Peppermint Nauties and Gabby Yabbies

Well, I lied. This isn't a post of the finished book. We have some minor delays from the printer but knock on wood, we should still be on schedule. So in the meantime, here are two nautiluses sharing a mouth-part embrace and a murderous platypus. ;)

Autumn is upon us!

This is a very autumn-centric post! I am still super homesick for Boston, so here are some porcupines enjoying the last of the autumn apples and some stickers I made for the Autumn Seasonal Kit for Little Big Planet 2.

I am pretty sure my next post here will be of the finished, printed books and info on how to order them. I'm excited!

Oh also, here are some flying foxes. Definitely not native to New England, but Halloween-y in colors!

More domesticated critters! I kind of want to keep going down the derpy pet route for the book and lay off the exotics for a bit, only because I like being able to push the personalities of animals that I know personally. Maybe there could be a cocker spaniel or two in the mix soon!

Anyway! This is Merlin, a Siamese cat who was adopted as a stray by my two good friends.  I haven't really sat down with him, but I can tell he's, well, touched. I can't confirm or deny whether this scenario happened IRL, but I think EVERY cat owner has had to deal with this at least once in their lives. Merlin is a pretty bead on a necklace.

Those who know me know that I am just not a cat person. Dogs? Hells yes. Rats? You know it. Cats... um... well, I've met a few mentally challenged ones that were pretty cool, the kind that meow at nothing and slam into walls. And all of those ones had some degree of Siamese in them, go fig.

Anyway, fate has me in a position where I cannot escape cats. My housemate has 2. My boyfriend has 2. most of my best friends have a few. So when life gives you hairballs, make derpy art.

Another one for the animal book, only this is an animal that I know well. This is Tristan, the tripod greyhound. He lost his leg this year to osteocarcinoma, or bone cancer, which is sadly common for greyhounds. I can tell you that his owners faced a gut-wrenching decision when he was diagnosed and chose to amputate rather than rely on chemo alone. Over a month later, he is doing FABULOUS and runs, jumps, digs and barrels around with his trademark hound grin.

He's such a good boy! Keep kicking cancer in the face, Tristan!

WARNING! MILD SPOILERS AHEAD! 

A quick dump of fan art. If you haven't seen ParaNorman yet, you're missing out. Seriously. I had high hopes for it going in, since I am an unabashed LAIKA fan girl and I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I was tickled when I saw that it takes place in a fictional Salem (MA, not OR!) town, given that I grew up and spent the greater part of my life in the North Shore. Though my Boston accent is long gone, my memories of the smallest details of my old neighborhoods are present every day and clearly the artists did their research and did it well.

What resonated for me the most was the story of little Aggie, for reason's I'll explain once more people have seen the movie. That would be Aggie in the doodle I did here. 

For real though, I had to remind myself countless times that these were physical models with only the lightest digital clean-up. LAIKA has leveled up in their craft and I hope someday I can contribute to all that they do.

Well gang, I'm at that point in my life where a lot of my close friends are making babies. Lots of them. While I have my ratties to satiate what could be called my maternal instincts, my friends are taking that daring leap into parenthood and I think it's one of the bravest things a human being can do. So this piece, while done for the animal art book, is dedicated to my colleagues, childhood friends and their significant others who are starting the next chapter in their lives.

Raise those kids right, guys. The world doesn't need any more jerkwads in it. ;)

And for those who might not have seen this type of animal before, it's an okapi! I've only ever seen one in person but they are easily one of my favorite animals. Not quite a zebra, not quite a giraffe and equipped with butts that are endlessly fun to draw!

You guys might remember my recent Adventures with Pork Chop in the Land of Surgery Complications.  

To summarize, she threw me for a loop last month with her tumor removal surgery. The procedure itself went great, however, Pork Chop found herself back in surgery twice, due to her OCD which ended up in the CONSTANT RIPPING OUT OF HER OWN STAPLES AND SUTURES. The third time she opened the wound it became very infected and she had to have the dead tissue debrided and bleeeegggghhh. Not fun for everyone involved and by that time the entire veterinary staff knew her by name :P

So, I love my little boo and I am grateful that she’s OK and properly healed now, however, she’s left me with a large vet bill. So I am selling signed 8.5” x 11” prints of  my latest rattie piece, "Raturdae" on velvet paper for $15 each, which includes shipping to anywhere in the US. International shipping can be arranged for an extra fee to cover shipping costs.

If you’d like one, please email stephlaberis@gmail.com. I take PayPal only, apologies if that inconveniences anyone.

Now off to snuggle my little furballs!