SpringCon and Gaming Sketches

Well, now that opera season is over, convention time is here!  We've kicked off convention season with a good start at SpringCon, where I was drawing caricatures and custom sketches pretty much nonstop.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday!  I got to hang with some of my favorite artist people, too, including my good friend Mark Stegbauer who inked this piece I did for the charity auction.  (Pardon the low quality of the images in this post, I was using my iPod Touch camera, which is not terrible but not the best, either.  My scanner is still not on speaking terms with my laptop.) 

Aside from that, I did a few chibi sketch cards, some of which I even managed to photograph before they were whisked away!

I was, unfortunately, unable to photograph all of the art I did that day, especially the caricatures, as people were crowding around the table and waiting for their turns.  Not that I'm complaining!  I was quite happy to be so busy, though I was grateful to my lovely friend Theo for bringing me a sandwich at lunch.

Saturday was my only day at the convention, because Sunday was reserved for spending time with my friends from out of town.  I hadn't seen them for nearly two years, as they'd moved out of state while I was in Korea, so it was wonderful to see them both again.  Another friend of ours ran an epic Marvel game for us, using heroes we'd created in a game we'd played years ago.  It was such satisfying fun to get the old group back together, both in and out of character!  I had to commemorate the occasion with more art, of course-- just because I wasn't drawing at SpringCon didn't mean I got to slack off!

Our fantastic cast:  Mystique-- she was a sort of special guest appearance, played by another friend who had not been part of the previous game.  She did a wonderful job portraying the character and really tying in with the plot our GM was running as a one-shot game. 

Yuki-- My albino "bioelectric ninja", codenamed "Negavolt" for his abilities to nullify mutant powers and create electrical blasts.  This is probably my favorite drawing I've done of this character to date, and I've had some version of Yuki for around 13 years!

Kyle-- codenamed "God Mode", my boyfriend's character, a computer/gaming nerd with powers of light, illusion, and hypnosis.  His signature move is to distract people with naked lady illusions, then blind them with searing light.  "Shut up, Kyle!" is a common catch phrase in our games.

Carrie-- codenamed "Snap Dragon", a teleporting, psychic-blasting, fairy-dragon girl, and our group's de facto leader.  She sort of accidentally killed a hippie with crazy memory bubble powers, and now she can't teleport without looking like something out of Yellow Submarine.

Sally and Mark--  Sally, aka "Miss Monster" is a 10-foot-tall bright pink wolverine, who used to be a little girl.  She may have accidentally eaten her parents (something she, thankfully, does not remember).  That poor green muppet she's cuddling is Mark, aka "Gremlin", who can possess and animate inanimate objects.  He has a bandage on his chest from a wound that, weirdly, has never healed...  Mark is actually Carrie's boyfriend, but Sally likes hugs.

So, that's what I did all weekend. 

-Maria

An Unexpected Night at the Opera: The Giver

This was an entirely different setup from the usual NotO events.  First of all, instead of meeting up for a reception beforehand, we were to go straight to the opera house itself.  Only it wasn't the Ordway this time, it was some place near the warehouse district in Minneapolis.  Actually, it was right next to the Guthrie Lab, in a surprisingly quiet corner just outside of downtown.  I was lucky to catch a bus and arrive just barely on time, despite the public transit system's determination to foil my plans for the evening. 

I'm glad I made it, though.  More than glad.  I am thanking the transit gods for allowing me the privilege of attending this show.  I'm not even exaggerating.  You should see the little model bus I made for this shrine in my living room.

No, I'm not going to post a picture of it.

But I will post a picture of me holding my program, which both the author of the book (Lois Lowry) and the writer of the stage adaptation signed for me.  LOOK HOW AMAZED I AM. 

This is my amazed face.

I must make a confession here:  I hadn't read the story, The Giver, until about three days before I saw this opera adaptation.  I know, I'm super late to the party here.  But I DID read it, and I loved it, and all I could think was, "How are they going to do this on stage?"

And then, they did it.

And I was impressed, because they did it perfectly.

Our protagonist, Jonas, starts to see flashes of color in a world that is only seen in shades of gray and beige.  The stage version of this was to dress everyone in drab neutral scrubs and use monochromatic props.  UNTIL THIS RED APPLE SHOWS UP AND WOW THAT HAD EXACTLY THE IMPACT IT SHOULD HAVE.

 

"WHAT IS THIS EVEN?"

The colors don't just stop at apples, though.  Red hair, red sleds, and... okay, so I guess he had to start somewhere, but Jonas mostly sees a lot of red for awhile.  Which is cool, because they did it cleverly on stage, and it worked just as it was supposed to work, and I was so pleased.

 He's seeing red.  Lots of it.

Another clever thing they did was using screens and video projection to indicate the memories that the Giver was showing to Jonas.  The choir kids would rush into formation and hold up these translucent white squares, upon which the various memories would be projected, and Jonas could interact with the screens in different ways. 

 

"Woo hoo!"

The kids were all amazing in this production.  The music was definitely suited to the story, almost monotonous at first without being boring, but with more melody and smoother flow as Jonas gained more memories of the time before, back and back and back... 

 

  Of course, me being me, I had to do a couple of silly doodles.  That girl who played Jonas' little sister, Lily, was hilarious.  She had everyone cracking up during the curtain call.

My favorite part about this entire production was how the relationship between the Giver and Jonas was portrayed.  There was a distinct sense of a growing bond between the two, something painful and complicated due to the very nature of being the Receiver of Memory, and yet the Giver maintained an air of gentle patience and even protective affection toward Jonas.  The way Jonas trusted the Giver so implicitly, even when the memories were horrible, even when he was frightened and brittle.  Their friendship was a beautiful and very moving thing to see.  

My.  Heart.  *clutches*

If this show hadn't already been sold out, I would tell everyone I know to go see it.  And then I'd go see it again myself.  Three more times. 

To sum up:  A beautiful, thought-provoking story translated to a phenomenally gorgeous and effective stage production, performed by a cast of wonderfully talented kids.  My tiny webcam shots of my marker scribbles cannot begin to capture all of the feelings this show gave me.  SO MANY FEELINGS.

And with that, I sadly close the sketchbook on this opera season.  Until next year!

-Maria

Night at the Opera: Madame Butterfly Part #2

I finally got my sketchbook scans from the Madame Butterfly opera, and finally found the time to edit them so I could post them here.  Better late than never, right?

As I mentioned before, I only drew three things.  I was frequently distracted by how absolutely gorgeous this opera was.  The costumes, the deceptively simple sets, and the breathtaking music all made it very difficult to focus on drawing anything.  Not to mention, I'm still not much for doing gesture drawings in the dark.  So, like I do, I created three interpretations of the story using a Japanese anime/manga style.

First, I'm basically summing up the first act here with these "chibi" drawings.

My interpretation of Cio-Cio-San (Madame Butterfly) as she appeared at her wedding.  Fresh, young, bright, and innocent.  Large eyes are symbolic of innocence and youth in Japanese animation, and poor Cio-Cio-San had both in spades.  She was only 15, for crying out loud!


And last but not least, the climactic suicide scene.  Madame Butterfly, wings torn and destroyed, impaling herself on the needle point of her dagger.


Honestly, I couldn't have done this opera justice if I'd had months and all the paper and markers in the world.  This production was lush and phenomenally beautiful, the performances stirring, and the atmosphere perfectly crafted.  When it finished, I felt like I was waking up from a deep, dreaming sleep.  It was an illusion as delicate as a butterfly's wing.

I will do my best to get my next set of sketches and review up by tomorrow.  Stay tuned for my post on The Giver!

-Maria