Moaning Myrtle the Photo Manip

   Tomorrow morning at 12:01 AM I will be at my local movie theater witnessing the last movie in a series of 8.  For many devout fans of the Rowling series it feels like the end of an era, the end to their childhood even.  I can understand that a bit, though I did not discover these books until I was an adult (though technically the main characters were my age, I was born in 1980 like Harry was).  However, when reading this story I was definitely transported back and became a child a bit, relating to the children in the book and watching them learn and struggle with spells and relationships.  When reading a series like that it is inevitable that your mind wanders to "Who can I relate too the most?" For me that is a mixture of Hermione Granger (I was that annoying girl in Science class who was first with her hand up to answer a question) and Moaning Myrtle.  Middle School was less than kind to me, actually that is a major understatement, I went through hell, from having glitter dumped on my head to having my purse stolen and later found smothered in green paint and other more personal and physical attacks I don't want to get into here.  It took a very long time for me not to feel anger towards those classmates.  So, when I read that Myrtle was teased about her glasses by Olive Hornby and then ran to the bathroom upset and was killed by the Basilisk, I didn't really blame Myrtle for haunting Olive.  Sure, it wasn't Olive's fault that Tom had let the Basilisk out, but Myrtle did not know what killed her really...no one did until the Chamber of Secrets was opened again.  Also, it sounds as if it wasn't the first time Olive had teased her, Myrtle's fixation on Olive Hornby may have been irrational and blown out of proportion, yet it was understandable at the same time...especially when you realize that ghost or no Myrtle is still a child.

So....now I'll tell you a little about the art!  I was tempted to draw an image of Myrtle, and maybe I will in the future, but it's been a loooong time since I did a photo-manipulation and ghost photo-manips are so fun, so when I saw stock images on Deviantart by Kristina Horner of the Parselmouths I just had to put her in a bathroom!

"Nobody missed me even when I was alive. Took them hours to find my body- I know, I was sitting there waiting for them. Olive Hornby came into the bathroom- 'Are you in here again, sulking Myrtle?, she said, 'because Professor Dippet asked me to look for you-' And then she saw my body...ooooh, she didn't forget that until her dying day, I made sure of that..."

—Myrtle to Harry Potter^[src]

Stock Credits:
Moaning Myrtle: Kristina Horner
Background:  ColdStock

Oh and by the way I will be going to the movie in costume.....as Moaning Myrtle.

Edit: Forgot to add a video with a song from an amazing Wrock band called The Moaning Myrtles, 'And Then I Died':

It's Dark In Here....Lumos!

I've seen cute maternity tees (No I'm not pregnant, I was just browsing, no one get excited) that illustrate things the fetus may be doing in there...and this idea sprang into my head, hope you like it!  Oh and I will probably offer this on tshirts and maybe expand to some other geeky fetal images, so if you're reading this and would like to comment I'm interested in knowing whether people like cafepress, zazzle or spreadshirt best.  Also, if you'd like to suggest geeky things go for it. ;P

Book 7, Chapter 32, Page 656....in finger puppets!

Warning,  for those of you who only watch the movies and do not want 

to know what happens before July 15th, do not read on! Spoiler Alert!

I've mentioned before that I'm a knitter but have never shared any of my knitting.  I'm part of something on Ravelery called the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup (I'm in Gryffindor) and the latest Quidditch match includes making potter pals...previously there was only crochet potter pals but thanks to Holistic Creativity.  So, I cranked out two potter pals today, Lord Voldemort and the Dark Prince, Snape.  And because that wasn't enough I decided to recreate their last *ahem* interaction.

Red Vines!

It's been a pretty hot and fun filled weekend where I am and my brain is frazzled, all I wanted to make was some StarKidPotter fan art...don't know what that is? Well, the short answer is they a musical production company that makes some of the most imaginative, funny and heart felt plays I've seen.  I first got into watching them because I found A Very Potter Musical, the picture I drew today illustrates a scene in A Very Potter Sequel (which is actually a prequel I suppose, there are time turners involved).  Warning, do not watch these plays expecting them to follow the books, these are parodies, they aren't supposed to be accurate.  In some ways these plays touch on emotions behind the characters even more than the books did...sure much of it is made up (Draco didn't really wear diapers...or did he?) but there are many truly touching moments.
Alright, onto my drawing.  I'm going to do some more work on it in photoshop but for now this is a pencil and colored pencil version:

Digital Update- 6/17/2011

Hanko De Mayo!

Not sure if I've mentioned this before but I am a nerdfighter which is a youtube community full of nerds who are full of awesome working to decrease world suck, this community was started by two brothers John and Hank Green.  Hank's birthday is today on Cinco di Mayo (hence the Hanko di Mayo). Hank also plays Lego Harry Potter with his wife Katherine and I enjoy watching it very much so I made some fanart for Hank and Katherine and Lego Harry Potter...I think that qualifies as fantasy art because they are Lego Hogwarts students.  I made this on Monday actually so I could print it and send it in the mail as a card on Tuesday....hope he got it in time.

Everyone's favorite bookworm...

Unless you're some sort of muggle I guess...but seriously who doesn't love the character of Hermione Granger?  Today I drew her in a classic Hermione pose...I was going for a more comic book feel but got a children's book illustration feel instead...wonder why? lol
 Oh and once again I used Deviantart as a resource for finding the reference.