a new place to find radiance for my passions.

Part of me wants to review the book, but the other half of me simply wants to share some of those passages I mentioned.  Only because they excited me, and I'm not to hard to please when I've found something special.  But just to be clear, I loved Edwin of the Iron Shoes once I got over having to read it on the Kindle (not good with e-readers).  It was watery in some areas.  Yet, McCone's voice was solid.  But what the hell can I say?  There's a certain respect and credit due to Muller's first book.  To me, that's good enough.

PART TWO/QUOTES of "Now I Know Where Kinsey GETS It"

Kwan's Rich Girlfriend

"Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians, is back with a wickedly funny new novel of social climbing, secret e-mails, art-world scandal, lovesick billionaires, and the outrageous story of what happens when Rachel Chu, engaged to marry Asia’s most eligible bachelor, discovers her birthfather.

On the eve of her wedding to Nicholas Young, heir to one of the greatest fortunes in Asia, Rachel should be over the moon. She has a flawless Asscher-cut diamond from JAR, a wedding dress she loves more than anything found in the salons of Paris, and a fiancé willing to sacrifice his entire inheritance in order to marry her. But Rachel still mourns the fact that her birthfather, a man she never knew, won’t be able to walk her down the aisle. Until: a shocking revelation draws Rachel into a world of Shanghai splendor beyond anything she has ever imagined. Here we meet Carlton, a Ferrari-crashing bad boy known for Prince Harry-like antics; Colette, a celebrity girlfriend chased by fevered paparazzi; and the man Rachel has spent her entire life waiting to meet: her father. Meanwhile, Singapore’s It Girl, Astrid Leong, is shocked to discover that there is a downside to having a newly minted tech billionaire husband. A romp through Asia’s most exclusive clubs, auction houses, and estates, China Rich Girlfriend brings us into the elite circles of Mainland China, introducing a captivating cast of characters, and offering an inside glimpse at what it’s like to be gloriously, crazily, China-rich."

~ China Rich Girlfriend from Goodreads

Hear me out, folks.  On everything I love, I wish I had more to say about Kevin Kwan’s China Rich Girlfriend.  I really, really do.  However, I don’t.  Or at least have much to expound on about my minuscule disappointment with the book.  A disappointment brewed by the contrived connectivity with each of his characters’ story threads.  Including threads developed completely from the core cast (Nick and Rachel).  So it's kind of strange when I think about how much I loved his previous book, Crazy Rich Asian.  I guess I assumed too much going into his second book.

Nevertheless, after reading China Rich Girlfriend in January, I couldn't find the right words on how I felt about the book.  Good or bad!  So months later, my resounding complaint is still that contrived connectivity issue.  It's like a wall I can't climb.  It's all I think when I recall my experience.  Which has lead me to this late post.

The Brotherhood of J. D. Robb

(Disclaimer: This post may be meant for readers of the series.)

All right!  Let’s get into this one.  J. D. Robb’s In Death #42, Brotherhood in Death.  The book where we finally get into Dennis Mira's story–including more “cuddle” talk about him.  Which, to be frank, is annoying sometimes.  We get it.  Dennis Mira is a dreamy, gentle-hearted and harmless man of a certain age who wouldn’t hurt a fly.  Now with that said.  I do like how–after all these years–Robb gave us a book unwrapping pieces of his character's past.

But before I get into all that, let’s set the book up.

Like any J. D. Robb book, the premise is pretty simple.  In Brotherhood’s case, Dennis and his cousin, Edward, were meeting a real estate agent.  It's time to address and settle an agreement on their late grandfather’s West Village brownstone.  Having grew up in the home, Dennis wants to keep it.  Yet Edward is ready to sell–with his former position as a powerful senator apart of the negotiations.  This leaves Dennis preparing a defense.  

Edward is calculating and tactful, and it’s those characteristics that left him dead in the brownstone.  It may seem random, but the truth is Edward's past came back to snuff him out.  Unfortunate for Dennis, he discovers the body upon entering the brownstone.  And is swiftly hit over the head by Edward's killer, only to awake with the body of his cousin missing.  Lucky for him, in his back pocket resides New York homicide Lieutenant, Eve Dallas. 

Sweeping the brownstone leaves little forensic clues for Dallas and her team.  Yet, that’s where her billionaire husband Roarke comes in handy.  Though through an illegal search, Dallas uncovers some interesting details around Edward’s life.  Particularly around his years at Yale University.  A time where he formed a pact–a Brotherhood–with a string of other recently missing or murdered powerful men around New York.  Of course, this leaves Eve Dallas and her team to draw the connections.

Someone–or many–are knocking these men out one by one.  And leaving Dallas to clean up the mess.  Yet, what she discovers asks who are the true victims in this case?  Corrupt men like Edward Mira?  Or the vengeful souls plucking him and his Brotherhood down, spurred by vigilance?  Or is it justice?

And that’s how Brotherhood in Death is set up.  Now turn away if you haven’t read the book because I’m about to spoil the hell out of it.  It’s a blog post, not the New York Times review.  So those who’ve read or don’t care, let’s talk about Brotherhood in Death.  I only made this choice because writing my thoughts out were just too damn vague.  So I had to lay it all out to make sense.  It’s sort of like trying to ignore the elephant in the room.

!...SPOILER WARNING...!