Dear pens and nibs and brushes and ink.

I tried with you but you never come through for me like the standard mechanical pencil does. Perhaps it was my own fault, I could never understand you. You were just so temperamental. So fickle. We're through. Some people are Inkers. Some aren't. I'm not."The Harpies"

(from left: Hanami, Clandestina, Nisalda, Bernice, Molly and Louise)

You're just too serious, Pens and nibs and brushes and ink. You seriously need to lighten up. Alright, yeah, sure, graphite smudges. Well at least pencil smudges aren't permanent. I can erase pencil smudges or just work them to my advantage. When you smudge, Ink, I feel like slitting my wrists.

"Puddles"
(Feat. Miss Emily E. Noslen and no actual puddle. . . )

Oh, and not to mention how expensive as fuck you are, Pens and Nibs and Brushes and Ink. How much does a 12 pack of BIC pencils cost? I don't know but you get 12 of them. And you can buy them anywhere. I'm sick of cross-referencing prices all over the internet for the right brand of ink and the proper paper that doesn't bleed and the imported size 10 round nibs, god damn it. Pencil draws perfectly over any surface, so there.
"Dave and Emily"
(feat. from left: Dave and Emily)

You see, I've been with the BIC mechanical #2 Pencil for almost 20 years now. That relationship will never change. He gets me and I get him.
"Winter Wonder Will"
(featuring a pensive Billy Hunter)

So as you can clearly see, Pens and nibs and brushes and ink.
I'm doing perfectly fine without you.
And I'm stronger for it. Good Bye.

Sincerely,
Laura Marie Santosuosso.

5 Novembre, '10

Dear Ben Saufley (and whomever else is reading),

I still draw. I promise. In fact, my day consists largely of diaper changes, "Yo Gabba Gabba" episodes, "The Little Mermaid" for the 100th time this week and mopping up spilled tea and soy milk. You'll understand when you have little, frazzled Saufleys of your own running around. There is just too much in the day to do than update a blog.

In the mean time, I have 72 pages of a graphic novel thumbnailed out to the last detail. A stack, I tell you, a stack of drawings relating to said graphic novel. Facial expression sheets, background character sketches, rotations, trial-and-error drawings (tons of those) and a moat around my desk of thumbnails that didn't make the grade and snotty tissues. It's gross. But I am working. Everyday.

Let me do myself a favor by attaching a small sampling of these drawings, then. Just dust off the ol' scanner and off we go:

The Ladies of the X-Men WIP

It's decoration time in the old apartment and what better motif to

decorate in than our fave x-girls in skanky poses.

STORM

Why there aren't more pictures of STORM embracing

her natural Nubian goodness is beyond me. . . Rock The FRO

JUBILEE

Just learned yesterday that Jubilee never had an

X-Uniform. . . oh well. If I can draw Storm in a fro then

I can draw Jubilee in a freakin' X-Uniform if I so choose.

SHADOW CAT

Now here's a girl that get no respect. . . but she gets a dragon?

WTF??

ROGUE

See, she's being skanky because she's posing without her gloves. . . watch out.

And her hair? Designing Women on Steroids? Yes.

Inks and colors and framing yet to come. . . judging by the way I post, it will come in
approx. 10 months.

P-p-pencils!!

Yes, it is true. Long awaited, never-before seen pencils of pages. (Of pandas painting pictures of penguins?) NO! Of Paohlo, the poor little Euro-trash boy who is about to meet the love of his life! And now, the PAGES!

"Futbol: A Love Story" is set in the Alpine town of Sophia Alm in 

post WWII.  The town draws heavily from my own travels 

to a small Austrian town called Maria Alm.

 Big creative name change, I know.

Paohlo in Signor Van der Spiegel's store
The dialog is poorly scribbled in there, sorry.

And this one has no dialog whatsoever. I write the dialog
in my head as I draw and rarely write it down, a process I do
not recommend as for obvious reasons as it is so hard to
remember what is said if a hiatus is taken. . .

And so, one day, this story will be completed. Inked, colored, lettered, the whole nine. Today is not that day. Critiques are welcome, goodness knows I need some and don't give me any wisecracks on the importance of writing down dialog, I know. I just don't.