merimask | Oddly compelling custom order.

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Oddly compelling custom order.

Well, sometimes I get a custom order that kinda makes me tilt my head to one side and say "Huh?". I have to admit though, now that this one's done I think it's actually adorable. Based on my arm dragon design...a white arm peacock.

Here's the tail, which has to lay off to one side (obviously, that's the only way it could be wearable). She wanted it all white but I talked her into having a little color...'cause it needs it.

Here's a good profile of the head. I know the neck is too long. If I ever do another one I'll change the design a little.

And while I was out there taking these pictures, it started snowing again! WHY??? I'm so sick of these cold gray days. *sigh* At least all the snow that fell last week has melted...but just look at my poor daffodils. They were just about to bloom, and now they're all squashed-looking.

Poor things. The ones over by Guy, the garden griffen, seem to be faring slightly better. Probably because he watches out for them.

He has a certain dignity, even when the snow is flying in his face.

I just got a BIG box of leather (two hides, which cost almost 300.00! Prices are going up), so I'll be starting that Kirin soon. I'm going to do two different designs, just to see which works better. I want them to look like kirin, and not unicorns, so it'll be tricky.

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LOOOVE the peacock! I don't think I saw the arm dragon either, but if it's anything like this, then good lord. I'm glad she listened to the artist and allowed that splash of color.

Can you believe the weather? I heard it's supposed to snow on Thursday too *sobs in a corner*

It occurs to me that I haven't put a pic of one of my arm dragons up in LJ in a ~long~ timew...so here!
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a233/merimask/d231f930.jpg
Also here: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a233/merimask/042804e2.jpg

They're little dragon sculptures I started making YEARS ago, when people from the SCA kept asking me how to wear the big dragon plaques (you don't...you hang 'em on the flipping wall. People!), so I designed these guys to be worn on your arm like a pet. People LOVE them...I've probably sold hundreds of these.

BOO for snow. It's so freaking cold, too. I've had it. When I was really sick two weeks ago we had some nice warm days and I was too ill to ride my bike. Greg even put the rack on my car (where it still is...mocking me) but by the time I got better, we had snow on the ground again. Waah!

People actually asked how to wear the wall plaques?!?!? THe masks I can understand--even though ours live mostly on the wall, I still love the idea that they are wearable art, and SCA folk do like to wear their art. But the dragon plaques?

I love the peacock. I never would have thought to have a white peacock, I think you struck a beautiful balance in color while still having it predominantly white. And in devices, some color detailing would be allowed by the heralds--there's even a term for it, though not being a herald I can't remember it.

I'd love to see a full-color peacock, though, and I bet the phoenix would be wonderful as well.

People DID ask how to wear the plaques and it used to crack me up & irritate me at the same time. :-) OBVIOUSLY they are wall art. What did people think they were going to do...strap them to their chests or something? Grr!

Isn't the peacock cute? I really like it, now that I've finished one. I may do a natural-colored one just to see how it turns out, and I think a phoenix is a must-have for Pennsic this year.

Oh neat idea. And arm peacock. lol I like it just because it's a little strange. :D

It IS odd. You never really know how something's going to turn out until you build it, though. Especially with weird custom orders. I thought it'd look silly but now I'm thinking it'd be a great basic pattern for a wearable phoenix. Imagine a tiny phoenix you could wear on your arm...wouldn't that be so cute?

...there's a typo in my earlier comment. *frown*

That would be so cute. What about wearable snakes too? Like twisted around the arm...

Okay, now that's way cool!!! XD

*lick*

Hee! Thanks! I think so too. :-D

Oh, that's so cool. I totally want to see that on someone's arm to see how it looks. Lovely!

I should get Charlotte to model it for me. It'd look cuter on her perfect little teenage arm. :-)

You should you should! ^^

How can you have a peacock design with no color??? I'd be coloring the heck out of it! lol Looks gorgeous! :D

lol I know! She wanted it white, 'cause she's in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism...sort of a medieval recreation group) and I guess a white peacock is in her personal device. I was all "...but you NEED to put some color in there or it won't look like a peacock!" I might have used too much color on the head, but peacocks have these banded mask patterns around their eyes and it just needed some darker color there. Hope she doesn't mind.

It's stunning, but my god it needs color! You should do one full color and see if it sells. Just because I want to SEE one with all the colors...

My arm dragon is currently Not On Display. Becket is completely fixated on it for some reason. He MUST have it. And in my experience, once my fluff-head little Siamese boy decides he has to have something - either give it to him or lock it up. So I'm looking for someplace to put it where a) he can't get to it, and b) he won't destroy anything else while he tries. You should have seen those eyes when he spotted it in my hand: all pupil. I kept telling him "blue eyes are characteristic of the breed - so let's see some." He wasn't buying it.

I love your garden griffin - he's very cool.

I think I will do a full-color version of the peacock (and with a shorter thicker neck, too), just to see how it looks. I also want to do a phoenix, which would be SO cute and perhaps someone may even buy a dragon for one arm & a phoenix for the other...and how cool would THAT be? :-D

Hee...your kitty probably loves the arm dragon's ties more than the dragon himself. If I don't watch it, Dinah eats the strings on my masks (that's why I store them as soon as they're finished...so I don't have to pull strings out of my stupid cat's mouth).

Isn't Guy cute? I bought him at Pennsic one year. He's made of concrete but I sprayed that fakey-granite paint on him and he really does look just like stone.

You should definitely do a full color peacock, and we talked about the phoenix at IConn. Maybe a Russian firebird? Not sure if that would be visually much different from the phoenix.

Becket actually wants the dragon more than the ties. He's a weird boy. I found him walking around with the dragon and ignoring the ties dragging along behind him. Stupid cat. Once he fixates on something it's lodged in that pecan brain for all time.

Guy is adorable! Did you get him at that place that was in the little house up on the Serengeti? I never really looked at their stuff - maybe that was a mistake.

That looks like porcelain or something! Very art nouveau... very impressive.

Back from Brussels and Cyprus, whew! Spriggin (spelling) went over great in the office.
Lots to tell, but I won't say ANYTHING about the weather, promise...

Trying to start a DEVIANTart site... any tips?

*tackles* You're BACK!!

I have a bazillion questions for you, so I better call. You must tell me everything! I can't believe Franco took you to Cypress...you lucky dog!

Re: DevArt. I'm really not the person to ask, as I don't have a site there. Purplerebecca (who I planned to rec to you anyway...my god that girl can draw & her style is PERFECT for storyboards), Moko-moko, and Rumdiculous all have DA sites and they could help you more than I. I DO know that plagiarism is something you have to be careful of, there. Be wary of what you put up (you might even want to watermark it...there are programs for that but I'm sure you know). DevArt runs a print shop too...something to be aware of. I'm pretty sure you can choose what to submit for prints.

Anyway, Becca, Rumi and Moko are all right here in the replies to this entry. Go tag 'em...I'm sure they'll be happy to help. :-)

Can't remember for sure, but I think Dev. art gives you the option of adding a watermark/etc to your image as soon as you upload it. I've never bothered, so I can't remember for sure...but I think that's one of the options.

I will do so... meantime it's "massgrfx" in DevArt... all monsters and babes so far, which I guess is par for me...

If you hadn't put any colour on, people would have probably thought it was a swan. I know the head thing is different, but hey...people ask how to wear wall plaques. I hardly think a little head crest thing would convince them that a white bird was a peacock rather than a swan or some other white, long-necked bird.

A white peacock is one of those things that sounds fanciful and pretty in words, but just doesn't look right irl, imo. :) The shape of the arm thingie is very nice but the lack of colour makes me think it's not finished.

I can't quite picture which part actually goes around the arm...I think I know, but I'd have to see it to be sure :)

I agree that color was important, because to me it just didn't look enough like a peacock without the classic "eye" patterns on the tail.

And then, while I was researching the project I found this image...
http://www.fotosearch.com/bigcomp.asp?path=UNU/UNU108/u19389917.jpg
So I guess there ARE white peacocks! Still, since mine was so stylized I think it did need the color cues.

Ah, and here I thought you were only insisting on color from a design standpoint! Yep, those all-white fellows are real, I've met several of them. Very striking, ghostly-looking birdies they are next to the green or blue sort. The really odd ones, though, are the ones that mix white and blue plumage!

The tiny hints of color look lovely on this little guy. But if you ever need to do another all-white peacock, I wonder how it would turn out using pearlescent accents againt the flatter base white?

As per our conversation the other night, oohhhh, full-colored peacocks! "Meh-aao!"

Oh, and I'll send you my peacock story right now. Now that

indigos_angel has flown off to San Diego, I can tackle my to-do list. One down, ten million items left. . .

I read it and it's lovely. :-) You write descriptively and well. Use your time off to do more recreational writing! Feeding your hobbies feeds your soul, in my opinion.

Also, I'm selfishly looking forward to that Kikyo ficlet... :-D

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Oddly compelling custom order.

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WOW from Vegas... again!

Re: WOW from Vegas... again!

Re: WOW from Vegas... again!

Re: WOW from Vegas... again!

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I ♥ peacocks. :)

Re: I ♥ peacocks. :)