Becca Hillburn

You Got Any Mushrooms? Patreon Newsletter Sept 20th (Patreon)

Published:

2023-09-21 03:26:24

Edited:

2023-09-21 03:26:57

Imported:

2026-10

Tags:

Backer Newsletter Backer Update Patreon Newsletter Patreon Update acrylic painting weird art

Content

Hey Artnerds!

This weekend was the Terrebonne Comic Con! It was an absolute delight to go out there, meet so many fellow nerds, sign some books, and sell some comics. To no one's surprise, the new art prints were a big hit! Particular favorites were anything with mushrooms on it, Kara with Tony Chachere's and Kara with Tabasco. Now that things can kinda settle down- with my mom on the mend, and this month's convention behind me- I'm going to focus on uploading a new print to the shop every day!

Here's yesterday and today's prints:

If you would like to order your own (and I PROMISE, they look loads better in person, I need to fix these photos), you can find them both here!

Yesterday was the White Boot Gala. I got a bee in my bonnet and decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to paint a pair of shrimp boots for the Gala. I had this vision of Louisiana irises with gators at the bottom, and despite having bad experiences with spray paint in the past, decided to take the plunge and paint on plastic.

The White Boot Saga:

I'm recording the process as a vlog, so if you enjoy watching me suffer, you should keep an eye out for that! I DID NOT LEARN MY LESSON from the mega palette.

So shrimpers here in Louisiana usually wear white shrimp boots. Sadly, my size wasn't available at the local Walmart, so I ordered a pair of white boots from Amazon. Although they are certainly more flattering than actual shrimp boots, they were...weirdly gummy and very shiny.

Joseph sanded them for me using the orbital sander, and I went ahead and primed them with a Rustoleum spray primer. Was it the kind recommended for boots? No. Was it what we had, that ALSO supposedly works on plastic. Yep. The boots were incredibly tacky- not just hours, but days after spraying. We tried a hairdryer. We tried a room with a dehumidifier. Finally, I tried baby powder.

While that..sorta worked? the more I handled them, the stickier they became. Fortunately, the 'baby powder' (really strongly scented cornstarch) made them more receptive to graphite for my light underdrawing. I did a base coat blocking in the colors with multi surface craft acrylics and then adding details with the acrylics I had on hand.

All of this took several days- not just to allow for paint to dry, but because I was preparing for and tabling at the Terrebonne Comic Con. So we'd pull long days makin' sales and slinging comics, and I'd come home totally exhausted and start painting into the wee hours of the night. Shades of anime con life and grad school.

It was definitely a bit of a struggle, but I ended up having a lot of fun painting these boots. I had to make some compromises to get them finished in time (the primer dilemma really delayed things), but I'm pleased with how they turned out. I'm debating spraying them with Mod Podge sealant, since the primer was such a disaster- I think I need some time off to screw up all my courage to brave whatever disasters the sealant may throw.

The White Boot Gala is a fundraiser for the Barataria Terrebonne Estuary Foundation. We had a really wonderful evening, and I hope to donate some art to the cause for next year's gala!

So why paint white boots? Throughout my artistic life, I and the work I am able to create has a tendency to be typecast into a small role. While I AM a comic artist, and I promote myself as a comic artist, I feel like in a local sense, people forget that I'm capable of more. I think sometimes I forget I'm capable of more. Not that being a comic artist is a bad thing- it's a wonderful thing at times, but it's also a HUGE thing, because comic artists need to be able to draw EVERYTHING. While I do primarily work in watercolor now, I have had past lives with alcohol markers, acrylics, digital art, and printmaking, and still keep those skills fairly sharp. Once upon a time, I was a cosplayer and crafter, and we all know the audacity it takes to craft something out of two pool noodles and some styrofoam. So the boots were a challenge to myself, an opportunity to show that I'm capable of more than just watercolor on paper, and that I'm open to a variety of art-related projects and adventures that may come my way.