Overwhelmed by the rising tide of environmental regulations?

I am particularly proud of this postcard mailer I drew and designed for a industrial hygiene colleague in Hawaii in March 2016:

Postcard mailer drawn and designed by the Industrious Hygienist.

The artistic styling for the top half of the postcard is borrowed from Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo, one of my favorite animated films of all time. The artistic styling for the bottom half of the postcard is, as usual, borrowed from Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist series. 

I'll only be posting one more manga, the traditional (and final!) Holiday Manga. I'm changing the focus of this blog slightly, and the manga take a significant amount of time that I will be spending on coursework for the doctorate I am hoping to start in March 2017.

Happy Tanabata (sort of)

Last year, I entered a piece of art in the Ro Ho En Japanese Friendship Garden of Arizona's Annual Anime Drawing Contest - it was my first time entering into an art contest as an adult.

Industrious Hygienist art on display at Japanese Friendship Garden in Phoenix, AZ.

I didn't win, but it was fun to see the other entries and meet some of the other artists. 

I've waited to post the art until now, because I wanted to post it on the day of Tanabata, since that is the Japanese celebration I made my manga about. There is some confusion about the date of Tanabata - some people celebrate it on July 7, some on August 7, and if you're actually following the Gregorian calendar as it compares to the Japanese lunisolar calendar, the "official" day to celebrate it is August 9, 2016 for this year. 

I figured that if Google decided to celebrate it today, I could celebrate it today. Check out Google's doodle for the 2016 Tanabata celebration. 

The manga has two of the main characters from a space opera novel I am working on and is entitled "First Tanabata Together! (Lunar Colony) - July 7, 2102." The characters have written their wishes on slips of colored paper and hung them on a makeshift tree made of gears and other accessories they scrounged from their living quarters on the Moon. They've made other decorations, including origami and a poster of the traditional Tanabata song. My favorite piece of the manga is the extension cords hanging in the backdrop, tied in some of the creative ways my contractors tie their cords. 

Characters from my in-process space opera novel - celebrating Tanabata on the Moon.

The poem/song on the poster is a traditional Tanabata song, which goes:

"The bamboo leaves rustle,
shaking away in the eaves.
The stars twinkle
on the gold and silver grains of sand.
The five-color paper strips
I have already written.
The stars twinkle,
they watch us from heaven."

If you look closely on the manga, you can see the two dieties that the celebration is about, Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair, separated by the Milky Way), on the two wall-screens. The Tanabata legend says that the lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, according to the Japanese lunisolar calendar. 

During Tanabata celebrations, participants write down wishes on colorful paper (called "tanzaku") and hope the two lovers were able to meet. I've written my wishes and will burn them on midnight as is tradition. Hopefully, next year, I'll have another piece of art from the space opera novel to post on Tanabata, with a short story introducing the characters and the story world. Happy Tanabata!

14th Biennial Governor's Pacific Rim Safety and Health Conference 2016

I was recently asked by a colleague to create an advertisement for their consulting business, for use in an quarter page ad in a conference program. I'm proud of how it turned out, so I'm sharing the first draft of the ad below. If you want to see the final version of the ad, you'll have to attend the conference in Hawaii!

  

Ad for Apex Environmental Safety and Health Consulting, Inc.

Apex Environmental Safety and Health Consulting is a sponsor for the 14th Biennial Governor's Pacific Rim Safety and Health Conference (2016) in Waikiki from May 2 to 4, 2016. My colleague, Nira Cooray, is presenting on "Measurement of Noise: Tricks & Tips for the Safety Professional." The conference's theme is "E Ho 'o Lokahi I Ke Ola Mau" ("Coming Together to Preserve Life Forever"). The conference is hosted by the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) Hawaii Chapter. Mahalo to Apex for asking me to draw this spunky ad!

The Making of the 2015 Holiday Manga

In keeping with requests from my loyal readership, here is the "making of" for the 2015 Holiday Manga. The following steps and associated pictures explain my very un-scientific process at completing a manga. 

Step 1: Find relevant portions of Fullmetal Alchemist that portray roughly what I'm trying to draw. This is for several reasons, including my limited time and limited talent - I'm pretty decent at revising an existing work, but have difficulty "seeing" the layout and characterization on my own. Plus, it is significantly faster for me to use existing work.

Step 2: Develop the layout and story for the page.

Step 3: Pencil sketch each panel to make sure it will fit and makes sense.

The Industrious Hygienist's 2015 Holiday Manga - pencil sketch and layout planning.

Step 4: Ink each panel with changes in the outfits and facial expressions as needed.

The Industrious Hygienist's 2015 Holiday Manga - inked product just before full coloring.

I'm pretty dang proud of the center middle panel. The hatching and ink work turned out much better than I anticipated. I'm less proud of the right hand lower panel - the only excuse I can give for that panel is my 100-pound Alaskan Malamute being bored and nudging my elbow while I was drawing. Close-up of my favorite panel is below.

The Industrious Hygienist's 2015 Holiday Manga - snatching the "last perfect gift."

Step 5: Color in the panels using, you guessed it, Crayola colored pencils. I'm pretty low tech with my art. A smaller version of the final product is below for your enjoyment. 

The Industrious Hygienist's 2015 Holiday Manga - sketched, inked, and colored.

I hope you enjoyed this "making of" blog. I'm working on new art and posts for 2016.

The Making of the Healthcare Security and Safety Week Cartoon

At the request of some of my readership, this is a quick "making of" blog post regarding the Healthcare Security and Safety Week cartoon posted October 11, 2015 on this blog.

First I started with the idea: "Ooh, I want to make a cartoon of my team members to recognize their awesomeness during Healthcare Security and Safety Week." The idea happened for two reasons: 1) It's been a couple months since I last drew anything and 2) The cartoons usually make my team chuckle. Plus, a cartoon of yourself is better than a water bottle or other random IAHSS merchandise, right?

After I decided a few weeks in advance that I'd like to reserve a Saturday to work on the cartoon, I attempted to find time to make the cartoon over several weekends, but to no avail. It turns out that holding three jobs (full-time safety officer, part-time professor, and occasional consultant) makes it difficult to also have hobbies. 

That brings us to this past weekend, where I dutifully ignored the pile of laundry, dishes, and student assignments needing to be graded. Since I knew I would only have a few hours in which to complete the cartoon, I started my research by finding a page from Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist manga that fit the style I needed for the cartoon. This is lazy art, yes, but it's part of improving my art skills.

I happened upon this gem in the 10th volume of Fullmetal Alchemist, the first one I picked out of my bookcase, and the second page I flipped to. It was meant to be!

Scan of title page for Chapter 38: "Signal to Strike" from Fullmetal Alchemist.

This had the number of people I needed (sans Black Hayate, the dog), and most of the heights I needed. I quickly sketched out a pencil version to see if the design would work for the healthcare security and safety team I was trying to represent. 

Quick pencil sketch/draft of Healthcare Security and Safety Week cartoon based on Fullmetal Alchemist.

Obvious changes - the sandwich became a radio, one of the characters was shrunk down to a more accurate size, and clothing was modified to be what the team members usually wear. I kept the cape for our Director - it added a nice bit of flair and a conversation piece for the characters. The I started to ink out the characters and color with colored pencils. I'm still pretty low tech with my art, so manga pens and colored pencils are what I work with.

Fully inked and half-colored, with proposed captions above the characters.

I hate drawing hands and shoes. So most of them are hiding their hands (as per the Fullmetal Alchemist source material) and everyone has the same shoes. If they ask, I'm thinking my answer will be that we're all wearing safety shoes. This is also my first time drawing the Industrious Hygienist (me) as a regular person rather than the "hero" in blue and yellow coveralls like in my other manga. I'm the one with glasses, and I usually dress for work in pants and a button up shirt with cardigan sweater. The fully inked and colored version is below.

Fully inked and colored, captions removed so they could be done on the computer.

I sent the picture above to a fellow team member, requesting a review for accuracy. She (the one wearing orange) mentioned that the dude holding the radio is usually wearing an orange watch band rather than black as pictured. So after scanning in the picture, I made some minor edits in Paint (again, I'm pretty low tech with my art) and changed his watch band to be an orange color. I added the thought/talk bubbles and title using MS Publisher and saved the file as a PDF and JPG. The final, finished version is below. We'll see what they think of their cartoon selves. 

Happy Healthcare Security and Safety Week from the Industrious Hygienist!

Holiday Manga - 2014 - Part Four

Please enjoy the next installment of The Industrious Hygienist's HOLIDAY MANGA.

Here is the finale, Part Four (of Four) for the 2014 Holiday Edition:

The Industrious Hygienist's 2014 Holiday Edition Manga - Part Four

The Exceptional Spouse and I are looking forward to spending the holidays with family and friends, especially the events where Shadow (Alaskan Malamute) gets to come along.

Thanks for continuing to read my blog - expect more safety and industrial hygiene related posts in 2015 and beyond.

Holiday Manga - 2014 - Part Three

Please enjoy the next installment of The Industrious Hygienist's HOLIDAY MANGA.

Here is Part Three (of Four) for the 2014 Holiday Edition:

The Industrious Hygienist's 2014 Holiday Edition Manga - Part Three

More to come by the end of the year.

Here are links to Holiday Manga from previous years for your reference and enjoyment:

• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 1
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 2
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 3
• 2011- Holiday Card
• 2013 - Holiday Card

If you want to review more of my favorite holiday safety tips from industry experts, click here. As always, thanks to Hiromu Arakawa for the Fullmetal Alchemist character stylings. 

Industrious Hygienist Holiday Safety Tip #1: Dogs do not mix well with fireworks.

This is Shadow, my 3.5-year old Alaskan Malamute. 

Shadow at 6 months.

Just kidding, this is Shadow. I just wanted to show a picture of him as a puppy. He's ginormous now. 

Shadow on a walk in Prescott Valley - controlled burn in the background.

Shadow is not a fan of New Year's Eve. He hates fireworks. New Year's Eve and Independence Day rank as his least favorite holidays. Some tips for a pet-friendly New Year's party here.  

My end of year cartoon (doubled as a holiday card for clients, colleagues, friends, and family):

The Industrious Hygienist and Shadow enjoy New Year's Eve together. 

We'll be spending New Year's Eve cuddled up in bed, with Shadow alternating between spastic races around the house and cowering next to us in the bedroom. Fun times in the Bliss household!

Wishing all my loyal readers a safe and fulfilling 2014. 

The Industrious Hygienist's Favorite Holiday Safety Tips: CDC/NIOSH

In honor of the holidays, the Industrious Hygienist would like to share her favorite holiday safety tips from recognized authorities. Today's tips are from the CDC and NIOSH.

This year, CDC/NIOSH has posted a "Wishes for Workers" campaign where you can post your wishes for occupational health and safety improvements. The Industrious Hygienist will think on this and post something thought-provoking. Or at least interesting.

The Industrious Hygienist's favorite wish from a CDC representative:

• "All of our nation�s emergency response workers are prepared and trained to respond effectively and safely to any disaster."
• CDR Lisa Delaney MS, CIH, Associate Director, NIOSH Emergency Preparedness and Response Office

CDC/NIOSH also developed a "12 Ways to Health Holiday Song" which can be sung to the tune of, you guessed it, "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

Download the audio podcast of the song here. 

The Industrious Hygienist's favorite pieces of the song are:

• The fifth way to health, said the CDC to me
  BE SMOKE-FREE, don't drink and drive, manage stress, bundle up for warmth, and wash hands to be safe and healthy.
• The tenth way to health, said the CDC to mePractice fire safety, monitor the children, get your vaccinations, get exams and screenings, fasten belts while driving, BE SMOKE-FREE, don't drink and drive, manage stress, bundle up for warmth, and wash hands to be safe and healthy.

In 2011 the Industrious Hygienist wrote a three-part comic of the "12 Days of Christmas: Preparation for the Holidays Industrious Hygienist (IH) Style!" If you want to read it again, part 1 is here, part 2 is here, and part 3 is here. 

Last year's CDC/NIOSH blog post about safety for Santa was probably my favorite post from CDC/NIOSH so far. Highlights below.

• Going down the world's chimneys (when applicable) would definitely be considered a confined space entry - CDC/NIOSH has a topic page for confined spaces
• Are Santa's suits fire-resistant?
• Since his elves are super-busy leading up to the holidays, maybe Santa should consider NIOSH's research on shift work and sleep deprivation
• Hefting that bag of toys for all the good girls and boys is likely strenuous - Santa should evaluate his lifting technique using the NIOSH Lifting Equation

No worries, the Industrious Hygienist is working on her holiday/New Year card that will be posted before the end of the year. Look for more tips from FEMA, NFPA, NSC, and others in the days to come.

Feeding my indie beast...big changes ahead!

Exciting news: the Industrious Hygienist has decided to take the plunge and venture out on her own in the perilous world of consulting. Meet Spore Consulting, LLC.

Why Spore?

Spore Consulting, LLC ("Spore" for short) embodies the idea of a microbial spore. Bacteria form spores to help them get through tough times and fungi have spores as part of their reproductive cycle. In fungi, spores are small biological particles that contain everything the fungi needs to reproduce when conditions are right. 

So, we figured Spore stands for: small, resilient, everything you need for success. 

In addition to occupational and environmental health & safety consulting, the Industrious Hygienist will be working more on creative (i.e. nerdy) things:

• Sock Puppet Safety 
• Safety educational videos featuring sock puppets, to be posted on YouTube
• Steampunk fiction featuring the Industrious Hygienist 
• Safety checklists and safety posters that are visually appealing
• Industrious Hygienist mangas

So stay posted and watch for more fun stories and cartoons. 

Mushrooms = fungi. Photoshop is a dangerously fun thing.

New Manga! Re-branding The Industrious Hygienist

Hiyo, loyal readers! Per the request of several of you, I bring you a new manga of the Industrious Hygienist. I haven't had a chance to learn my Anime Studio software or Bamboo Splash tablet yet, so this one is old-fashioned, hand-drawn goodness. 

I was going for spunky, but she turned out a little sassy. :)

The Industrious Hygienist - latest character art (manga) for rebranding!

Hope you like it - next time I get another four to six hours of free time, I'll draw another action-oriented and funny manga. This one only took about three hours. I'm trying to re-brand the Industrious Hygienist into the hero of the manga rather than the "person who things happen to" in the manga. As always, eternal thanks to Hiromu Arakawa for creating Fullmetal Alchemist and the style of manga I imitate. Wish me luck!

Spoggles

So, for those of you not in the environmental health and safety field, I feel I should do a quick follow-up post for the manga I just posted. In section #2 of my latest manga, "The Industrious Hygienist: Keeper of the Safety Box," I use the word "spoggles."

Spoggles is, I admit, a strange word.

This term made one of my report reviewers giggle while reviewing a report, and she commented that it couldn't be a real word since it was so strange. Sorry, W.H., it's sort of a real word. (TRUTH: I thought my clients were making fun of me when they first asked if I had spoggles in my safety gear bag.)  

Spoggles is an industry term for safety eyewear designed to prevent airborne dust and debris from getting in our eyeballs. Airborne dust and debris is a leading cause of eye injuries in today's workplaces.

Spoggles = Safety + Goggles, with a random "p" thrown in there since "sgoggles" or "sagoggles" or "safoggles" sound even weirder. Or maybe it means something else. (?)

Hornet DX "Spoggles"

An example, the Hornet DX. No, I don't own stock or anything in the company, I just think they look comfy and about as cool as you can look in safety glasses/goggles.

The glasses/goggles are supposed to seal up against your face (via the foam inserts at the interior edges of the lenses), and keep dust out of your eyes. Some fun potential issues with spoggles, and reasons why people sometimes choose not to wear their personal protective equipment (PPE) when doing work in a dusty environment:

• the glasses fog up
• the glasses can get scratched so it is hard to see
• the foam can get "smushed" (technical term) and be less effective
• when you take off your glasses, the dust that was at the top and sides/edges of the glasses (and in your eyebrows) can fall right into your eye anyway
• some people think they look nerdy (also a technical term)
• the earpieces can irritate the heck out of the back of your ears

But looking nerdy and having to take care of your PPE and using good personal hygiene while at work are a small price to pay compared to losing your eyesight or getting a nasty infection in your eye from contaminated dust.
?????

Keep a supply of spoggles on hand. With some lanyards. And some no-fog.

?

I thought about posting some horrible pictures of eye injuries, but I think I'll keep this post more light-hearted.

So, to sum up: spoggles are real. Spoggles are good. Spoggles may save your eyesight. Wear them if you have them.

The Industrious Hygienist Manga: Keeper of the Safety Box

Hi all! There have been lots of changes in the Industrious Hygienist's life lately (hence the sad lack of posting and mangas). Before I entertain you with tales of moving out of town, selling a house, finding a rental in the new town that would take my giant dog-beast, and convincing my employer that I can telecommute effectively, I bring you a long-awaited manga.

Special thanks to the people featured in this manga (you know who you are). I love coming to your facility, working my tail off, and hanging out with y'all. I numbered the way you are supposed to read this one - I haven't done a manga in a while and my formatting is wonky and not entirely logical. 

The Industrious Hygienist: Keeper of the Safety Box

Once I find my *new* and *shiny* software in my unlabeled :( moving boxes and convince my brother-in-law to part ways with the Bamboo tablet I allowed him to borrow, I plan to venture into the realm of digital art.

As always, thanks to the artists/creator of Fullmetal Alchemist for creating such wonderful, drawable characters. Eventually I will be able to draw some original characters, but until then, I will borrow/edit/copy/attribute/love your characters.

Valen from Breath and Bone by Carol Berg

Last weekend, I found myself procrastinating the completion of my second round of edits on my master's applied project (like a thesis, only better!), and drew a bunch of pictures instead. Go figure.

Some of them are mangas to be used in a YouTube book advertisement for Master of Emotion by D. Ogden Huff. I have completed 6 of the 10 planned scenes from the book so far. Note: It takes me 4 to 6 hours per drawing, so this is a decent accomplishment over the last 3 weekends. The last 4 scenes are roughly penciled out, but need to be finalized, inked, and then colored. I will post when the book advertisement is up on YouTube.

BUT...I was still feeling weirdly unsatisfied (from an artistic frenzy standpoint) when I finished the Master of Emotion mangas.

So I drew my favorite character from Carol Berg's Lighthouse Duet (Flesh and Spirit + Breath and Bone).

Meet Valen (as I imagine him):

a.k.a Magnus Valentia de Cartamandua-Celestine

I will have the opportunity to attend Ms. Berg's book signing this Saturday at The Reader's Cove in Fort Collins, Colorado. I am thrilled to be able to meet her and buy my copy of The Daemon Prism, her latest work. Since I discovered the Rai-Kirah novels in 2004, I have been a dedicated fan of her writing, world-building, and excellent characterization.

So wish me luck in Colorado, and look for more mangas in February. I hope you like my rendition of Valen.

Because I am too lazy (and cheap) to send a card to everyone I know...

Happy Holidays from the Industrious Hygienist, her fantastic husband, and her crazy dog.

The adventures will continue in 2012.

This is the front of the card.

This is the inside of the card.

Holiday Manga - Part 3

Enjoy the third and final installment of the Holiday Mangas, encompassing Days 9 through 12 (and the day after Christmas) of the "12 Days of Christmas: Preparation for the Holidays Industrious Hygienist (IH) Style!"

Holiday Manga - Part 2

Here are Days 3 through 8 of the "12 Days of Christmas: Preparation for the Holidays Industrious Hygienist (IH) Style!"

Holiday Manga - Part 1

So, somewhere around Thanksgiving I got it in my head that I needed to do a series of Holiday Mangas. This has lead to approximately 6 to 8 hours of time per drawing (a.k.a. my last few weekends), but I am pretty proud of them.

Introducing the "12 Days of Christmas: Preparation for the Holidays Industrious Hygienist (IH) Style!"

Sing along (if you're alone and no one can hear how ridiculous you sound) to the well-known tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas."

The reason for the LONG break between posts...

I spent the last few months studying for the CIH exam. I took it on November 16, 2011. The American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) set the passing score for the exam at 68.6% and I scored a 66.3%. I only scored a 60% in Spring 2011, so yay for improvement! But I need to get that extra few points and my studying needs to take a different approach.

Topics that need some love:
- Air Sampling and Instrumentation
- Community Exposure
- Work Environment and Industrial Processes
- Ergonomics
- Thermal Stressors
- NOISE
- Management
- Toxicology

I have decided to take the Bowen EHS CIH online review course to give me that extra edge. :) All month, I have been receiving emails from other participants in the Bowen EHS Premium Membership/Resource Center, saying that they passed the test thanks to Russ Bowen's fantastic review course.

In addition to that, I plan to draw mangas about the topics I seem to have issues with, and I started this weekend. Please enjoy The Industrious Hygienist: "The Noise Source - Part One" below.

So wish me luck, and watch for many more mangas!