Meredith McClaren's Blog, page 23

Description: An illustration of myself, crouching in front of a wall of leafy green plants.

Description: An illustration of myself, crouching in front of a wall of leafy green plants.

I get asked pretty regularly if I ever open up for pen and ink commissions, on, you know, paper. So…

I get asked pretty regularly if I ever open up for pen and ink commissions, on, you know, paper. So I thought I’d make some slots available.

Preview Page from the next installment of BLACK CLOAK. On shelves August 21st. Written by Kelly…

Preview Page from the next installment of BLACK CLOAK. On shelves August 21st. Written by Kelly Thompson, art by me, letters by Becca Carey, and design by Rian Hughes.

Rough nights.

Rough nights.

Description: An illustration of a dark hallway. The camera is low to the ground where we can see a trail of blood drops leading to two figures, one large one small. The larger one has a shirt stained with blood and is leaning heavily on the smaller figure. Together they are moving to the room at the ed of the hallway, lit up brightly against the dark of the rest of the space.

sometiktoksarevalid:

sometiktoksarevalid:

Oh my god. I’m alive. I’m alive and I made something NEW.

Oh my god. I’m alive. I’m alive and I made something NEW.

Description: An illustration of a pale moth. The wings are shaped and edged to look like two jaw bones with sharp teeth.

From my trip to Vietnam . January 2024

From my trip to Vietnam . January 2024

Description: A photo of a small alleyway, lined with houses, cabled wires. There is a train track that runs through it, leaving barely any space left for sidewalks. Occasionally there is some green vegetation. An illustration of myself walks alongside the train tracks in a long green coat.

Hey y'all!

Hey y'all!

Commissions open!

From my trip to Vietnam in January of 2024

From my trip to Vietnam in January of 2024

If I can be serious for a second. I don’t wanna be one of those folks you make you feel like the rest of the world is perpetually on vacation without you and handing out needless FOMO.

All of my travel pics are usually taken on a single two week trip once a year. I just take a ton of them.

I am not living my BEST LIFE TM in fabulous locations. I’m usually parked in front of my work desk at home for hours on end and never leave the house.

I just parcel out these pictures so that I have something to post every now and again between project announcements and big illustrations. And also, these are nice places that I liked looking at.

I know it’s a growing problem in social media spaces, where people feel a mounting pressure to live life more lavishly, because that’s what they’re seeing. That’s being sold to them on a lot of fronts. And I know people (myself included) make bad choices to match a standard that doesn’t actually exist. Put themselves in holes mentally and financially that they didn’t need to be in. And that needs to be addressed more widely.

So yeah. Not trying to cultivate anxiety here. Please don’t twist yourself into pieces trying to replicate something that is only half the story. This is a nice little part of my life, but it’s far from my usual day to day. Which is much more boring. And usually spent in sweatpants.

Description: A photo of narrow street in Hanoi, Vietnam from a trip I had in January 2024. The street is a little crowded with parked cars, outdoor restaurant seating, and people milling around. Tree branches hang overhead with long lanterns hanging from them. An illustration of myself walks away from the camera, looking at the lanterns.

There’s no ‘Me’ in here. I just liked this quiet skyline from my hotel window in Hanoi.

There’s no ‘Me’ in here. I just liked this quiet skyline from my hotel window in Hanoi.