Marzipan Soup

We're Jammin'

2009-04-17T08:55:00.000-07:00

Starting this month, something familiar will occur in our Nation's Capital. What? Whaat? The new Ottawa Comix Jam will have its launch this April, at an as of yet undetermined location (TBA soon!).

Drawing inspiration from the successful Montreal, Toronto and NY comic jams, the event will be a monthly occurence, where comic artists gather and draw for a few hours together.

"HOW: Bring a nice piece of paper, divide it up into segments, and start drawing (painting, colouring…). When you have filled one square you pass it to someone else and they fill the next square and pass it on. There are no rules, styles vary, stories unfold, people fall in love, wars break out, the world is knocked off it’s axis, Days of Our Lives is still on television, shit is fun."
Thanks to: Aimée van Drimmelen' Montreal Drink & Draw site

Produced drawings will be scanned and displayed on the Jam's Facebook Group page. There is also a bare bones site for the Jam where people can acquaint themselves with the Jam FAQ, check out the bios of regular contributing artists and find out information not covered elsewhere.

So, throw caution to the wind; come out, come out and share your talent and have fun. Meet some new people, meet some old people and have a drink :-) Then, draw on each other's pages (that's always fun!) I am looking forward to meeting everyone who is interested in re-igniting this sadly missed Ottawa event.

Cheers!
Suzanne.

For more information, contact me via email, FB or txt: 613-323-3377.

Coming soon...

2009-04-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

Gird thy LOINS!

2008-10-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

This is it, man--this is the time, now is the moment.
Friday, October 17th at 8:00pm, DragonHead Studio will transform from its usual organized mess into a razor's edge of creative instensity. We have confirmed artists, we have grub, we have supplies! We're ready!

For your amusement and to get you excited about the upcoming Event, here are some pics from last year's challenge, where much great artwork was produced and new friendships solidified! Just think, this time next year, you could be looking a sweet collection of photos from the upcoming weekend. If you act quickly, your mug might even be profiled! Ya never know...

Speaking of mugs, here's yours truly at Kanata Centrum, picking up Westin Church from the shuttle pick-up point.

The table at the studio in progress, covered in artwork, drinks and supplies. Meaghan Quinn surveys her efforts.

Left to right, Keith Savage, Westin Church, Lynette O'Brien and Meaghan Quinn, sometime in the middle of the night (probably before 2 am or so, since Keith headed off to sleep in his tent around then). Lynette had dropped by to shower us with support around 10pm, but mistakenly went to the wrong house. No one was home! Finally she heard the sounds of cussing and Frank Sinatra and made her way to the corrrect locale of the "do".

Westin catches 40 winks in the company of the world's coolest cat, Arlo, star of many of my comics. Westin's allergy medication was labouring hard to keep him going. With minor setbacks, he was still able to complete the gut-splitting tale of "Harry Hotdog in the Land of Linguini".

Yours truly, showing off the fruits of labour sometime in the wee hours of the morning. You can see by the 1,000-mile stare that the coffee had finally proved useless and the sugar crash had long ago happened. Still, it was a fun excersize!

Keith Savage (OMBRELLA) and Westin Church at Kanata Centrum, heading home after the event. Look how happy they are to escape back home to get some shut-eye! Lucky people!

Now, wouldn't YOU like to see yourself in these pics? You can! There's still a couple of spaces left if you're into it. Just contact me, via email, phone or psychic transmission. Check out the group on Facebook (24 Hour Comic day at DragonHead Studio) for info.

Confirmed 24 Hour comic artists this year include:

Suzanne Marsden:
Hostess, owner of DragonHead Studio, animator, traditional comic artist, writer.
Robert (Guang) Yap:
Animator, traditional comic artist, storyboard artist
Meaghan Quinn:
Web comic artist "Eat the Roses"
Clayton Jacobs:
Traditional comic artist, animation, novelist
Christopher Rudderham:
Web comic artist, "Sailorsun"

Participants confirmed for the 12 hour comic challenge

Keith Savage:
RPG systems inventor, animator, filmmaker, novelist.
James Fletcher:
Teacher, sculptor, member of the National Capital Network of Sculptors, Ottawa.

Check links to their work--this is going to be a phenomenal 24 Hour Comic party!

Plus, you can look forward to seeing it assembled as a documentary by talented filmmaker Randy Kelly!

Cheers, and to those who can't make it-- perhaps next year? It seems like it is becoming an annular event ;-)
Suzanne.

Will draw for the looooong green!

2008-08-28T12:24:00.000-07:00

Clayton bumped into an old work-mate of his on the train the other day. She said she'd been getting some work via Guru and suggested that he get on there and get some work too! Clay told me about it, and lo--that is exactly what I have done. Jumped aboard!

So, if you are interested in commissioning any artwork, drawings, writing, poetry, illustrations, graphics, small sculptures out of Fimo from me, now is your chance!

Sign up as an employer and put a job together and "Invite me" to do it for you. My online name is DragonHead Studio, but I'm sure hunting around for me by my good ol' handle will net you my page: Suzanne Marsden.

You have nothing to lose! For $25.00 minimum you can get a bona fide chunk of original artwork! Wow!!

Cheers,
Suzanne.

PS--below are samples of the some of the cards I've been doing lately.

24 Hour Comics Day up at DragonHead Studio!

2008-03-02T11:17:00.001-08:00

Check it out! My Webmistress, Carol Busato of Lucar Informatique, has set up a fantastic slide show featuring my work from October--the 24 Hour Comics Day extravaganza at DragonHead Studio. "The Magic Cauldron" is a 24 page (1 pg/ hr) comic including a 25th title page, completed in accordance with Scott McCloud's initial Dare. Yay!

NEWSFLASH! DragonHead Studio presents Westin Church's fabulous "Harry Hotdog in the Land of Linguini". Check out the delightful adventures of a talking hotdog. Really! From the 24 Hour Comics Day party that brought you "The Magic Cauldron".

Cheers,
Suzanne.

Too Many Sues!

2008-02-09T12:20:00.002-08:00

A phone doodle drawn in black pen while I was talking with my pal Heidi today. She helped cheer me up--yay! I coloured the multiple Sues with a limited # of Prismacolours, while talking with my Maw, who also cheered me. Having only about 8 pencils meant I had to do shading to get new colours, which was lots of fun.

Hang in there folks, I will be posting a SIX PAGE COMIC soon called "Rats Live On No Evil Star" (c) 2008 Marsden. When I'm done that I'm going to finish scanning my 24 Hour Comic, "The Magic Cauldron" and Westin Church's comic from the same day that will blow yer socks off.

Cheers
Suzanne.

PS--If you comment and Name your Fav Little Sue, I'll ad the specific doodle in the Blog in higher res. for fun :-)

A page o' little people

2008-01-26T13:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks for checking back here. No, the site ain't dead... I've just been lazy scanning stuff in here (sorry!) I did these at work while I was on the phone. Just some phone doodles. But they're kinda fun.
Cheers
Suzanne

Long while

2007-11-18T06:26:00.000-08:00

I know it's been forever since I posted last... I haven't stopped drawing (heavens no!) just been busy, and PShop pooped out on me, so it's been a drag manipulating any images I've been able to scan. So, this phone doodle (!) Yes, 'tis! Called "Bug Girl" was scanned and tidied in Paint Hahaha.. But I'm happy with her. I would like to blow her up and paint her, we'll see!

Black-Eyed Angel

2007-09-21T13:54:00.000-07:00

Someone on The Drawing Board wants a free sketch for a tattoo depicting a Black-Eyed Angel, inspired by Radiohead's Pyramid Song:

"I jumped in the river and what did I see?
Black-eyed angels swam with me
A moon full of stars and astral cars
All the things I used to see
All my lovers were there with me
All my past and futures
And we all went to heaven in a little row boat
There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt"

I dunno, for some reason I just felt like drawing it. Wonder if I can hit him up for a few bucks? Then I'd clean up a nice version at a much higher dpi and email it to him.. what do you think?
Cheers,
Suzanne.

PS This whole thing is pretty ironic, when you consider what I was going on about over on Womangue just the other week.. *wink*.

Top Ten Award on Art Wanted

2007-09-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

I've been posting some of my artwork on the Art Wanted site. It's fun; you get to organize images in your online portfolio in different categories. Other artists can comment on your work and "rate" it as well. People also offer suggestions, which is great!
Recently, I noticed that Video Store Biker Chick placed 6th on the Art Watch top ten! Then I realized that it wasn't just the image, it was me! Apparently I'm sixth on the "Art Watch" list which is quite fun. I'm really excited about the positive feedback my recent pastel images have garnered, since I'm not really a pastel person, and this drawing in particular was a quick sketch I did after seeing a girl briefly at a Summerside video store in PEI. Very cool!

If you like the image, check out my Cafe Press shop and pick up a T-shirt or 11" x 17" poster with the "Video Store Biker Chick" on it for your very own! More artwork to come, compadres ;-)
Cheers,
Suzanne.

Yyyaaaarrr

2007-09-18T21:42:00.000-07:00

'Tis talk like a pirate day. So's I s'pose I'll have ta be talkin' like this fer th' next little while..yarrr.. But, ta spare ye, I'll post some int'restin' stuff instead. An aside, me proud beauties, 'tis a long day and I could use a drink. Here be a Translat'arrr ta help ye with th' lingo.
One-Eyed Sue

A fine post from th' Flikr NaNoWriMo site, yarr..
Translation inta Piratese fer All Ye Scurrrvy Dogs:

"3) Art fer art's sake does wonderful thin's t' ye. It makes ye laugh. It makes ye cry. It makes ye wants t' loot naps 'n go places wearin' funny pants. Doin' somethin' jus' fer th' Davy Jones' locker o' 'tis a wonderful antidote t' all th' chores 'n "must-dos" o' daily life. Writin' a novel in a month be both exhilaratin' 'n squiffy, 'n we would all do well t' invite a little more spontaneous stupidity into our lives." -- Ahab.

If ye had trouble wi' that, rest yer lights on the hen scratches below n' sort it out in yer nut.

"3) Art for art's sake does wonderful things to you. It makes you laugh. It makes you cry. It makes you want to take naps and go places wearing funny pants. Doing something just for the hell of it is a wonderful antidote to all the chores and "must-dos" of daily life. Writing a novel in a month is both exhilarating and stupid, and we would all do well to invite a little more spontaneous stupidity into our lives."

If you only knew

2007-09-18T11:04:00.001-07:00

Check out all the excitement over on Womangue! The 24 Hour Comics Craze has set everything alight over there.
Cheers
Suzanne.

PS--Voting is officially over for the uploaded pastels. The winners are... THUNDER COVE! VIDEO STORE BIKER CHICK! Thanks for voting y'all, that is sweeeeet! Please keep checking the Cafe Press DragonHead Shop for items that will be sporting both (or either) of the winning designs. Thanks for your interest and for casting yer votes!

PPS--I am subscriber to Robert Genn's twice-weekly letters. Genn is a painter and author of "The Painter's Keys". Sometimes the letters are so-so, sometimes they're great. This time, they had a sweet quote that I'll leave you with:
"A goal without a deadline is a wish." (Cindy Rold)

TROY LITTLE CHIAROSCURO INTERVIEW

2007-09-16T12:38:00.001-07:00

Please proceed HERE to check out Troy Little on national television in Canada, courtesy of the CBC, Compass & YouTube.

For a written version of the interview, check this out.

Please be sure to pre-order "Chiaroscuro" from your favourite comic or book stores. The release date is coming up in October (15th), so don't miss out! Information on preordering can be fond on Troy's site here. Or hit up Amazon and pre-order online.

Can you shake it?

2007-09-12T08:51:00.001-07:00

A recent card I did for my friend Jenn's special day on the weekend. What could be more fun than dancing to great drumming? Going to a job interview of course! WHHEEEE!! :-D
Cheers,
Suzanne.

Remember to VOTE on your fav pastel pics, and also check out the new cool & fun products at the DragonHead Studio Store.

Plein d'air

2007-09-10T20:01:00.001-07:00

(Above, Charlottetown photo, tweaked in PShop to resemble Frank Miller's Sin City.)

Apologies for the looong hiatus. Mix 1 part apathy, 2 parts laziness, 3 parts working on other, less interesting art-stuff and 4 parts jest plain busy and ya get a big old empty Flog. Again, thanks for checking in to see if it was still on life-support! It made it! Hurray :-D

I've scanned some pastels (yes, pastels!) I did on my trip down east, visiting my buddies in New Brunswick and PEI. The drawings were inspired by people, places and things I saw on my trip, and some were pulled straight out of my wee cranium. The pastels and construction paper are the lowest grade that exists: Dollar Store grade. I find that using very cheap material means I have less stress drawing and sometimes surprising things happen.

Anyway, here's something fun--I'll post this batch, and why don't y'all vote and tell me which image(s) you'd like to see on an object at Cafe Press. I just updated TONS of material there, so if you think one(or a few) of these sketches might look nice on a mug, or your underwear, please let me know. If I don't hear anything, I might just ignore the Flog for another 2 months :-(

Cheers, & thanks for the support,
Suzanne.

Artwork in order of appearance
1. Night on the Renous, NB
2. Thunder Cove, PEI
3. Video Store Biker Chick, PEI
4. The Perseids, Kensington PEI
5. Jean Grey's Migraine
6. Red-haired Warrior I
7. Red-haired Warrior II
8. Warrior Woman with Shark Blade

summer and smooch!

2007-07-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

Another couple Facebook Graffiti drawings; one of me tackling a pile of icky dishes, a quick sketch for one of my lovely grrl buddies and finally a smooch for Jonny Fabu!
Now, back to my 'board. Alll..most..done...

Facebook Graffiti

2007-06-14T18:19:00.001-07:00

Hee hee..
Do you know on Facebook there is a "Graffiti" application? But you're not allowed having nudity on it... but I couldn't help myself.. Wahahaaaa.. :-D

If anyone is into it, you can get notecards with the "Zip" drawing on it on Cafe Press. Check it out! :-D Cheerio--
Suzanne.

Troy Little's Chiaroscuro

2007-05-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

Please check out the IDW Press Release for the upcoming October release of the deluxe hardcover book we've all been waiting to see: CHIAROSCURO!
I don't have to dig out the trumpets, timpani, Majorettes (well, maybe some Majorettes..) to let you know that this is Big Big News in independent publishing. This is the big time baby!

If you have followed Troy's work at all, you know that you are in for more than just a treat; you are in for the main course, the piece de resistance, the freshly ground, percolated double espresso of delight that is "Chiaroscuro." I have been lucky enough (and possibly persistent enough) to have read what Meanwhile Studios published so far (Chiaroscuro # 1 - # 7) as well as the unpublished # 8 when I traveled to PEI to visit a couple of years ago.

I have to tell you, this is the right stuff; the good stuff. The Kerouac-ian inspired work that makes you recall quotes in the hours between midnight and 4am: “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!”

I possess the advance copy, the t-shirt, the mug, the underwear, the stein, the car, the tattoo. The Meanwhile Guy action figure. The hat, the Steven Patch shroud. The cape, gloves and springy boots of springing.

But you know what? Little posses ME! Haggard, drooling, tortured girl bound up in chains and leather and weeping because the poised cross-hatching Opus is... an opus after all. Not something to be hashed out in broken-fingered high-speed tantrums. A thing of beauty, of care, of strength and depth. And that baby is going to get doled out gently the way you roll a bright lime life-saver out of the end of a paper tube.

One at a time. To be sucked on, savoured, a slender circle spinning sour-sweet on the tip of your tongue. Crunched, swallowed. Divinely hallowed lime, responding to all the limes you have ever dreamed of grating on your palate. Sublimely joined with the universal story of limeness.

I'm just going to have to wait. As are we all, for the next chapters in the Patchwork saga. But it is a good wait, and waiting for something that is of quality and has been crafted with love and care is always worth it. Anything truly worthwhile is worth the wait.

Btw, if there are any billionaires out there who don't have a clue as to what to do with that bullion collecting dust under the uber-emperor sized bed in the suite at the top of the 370th story; take heed. The creative struggle and fulfillment will continue to happen. This kid's got motivation, will and bite that will stop for nothing. But damn, cash makes it easier.

Maybe it would happen every month if someone shelled out some dough for it?
By G*D it would happen every day; every moment, pencil, ink and sweat would glide over bristol and we would be rewarded for our patience with morsels presented from Little's kitchen.

So, if anyone does feel like setting up an independent comic foundation, or grant, or just send a Mack truck full of cash to Anne's Land; I highly urge you to do so! Don't just take my adulatory rantings for it either; many fans, majorettes and indie comic-junkies clamour for more Chiaroscuro. Some of them may even be your neighbours.

Kirk Out.

Real Reviews of Chiaroscuro:
PEI's The Buzz
The Fourth Rail
Static Multimedia
iComics Series You Should Be Reading

Images (c) 2007 Troy Little & Meanwhile Studios

Comics! Comics!

2007-04-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

Gee I sound almost as excited as Blair Kitchen over on his site Possum Press! Issue #2 is all ready-- hurrayy :-) If you haven't already checked out The Possum and enjoyed #1, then do yourself a favour and pick it up. Pick up #2 as well.. because, like tasty Ottawa Bagelshop bagels slathered in garlic cream cheese, you will be hankering for more of the Possum. Even a hefty 72 pgs. will not be enough for ya! If you didn't make it to the Con in Toronto to see Blair live and pick up your comics, never fear there are more Cons to come..

Thank goodness for Interweb ordering... Now I can lurk around the postbox and harass the mail-dude until my pkg arrives.

Much like I did today when my Rose and Isabel comics arrived! I heard about Ted Mathot's comic through Rob Anderson and it sounded really interesting. After checking out the Rose and Isabel site (Mathot's Blog) and seeing great preliminary sketches and teasers for upcoming work I was hooked big time. Married to the fact that I love women heroines, cross-dressing heroines, grrls kicking butt...I was all intrigued.

I greatly enjoyed the first issue; the intro of women fighters over the centuries was interesting and a nice segue into the Civil War divided States and our two protagonists. I liked the loose, sketchy feel of the comic; it made me want to hook up my tablet to the old 'pooter again and do some computer sketches. I did some nifty things that way a few years ago..tempting.. ;-)

(Just now found a very crappy res. copy of "Distorted Boy" a sketch I did on the Wacom Tablet a few years ago....)

I am SO glad I ordered Rose and Isabel #2 at the same time, (which I'll read tomorrow, thank goodness.) I agree with the Fourth Rail that #1 is a little short. It's like getting half of a really tasty sandwich.. or watching a 1/2 hour show that you're all into and then BIP it's over. Remember when Cleopatra 2525 was only a 1/2 hour long? That's how it feels! (They eventually made it an hour long show.. yay!)
So.. Yeah; I'm excited to see where the story goes. I like the character interaction; the historical nature of the setting and also the amazing artwork. Just the framing of some of the scenes is superb. I usually don't notice stuff like that unless it's done really badly.. but some of the fight scenes were great. Nice, clear, dynamic, easy to read. Movie Directors could learn from this-- remember the fight scenes in "Gladiator"? yeahhhh.... echhh..

So!
Comics!
Must get back to drawing.....

Cheerio.

PS--sorry for the long hiatus, I have been sucked into Facebook of all things.

Doodling faeries

2007-04-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

Hullo my friends,
I'm all hopped up on chocolate covered malt-balls. Damn, the Bulk Barn is a lair of temptation! What can I say? It was payday and I was all for chocolate. Oh yeah... I got home and drew some faeries, which are so-so. I was originally going to do a faerie/ dragon drawing and painting collaboration with my friend Mary L. and of course I put it off. So, thought I should get cracking on that. I will post some when I scan 'em!

In the meantime, I staggered onto a neat site that reminded me a bit of Scott McCloud's 24-hour comic challenge (which I've done 3 times so far...*) Anyway, here it is: Ape Lad's 1 hour alphabet challenge. It sounds kinda cool. Might give it a shot this weekend if I get some time!

Cheers all, and Joyeux Paques.. don't get too sick on all that chocolatte!

My 24 Hour Comic List
* "Good Medicine/Bad Medicine" - inking not complete, my first attempt at a solo 24-hr comic
* "The Wyrm's Treasure" - penciled & painted in 24 hours, in a group with Troy Little, Craig Young & Patrick Brunet
* "Snow Blonde" - inked and coloured in marker in 24 hours, in a group with Troy Little, Clayton Jacobs, Westin Church and Mike Morrison.

Sick drawings

2007-03-26T16:59:00.000-07:00

If you can put a pen to paper, even when you're ill.. then there's hope :-) I got a nasty stomach flu bug last week, so that's why it's been quiet here. To salve your hunger for doodles, here are some things I scrawled in the height of fever-land. To check out a colour version of Sue-In-Bed, hop on over to Womangue.

Thanks for hanging with me and supporting the effort; it remains fun & a great antidote to the mind-numbing horror of the Joe Job.

Cheers,
Suzanne.

Savage Jacobs production unleashed

2007-03-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

Clayton Jacobs, inking maestro, has completed work on one of Keith Savage's sweet drawings that he sent our way. In the spirit of inking-each-other's-drawings (check out the Green Lanter n & Beast art from Mike Valiquette), we've been trading art and honing our skills.

Check out Keith's rough pencils of "Cannonball"...

And then Clayton's finished work.

Hurray!

More stuff to come... We even have some rough pencils from "The Art of Comic Book Inking" by Gary Martin and Steve Rude that we'll take a crack at (including Jack Kirby and Gil Kane illos of Conan the Barbarian. That should be enjoyable--and intimidating, of course.) If they turn out, we'll post 'em here!

Keep up the fight..
Suzanne.

Artwork (c) 2007 Keith Savage & Clayton Jacobs. Please don't grab without permission. Thanks!

Enter THE POSSUM!

2007-03-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

My package from Canadian animator/ comic artist Blair Kitchen at Possum Press arrived last week... I was soo happy. I love comics that arrive in the mail. Actually, I think most artists & comic folks are addicted to the mail. We hover excitedly around the mailbox, eagerly waiting for the postal dude (or dudette) to drop off whatever is in store for us (usually bills, but ya never know :-)

So, when the Possum Press pkg arrived, I was delighted, tearing it open with shaking claws and wrestling the hefty 72 pg. comic from its wrapping. It even came with a nifty original drawing from Blair Kitchen himself! Hurray :-D Original art is fun :-) [Mine is the first drawing on the link!]

I really enjoyed the first, whopping issue of "The Possum". To get a taste of it, check out the online pages at Kitchen's site; they're what made me want to order it in the first place. On the front cover, the price even represents the tongue-in-cheek humour of Blair and is a quick heads-up on what's in store when you turn the page: "Still only only 495 cents! 550 in Canada!"

The story is about a young comic-book artist who becomes a super-hero.. the character is this wonderfully innocent, shy guy who gets thrown into unexpected peril. I love the storytelling and style, especially the crowd scenes, which remind me of some Sergio Aragones' in his Groo (or Mad Magazine) comics, where all kinds've fun and crazy details happen in the bg. In one of Blair's crowds, (surrounding an accident scene) kids are pointing, a driver stares in shock and police officers trade donuts and calmly read the fluttering comic books lying all over the street. Priceless!

The drawing style is the lovely combination of clean (which you usually get in animators -come- comic artists - come animators) and loose, flexible, dynamic action! I loved it. The movement is natural and graceful, exciting and very readable. The story is straight-forward and funny. My favourite scene is The Possum (newly-created) face down on his bed, in a catatonic stupor, while beside him, the radio plays an all-day Polka Marathon. I was laughing out loud, and dragged Clay-dude over to force him to wallow in the same mirth. For days after, all you could hear on Ballantrae was the raucous singing of: "POLKA! POLKA! POLKA! polka polka polka POLKA! POLKA! POLKA!" (and so on..)

I would scan the particular scene, but, like most new converts to a religion, I am trying to get more followers and have left issue #1with my pals B Stewart & R Anderson.... (Anders Carson & V Stevenson lost the coin toss and ended up with my "Blackstar" boxset instead.) I figure when everyone's done, they can trade. {For your enjoyment, a pic of Blackstar. Filmation at its best, IMHO (if you doubt me, go to You Tube and type in Blackstar.. you will laugh yourself silly..)}

Ok, I'm done ranting about the Possum. Check out Blair's site and BUY THE COMIC. It is fun and fresh and makes you want to make comics of your own. (You can also pick up T-shirts as well!) Here's a fun pic from the 2006 Toronto Comic Book Expo.

Hopefully I will post some new artwork today. Clayton is almost finished inking Keith Savage's big-ass superhero "Cannonball". I finished with the girl character he sent me, but I'm not 100% happy with her. I might either scan and colour her to hide my inadequacies...or re-ink a fresh version. Depends how I feel!

Cheers, and happy Saturday....
'TIS THE WEEKEND!
Woohoo........
Suzanne.

Made the cut (again!)

2007-03-08T16:01:00.000-08:00

I wish I'd checked my email before heading to work; another of my heroines was selected on Art Wanted for its Daily Top Ten! Yay :-) The only bummer is that it only lasts for a day.. oh well :-) The winning art is "Black Diamond". She's received lots of friendly and supportive comments there too, which is cool.

I'll have to get my gear out and crank out some more fun characters. Maybe I will post Mr. Sticky there and see what the Art Wanted folks make of him (weirdo!)

Yesterday, Nick Cross' "Waif of Persephone" arrived in my mailbox. Hurray! I was delighted that it had arrived at last. I really enjoyed the 13 minute movie; the character designs were awesome; I love the little helpers of the forest (gnome/elf characters) and the Waif herself was great. Her big ass long legs and topknot worked for me. There's a scene when she swings in dragging two little dudes with her and the walk cycle is hysterical. Those big legs just sweep out and up and keep going. Wow! Robert Crumb would be drooling ;-) Check out some of the fun designs here.

I enjoyed the way the movie was put together; the sequence of events, integration of music, story, animation and nuances of colour. I thought the Chair Scene was great. I have totally been there. Waiting. Forever. Just you, 2 guys and an empty chair. It reminded me of being in the emergency Vet Hospital, waiting for my Mom's cat L.D. to be diagnosed.. for 2 1/2 hours. Maaan. It was definitely a level of hell (although not as hellish as anything related to HRDC.)

Thanks Nick for thanking me in your movie. That is too cool! I was surprised to see my name scroll by. *blush*. Check out the movie on Nick's plog & order a copy for yourselves. It is not a kid's movie, even though it is animation! Hmm, I know the two are supposed to be mutually exclusive eh? Not so, dear readers. Check it out. Nick's website also has plenty o' neat stuff on it!

Oh, and just a reminder; vote for Amanda! You have 3 days left to cast your votes for her in the model contest! Click here to check out her photo (I love her expression; the "Yeow, I uh..am a little embarrassed to be here! eep!)

Happy Women's Day,
Sue Out.

Top Ten on Art Wanted

2007-03-02T04:43:00.000-08:00

Great news guys!

I opened my email this morning and got a note from Art Wanted saying that the drawing I put up yesterday of "Impact" had hit the site's Top Ten List :-) Hurray. Check out the link here; it'll be up all day. She's had some good comments posted at the sight as well, which made me happy.
I also finished inking Mike Valiquette's sketch of the Beast! That was a lot of fun. I had a bit of trouble with one of his hands because the printed drawing I was using was way too light. Somehow, I managed to turn his knee into this giant gross finger.. :-O Anyway, I was able to do some repairs in PShop.. but it was pretty funny. These are those events that help keep you humble :-) Any stories out there of similar gaffs? I remember when I was Posing (and also working in Design) that inevitably I would Switch Thumbs on characters' hands. Especially with someone doing the classic "Hands on Hips" type pose. One drawing not only made it through all the stages of checking; but into a show! Ackk... Oh well, one lives, draws, learns and hopefully overcomes reversing thumbs..

Cheers!
Suzanne.

Signed sealed and delivered

2007-03-01T09:23:00.000-08:00

You've been very patient with my odd doodles.. here are your fan favourite heroes/ heroines inked and painted for you. Next on the plate is an odd comic from the same source that spewed out "Ivy & Dummy". Basically a stack of blank paper + a brand new marker = comics! I have to finish the story, then I'll post it.. no cliff-hangers here! :-)

Recently signed up to Art Wanted and will be posting artwork there for perusal. If you feel like checking it out, click the link; or the button in the sidebar (apparently that could eventually earn me a buck or something.) And don't forget to read my odd articles at Helium as well. So far I've got 3 bucks in the penny jar. Hurray!

Cheers
Suzanne.

Here are Black Diamond, Megaton, Impact & Mr. Sticky. Heroes co-created by Suzanne Marsden & Clayton Jacobs (c) 2007

What th--Can't believe you ate the last Timbit...

A lady who has the super ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound and explode on impact! What could be more fun than that?

Robin of Sherwood meets Blade 'nuff said. You can buy this artwork via ART WANTED. Be the proud owner of a chunk of artwork by me! Includes original inked drawing (8.5 x 11) and a colour print of the digital painting (5 x 7.) Includes shipping!

Don't you just want to shake his hand?

PS: Just heard from my friends, Mario & Ivonne in an email; turns out, their daughter, Amanda, has entered the Ottawa Sun Model Contest! So, if you'd like to help out, feel free to vote daily for her til March 11th. Go to this link and press the VOTE HERE button. An email template will pop up. In the Subject line, type #6 and Amanda. In the message body, put your name, address & phone # for verification.

It would so awesome if she could win! Yay!
Thanks everybody,
Cheers,
Suzanne.

Hey

2007-02-28T04:24:00.000-08:00

A little help from my friends

2007-02-22T11:18:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post the card that I put together for my friend Mik Casey who has been seriously ill the last couple of months. I managed to get in to see him last weekend and we had a great chat. He's dropped a lot of weight (Mik & I were roughly the same weight before his illness.) It's unbelievable. But, his colour was good, his humour, sparkling blue eyes, whacky sense of the absurd and sense of self were intact, which was an utter relief.

Anyway, Mik was my mentor wayy back at the olde cartoone factorie (aka Dynomight Cartoons) and helped to teach me a lot about storyboards, story-telling, comics and how to pick up Asian chicks. Uhh, well the latter part didn't work out so well, but you know how it goes. Always with a patient smile, a crazy story and a bowl of Kimchi, Mik would help all who came to the door of his cozy Storyboard room. It was great sharing space with him, Ron Huse and Tae-Youn Kim wayy back in those Bunny daze; things had a nice flavour back then.. oh yeah: I wasn't bitter and jaded!

So, when I heard that Mik had been sick, I wanted to do a card for him. He usually was the instigator of studio cards which were the MOST outrageous cards you could imagine. From birthdays, to good-byes (and good-riddances ;-) Mik would generally get the ball rolling and then the rest of us would barf all over the paper and eventually it would get to where it was supposed to go. Good times.

So... pre-warning; this is NOT "PG", this is "R". But if you've been hanging about here seeing naked Pirates and giant Superheroine boobies, you know all about that. Thanks to Westin & Nadine for letting me scratch this out at their place in January when we had our annual "drink & draw". Hope everyone is doing well, playing safe and keeping warm.

Suze.

PS. If you feel like seeing non-gross art, check out this pic of me dashing thru the snow with the dog I can't have.

PPS. For gross art, see below :-D

Hang in there Mik!
xx-oo

Taking out the lead

2007-02-18T04:11:00.000-08:00

Clayton has been working on a new game idea..and he approached me with: "I need 100 heroes, can you draw them?" I went (in by best Arlo Guthrie impersonating voice: "Yup!". It's been going well.. I do a few each night after work (with those awesome soft lead technical pencils Stats uses for surveys! Whee, there is a silver lining.. ok I'm reaching a bit :-D)

I have scanned Clay's faves & also mine, which are below. Same deal as with all those naked ladies earlier... let me know which ones strike yer fancy and I'll be happy to ink (perhaps colour too) and post again! Also, since the scanning got done, like Wednesday? There have been even *more* drawings completed.. so I may post some more of our faves soon.

Cheers, thanks fer watching!
Suzanne.

Clay's Faves:

1) Captain Might
2) Mr. Sticky
3) Impact
4) Lady Web
5) Magnifica

Sue's Faves:

1) Asp
2) Megaton
3) The Nuke
4) Zero
5) Magneta

(c) 2007 Marsden & Jacobs

Tangled up in blue

2007-02-18T03:54:00.000-08:00

Good morning folks,
Sorry for the delay; my day job has been interfering with my *real* job! That is.. drawing for yous :-) Actually, the drawing has been going well, it's the scanning & posting that have slowed up a mite. This weekend I've also been looking after Mango, my friend Catherine & Alan's doggie, so that has been fun (& a learning experience!) More on that at Womangue.

I have for you, the inked versions of Mike Valiquette's Green Lantern (thanks for giving me the "ok" dude!) The first one is my inked version & the second one is Clayton's. Hopefully there will be more inked things to appear in the future.

Cheers & hope the muse is generous,
Suzanne.

GG artwork (c) 2007 DC Comics & M. Valiquette, inked drawings are (c) 2007 S. Marsden & C. Jacobs respectively. Please don't grab our stuff (unless ya ask!)

Inky fingers

2007-02-06T18:19:00.000-08:00

Clayton & I are each inking copies of one of Mike Valiquette's drawings from Escaperisms! I thought it would be fun to do... You know how when you ink your own stuff over and over again that it becomes almost second nature? You get into a reflex way of inking (& thinking too :-) I printed out the Green Lantern piccy from Mike's Blog and thought inking it might be a great way to push my brain into a new pattern. Here was something NEW ! Something, not drawn by me!

We should be posting these soon, as long as it's cool with Mike :-)

Cheers!

PS--another Helium article, explaining the programs at Weight Wathcers, if any of y'all are interested. CLICK on EET! Give me your pennies! ;-)

Feel the Creative Burn

2007-02-02T05:37:00.000-08:00

If anyone is interested, I've posted three articles at Helium (one reviewing Ottawa's Green Door restaurant, a recipe for amazing Apple Cake and an article on the dangers of diet soda.) Hopefully more articles to come!

Cheers
Suzanne (aka Rowann)

St. Brigid's hotcakes

2007-02-01T18:59:00.000-08:00

In keeping with St. Brigid's day (check out my infomatic on Womangue!) I finished inking & lettering my pancake comic. Hope y'all enjoy. Corn cakes were traditional fare for Feb 1st to celebrate the earliest of the Spring festivals. Bon apetit!

For those who are interested, the entire Cheese Shop script can be enjoyed from this link... :-D And if you really must, You Tube has the Cheese Shop onlin e to satisfy your cravings...

Phonepad doodles

2007-01-27T13:58:00.000-08:00

Ever find yourself yawin' on the phone with nothing to doodle upon? I was sorting bills earlier today (have to keep the hounds happy..) Ended up doing a lot of phone banking and discovered that I had a bunch of envelopes left over to recycle. Well; if you open them up they make handy things to draw on..and so I did. Had a great chit-chat with Troy, caught up on our lives and cranked out some drawings at the same time. Yay!

Hope the Muse is generous, folks are healthy and the drawings come fast and furious.

Cheers,
Suzanne.

Wing Commander

2007-01-25T19:08:00.000-08:00

Here she is, complete with bucolic bg... it was fun trying non-traditional colours; I wanted a feeling of naturalness, of a one-ness with her environment (woods/ desert etc.) Don't know if I got there..but it was interesting to do.

Cheers!
Suzanne.

Yarr she be done!

2007-01-24T18:52:00.000-08:00

Spent tonight painting my swashbuckling baebe. I finished her and thought "Gee that background sure looks empty.." and since I can't draw a mizzen to save my poopdeck, I snagged a tall ship off the 'net and rammed it in there behind her. I know it can be a little jarring to have photos and art colliding on the page, but I thought it might be fun.

I know, homework for this week: draw a ship or something!

Or more boobies :-D

Hmm....

Inked grrls

2007-01-23T18:27:00.000-08:00

Hello hello.. yes, I'm behind on posting artwork--blame the rush at "work".. :-P Meh! Still, I got my Pirate Grrl and Wing Grrl inked, with Clay assisting in the erasing department (usually a job I reserve for Nhoj!) Also, there is a new rough for you to enjoy.. "Fire Foxe", whom I will ink when I gets the chance.

My pancake comic is inked; just have to do the small details (lettering and stuff), then erasing, scanning, tidying up and posting. Probably won't colour it, I like the way it turned out in black & white.

More to come! Thanks for voting on your faves,
Cheers
Suzanne.

PS Clay (Clayton Jacobs) is inking Cutting Grrl, so that should be fun. I love seeing how other people's styles come through on my artwork. Cool :-)

Fire Foxe; some kind of heroine...(or villainess; whaddya think?)
Wing Grrl, caught up a tree... colouring will be fun, I'm sure!
And finally, Pirate Grrl, who WILL be coloured, if only to provide the visual impact of the golden nipple ring! Arrrr ;-)

All artwork (c) 2007 Suzanne Marsden
please don't steal my stuff, yo!

Savage grrls

2007-01-15T16:59:00.000-08:00

As per request, here's the sketches of the girls I did the other night. I thought I'd put forth a poll and see how that might go. Of the five sketches, which one (or two) do you think I should ink, scan, colour and repost as a finished grrl? Let me know what you think and we'll see how that goes.

1) Pirate Grrl
2) Cutting Grrl
3) Owl Grrl
4) Claw Grrl
5) Wing Grrl

Ruffs

2007-01-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

Wahull... I did want to get these babies inked before posting them, but I've been doing crazy overtime at work :-P All hail the 10.5 hour work-day *augh*. Anywayz, here be the ruffs for a neat comic I drew like.. Monday? I'll get her inked on the weekend, with luck. I drew lots of nifty girls tonight; mostly topless for some reason. I have Rabid Anti-Hero Grrl, Sultry Pirate Chick and Caught Up In A Tree Bird-Girl. They may get posted.. not sure :-)

So, here for now are 2 pages o' fun. Still in a recipe theme.. weird!

All images/artwork (c) 2007 Suzanne A. Marsden
Please don't steal my stuff! Tanx.

From the dark

2007-01-06T05:45:00.000-08:00

I'm an avid RPGer and a lot of my inspiration for drawing comes from various games and campaigns I'm involved with. The above is a young Nightbane chiquita inspired from the Nightbane Palladium system. I don't have a clue who she is..usually I just sit and draw and whatever pops out. Clay always asks who these people are, and I being Devil's Advocate say 'you tell me--you're the writer' :-)

She is fresh from last night. More to come..

Cheers
Suzanne.

Beginnings

2007-01-05T14:40:00.000-08:00

The blank page; nada.. the clean slate..
The worst is coming to the page with not a thing in your head! Sometimes you end up doodling all over it and it's still sort've nothing. Sometimes at work I write quick ideas down on lined paper, mixed with doodles. I figure catching the little buggers is at least half the work; getting the idea itself is quite random..and not to be counted upon...

Completing it--there is the crux.

A couple of books for those caught in the agony of Block: Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way" and Bayles & Orland's "Art and Fear". Git 'em, read 'em... kick the bottom out of "Block"! :-) (As Great Big Sea would say "The arse is outtof her!")

More to come..!

Welcome to Sue's Art Flog

2006-10-02T05:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome! If you're here, you've been on my Womangue site and realized there's a LOT of yappin' going on and not much drawing. Well, the drawings do happen, they're just not getting posted. So *here* is a spot jest for the art and no ramblings! (Unless the ramblings directly relate to the art.)

Thanks for coming to the other side... hope you enjoy the ride.

Cheers,
Art Girl (aka Kunstpike)