Float Like a Butterfly...

...Sting like a bee.


No real surprise to anyone, but I am an aquatic hobbyist. Save a few short years, I have kept aquaria my entire life. My passion generally sticks to high tech planted tanks and SA fishes (breeding discus is a fun adventure, every time).


Since the very first time I saw one as a child - I can't remember if it was a store, public aquarium, or even a zoo - there is a fish that has captured my interest; a creature that, while I'd always dreamed of playing steward for one, I'd laugh off just as readily and shrug "Yeah, right."


Introducing Aristotle, my Christmas-gift-to-myself.

...A juvenile Pterois volitans. The volitan lionfish. The running bet is three weeks before I do something stupid and get myself stung.


As everyone who has ever wielded a camera knows, these guys are gut-wrenchingly photogenic.

...Because posting two shots in the same style is practically against the rules.


He is also the inspiration for my next dragon. Imagine the creature as a fanciful cross between a volitan lion and a leafy see dragon, and you'll be spot on. 


(Lionfish keepers, please avoid feeding your pet goldfish/rosie reds/other cyprinids. They are high in thiaminase and are bad for your predator! Ditto with freeze dried krill, which is nutritionally sad...)


Time to go feed the lion! :D

Wormwood Greenback

Jeesh, talk about getting sidetracked! Ages and ages ago, I posted a WIP of the Greenback...


Yeah. That one.


Anywho, he stared at me from my desk, looking all sad and pathetic, for SO long that I had to break down and finish him.


And I did ^^


Introducing...

Wormwood Greenback, Absinthe greenback

Draconis absinthium

The Wormwood Greenback is native to Eurasia. It derives its name from its preferred habitat: this species is typically found inhabiting fields of Artemisia absinthium - particularily those plants being cultivated for use in procuring the Absinthe spirit. This dragon's habitat, combined with its tendency to be seen alongside a green faerie and body spines capable of injecting a hallucinogenic poison, have also earned it the common name "Absinthe Greenback". 

Unique to the Greenback are large, paddle-like feet adapted to climbing the delicate stems of the wormwood plant. It relies heavily on a long, prehensile tail to aid in climbing. Compared to other dragon species, D. absinthium has very underdeveloped wings and cannot fly long distances; its wings are primarily used as camouflage and for gliding between plants.

D. absinthium is one of the few truly omnivorous dragon species, relying on a diet of insects as well as the nectar of A. absinthium, which has led to the introduction of these dragons as a form of natural pest control by well-meaning farmers of this crop; unfortunately, this has resulted in an invasion of D. absinthium in non-native areas.

Dragonlets are a silvery grey and may sport a fine, downy hair. Adult males sport darker, richer colours than females, and the dominant male in an area will sport a violently golden belly.

While these dragons are not unfriendly, they are considered an undesirable pest.

Heartfelt, a series

Here's a secret... Occasionally, and only when we're begged, mind you... Sharkie and I shoot weddings.


0_o


Yeah. I know.


But I wanted to share this series with you. When Sharkie shot the first image, he had no idea of the significance of what he'd shot.


The day before the wedding, he and I were at the venue for the reception, double and tripple checking lighting, spacing, and all of that other nonsense that goes along with shooting weddings. Vic - Sharkie - looked over, and happened to catch this image:

Post using Nik Silver Efex Pro... Which I love.

Which was cool and all, but... Well, testing lighting, right?

 The next day was the big one. The weather was great, everyone looked perfect, and the wedding ceremony went smoothly (yeah, that actually happens apparently!).


Before the reception we were stalking around, and one-or-the-other of us caught this image:

Nik software again, because...I still love it. No, this isn't HDR.

Which is fun and pretty and all, but...Meh.


Then the reception came. Rather than a speech, the [very talented] brother of the bride wrote and performed a song that had everyone in attendance alternating between tears and stitches.

Still Nik'd... Still love it

And the importance of what we'd unintentionally captured became clear. We photographed brother writing the song (entirely legible!), we photographed him practising the completed song, and we caught him performing it. *Wipes tear*


It's the details that make the day, and this series is a fave.

1970 Fairytale

Once upon a time there was a car. 














The car died.


It took more than a kiss to bring this beauty back to life, but after over twenty years of hard work, my father finally got his 1970 Mercury Cougar XR7 (convertible, of course!) back on the road. With a killer paint job, naturally.

(Paint is Candy Brandy Wine - much darker than it appears - by DuPont, and painted by Royal Auto Body in Waterloo. 

Ten Awesome Points to them. Seriously. If you need body work done, go see them. <3)

Naturally, Sharkie and I had to head out for a photo shoot. Two Alien Bees and...Crud, what Nikon (*cough* we both shoot Canon *cough*) flash was it? Er, a little help? ... and we were rolling.

Snap!

Crackle..? (Er...strobes shouldn't make that sound, right?)

Pop!

Could have used another strobe on the hood. Oops. 

The final picture is a composite of three shots like this using two Alien Bees on different parts of the body, plus the shot below.

(A sudden craving for Rice Krispies...)

That's the Nikon flash off-camera, triggered by Radio Poppers 

(which are also awesome. You know what, RP can have ten Awesome Points too.)

Stick 'em all together and mask layers for the best exposure (and play with some Nik software) and Voila!

I think she'll make a lovely desktop ;)

And they lived happily ever after.

Sneak Peak: Dragon

Coming soon, to a bestiary near you: The Wormwood Greenback:

Real life has prevented me from working on this guy of late, but he should be done in the next few days. BIG feet and simple wings make him pretty different from the Copperwing, but on the same tiny scale ;)  (Of course he has wings, but I had to save some surprises, didn't I?

The Birth of a Dragon

Remember this guy?

One thing I always love to see from different artists is progress works of their pieces. It's always interesting to me to see what artwork looked like before it was finished...and in the very beginning.


The Copperwing Dragon started with an idea. I was making eggs for lunch one day and decided that it would be fun to sculpt a dragon hatching from an egg. I cracked the shell carefully, cleaned it, then painted it. In my work space, I worked out a mock-up of what I wanted the dragon to look like...ish.

But...no one ever said I follow my own plans.


It was this early that I wrote the story that went along with the Copperwing. I had to keep his habitat in mind to sculpt him an appropriate body. His woody colour scheme was born at the same time.


A loose wire and foil armature followed next, then I broke out the Apoxie Sculpt (this product is very soft, and I can't imagine trying to use it without an armature beneath). Apoxie Sculpt is my favourite clay! It's a two-part clay that takes about three hours to dry (much less in warmer weather), doesn't shrink as it cures, doesn't need to be baked, and is incredibly strong. I fiddled with the snake-like body, and then set hematite beads for eyes into a lump of air-dry clay (I hate air-dry clay. Hate it. You finally get things the way you like, then the brittle stuff crumbles, or gets wet, or shrinks, or...).

Er...and, I guess, added the wire form for the horns. Heh.

The Apoxie Sculpt is so soft that I found I had to wait for each "stage" to cure completely before continuing to sculpt. As a result, this dragon took a couple of weeks to complete.

Next came a snout, and the wire forms for the wings. 

Horns are in the foreground. Yep, he still fits around that egg!

I liked the serpent-like look so much that he almost became a very different dragon...or some sort of legless, winged snake. But my "cram-as-much-detail-as-possible-into-a-tiny-sculpt"-ness won out.

Cheek scales, eyelids and the reason I couldn't use a baked clay:

Meanwhile, I was sculpting the wings separately. If anyone is interested, I'll make a separate tutorial for these. It would take a whole post to explain how they were made! Modeled very loosely after bat wings.

Oh lookie! Back spines! Chest scales! A LEG! (The leg actually came much, much later, and after a lot of internal warring over whether I even wanted to add legs. Ultimately he got back legs, but no forelegs. A wyvern!).

His second leg was sculpted, then textures scales and spines were added wherever I felt he needed them.

Then came the moment that almost made me cry:

Yep. Pretty terrible, innit? At this point, I thought I had made a HUGE mistake. I liked the look of the light dragon... and the first brown wash looked terrible.

Several different brown washes, a black wash, a moss-green wash, grey layers, tan layers and much fiddling later, we have an almost-finished-being-painted dragon...but still wingless. I didn't add the wings until last, as I knew they would prevent me from adding as much detail as I wanted, and would most certainly leave me areas I couldn't paint.

The wings were attached, and the whole dragon got a very sparse layer of copper drybrushed on (save for the underbelly and inner surfaces of the wings and cheek membranes, that got pale gold). Voila! The Copperwing Dragon.

Related post: Copperwing Dragon

Tyger, Tyger...

Tyger, Tyger, burning bright

In the middle of the night,

Bored, the sweet boyfriend and I

Might scare the neighbours, royally.

Not but moon does light the skies

Illuminate bloodshot, paint-filled eyes.

Through a GOBO strobe did fire, 

From its place in links of wire.

Paint face to shoulder, patience's art,

Don't move 'till the photoshoot starts 

Lather, rinse, and then repeat,

Just wash it off, man I'm beat! 

Rest-deprived, from sleep abstain,

How long 'till we do this again? 

Just down the street the neighbours gasp 

(...Have you ever rhymed with "-asp"?)

Just a hot night, with sweat and smears,

Done stupid stunts like this for years. 

Victor groaned, his work to see

I hate pictures that feature me.  

Tyger, Tyger, burning bright

In the middle of the night,

Bored, the sweet boyfriend and I

Did scare the neighbours, royally. ;)

(The Tyger, by William Blake of course... bastardized by moi... not that I want to admit to it.)

Yes, this was actually done at midnight. Yes, I painted myself because I was bored. Yes, the neighbours did happen to be out after midnight when he and I were walking home from the park. Oops.

Remote flash was actually suspended in a chain link fence, and GOBO (that's "GOes Before Optics", for the non-photogers in the room) was a handful of long grass I was holding between the flash and I. Painting my myself on myself, photo by Victor ([link]) - check him out; his photography is awesome.

That starburst of light is a flash unceremoniously jammed in a chain-link fence. 

Me, painted, in a camisole...I used grease paints, if anyone cares. 

Tough to see, but I am holding an iPhone that we were using as a modeling light, and to set the focus. Hehe.

Er...fangs aren't just for vampires anymore. Yes, I was wearing tooth caps. No, that isn't photoshopped.

HP Premier was an Interactive Experience

...Just because I never shared my Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 experience ;)

These guys were awesome, and great sports. *Slytherin Pride*

Sorry guys, I don't know your names, or I'd credit you for your awesome costumes. 

Methinks these are two separate groups (three, including me).

Slytherin wins for that AWESOME snake costume (which was so much more awesome IRL...and a time-turner on a Slytherin has me humming "It's not over yet" from A Very Potter Sequel...again), and that Lupin? Probably the best costume in the theater.

I lied. After posting Thursday about my impending trip down to the theater, I gave them a call. Much to my chagrin, lines had already started! My anticipated five-hour line up became a seven-hour line up. I donned my cloak and scarf, grabbed my wand, and made my way down to crazy-fan central.

These were the second- and third-groups in line behind us for our theater. Got most of them singing AVPM ;)

Notice the Lupin pin? So cute.

The Doctor and the Ninja? I don't know. Neither did they.

The Gryffindor (BooHiss) front-and-center is Katie (thanks for sharing your popcorn), but I've forgotten the rest of your names. Sorry!

Seven hours had never flown by so fast! My wonderful local theater had Harry Potter playing for the midnight premier in no less than four theaters (possibly more? It's a big place). I was first in line for my theater, but not my much...and I wasn't first in line my any means (though I was certainly the oldest for a good long while...). Seven hours of making crazy fan friends, singing (and watching) A Very Potter Musical (check it out on youtube if you haven't seen it - it's a real gem!) and general merry-making before we got our Harry Potter-shaped 3D glasses (nice touch, Empire!) and were let in to take our seats.

Manulife had a Friends-and-Family pre-screening of HP at 7:00!

These folks had great costumes - you can't see much of Hagrid, but it was amazing.

Unfortunately, I only had time to grab a cellphone shot with them as they entered the theater (*jealous*). 

(Excuse the face *Sigh*...I was trying not to laugh)

During the movie, the crowd erupted into applause at LEAST six times (I shamelessly started the applause two of those times...Heh) and laughed at the beginning and the end (HOWLS of laughter at the Twilight trailer, and a symphony of snickers at the epilogue...). It was brilliant. The adaptation was leagues from the book, but stunning nonetheless. Acting was superb (Alan Rickman...WOW!), visual effects were awe-inspiring, and the action itself was heart-stopping.

A toast to costume and set design. You guys outdid yourselves.

Firewhiskeys all around!

Thanks Vic, for the photos, keeping me company, and putting up with my insanity

The Roarin' 20s

What were you doing in the 1920s?

Me? I was a twinkle in a  twinkle...In a twinkle. Then came 1921, when my grandfather was born.

And some photos are too precious not to share.

Here is one of my favourite men in the world, circa the mid-1920s some time ;) A timeless photo.

(And look at those shoes! And that bike! Those glasses! *Squeel!)

Copperwing Dragon

“Faithless” Copperwing, Western Copperwing
Scientific Name: Draconis insidiae

Owing, no doubt, to its smaller than average size, slow growth and lack of precious metal-hoarding tendencies, numerous attempts have been made over the centuries to tame the Copperwing. All of these efforts have ended in well-publicized deaths, save one: Lord Hepten Bowersworth survived an attack by a female Copperwing he had raised from the egg in 1671, suffering only the loss of his left leg. When confronted about the incident by neighbours, Lord Bowersworth simply said “she doesn’t know her own strength; she just got a tad overexcited.” 

Lord Bowersworth’s body was found nine years later, appearing to have been mauled badly and burned nearly beyond recognition. Local authorities believed a dragon was at fault, but the dragon was never found.

The species name “insidiae” and the common name “Faithless” Copperwing were earned on behalf of the dragonlet’s unfortunate habit of mauling those that spend the most time raising it. While Copperwing dames usually survive the attacks of their young, human caretakers or foster mothers are often not so lucky. Most recently, a mature wyvern (species unknown) that had successfully reared a foster clutch of Hawaiian Blackbacks was given a single young Copperwing to bond with; the wyvern survived only three hours. Unlike some other dragons, the D. insidiae is non-venomous. 

The Copperwing is indigenous to Western Canada and lives almost exclusively in the Rocky Mountains. Unlike most other species in this genus, D. insidiae prefers to live in trees rather than in caves. The Copperwing’s earthy colours allows it to blend in with bark and dead leaves; consequently, it is rarely seen, even by those specifically looking for it. 

D. insidiae's metallic scales were once highly sought for jewelry, resulting in the species being hunted to near-extinction. In the early 1800’s, legislation was enacted to protect Copperwings, their eggs and their young. 

This species is a strict carnivore. The diet of the dragonlets is almost exclusively cicadas, expanding to include small rodents like mice and squirrels as the dragons grow. 

Adult Size: Females: 3.4m, Males:2.6m
Wingspan: up to 4m

Apoxie Sculpt over a wire and foil armature, hematite eyes. 9 cm tall.


Er...To my knowledge, Lord Bowersworth is an entirely fictional character. If there has been a Lord Bowersworth, my apologies for stealing the name... but I bet he didn't die by dragon.


If he DID die by dragon...I wash my hands of this post :P

Harry Freaking Potter!

(Ten points from Gryffindor for anyone who got the AVPM/AVPS reference. Because Snape wins. Don't question it).

Eight hours.

In eight hours, I'll be sitting in a dark theater, heart pumping, holding my breath with hundreds of other fans while the last part of everyone's favourite epic saga begins to unfold.

I can't wait.

Of course, it'll only be THREE hours until the theater anticipates the lineups starting.

I can't wait for that, either. I'll be the nutter in the Slytherin scarf.

One question is on everyone's mind: how will the re-write of our favourite Death Eater's death sit with fans? Personally, I am torn. I always, always prefer movies based on books to sit as close as possible to the source material...but in this case? A crystal house before a burning, battle-strewn Hogwarts should be visually stunning. An epic demise is still less than he deserves - he was SO CLOSE, darnit! - but it may be a fitting homage to JK's greatest character. 

We'll see 

...Here's my homage. Inspired by Severus Snape, of course.

The poem reads:


Wordcrafter – weave words into pretty patterns 
until they melt like butter on your mind
Singing through consciousness
Art as timeless as any canvas
Coaxed into being as by an oil-laden brush
Master artist, weave your words
- Ty Rose (me!)


Light painting in a dark room, long-ish shutter speed. Sorry I suck at calligraphy - yes, I did use the feather quill that is in the photo to write it. I learned that steel nibs and really, REALLY crinkled paper don't mix. Oops.

PS: I love that pocket watch. And Severus Snape. I am going to cry tonight.