Category Archive

As you probably know, those of us in the northeast got wolloped three times (so far) this winter with buckets of snow. It’s always cool to get up in the morning and see what’s been in the yard overnight. Because we try to keep our property as natural as possible, we tend to attract the wildlife that used to call this area …

I’ve finished a couple more pages of the graphic novel, The T Rex and the Hare, which is set to be included somewhere in the new book. Both pages are available for viewing on the illustration page of the Hairy Eyeballs site. I’m planning on finishing all of the images in the book with powdered graphite along with artist’s graphite pencils so the illustrations stay unified. …

I’ve been working on a lot of graphic design projects for Adventure Foods (based in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania) including Firefly Chocolates, their shop at Westmoreland Mall in Greensburg. We wanted their business cards to reflect the same look and feel we’ve already established for this arm of the company, specifically the posters and signage I had designed for previous projects. These images show the front and back of their new cards.

I finished Dexter (here’s the sketch), and he turned out somewhat close to what I originally had in mind. I was hoping for more dramatic lighting, but that seemed to leave him too dark in the shadows, so I lightened him and the whole scene up a little. The glowing green and purple colors took some getting used to since most of what I do …

I’ve updated my photography portfolio with several more landscape images and photos from Banning No. 3 Mine. Click on “portfolio” and choose “photography.” These are all silver gelatin prints, made the old-fashioned way with film, chemicals, paper, dodging and burning. My portfolio site URL: http://www.norathompson.us Banning No. 3 Mine operated just outside Van Meter, PA and is off the Yough …

I so lied about making you wait. Here’s the sketch of Dexter in the setting I came up with for him. He’s in just a little bit of trouble, but I think he’ll be O.K. His puppy’s name is Poindexter.

Everybody, meet Dexter. He got here because of a doodle that was originally meant just for me. I started drawing one night, and consciously convinced myself not to censor. I finished him and turned the page, but I found that I kept turning the pages back to take another look. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but he kept getting cuter every time, so I decided …

/ The Hairy Eyeballs site is up and live! Right now it has a few pertinent pages: an about page, a link to this blog, and a link to an online store that currently has no merchandise (I’ve kind of been trying to spend my time putting the actual book together). I also have an extras page, and on it …

It must be February. Yesterday we got more snow in one snowfall than we’ve had in the last 17 years. The unofficial estimate in the backyard would be around 18 inches, but it snowed more after that. Earlier this winter, we had a January that didn’t get above freezing until late in the month, so the snow we were getting just kept …

I will be upgrading to a professional newsletter client prior to the next newsletter cycle, and I need current subscribers to re-submit their information. I don’t have access to email information, so I’m not able to transfer from one mailing list to another. And if you’re not yet a subscriber, feel free to jump in at any time! Newsletters are …

I’ve put together an electronic portfolio on issuu.com (relatively easy!) to send out to those great publishers who are looking to go green (way to go!). Issue makes your pdf look like you’re flipping through a portfolio (or magazine) right there on your computer screen.

One of the first shorts I finished for the book was “Testophobia.” I wrote the piece originally for the Writing Fiction class I mentioned in the last post. The prompt went like this: “Write a scene taken straight from a science-fiction, fantasy, or horror story, where a character is experiencing test-taking anxiety of a very creative kind.” (Again, I’ll have to …