EJS Creations

Sketchblog Edition 122: Brilliantcho!

2012-01-10T21:58:00.001-05:00

Oh man, it's been a while since I last updated my sketches....
I've had quite a few sitting on my desk since Christmastime,
so I won't waste any more time and just jump right into them.

Here you go!

These first sketches are a list of things I realized upon going back home for the Holidays:

1. Hobbes is either a jerk, or just didn't recognize me.

2. Liz's new dog Penny is a bizarre ball of uncontrollable, confusing energy.

3. Tucker is either losing his hearing or becoming just as much a jerk as Hobbes.

4. My mother may be a vampire. (This explains her frequent late-night texts.)

5. My dad may be going senile.

6. Actually, both of my parents might be senile.

7. My sister's fiancé and I actually have something in common: Magic.

8. My sister is the only "normal" one in the bunch.

This is a hat I promised I'd make for my roommate Lauren,
who shaved her head to raise money for research for the cure for childhood Leukemia.

The next batch contains sketches from the train stations and airports I laid over in on my travels.

And these are the first sketches of 2012!

I always wondered what that button did...
The world may never know.

Tried drawing Emma,
but for some reason or another I just wasn't getting her face and hair right...
I'm out of practice. :/

Well, that's all I've got for now!

Thanks for reading!
Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J Sampson

Not-Sketchblog 16: The Art of Being Positive

2012-01-07T11:39:00.000-05:00

Many of you know that I had an extremely rough year this past 2011.
It was the most testing, difficult, conflicting, disheartening year I've ever had, and I don't say that lightly.

As the year came to a close, things kept getting worse, and I barely held on, propelled meagerly by the hope that 2012 would be better.
The New Year came and things continued to get worse.
That is when I realized that bad things will keep happening,
and that maybe it wasn't necessarily the time that would help my life improve,
but my attitude toward it.

And so, as the clock struck midnight,
sipping on champagne for the first time in my life,
with two close and loyal friends by my side,
I resolved that I would live life fully and return to my roots:
I resolve to be more positive this year.

This is no easy task.
It once came naturally to me,
but over the past two years, I allowed darkness and paranoia into my heart and mind,
and my soul became empty and bitter.
I may not have shown it on the outside,
but I was in a near-dead state for most of the past year,
simply going through the motions of living, loving, laughing,
without knowing why I was doing it anymore.

But now I know this one valuable truth,
and that is that your attitude toward life affects everything.
If you are negative, you will feel shallow and depressed,
but if you can keep your chin up, and find the good in all things and all people,
life will continually be an adventure for you,
and you really will get the best out of it.

These are the steps I am going to take to fulfill my resolution,
and I highly suggest that if anyone wants to join me in being more positive,
you do the same:

1. End the Day Right, Sleep Soundly, Wake Early
I know a lot of people who have restless sleep, and sometimes it is a physical condition that requires medicinal help, but perhaps it is also the frame of mind that will cure it. I observed myself for a while and noted what mood I was in and how good or bad my days were when I had restless or sound sleeps. I realized that whenever I ended my day on a sour note, I would have a horrible sleep, and I would wake up later than I wanted to and feel absolutely terrible.
There is a Bible verse that says "do not let the sun go down on your anger." This can be taken to mean that if there is a problem you have or if something is bothering you, resolve it before you go to bed. Don't let the day end on a sour note because it will affect you mentally, and because of that, physically. If you can regulate your sleeping, get the required amount of rest your body needs, when it needs it, go to sleep at a reasonable hour, and wake up early, your mental, emotional, and physical state will be far better. I've also noticed that when I go to bed by midnight, and wake up with the sunrise, my days feel fuller and more hopeful. There's something about watching the sun come up and go down that makes you feel like you are an important part of the world, and that self-esteem is necessary to keeping positive.
You can read more about proper sleeping habits here.

2. Remove All Negative Influences from Your Life, and Don't Allow What Others Say and Do Influence Your Frame of Mind
Life can be complicated. That goes without saying. I had always held to the believe that everything had worth and that you should experience all that you can while you still can, and keep an open mind to that which you have not experienced. That still holds true. However, sometimes you need to experience less of certain things and certain people. If you find yourself becoming more upset and frustrated with life the more you spend your time with a certain person, maybe that person shouldn't be as huge of an influence on you as you'd like them to be. It is important to have friends and people you can rely on, but it is also important to spend your time with the right kind of people. I only realized this a short time ago, and by then it was too late.
I've recently begun to remove the negative influences in my life (or perhaps life positioned things in such away that they would be removed on their own), and faced off against the second part of this important step: guarding myself against pessimism and negative thoughts. It was a challenge. Some people I valued highly turned and said and did cruel, hateful things that I never imagined would come from them. It very nearly killed me (and I wish that was an exaggeration). I read some words from a friend that set my head reeling so much that I almost fainted, and I cried more and harder this past year than I have the rest of my life prior.
It wasn't until I sat back and observed everything from outside myself, outside them, and outside the world, that I realized that there are always reasons for these things. Perhaps the person saying or doing these horrible things is undergoing their own set of trials that drove them to snap at the first person that crossed their path, even if that person had the best intentions. Perhaps these situations are put in our lives to strengthen us, and cause us to grow stronger in our own sense of self. As said before, self-esteem is important to staying positive, and you need to know who you are and what pull you have on the world in order to keep that up. You have worth, you have value, and even if you make a few mistakes along the way, no human can judge you for it. Everyone is equal, and nobody knows the inner workings of each others' minds, so don't say or do things that would hurt someone else.
I am no exception to this rule. I've said and done some hurtful things (some of them recently), and I am sorry I did. I do not regret it, because regret only weighs you down, but what I am working to do is make things right, even if I can only resolve it in my own mind. That being said, listen to others and accept their apologies. Even if it's not as sincere as you would hope, respect them and forgive them, and that forgiveness will help improve their lives. You may not like them that much, but that's another matter which I will discuss in the next point, so read on.

3. Respect Your Fellow Man, and Do Not Hate
This has always been the core of who I am. I acknowledge that everyone lives their lives differently because of different experiences, and so I respect everyone with their individuality. I may not agree with them, or the way they live, but I cannot blame them or cast judgement upon them for it. There are a million different ways to do the same task, and that is what makes the human race so beautiful.
Knowing this, do not hate anyone. You don't have to love or even like everyone, but please, do not hate. It is a disease which spreads easily from one man to the next, and for it there is only one cure: love. This is why I end every post with love. It is important to know you are respected and loved in this world, even by one other person. If you know this fact, you will notice a change in your attitude towards yourself and others and life in general.
For a brief time last year, I started to genuinely hate certain people, and it frightened me of what sheer malice I was capable of. I have since resolved those feelings of bitterness and jealousy and anger, and while I may not get along with those people, I certainly don't have any ill will or animosity toward them. I am starting to return to the loving life that I once lived so fully and devoutly, and it continually gives me the hope I need to keep going.

4. Eat Right
I admit it: I have not been the best candidate for this one. I love sweets and red meat and soda and all assortments of processed junk food that is probably doing a number on my system that I don't realize. But I've been getting better. Over the last year I may not have been the happiest person in other arenas, but when I was cooking or baking or eating good food, all those problems seemed to go away. This is a simple matter of putting the right things into your body so you maintain balance physically, therefore maintaining balance mentally. Cut back on fatty foods, fast foods, and fake foods, and eat full meals three times a day, at regular intervals, and I can almost guarantee you'll be feeling a lot better.
Also, if you don't already make your own meals, try cooking. Even if you think you're terrible at it, just try it. Keep trying until you find something you can make and make well, then find something else, and something else, and something else. Experiment. Find your own way of cooking things. This too will make you feel good about yourself- every little success will add to the optimism you need to have in life.

5. Entertain Yourself with Good Things
This is a simple one that comes easily to me, and doesn't really need that much explanation. The idea is that what you sense (see, hear, feel, do...) and what you put into your mind, is going to influence how you think. Therefore, listen to happy music, read a good book, watch an encouraging movie, play a beautiful and positive game.
As far as music is concerned, I have that one down pat. I have built playlists for myself which I share with my friends to keep spirits up. You can listen to them on my Grooveshark account under the username EmilyFalcon.
I've also grown accustomed to starting and ending my day with a set of positive and uplifting videos and music, starting with The Speech from The Great Dictator, moving onto Arrival of the Birds and Transformation by The Cinematic Orchestra, followed by Radical Face's Welcome Home, and finally ending with the chipper and always smile-inducing song The Obvious Child by one of the best musicians ever, Paul Simon. I keep these tabs open in my browser, and whenever I start to feel sad or angry or depressed, I quickly switch to whichever one is the farthest opposite to what I'm experiencing, and press play. It works like a charm every time.
Similarly, I've started to save and/or bookmark links and images and such that make me especially happy. Take this animated gif my friend Matt sent to me today, for example. You can't look at that and not be happy.
I've taken reading back up again as well. It used to be a daily habit of mine to read from two books at a time before going to bed every night. One book would be a piece of fantasy/fiction or a comic book, which would encourage me to do better at my craft, and the other would be a novel, nonfiction book, or piece of classic literature, which would expand my knowledge and improve my mindset. I received two gifts from my family for Christmas, and decided this was a sign I needed to return to that habit. On my table right now are the books Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry and A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future by Daniel H. Pink. Reading not only improves your thinking capacity, but it also serves as a boredom deterrent and a distraction from problems which might weigh too heavily on your mind.

6. Trust and Hope- Faith is Your Friend
This is one I'm going to be struggling with a lot. I once was filled with faith, hope, and trust, but the last two years of my life shattered all that I knew and filled my mind and heart with doubt and paranoia. But now I'm recovering, and I'm realizing that all the friends that have the most to offer are still standing there, supporting me, willing to help me along.
My fear of abandonment is nearly abolished, and I can believe in my friends again, and it is a wonderful feeling.
Nobody is working to bring me down, the universe is not against me, and life is not a conspiracy to drive me crazy.
Simply hoping in tomorrow, and trusting that your friends will be there for you no matter what. Not reading too much into what they say or do, and acknowledging that they simply want to be your friend, will help you so much in the long run.

All these steps boil down to having the right frame of mind and maintaining self-esteem. Take care of yourself and be optimistic.
It is up to you to change your world, and if you can change your mindset, you can do anything you set your mind to.

Live, love, and be happy.

Thank you for staying by my side this past year,
dear readers.
You have been a support to me even if you do not realize it.

Love you all,
Have a blessed and wonderful day!

<3,
Emily J Sampson

Not-Sketchblog 15: True Christmas

2011-12-25T20:36:00.000-05:00

"No man is a failure who has friends."
This quote from It's A Wonderful Life has become my life.
It has embodied my beliefs and my goals,
and I want to pass along something valuable to you on this day of celebration.
It is something I learned from suddenly realizing a connection between this quote and a very famous historic event.

The historic even to which I refer has a book based off of it,
and is called the Christmas Truce.
The Christmas Truce took place in the midst of the First World War,
when soldiers fought without understanding and without hope.
On Christmas Eve, on the Western Front in Belgium,
German and British (and some French) soldiers,
absolute enemies,
laid down their arms,
came together,
and celebrated the holiday.
They even played soccer together.

It is a shining example of the hope that humanity still has for peace.
It proves that even the most bitter of enemies can find common ground and live together in harmony.

This is what the holiday is truly about.
It is about the potential success of humanity.

Christians celebrate the holiday because of the birth of Jesus,
the savior and symbol of hope for mankind.
Jesus preached a very important message,
and that message can be boiled down to one word:
LOVE.

If you are to celebrate this holiday,
please remember it in this way.

There is love still in humanity's heart.
There is still hope for us.
We must learn to lay down our hatred,
lay aside apathy, anger, jealousy, selfishness,
and all forms of such things,
and come together as one race to reach for a new goal:
peace and harmony.

We fight senseless wars,
bicker in pointless arguments,
and throw away priceless friendships
because of fleeting, poisonous feelings.

We need to realize that it has to stop before we cannot turn back.
There is still hope.

As for myself,
I have decided I will not stop fighting.
I have faced my fears and battled with them for the past three years,
and I may not have completely overcome them,
but I am near to victory.
And so I will not stop fighting.
I will fight paranoia, fear, loneliness, and all my feelings of betrayal,
to have faith in those I love,
and those who do not love me.

I will hold onto the lingering flicker of hope,
and work to build it into a raging fire.

I vow here and now to lay aside myself,
as others have before me,
in order to save humanity from itself.

And now I ask that you join me.
Join me and lay down your weapons of
hatred,
selfishness,
bitterness,
apathy,
loneliness,
depression,
anger,
frustration,
hopelessness,
addiction,
sorrow,
hurt...

and take up the arms of Love.

Help me save humanity.

There is still hope.

Love and peace to you this holiday season,
Emily J Sampson

p.s. To those that felt they had no choice but to burn bridges,
this is my formal plea for a Christmas truce.
But please, let us not let this last only one day,
but let it live on through eternity.
Let us rebuild those bridges to form a stable and solid future for mankind.
For our children, and our children's children.
Hear my plea.

There is still hope.

Sketchblog Edition 121: Responsibilime

2011-12-19T22:56:00.000-05:00

I've been home for a few days now,
and have been trying desperately hard to not sink into that comfortable position of lackadaisical laziness that often comes from returning to one's place of childhood growth.
Fortunately, just before leaving Savannah,
I purchased a Strathmore Mixed Media Visual Journal and a Koi travel watercolor set,
complete with water brush, something I had been intending to acquire for a long time now.

So, without further ado,
I give you:
Watercolor sketches.

A self-portrait!


A rare breed of bird of prey, the magnificent Dapper Falcon.

Well that's all for now.
I've been sketching some in my other sketchbook,
and I'll upload those at some point when I finish a few things.

In other news,
my dad had surgery on his rotary cuff today.
Fortunately there was just a small tear and they didn't have to touch the rotary cuff at all,
so the recovery period is going to be much smoother and less painful than anticipated.
Thanks to all my friends and loved ones for your prayers and well-wishes during this time. :)

Thanks for reading!
Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 120: Saying Farewell

2011-12-12T18:18:00.000-05:00

I've said a lot of goodbyes this year....
Some very significant ones.
And in the past week alone I had to say goodbye to my last two best friends in Savannah.

I'm hoping to strengthen my relationships with the people still here,
and build up more best friends,
and the people I've said goodbye to I still consider my best friends,
but it's still really hard for me.

I'm fighting all my paranoia and all my fear in order to call them best friends,
and that's saying a lot.

Today I leave for home.
I'm riding the train for two days from Savannah to Chicago,
and will finally see my family again for the first time since April.
I'm looking forward to it greatly,
and hoping I can see some old friends while I'm up North,
though a lot of them are gone too.

Anyway, my train leaves soon, so I'll make this update quick.
Enjoy!

Here we have more of Geoffrey and Tomamono being friends.
Speaking of friends, Michael came back last week and enjoyed The Sentient Bean with Bridget and I. :3


We went to see Levi Weaver at the Sentient Bean the other night. Quite the delight indeed.

A mini-Levi Weaver and some birdy woman thing.

Just something I felt like sketching to let off some steam.
Trying to accurately portray my emotions with words never seems to work too well,
so I have to turn to art to help me.

More logo stuff for my friend Daniel.
I've worked more on developing the top logo since it stands better without text.

These sketches are just me fooling around with composition and storyboarding.
This story will probably never be made.

That's all!
Don't fret if you don't hear from me in the next couple weeks.

"I'm going missing for a while,
I've got nothing left to lose."

Love you all, and Merry Christmas!
<3,
Emily J Sampson

p.s. Know that I will always love you... each and every one of you... no matter what.
And I will always fight... I will fight myself, the world, and beyond, in order to be your friend.
Farewell.

Sketchblog Edition 119: Nativiteeny, Part Deux

2011-12-07T15:37:00.000-05:00

Welp!
I finished the Nativiteeny commission!
Here it is, painted and all!
(Again, I apologize for the crappy picture...
My camera is still broken and I haven't gotten the chance to order a new screen for it.
I'm hoping to just get a new camera after Christmas.
As much as I love my L19, it's run its course, and it's time to retire it in favor of a newer model methinks.)

Baby Jesus is all like, "I'M BORN!"

I also just got permission from another commissioner,
my good friend Daniel Yost,
to post the conceptual stuff for his new business's logo design!
Enjoy!

More to come this week!

Oh yes,
and...
Please don't steal.
I'll be upset, my commissioners will be upset,
and most of all,
Baby Jesus will be upset.
You don't want to make Baby Jesus upset.

That's all for this very short update!
Love you all and have a good day!

<3,
Emily J Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 118: Nativiteeny

2011-12-06T22:11:00.002-05:00

So since the hours at work are a little...
sparse, to say the least,
I've been taking on commissions for the Winter,
trying to pay for the cost of rent, tuition for next quarter,
travel to home for the holidays (and back again),
and, of course, presents for my family for Christmas.
However, since I have no hours at work over the past couple weeks,
I've been able to really hack away at the mountain of commissions I've gotten!

First, I finished a commission for a loyal commissioner, Mike P.,
who delighted me earlier this Fall when he told me that
A) he wanted me to do an Avatar-related piece (including three different Avatars),
B) I could name my price on it,
and C) I could take however long I needed on it since I was swamped with other work (including thesis and my job).

It was an incredibly fun piece to work on,
and I'm proud to say I finally was able to finish it last week,
so here's a peek in case you didn't see it on my deviantART or elsewhere:

I also received a delightful commission from a close friend of mine, John Einselen,
which marks my very first "Ornamont" commission (click the link for more information).
He wanted a nativity scene in my own style,
which I was more than happy to jump on.

I immediately sketched out a rough idea of what I wanted to do...

After getting his enthusiastic approval on the design,
I went right to work forming the Ornamonts out of SculpeyIII clay,
which I'm really starting to love.

Protective booties on the thin parts? Check! Ready for baking!

After making sure everything was as it should be,
I popped them in the oven (275 degrees for 15 minutes per 1/4 inch of thickness),
then waited.
After they baked, I turned the oven off and let them cool inside for a while
(so they didn't crack from cooling too quickly),
then examined them to make sure they were all baked thoroughly and not damaged in any way.

The bean-shaped dumpling in the middle is Baby Jesus, in case you were wondering.
And yes, that sheep is eating Joseph's robe.

So far, so good!
I only made a couple changes to the design,
the biggest of which being that they will not be hanging ornaments as originally planned.
Instead, after discussing it with John, they're going to be a set of freestanding figures,
which can be altered at any later time to become ornaments if so desired.
They look a whole lot nicer this way anyway
(the idea of stabbing a hook into the Virgin Mary's head didn't really appeal to me too much).

All that's left now is to paint them, let them dry, and ship them off!
They're loads of fun and I actually can't wait to get the chance to do more of them!

If you, too, are interested in a commission of any sort (illustration, design, sketch, portrait, hat, or Ornamont),
you know what to do!
Check out my commission lists here and here and/or email me at ejscreationsart@gmail.com!

Thanks everyone, for your continued support as I go through this difficult time.
It means quite a bit to me to have such loyal fans and friends I can call my own.

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J Sampson

p.s. Have a bonus sketch of the two main characters from my original story RavenCrest!

Sketchblog Edition 117: When The Darkness Weakens You...

2011-12-01T19:35:00.001-05:00

...That's when the light shines brightest.

Well, life has been crazy.
I'll spare you the details, but I will say this:
Over the past couple years I've had a lot of problems.
I've had a lot of breakdowns and mess-ups,
and I can't say I reacted to them well.

It took me a while, but recently I reached a very eye-opening realization.
When it seems as if the world is against you,
and nothing good is happening,
you can either curl up in a ball and cry and give up,
or you can turn away from your problems and try to force them to disappear,

or...
you can lift your head up and look forward,
and see that life is still happening.
It's happening all around you.
I got so worn down from so many terrible things happening in my life that I very nearly gave up hope,
but then I had a revelation that it's your own responsibility for how you feel.
I know that sounds a little bit cold,
but hear me out.
The world isn't against you.
Bad things happen, that's just the way it is.
The universe isn't purposely putting terrible things in your way.
It's just life happening around you, and though it can be terrible, it can also be wonderful.
What you have to do is decide how you're going to react to it.
Are you going to get upset and emotional and act rashly
(which you'll definitely regret later)?
Or are you going to let it roll off your back, suck it up,
and have faith in the good that is constantly happening around you,
have faith in the people that love you and are there for you,

have faith that your friends will not abandon you,
and even if they do, it's their own problem to work out?

For a long time I chose the former,

but now I've decided it's time to change my own future,

to change my present,
and start being positive in everything I do.

It's time for me to admit:
I have had abandonment issues my entire life.
I won't get into the details,
but something that happened a long time ago messed me up,

and made me paranoid.

I was a lonely kid and felt like if I didn't prove myself to people,
they'd all leave me.
I started putting a lot of stock in friendships,
and it became one of my strong points.
But now whenever a friend turns their back on me,
it very nearly kills me (and I wish that were an exaggeration).
However, now I've chosen to embrace those issues for what good they've done for me,
and cast aside whatever bad they've done in my life.
I've decided I won't let my fears restrict me or slow me down.
If someone abandons me,

that's just something they'll have to deal with.
I'll fight for them as long as they'll allow me to,
but if they want to let go of an extremely loyal and honest friend so easily,
let it be.
I won't let my heart be broken by anyone anymore.
I won't let my life be tied down by a friend-turned-enemy.

And if you ever find yourself in a situation where you feel the need to abandon a friendship,
just ask yourself this question:
Who am I deciding to be here?
Will this help me grow?
Will this help me solve whatever problems I have in my life and become a better person?
Will this help my relationships in the future?

I know I haven't been the best person in the world.
I'm not perfect, and that's okay.
I'm human, just like everyone else.
And that gives me the power to understand other people better.
That in turn allows me to grow, and improve whatever pitfalls I have.
I'll get better because I'll keep moving.
I'm done with stagnancy,
and allowing all the bad things that have happened to stop me in my tracks.
No more of that.

I am free of fear,
and therefore free to grow.
But I am not without compassion.
I'll still love and cry and hurt.
Because, you see...
that is what makes life-
and the people we interact with-
worth it all.

And now that you've had an earful,
have some sketches!

I'm gearing up to draw more TAoCKF pages,
so you'll definitely be seeing much more of Emma and Chester here! :D

Here are some concept sketches for a new story I've got in the works.

It's called "Harbinger" and it delves into a lot of mythology of birds.
(Honestly, what else did you expect from me?)

Work has been slow lately,
but it's definitely provided me with some good sketches.
Here we see my coworker's dog Panda as a human.
Below that is a mini-comic about the absolute slowest day we've had.

I'm trying to revive an old story of mine as well.
It will probably be drastically different than what it used to be.

The below comic is sort of kind of based off a possibly real conversation between me and my friend Matt.

(DISCLAIMER: I really do know what abhorrent means.
Matt is not abhorrent.)

I've been plant-sitting for my friend Drew,

and decided it would be cute to draw his plant Geoffrey with my plant Tomamono.
They make a cute pair.

And finally, I'm not alone in an empty house anymore!
One of my lovely roommates, Bridget, came back at last!

I was quite excited and rolled around on her bed/futon for a while,

before finally retreating to my room and giving her space.
Welcome back, Bridget!

That's all, everyone!
Hope you enjoyed it!
I probably won't be doing a lot of updates until January,
since I'm going to be going home for Christmas soon.
And yes, I know I didn't do the requests from last month yet,
but there were only three, so I thought it'd be nicer to upload them when I have a bunch of other requests as well.
I promise they'll happen. :')

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J Sampson

p.s. In case I miss it,
Happy Christmas! :)

Sketchblog Edition 116: The World Is Trembling

2011-11-06T21:35:00.005-05:00

Hello again, loyal friends!
I'm so incredibly sorry about the gaps between posts.
They seem to be growing each time, don't they?
I have a reason for that, but I won't give it to you because it doesn't matter.
What matters is I haven't been loyal enough to you.
However!
I managed to take the time to scan some sketches and will now upload them here for your viewing pleasure.
Unfortunately I didn't get to the (two) free sketch requests for October, but don't worry,
I haven't forgotten about them!

In the meantime, here are some random sketches for you!

Lately I've been conceptualizing the direction I want to take my comic in,
and what parts are important enough to keep and how to execute them.
Here's a sneak peek at what you might see in the distant future from TAoCKF.

Another activity I've been getting into more is dancing.
My lovely and talented roommates, Lauren Duda and Bridget Underwood,
try to go to Swing Dance Club every weekend,
so I've been trying to take part and finally learn to dance.
I admit, I've always been self-conscious about myself and the way I look,
and dancing is an especially frightening thing to me.
I constantly wonder if I look like an absolute fool to others around me when I dance,
so this is helping me get over that a lot.
Here we see Lauren and Bridget, as well as my good friend Michael Raineri, relaxing after a long night of Swing.

Here's that little Lepuline/Derpshark creature I drew a while back.
I want to do something with him, but I'm not sure what exactly.
Maybe some short strips or something....
Still working on his design too.

One great thing about living with Lauren and Bridget is the amount of awesomeness that happens in the house.
This happened recently....
Friendly modelling session, with costumes, props, dancing, and music.
My friends Michael, Drew, and Josh also participated.
One of the best things ever, so I'm hoping it'll happen again soon. :)

I also got to use some of these wonderful poses as reference for some commission work,
which I'll upload soon as well. :)

Finally, have some Emma Evans!

Well, that's all!
Sorry I don't have more, but hopefully after all this thesis business is finished,
you'll be flooded by sketches and artwork! :)

Thanks, as always, for reading!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 115: Comings and Goings

2011-09-27T14:50:00.006-04:00

Wow.
It's been a while.
I apologize for the long hiatus,
but this Summer was a crazy one,
filled with greetings and goodbyes,
laughs and tears,
happiness and sadness,
hopes and fears,
successes and failures,
stillness and movement,
comings and goings.

But now it is Fall,
and as the year approaches its end,
it's time to pick up the pieces and get back to work.

Here is what you missed over the Summer:

One of my friends didn't know what a spat was, so I drew a picture:

We had a bit of a roach problem in my apartment before I moved out this Summer,
and of course, my luck with creeper bugs watching me in the bathroom continued:

I have to admit, ever since starting to play Magic: The Gathering less than a year ago with my friends,
it's lately become more and more of an obsession (both fun and dangerous).
My friends have learned to fear my wolf deck. >:P

Just felt like sketching in a different style.
*shrug*

Lauren's birthday was also this Summer, so I made an Umbreon cake for her. :3

One of my Summer commissions was a Tekkonkinkreet hat for a friend.
It was a thrill to make!

Some of my friends and I had a sketch session with the theme of unusual animal/human combinations.
My choice was a giraffe.

I was finally able to catch a lizard again this Summer,
but the poor little guy freaked out and popped his tail off in my hand. :(

What kind of sketchblog would it be without some cats?
A terrible one.

Just something I did when I was bored and frustrated.
I like how it turned out, and I'm going to have to try to use the little creature at the bottom more often.
He's kind of like a cross between a Lepuline and a Derpshark.

My new roommates Lauren Duda and Bridget, and my good friends Squirrel and Jen Cram and I went to the park one day and did some sketching from life.
It was so pleasant and quite entertaining, to say the least. :)

You know, this would probably look far better as a painting than a sketch. :/

We went to see Lion King in the theater just about a week ago,
and it was just as powerful as I remember it being the first time I saw it on the big screen.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I choked up several times during the film.
I saw it in 3D at first, and it wasn't bad, but to be honest, the 3D didn't do anything for it.
We're going to see it again in 2D this weekend. :)

That in combination with the fact that my roommate Bridget is making her senior animation about lions made me just want to draw one.
I don't like the way it came out, but it was fun either way.

I promised Josh Brock I'd draw him in my style so he could use it as his profile picture,
so here it is:

Here is also a sketch of Bridget:

And a sketch of Drew:

And Lauren Duda, whose 21st birthday was yesterday!
Happy Birthday, Lauren!

Thanks for your patience and for reading, as always!

Free sketch requests are now open for the month of October, so head on over to my deviantART to let me know what you want!

Love you all,
and have a wonderful day!

<3,
Emily J Sampson

p.s. The future belongs to us.
Don't let go of it.

Sketchblog Edition 114: If You Keep Tearing Out The Sutures

2011-07-08T14:40:00.008-04:00

Wow, it certainly has been a while, hasn't it?
Life kind of exploded all over the place,
and I'm still picking up the pieces,
but I've finally found some time to finish sketch requests
and scan and upload them!

First off, let's look at the daily ramblings of Emily:

This first one is self-explanatory...

My friend Nate was describing how he ran into a "significant bear" in the forests of South Carolina.
This was what I imagined:

Some of my friends and I went to see Super 8 in the IMAX in Charleston,
and along the way we stopped at a gas station to get snacks.
This was what we saw as we left...

Some more sketches of Harriet Cooper and her associates from my Plague Doctors story:

Don't ask...

I got my haircut.

Now for the genderbends I owe all you extremely patient people!

First off, Heidi Black (Hans):

Topher Twiggs (Tiffany):

Bethany Ledbetter (Biff):

Jen Hochman (Jake):

Alice Dettman (Alex):

Reed Hodge (Rita):

Bethany Brengan (Brett):

Andy Mai (Andrea):

Brady Thomes (Brandi):

Jonathan Howie (Jenna):

Lee Harris (Leah):

Jen Cram (John):

Lilly Lui (Lee):

Mike Paxton (Mika, the Magical Girl/Mahou Shoujo):

Matt Synowicz (Matilda/Maddie/SexyHips):
Crash Thompson (Lash):

Claire Saunders (Clarence):

Tracey Tucker (Tucker Tracey):

Ellen Monroe (Allan):

Jordan Nicholson (Jordyn):
Chad Steele (Jazz):

Doug I'msorryLaurenmademedoit Horak (Dora):

Alex Curtis (Alexis):

NOW HAVE SOME GUEST SKETCHES!

From Heidi, we have a beautiful illustration of Dr. Tinycat.

And from Chad, a... uh... a portrait of me?
Mildly frightening,
thank you, Chad.

Thus concludes the massive catchup upload!

Hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you for your patience
and your continued readership!

Love you all,
and have a great day/weekend!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

p.s. Sketch requests will resume for the month of August!
But what theme should it be.... ?

Sketchblog Edition 113: Do You Come From A Family Of Giants?

2011-05-10T00:15:00.004-04:00

I'm trying to sketch more again,
just for fun.

Yes, I still have all the sketch requests I owe you kind folks from April,
but in the meantime, I'm taking it a little easy.

Enjoy these instead:

On Sunday evening at the SCAD Student Center,
a panel discussion on making films was given by four of the most amazing gentlemen on God's green earth:
•Colin Levy
•Nate Swinehart
•Tyler Kupferer
•Alex Curtis

The following two pages of sketches are my notes from said panel:

I can't help myself.
I love birds too much.
There's no way I can go without drawing at least one feathered spirit-like creature in my sketchbook.

Also, pose is inspired by a sketch I saw in the fabulous Jina Noh's sketchbook!

Here's more of Colin Levy!
A TAoCKF version:

...And a gender-bended version!

And if that's not enough awesome for you,
I'd just like to take this moment to plug one of my favorite people in the world,
Sarah "Squirrel" Desrosiers!
She is quite an amazing artist as well as a beautiful person,
and she, like I, is quite poor,
so she's opened herself to commissions!
Below is an example of a tattoo commission she did (image copyrighted to Sarah Desrosiers).
If you like that, visit her website for more artwork and more information:
http://www.sarah-lynne.com/

That's all for tonight!
Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 112: Ever Since You

2011-05-05T14:20:00.011-04:00

BEHOLD!
The moment you've all been waiting for, no doubt;
part 2 of the Mega-Upload!

The Pokémon Portrait Sketch Requests!

I won't keep you.
Here they are!

Lilly Lui, a grass/water type:

Jen Hochman, a dark/ghost/psychic type:

Jessica Rank, a normal/hairy type:

Madison Henline, normal/water type:

Alice Dettman, a mewlike Pokémon (dark/psychic?):

Andy Mai, a... um... an Andy Mai type:

Ellen, a psychic/grass type:

Drew Soman, a dark/angry type:

Vawn-O-The-Dawn, a sweater/poison/steel type:

MagnusXL, a dragon/fire type:

Reed Hodge, an electric/derp type:

Heidi Black, a fire/hairy type:

Claire, a normal/water shaman type:

Squirrel (aka Sarah), a squirrel type:

Ian McGinty, a bug/water type:

Lauren Brown, my lovely roommate, a dark/dark type (she requested this :P):

Chad Steele, a sweater/dark/steel type:

Lady #1: Bridget Underwood, a scarf/grass type:

Lady #2: Lauren Duda, a grass/flying type:

Crash Sprong, a herp/derp type:

Caitlin Elise Willis, a dark/flying type:

JillLenaD, a water/grass type:

Jordan Todd, a grass/derp type:

Nico, a suit/professor type:

Jen Cram, a derp/cat type:

Lunargoeth, a water/ground type:

Matt Synowicz, a derpy/derp type:

Daniel Woodling, a derp/hairy type:

Alex Curtis, a normal/dog type:

Lady #3: Lane Ngo, a grass/cute type:

Tyler J. Kupferer, a derp/angry type (also note the guest sketch from Tyler at the upper left-hand corner):

Nate Swinehart, a grass/water shaman type:

That's all of them!

Sorry for the delay,
but I certainly hope it was worth the wait!

Thanks again, everyone!

I hope that despite my busy schedule I can upload some more sketches more frequently this time.

Love you all,
and have a good evening!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 111: Your Perfume

2011-05-04T23:48:00.009-04:00

Well, I know it's been a while,
and I simply must apologize,
but I promise you it was worth the wait.
Without further ado,
and helping explain part of the reason why it took me so long to get this up,
the first part of my two-part uber-sketch-upload!
Yep. That's right.
I got hit by a car.
And I survived.
It was about three weeks ago this happened.
It was not fun,
but I am recovering just fine.
Tobi's damages were worse than mine, though.
He's currently in the shop,
waiting until I can get enough money to free him once more.
And I just got him fixed, too.... :/

Oh well!
Life goes on!

Have more emoticreatures!

Also, have some silly little storyboards for an animation I'm thinking of doing:

Here's a bird creature thing:

Here's a mutated version of Chad's dog,
The Doctor O_____O:

More emoticreatures!

Then this happened...
Another redesign of an old character,
the half-elf deliverygirl Haita:

I give you:
a mushroom wearing a top hat, a monocle and a moustache
(concept by Lauren and Tyler):

Random stuff:

*boot boot*

A couple of hats I was commissioned to make:

Some sketches of Emma,
from TAoCKF:

Randomian concept sketches:

This happened... for realsies:

Figure drawing, no reference:

A couple characters from a story I'm conceptualizing:

Ice cream baby, with cone diaper, and cats:

This just came to me while listening to some music.
I really want to animate it. :)

Oh hey, here's a quick motorcycle design sketch:

If you haven't experienced NYANCat,
now's the time.
My friend Chad and I went up to Chicago and played the song a couple times back and forth.

Also, I realized recently that there are no females in my catverse.
So here's Winifred, the latest addition.
She's Wallace the Lazy Cat's cousin, a saucy cat indeed:

And now for some guest sketches!

These next few were drawn by (I believe) my dear friend Jen Cram:

I think here we have Lauren's handiwork.
You can see her delightful portrait of Lane:

And more from Jen C!

And suddenly, out of nowhere,
a speedpaint of my Lauren:

Thus ends the end of the mega-upload part 1!

Thanks for your patience,
and your continued reading!

Love you all,
have a good night,
and look forward to part 2 of the upload tomorrow! ;)

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Not-Sketchblog 14: Food, Glorious Food

2011-03-19T12:17:00.002-04:00

It's no secret I love my food.

Friends know that if I don't eat every couple hours I turn into a horrific she-devil beast that will likely tear your face off and eat it as a replacement for meat.

This fact has driven people to consistently ask me, "What's a good place to eat in Savannah?"

Well, it's about time I did this.
It's time for a restaurant review.

I will now list off to you the top ten restaurants (in my opinion) exclusive to downtown Savannah, and why you should eat there.

Ready?
Here we go!

10. Juarez
Juarez and I have had a love-hate relationship. I love their food, but occasionally their food hates me. Their cheap, delicious burritos were a staple of my poor grad student diet, especially since they were so close to the building I found myself locked away in on a regular basis. However, after a while, this delicious tex-mex food gradually wore away at my stomach and I became unable to eat there every day. As delicious and cheap as their food is, you should take this word of caution and eat Juarez in small amounts, especially if, like me, your delicate stomach can only handle so much rich cheesy greasy goodness.

9. Saigon
A good friend of mine practically lives at Saigon, and turned me on to the unique variety of Vietnamese and Thai dishes. A little on the expensive side, Saigon is smack dab in the middle of downtown Savannah, and serves some very good food. The soups, like Tom Ka, are some of the tastiest I've had, but my personal favorite is the Masaman Curry. This is a good restaurant for an occasional indulgence with close friends.

8. Barnes
I've had Barnes quite a few times, and it's always a good day. As to be expected from a southern city, Savannah has a good selection of barbecue places, but if you want something quick and filling and cheap, Barnes is definitely the place to go. The staff is well-mannered and the food is just what you'd expect from southern cuisine: rich, fried, and tasty. I've tried many items on their menu, including their tender pulled pork sandwich, and their juicy chicken strips, but my usual has become the Grouper Finger Basket, which comes with your choice of 2 sides. I always get a side of hush puppies to go with it, and never regret the decision. Barnes is definitely a nice place to go if you're a tourist on a budget and with little time to do everything there is to do in Savannah.

7. Mellow Mushroom
Anyone in Savannah can tell you in a heartbeat what the best pizza place is: Mellow Mushroom. Run by hippies (no lie), Mellow Mushroom's dough is to die for. Hand-tossed, and coated in special seasoning, the special dough definitely makes the pizza. They also have a wide variety of pizza toppings and special orders, and a great drink list to boot. The appetizer list isn't shabby either- the pretzels are the best. My favorite pizza has quickly become the loaded potato pizza, topped with special sauce, sour cream, potatoes, chives, cheese, and more. I'm cheating a tad adding Mellow Mushroom to this list, since it's not particularly exclusive to Savannah, but it definitely holds the title of best pizza in my heart.

6. Al Salaam Deli
I'm not certain even natives of Savannah know about Al Salaam Deli. Tucked away in a small corner shop on Habersham Street, the Al Salaam Deli is by far the best middle-eastern cuisine place in downtown Savannah. Sure, it's a little off the beaten path, but it's well worth it. Their gyros are wonderful, and the fries are the greatest of any place I've eaten at in Savannah (with a hint of special seasoning). It also serves as a small convenience store, selling middle-eastern food items and drinks. One thing that also won me over about the restaurant was that they sell aloe drinks, which has become a new obsession of mine quite recently. It may look like a hole-in-the-wall sort of place, and the "wallpaper" made from old National Geographic magazines may look cheap, but the tastiness of the food and the friendliness of the cook quickly makes up for it. Definitely give it a shot... if you can find it. ;)

5. Angel's BBQ
Like Al Salaam, Angel's is a little, tucked-away shop sandwiched between two giant churches, so it's easy to miss. Despite this fact, it has a solid reputation in Savannah for being some of the best BBQ in town. I've only been there once, but I'm definitely planning to go again. Their pulled pork sandwich is excellent and their service is great. There's not much seating room, though, so go sometime when they're likely to be less busy, like on a weekday afternoon. The menu isn't the best as far as variety goes, but the atmosphere is pleasant and the small-business style is one worth supporting, especially since they work together with other local businesses like Papillote (which you'll hear about later in this post) as companions, not competitors, a principle I put deep faith and value in.

4. PJ Corner Store- Thai Cuisine
Originally a gallery-turned-convenience store, PJ Corner Store recently went through some renovations to become a convenience store shop/Thai Cuisine restaurant, and the transition couldn't have been better. There now exists in Savannah an eatery it was desperately lacking in: a good, cheap, Thai takeout place. I went there just last night for the first time and ordered the Bangkok Chicken, which I then ate leftovers of for dinner tonight, and couldn't be more pleased with it! The portions are big enough to stretch three meals from, which is good if you're a poor art student like me. The herbs used to flavor the chicken were perfect, and the rice was sweet and sticky, just the way it should be.
My friends had the vegetarian spring rolls and the pineapple fried rice and both of them were more than satisfied and expressed a desire to go back as soon as possible. Their menu has variety and their convenience store is... well... convenient to say the least. If you feel like having dessert afterward, they sell ice cream items as well! The next time I go, I plan on trying the Chicken Satay. Definitely go here if you like the food at Saigon but can't afford to eat there on a regular basis!

3. Sammy Green's
Sammy Green's has quickly become a favorite of mine. I discovered it with my friend when we were desperately searching for a cheap, quick restaurant close by to my house, and lo and behold, Sammy Green's appears in a restaurant guide. Small and quaint, this hot dog and slider restaurant is not what you'd expect. It puts value on the ingredients and affordability of its items, which is a nice change of pace from a lot of fast food restaurants. You can get almost anything on the menu (except salads) for under $3, and they have a surprisingly wide variety of sandwiches and hot dogs. As simple as hot dogs are, these are by far the best I've tasted. They split and grill the dogs to a nice crispy outer layer with juicy tender meat maintained on the inside. They'll also customize items if you ask, and are quick to serve.
Their menu is straightforward and they have weekly specials which, which can be anything from green beans to couscous. The fries are also quite delicious, and their sweets are scrumptious when they have them. Don't be deterred by the fact that this is a hot dog and slider place. They also have vegan and vegetarian-friendly items. The warm cozy atmosphere and delicious cheap food makes for a great regular place to eat at.

2. Back In The Day Bakery
Back In The Day has long been a favorite of local and temporary Savannites. Their policy of making everything in-shop doesn't fail to impress, and certainly shows in the deliciousness of their food items. From cupcakes to sandwiches to bread, everything on the menu is sheer perfection. You have to travel just a little out of the way from downtown, but it's still worth it.
The cute and comfy atmosphere and friendly employees make the experience all the better. They frequently cycle through a variety of special sweets, so you should make it a point to stop in on a regular basis to see what they've got, and so you don't miss out on anything good. They have a nice drink selection, including various coffees and teas, and the sandwiches are fantastic. The Super Chicken remains my usual order, paired with a cold glass bottle of Coke, and the occasional cupcake, Star Brownie, or piece of pie.
Their ingredients are natural, their prices are fair, and their service is more than friendly, so make sure you give them a try if you find yourself in the area.

1. Papillote
Hands down, Papillote is the best restaurant in downtown Savannah. The sheer quality of food and friendliness of service you get for the price is incomparable. In case I haven't mentioned them enough, I will reinforce my love for this place yet again. The owners are adorable and all the employees serve you with a smile on their face. The head chef, Hervé Didailler, has been professionally trained and is world-renowned for his delicious dishes, so you know you're going to get something tasty when you go there.
I've tried many things on the menu, including their own recipe of tomato soup, the Croque Monsieur, the La Parisien, and the Bouchée a la Reine (my personal favorite). Every time I go into the shop, they acknowledge me and smile, "Hello, Emily! How are you today?" They then ask if I want the usual, the Bouchée and a Mexican Coke, and I nod. Every one of the employees says hello, even if you've already been greeted and served, and are more than willing to make recommendations and friendly conversation. The environment is also inviting and the decor is warm and comfortable.
Even though it is a genuine French restaurant, it makes no attempts to be fancy or overdressed. They go on the ideals of keeping it simple so that they don't lose focus on the quality of their food, which can't be beat. Don't go thinking that it's just filling main courses, either. They sell bread, cakes, cheeses, special sauces which they make right there in the shop, and, of course, what French restaurant would be complete without a vast dessert menu?
The first dessert item I tried at Papillote was their chocolate brownie with 24karat edible gold leaf on top. You heard right. 24k edible gold. On chocolate so rich you'd think it was straight-up fudge. All for only $3.99 a bar, which isn't small to begin with. Other desserts I've sampled have included the macarons, the chocolate lava cake, and another personal favorite, the chocolate mousse, probably the best chocolate mousse I've had in my life.
The drink variety is also splendid. French and other European drinks readily available in the cooler, and their own store-made lemonade. They have seasonal items, too, based on demand, and currently the Duck Burger is a popular item (which I'm going to get next time I go in). What's also interesting about Papillote is that you bus your own table, but don't let that deter you. They'll make rounds every once in a while and ask how you're doing or offer you free samples. They're always ready to freshen your water pitcher (which is more like a vase), and chat with you about your day.
If all this doesn't encourage you enough to try Papillote out, I don't know what will.

It was extremely hard to narrow down the list to just ten places, but these are my prime locations, and will forever remain so. Savannah is full of delicious eateries, so the best option you have is to just hoof it around and don't be afraid of exploring nooks and crannies. A downside is that many places are expensive, and many places have unusual hours of operation, but if you can find some of the tucked away treasures like the ones listed above, it's well worth the trouble to eat there.

Other places that didn't make it to the top ten list, but are still worth checking out, include: Starland Café, Blowin' Smoke, T-Rex Mex, The Soda Pop Shoppe, Café Gelatohhh, Carlito's, and Wasabi's. There are, of course, dozens of other great places, but these are the ones that hold a special place in my heart during my stay here, and I will miss them all sorely when I have to say goodbye. :(

Anyway, I hope this will serve someone well, and I hope you take the time to give these amazing places your business, because they certainly deserve it. I especially believe in supporting local businesses, so I hope this encourages the business owners and encourages you to eat there.

Thanks for reading!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Not-Sketchblog 13: The Theme of Revolution Is Love

2011-03-08T02:40:00.003-05:00

If you've already read my post on facebook,
you have my permission to ignore this post
(it's copy-pasted anyway).

So, according to Google, today is the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day.
Whatever the heck that means.
Oh wait, that's right. Google.
*click*
http://www.google.com/events/iwd2011/

Ohhhhh. Well, cool!

I've always been about empowering women, raising them up with a strong mindset that they can be just as powerful as men in this world.
I'm by no means a "Feminist" (going by the definition of the term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism).
Oh wait...
Maybe I am a Feminist after all.
Well, call me whatever you like,
I've always stood by the belief that ALL humans are created equal.
Our society has come a long way, giving women the right to vote, the right to a career, the right to own their own property and body and whatnot.
But somehow there's still something amiss.

Much of the world still views women as the weaker race.
Why?
Is it because we typically are not as physically apt to hard labor as our male counterparts?
Or is it because we don't have that harsh, brutal warlike mentality?
Perhaps we are seen as weaker because we fall to our emotions easier than most men do.
But those are still all soaring gender stereotypes.

True, women have the better "mother" quality,
the soft, caring touch that babies and children need to grow with values and
gentleness toward the world around them,
and men have the strong "father" quality,
in which the child learns strength (emotional and physical), and work ethic.
But the child can learn both these lessons from each parent, not just one or the other.

We still live in a heavily male-dominated society.
The workplace is still a harsh place for a woman,
and it is mostly men involved in politics and government affairs.
There are exceptions, but they are few and far between.

Then there's the issue of rape.
The way our country deals with rape is quite curious.
It wasn't until very recently that we began to change the approach to the subject of rape.
Where before, we only warned women and told them to prepare themselves with self-defense classes or carry mace,
or even told them, "Don't go out after dark alone,"
we have started to tell everyone to be cautious, not just women.
The problem isn't just with women who go out into the night alone and put themselves in danger,
it's also with the men of the world who haven't learned to control their own primal drives.
Actually,
that's the bulk of the problem.
There was a campaign I heard about that specifically spoke to the men of the world,
telling them that they too must be held accountable on the topic of rape.
They too have a choice to prepare themselves before going out into the world,
but not with mace or self-defense classes.
Rather, they must prepare themselves with restraint and responsibility.
While this is a good campaign, it isn't pushed enough.
Men of the world, you must take responsibility and teach yourself to control your desires.
Women of the world, you must ensure that you don't put yourself in a situation that could harm yourself.

Rape isn't the only issue on the gender equality table that has yet to be addressed correctly.
The idea that women are the ones to raise children is still highly flawed.
Yes, we've touched on the fact that women are more gentle and caring,
which is important to a child's development,
but the man has to be present in the equation as well.
An imbalanced household is likely to crumble quickly.
So, men, make sure you step up and raise your child proper.
And women, make sure you pick the right man.
Don't fall for the guy that runs around and parties all the time,
and if you want to have kids, make darn sure he wants to have kids as strongly as you do,
otherwise he will only raise them half-heartedly.
Of course, these are generalizations.
Sometimes having a child can make someone turn around and change into a drastically different person,
but mostly, women have to know what to look for in a guy.
This brings me to my next point:
Women.
Don't follow your fleeting emotions.
I could talk for ages on this topic, but instead I'll direct you to my blog post on the subject:
http://ejs-creations.blogspot.com/2011/03/not-sketchblog-12-proper-investments.html

There are still so many things wrong with the gender equality table.
Too many to discuss,
but these are the major ones.

There's a big problem, too, with girls being raised to be almost "too girly."
Beauty pageants, cheerleading, girls' sports, fashion, celebrities, home economics,
all are portraying this idea that a woman has to be completely separated from a man's world,
and that femininity is a thing of delicacy and fragility.

There are still so many girls that are afraid to ask a guy out because it's "the guy's duty."
I'll admit, I feel the same way.
I want the guy to chase me,
make me feel important and unique,
as if I'm something to be desired.
I want the guy to ask me out and treat me to dinner and a movie or buy me gifts and food and serenade me and whatnot.
But when I sit back and think about it,
where does that put me?
I'm objectified.
I'm a thing to be obtained or bought.
I must sit there and look pretty until someone notices me in the window and casts his lot in.
If there are multiple men, I must sit and wait for them to fight over me and find out who the victor is.
I can't intervene.

However,
if I take the role of the "guy" and ask him out;
if I chase HIM,
I become a thing of desperation.
I turn into some sort of beast that strips away the manhood from someone and wears it like some sort of horrific wolf in sheep's clothing.
I've asked my fair share of guys out,
and it always ends up sour.
The guy tends to think,
"Oh... she's so forward.
She's impatient and desperate.
I don't want to be involved with someone who won't let me do what I want."
Rejection after rejection in this manner has taught me to keep my mouth shut,
put on my makeup every morning,
buy nice clothes,
do my hair up pretty,
paint my eyes and lips,
cross my legs,
smile,
act delicate,
be feminine and proper in public,
and wait for the man to make the first move.
Yes,
the guy needs to have the courage to ask me out.
I don't want to have to be the one instigating everything all the time.
But there's a serious problem when I feel guilty,
when I fear that I'm overstepping my boundaries when I ask a guy out.

Then there's the time you're actually in a relationship.
The guy has to be the one to hold you, because he's strong and able-bodied,
and will protect you from the horrors of the world.
The guy has to open the car door for you,
so you don't chip a nail or break an ankle.
The guy has to buy all the meals,
because he's the one making the money with his job,
unless you're eating in,
and in that case the woman has to make the meals,
because obviously she knows how to cook,
because she's a girl.
That's what girls do, right?
They cook and clean and pop babies out and take care of them till they're off to college?

Sure, we can read that above paragraph and say,
no, absolutely not,
those things aren't the norm anymore,
we've surpassed those stereotypes.
But when you think about it,
we really haven't.

A woman loves to be held by a man, because they're warm and big and comfortable.
A woman feels flattered when a man opens the door for her, because he's being a gentleman.
A woman enjoys getting treated to dinners and receiving gifts, because it makes her feel special, wanted, and princess-like.

These things are all true as well.
It's great when a man is affectionate, when he's courteous, when he's willing to sacrifice for his woman,
but he doesn't have to do it all of the time to prove it.
The woman should return the signs as well.
She's entitled to prove that she cares for her man in the form of holding him when he's down, buying him a dinner when his wallet is getting a little thin, or, heck, helping him carry or move his stuff... even build something with him!
These are not out of the question for a woman to do,
but there's still a stigma about it.
If we women try any of this, we get a little wave of the hand and a "no, no, I got this."
It's as if we are treading on the man's territory.
But aren't we allowed territory as well?
Can't we share it?
Haven't we surpassed the primal instincts to protect and fight for our territory because we now acknowledge that the world belongs to everyone, not just ourselves?
Maybe we haven't.

In this heavily male-dominated world,
pointless wars are still waged,
murders and rapes and hate crimes are still committed,
and greed and selfishness still prevails.

Women were built with strong emotional instincts,
and men were built with strong survival instincts,
this is natural.
But it doesn't mean that the men have to rule the world in order for our race to
survive.

What if women ruled the world?
What if countries were run based on emotions of love and understanding,
instead of greed and selfishness?

It has always been my belief that love is the solution to all problems,
and that remains unchanged.
Love allows us to see past ourselves to the whole of the universe,
and gives us the patience to try and understand our so-called enemies.

Women can be strong and powerful just as men can,
but we have something amazing that gives us an extra edge:
emotional power.
It's a very strong power, in my opinion.
Wars have been waged for women.
So it is my belief that women can stop wars.
We can end the cycle of hatred and abuse and greed and selfish behavior that has been recurrent in this male-dominated world.
But we need to be strong and believe that it's possible.
We can't submit to the image of the "beautiful woman" who is delicate and sweet and loving and caring and affectionate.
We can be all those things, but we can be so much more.
Beauty can also mean power.
And power can mean change.
And change can com from love,
and only love.

Love is not some mushy, touchy-feely emotion.
It is a passionate, intense, strong, overbearing, life-changing source of power that,
at this moment, women have the higher playing field on.

I always strive for a world of understanding and equality,
educated and selfless,
where everyone cares and nobody fears,
and I believe love is the path to that.
Men can do this too,
but they need to observe and learn from the women around them.

Here's our voice:
we are strong,
we are powerful,
we are world-changing,
because we are lovers,
and not fighters.

There will be a day when wars are intellectual,
and fought with discussions and not guns.
If we love each other and come to understand that all humans are equal,
all can achieve greatness in the world,
and all impact it in a great way,
then perhaps we can reach that day soon.
But we all have to make the effort.
Man and woman alike.

I propose a new kind of femininity:
the masculine feminine.
A woman of stature and high position,
maintaining the beauty and emotional instinct of a traditional female,
but independent and driven to change her world.
Powerful and delicate,
strong and gentle,
firm and caring.

There is a balance to the world,
and as it is now, we are teetering on the edge of demise.
We can shift the table,
if we all work together and instigate change as a unit.

Down with the self,
forward with Love.

Thanks for reading!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Not-Sketchblog 12: Proper Investments

2011-03-06T13:05:00.003-05:00

I find it easy to be swept away by my emotions.
I love too easily, and lose control.
Then it takes me an extremely long and painful time to regain myself.

So here's a word of warning to women similar to me:
don't depend on someone else to make you happy.

Don't invest all your time and emotions in someone who may not return your feelings,
may not share your dreams and hopes,
and absolutely one-hundred percent,
DO NOT invest your time and emotions and hopes and dreams and life
in someone who doesn't share your core values,
or your general opinion of the way the universe works.

This past year and a half has been an enlightening one for me.
I've gone through many changes,
and more pain (physical and emotional) than anyone should ever have to know.

For a solid 4 months last summer, I had either spent every night tossing and turning or crying myself to sleep,
because I had gambled everything I had and knew on a return on my emotional investment in someone.
I let myself believe that they could change and that I could prove to them that you don't have to spend your entire life alone in the universe.
But some people don't change that easily.

I did learn one thing from the entire experience, though.
I have to focus on my own dreams,
joining together with a group of talented artists and forming a studio of our own,
which happens to be coming true,
and not depend so much on someone who can't understand that dream.

So, women of the world who love easily and fall for the men that smooth-talk you and play romantic,
take these words to heart:
You are strong,
you are beautiful,
you have your own life,
and you can be independent.
If you are attracted to someone,
don't put yourself in a position where you depend on them for everything
(like, with me for example, rides to and from places,
food, affection, physical contact, or recreation).
You can find all those things in the many friends you could have if you live your life outside of yourself,
and you will no longer need to feel necessary to someone in order to survive.

You are important in and of yourself.
You impact the world around you,
and can affect change on it if you keep your head up and stay focused.

Now, I leave you with the words of "I See The Light," as sung by Rapunzel in the fabulous film Tangled:
"All those days
Watching from the windows
All those years
Outside looking in
All that time
Never even knowing
Just how blind I've been

Now I'm here
Blinking in the starlight
Now I'm here
Suddenly I see
Standing here
It's oh, so clear
I'm where I'm meant to be

And at last, I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last, I see the light
And it's like the sky is new
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once
Everything looks different
Now that I see you."

Take heart and open your eyes to see someone for who they really are,
and life will be a whole lot easier for you.

Thanks for reading!
Love you all,
and have a great day!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

p.s. I should clarify that in no way was this whole situation not my fault.
Even though I had been warned that the relationship would probably go no further than casual dating,
I neglected this fact, and let my emotions overwhelm me.
I let my hopes get the better of me,
and I invested in a relationship I imagined was possible.
Time and again I let this happen, even when he made it clear he was not interested,
and only wanted to be my friend (and was a very good one, at that),
but try as I might, my emotional attachment to him had grown so deeply bonded that I saw him as both a friend and more.
We will always be friends,
but it's taken a long time to get to that point,
and a lot of struggling and disagreements and misunderstandings.
But I wouldn't trade any moment,
because they all led me here.

Sketchblog Edition 110: Cleansing

2011-02-28T22:59:00.004-05:00

So yes.
It's been a crazy past couple of days and I've had kind of a rough day today,
but as it went on, it got increasingly better.

I've been granted a table at Savannah's Mini Comics Expo,
which will be held in the Pirate's House,
and so I decided to not only sell my own comics,
but sell some merch for Rain Dance, Nate's movie, as well!
So!
Be on the lookout for me if you're in the area and stop by to support Rain Dance!

We also had our first Clean Up and Ink & Paint Interest Meeting on Sunday,
and had a great turnout of fully enthusiastic artists!
Here, have a not-so-clear Toon Boom tutorial.

Today, Lilly and I ran some errands,
which included picking up fabric and merch supplies from JoAnn's,
where this happened:

Back at home, Nate dropped by to say hi and hang out with Lauren and I,
and also deliver me some delicious fudge.
I gave him a Cadbury Egg.
We were both delighted.

Then I drew more gender-benders.

Here's Bridget:

And now, as promised, the amazing Josh Brock:

I think he makes a pretty hot woman, don't you? :B

Catching up on the last of February's sketches,
here's one for Tyler!
It's all three evolutions if Jake were a Pokémon.

And finally, Lauren requested all the Eeveelutions in one horrific chimera.
*shudder*

That's all for today!
There will be more gender-bends to come, though,
and tomorrow starts the new batch of free sketch requests,
which you can find out more about and request by reading this!

Thanks for reading!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

p.s. Lauren and Nate and I were talking about how awesome it would be for all of us to move to California together and create a powerhouse of creative production.
I want it to happen,
and will do everything in my power to make sure it does,
no matter what. :)

Sketchblog Edition 109: Gingerbreading

2011-02-27T01:33:00.006-05:00

Leave it to Comics Art Forum to get me pumped about art again!

What a crazy couple of weeks!

Let's start this sketchblog with a sketch request from Tyler.
A cactus in a speedo.

This is a true story of an event which occurred in Byte Café,
which still delights Nate every time it comes up again in conversation.
Poor unfortunate man...
all he wanted was a packet of mayonnaise.

Ever get that urge to draw something you see in your head?
Does that urge ever come to you at a quarter to 5 in the morning when you're just getting around to getting to bed after a long day of working on commissions?
Because that happens to me all the time....

The cutesy girl character makes another appearance on this page from Phil Craven's workshop at CAF.
There are also some TAoCKF sketches in there,
including a new character (who doesn't make an appearance until much later),
and a gender-bended version of Chester. :3
There is also a Moofin bird,
which is from a story my dear friend Maggie wrote for my Randomia universe.
There are also some other random derpy sketches.

The second workshop I sat in on was Kristian Donaldson's.
He showed us how to use Google SketchUp to set up a scene for your comics.
Mind.
Blown.

After that, Lilly and I grabbed some lunch from Papillote,
where this happened:
I was thrilled, obviously.
So I promised I'd make more sketches and some better pictures so Ann could use one as her profile picture. :P

After lunch we returned to Norris for a group portfolio review with Phil Craven.
He thought this was the best piece of my portfolio out of the bunch. :3

Later, I napped, and had Inception-like dreams within dreams.
It took a lot out of me but eventually I woke up and met up with Nate and Lauren Duda at Mellow Mushroom and had some delicious pretzels.
They managed to convince me to return to Monty with them,
where the subject of gender-bending came up.
I showed them the gender-bended me that Tyler drew ages ago when we went to Macaroni Grill...

...Which had led me to draw a gender-bended version of him....

...Which in turn inspired my friends to request gender-bended versions of people we know.

So here's the first batch of many more to come!

First off, Nate:

Next, Lane:

And then Lauren Duda:

Here's Grant:

Nate requested an alternate version of himself, with nicer hair and no glasses:

My dear friend Jenny Plyler:

An angry Drewseph:

And finally, my Lauren:

That was a splendid conclusion to the day,
as Monty seems to consistently be providing lately.

If that's not enough for you,
since I don't have a free sketch request for you today,
here's a page of guest sketches,
by Tyler, Lauren Duda, Lane, Nate, Stephanie Wang, Grant, and Daniel Woodling.

That's all for tonight!

Thanks as always for reading!
Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 108: In My Dreams

2011-02-16T23:49:00.004-05:00

Not much to say about today.

Got a message shortly after getting up.
Nate and his roommate Rose,
along with Drew and Alex,
were going to an Indian buffet and invited me to go with.
Lilly opted in and we met them all at the mall,
during one of the nicest days of weather yet,
only to find the place had closed down.

So then we went to Seasons of Japan instead!
It was tasty delicious,
but soooooo much food...
Nate and I both ate too much methinks.

After picking up my Tobi from getting his battery charged
(and quite the struggle getting him out from the garage at the shop, with no help at all from the girl that works there >:[ ),
I went over to work at Monty.
There, Tyler gave us quite the lecture on double-spacing after ending a sentence,
which Nate and I didn't agree with.

Apparently there's someone dubbed the "Pizza Fairy,"
who usually visits Monty during finals week and gives out free pizza,
but I guess he was making an exception today.
Just in time, too.
My friend Jen and I were about to eat cafeteria food,
when we heard he was making a visit.
Lauren, Jen, Lane, Other Lauren and I formed our wolf pack and went on the hunt.
It took us only moments to find him and devour the pizzas he brought.
It was a massacre.

Later,
Nate bled all over the place.
I mended him.
He'll survive.

Drew requested a Zombie Evee for the free sketch request of the day,
so here it is:
I don't get to draw disgusting things that often,
so this was lots of fun.
Morbid.
But fun.

As an added bonus today,
have this Guest Sketch,
done by the amazing Nate Swinehart.

It is an accurate depiction of myself.
*nod nod*

Thanks for reading!
Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 107: So Close And Yet So Far

2011-02-15T23:33:00.004-05:00

WUFF.
Okay.
There was a bit of a delay,
but I have a good excuse.
...
Alright, it's a lousy excuse,
but life got crazy on me for a bit there.

Things will get better though.

Anyway,
here are some sketches!
(And the other stuff I promised you is coming soon!)

This is truth:

I've been getting lots of commissions lately and other side projects,
and life in general has been distracting me from my webcomic and my thesis,
so I figured I'd get some practice in on drawing Emma and her wonderful mouth expressions.

I don't think I ever explained the idea behind Emma and Chester.
Emma expresses all her feelings in her mouth,
while Chester usually keeps his mouth closed,
and expresses his emotions through his eyes.
It's a fun little experiment,
and I'm enjoying the challenge of utilizing it. :)

So for a few days my body almost completely shut down on me,
and it got so bad that one morning,
when I stood to take the first step of the day,
my right calf just entirely gave out and I practically fell to the floor.
The whole day I had a slight limp.
I must have slept on it wrong or something....

Here's a little Valentine's Day present for all my TAoCKF fans!
It's been a while since I drew Emma and Chester being adorable together. ^^

Another adorable couple are the owners of my absolute favorite (and hands-down best) restaurant in Savannah:
Papillote!
I give you: Ann and Hervé.
Sorry... it got a little rushed toward the end,
but I promise I'll be making a nicer version of this sometime...
and maybe even color it!
Also, that is my favorite thing they serve that Hervé is holding:
Chocolate Mousse.
Ohhhhhhhh boy.
So good.

In other news, I had a really weird dream last night.
It was an alternate telling of the story Sleeping Beauty.
In my dream, the Prince and Princess were both weapons designed to go to the highest bidder,
and they got their memories wiped before they were sold so that they were obedient.
It's a concept that intrigues me,
and I want to work with it.
Anyway, here are rough sketches of what they kind of looked like in my dream.

The Prince reminds me a lot of Ergo Proxy.

There weren't many more sketch requests,
but here's a Pika-T (combination of Pikachu and Mr. T),
for Reed.
Enjoy!

This wasn't really an official sketch request,
but Ian McGinty had wanted me to draw him a Breloom a while back.
I just modified it to fit this month's sketch request theme.
Here's a Durrloom!

That's all I got today!
Thanks for your continued patience as I deal with life!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 106: Every Moment True

2011-02-09T01:23:00.004-05:00

It's been.... quite the day.
It turned from bad to good quickly and I am relieved for it.

I have to confess, I've been reading a lot of Hark, A Vagrant by the tremendously intelligent and talented Kate Beaton lately, and I think it's starting to influence my own style.
Is that bad?
I don't think so.
If you find something you like, and you feel you can incorporate it into your own style,
why not?
Utilizing your influences is an integral part of developing your own style.
Just don't blatantly copy.
Make sure you know what you're doing and why.
*nod*

I have been waiting for this package from my family for weeks,
and let me tell you,
it could not have come at a better time.
COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF CHOCOLATES.
GODIVA TRUFFLES, no less.
Valentine's packages from home are always the best.

So I won't lie,
it's been a rough year so far.
And these past few weeks have been especially harsh on me.
I was just telling my best friend that I have been feeling very overwhelmed,
and that I was drowning.
That I just wanted to know that I was making a difference in someone's life somewhere.
I wanted to know I was important.

Then today,
I got a phone call from my dad.
It was normal chit-chat at first,
and I didn't tell him how I had really been feeling lately,
but he somehow picked up on it,
and minutes after he had hung up,
he called back.
And it was the best thing he could have ever said to me right now...

I got some stuff done at home,
ate a quick dinner,
and skittered off to Monty (on my Tobi, yay!),
where this was happening:
I don't think I want to explain what was going on to cause this,
but maybe it's the right thing to do.
Drew is doing an experimental animation that requires skintones and body types and textures and whatnot.
So of course... people had to take their shirts off.
It was inevitable.
And I am fine with that.

(Later, I would realize that the reaction face I drew of myself was identical to Wort from Sword In The Stone.)

Later, there was dancing.

And dumplings.
So, I won't lie.
This actually kind of terrifies me.
But it terrified me when it happened in real life,
so I guess it's an accurate depiction of true events?
Dumpling Nate is scary. @^@

Today's free sketch goes to Vawn-O-The-Dawn,
who came up with "Duggoogle,"
the final evolution of Diglett.
I don't think it's much of a step up.
Some of the heads aren't as fully evolved as others....

That's all today!
Thanks for reading!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 105: Forward Motion Sickness

2011-02-07T23:14:00.008-05:00

That's right, folks.
NEW SKETCHBLOG.

Took me long enough, yes,
but it's here,
and that's what matters.

I can't even begin to tell you how crazy these last couple months have been.
When was my last upload?
I don't even remember.

But in the past month and a half,
I've gotten 4 commissions,
applied to Pixar,
started a series of storyboards to put in my portfolio
(which I will post here when they're done),
been recruited as an ink and painter, concept artist, voice actress, and merchandiser for my friend Nate's film Rain Dance,
had my moped stolen,
had my moped found,
had my moped fixed for much money,
gotten only a little headway on my thesis,
and spent many grueling hours in the animation building with some really awesome people.
Oh yeah, and I'm buying a computer and Cintiq eventually, maybe.
If you want to help me afford this Cintiq without having to move back home,
you can commission me or buy my stuff!

That being said,
here are the sketches from...

JANUARY:

Got an idea for a new story...
Trying to figure it out.
The main character owns a werepug.

I made a penguin hat for Monika.
She loves it.
I will post the pictures of everyone in their hats soon.
(Hats are also available for commission!)

There was a day in which two of my favorite gentlemen were quite sad at the same time.
So this happened....
I wish.
My favorite part is the skipping.

The free sketch theme for January, in case you forgot, was Chimeras.
I really enjoyed it and was sad to see it go so quickly,
so I may do a sequel of it next month.
Be thinking of what you want! :)

cat-unicorn-bluebird for Eldaglass

gorilla-spider-kiwi for oepn

Flish, a combination of a fish and a bird, for Sharra.

pig-cat-penguin for dead2

moose-kangaroo-jellyfish-sheep (my personal fave of the bunch) for Elaine
I want to draw him more..... O___O

Jen requested a Derpshark-horse. :)

parrot-narwhal-badger for theartboss

My totally awesome roommate Lauren requested a Secretarybird (one of my favorite birds EVER) combined with an octopus and an elephant. Quite the challenge.
The elephant is in there, believe me.

Here's another one for Jen Hochman, simply because she's so awesome.
She wanted a cat-dragon.
It was hard to make it look NOT like Toothless, but here it is anyway.

That's it for January!
Here are the sketches for...
FEBRUARY:

As I stated previously,
I have been spending much of my time in Monty hall,
the animation/digital media building.
Mostly for friends.
And Cintiqs.
And long hours.
But mostly the friends.

I am ashamed that this conversation really happened exactly how it is portrayed.

Lauren and I invented a new species of creature,
called the Woogies.
They are adorable.
With their big hands and their poof tails and their parachute pants.
Yes yes.

Oh hey look,
more creatures.
Also, have some teeny sketches of some old characters of mine from my story Tsubasa No Negai.
I like Cashew Bunny and his rolling friend.

The following also happened just as you see it.
Long story short, Nate is awesome.

We went to a presentation by a guy that did a lot of effects stuff on Iron Man,
and seeing all the concept art he was given made me want to draw bulky roboty biomecha suit things.
Then I remembered...
I cannot draw mechanical things.
Oh well.
Practice practice!
I will get better!

After that I felt like I should draw something more organic,
like hands.
Then I remembered...
I haven't drawn hands in forever. D8
These are not so great.
I need to exercise my drawin' hand more.

February's free sketch theme is Rejected Pokémon,
ones that just didn't make it past the conceptual stages.

Dead2 gave me the concept for "Chikia," an extremely dangerous Pokémon,
extremely dangerous indeed.

I'm surprised nobody's thought of this one before.
Crash requested "Charbender," a mix between Charmander and Bender from Futurama.
O___O

Capsize-Beautiful requested a Pokémon that gains its super-saiyan powers from standing in front of the microwave for long periods of time.
It may have rippling muscles and a power level over 9000,
but it's very much radioactive.

BigB89 requested "Sharktapus."

My favorite so far is the kitten with yarn Pokémon,
requested by Alice.
It's a fat bean with legs, and completely useless.

The happy-go-lucky computer mouse Pokémon with special ability "Double Click" goes to Blue-Pilot.

Lastly, poor "Slugwarth"...
goes to waiting4wings.
Apparently if I were a Pokémon trainer,
I must have had some horrific accident that left me with a horribly mutilated left hand.

That's all for now!

Next time I will promote Nate's movie with excessive derpy cuteness!

There are also still some slots open for this month's free sketch requests!
CHECK IT.

Thanks for your patience!
And thanks for all the support from my friends! :)

Love you all very much,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J Sampson

p.s. CONGRATULATIONS TO MY SISTER AND HER BOYFRIEND FOR GETTING ENGAGED.
The children must call me "Uncle Emily."
No exceptions. >8[

Sketchblog Edition 104: The Day Savannah Separated From The Rest Of The World

2011-01-04T23:44:00.008-05:00

At last!
Sorry for the extended wait,
but it turns out Christmas break was a lot more... intense than I thought it would be.

Fortunately I've caught up on the sketches I owed you all,
so sit back and enjoy!

Before leaving for home, as you saw in the last sketchblog,
I was cutting fabric like crazy.
Heidi came over to help me and sat on my floor, cutting hat patterns.
She got little fabric bits all over her so I had to help clean her off.

Later, Lauren came home.
We had a moment.

Heidi and I drove back up North for Christmas,
and on the way we passed a farm with the chubbiest horse I've ever seen.
I had to draw it....

Also, have a Lepuline.

At home, we had to take Tucker (our family dog) to have a tumor removed from his leg.
While waiting to get in to surgery,
I took advantage of the free time to do some doodles.
The following are from the waiting room:
(random creatures)

(pooches in the waiting room, and Tucker being very nervous)

(some old lady drivers I saw while on the road, and some old lady pet owners at the vet's)

Tucker's surgery went well and they think they got all the tumor.
:)

Later during break we went to this fantastic Irish pub in Naperville called Quigley's.
I decided to take the opportunity to practice my environments....

More random creatures....
(Bacat is requested by Tyler... the emoticon creature in the lower right hand corner is also a request by Tyler)

Oh hey, another Lepuline.

Now for what you've no doubt been waiting for!
The sketch requests!
I'll just breeze through these:

Cassie (aka no-kagami on deviantART)

D.J. Kirkland's character Robin.

Anne Balcom

SunchildKate on deviantART

Janelle

Topher Twiggs

Chad Steele and his amazing dog Doctor Zaius (whom we taught to sit on the command "ham")

Key from the band Shinee, for Lilly

Jung-Ha's character (I don't know his name)

Coraly (aka WhiteGaby on deviantART)

Val

Whitney Leopard

Tim?

Ellen (aka waiting4wings on deviantART)

Sara and her dog Linus

Those are all the portrait requests from December!
Now for January!
New year, new month, new theme:
strange chimeras.
Enjoy!

wolf-falcon-snow leopard chimera for Cassie

fox-bat chimera for Alice

peacock-elephant-killer whale chimera for Mairo

and last but not least, a camel-fly-crab chimera for Samantha!

Hope it was worth the wait!

Thank you for your patience and continued reading!

Love you all,
(belated) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

p.s. It's time to work on my thesis,
and I've been shelling out all my monies on research material!
I only hope I can find a job soon. @____@
Wish me luck!

Not-Sketchblog 11: Forehead Bruise

2010-12-12T00:21:00.002-05:00

So yeah.
If you don't follow my personal Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook,
then you'll probably be confused as to why I haven't updated in a couple days.

My Friday wasn't exactly...
pleasant.

We went to lunch at a new Italian restaurant downtown,
where I excitedly downed a grilled cheese and prosciutto sandwich,
only later learning what a mistake it was.

SEVERE POISONING.

And that was the rest of my Friday.

I won't go into the details, but let's just say I'll be steering clear of that place for a while.

Needless to say, I didn't get any sketching done.
And I had to make up today the work I didn't get done yesterday,
so there are no sketches today either.
Sorry. :(

But! I will at the very least get the free sketch requests (and maybe a Lepuline or two) done for tomorrow!

Heidi and I leave on Monday, so there may not be a few updates next week,
but I promise I'll make it up to you later.

I'm sure I'll be drawing a lot after seeing TRON: LEGACY ON OPENING NIGHT anyway. :3

So there it is.
Another lousy excuse for a Sketchblog delay.

Hope you all forgive me!

Thanks for reading!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

p.s. Also, welcome home all you who went on the Tokyo trip!!!! :D

Sketchblog Special Edition 103: A Very Journal Sketchblog

2010-12-09T23:03:00.005-05:00

Today is a very special Sketchblog entry.
It is done entirely...
in journal comic format.

Here it comes...
Enjoy!

2 A.M.- Heard something fall in room. Woke up to find nothing out of place, then heard the creak of a door somewhere in the apartment. Huddled with katana in middle of dark room.
8 A.M.- Forced self out of bed. Glad I did- got to Skype with Lauren in Japan. Said, "I love you" about a million times to each other. Made Diana puke.

10 A.M.- Battled creeper cockroach while taking a shower. Doused it with water, soap, shower cleaner, and hairspray. It kept coming.
Noon- Talked on phone with Dad....

1:30 P.M.- Got lunch with Heidi.
2:30 P.M.- Got hair chopped off (yes, that's a pixie cut). Realized I left pen back at restaurant.

2:50 P.M.- Got new pens at Publix. They're smooooooooth.
4 P.M.- Cutting fabric for hats...
5 P.M.- Cutting fabric for hats...
6 P.M.- Still cutting fabric for hats...
6:30 P.M.- Dinner break.

7:30 P.M.- More cutting fabric for hats...
9 P.M.- Drew sketches in new sketchbook with new pens. Felt like cutting through butter with a warm knife.

10 P.M.- Drew a Lepuline....
Please submit to the Name The Lepuline Contest....
Please.

10:30 P.M.- Drew free sketch of the day for Crash Sprong. Hope you like it!

11 P.M.- Scanned images and updated blog.
Annoyed Tyler online.

Thanks for reading!
Hope you enjoyed the change of pace as much as I did!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

p.s. I REALLY love these pens.

Sketchblog Edition 102: Special Appearances

2010-12-08T22:53:00.002-05:00

Well, I slept horribly.
Turns out if you take Pepto Bismol and Niquil at the same time,
they cancel each other out.
I got about... 2 hours of actual sleep... at the most.
And I think I may be coming down with something,
which is not good,
because we are going to be traveling next week. D8

So yeah, the day started out not so good,
but in the afternoon,
I got a very pleasant surprise which turned my mood around quickly.

I'll tell you what that is,
but first,
Lepulines:
They're too cute not to have names,
so why don't you go ahead and submit a name to the Name The Lepuline Contest?
Pwease?

Soon after Lilly and Vanessa and I returned from our lunch/Urban Outfitters outing,
I got a phone call from two very good friends from college
(who also happen to be married to each other... how convenient),
Will and Maggie,
saying they were going to be passing through Savannah tonight,
and that they wanted to have coffee with Heidi and I!

Imagine my delight!

Not only that, but when I went to meet them,
I ran into another friend, Alec,
whom I have not seen in quite a while.
What a pleasant turn of events. :)

We went to get coffee at The Sentient Bean,
where apparently they were showing some weird Finnish Santa movie.
We then walked to my apartment,
and I gave them a little tour before they had to leave.
Maggie wanted to take my N-Strike Maverick,
but I told her I needed it, so she let me keep it.

When it came time to leave,
hugs were in order,
and I, being very serious about my awkward hugs,
prepared for a both-arms-over-the-shoulder hug with Will,
which is a tricky maneuver,
since Will is something like 20 feet tall (give or take a few inches).
Maggie said she was worried it wasn't going to work out,
but was glad when things turned out okay.
I take my hugs seriously.

Will and Maggie left, and I got back to sketching,
their visit revitalizing me just enough to finish my quota.

This one's for Tyler,
whose latest animation The Girl And The Fox is full of adorable.
Here's the main protagonist, Ilona,
drawing the other main character Baru (the fox).
So cute.

And let's not forget today's free sketch.
It goes to H-Balth on deviantART,
who sent me some fun pictures of herself.
I like your pink highlights, Balth.

Hope you like it!

That's all for today!

Tomorrow is the start of a new sketchbook,
since the current one is all filled up!

Actually,
the one I'm switching to already has sketches in it from my Constructive Animal Anatomy class,
and it was made for me for my birthday by the wonderful Lilly Lui,
so I guess it's not really "new."
But anyway...

Thanks for reading, as always!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 101: Production Assassins

2010-12-07T21:20:00.003-05:00

I just realized I passed the 100th Sketchblog entry!
*throws confetti*

Now that the celebrating is over,
on to the epic day of adventure!

I had a bit of a restless night and wound up waking up late,
but managed to get ready in time to head out with Lilly to meet Heidi at the dealership where she was getting her car fixed.
We picked her up and headed off to IHOP for some lunch
(breakfast for lunch! huzzah!)
and had a porcupine drawing session.
I decided to mix it up a little and throw some other animals (of Heidi's suggestion) in too.

After filling our tummies we skipped off to the theater to see
The Warrior's Way,
which, though poorly written,
was enjoyable in its goofiness.
Ninjas, cowboys, carnies, and a babby.
What more could you want?
We were surprised to find out WETA had a hand in making this masterpiece.
:P

After that, we went to JO-Anns to get more fabric for hats,
then scampered through Toys R Us to try to find some special things.
It was a mission fail.
Oh well.

Lilly returned me home,
where I found a pair of earrings waiting in the mail for me.
They were a Christmas present from her and made me very happy.
Apparently they're made from something called tagua nuts,
which serve to replace ivory (yay!).
They're pink and shiny and very pretty.
Once I get my hair cut, they'll look very nice framing my face. :3

Oh, and let's not forget our beloved Lepulines, shall we?
The Name The Lepuline Contest is still open,
and I sadly have not gotten any submissions. :'(

How can you resist this face?

And finally,
for Tyler,
the free sketch of the day:
Spike (the best dog in the world, according to him).
Had lots of fun with this (especially since I got a whole album of Spike pictures for reference (; ).
Enjoy!

That's all tonight!
Thanks for reading!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

p.s. Did you know there are more than one kind of ninja?
There are Water Ninjas, Floor Ninjas, Road Ninjas, Tree Ninjas, Roof Ninjas, and the currently especially dangerous Snow Ninjas.
Please help raise Ninja Awareness.
Spread the word.
The more you know....

Sketchblog Edition 100: There Is An Echo In The Feedback

2010-12-06T22:59:00.003-05:00

So I've been thinking.
(A dangerous past-time, I know.)

I need to work on my environments.

So, after rolling out of bed with considerable effort,
I went to the Mediterranean restaurant,
Al Salaam Deli (a bit of a hole-in-the-wall type of place, but excellent gyros!),
with Lilly and Vanessa,
and attempted drawing part of the restaurant.
Baby steps.

And if your day has been bad,
here's something to make it better:
One Lepuline kneading another.

Since I have an absence of food in my house,
Lilly dragged me off to her place again,
where we ate delicious parmesan crusted tilapia
(pretty much my favorite thing ever if you want to know)
and watched Fern Gully (lol).

At the grocery store, while buying supplies for the feast,
I got a little carried away and bought strawberries, cinnamon,
candy canes, sparkling grape juice, and,
most importantly,
a Chocolate Pudding Bundt Cake.

Now,
if you know anything about me,
you'll know that my two favorite kinds of cakes are as follows (in order):
1. Ice Cream Cakes
2. Bundt Cakes

It is my unchangeable opinion that all cakes (that are of the non-ice-cream variety)
are better in bundt form.
It's like eating a giant donut.

So you can imagine my sheer joy upon seeing this beauty in Kroger for only $6.
I bashed my head against it and Lilly tossed it in the cart and that was that.
We took it home,
and basked in its glory.

After the delicious meal,
I ran off back to my house to have a production meeting for my friend's movie,
and drew some more hats for friends while I waited.

Today's free portrait sketch is for my good friend
Alice (aka Vanawen on deviantART).
She is absolutely gorgeous and I had much fun drawing her.
Hope you like it, Alice! :)

Thanks again to everyone for reading!

Love you all,
and have a goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

p.s. LEPULINE CONTEST.

p.p.s. I am starting the research on my thesis! Gotta order all these books and read them over break: Thesis Research List. I are excite. :B

Sketchblog Edition 99: Her Hair Just Got Longer

2010-12-05T22:46:00.005-05:00

Oh happy day!

I spent most of the day organizing art supplies and miscellaneous junk in my room,
which took me from around 11 to 3:00 in the afternoon.
I ended up eating a late lunch of reheated burrito,
and let me tell you...
that's not a smart thing to do.

I also realized my hair is getting to be at that rebellious stage,
between short and medium length,
where no matter what you try to do with it,
it lashes out at you, runs up to its room, and slams the door, blaring its loud hippie rock music all afternoon.
Anyway,
I have this coupon so I think I'm going to take advantage of it and get it chopped.
I don't want to cut it too short,
because I want to grow it out eventually,
but right now, it's simply driving me crazy.
Here are some possible styles I've been toying with.

While researching hair designs,
I came to the realization that dinnertime was approaching,
and the only halfway decent foodstuffs I have in my house are chicken nuggets and ramen,
which is sad.

Fortunately for me,
Lilly was making delicious brown sugar burgers at her place for dinner,
which flushed the sadness of Empty Fridge Syndrome (EFS) from me.
Heidi and I picked up some chips and burger makings and met Vanessa and Lilly at Lilly's apartment,
and commenced with the merriment
(which included watching Nausicaa).

I snuck a peek at Lilly's copy of Koko Be Good by Jen Wang,
and got inspired by her awesome line motion and character liveliness,
so I smooshed some things I liked about her style into my own as a fun little exercise.

Heidi, meanwhile, began wrapping herself in her scarf.
We speculate that, even bundled in a pile of blankets,
her internal thermostat may still not work right.

After eating Lilly's delicious burgers,
we engaged in dessert.
Cupcakes.
Colorful ones.
I claimed the pink one for myself.
The following sketch really happened.

And, what I'm sure you've come to expect by now,
more Lepulines.
Here, we see one revving its engine.
And below it,
a startled Lepuline using its teleporting abilities to escape a predator.

Today's free sketch is for Inuryan,
who has a very fun face to draw. :D
I messed up his arms though. :(
Hope you like it anyway!

That's it for today!

Hope you're all having a great December so far!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

p.s. Don't forget about the Name The Lepuline Contest! ;)

Sketchblog Edition 98: We Ate That Ham

2010-12-05T00:38:00.002-05:00

Finally I can say it.
We ate that ham.
We ate it all.
With the help of my friends,
we powered through the delicious honey-brown-sugar-7-Up-baked ham.
And now there is no more.
There is also only a little bit of mac-and-cheese and sweet potatoes left.
Thank goodness.

But only because of my dedicated friends.

Lilly and I went to Roly Poly today for lunch and brainstormed different types of hats,
because I've decided to start making them to sell online.
First I'm going to make a few test hats for family members and friends,
so don't get all antsy just yet.
However, and hopefully, soon I will be confident enough with my sewing abilities
(and will have obtained a decent sewing machine)
to bestow my creations on the rest of the world.

For now, just look at these sketches and tell me what you think:

And of course, your daily dose of Lepulines.
Baby Lepulines, no less.

After eating lunch, Lilly and I went shopping,
and our first stop was Nourish, the soap shop on Broughton St.
They have so many wonderful smelling soaps and body lotions and whatnot,
that it's almost overwhelming.
But one scent imparticular,
Mambo Man,
was absolutely intoxicating.
So much so, that I bought a bar.
Not to use,
no.
To sniff.
Just... to sit around and smell it.
Men, if you want the ladies to go wild,
this soap is it.
This is the ultimate scent to drive a girl crazy.
I'm sitting here smelling the soap right now,
cradling it like a child.
You may think I'm crazy,
but you haven't smelled this soap.
Once you do, you will know.
Oh yes.
You will know.
So order some NOW.

In the meantime, I'm keeping this bar under lock and key,
only taking it out when I have guests of the male gender over,
and hiding my other soap, so they have to use it.
For my female friends, I will take it out so they can smell it too.

After Lilly managed to pull me away from my soap bar,
we went to JoAnn's to buy some hat-making fabric,
as well as tree-skirt making fabric. ;)

Once I shelled out the monies for fabric,
we hustled over to the Chinese Market and bought delicious Asian sweets,
then went back to my house where we played games and ate ham late into the night.
Rob and Rebecca were in town for the weekend, so they joined us,
as well as Lilly, Heidi, and Sam.
After gaming for a bit we went over to Heidi's for some Rock Band/Magic: The Gathering,
and I attempted drumming for the first time.
I wasn't absolutely horrible at it.

I wasn't good at it either.

I think I'll just stick to vocals.

Either way, it was an epic night,
and I'm glad that there are still some people around to hang out with before we have to head back up North for Christmas.
:)

Here's the free sketch of the day,
going to my friend Reed!
This is what happens when you send me ridiculous photos of yourself, Reed.
Hope you like it!

p.s. Heidi says your beard needs more work.

Oh snap.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 97: The Day Of A Thousand Cookies

2010-12-03T22:46:00.008-05:00

Originally,
I was under the assumption I would spend all day cooped up in my house,
doing dishes and cleaning my room and organizing things.

Boy was I wrong.
After doing a couple chores I got a message from Heidi beckoning me to her house to make Christmas sugar cookies.
How could I resist?
She was offering me a chance to create,
as well as create something delicious.
On top of that, she was offering a free dinner and a movie out of the deal.
Who can say no to that?
So Lilly and I went over there and helped.
Because... you know... one shouldn't have to make cookies alone.

You will see some results of our escapades below.
But first!
Sketches!

First sketch was inspired by the movie we watched, Sword of the Stranger,
which is a sickeningly beautiful and bloody film.
The animation is awesome and the backgrounds are to die for.
The plot could have used some thickening but it did a lot in a short span of time,
and I applaud it for its efforts.
Either way,
it got me wanting to draw epic sword fights again,
and since I've been drawing one of the few sword-weilding characters I have lately,
I figured... why not?
Here's Tsubasa, in her newly designed form (which I'm still toying with- I may change her name too):

Here you thought you could get through a sketchblog without seeing more cute Lepuline (cat-bunny) sketches.
Tsk tsk.
How foolish of you.
Being over at Heidi's,
I was practically smothered by cats (her cat, Natsu, and her roommate's cat of equal beauty, Ace),
so it was only natural I'd get inspiration to draw kitties in adorable poses.

I also want to take this moment to plug the Name The Cat-Bunny Contest yet again.
;)

I blame Heidi for this next page of sketches.

Today's free sketch is for The-Brade on deviantART!
It's hard to work from a straight-on cranial view of just the shoulders up,
but I made do.
Hope you like it!

And lastly,
the moment you've all been waiting for.

COOKIES!!!!

Heidi discovered she had an abnormal amount of unusual cookie cutters in her house.
What started as a Christmas cookie-making party quickly became a contest to see who could make the most bizarre or creative cookie ever.
There was a lot of improvising, molding,
and of course,
love and laughter.

We made a whole series of moustache cookies.
They were fabulous.

I made my very own Chester cookie!

This was only about half of the cookies we made!
(You can see many of our glorious moustache cookies below.)
The final results!
Look at how colorful they are!

We had so many cookies the tin we put them in couldn't hold them all!

Heidi made a sad squid.

There was a plentiful amount of Derpasaurs, mostly made by Lilly.

This octopus was made by Lilly, but the face was painted by me. :D

I made a Derpshark!

Heidi made a yeti, which makes an appearance in one of her comics!

Chester, colored in all his pink glory!

Southern Drawl Cat!

Wallace the fat cat!

A weird Red-Tailed Falcon and a duck, for Tyler.

Oh hey! It's a Lepuline!

Well that's all I have for you today!
I hope you enjoyed it and I hope the pictures didn't make you too hungry.
And if they did,
you know where to get delicious cookies. ;)

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

p.s. My moped's still having some issues,
though I did manage to get it started enough to drive the two blocks to Heidi's and back again.
Maybe I'll figure out what's wrong with it someday. ^^;

Sketchblog Edition 96: Passers-By And Chance Encounters

2010-12-02T21:25:00.003-05:00

Man, it's been a looooooong day.
I won't get into it,
but it involves my moped not starting,
trying to get onto the only Cintiq in the library,
not eating anything until 4:00,
and having a massive headache all day long.

BUT!
It was a quite productive day for me.
I finally got myself up before 9:30 and immediately got started on the day.

And guess what!
More Cat-Bunny sketches!
(Don't forget about the Name The Cat-Bunny Contest!)

After drawing all that cuteness,
I had to get it out of my system with a sketch of one of the rat demon creatures from my Plague Doctors story.
Still working on their designs,
but I think I'm going to have them mutate depending on how many souls they've eaten.
*nod*

Today's free sketch goes to Jill,
who sent me a picture of herself that was adorable beyond belief.
I can only hope I captured her cuteness in this sketch....
Hope you like it, Jill!

That's all I've got for you today!

Now...
I am very tired,
and my head is still pounding,
so I think I'm going to try going to bed early.
^^;

Thanks for reading!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

p.s. To all my friends over in Japan right now on the SCAD trip,
please try to find some hot milk Teas' Tea New York tea and partake for me!
You won't regret it! :3

Sketchblog Edition 95: The Search Ends But Continues

2010-12-01T22:45:00.004-05:00

It was in the 50's today.
Sudden drop from the previous upper 60's and 70's.
Of course my body can't handle the cold,
but at the same time it was a bit refreshing.
It's finally starting to feel like Winter here in Savannah,
and that gives me excuse to bundle up.
That means happy warm coats,
long fluffy scarves,
and of course,
soft, handmade hats.
:3

I've been wanting to get back to my story Dream Easy,
but since my style's changed drastically since starting it,
I need to start from scratch.
Here's a (very) rough sketch attempt at redesigning Yurei.
Anatomy fail! :D

Lilly and I went to Juarez for lunch,
and on the way to and from the restaurant,
I got to see my old friend,
Porch Cat.
He's so mellow and friendly,
I decided he had to be added to my catverse.

And yet again,
I got the urge to draw the Cat-Bunny.
Tyler suggested that I hold a contest to name it.
So that's what I'm doing.
I think I've settled on Lepuline for the species,
but this little fellow needs a name.
So your assignment, should you choose to accept it,
is to give our little Lepuline friend a name...
a good one.
The contest will go until the 15th (two weeks from now),
and I will announce the winner on Christmas,
at that time presenting them with a special prize.
So! Get your entries in now!
Submit them in email format to my address at ejscreationsart@gmail.com,
with the subject line: "Cat-Bunny Name."
That way I have all the submissions in the same place and don't have to hunt down the winner for their email address. ;)

Today not only marks the first day of December,
but also the return of Angry Tyler.
I threatened to throw away all my bows and my Finn hat.
He pushed me to it.
It's his own fault.

Today also marks the beginning of the December Free Sketches!
In case you didn't already know,
the theme of the month is Portraits,
where I draw you (or someone else you know or want to see) as if it were in the Chester K. Fingkelbottom universe!

First up is my good friend Matt Synowicz!
Here he is!
Hope you like it, Matt!

If you, too, want to see yourself as a TAoCKF character,
simply go to my deviantART journal,
or leave a comment here or on my facebook,
or send me an email at my ejscreationsart@gmail.com address,
with a file or link to a picture of yourself,
and you will be added to the list!

Thanks for reading!

Happy Holidays!

Love you all,
and have a goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

p.s. Heidi and Becca and I went on an epic trip to Wal-Mart today,
and boy was it glorious!
I can't tell you what I got just yet,
but some of you may already know.
I'm super-excited about it,
but I'm keeping it a secret for the next week and a half. :)

Sketchblog Edition 94: Don't Touch My Ham

2010-11-30T22:44:00.009-05:00

Since it's break, I've been making a valiant effort to NOT wake up late...
with negative results.
This morning wasn't any easier.
It was dark and humid and rainy outside, and my body simply said, "NO" and went back to sleep.

However, I powered through the heavy feeling of exhaustion and made myself get up and get going.

Heidi and I went out to do some shopping and I bought a few things that I will keep secret for now,
and then we came back to my house and played some Magic: The Gathering with our friend Chad and his new pooch Dr. Ziaus, whom we think to be some weird conglomeration of Corgi and Dachshund (and possibly something else?).

Lilly and Vanessa also came over to join in the fun and helped me devour the leftover Thanksgiving ham and milk I had in my fridge, as well as some peanut butter Oreos lingering in my kitchen.

All in all a busy day.

But enough of that.
Here are the sketches for the day!

Tyler sent me a link to this bizarre cat attempting to be a bunny,
and I had to draw it.
It commanded me to.

And then I turned it into an actual cat-bunny creature.
I think I'm in love with it.

Another cat-bunny, and some quick sketch attempts at Dr. Zaius.
She's a wiggly pup, so it's hard to get her likeness down in a sketch.

Dance gestures.
I want to animate someone dancing all crazylike,
now that I actually sort of know how to animate things.
Sorta.

Oh hey!
Here's a bonus for you!
More results from Constructive Animal Anatomy class.
Every week we'd have an animal visitor from Oatland Island.
Most of these animals are those, but there are a few that were from other places.
Enjoy!

The grand owl WaHooHoo.
I'm surprised I even got this picture!

Gopher tortoise!

The carriage horse Rowdy and our classmate Squirrel (aka Sarah).

Buddy the baby possum!

Another possum!

Hehe... snaggletooth. :3

Happy Frog.

Eagle at Oatland Island.

Wolf at Oatland Island.

Cougar at Oatland Island.

Crane at Oatland Island

Egret... I think?

Skink! :P

Legless lizard. No, not a snake.

Anole!

Icarus the owl!
Poor guy has a beak deformity. :/

A pup at the Critter Farm!

Wallaby at the Critter Farm. :)

Lizard at the Critter Farm.

Baby bunny at the Critter Farm.

Iguana at the Critter Farm.
Such pretty coloration...

Turtle at the Critter Farm.

Armadillo from Oatland Island!

Sleepy armadillo. ^^

Mini-gator from Oatland!
His name was either Flotsam or Jetsam... can't remember.

That's all!
Hope you enjoyed the pictures!
Those were the best of the best of the best,
and it was hard to pick just a few out of the (literally) hundreds I took of each animal!

Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed November!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 93: The Legendary Derpshark

2010-11-29T21:58:00.014-05:00

As promised, the final images from my Constructive Animal Anatomy class!
The "Sailor's Sketches" are mostly contributions from my friends to get a wider variety of styles in the illustrations.
Credit for those sketches are given below the image.
(If you have contributed one of the sketches and would like a link to your website added, please let me know!)
As an added bonus, here's the transcript for my presentation...
Enjoy!

Good afternoon.

As we all know, our world of Mien plays host to a vast populace of a wide variety of creatures, many exotic species inhabiting our great and lush nation of Randomia. As Chief Scientific Historian of the Grand Randomian Archive, it is my duty to record all existing species known to man.

Directly to the South of Randomia, lies Penguin Island, named for its chief inhabitant, the Pooter, which is a distant relative of the penguin.

This island is highly inaccessible to humans, so many of its species have yet gone unrecorded, save but legends and stories weaved by sailors.

So, when these sketches drawn by sailors traveling around the region appeared on my desk, I took up the task of digging through the Randomian Archives.

(artist: Tyler J. Kupferer)

(artist: Tim Loyer)

(artist: Melanie Florencio)

(artist: Diana Smith)

(artist: Daniel Yost)

(artist: Alice Dettman)

(artist: Matt Synowicz)

Upon further investigation, I found several tablets containing creatures bearing a striking resemblance to those depicted in the sailors' illustrations.

It would appear these creatures were once worshiped as sea dragons and fed on a regular basis, removing their natural instinct completely. Thus, when the ancient races rebelled against these "gods," they fell easily into extinction. However, now that we found traces of life, it was only my duty to travel to Penguin Island in order to archive the species I found there.

(artist: James Workman)

Upon landing on its most accessible coast, I was immediately greeted by the creatures the sailors had depicted in their drawings, which they had named the "Derpshark," for its outward similarities to sharks, and the distinctive "durr" call it makes. The Derpshark is, in fact, an amphibianesque creature more closely resembling salamanders than sharks, and begins its life hatching from small pellet-sized eggs on the sandy shore.

After hatching, it attempts to travel to the sea, but many do not survive the dangerous journey and are eaten by other larger creatures. Those that do make it to the ocean must avoid larger sea creatures, but if they can survive a few hours in the salt water, a chemical reaction occurs, apparently causing them to be poisonous to all known life if ingested. They don't seem to be venomous, or poisonous to the touch, though, as I have in my time on the Island seen several Derpsharks trampled by angry Pooters or Osotaurs (Bull-Bears).

The youngling Derpsharks (below, right) hunt for food in the ocean for up to a week before tiring of the effort and entering life on dry land. On land, these creatures appear to be mostly bipedal, and can grasp objects with their paddle-shaped forearms. They use the scoop-like shape of their arms to their advantage and often steal fish from Pooters who may be exhausted from exerting the effort of catching their own meal.

The youngling Derpsharks have smaller legs which aided them in their time in the ocean, but as they grow into juveniles (pictured above, left), they develop muscles specific to running across rocky and sandy terrain in order to better evade angry Pooters attempting to reclaim their food. This is perhaps the only kindness Mother Nature has shown to the Derpsharks, for if they could not run quickly, they would surely die out completely.

The adults develop more distinctive patterns and colorations as they grow, and begin to lose their gills, having no more use for them in their life on land. Once reaching adulthood, at around the age of 2 months, they begin their mating terms, which can last up to a week and take place up to 20 times a year. A typical Derpshark can mate anywhere from 50 to 50,000 times in its short life (which is, at most, 3 years long). Derpsharks do not mate for life, but rather seem to forget that they mated at all and immediately seek out another mate. These mating cycles consist of immense groups of Derpsharks gathering along the coasts, and are called Orgies (oar-ghees).

Here, we see a small Orgy (oar-ghee) of Derpsharks:

The female Derpsharks begin the mating rituals by letting out a distinctive "puckering" call and strutting about on the shore. The males then respond with a deep "durr" noise, and upon crossing paths with a female, the two will circle each other for a minute before engaging in mating, which only lasts for a couple minutes before they tire of each other and go their separate ways.

Occasionally, after circling, the Derpsharks may reject each other and a slap-battle will take place, which is the only form of true aggression I have observed from a Derpshark, aside from squawking when I came close to a Derpshark's meal. Slap-battles usually begin when two Derpsharks (typically of the same gender) get too close to each other. They circle each other on all fours and raise their tails only seconds before returning to their bipedal positions and slapping each other with their forepaws. These slap-battles can last up to five minutes, but most Derpsharks grow tired or forget what they were fighting for in the first place and cease after about fifteen seconds.

The female Derpsharks seem to be much more affectionate than males, and often are found sitting in group patting sessions, where they simply sit in a circle, patting each other on the back or on the head. While the females engage in slap-battles as well, they almost always follow it with a patting session as a sign of apology or forgiveness.

Elder Derpsharks (pictured above, right) are quite possibly the laziest of them all, and eventually give up trying to find their own food, resorting to simply laying on the beach all day. They seem to be under the impression that another Derpshark will bring them their meals, but their selfish nature blinds them to the needs and desires of others. Often, elder Derpsharks will simply die of starvation, of heat stroke, or of being drowned by the high tide because of their persistent laziness. After their death, very often, younger Derpsharks will happen upon their remains and attempt to wake them by initiating a patting session. When that proves pointless, the young Derpshark simply falls asleep, using the deceased Derpshark as a pillow.

While living with these creatures, I found that their sheer lack of instinct, willpower, patience, or sentience whatsoever proves the dangers of humans interfering in the natural course of life on this planet.

The Derpsharks, because of this interference of humans, have lost most of the abilities to fend for themselves.

Their teeth have long lost the serration their ancestors had, which were necessary to rending flesh from the bodies of fish, and now it would take them up to an hour to finish a single salmon, yet their patience only allows for five minutes of effort before growing tired and walking away, leaving the half-eaten fish to rot.

Their physical makeup is ill-equipped for their environment, and it would seem they were meant for mainly aquatic life, only occasionally venturing onto land.

Even the way they walk is inefficient and unnatural.

In short, I have found that the Derpshark can officially be considered the least intelligent creature on the planet.

It does, however, have its benefits, which is perhaps why they were once worshiped. The slime their skin excretes has healing capabilities and can be used for medicinal purposes, including pain relievers, facial cleansers, fermentation aids, or even adhesives or sealants. A second benefit of the Derpshark is that after their death, the bodies that were once poisonous to natural life can be used as excellent fertilizer. It is my belief that in ancient times, the dead bodies of Derpsharks served to fertilize the ocean floor and create lush new life in the depths, which now explains why much of the plant life at the bottom of the sea is in rapid decline. If there were a system to collect the bodies of deceased Derpsharks from the shores of Penguin Island and plane them in calculated locations on the ocean floor, we may be able to restore the life of the ocean to what it once was.

I am happy to field any questions you may have about this unusual creature.

Thank you.

Love you all,
and goodnight!
<3,
Emily J. Sampson

p.s. let it be known, that while typing this out, I realize it just wasn't the same if I wasn't wearing my "Librarian Spectacles," and so, I put them on.

Sketchblog Edition 92: Secure

2010-11-29T00:05:00.002-05:00

So.
Here they are.
The products of your patience and 2 months.

I'm sorry for the extreme delay in posting this,
but I hope it was worth it!

It was an especially busy quarter for me this time around.
It was the last quarter I will ever have to take classes
(unless they ever make a phD in Sequential Art....),
and now all I have left to do is work on my thesis!
I'm so excited! :3

But, I'm sure you're all anxious to see what I've produced for you these past two months.
Here you go!
Enjoy!

There was this whole meme thing going on a while back where you turn yourself into a Pokémon.
This was my first attempt.
I always saw myself as some sort of weird amalgamation between a bird and a cat.
Owls seem to be a perfect combination of both. :P

One of the visiting artists this quarter to SCAD was Eric Canete,
whom, if you haven't seen his artwork or heard of him,
is AWESOME.
We were looking at a bunch of his illustrations in one of my classes in preparation for his visit, and I was so inspired I HAD to draw.
After I sketched something out real quick though, I found it very closely resembled Zero Suit Samus (which Eric Canete has indeed drawn before).
Le sigh.

I don't know. A praying mantis-inspired woman?

Facial expression sketching in the Character Design class I TA'd for!
Best. Exercise. Ever.

(All from live models.)

I got a free pass to the Savannah Film Festival this year,
for being so awesome
(or possibly for answering a trivia question which nobody else knew).
During the Film Festival, it's not uncommon to see celebrities roaming downtown.
When Tyler and I were grabbing a bite to eat at Leopold's,
I passed right by someone.
It wasn't until I sat down at my table and started eating that I looked up and saw who it was...
We would later run into James Cromwell at least half a dozen more times during the week of the Festival.
Also, Liam Neeson.
Also, Ian McKellen.
I love my life.

Here, have a Derpshark.
(More of these to come.)
Also have a babby.
Ew.

I tried sketching some lambs for my sister,
but found that I simply cannot remember how they look.
I can see a lamb in my head.
But for some reason when I try to draw it,
it just comes out all wrong.
I'll have to fix this....

I sketched this real quick between giving tours around the Sequential Department one day.
I felt important.
Also, well-fed as compensation.

In our Constructive Animal Anatomy class,
we got to play with lots of animals and observe skulls and skeletons up close.
It inspired me to get back into the Plague Doctors project I had been working on last quarter.
Here's a random character design... possibly a villain.

And then, for no apparent reason,
a Yeti Farm.

See if any other nerds get the reference in this one....

More Pokémon designs.
This is designed around my creature, the Derpshark:

And this is a more human-looking Pokémon version of me:

I love my new roommate.
I don't think I've made that clear to the world just enough.
We've only known each other about a year,
but we click so well it feels like we've been friends our entire lives.
So eventually, of course, she's going to make an appearance in TAoCKF.
Here's her initial character design:

But she went to Japan, and now I'm lonely and sad. :'(

Not really.
I have lots of friends I can still talk to around Savannah.
And Lauren will be back from Japan soon,
hopefully with tons of swag like I had last year. :3

Anyway!
Now the sketch requests!

For IcyBootWoot, a Banshee:

For Dan, me as an incarnation of Hercules with a lion hood and a club:

For Vawn-O-The-Dawn, a Goblin:

For And-Also-Dinosaurs, Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?:

For Val, Lestat from Interview With A Vampire:

For Elaine, Aku from Samurai Jack:

For Vanawen, the Phantom of the Opera:

For CobraGFX, Sagat from Street Fighter:

For Vawn-O-The-Dawn, the Ice King from Adventure Time:

For Chris Martinetti, uh...... this thing:

For Hillary, Werewolverine:

For Reed, Magneto:

For The-Brade, Terminator (Arnold version):

For dead2, Jason from Friday The 13th:

For my loverly sister Liz, a sasquatch in the styling of Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends:

That's all!
I will update tomorrow with either my artwork from Constructive Animal Anatomy class,
or my favorite photos from our animal visits!

The sketch requests are open yet again for the month of December,
and the theme is Portraits!
Simply send in your request and shoot me an email at ejscreationsart@gmail.com with a photo of yourself (or someone you know whom you want me to draw) and I'll sketch you as if you were a character in TAoCKF!

So!
Leave a comment on my deviantART journal, or below, or just send me an email requesting your free December portrait sketch!

Thanks for your patience and for your continued reading!
Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J. Sampson

Not-Sketchblog 10: What Have You Done To My Son?!

2010-10-03T01:38:00.002-04:00

So yes,
epic fail on my part.

I promised you more sketches today and I dropped the ball.

But I have literally been on my feet all day,
and have not taken a single break, except to eat delicious foodstuffs.

I woke up,
went to the Art Materials and Trade Show,
went to the Civic Center for a Thrift Sale
(bought a turntable for $7.50!),
went to Norris for the 24-Hour-Comic,
left the 24-Hour-Comic way early to go to a friend's birthday party,
and got home just a little bit ago.

So here I am,
sketchless,
and ashamed.

Forgive me?

I'll have good stuff for you soon. ;)

Love you all,
and thanks for reading
(and your patience)!

<3,
Emily J Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 91: Feathers, Bones, and Corpses

2010-10-01T23:12:00.005-04:00

Sooooo yes.
It's been a while.
A month, now?
Jeez.
I failed epically, didn't I?
Actually, I have a good excuse.
I was traveling and whatnot and school started up again and so I was trying to get back into gear with everything.

Okay, that was a lame excuse, but that's all I got.

Anyway,
I've got some good stuff for you here.
Hope it was worth the wait.

First up, sketches for Paul Hudson's Constructive Animal Anatomy class.
He requires that we create a creature of our own from the ground up,
but since I'm a grad student in an undergrad class,
I'm designing two.
The Pooter,
and the Derpshark.
Most of the following sketches are Derpsharks.

(The little sketch at the bottom of that page is Tyler's.)

Pooters and a Derpshark thrown in for scale.
Also, have a cat skull.

The two most common states of a Derpshark.

Various kinds of Derpsharks, based on region.

Here's just a random bird creature skeleton or whatever.

Male (left) and female (right) Pooters, and an alligator head (bottom).

A short paragraph on the predator-prey relationship between Pooters and Derpsharks, with a sketch to illustrate.
The large angry creature behind them is an Osotaur (Bull Bear).

Below is a sketch of an Osotaur head and paw,
and a paragraph about the dentition of a Derpshark.

Size comparison of a Derpshark to a Pooter.
Average Pooters are about 5 heads tall,
while an average Derpshark is only 2.5.

We got to photograph and sketch and even handle a Gopher Tortoise and a Box Turtle in class one day.
Here are my sketches!

Random sketches,
turtle alien thing,
Contemporary Animation Society logo conceptuals.

The next week an alligator was brought in!
Its name was Flotsam.
It was adorable.

Now for a some sketches from a workshop with Tommy Castillo.
I'm not really a fan of the guy, but I can respect his opinions and his advice.
He had us do some sketch exercises involving fairytales.
Here are my results.

Little Miss Muffet and her guns, Curds and Whey.

Little Red Riding Hood, a crazy witch-like reaper with a giant mutant wolf.

This quarter I'm also TAing for Brian Ralph's Character Design and Storyboarding for Animation class,
and one of their assignments was to design a character for Rock Band/Guitar Hero.
I designed a homeless rocker for the heck of it.
He's so dedicated to rock, that he needs nothing else.
A lot of his design is inspired by Brother Sharp.

Here's just a quick doodle of Emma and Stephan from my webcomic,
which you may have forgotten about because it's on hiatuuuuuuuuuus boo.
I'll try to fix that soon though. ;)

And now,
for the free sketches I left you hanging on at the end of August.

For Sara,
our beloved Reepicheep from Chronicles of Narnia.

For Lilly,
a unicorn, in the style of The Last Unicorn. :3

For Rebecca,
a Tengu eating a banana.

Well, that's all I got for you.
I know I didn't get the last three requests from August uploaded,
nor did I upload the first request from October,
but I promise I will tomorrow.
PROMISE.

Anyway,
there's another sketch I've got laying around but I'm hesitant to upload it just yet because it's for a super-secret project a friend is working on.
Hopefully soon I can show you though. :)

That's it!

Thanks all for your patience,
for your dedication and encouragement,
for pushing me to update this sketchblog,
and,
as always,
for reading.

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J Sampson

p.s.
I have opened up the sketch requests for October,
so go check it out and request one here:
http://tsubasa-mine.deviantart.com/journal/35324195/.
The theme (as appropriate for October) is Horror.
Request away!

Not-Sketchblog 9: What Is It?

2010-09-02T01:48:00.001-04:00

Good food,
good friends,
and unconditional love,
are the keys to true
undying
limitless
happiness.

Sorry for the absence of sketches.
I just got back down to Savannah and finished unpacking,
and I've still got some stuff to get straightened out here,
so it may be a few more days till I can get something uploaded.
I apologize.
I'll start up sketch requests for September soon.
I hope you can forgive the lateness.

Thanks for your understanding, and thanks for reading!

Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J Sampson

Not-Sketchblog 8: Measure The Times

2010-08-22T00:33:00.002-04:00

It's strange.
When you want something desperately, it slips from your fingers.
But when you finally can let it go, it winds up coming right back to you,
or you get something better.

I have one more week of vacation at home,
but I find myself desperately wanting to stay longer now.

It's kind of funny that way.
I had gone into the Summer thinking it would be the worst,
and that's how it happened for the first half or longer.

I had few friends in the area,
had no license (at 25- laughable, really),
no form of transportation,
and family was rarely around to spend real quality time with,
especially with chaos happening left and right (mostly health problems).

Everything was terrible.
I was lonely and miserable,
and obviously extremely unproductive.

But,
as I discussed with my Dad recently,
the Summer wasn't all useless.
It provided very fruitful, actually.
It served as a time for reflection and meditation,
and I discovered a lot about life and love and myself.

I picked myself up despite my depression,
and forced myself to keep walking,
and ended up making more friends along the way.
Where I once had nobody to call on at home,
I now have friends asking me when I'm coming back so we can hang out.

You'll have to understand this is all very new for me,
someone who lived her whole childhood as a social oddity,
with very few friends to count on.
The friends I did have, I only hung out with during school hours.
The rest of the time, I was alone.

I wasn't often invited out to parties or get-togethers.
In fact, I can count on one hand how many times someone ever asked me if I had any plans.
But here I am,
about to leave,
and I almost don't want to.

The friends I've accumulated in the past few months have helped me more than they would probably realize.
I have more confidence in myself than ever before.
I even danced in public without worrying about what others thought of me!
(And with a guy! That was definitely a first!)

The only way I can describe how I feel right now is...
It's like my soul is exploding with love and joy for life.
And I don't want it to end.

But that's just the thing.
I can hold onto that,
and carry it back with me to school,
and put all of that into my work,
and it will make it better than ever before.

My life is fuller,
my heart is healing (slowly but surely),
and my head is reeling from how crazy a Summer it's actually been.

I'm looking forward to going back to Savannah,
but now I'm actually looking forward to visiting Aurora again.

I love you all.
Thank you for helping me along the way.

Love in Christ,
-Emily J Sampson

Sketchblog Edition 90: Friend Of A Friend

2010-08-16T23:44:00.003-04:00

Today.
It was good.
It was a nice day.
It was a productive day.
It was a day of amazement.

And I will tell you why.

I awoke at precisely 8:30 AM of my own will,
which happens from time to time.
(In fact, almost every day this summer I have slept without an alarm set,
and about 80% of the time woken up before or by 9:00.
Soon, I hope to shave an hour off that time.)
Dad started work again this week, so he was away most of the day doing teacherly duties.
So I, being the only one in the house, blasted my music and bedroom-danced as I cleaned the house.

While doing this, I, for some reason, got this image in my head:

After eating a quick breakfast, Tucker and I went for a walk in the forest.
I entered the glen area and heard a loud noise in one of the trees right above me.
Then came swooping down a giant golden-winged hawk.
It was on a branch only a few feet above my head,
and I watched in amazement as it glided gracefully through the sky and disappeared behind the trees.
I will not forget the image of it.

Dad met us at the exit to the woods, which excited Tucker almost to the point of strangulation,
and, after dropping the pooch off at home to sleep off the hard work of running around in the woods,
we went out to eat lunch at the mall (yay mall food).
After eating, Dad had to run some errands so I shopped around at the mall.
This was not necessarily a good thing.
See, I had already went out three times (yes, 3) yesterday and bought many things,
and while they had all been worth the cost,
I told myself I wouldn't make any more pointless purchases for the rest of the month.
However, Dad had a coupon for F.Y.E., and they had used Seirei No Moribito dvds,
and,
well,
I splurged.
Forgive me.

Upon returning home,
I called my grandma,
had a wonderful chat with her,
then returned to the parents to enjoy a delicious homemade taco casserole with them.
Yum!

Once filled with excellent foodstuffs,
I figured it was time yet again...

to dye my hair.

While letting the dye set,
I immersed myself in the last episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2.
(On another note, I am a bit sloppy with the dye apparently....)

After rinsing and washing and drying,
the results were wonderful.
I love the dark red color most of all.
There were a few spots where the color didn't take as well as I'd have hoped,
but for the most part it blends fairly well,
and I'm probably going to cut it soon anyway,
so.... *shrug*

(p.s. This is not an accurate depiction of myself by any stretch of the imagination.)

After dying my hair, I showed it off to Tucker,
who showed his appreciation by giving me a puppy-hug.
When Hobbes saw it was cuddle-time,
he walked over to join the fun.
However, Tucker seemed to be in an especially jealous mood tonight,
and then this happened:
BLOCK'D.

Poor Hobbes.
Oh well.
He deserves it for all the times he picked on Tucker as a puppy.

Now for the free sketches!

Yesterday's was a legendary Wumpkin,
a creature of Tyler's design,
asked for by his sister Alysha.
After thoroughly researching,
I depicted it as best I could in my own manner.
Here you go, Alysha!

Today's was especially complex.
Daniel Yost requests some pretty amazing things,
but this has to be the best of them by far.
A Cyborg Tyrannosaurus.
(Okay so it's a bit of a stretch to consider this a "mythical creature,"
but who cares?!?
It's a Tyrannosaurus...
with a rocket launcher.)
Thank you, Daniel.

Well that's all for tonight!
Hope you enjoyed!
I know I did! :P

Thanks for reading.
Love you all,
and goodnight!

<3,
Emily J Sampson

p.s. I need more practice with mechanical things. *nod*