gertrude buttons’s girl friday. blue jean pilots & maintains the moonfish as well as always being there for professor buttons.
probably the character i feel most connected to & who will most resemble my attitudes & quirks.
she’s the coolest one in the cast, of course.
i did this just now in my class. it felt right. i want her to be severe but not scary. sexy in her own rights–though not necessarily a beauty. i still haven’t figured out the plot of my comic…but i have my characters. and if i did them right, they should help me write the plot.
i have been seriously considering switching from a creative writing major to an art major. i feel there is so much more for me to learn about art–so much more i want to learn. i love the idea of spending my days kicking around inside the art building. also, i feel that art really helps my words come to life & my ideas come to life. i love writing. every aspect of it. but i think i translate better to art. this may sound shallow, but art offers me the immediate feedback and validation that i crave so badly as a passionately damaged individual. i feel more at home in art.
though i find i still see myself as a fraud when i look at myself through other artist’s eyes–the same as when i am among other writers. could be i may never feel genuine until i let myself feel so.
i have been getting very intimate with the features of gertrude buttons’s face. the size of her eyes, the shape of her nose, the curve of her mouth. small adjustments make another woman entirely. it kind of amazes me. i see one i like, but then i think about writing her character…and it still doesn’t click. it feels impossible when i look at all the faces. it also feels like i’m on the verge of discovery.
so frustrating.
but fun too.
she’s starting to look like cate blanchett. small eyes, lots of eye make-up, a mouth too big for her face, and a nose that says something. that’s what i am going for. and is this a face that smokes cigarettes? drinks gin martinis? has a black belt in judo? captain’s an airship? has a soft spot for giant squid? 
okay–green gown picture looks like she is digging her undies out of her bum…note to self–work on placement of hands.
i am happy with how three out of four of characters look, but i am struggling with the looks of my heroine, gertrude buttons. i spent last night playing with watercolors and ink and drew so many faces. after i added thick lashes and eyeliner to my previous picture of gertrude buttons, i felt i was on to something. i also was kind of satisfied with this picture of her and her co-star, harvester jones. i just feel i haven’t quite gotten her right. it has not clicked for me yet.
meanwhile, plots are starting to develop in my head. i want it to be fantastic, yet real. which means i need to pull some serious talent out of my butt.
we’ll see how that goes.
moses jones: apocalyptic mama 