A special mask...

[merimask]

smillaraaq ,  DON'T LOOK!

This is a mask of Smilla's dog Zeus.  He's a Norwegian Elkhound.   I'm not sure I quite captured his elkhound-ness...they have square stocky builds & that's hard to convey by doing just the head.  Also, I think I made him a bit too brown (the black didn't look like pure black to me...it had a gray/brown cast to it).  Still, I think it's a cute mask.

Woofwoof!

Went for my daily (nightly) bike ride.  It's HOT and yet I did ten miles tonight in record time.  Ate a few bugs though.  I had to shower as soon as I got home because I was pretty sure I had gnats in my hair.  Ick.

I got fed up waiting for that garage door company to call me back & let me know when my new door would be installed, so today I called another place.  No waiting; they sent a guy right over.   They have a white door in stock...it'll be installed some time between Wednesday and Friday.  That's a heck of a lot better than the other place ("We'll call you when it comes in...could be two to three weeks").  Hmph.  This place is cheaper too, because they won't charge me forty dollars just to haul my old door away.  So there!

I'm doing a fairly big art festival this weekend in Lockport New York...about a half-hour from my house.  It should be fun...I'm looking forward to doing a straight art & craft fair.  Lately, everything I've done has been SCA-ish or  Ren faire-ish or a big convention.  Too much niche and fandom!  Not that they've been bad shows.  Quite the contrary.  I just feel like kicking back with other artists & doing a simple art show...no themes or fandoms or gimmicks.  Maybe that'll be a nice change.

Big storms tomorrow, which are supposed to break this heat and humidity.  Even here in the Great Lakes region, it's dry dry dry.  We haven't had rain in weeks.  Everyone's grass is dead and there's actually a fire risk in the Allegany forest.  Lake Superior (where all the water in the rest of these lakes comes from) is at its lowest level in eighty years.  :-(  

So I say, bring on the storms!  (just...don't damage my house!)

Comments

[kls-eloise.livejournal.com]

Ah - frustration. We're going to be *almost* in your neck of the woods this weekend. My youngest nephew is graduating from high school, so we're going to be out in Syracuse. But it's a family commitment, and I haven't seen my brother since two Christmases ago. I think I'll take the opportunity to drive by the old apartment in Cicero and marvel at how tiny it is. That's always amusing.

The mask is adorable.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Argh...If I wasn't doing a big art festival on both Saturday & Sunday, I'd drive up & steal you away for lunch. Oh well. Next time.

Thank you...I like the mask too (though I didn't quite get it right).

[indigos-angel.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's low. I'm a good sunshine manifestor, so I'll manifest it from your area for you!! XDDDDD

[merimask.livejournal.com]

We got enough rain so that I won a bet with Greg (every time the forcast calls for rain, we'd gotten none. This time I was certain though). Five bucks...woo! Charlotte already took it.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Not peeking -- he arrived today. Lo, there was much sniffling, with poor Biscuit licking my face as I sat on the floor and blubbered over the box. Thank you so much, lady.

And yes, that's a little browner/lighter than he is in real life, but I think that works for a mask as opposed to a flat painting -- more solid blacks and you wouldn't really get the effect of the lighter striping on the guard hairs, or the lighter undercoat shading the hairs -- and he does have a lot of buff in the silver of that undercoat fluff. And while it's hard to get across "elkie" without the chunky body and comical curly tail, really, you've got the shortness/broadness of the skull and the goggle markings, and the broad-set, smaller prick ears, and anyone paying close enough attention to the details would know those don't really fit a GSD.

He's beautiful, and already up on the wall. Pics later, I promise.

Thank you.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Aww... *hug*

I'm so glad you like him...I was worried about the color because I know I shouldn't have "warmed" up that black the way I did (but I fell in love with those chocolate tones, y'know). Zeus really has a much darker face, but you're right...I was more worried about getting that wolfy tipped fur right than going for accuracy. That's what happens sometimes...you get wooed by an effect & lose sight of the big picture.

Ah well, still it's an Elkie mask & I bet there aren't too many of those around. :-) Enjoy it & don't let it make you too sad. Plus you can freak out Biscuit now! DogFun!

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love the way those bronzey highlights catch the light, so I definitely understand falling in love with it! Plus he is a digging fiend (both for mole-hunting and just general digging of nice cool wallowing spots to sleep in), so brown smudges on his nose just look like he's been caught in the act :)

(And Biscuit was very confused when I tried it on -- wow, those are so wonderfully light and wearable! But she's easily confused anyway.)

[shvetufae.livejournal.com]

Yay! :)