I spent most of yesterday doing this. (Nudity!) I’d been wanting an excuse to paint a turtle.

Then I colored it. I hate the color, however. Hate it. Wandered around the room and hated it. Laid awake in the night thinking “God, I hate that.” Wondered how to fix it. I like the black and white part, I’m pretty pleased, but the color…blurgh. Sometimes you hit the nail on the head, and sometimes you just mash your thumb into the wall. This was a thumbmasher.

And then, today, like a deux ex machina lowered onto the stage by struggling Greek roadies, the solution came in the mail–Painter 8. (No, I couldn’t afford it. But James saw that Corel is selling Painter, and we figured it was worth more pain on the credit card to get t’upgrade, since Painter is vital to our continued existences, and god knows what the new owners will do. That poor program has been passed around more than a joint at a Dead show…)

So now, I’m mucking about with the nifty new Painter, using the nifty new things they did with watercolor–TWO options now, digital watercolor and…err…well, it’s still digital, I suppose technically, but it’s just called “watercolor” and blends differently. I think I’ll make the whole thing iridescent and pastel. I mean, it’s a fairy. Fairies are supposed to be iridescent and pastel. So we’ll see how that goes.

At last count, I sent out 28 art submissions for freelance work. I’m gonna give it a few days and work on some con stuff and commissions, and if I’m not getting nibbles, I’ll send out some physical mailings. And we’ll see how that, too, goes.