Guest Post--Liz Argall and The Things

So, like a huge dork I focused on making sure I remembered to be on the podcast that I missed last week and then promptly forgot what day it was in all the mad rushing around pre-storm. (I had to have some medical tests done.) Anyway, I promised a friend that they could have a guest post today. So...this is really late. This is all on me. I swear, I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached these days.

So, Liz is a wonderful webcomic art, writer, and an all around excellent friend. Today, she's here to promote her Patreon. Go forth and support her work. She writes about Things Without Arms and Legs (creatures who are kind.) And because she's awesome in every way, she made me into a sea monster. I gotta say, I make a rather fetching sea monster. Those teeth are all me. Isn't it fun? :) 

How to turn Stina Into a Sea Monster
aka the effort in simplicity

1.
Liz: What kind of mythical beast are you?
Stina: Unicorn badger? Selkie? Friendly seamonster?

2.
Liz creates a concept board from images of sea monsters, merfolk, selkies, seals, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II (for the regal seating while dealing with masses of fabric, a train is like a tail, right?), paper crowns, flower crowns, enormous tiaras, seaweed, Stina, and dogfish.

3.
Spends about 4 hours doing concept sketches fleshes out a regal Stina sitting on her underwater throne. Explores half a dozen ways of representing Stina’s face. Think about art deco. Get frustrated with how static the sketches feel. This sea monster is elaborate, with massive wings and a serpent tail, a spikey crown as long as her chest and claws the length of her forearms. She also has a sweet and charming face with one little fang poking out. The monster has a bunch of stuff going on, but it’s kinda dull. It has stuff going on rather than being about the stuff it is. Have stylus physically wear out so that you can no longer write with it and have to use your finger. 

4.
Go to bed dispirited. 

5. 
Think, hang on, yes I can do realistic, but that is not the thingness of Things! This should be a character, not a painting!

6.
Draw doodles in bed while thinking Stina monster and of all the marine biology you studied in school (especially dogfish, porpoises, sharks and killer whales. Thanks, Lesley, Bron and Barry!) and what it felt like to pat a wild Port Jackson shark.

7. 
Fall in love with a doodle.

8. 
Spend the next day inking and coloring it.

9.
Send to other folks to look at (possibly the hardest part).
Stina the Friendly Sea Monster 


Liz Argall creates the webcomic http://thingswithout.com
Her most famous comic is a sad http://www.thingswithout.com/comic/311-a-sad/
She has a brand new Patreon (where everyday folks can be patrons of the arts and support their favorite creators for as little as $1 a month) https://www.patreon.com/lizargall