Killian's Blog/Website/Whatever

Daily Deity will be going on hiatus until I'm back in Seattle! It was probably stupid of me to start it before the new year, but I was excited about it, and excitement leads to impatience, which leads to rash decisions. In addition to having a nasty cut on the middle finger of my right--i.e. "drawing"--hand (not an impediment to typing due to my being an index finger "pecker"), I've been battling a mild-but-nevertheless-remarkably-inconveniencing illness, and doing family stuff, and trying to see all my hometown friends, and snuggling with a puppy, et cetera. I've also had hiccoughs for the past, I dunno, ten minutes (Matthew's fault). That's not really related, but it is annoying. Anyways, point being that I will get back to structured drawing exercises when I'm back home. OMG , these hiccoughs are horrible. Let's see, good things. I got a haircut today! It looks tres spiffy (it's a bob. A blue bob. Sounds a bit like a bird, doesn...

I missed yesterday. Already, one day missed! But whatever, because I was traveling, and I feel that's a valid excuse. Now, safe and sound at the parentals' for the holidays, I can get back to it. Thoth! I did two of them today. That can be my penance. The first one was my "warm up" and the second is more my personal style. warmin' up (again, these pictures taken with my phone. haaaa.) doin' the good stuff Obviously, my idea of the good stuff is drawing a cartoon. Plus, cartooning is faaaast! The first one took me about half an hour, and the second took me maybe five minutes. I realized, after sketching the first (and then trying to make it interesting with some shading and sharp lines), that I should really be allowing myself a warm up and then actually going for it in my style instead of settling for things that are slightly boring. I mean, Fenrir took me two drunk minutes to draw, and he was great. I just need to loosen up! Which, coincidental...

So, apparently we've got an "animal" theme at the moment. Let's just roll with it, shall we? Today, adding to the diversity of both geography and biology hereby represented, I give you Moritasgus! the Celtic/Gaulish god associated with the Greco-Roman Apollo, often called upon by those in need of healing, and bearer of a name that means either "Great Badger" or "Sea Badger"*. I decided to just go ahead and make him a Sea Badger. (duh.) His lady-friend's name is Damona, and the snake/hand combo is her little shout-out (based on the only remaining bits of a cult-statue of her at a healing spring shrine). I'm also particularly fond of the hand, because I basically want to be Hellboy when I grow up. No one draws like Mignola. Seriously. But sometimes, for the sake of exercise, it's fun to try! Anywhoo, my buddy Kait gets the credit for suggesting this badger-licious dude. :D In other news, I'm getting super jealous of people w...

Today's deity was suggested by Daniel: A fab quote via wikipedia, which was part of the inspiration :  " Further into the poem, the völva foretells that Odin will be consumed by Fenrir at Ragnarök." Rad . This is a nice li'l homage to my term studying Icelandic Sagas (remarkably, most focused on the mortal, and not the godly. But that doesn't mean those ol' vikings didn't like their gods. I, myself, have an unintentional-but-all-around-snuggly love for Odin, but Fenrir is pretty hardcore. Rowling, as many of you may have already concluded, made him famous in these strange, contemporary times of ours). Fortunately, since I've had about 2/3 of a bottle of wine, he was not the hardest to draw. Three cheers for wine and wolves!  Ain't he cute? Grad school apps are all due tomorrow*. All of my stuff is submitted (phew), so... Wish me luck! *except for one, which is due in March

Today, we have Khonvoum , the Mbuti (or Bambuti; an indigenous pygmy group from what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo) god of the hunt, in addition to being their creator. His bow is made from two snakes, which we mortals see as rainbows, and he often appears to humans as a chameleon (which is how I decided to draw him). Again, bad picture quality. Sorry! We're tearing the house apart, trying to find our camera charger. Other new stuff since yesterday: I got some new perfume in the mail this morning from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (aka The Only People Who Supply Me With Perfume)! They discontinued my old scent*, so I'm experimenting with something new**. Each one  comes in little 5ml. bottles, and, since they're concentrated oils, they're not gross and alcohol-y. You should check them out! Granted, I'm a little obsessed with all things olfactory, so their website is my version of an artisan chocolate shop. I spend hours drooling over their stuff. If I ...

There are a lot of blogs out there, written by people who do really cool things. It would appear that I'm addicted to DIY and fashion blogs (have you seen 365 Lucky Days , for instance?? Holy cow.) and I have been wondering to myself if there's some kind of project I could come up with that would make me practice art every day (my otter comic would be good for this if I thought my life was more exciting and worth visual documentation, but most of my day occurs...um, in my head? I'm not quite good enough at the auto-bio comic thing just yet, and I also need a bit of diversity in my subject matter. People with webcomics don't just draw their webcomics). The added bonus of something like this: it gives me something new to procrastinate! When I have an art project to work on, I procrastinate by writing. When I have writing projects to work on, I tend to procrastinate by doing art projects. However, I've been a bit dried up on the Drawing Inspirations lately, so my writ...

Listening to this is helping me perk up. I think if there ever was a sign from on high that Daniel and I were meant to be, it's that we both (due to the best childhoods ever, no doubt) know every word on this album. Tea is nice, too. Speaking of the Muppets, the new movie--since I don't think I've mentioned it--was great!! Not enough Gonzo, though. That's my sole complaint. Gonzo is my homeboy. We're existential bros. image from the muppet wiki I guess I should go make some cookies or something. Yes, I will not let this meh -ness defeat me or my cookies-and-pajamas party! UPDATE: We've moved on to the Muppet Treasure Island soundtrack. Suddenly, life is totally beautiful.

There's a funny story in the Czuba household* involving my mother and a particularly charming malapropism (is it still technically a malapropism if she just made up a word, entirely? I'll finish the story and let you decide). My father, in particular moods--e.g. whilst experiencing flattery, great pride in the acts of his children, etc--likes to say " I'm all verklempt! " in his best Old, New York Mother fashion**. So, once, while feeling very emotional, my mom proclaimed "ahh, I'm over-kelmpt!" I hope she doesn't kill me for sharing this story; I really do find it adorable and sweet, even though we poked a bit of fun at her for it, at the time. The point of this little anecdote is that the term "over-kelpmt" has become its own Czuba Family Phrase, complete with alternate definition (instead of being generally overwhelmed with emotion, it tends to have an anxiously-overwrought flavor). Why am I telling this story? It's not to embarr...

One of my best buddies--L.--made the most amazing portrait of me. She uses pastels and genius to make her artworks, and you can even commission her to make one of you (or your loved one, or pet, etc)! This is her website:  http://www.porkwaportraits.com/index.html   There are a butt-ton of things in life that I love, and two of them are (1) L. and (2) supporting artists (writers, painters, embroiderers, cartographers, etc). I am also slightly vain*. When I saw what she made, my brain exploded. This is what it looks like: I don't know if I'm even that good-looking in real life. Man. I love it. I love L. I love everything! Check her out, because her work will make you fill up with optimism and fuzzy feelings--like Ecstasy**, but safe and legal.  *some days more than others. but who isn't , really? be honest--it's okay to love yourself a little bit. in fact, it's healthy. **since I've never done E, this is based on satirical representation and h...