Dawn Blair's Blog, page 213

History of a Dead Man

 

There are about forty years in which Steigan won’t talk about what happened in his life. This upcoming novella fills in that blank.

Very shortly (hopefully within a week or two depending on how life decides to treat me!) I’ll be releasing this as a FREE read on Kindle. It’s meant to fit between To Birth a Destiny and the 4th book of the Sacred Knight series, but if you haven’t even begun the series this will give you a good start without ruining the story too much with spoilers (I hope). Tell you what: just read the series, then get this one for free just to be sure.

So what if you don’t have a Kindle? Well, you can download the Kindle app on your computer or smartphone and read books that way — and there are lots of free books! You can read on your phone while standing in line at the grocery store. Why not? I’ve been known to write while waiting in line. Isn’t technology great?!!

Still want a physical book? Well, I’m not printing this on it’s own so you’ll have wait until I release the 4th book. When that comes out, there will be two editions done: a regular printing which will only be the 4th book and an expanded edition which will have Annae’s novella in the front. So you’ll have to look for that and get the version you want. I probably won’t be carrying the expanded edition to shows unless I get a lot of requests for it, so if you want it let me know.

Keep watching here and I’ll let you know when Annae’s novella , History of a Dead Man,  is available.

P.S. You can see the full painting here as well as discovering some trivia about the work.

Legendary Hero Comics

After much consideration, I decided to start a website for my comics - Legendary Hero Comics.  Right now there isn’t much on it and there’s still a lot to be done.

What you will find there right now is the reboot of my Weblinks comic — I’m redoing the toning and some of the artwork as I go along. I don’t know how much correction work I’ll do because it’s also important for me (and others who want to do a comic but are afraid to start) to see how I’ve progressed.

Also there is a new “comic” called Rockin’ Life. I’ll let you check it out for yourself to see what it’s about.

Hopefully as things start to build and link together, I’ll get the website more functional too.

The grand scheme of it is to eventually publish the Sacred Knight comic and a couple comics I have as assorted stories related to Sacred Knight as well as Sabriel’s Angel (which is a story related to Weblinks).

Well, here’s to heroes that don’t want to be common but rather legendary!

Prints available

I currently have 8×10 and ACEO size prints available for some of my artwork on eBay.  If you like one of my paintings but don’t see the size print you want for it, let me know. Your feedback is the only way I know if you like what I’m doing or not. For example, I’d never thought to offer Peeking as an ACEO or print until the collector of the painting said she wanted cards made of the print so she could send them out. (Yes, that means cards for Peeking are coming). And, if you are interested in ordering cards to send (they have the artwork on the outside and are blank on the inside), you can get them from my website.

Waiting for the end to come

This may be a little bit of a rant here. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

Why is it that people are so ready to coast to the grave? I feel as if I’m more and more surrounded by people who feel like they are already dead.

Seriously??!!!

If you woke up this morning, you should be grateful for another day. It gives you another chance to create what you want into your life. I swear, there are just some people I want to shake and say, “Tomorrow when you wake up again, do you really want to bemoan that you let another day slip through? Yeah, now you are one day closer to dying. Freaking congratulations to you!”

It’s not how I want to live, so don’t ask me to come join your pity party.

What is it that you want to do? What do you want to create in your life? Why aren’t you doing it? Every day that goes by is one day without you creating. Stop being miserable. Motivate yourself, as Wayne Dyer would say.

A walking dead is not an honorable badge to wear. It’s really no wonder that zombies are a hit right now with so many people actually acting like they are dead and going through the motions of living. Quit eating (symbolic for infecting) other people’s brains with what you are. Get out and live!

And, while you’re at it, quit talking on your cell phone while driving. Seriously!

Sketchbook work – 02/2010

Sketchbook page
February 2010
Dawn Blair ©2010

Here’s another page from an older sketchbook — in fact, just a couple pages after Keteria’s sketch in the last post. Here’s where I was conceptualizing the tomb of St. Steigan. Also, notice a sketch of Steigan strutting. Yeah, he’s da man! Grin. And lots of scrolling patterns. I think a couple of them have turned into plants — dangerous looking plants if you ask me.

Thank you for letting me share with you.

 

Sketchbook – Keteria

Keteria – sketch
Dawn Blair ©2010

Well, the last queen of Lilinar doesn’t look so crazy here. I wonder if this is when she’s happy with Steigan before he breaks her heart, or when she sees him again in Dubinshire? Strangely, I hadn’t even planned either of those events when I drew this sketch.

Heading Out

Go on, ask me!

My #1 passion in the world is Steigan. I can’t help myself. I find him influencing nearly every thing I do. So, when my boy’s came home one day and saw this on the easel…

Heading Out 
8″x10″ acrylic on canvas
Dawn Blair ©2014

…of course the reaction was, “Chibby Steigan!”

Really?!!!

Okay, I can get why they see that. I was thinking more d’Artagnan from The Three Musketeers myself.

Is he walking out from the diamond mine? Or maybe it’s fairy dust? Or is he heading into the dragon’s lair so filled with gold that it reflects the light and casts everything in a glow? His cape billows in the breeze (or dragon’s breath). Ah yes, an adventure. Can you feel it calling?

Let’s go!

Frost

First we had nice weather, then it got cold, rainy and snowy again. Ah, spring. But as I left for work one morning, I had the most amazing frost pattern all over my car windows. I couldn’t help but to take a picture (or 2 or 10!). Here’s one looking through my front window with the early morning glow in the background.

Frost
Digital photo
Dawn Blair ©2014

Here’s a second photo of the back window. Just look at the way it fans out as if Jack Frost came along and painted leaves with his ice crystals:

Frost #2
Digital photo
Dawn Blair ©2014

I find nature has many wondrous beauties. Thank you for letting me share these with you.

Some work in progress

A couple pictures of paintings I’m currently working on:

Cloudwalking Fairy (WIP)
16″x12″ acrylic on canvas
Dawn Blair ©2014

Lantern Clearing (WIP)
10″x8″ acrylic on canvas
Dawn Blair ©2014

April Fool’s Day

Don’t whimp!
Self-portrait (sort of) – the punk artist in me
Digital drawing
Dawn Blair ©2014

Ah, April Fool’s Day. The day when we all try to trick someone else while not getting tricked ourselves.

How often do we stop to realize that we are our own fool in our life every day?

If someone is trying to “fool” us, they are trying to trick us or manipulate us in some fashion. Do our brains not do this to us too? How often do you forget the present moment to lose yourself in a memory of the past or a hope for the future only to realize that we’ve made a mistake when we should have been paying attention?

Our brain fools our heart often. This is why in Manifest the Magic, my characters start discussing how the eyes are connected to the brain and the heart is held captive in a cage all it’s own. The brain is what “sees” the outer world and deciphers what it wants to tell the heart. I feel like it’s one of the ways that we trust our thoughts over our emotions and our gut instincts. It’s easier to believe what we “see” than trust what we feel.

But there is a good side to the fool too. I look at the fool card in the Tarot decks. Here, the fool represents starting a journey. Sometimes he is shown about to fall off a cliff, as if that’s exactly what happens to people who set out on their own in search for adventure. I think that’s the opinion of someone who is jaded and been burned themselves a few times. Not everyone who starts in a new direction is risking impending doom. Must we hold onto this legacy? In other decks, the fool is merely on a path with his faithful dog beside him. I’ve seen a horse and rider leaping a chasm as a fool card, as can be another interpretation of this card: a leap of faith. Any way you look at it, the fool of the Tarot represents taking a risk.

What if we were to look at April Fool’s Day as a day to take a new risk? Remember, you are the fool here, not someone else. This has to be your risk, not someone else’s. What journey would you set out on? What would be your direction? Would you be heading toward your True North (meaning that it’s following your emotions rather than what your head is telling you what to do)? Maybe for just one day, it is time to step outside yourself and allow yourself to be the fool. Do some child’s play. Eat something you’ve always wanted to try but never had the (dare I say it?) “guts” to try. Wear a jester’s hat to work and make everyone you see smile.

Beware, you might just find yourself liking to be the fool and decide to do it everyday. And maybe that’s not so bad. The world could use a little less jibber-jabber of head talk and a lot more fun and laughter.