The Green Room

On October 29th I decided that this was the year I was going to do NaNoWriMo. November is National Novel Writing Month and the NaNoWriMo organization offers a contest to see which writers can write a novel in a month. I've decided to unofficial try it. So my evenings and weekends and any other spare moment, will be spent working on my novel. They suggest about 50,000 words. I'm currently at 6,000. 

But my timing this year is perfect. My back bedroom is clean and ready for use. And to top that off, I decided to paint the place at the beginning of October. I had been talking about painting for months, as one of my friends can attest to. I debated between green and purple. I also debated when to do it. In order to paint, I have a couple of tons of books to move. So I kept putting it off. I had originally planned it to be a spring project, then a summer project, and finally a fall project. 

One Friday evening I came home and told Jeff that we were having dinner near the hardware store. We walked in after dinner and I picked up a lovely shade of green. It's called Lettuce Alone from Olympic paints. The woman at the counter told me it was an "interesting" color. I think she meant that in a good way. I came home that night and started moving stuff. I moved books and bookcases. I moved the bed. The next morning I got up and started taping and then I started painting. I spent the whole day painting and moving things. But by the end of the day, I had a green room. Along with a green paint brush, green ladder, green drop cloth, green edger, and partly green pants. I never said I was a tidy painter. 

A computer, green walls, and a thermos of coffee. All set to write. 

The end result is that I love the color. I love the room. It seems so much brighter and so much warmer. Most of the art I have on the wall doesn't really match but I've decided that I don't care. I love these walls. And I love my new place to write. I sit up here happily, basking in the cheerfulness. At least I have a good place to make my first novel attempt in over 15 years. Now if the book will only come out as good as the color.

 

Pascal Campion

The first thing that crossed my mind when I saw the covers for Oogeley Boogeley 4 and 5 by Pascal Campion, is that here is an artist that reaffirms my faith in humanity. I know that's an awful lot to put onto an artist and illustrator that only a couple days before I hadn't even heard of. But something about Pascal's work just makes me so incredibly happy. His mix of bright colors, clean lines, and often cute subjects continually remind me that there are so many great things in life. And I will freely say that since I first saw those covers on a random post on Parka Blog, I have been actively seeking out his work. After my birthday (and our trip) in November, I'm going to pick up Oogeley Boogeley, whichever versions I can get my hands on.

Pascal offers plenty of work for me to find. He posts a new image pretty much daily on his regular blog and then another set of images on a joint blog with Matthieu Forichon called Scribilings. So each day I'm treated to not one but two new images. That kind of prolific work is impressive but only that much more impressive when you look at the regular quality of the work. I read a interview with him that was done back in 2007 (I'm a bit behind) and he mentioned how he tricks the inner critic that I'm going to try. He says that when he sits down to create he makes a quick mark on the page. That way it is no longer a blank page and he can avoid that "Blank sheet of paper fear." I'm going to have to try that since it is one of my issues.

Pascal is a San Francisco based artist who grew up in France. He has done illustration and animation work, along with his regularly done sketches. He sometimes draws images from his life, or goes the exact opposite way, creating new and interesting animal characters. And if I didn't already love the cute animals and wonderful people that Pascal creates, I would be excited by the bright colors and shades that he uses. Like this image below which is one of his new ones on his blog that feels moody but also warm and inviting.

Or this cute little loves story told in one picture. I am in awe of how he uses color in this one. We see one half of the story with moody blues and darkness. And the other with its purples and pinks and brightness. Just beautiful. Aptly titled Romeo and Juliet.

I am shocked by the variety of styles that he uses. His animal images have such a feeling of unreality. Very bright often exaggerated lines and colors. Whereas some of his family images tend to be very realistic although with a more stylized line. He's been recently doing a number of train images that have a dark, sketchy sort of feel to them. Always varied. And I constantly am delighted by some of the wild and wonderful characters that he brings to life. What can I say, his work just makes me happy.