November

Alright kids, I'm sorry for the long, long delay. The truth is, I've tried to update this blog from my phone about three times since the last post but it keeps ... not updating. What a shame! I'll have to do it the old-fashioned way.

So here's what I've been up to lately.

Playing with a bunch of new Golden acrylic samples, I think Prussian Blue Hue and Azurite Hue are my new favorites. A commission I finally finished for Luis. I just finished these the other day. I've been pressing flowers forever and had no idea what to do with them, so I finally just slapped them on some watercolor silhouettes I was doing at the time. I rather like how they turned out!

I've also got a bunch of projects in the works, including finally setting up an official site for Poor Mick and a real updating schedule, which should happen this weekend! Which goes along nicely with the new chapters I just finished writing and now am going to start drawing. (85 more pages, agh, how am I going to get it all done...)

Also perhaps a mini comic in the future...Or two...or five...

As always, I'm much better at updating my tumblr than this blog, if only because it will actually update from my phone, so you can check there for more art updates if you are so inclined! But do check back here from time to time, especially in the future - lots of things happening after the holidays! I'm very excited!

Thanks for sticking with me, everyone! Talk to you soon, xoxo.

APE

Phew! Thanks to everyone at APE 2012! I had an awesome time and it was absolutely a learning experience! I did much better than I thought I would, which is always a nice surprise, made a few awesome connections, and sold out of my comic!! What the heck! I guess I better start taking it really seriously :)

It was a blast and I can't wait to do it again!

Tomorrow!

Well everybody, tomorrow's the day! Tomorrow is my first expo/convention/show/whatever you want to call it, and I'm so unsure of anything but whatever! Diving in head first! If anyone's in the San Francisco area and has an incling towards my humble little comic, feel free to head on over to the Alternative Press Expo and say hi! I'm at the Rojofolio table, I think it's 127.

Pots.

My roommate and I spent a while painting terra cotta pots on a whim... I think they turned out awesome! I did the octopus (duh) and the center one, the one on the right is hers. After a spray with some fixative, they're all set for planting! Can't wait!

In Progress

Well, I'm back! Here's what I've been working on in the few months I've been gone: Our house is now doing a sort of themed painting night every once in a while. This is the newest theme, and it is 'Monsters'. The previous theme was 'Hindu Gods,' and I chose Matsya, the first avatar of Vishnu. I am also spending a bit of today working on this piece, a companion to the Don't Give Up The Ship one I did a few months ago.

Also new and exciting: I now have a website, and I know the '.net' ending is totally lame but there are about five thousand kat martins out there, so I couldn't find one that worked better, alas.

Also, I've been working on a comic starring everyone's favorite sailor, Mick Spinner. It even has a website, although I have yet to add content. The comic, as well as a BUNCH of prints and things, is going to be sold at Ape this year! That's right, I'm going to a convention for the first time in my life, oh man. My friend and coworker has a table and I'm tagging along for the ride.

I've also completely redone my bedroom, gone on a trip to Santa Cruz, worked on a few commissions, got an iPhone (!!!) and I may or may not have an awesome project brewing with none other than the fabulous Kelsey. Phew! It's good to be back!

Hello, June

Sometimes, in life, you sortof take a nearly-month-long hiatus. Sometimes, when your name is Kat Martin, you do it quite frequently and without meaning to.

My life's been crazy lately! I've got a (sortof) new job doing custom framing, I've been spending most of my free time with friends and helping to plan a friend's wedding, helping to organize a trip to Las Vegas, throwing a Freak Show party, dancing, eating junk food, reading a ton of books, and generally not doing anything I need to, but everything I want to at the moment. Even though it seems like I'm working a lot more, I feel like I'm having a blast!

So up there is a photo of one of the only art-related things I've done besides doodling in the sketchbook lately, and even then, I did it a while ago. It's a seadragon turning into a tree, or something. Not finished, obviously. Just pen practice. I hope to get back into the art groove very soon. Also my coworker wants me to draw a comic for his booth at a convention, so I'm trying to think of a good way to do a Mick the Sailor comic!

Flowers, Books and Doodles

I had a fabulous last week in my hometown of Seattle, WA - seeing friends, shopping, and hanging out with my Mom. She and I made a little trip to the Conservatory of Flowers in Volunteer Park - which was so cute and awesome and free! We even got to go to the Conservatory's plant sale before I had to run to the airport, and my Mom got some awesome plants, including a pitcher plant and a not-quite-staghorn fern. I want a staghorn fern so bad. One day. ONE DAY.

I also made an awesome haul at my favorite second-hand book shop, Half-Price Books: (I'm working on The Lost World right now) And how about a few pages from the sketchbook:

The Pike Place Market

The blog's been a bit dead lately because I've spent the past week in my hometown of Seattle, Washington. I had to come up for an orthodontist appointment to see if I had to get braces again, but aw yeah, I just got a sweet new retainer! So, since the weather up here has been absolutely phenomenal, I have spent nearly every day walking around playing tourist. One of the best places to play tourist in Seattle is the good old Pike Place Market, and I will let you in on a little insider info: get there on a weekday morning at about 9:30-10:00 am, when they are just opening and the rest of the throngs of tourists haven't arrived yet. Also interesting to note: it is called the 'Pike Place Market', not the 'Pike Street Market' or any other variation thereof. Pike Place. Another piece of insider info: yes, the first Starbucks Coffee is in the market. Look at it. Take it in. Walk inside. Ooh, fancy. But guess what, there is another Starbucks across the street with a fraction of the line for the same so-so coffee. Or hey, you could go to a different local coffee shop in the market and probably get better coffee. (Awesome local/northwestern area coffee shops, not in the market, but in Seattle include: Fuel, Stumptown, Espresso Vivace)

Places to absolutely check out in the Market:

Pike Place Fish Market: The Flying Fish Guys. They throw fish around. They have a great time doing it. The fish is probably really good too. The Daily Dozen Doughnut Company. This donut place is near the newspaper stand. Holy. Moly. I love these donuts. You get them hot and fresh in a little paper bag that the grease leaks through and they are so good. The Magic Shop. It's pretty rad. Nearby is a wall o curiosities, including a giant shoe you can view for a few quarters. Fancy. There are also tons of awesome restaraunts, food stands, jewelry stands, flowers, local crafts - pretty much everything you can imagine. Also, check out Post Alley, and the Gum Wall, which is pretty disgusting but strangely cool. And can we talk about how Pike Place is apparently haunted and I never knew about it?! My friend told me while we were having coffee that they have ghost tours of the market, so I looked it up. Apparently Princess Angeline, daughter of Chief Seattle, walks around, as well as a ton of others. I'm currently reading through this old article from the Seattle Times: Ghost Stories Haunt Pike Place Market. Uh, totally cool.

Well that's all from me for now. I'm back on the plane to San Francisco later today! See you all later. Xoxo.

Exploration + Things I Like

So my wintwin Kelsey is back in California, and yesterday we (I'm looking for a word but I can't find it - is recommenced a word?) met up again for our weekly Win Twin Tuesday, wherein she makes delicious food and I take photos but mostly just eat it all. Then we went on an adventure down to the canyon near my house: I am personally a big fan of getting good and muddy when traipsing through a foresty area, especially when one has big boots, and one manages to not fall on one's behind. I was not disappointed. It was a good walk, and hopefully there shall be more in the future!

Also, here's some Things I Like:

This Week

I'm sick with a gnarly headcold - hopefully the medicine will kick in and I'll be able to do some art (or clean my room which desperately needs it) but until then, I'm sitting in bed and sipping coffee and dayquil. All I've got in terms of an update are a few pics from the week, so enjoy: It's finally raining in San Francisco! The best way to spend a day off is home in bed listening to rain pour outside, in my opinion. Hope everyone's doing well, and have a good weekend! xo.

Holidays

Wow. Trying out the new blogger interface and it is weirdddd.

Hi everyone! Hope everyone's having an awesome holiday season. I'm up in Seattle enjoying the lovely (gray & wet) weather, and eating myself into a food coma.

Speaking of holidays, I got quite a haul for the Christmas, including this epic stack of used books. (I love a good used book. Especially these, which were on clearance, what whattt! Thank you Half-Price Books in Seattle.) Here we see the Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes (I have no idea if this book is going to be good or not but hey, two dollars.), The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories by Rudyard Kipling, A HUGE biography on Napoleon Bonaparte (thanks, Mom!) by Alan Schom, the classic Jurassic Park by Michael Chrichton, What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool, Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr by Nancy Isenberg, and Men Against the Sea by Charles Nordhoff. Quite a strange stack, but I'm totally stoked.

My Mom also helped me get a brand new computer (soooo necessary, my old one is on it's last legs) and it was insanely generous of her, and it is so awesome! So much faster and better than my other one! Oh, and maybe my favorite thing about Christmas?

WHALE KNEE SOCKS. AHHH.

Kat in the Kitchen - Or, Failure.

So the other night my friends picked me up from work and we went to see the midnight movie of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

I recommend it. If you are like me and enjoy the Victorian era and slow-motion explosions and, you know, Robert Downey Jr, then this movie is well worth your twelve dollars. (Man, remember when movie tickets were like 7 dollars? Those were the days.)


Also last week my pal Kelsey made these amazing cup pies. They are so freaking good. You should check them out.

I am currently trying to make a frappuccino a la this recipe, but it's all foamy and I don't think I like it. Maybe it's because I used fat-free milk? Or didn't put in the xanthan gum? Maybe the coffee isn't strong enough. This is why Kelsey has the cooking blog - I can't even make a dang mixed drink right! I guess I'll stick to being behind the camera!

In which Kat cuts her finger and talks panini

If you're looking for something easy and delicious to make, head on over to Trial and Error and try your hand at these amazing panini. We made them last week and hooooo man, what a sandwich.

It's hard for me to type now because on Saturday I was trying to cut a very small piece of bread after not eating most of the day and -whoops!- sliced a huge chunk into my finger. My first thought was: 'That's it, Ive lost my finger- I didn't even get to say goodbye,' and then, 'oh god I need stitches,' and then I just put my head between my legs and tried not to pass out.

My friends have since convinced me that I am a big baby and no, I did not need stitches and I will, in fact, be fine. But as a person who doesn't injure themselves very often, I was a bit worried. Oh well.

The holidays are fast approaching, but I think I've finished all my shopping! Huzzah! If anyone has a bit more shopping to do, you know where to go, eh?

My heart also goes out to all the art students out there - I know it's finals week, so good luck! I can't wait until they're over for you either, since I work at an art store and there's been a mad finals AND holidays rush! So good luck everyone, and I'll talk to you all soon!