M-Skirvin

Ah, how horribly long it has been.  So much water beneath the bridge and scarcely a sign of life in those murky depths.  Then, like a great kaiju heaving up out of the silt, shoulders too often burdened shrug free of the moss and muck and old eyes blink at the watery spot of light above...

Is it finally time?  Perhaps so.  No effort is needed, as the light pulls gently and draws one upward out of the cold, quiet dark.   Sounds, filter through, bringing laughter, music, sounds of engines, and sounds of conflict, all strangely welcoming, and all accepted.

How long have I been away?  A year? Two?  More?  Surely they've forgotten me, though I could never forget any of them.  Maybe I should have more faith, or, maybe I should just move forward and see what happens.  Either way is fine.  I feel like a stranger, but for a long time, I was a stranger to myself.  That part is past, and though I will stumble and be erratic at first, I have resolved that now is a Good Time.

Ahem.  Hi everybody!  Just so you know, as I crawl up on the dock and shake off the barnacles and seaweed,  I'll be a bit slow getting back into the swing of things, but for now, at least the beast is risen once again.  I missed y'all so much!

ML

And you thought the Harry Potter universe had closed it's doors.  Well, when fans ramp up with awesome computing power,, no universe is closed completely.   This is an INCREDIBLE HP fan film you won't believe!  Dazzling!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpNp8W…

Gone are the days when I have a lot of free time for my own pursuits.  This is the curse of being a professional.  So little time and so frickin' much to do.  Sigh.  But, bit by bit, I'm making room in life for DA again, though it is a slow slog.  I had to take some time off and learn how to draw male faces properly, and I think you all will be pleased with my progress.  Goodness knows, I needed to spend some quality practice on improving!  Now if only my work space was clear of all the stuff that got piled in it!  That's my major roadblock now....

Let's see, a bit of an update:

I'm doing another electronic pc board for the 2DKits guys.  This time, it's a Christmas tree with blinking ornaments that you can set to different colors.

I've also been asked to do some custom carved sheaths for some beautiful handmade knives.

I have one t-shirt design commission I need to push to the finish line.

And, my latest project is the most epically EPIC vampire killing kit ever, ever, ever done.  It will have to have a booklet with it to describe all the parts in detail, and it will easily surpass any kit ever sold to date.  Best of all, I've done mega amounts of research and reproduced the herbal tinctures and mixes exactly as they were done ages ago.  This includes the poisonous bits like ergot fungus and wolfsbane.  There's also some of the medical equipment that would be used to treat a critically injured victim of a vampire, like a hand operated transfusion pump that is of the right vintage.  Antique nails taken from an 1840's ship that was recently decommissioned in England, a long solid iron stake from a copper mine that closed down at the turn of the century, stakes of holly, hawthorn, oak, and olive, with (hopefully,) bronze tips, steel tipped crossbow bolts, period candles with silver crosses imbedded in them, and so forth and so on.  I've done some serious research on vampires and the methods for killing them, so I've been going through 300 year old texts to get at the root of the truth.

Why do it?  Because I want to, and because I'm tired of the half-assed kits out there that couldn't deal with a netherworld monster of such power.  I've had them living in my head for a number of years, and it's an uneasy truce, I must say.  Lately, they've been stirring, so I need to be prepared to have them around again.

Hope you all are doing well, and prospering nicely.  I will be working on whittling down the massive number of comments and notes and stuff that I've piled up, so I will still be a bit slow, but I do intend on at least popping in a bit more frequently.

Hugs to you all who haven't given up on me!

ML-

As of an hour ago, Japan was hit by another 7+ scale quake.  May the gods protect them all from another tsunami!!
Video here:  www.liveleak.com/view?i=6a3_1382688843

I'm trying to come back!  Computer broke and long list of crap to do that is not art.  Dang it!

Mummies have nothing at all on me these days....  I've been so "wrapped up" with STUFF that I've been terribly neglectful of my online life.  Sigh.  I do miss it, really I do.  So much has happened, so many stories to tell, so much new art to upload and talk about.  In some ways, it's kind of exciting, because I have SOOOOO many neat things to go through in my inbox that I'm sure there are treasures and delights that my poor fevered brain sorely needs to brighten my dark corner of the tomb.  Don't get me wrong, I do quite well in solitary non-confinement, and I find lots of OCD things to do as an artist, but, I miss the inspiration, the friendship, and the fun of everyone here.  So, stay tuned here, as I throw more gerbils into the flywheels and try to get my creative engines started once again.  Until that day, I have uploaded here a really nice picture snagged from a video I took while working a Singing Tesla Coils show for the Masters of Lightning.  It was LOUD, but fun!

And remember Mama Duck that nested two years in a row in my front garden?  She didn't come last year, so we feared the worst, but this year she was back!  Yay!  Don't know how many eggs she managed to lay this time though....She doesn't stay very long after they hatch and she sneaks away before I can see her go.  Nice to see she's made it though four years....

Off to play Simpson's Tapped Out before I fall asleep!  Miss you guys sooo much!!!