Pencils, Paint, and Hands

Looking forward and looking back

2012-01-09T15:30:00.000-08:00

It comes to my attention that I'm late in announcing on here that, in fact, a new year started. But, really, I've just been too busy to notice. Tax time means office work time and that had consumed the first week of 2012 entirely. This week finds me in L-ville house/dog-sitting, with my box of markers, some bristol, and a goal to get my butt back to work. I'm extra motivated after selling the drawing of a coal miner I did last week. So, the plans are for bringing out the art ideas I've had sketched down and plan some more sell-able genre stuff pertaining to the area I'm living in. I also have brave new ideas to further my dragon sculptures, including the recent fleamarket find of a lovely turn-style display for them that will certainly keep curious hands from breaking their delicate spines.

So, yes, 2012 is full of plans.

Now, I'd like to wax philosophic on art memes doing the rounds like clockwork this time of year on DeviantArt. One of the artists ( http://gold-seven.deviantart.com ) I watch on DA posted a good 19-year lookback on their art progression since she started drawing recently, and it made me think. I've never been one for wanting to look back over my shoulder with regards to my skill. In fact, I took all my high school and some of my community college atrocities and pitched them in fire, barring a few exceptions that still turn up in storage places. I've since stopped myself from throwing out all my sketchbooks from my stint at UK because I feel that was when I started knuckling down with seriousness and better, more solid character ideas and such. Even so, looking through the earliest ones still makes me cringe.

I don't really know what it is that I don't want to visually see how far I've come over the years. Perhaps it's fear that my innate negative attitudes will color my viewpoint. I still have trouble with that whole not thinking subjectively thing. And even if I had possession of those older sketchbooks again, I don't think I could stomach showing them to anyone. If anyone ever finds my ancient Elfwood account that I was never able to get deleted I may die of embarrassment. I commend people with more fortitude and confidence than me who can do this thing.

So...That's about it to kick start the year on this blog. I got things to do now.

Envy and all things akin to it.

2011-11-16T21:33:00.000-08:00

So, wow, November is certainly flying by. What with a lot of interior reshuffling in the house I've barely had time for anything more than sketching out ideas for personal drawings or brainstorm this year's Christmas gift list. I've also got ideas for crafts for the store in mind, but it's all gone to the back burner so we can get all this interior painting/decorating hullabaloo done by tax season. I'm partially excited because I found a shelf I'm going to paint up that is hopefully big enough to house the remaining books in my personal library.

But all that happens to keep me from actually finishing projects or creating things, leads to some pretty negative feeling toward myself. I'm finding that, especially in the last week or so, the beast of envy is stalking me. I envy other artists for being productive or somehow having the good fortune in circumstances to have the free-time to multi-task it. And then there is the matter of their skill, which always seems to be greater than my own. And when I open up a back issue of ImagineFX and see all these artists with fantastic skills, I see that a good portion of them are eight, nine, ten years my junior. I even recently learned that an acquaintance had started up a webcomic recently. That one was a sop to my self-esteem. Everywhere I look lately I see things that make my brain ask me "Why do you even still bother?" And the scary thing is, sometimes I get so down on myself that I don't have an answer available to that question. I haven't reached that point yet, but if this continues I will.

It's easy for people to tell me I have skill, or all I need to do is think positively and objectively rather than subjectively. But., let's be honest, that's harder to do than it is for them to say. My brother tells me that if I want to get my Etsy off the ground (I won't even get started on that subject right now), that I just need to jump in and do it. Well, yes, I realize that. But then my brain comes up with all this stuff I need to do to make it really great and the more daunting the to-do list gets, the more chicken feathers I sprout. Then there comes the matter of turning doodles and sketches into fully fleshed drawings. When I get into this kind of mood, it hampers my ability to make things happen because I defeat myself with brow beatings.

I think these are feelings that anyone aspiring to do or be anything has had over and over. It's a never ending battle to keep yourself from sliding into a sinkhole of despair and defeat. If you let the negativity eat at you, it eventually robs you of any and all interest or will to work. And if you are already in that hole, it makes the climb out ten times harder. The only thing I can seem to do is keep my head down and keep plodding until I find a good foothold in motivation and inspiration in spite of these irrational feelings. Envy, jealousy...These are very irrational emotions, but the way they affect a person is more than valid and I know this.

So, tonight I am battling my feelings of bitterness and envy by making this post to get it off my chest. I want it to be known that these feelings are okay to have as long as I don't let them consume me the way they have in the past. Then, I will use my time before sleeping to work on some sketches that popped into my head yesterday. I will make myself look at other artists in IFX, disregard their ages and abilities, and just look at what they are doing right and what I have to work on. And, above all, I am letting myself know that I am doing okay and that I am young enough to still make this "being an artist thing" happen.

Small Sketch Dump

2011-11-01T21:34:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy bzzbzz!

2011-10-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

Hoo...And I had done so well at posting here regularly. So much for that track record. Anyhoo, it has been a very hectic couple of months. I've house-sat twice, visited relatives, did the JW Festival, did another event just this weekend, and gotten some things done. Now it's nearly November and the holidays seem just a stone's throw away, which already has me feeling frantic about gift crafting. No rest for the weary nor the wicked, as they say.

The JWF this year was rather poor, especially compared to last year (though nothing could be as bad as 2009's festival). I did well enough with face painting, but actually sold very little in comparison to last year's tally. But, that's the nature of the beast. No one has any money to float freely this year, which I perfectly well know. So, I took a shot and signed on to do Fear Fest, an event hosted by the American Cancer Society for this past Friday night. I was set up to do face painting and had all my dragons and a few rocks there, but the weather and the event were horrible. My neighbors in the tent were loud, obnoxious, and purposefully blocked view of my little space (admittedly I had the smallest set-up there)--I know this because I overheard one trying to tell the other that was setting their tables up that they were blocking me. To rub salt in the wound, they were also face painting (more in a costume make-up capacity) and really did take what few people there were to be painted from me because they were friends and whatnot. Sigh. I sold one dragon and painted one face in 3 hours, and left an hour early in disgust. So, I was in the red for that event but I guess that's the risk one takes. Really, the weather worked against it more than anything else or I'm sure there would have been a better turn-out.

Between all this I am getting some drawing done. I completed two new ACEO's of Nyami and I'm working on that Breath of Fire 3 fanart, which I'll probably sketch dump for it in a few days. I also have some pics of my new dragons, but rather than post them here they're over on my deviantART page. My lighting box was just returned to me, so I'll have photos of the rest that didn't sell soon as well as all the new rocks. I'll post those over to dA, soon, too. It's just so very tedious...Oi.

That's pretty much all for now. Below are the pumpkin I carved, the gourd I painted on commission, and the aforementioned ACEO's. Till next time, toodles!

Update of sorts..

2011-09-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

So, not much to show for the past month or more. That's not to say I haven't been working, I've just had to put a lot of drawings on the back burner while I prepare for JWF this year. I have new pocket dragons made, new rocks painted, and I think I'm pretty much sticking with those two items this year. I'll take photos as soon as I repair my photo box with new cloth and get fresh batteries for my camera, no worries on that. And I do have ACEO's to finish after the festival. I also have a Breath of Fire 3 fanart sketched out, because I can't get the game out of my head lately.

Other than that, not much to say. I'm dead tired and will pass out, and wake for more painting. My whole life is painting right now. T__T

The biggest art heist I've seen!

2011-08-19T23:12:00.001-07:00

I don't make these kinds of posts too often. Mainly because I'd wear myself out harping on about art theft on t-shirts and crap like that. Ya gotta pick your battles for sanity's sake. But I came across a posting on Deviant Art today where an artist has busted a guy on two separate sites selling his [the artist] artwork (among many others in many styles). Alexiuss is royally pissed about this theft, and rightly so. Here is the link to Alexiuss's rally cry: http://alexiuss.deviantart.com/art/MASSIVE-COPYRIGHT-INFRINGEMENT-253771563. The sites these works were listed on have already been busted and shut down for infringement, but the artist is trying to draw attention to both find out if anyone else has art stolen on the presented images/evidence and to try to garner support to start a class action suit.

Since I can't really afford to spare a few bucks, even on a just cause, I'm spreading the word here. I don't know how many, if anybody, keep up with this little blip of cyberspace of mine, but I'm asking that you do pass along the link I gave. Not every art thief is gonna get caught, or even prosecuted, but I would very much like to help spread the word about this royal asshat so that others can be on guard and the red flags tattooed on his thieving arse.

An update of pictures!

2011-08-18T00:46:00.000-07:00

Just a small update with colored versions of the previous three ACEOs of Nyami's timeline. I have two more sketched up, but not drawn and inked for color. I'll post those soon as I get a moment to do so. My head is in a jumbled headspace right now, so it's hard to focus. I did do a brief sketch and loosely inked it, as well. Just brushing up on drawing more than one character at a time. Expect to see more of such practicing in the future.

Right now I'm worried about festival stuff and life things, so I may not have very wordy posts. For now, just pictures.

ACEO update

2011-07-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

My ACEO set is progressing slowly. Not for lack of planning what I want to do with it, but simply demands on my time and such. Nothing new to report currently, but I'll probably go ahead and color the first three cards before I go on to the next one. I'm just trying to be better about drawing more and showing more, so, here ya go.

Dragons in Flight

2011-07-27T01:33:00.000-07:00

I started this drawing a few weeks ago but never actually got around to finishing it till just tonight. It's actually sort of Pern fanart because of the representation of a gold and bronze dragon in mating flight chase. I also decided to go the road of using colored pencils on it, given I've not used them in earnest in..oh..years. I felt the rust coating my skill with them. Ugh. Still, overall I'm happy with the outcome and even happier to have a full illustration to show rather than the line works or sketches I generally post here. Cheers!

ACEOs, the beginnings.

2011-07-20T23:28:00.000-07:00

So, I've started a small personal project in experimenting with ACEOs. Art trading cards are pretty popular nowadays, and such small projects are helping me get my hand back into drawing more frequently--which is making me exceedingly happy. I plan to do a set involving my original character Nyami in her various stages of story development and then possibly some duo shots later. So, just thought I'd toss up the first couple of line works. I plan to have them all drawn out before I start coloring, since I am also using them to improve my marker skills. Anyhoo, enjoy!

Things, they are afoot.

2011-07-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Positive things are afoot. Not so much in the job department yet, but I'm gonna have to see the rest of fishing season out before making full-steam hunting attempts since I did already commit myself to this for the summer, and it seems to be picking up some. Anyway, it's providing some buffer money regardless. I've got a big commission to get started on as of next week as well as the gourd commission for Jack & Lyn's neighbors. I had it done, but the consensus was that Cherie would like more things and muted fall colors rather than summer. I think I could salvage some of what I already have, but it's going to be more of a pain in the ass to edit than it would be to start totally over. It doesn't need to be done till August though, so I've got time to decide. I'm also starting painting rocks and such early in preparation for that festival I do every year. I want to be prepared on time with no last minute panicking. I hope to have another good selling year.

More positivity came from meeting awesome artists at Derby City Comic Con. I met a Louisville local whose artwork I'd seen at a mall gallery when out with Lyn on my stay at their house, which was awesome to look through his portfolio and chat him up. I'd already decided I needed to bump up my painting skills, but talking to him (has name is Chase) really amped me up for it. And we both had similar opinions on oil paints--awesome effects, but too tedious. Though I wouldn't mind learning to use them someday. Another artist I chatted up as actually pro. John Tyler Christopher. His portfolio was soooo ace. I bought one of his poster prints (and later a sleeve to protect its awesomeness) of Rogue and Gambit called "Queen of Hearts." He seemed totally excited that I was quick to pick up on the subtleties in it with the cards that were face-up, to Rogue's face and the lipstick on Gambit's cheek. I swear it's one of the best images of that pair I've seen. He gushed a little at me that he's now doing comic work and how surreal it was.

Speaking of, I also got a new note from VanHeist on DA Saturday night after recovering from the con, too. I had messaged him about a rising stars contest IFX is holding as something he should think about. I think I was slightly self deprecating--just admitting to my lack of confidence for such things. His response was flatteringly passionate and encouraging. He is such an interesting guy. It really buoyed me.

On the personal art front, I'm finishing up a pencil drawing I started a few months ago, and already have the lines done for three ACEOs of a Nyami-themed set I'm doing. I'm also breaking out the comic outline I wrote out back in winter/spring to start developing. I mean, I put it off cause I felt "not good enough." But like Rob (VanHeist) told me, I'm probably only limiting myself by reminding myself I'm not at the level I want to be. I won't get to that level if I don't step toward it more strongly.

Also, as I was typing this I made an offhanded comment on the FB status of a friend, who works at a Lexington theater, asking if set painters were in short supply....He totally took my contact to pass on to the art director to see about it. Fucking hell! Heady! I'm doing this artistic social butterfly thing left right and center, apparently!

Fighter

2011-07-18T01:07:00.000-07:00

Just posting a finished pencil drawing before I crash. I'll post something with more wordy meat tomorrow-ish.

The Art Blues.

2011-06-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working on a painting commission (a large gourd, scenic stuff) for some people, and in between waiting for large areas of paint to dry I'm reading VanHeist's twitter page. Man...This guy makes me feel like the queen of all slackers. He puts in an average of a 10-hour workday at a landscaping job, then comes home and works on comics and drawings till, I assume, he simply passes out, then repeats the process. And he's only one year my senior, chronologically speaking.

Now, I put in similar days (albeit I probably get to sleep a little later than he does), and by the time the day's tasks are done I'm left feeling, more often than not, a bit empty and definitely without the energy to think, much less draw or paint or anything. At times, it's really worrisome because drawing and crafting are obviously things I love doing. And I have a cracking good comic idea, if I can ever be arsed to get it down beyond a basic outline of the overall thing. But, at the end of the day I feel drained, cramped for space, and just lacking in the will to do more than seek some evening conversation online and read up on the webcomics I follow for the day. Sigh.

I know that I'm not lazy and that I've just allowed things to get derailed in the daily struggle to strive forward. But seeing someone be so diligent and driven...It really kinda makes me feel very small. s if I shouldn't be assuming to be on that sort of level. And yet, there are plenty of people who've gotten late starts, or had fires lit under their asses late in life, so I know it's not exactly hopeless. It just makes me pine for being "good enough" now, in spite of knowing I'm still growing as an artist (and it makes me a little squeamish using that term applicable to myself anymore..).

This post is a wee bit whinier than I like to make here, but sometimes you just gotta get this stuff off your chest however you can so you can move on with things.

An update of sorts.

2011-06-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I realized I've neglected this space for a bit. There hasn't been a lot to post, frankly, with the onset of yard work season and gardening and just life in general sucking my time and energy. That said, I'll be leaving for my annual house-sitting in L-ville next week and plan to get much painted and sculpted for the coming of October, when the JW Fest occurs. I also have sketches to turn to drawings and a lot of ideas. Till then, I'll toss up the recent DA postings and be done with it for now.

A post in which there were doodles.

2011-04-18T23:25:00.000-07:00

Things have been rather busy of late, so I've not had time to tighten up a couple more drawings for my friend's gamebook yet. So, in the meantime here's some real doodles inspired by real people. The chibis will be colored sometime soon with markers and are meant more for avatar purposes than anything serious. I'm hoping to cheer a friend with one of them, at least. The second pic, well, draw your own conclusions. I may or may not polish it. But it was one of those mental images I had to get out of my head right away and onto paper while it was clear--and while I actually had time to do so.Thankfully things should settle down into some semblance of rhythm for awhile.

Birthday Blahs.

2011-03-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

Some days don't you just wish you could tell the world to buggar off and go back to sleep? Yeeeah. Not the best birthday ever, but not the worst. Just meh, and I shall sleep it off. I hope it doesn't become customary to be broody on my birthday. Either way, it did light a fire under my arse to draw today, even if it's just a sardonic sketch. So, there ya go. Next time will be a better update.

An update, much to your surprise.

2011-03-27T00:11:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty busy as tax season has picked back up for one of my day jobs. The other day job, my bait business, is also picking up steam with early warm weather and I've a lot of renovations to do to my store building. Be that as it may, I'm still making time for creativity. When I'm not trying to sketch, I'm trying to suck in as much inspiration as I can from any and all sources. I'm posting a couple of images I've done for a friend's Amtgard game book, an will likely have a few more to post later. I did a few pagebreak designs for him, too, but I didn't feel the need to post those here since they were more doodled than refined. But AUGH...I need to keep up on portraiture because I had such a slow go of the paige image.

With the coming of spring, I'm finally shedding some of this seasonal affective crap. All the yard work and gardening I did last year must've triggered something in my body that said "Ho-crap! Vitamin D is AWESOME." I can't deny I do feel much better being outside, even if it's at a labored task. I've a few drawing projects in mind involving weeds, but I won't talk much on it lest I jinx it into not happening. I think it will be fun. I also have another, bigger, project in mind that I'm working on in my infrequent spare time.

Sketch Dump

2011-03-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

Life's been pretty busy with my day jobs right now. Still no announcements made on the Mega Man Tribute winners. So, I'll just toss up some sketches for now, just to prove I'm not idle. Just very busy and tired.

Return to DeviantArt

2011-03-10T10:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I decided to slice myself off a piece of humble pie. I yanked all my work off DeviantArt several years ago because I became so disgusted with the site and pretty much just kept the account to lurk my favorite artists and other professionals. But recently I've realized two things. First realization was I'm just too damn busy/lazy to sit and manually code out a webpage. I'm not even up to snuff on the latest HTML, and even in Dreamweaver it's just a hassle. I like my little blogspace here, but it's not exactly organized/layed out to be a portfolio. The second thing I realized is that all the artists I admire and all the pros seem to update their DeviantArt pages more often than they do their personal websites. I'm guessing it's both for convenience and access to critiques and fans.

But I need to put my work back up in a more portfolio-like manner, so I put up the best of the best from 2009 and up. I may add older stuff, but for right now I'm trying to keep it fresh and current. I'll be adding gallery folders for my crafts later. But I was surprised that I've already gotten a decent amount of traffic--mainly for the fanarts, of course, but notice is notice. It's a nice buffer for my malnourished ego.

To be fair, in recent years DA seems to have done a lot to clean up some of the nonsense that was turning my stomach on it in the first place. Bizarre fetish art, crude nudie pics, and other such stupidity does seem to be in the minority now. It's still there (this is the internet, afterall), but it doesn't have the overwhelming prominence it used to now that DA has a lot more professional sponsorship and such. Maybe this won't be so bad and I can make some worthwhile connections.

For any interested, here's the link: http://purpleoctopus.deviantart.com

Prelim Sketches

2011-02-14T21:10:00.000-08:00

Trying to nail the composition for a new drawing of a dragon mating flight. (Pern inspired.) Kiiinda tricky considering it's not quite coming to paper how I envision it in my head. I will keep trying.

A small update.

2011-02-13T14:08:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty proud of myself for picking up some pace over the last few months. I'm still antsy over the impending results of the Mega Man Tribute contest, but I've decided to just press on and practice more with landscapes and I'm working on a new personal work with dragons. It feels like I haven't drawn any in far too long. But back to landscapes, yes. I've dual purposes for the practice. One is to re-hone my drawing skills after a long and tough personal tug-of-war. The other is that I feel if I can raise my painting skills to a suitable level in this area, I'll probably be able to sell a good deal as home decor around this area. This year is all gonna be able making money because I have high hopes of being able to go to Dragon*Con and meet two of my idols.

Speaking of, after finally getting off my arse, I got things straightened out with PayPal about an old account. So, now I can start back in on pulling together my Etsy store. I'm still not confident in putting my pocket dragons up on there yet, though, because of shipping issues I've already had. I'm also considering changing the name of them, because so many smartypants people at the festival kept asking why I called them that if they were breakables. Oi. But I doubt I'll change the name, ultimately, cause it still sounds cute, dammit.

And that's all for this update. Too lazy to scan sketches so I'll do that later.

Practice, practice..

2011-02-07T15:39:00.001-08:00

Since the contest drawing I realize I need way more work on landscapes, so I'm working on practice sketches. Here are a couple so far.

Give Tribute!

2011-01-30T23:32:00.000-08:00

I finished this under the wire. I should've known starting a digital piece a week before a deadline was a bad idea. Everything and anything conspired to eat into my free time this week so much that I almost couldn't finish. But despairing aside, here it is! For the contest I titled it "I Will Finish What Was Started." ...Now that I think about it, the irony of that title smacks me in the face.

Mega Preview

2011-01-25T14:01:00.000-08:00

So, I'd kicked around my sketches for the Megaman Tribute contest for the last couple of weeks. I've had a couple months notice for this contest, but the holidays were too congested and I've been procrastinating lately. But now I'm back on point (with a week to spare, heh..). I had originally planned to use traditional media for this, but decided--like a schmuck--to do this all in Photoshop. So, here's my initial sketch underlayed by cleaner line art for the foreground. Next time I post, it will be the finished product unless people are watching me post updates on Facebook.

S.A.D. and the silver linings.

2011-01-20T20:19:00.000-08:00

Phew. The holidays are over. I didn't think I'd survive them. And now I've started the routine of working the tax office again, and it's a bit tricky. As a night owl by nature, getting up by 7am throws off my whole groove. But as of last week, taking a mouthful of B6, B12, Calcium, and Vitamin C tablets on top of my allergy meds is doing an awesome job at keeping me awake and, dare I say it, more focused. It's kind of odd how you don't know you're lacking vitamins till you start taking them, and the positive effects it can have in your brain. And the few non snow days we've had this winter (when I can see the grass) that I've gotten outside to do things also struck me as energizing. Ergo, I am under the firm assumption that I has a S.A.D. Ahh, Seasonal Affective Disorder, you're not just something that happens to other people. I think it's the result of having the snowiest winter I can remember since I was little. I can count the days I've seen grass AND the sun on ONE hand. It's insane!

That aside, I've totally been doing stuff now. I've started on a piece for the MegaMan Tribute contest at Udon, Kiseki has a new contest posted, and a friend has come to me wanting drawings for his Amtgard game rulebook. And, ironically, Kiseki's contest is to illustrate winter. Cue bitter laughter now. So, this first quarter is looking to be promising for creating stuff and striving to get seen. I'm thinking positively as part of my 2011 resolution set. I'm also trying to get things sorted out for the Etsy crap. I HAVE to figure out how to ship my dragons safely. I won't list them until I work out the kinks in how I've shipped them so far. I also have a lot of craft and store ideas, but right now it's hard to get working on them because I essentially keep the house orderly and do the office thing during the day right now. And it's hard to do my usual late-night working with the amount of sleep I reasonably need to function like a human being.

But all in due time! Things are afoot!

ETA: =__=; The Kiseki contest is open to Australia/New Zealand only. Baroo.

New art howcanthisbe?!

2010-12-19T00:42:00.000-08:00

Gasp! A new drawing in less than a month?! Could this be the start of a new trend in my behavior?!

One can only hope so. Seriously, apparently seasonal affective disorder is nothing to screw around with. And it's hitting early this year with all the snow and ice and COLD. It's always disturbing to look out your window at a thermometer to check the temperature to find there ISN'T ONE. Thermometers kinda give up at 0 degrees of anything, and so does my physiology.

Still, this is a sweet piece of fanart from Dominion Tank Police that I hope to make time to color in Photoshop to get my hand back in. Been trying to sketch more, too, in between the Giftmas rushing. I'm climbing outta this hole, one way or another.

Mimic

2010-11-27T00:29:00.000-08:00

Again, not much to say as the initial stages of the holiday season have me wiped out for the night, but here's a sketch to chew on. I saw a friend's sketch and decided to pay homage to it. And to get my hand back into some SERIOUS drawing. Been reading a lot of ImagineFX stuff lately and I feel recharged for art.

Busy artist is busy.

2010-10-29T11:14:00.001-07:00

It's really hard to juggle all the landscaping and stuff that needs to get done in fall. Still working on side projects, albeit slowly. Also trying to rebuild my rock and dragon surplus. Going slightly mad.

Another festival bites the dust.

2010-10-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

Phew! It was such an exhausting weekend that it's taken me a few days to recover sufficiently to be able to talk about it! And it was a pleasantly surprising festival this year.

That's right. Pleasant.

I'd gotten my Etsy store ready to open before the festival so I could put the link on my business cards, but I didn't post anything because I wanted to see how much was sold at the festival. It's a good thing, because I sold about half of the rocks I had, including a few I was able to find time to paint at the festival. And I sold 2/3 of the Pocket Dragons I had, and that was even after making nine new ones the first night of the festival to make up the ones sold on the first day. I'd even painstakingly hand-drawn the packages for gourd seeds that came from the gourds my mom has been cutting for her crafts and sold about a dozen packs. And, indeed, there were many faces painted. Although, I didn't paint as many children's faces as I normally do. I think it was partly because my price has doubled to $2-4 depending on what they want, but also because there just didn't seem to be as many kids or parents willing to pay for it. I also didn't see as many kids going around as usual, either, in spite of the good weather and location. Ah well, I still came out $100 better than I usually made face painting in years past, and totally in the black financially.

Now, I have to start building my surplus back up. Yergh. Still, I do have some things I can post to Etsy and will be doing so soon. I just need to straighten things out with PayPal first. I contacted them because I had an old account that I can no longer access, but need to close it before I can use my new one because my bank info hasn't changed since then. And they patently refuse to do so through e-mail, which means having to find the free time to call them. Which is a pain in the ass. But, till I get that straightened out, I will still be able to accept checks and money orders at the least. At least I can see and take comfort that they do take security for personal info completely seriously.

Also, some guy who passed by my booth asked if I ever set up shop at the local flea market, and said I should. I don't think I'd do that with my crafts because I refuse to dicker on the prices, but it did put the bug in my ear for face painting. Something to consider for extra income. At least till super cold weather sets in. If I can't find a proper day job, it mightn't be a bad idea. Regardless, it's back to the salt mines!

Crunch Time.

2010-10-05T23:30:00.000-07:00

Festival starts Thursday. It's the 48 hour crunch. Oddly enough, this is the most sedate time I've had before the JWF. Getting shit done ahead of time is awesome and I need to do it more often. All that needs be finished is some display stuff and I'll be painting rocks all week, so. I think I am indeed ready! Woot! I'll even have my own minion to help me.

Another photo dump?!

2010-09-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

So! Another craft photo dump. Been doing more crafting than drawing lately, but that's because the festival looms nearer and nearer. Also, I'll likely have established an Etsy store sometime by the weekend, so that's exciting! I have to retake a lot of my rock photos, though, because the first ones were crap. Still, I'm learning as I go and these things sometimes are inevitable.

Small note, the pocket dragon in the first pic is actually blue. I was in a hurry to get it packaged for mailing that I couldn't wait for sun to break through fog and took the picture in my house. Not such a hot idea, in retrospect.

Doings!

2010-09-14T22:20:00.001-07:00

Sketch to the left done in markers (Prisma mainly) and pencil. It's a fairly simple self-portrait, but, probably a really accurate one in terms of appearance. I fully intend to use this in a banner of sorts for a webpage in the works (and long overdue), as well as other things here and there. For one thing, I'm changing the banner and title here--I think I mentioned that a few posts back. But it also coincides with a concept I had that I won't talk much about yet for sake of jinxing my willpower to work it through. But I need to crunch and get a webpage thrown together before the JW Festival, just to have a portfolio online to slap on a business card. There are, indeed, doings afoot!

Photo Dump, part 2

2010-09-09T22:58:00.000-07:00

Photo Dump, part 1

2010-09-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

Again, not dead.

2010-09-03T22:56:00.000-07:00

Progress has obviously derailed over the summer. Basically, I've been fighting with myself since April, and have finally started emerging on top of the matter. To those of you who recommend psychiatrists and pills for this sorta thing, that's all well and good and therapists are probably awesome, but that shit's expensive. In the last few weeks, though, my positivity has been gaining ground. It helped to get away for a little while and soaking up a different atmosphere to get my head back on somewhat straight.

Things coming! I've made new pocket dragons and will photo those this weekend. Not a lot in the drawing area--though I did do a small sketch fanart for Cricket Press when I bought some of their work. I've also got some new rock paintings done and even more in the works. Tonight I have picked up my pencil again, though, with more confidence than I've had in months, so I have a good feeling I'll refine some sketches I've started for my portfolio. Which brings me to my other semi-news. Over the next few weeks I'll be working on both tweaking this blog to being a better personal representation in appearance, and I'm putting together the look for my website that I've been working on and putting aside forever now. These are integral because I need to print new business cards.

The reason for that is that, against my sensibilities, I'm going to be doing the JWD festival again this year. For the last few years I've kept saying I won't be doing it anymore, especially after last year. But, I need the money. So, needs must and all that. So, I'll be cranking out a larger crafts:art ratio right now. I also have plans to start actually doing designed artwork based on my pocket dragons (ala My Little Pony). So! This is all progressing slowly right now (but not too slowly) because I am so out of practice and don't want to burn out right out of the gate.

Why art thieves aren't invited to my parties.

2010-05-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Before we begin, if you are at all familiar with the inherent douchebaggery that is Todd Goldman, please light your torches now.

Got them lit? Practiced your mob yells? Good. Let's go.

I came across mentioning of this on E.K. Weaver's (aka BigBigTruck) blog today. Apparently Todd Goldman, a supposedly "professional t-shirt designer" (note: translate to art thief extraordinaire) is up to his old and continual tricks again. See the article that All Over Albany wrote here: http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2010/05/20/jess-fink-has-even-more-fans

Todd Goldman is the worst kind of art thief--the kind that profits financially from copying someone else's visual imagery. And they are crappy copies at best. It's reasonable to say that the t-shirt design business is highly competitive, and any singular designer could quickly burn out of ideas in the fast pace of it. But, what respectable design firms do is seek out fresh talent, and if they come across someone's work then they offer to buy the rights to use that work from them. The key word in that is "respectable." Todd Goldman very much isn't. And, sadly, he isn't the first nor the last to rip off design-minded illustrators' work, he just happens to be the biggest dorkfish in the pond. And, when official sources like Wiki or Wired call him on it, he gets butthurt by proxy, and everyone else is just a "hater artist" and jealous of his genius. Forrest Gump was more of a genius, and yes, I do hate you, Todd Goldman.

On the counterpoint, people sometimes argue that artists who post their work online (something that is more and more common in the competitive need for freelance work) assume the risk of plagiarism and getting ripped off. That is true, to a small degree. Just because someone is deciding to make their hard work and effort viewable for the world to enjoy doesn't make it any less their own. If you created an illustration from your own ideas and imagination, it is YOURS and no one else's (although this doesn't stretch as far to cover copyrighted characters in fanart, but that's a grey area). Even Goldman is allotted this basic right as a creator (when he does do the odd original work or two). Just because your work is displayed online doesn't give others the right to copy it for either egotistical or financial gain. If you know someone who does this, I recommend teaching them the error of their ways with a good hard kidney punch. Repeat this as necessary till they learn that they are wrong.

Small life update and contest possibilities.

2010-05-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

So, not a lot of art has happened lately. Some craft-related things, but not ready to unveil them yet. With summer fast approaching, there's been a lot of yard chores to be done and help with. I've also been running around trying to get ready for family events such as niece's graduation and watching my aunt's husband for her here and there. Good news is I got my photos ready for Etsy posting, I just need to type up some store statements and make a banner. And work up my nerve to wind my way through PayPal. At least I can say the bait business has been more productive than this time last year.

There's a contest I found online last night. (http://news.deviantart.com/article/109127/) I'm thinking I'll work up a piece to enter into it. The major stipulation seems to be that it has to be original, and there's even a super special prize for the most imaginative piece. I'm just currently brain dead and at a loss as to wait to draw, but I have two and a half months to figure it out and do it. Either way, the competition is win-win because even if I don't win a prize, I still come away with portfolio fodder. Never hurts to try. I'll try not to make the mistake in getting too excited about it like I did with that Darkstalkers Tribute contest Udon Studios held. The disappointment stung quite a bit, but I think it's because I let excitement move my thoughts in the wrong direction about it.

That's really all I have to say for now. My brain has wound down for the night.

The end of an era.

2010-05-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/arts/artsspecial/11frazetta.html

Adieu, Mr. Frazetta. Life is limited, but your legend is forever.

On Fanart

2010-05-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

Now, for something completely different.

So, I've had the fanart bug for awhile now. Usually it doesn't progress much past doodles and sketches, but there are times when I get so taken with it that I produce pieces as found in the previous few posts. I more prefer to just appreciate fanart done by others, and the only fanart I've consistently produced over the years has been related to my friends' Gaia Online characters (a habit I'm breaking from). I think it's mainly because I never saw the need to create more art for characters and franchises that already have a good deal of imagery devoted to them. Some people, I've seen, even argue that fanart isn't creative at all because it's using a character design (or person) that already exists.

I disagree. Yeah, you're using a pre-made character in your work, but that's about as far as it goes. There still comes the process of composition for the illustration or portrait, palette choice, the choice to change their standard outfit to something more to taste or fitting the setting. And then, there's the crux--do you draw the character as they traditionally look, or do you tailor your own way of drawing to it and, thus, make the character either unrecognizable upon first casual glance or a mixture using the influence of the original design? Personally, I find that the hardest part about fanart. Artists who make fanart completely in the image and art style of the particular character(s) they're drawing are a dime a dozen, but the ones who take those characters and mold them into their own vision truly stand out taller than the rest of the crowd. Ah, but to be unique also raises a new problem: series/character popularity.

When a character from a series/game/comic/whatever else is super popular, there's gonna be an endless sea of fanart. Case in point, and I'll take the risk of digging myself here, Final Fantasy 7. The game was an instant classic and heralded in new ways of RPG storytelling for videogames in the new 32-bit world at the time. It's so outstandingly popular, both here and all over the world, that there is no end to the doujinshi and fanart devoted to it, let alone the liscenced merchandise. It's also made it's mark as the first Final Fantasy title that SquareEnix has worked at exploring other angles of the story and turned it into a franchise in its own right. So, given the game is now 13 years old (crap, I'm getting old..), there is literally no end to the amount of artwork you can find in association with it--and that's only the stuff that gets posted to the vast sea of Interwebs. It's daunting because it seems that every illustrative angle has been used to depict the characters, their relationships, imagined or otherwise, and so on. While that's technically true due to the old adage that nothing is truly original anymore, it's also a false thought because every time an artist re-invents the characters in new settings and styles, something new is given light every time. The hard part is, as said, finding that middle ground.

So, it's easier to think of fanart as just homage and not serious nor creative. Because realizing the amount of thought and skill it actually takes to try to be creative with something that's already been created would really hurt your brain if you thought on it too long. It's just as much a creative and serious piece as any original art piece. Now, granted, there are some who do just copy what they see, and often that's what gives other fanartists such a hard time in the eyes of other artists who may not hold fanart in high regard, but in the long run they either grow as artists themselves or fall by the wayside. Fanart should always be appreciated for what it is--an expression of love from one artist for another's work. And that is my romanticized thought for the day.

Note: To the right is a sketch study I did of Agrias Oaks from Final Fantasy Tactics.

Aerith 2010 fanart and a brief update

2010-04-29T22:35:00.000-07:00

So! I'm still alive! And after much delaying I did finally finish my Aerith fanart. It was done in Prisma markers, with a few Copics and Neo-Piko here and there. I decided against inking the outline cause I wanted to retain the soft pencil lines, so I just went back and re-darkened them and added some shading with my pencil. All in all, my best marker work to date. But, then, I haven't used them seriously in a good long while. I also posted a dual image showing it along side the 2006 version, just to gauge my improvement and for overall shits and giggles.

I survived another tax season--the main reason for my long absence in having things to put here. I've been a busy girl with working the tax office, job hunting, and the start of the yard work season. However, I hope to be posting more stuff post-haste. I have also thrown up a little doodle I did in the office in between last-minute clients--DJ Alyce and the techno quadrangle. Okay, yeah, that sounded better in my head. This sketch may more may not make a serious drawing, but it was fun to doodle and while away time.

Aerith Sketch

2010-03-29T22:37:00.001-07:00

This is the pencil line work for the Aerith fanart. It's a complete remake of an older drawing I did a few years ago--once it's finish, I'll post the old and new together so you can compare them! I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out so far, especially the flowers. Drawing flowers isn't my forte. I'll be doing the color version primarily in markers, but I'll use touches of watercolor for broad areas.

Also, today is totally my birthday. I'm 27 and feel soooo old.

Understanding of Sea and Sky

2010-03-23T00:04:00.000-07:00

How's THAT for a cheesy title? This is just a sketch I did the other night. I've had Sailor Moon on the brain lately. Anyhoo, I decided to use it for practice at getting my hand back in watercolors. Well, actually, I cheated and used watercolor pencils, but meh! Same difference. I used Copic sketch markers for the fleshtones.

Small sketch dump.

2010-03-16T13:59:00.001-07:00

Just a small sketch dump today. I'm working on a fanart of Aerith from FF7, so as soon as I get a decent sketch done up of that I'll toss it up, too. Been sick all weekend and it's carrying over into the week, so productivity has lowered. Just gotta keep at it.

Yay for practice.

2010-03-04T21:27:00.000-08:00

I got in some marker practice tonight. I felt so unwieldy in using them. It's been ages since I broke them out. I need to practice with them more and get better at controlling them. It also seems that I'll need to get some denatured alcohol and needles to try and restore some of the older Prismas--I think they must have been old when I bought them, because the newer ones that I bought later on haven't dried an ounce. I also really reeeeally want to get a big set of Copics. Le sigh. Why must they be so outrageously expensive?

I'd show the practice sketch here, but....It's a bit immature I think. I've debated over it all evening. If anyone stopping through is interested in seeing it, I'll link it. But, much as part of me protests, I think I'm going to keep my personal subversive snark to myself. ~chuckle~ Or I could always start a LiveJournal for it. I'll be doing more marker and watercolor work soon, so keep an eye out for things that aren't childish (entirely, anyway). No other new sketches to report at this time.

Continuing on.

2010-02-24T22:49:00.000-08:00

The older gentleman I repainted a lamp for returned today with two more lamps to be painted. At least they're in far better straights than the first. I also got the piece I started inked, though my desktop is still having problems and lied to me viciously when it said my background was white, as I see now after uploading. Oh well, there will be a traditionally colored version soon enough so you won't have to keep dealing with my poor scans. I truly need to get a new hard drive in my main computer fast--it doesn't like the elderly loaned hard drive. ~sigh~ My money, like my dreams, always takes wing and never stays with me long.

The work continues.

2010-02-18T18:14:00.000-08:00

So, I've not done a whole lot in the way of full-blown imagery beyond doodles in a good while, huh? I lost my groove for awhile. It was so bad I didn't even feel the desire to doodle. But that seems to finally be turning around (even if it's a wide parabolic U-turn right now). Slower days at work and the desire to get my arse in gear have gotten me working, planning, and thinking. I won't say much more on it right now, lest I jinx it and become a self-unfulfilling prophecy as I often do. Instead, just enjoy a doodle I did for a friend and a current illustration in progress. I'm iffy on it's background right now as to what it'll be, but I'm gonna be trying new techniques with it so that's exciting in and of itself.

Sketch Dump 2/11/10

2010-02-10T21:13:00.001-08:00

So, here are the promised sketches. I've actually not gotten much done in a few days, having to get other things done that life requires of me. The first sketch I'm really taken with and I'm gonna turn it into a watercolor drawing or some such later and expand upon it when I can glean some time. I also have Photoshop again and my scanner, now that my desktop PC is back from the doctor. I missed Photoshop so much T__T But now it's gonna be a pain in the butt to re-download my spiffy fonts.

Also, expect fanart soon. I'm eyeball deep in my new PSP and Final Fantasy titles for it.

Somewhat productive.

2010-01-27T13:12:00.000-08:00

Wow, another update so soon!

Actually, I've been so busy running in circles (even on my days off) that I've still had little time. But I snagged some precious free moments with my Zune at the doctor's office the other day, and I just began to free sketch in a 5.5x8.5" sketchbook while listening to Dragonsinger. At first I was just gonna doodle at random, and then I began to flesh out a little scene I developed in my head of the story's main character, Menally. I'm really quite taken with it, and I plan to turn it into a more proper drawing--hopefully with more depth and detail and less obvious perspective twaddles. But for now, I thought I'd just share the initial draft. The scan is bad, though, because my main computer is still suffering from issues--but I'm not so worried since it is only a very rough sketch.

I've also been repainting this hideous plaster lamp this week. There are some "antiques" that should just be lost to the ages.

State of the Artist

2010-01-21T12:24:00.000-08:00

Phew...I've started my day job in mum's tax office, so that's left me with barely any energy at the end of the day to do little more than eat, shower, and the vegetate/sleep. Above is a portrait commission I took for the same woman I did so many rock paintings for. Pale children with smooth facial features are tricky. It didn't take long, just a few hours. It's approximately 7x11" on Stonehenge paper, done in pencil. I think I need to re-evaluate what I charge for portraits--not that I don't think this one wasn't worth more/less than the $30 I charged, but if I keep my prices too low or just guesstimate upon request I'm gonna end up getting screwed by less-than-nice people.

It bugs the crap out of me the way the scan came out, too. My desktop is currently riddled with trojans, and until I get it reformatted next week it's staying off limits. So, I used my mom's HP scanner and no Photoshop on her computer. Baroo. This is also the reason I can't slap up any doodles or anything along with this, so today's update is sparse.

I'm pleased that I've taken some commissions from an old man, too, to repaint some antique statues (i.e. old junk made of plaster). The first one is for $50, and I've not priced the other stuff yet as I've not seen it. But he was more than happy with the price tag, so what the heck.

It's so weird that, artistically, things are slowly starting to pick up. Now all I need to do is brush up on learning Illustrator and getting a proper site made!

Drowning in the Holidays

2009-12-24T20:41:00.000-08:00

Phew...I swear I've been running full-steam since Thanksgiving to complete things before and for Christmas. And technically it isn't even over cause we still have some gifts to distribute. Someone make it stop! I do have some product to show, though. A finished rock commission and a commissioned portrait of my sister-in-law and her elderly poodle. I'm not really pleased with the portrait cause it was kind of rushed, and I'm reeeally rusty on doing portraits. But the same woman I've been doing rock commissions for this year is interested in a portrait of her niece, so it's time to practice. And today I also had a man interested in one. I'm keenly more interested in this than painting, as drawing was my focus of study in college. Feels good to put those interminable figure drawing classes those last few semesters to work.

What would life be without pet peeves?

2009-11-28T22:23:00.000-08:00

Phew...Between pet death, having the flu, and Thanksgiving trauma November has been a busy month without much artistry. I'm still alive, but now I've gotta gear up toward Christmas. I'm an abysmally slow knitter and I've taken up the task of knitting a scarf for someone, not one of my better ideas. I'm also gonna be commissioned for a portrait by a family member to another family member. And then I have to figure out what to make other people for Christmas. This is the problem with having no money to just shop like normal people for Christmas.

I have been feeling the buddings of inspiration to draw again--a good feeling. Sometimes I'm ashamed of myself that I can't draw 24/7 as all serious illustrators and aspiring artists say to do, but I have to be realistic in terms of the amount of time I have in a day to get house projects done and the energy I have left at the end of the day. Of course, if I could stop myself from reading about the latest blatant art theft of pro-work on DeviantArt (http://markerguru.deviantart.com/journal/28626609/), I could probably get more done tonight. I can't help it, and I know it's a lot of drama as DA is known for, but stuff like this pisses me off beyond coherent thought. Mainly, because the admins seem to do NOTHING about it. I never see any moderators laying down warnings, it always happens that someone stumbles upon the thief and runs to tell their favorite artist they're being ripped off. Apparently this person in question is also selling prints of the scanned artwork. Honestly, yelling at these people will get nothing done, and complaining to the admins gets nothing done. I'm of the mind that no one will take this sort of thing seriously until someone smacks down a lawsuit.

Why don't I just stay away from DeviantArt, you wonder? Sadly, some of my favorite artists have DA pages and tend to update them more frequently than their personal blogs and/or portfolio websites. And some only use DA for news updates about their con appearances or next work. I could expound chapter and verse on my contempt for the website as a whole and why it is a poorly managed affair, but it's late and I'm simply gonna move on to something interesting I did find on there.

http://nekomusume.deviantart.com/
I stumbled across this browsing Google for Final Fantasy fanart. I remember using these perler beads (the beads you iron together) when I was a kid, but it never dawned on me to make such elaborate pixel art with them. I now have a new hobby interest to consider and I'm fascinated by all of the similar artworks I've found done with them. I have enough work on my plate right now, but in the future I think I wanna give it a go.

Sketch Dump, 11/4/09

2009-11-03T22:49:00.000-08:00

Still kinda busy with house work. Here are some piddles. I'm studying up on Taokaka from BlazBlue. I think I've been bitten by the fanart bug. I also have a new hat.

NaNoMango

2009-10-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

http://community.livejournal.com/nanomango/

Okay, so, why did I never know about this!? Apparently it's like NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), but the premise is you create a 30-page cohesive manga in 30 days. Essentially that's drawing a page a day. You know, I've been needing the structure that a deadline can give me to boost productivity, and I think this is exactly what I need. It starts the first of November and runs all the way till the thirtieth. Ever since I read Doujin Work (a manga), I've had the first inklings of maybe doing a comic again, the first in years. I'd pretty much written off making a comic of my own as my not having the talent/skill/writing ability. But, I think I wanna give this a try. Although, with all the house remodeling and such we've been doing, I doubt I can make 30 pages. Especially as I don't even have a concept or script to start with. But! I'm willing to give it a shot! Got nothing to lose in trying. I don't think I'll officially sign up, though--just cause I don't wanna look like a schmuck cause I know I won't hit the quantity mark.

I was browsing all the comments, though, and it made me think something very interesting. For a long time I've known that the portion of American comic creators is largely male. This is not absolute, as there are awesome ladies doing indie comics (like Blue Monday or Hopeless Savages) and some with important hands in Marvel comics. But I've noticed from these comments that American "manga" artists, or artists heavily influenced by manga, are largely female. Perhaps this is because the appeal of the heavy emphasis on story found in manga, or even just the Japanese art style's aesthetic. Either way, it was an interesting thing to take note of.

Fast times and long days.

2009-10-24T18:49:00.000-07:00

So, things have been insanely busy since the Festival bomb. There've been a LOT of home projects that need to get done before winter. Basically, Fall is when we do our Spring cleaning. We're remodeling the store building to make it better in terms of appearance. We're also redoing the floors in some of the rooms in the house, installing wall heaters, and all kinds of craziness that have kept me too busy/tired to think, much less get much drawing done. I have a couple of commissions to finish before Halloween, and we need to get a bunch more work done before then, too. There's so much I'm behind on in terms of personal work that it's really daunting. T_T And I'm wondering when I'm gonna get some time to start working toward my Etsy store goal. Le sigh.

Someone teach me out to clone myself @_@ Then I could do so much more. Oh well. At least I have gotten SOME drawing done. Below: New character design, icon I did for someone, and the pre-sketch to a painting I must do for a lady. Cheers.

Poorcraft: A Comic Book Guide to Frugal Urban & Suburban Living

2009-10-16T15:51:00.001-07:00

Yes, I'm gonna overshadow my previous post. I'm still disgusted by the lack of human decency I've experienced in the last week, but I really just wanna try and lift the gray mood that's fallen on me (even if I can't do anything about the gray weather). That said, I'm gonna pimp this link out:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ironspike/poorcraft-a-comic-book-guide-to-frugal-urban-and

It's a promotion for a book that Iron Spike (creator of Templar Arizona--an awesome webcomic) and Diana Nock are doing. The link is for their project pitch, and they are trying to raise the $6000 it would take to self publish this book for the quality of work they want it to show and for the invaluable information it will possess. I've watched the pitch, and I'm actually really pulling for this book project to go through. It's a book that doesn't just apply to people wanting to do comics and cartoons as a day job, it applies to pretty much all walks of life. So, if you can, please support this project. Or, if you're a broke shmoe like me, give them some props and spread the word. Their pledge drive has 65 days left, and they only have less than a fourth of their goal met.

In other lighter news, ever since watching Bobby Chiu's interview with Alvin Lee last night, I think I've become rather smitten with him. >_> Shhh...Here are links to his webpage and the interview, to buy your silence so my secret crush remains not-so-secret.
www.alvinleeart.com

The Interview!

Jenny Wiley Festival '09: The longest weekend ever.

2009-10-16T01:09:00.000-07:00

Hoo boy…As everyone may know, this past weekend was the Jenny Wiley Pioneer Festival in my hometown (which I no longer consider my “home”, as I will expand on later). It started off much as it did any other year, and I am going to go about this in daily synopsis form.

Thursday, Day 1:
Setting up! It was awesome. I pulled a near-all-nighter to finish a display to draw interest and get all my stuff looking spiff. My mom set up, too, for our craft shop and took orders for woodburned signs. My brother and sister-in-law also set up in our space for their blacksmithing. Didn’t do a whole lot of face painting on the first day, but I generally never do. I did, however, sell three “pocket dragon” sculptures and a small painted rock. That, alone, was more than I sold of my crafts last year and I was absolutely thrilled. I also took two rock commissions to be painted over night and picked up the next day. I was starting to get good vibes after the first day being so fruitful.

Friday, Day 2:
I was up late painting on commissions and tired, but it was the kind of tired that feels kinda good. I know it sounds weird, but I was hugely optimistic. I started the day off doing some faces and selling another rock, as well as finishing a couple of other rocks. My mom and other vendors complained throughout the day of the strong wind that was continually flapping our wall of the tent up and down. We inquired as to whether or not the side poles were driven into the ground as they had been in all the years past. They were not, but workmen came with straps to secure the tent to a fence that was a few feet away. However, for some odd reason they picked the straps back up and left without doing a thing. Ah well, right? Business doesn’t generally pick up for anyone till around 5-6-ish when everyone’s outta school and getting off work. I’d painted a total of 24 faces, when disaster struck. At 6pm precisely, a major storm hit. My brother was coming back in the tent and told me to lay all my displays and paintings down, that it was a sheet of wind and rain coming at us.

As soon as I stood, shit hit the fan. Our side of the tent was too close to a building and it created a blast tunnel. Our tent wall lifted up and steel poles everywhere began to flap. The lower half of the tent began to collapse and ours would have, too, if it weren’t for people like my family and other vendors who managed to grab poles and hold them up. People began cutting the tent to let water off. The National Guard was across the street doing a rock-climbing event, so they rushed to help. However, it’s ironic that it takes the police, EMS, and fire department all about 15 minutes to get there in spite of their stations being just down the street, literally a 3-minute WALK to where the tent was. And then, while people were trying to stop the bleeding of an old man’s head injury and others were trying their best to hold the tent up and those of us (like myself) who refused to leave their family members/friends or go out INTO the storm, the police chief of Prestonsburg comes in and starts cussing at everyone to get out. In spite of the fact that most people under the tent that stayed were the only things keeping it from falling. And only then did they cut the power to the tent. After I had to go outside of it, I realized to my horror that the power lines had been only INCHES from the center poles (metal) that my brother had been trying to bolster with another guy.

It wasn’t long after that that the vendors were told to pack their stuff and go, that the tent was too unstable. So, everyone began doing just that while some began demanding to know what the committee members intended to do. There were several people badly hurt, the old man still may die, and other minor injuries. Not only that, but some artists and crafters lost everything they had. For some, like myself, the money they would make would be sorely counted upon. There was one nice girl there who lost her entire inventory, NICE display, and it was her first time ever setting up at a festival--she made hand-made hair bows and accessories. We knew that as soon as the committee started crying “Act of god, nothing we could’ve done…” that, indeed, nothing was intended to be done for the people who supported them through the years. I’ve been setting up there for at least 10 years, and a lot of those years they had alienated so many crafters that it was becoming largely a resale tent at one time. But I’m digressing.

Anyway. Not minutes after we all started packing our stuff, they started crying out there was a gas leak and for everyone to get out. Again. I was rather amused this time because a little old lady carrying her items moved by me on my way to our car saying “I can handle alittle water. I can’t handle being blown up!” I had to laugh. But then paused, cause I’d just handed off mom’s cigarettes to her. I knew if anyone would be blowing us up, it’d be her. Fortunately, they dismissed the alarm seconds later just as my mom was about to enter the tent with a lit cig. Apparently one of the people who were trying to resecure the tent ropes drove the stake down right through the gas line from the building next to us. In their defense, though, most of the people doing this task were vendors or Guardsmen, and it was being done in such a panicked hurry that I’d say no one was worried about gas lines and more worried about the power lines.

It took several vehicles to get all our stuff home, but we did in jig time. Before we could leave, though, I did a walkthrough of the rest of the carnival in the next parking lot over. I know it sounds horrible of me, but I was completely demoralized and I wanted to see other people suffering as we were. They were not. The bands were still playing, people still milling around (albeit thoroughly soaked), and it didn’t even look like so much as a paper plate had been blown around by the wind. Nothing like what happened at the craft tent, and only our side of that tent. I was disgusted, cold, tired, and went home to cry and sleep.

Saturday, The Aftermath:
We were wakened to the phone ringing Saturday morning. It was the final day of the festival, but we obviously weren’t going back. I didn’t even open my eyes to look at the phone, too depressed to bother. But mom got up and called the number back thinking it was my brother’s cell phone. It was one of the committee members calling to see if we were going to come set back up for the final day, because a few people did (with much diminished stock) and there are some vendors who only set up on Saturday. They got the obvious answer. I couldn’t help but think that was damned heartless of them to call and ask such a thing, knowing we couldn’t have been the only people they called. I briefly considered it, but knew that even if I just went to paint faces there wasn’t enough left under the tent to draw any customers. We were gonna go back, however, to pick up one of the corn hole games mom purchased off the booth that was beside ours. We were gonna wait till the parade ended, though, so we could get through traffic. My brother called us beforehand though, and told us that two tables had been allowed to set up in the spaces we paid for. While this might not seem like that big a deal to most, it was honestly like a slap in the face and insult added to injury. If we paid for those spots, then they should’ve sat empty. But they were pretty much letting anyone who came back set up wherever they wanted. There were a few that had been there the day before. All in all there was about 8 vendors for that day. My mom instantly sought out two committee members and rounded on them. We also discovered that over half the vendors that had set up this year—we had the first full tent in YEARS—were allowed to set up for free because committee members went to Apple Days and told them if they came to our festival they could. They also kept insisting they had no fault for everything that happened. They did not once ask if anyone had been hurt, or ask us personally if we had anything damaged or lost. It was a lot of backpedaling and lies.
-----------

It was a very unique festival year. And I came out of it as being the only person who had taken photos during everything that was going on. And the city is trying to hush everything up, but we’re not allowing it. We’ve already contacted the local papers asking why they didn’t print any sort of write-up on it. Mom even submitted my photos. And if they don’t properly cover the story, mom says she’ll go to the Lexington papers.

But it’s this sort of good ol’ buddy system that makes me hate small towns with a seething passion. I think I hate Prestonsburg now more than I ever have in my life, and that’s why from now on if anyone ever wants to know where I’m from my reply will always be Lexington. And I hope the old man, who is badly hurt with brain hemorrhaging, that if he makes it through he and his family own the whole town in a lawsuit. Even mom’s lawyer says the city doesn’t have any kind of defense in this. And the city is refusing to talk to anyone, especially those of us who were there.

As far as damages go, my family and I were luckier than most. Some banged up items and a few smaller things lost in the shuffle, but no real loss of inventory. However, I was sure to make $600 face painting this year. I’d doubled my prices, and in all the years past I’d made about $300 every time. I was truly counting on that money to take care of some pet necessities and float me over till January when I could work for mom in her office again. Now it’s going to be very very hard. I was extremely depressed over this for several days till just Tuesday. Money is such a stupid thing to be depressed over, but when you lose a major source of much needed income, it’s a heavy blow. I’ve sulked it all out, now, though, and I’m ready to move forward with other plans and finish a couple of commissions.

But I can't state enough times how much I hate Prestonsburg and the two-faced people who "run" it.

Oh noes!

2009-10-04T23:24:00.001-07:00

Crap! Crapcrapcrap! I have a nagging lump/soreness forming in my throat. This is not good! The festival starts Thursday and I still have prep work to do! I cannot afford to get sick! DX Nooo...I need OJ, juice, ANYTHING! Panic mode initiated!

Tick-Tick Goes the Clock

2009-09-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

Little less than two weeks till the Jenny Wiley Festival. I am...so not ready. This summer has just been a disorienting blur of ups and downs. I've not been nearly as busy crafting and painting as I should've been. Yet the encroaching festival date is both bad and good. Bad because it means now I need to get my butt in gear, but good because I tend to work better under time constraints. I've always been weird like that.

At any rate, I've finally shaken off the funk that comes with losing a pet this week and now I am working again. I'm gonna paint so many rocks! But I also need to sculpt. The tricky thing is there's alot of outdoors work that needs to get done around the house, too. Le sigh. So, tonight I've completed one rock painting and am gonna put the rest of the night to hammering out anime reviews. I'm so behind on everything. At least I'm fair, right? No one hobby gets left out. I'll use the remaining week before the festival to get my displays done and business cards and freebies printed. I also have alot of photos to be taking.

Auuuugh. @_@ It's like this every year. Jeez. And every year for the last three years I've continued to say it will be my last. Oh well. I need the money and the notice. Oh, and just to note it, the image to the left is my latest drawing-in-progress.

Enough blogging! Must work!

Small sketch.

2009-09-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Again, I'm tired and don't have much to say. I promise there'll be bulkier updates in the future, but right now I'm too drained to rant or rave or babble. Instead, I'm throwing up this quick sketch I did for a friend's birthday of one of his RP characters. Cheers and all.

2009-09-13T22:34:00.000-07:00

Wow. Nearly a month since my last post. I feel like a horrible slacker for only having these two pictures below to show for it. I let myself get really bogged down with things around the house and it just ended up sucking the life outta me. Note to self: Stop doing that. On the bright side, I did complete that saw commission. I have three more and now am about to gear up hot and heavy for the JWD Festival.

I also did a new drawing for new characters below--Eiko and Ray. I was trying to get in some practice with high-vantage perspective in it...But that didn't come out very strongly. I also had the realization that, when I do finish it, my portfolio is gonna end up mostly character design. ;>_> Not sure how I feel about that.

Also, lately I've noticed a good deal of artists using U-stream to do live video feeds while they work. While I find this fascinating, I can't really bring myself to check out more than a minute or two of video because I get this overwhelming feeling that I'm seeing something I shouldn't. Not necessarily like a stalker...I dunno. I'm just alittle weird like that. Live feeds are much different than video Podcasts.

Bardhyl Sketch

2009-08-19T20:59:00.001-07:00

So, I posted the pre-sketch of this drawing yesterday, and actually took some time to finish the sketch up tonight. As I mentioned before, this is one of my characters on Gaia Online that a friend suggested I try drawing in anthro form. This is just a sketch (and will also be going towards my portfolio), but I hope to get time to color it up in Photoshop one day. Probably won't happen till after I'm not so backlogged and gotten my festival work out of the way. I actually really enjoyed doing this, mainly because it was a pretty fresh approach for me. I sometimes (rarely) doodle anthro characters here and there, but more often than not I do straight up animals or humans, and neko/kitsune-mimi characters.

I really do enjoy Jay Axer's work though (www.axerindustries.com | jayaxer.deviantart.com). He does draw a lot of anthro characters, and it's probably his work that held Sonic the Hedgehog comics on the board for so long. He does draw other stuff, but it seems like his original characters are always more lively. And I simply envy his Photoshop coloring skills. Now, some people probably grimace at the term "anthro" as it usually gets associated with the furry fetish. I must stipulate that anthro characters and artwork is NOT the same thing as furry porn. Yes, there are probably furries out there who do make us feel shame for loving old cartoons like Tiny Toon Adventures, but those were anthro characters. They were not created to be sexual objects or wank material. It really is a blurry line thanks to some people, but the distinction is there. But anyway, I'm digressing. Jay Axer's work is just unbelievable. And I love his female characters the most. Why? Cause they're husky gals! Not obese, really, but they're certainly not waifs and I really love that he can give such obviously tomboyish characters like his Leigh and Sophie such distinct femininity. Kudos to you, Mr. Axer! He's currently working on a project called Epithet, and I'm psyched to see it as he's been posting character concepts for it for about a year now. From the looks of it, it's gonna be epic.

Small art dump.

2009-08-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

After my post today, I got to work and got some painting done on my saw blade commission. GAWD. Painting grass has to be the absolutely most tedious thing EVER aside from watching the paint dry. But it's coming along and now that the yearly food preserving is done, I'll have it done within the week. <_< My dad scoffs at this.

I also managed to finish coloring that line art of Nyami from back in May. I'm pretty pleased with it, and it's portfolio fodder in my eyes. Also, I started the sketch below when a friend of mine and I were discussing Jay Axer's work (www.axerindustries.com), when he made the suggestion I should try my hand at a more fully anthro version of Bardhyl. The drawing is still in progress, but I felt like sharing the beginning.

That's all for now. Enjoy!

Slowed down.

2009-08-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

Production on festival items has slowed to a crawl. It's been a very busy week (guh, has it only been one week?) with canning salsa, preserving veggies, and such. But now that that's over my life should settle back down into the rhythm I'm most use to. I'm STILL trying to finish that saw blade--it's had to sit on the back burner and I'm really nervous about any sort of anger I'm gonna get from the people who ordered it when I do finish. I also started coloring that Nyami line art I did a few months ago, and I started a new sketch that I'm still trying to find time to work on. I also have three more commissions lined up. @_@ I must persevere.

Ching!

2009-08-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

Just sold that calico cat rock I painted last month. I was starting to doubt the lady would truly come back for it, but she lives in the next county over so it's understandable why it took her so long. $35 in mah pocket! ~does the happy Snoopy dance~ And she took my e-mail cause she wants two more rocks--portraits of her dogs--that she will pay me for the next time she's through. I'm liking this commission influx.

...But I'm hating the saw blade. I don't like painting flowers much. ~siiigh~

Also, I'm not gonna vent my COMPLETE RAGE here, because I need to shake it off and move on with my day, but here's a link to E.K. Weaver's journal (AKA BigBigTruck) where she cites relevant blog posts and news postings to the psycho that shot twelve women yesterday. All I can say is that anyone who agrees with his reasoning for what he did needs to die in a fire. Slowly. Be sure to read her comments, too, for extra anger.
http://gallo-de-pelea.livejournal.com/466500.html#cutid1

Small-ish Update

2009-08-04T22:05:00.000-07:00

Not alot to say right now, really. I'm desperately trying to fight off a huge month-long drawing slump tonight. I have all my minor commissions finished except the saw blade, and I'll be starting it tomorrow. Then, it'll be back to work on things for the festival! But to tide over anyone wanting to see things here is the dog commission I just finished (I did two versions because I wasn't sure which would be preferred), and the other is a scrap doodle I did in 3 minutes last night to cheer a friend up.

Always the last to know.

2009-08-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

Omigawd WANT!!

http://www.prismacolorillustrationmarkers.com/

Getting back to business.

2009-08-02T13:05:00.001-07:00

So, I guess it may be fairly obvious my productive steam has somewhat slackened since returning home. There are numerous little, but all just as stressing as something huge, factors that bring about suck slumps. It’s frustrating to no end. I find myself wanting to draw this, sculpt that, knit those but in my mind there’s the lethargic response of “Eeeh….I don’t feel like it right now. Let’s level grind and trade in Pokemon Pearl some more.” (Yes, I’ve fallen off the wagon and back into Pokemon again..) I think the biggest thing that would improve this would be fixing whatever is wrong with my sinuses so I could start getting some restful sleep. After some studying, it’s looking quite suspicious that I have Hay Fever. Joy of joys.

I am determined to pull myself back on track. The first order of business is to finish any and all commissions. One will be done and gone today, and that will leave the biggest. I’ve already got the saw blade primed and ready to paint. And at night, when I’m not working on my anime reviews for Digital Chumps (www.digitalchumps.com), I’m gonna be either drawing or studying.

Now, regarding this name change. I was asked how I was gonna compensate for it as my blog address is still purple octopus as well as my e-mail. The e-mail is easier to fix—just get a new one. The blog, however, not so much. So, I just gotta work these things as they come. I’ve been so scatterbrained that it’s hard to plan at all, so I’m pretty much doing everything on the fly. We’ll see how awesomely I crash land, huh?

Transition.

2009-07-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

For a good while now, some may have noticed I've forsaken the cute little octopus that was once an amusing moniker for me online. However, with the recent plans to start an Etsy, I've realized that I once again need such online nomenclature--if only to make myself seen in the large crowd of countless artists and crafters online. This time I decided not to hamper myself by shunting myself into a corner with some silly acronym that I felt I must have (that's how Purple Octopus came to be), but rather went with something more suited to me. Although it was a friend's suggestion about the "moonlight" part, but I knew a dragon was the mascot for me. And most people, lately, have been telling me it suits me way better. So, behold my new banner above! It's just a placeholder till I make something better. I really need to overhaul this blog's looks and give it a good face lift...

Commissions.

2009-07-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

So, wow. As soon as I get home from house-sitting, I'm suddenly ASSAILED with painting requests. In fact, the calico cat rock (posted earlier) was for a lady who has, as yet, come to pay for it. (I darked the orange on it since taking that photo.) I got a call from a woman on Thursday--she was referred by my sister-in-law after seeing the bulletin board I painted for her preschool class. She wanted a red Peterbuilt coal truck and her husband's handle and their dog on it. (The picture is below.) It's acrylic (as all my paintings are) done on 9"x14" canvas board and I charged her $35. After thinking I feel it should've been $10 more, but I under estimated the time it would take. Still, she was very happy and may be sending more work and other clients my way, so woo!

My next commission is a quickie. A wooden cut-out painted to be a German Shepard for the daughter of my dad's boss. An easy $15 there. The third commission is gonna be a bit more daunting. A couple that was buying a swing from my dad also mentioned having a huge saw blade they wanted painted. Now, generally when my parents tell me I have people interested in commissioning me, I usually ignore it cause it never comes to fruition. But these people did come back with said saw blade and the effing thing is 2 feet in diameter. I was like "Oh god...what'd I get myself into??" And to beat all they didn't know what they wanted. And since I don't technically consider myself a painter (because I like drawing and dry media better), I only have what's in the store to show. Finally, a decision was made on their names and a "pretty flower garden." I told them to give me at least a couple of weeks on it and it'll be $75. I realized only after the fact (again) that I should've charged at least $100 because I'm running very low on tubes of my "good" paints that I only use for more quality stuff. So, I'm afraid I may have to make do with craft acrylics. I figure if I stock up on Folk Art brand paints, I'll at least have good thick acrylics for it.

I'm still rather surprised by this sudden influx of demand on my skills. And wary. I'm wary because this sudden string of luck feels almost too good to be true. We'll just have to wait and see, I suppose.

Oh, and as a treat, here's an image I made using a photo I took while house-sitting. It's my new desktop wallpaper.

New Sculptures.

2009-07-20T21:25:00.001-07:00

Here are the sculptures I mentioned doing recently while house sitting. They're in order from latest to first on the progress scale. The seal is, as yet, unpainted.

New painted rocks.

2009-07-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

So, I'm gonna be doing a HUGE update here, and it's coming at you in three phases. This is phase one--my recently painted river rocks. I've left out a couple that I did--a purple dragon and a hamster--simply because the photos were crap and I need to retake them.

Strike up the marching tune.

2009-07-12T23:23:00.001-07:00

Things have been full-speed go for crafting this week. I've successfully completed 7 rock paintings of various paintings so far--one, hopefully, may already be sold even. It wasn't a commission per se, but as the lady bought up the only calico cat rock I had at the time se said "You should paint another calico, but BIGGER. If you do, I'll totally buy it." I thought to myself, sure, why not? Although, I have to say it's the one I'm least happiest with right now. I still haven't mastered creating that true calico red-orange color yet and it bothers me. I was even using a book I have and followed it to the letter for those patches of color. C'est la vies. I'm working hard at being able to paint animals more realistically--there's a bigger market for pet portraits back home than one might originally realize. But I am also gonna start doing more art deco things, too. It's just hard to come by river rocks down home because most of our rivers are currently occupied by water, poo, and an assortment of monster fish that could probably swallow a horse. Whole. (I've seen steel shark hooks come out straightened.) And most of the creeks I know of have either been filled in over the years (a sad thought) or are manmade and only possess rough choppy pieces of slate and limestone. I'm tempted to just get a big back of smooth landscaping river rocks, though, because I've knicked some good ones out of the neighbors' yard when I watched their dog for them one day. Plus, I'm of the mind that smaller rocks will sell better at the JW Festival. And, for some reason, I'm a better painter on small ones. Go figure.

I've also created two hand-sized polymer clay sculptures as mentioned in my last post and have the clay leeching for a third that I'll do tomorrow. Tonight I want to get a few more rocks done to at least make the figure a nice round 10 paintings. Tomorrow I'll spend playing in clay as I have another sculpture to make (a seal--I'm working through the book for experience), and this time I'll use an armeture to save on clay. I've also been looking around for ways to improve my pocket dragon sculptures and feel more confident I can improve them.

Which brings me to point numero three--Etsy. I kicked this idea of starting an Etsy shop up a while back, but lack of confidence held me back. My friend Drake suggested that this was silly and it seemed like a sound enough venture. If nothing sells right away, I'm not out anything, and with my new camera (love!) I can do a fairer job of representing my inventory. So, I did some poking around on Etsy for painted rocks and sculptures just to see what was out there. I did find some good rock paintings, and some who, like me, do pets and animals on them. It's not a new concept by any means, but the joy of that is that no two painters are ever alike. As for the clay sculptures, they are many and varied. But! I was so pleased to find that NO ONE made dragons quite like my Pocket Dragons. So I would happily one at least one unique line. The vexing question there would be how to ship them safely--the ones with spines or thin tails/parts tend to break more easily. It's possible that I haven't been baking my clay properly or using the firmest clays (which leeching might solve alittle). I'm afraid that if they're wrapped too tightly, the pressure will pop a piece off. Conversely, if they're not wrapped tight enough, they'll jostle in the mail and still break something. Most times it's a clean break and is easily remedied with Krazy Glue, but that would still be a dissapointment for someone to open their bundle and see the accident happened.

If anyone knows any way to resolve my packing/shipping issue, I'd sure love to hear it. So, back to th Etsy subject. I could put pretty much every craft I dabble in up there (but not drawings from my still-in-progress portfolio work). Sometimes I feel there's a certain level of contention/condescention towards people who craft by those who "mae art." It's an undercurrent that makes me fuss at myself for piddling in these hobbies for monetary gain or dust gathering when I should strictly be drawing. But...sometimes drawings just don't come, and I've always liked to MAKE things. Plus, if I can use crafting to fund my drawing and illustrating passions, then I've decided the two are and can go hand-in hand. That's why I feel that it's time to suck it up, and join Etsy.

New spin on an old fave.

2009-07-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

I was given this book (cover shown on right) recently, and while I'm away house-sitting I stayed up all night getting some craft stuff done. I started one of these sculptures of a rat (taken from the deer mouse instructions) and worked well past sun-up. Of course, I didn't start on it till 4am, but meh. Details, details. Anyway, I used Sculpy III, which was a mistake as it's really soft. This wasn't as much of a mistake till baking. One foot broke forward and the whole thing toppled in the oven. I hastily caught and corrected this, but the tail also cracked at the base and had to be super-glued before cooling. I now know the folly of Sculpy III unmixed with a firmer clay. Drooping was always a problem I combated with my little pocket dragon sculptures, but this was a different bag of fish altogether. I also used the wrong size needle to create the furry texture.

It was a valuable learning experience and I'm going to set some of my super sculpy clay to leech today, so that way I can be back to the drawing board tomorrow. Even with the obvious mistakes, I think my first attempt at a realistic sculpture (pre-painting) has been a success! And there will be many pictures next week when I return.

Professional face painting??

2009-07-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

….HUH.

So, apparently doing a Google search on “Kentucky illustrators” brings up the sort of hodge-podge that one would expect from a random Google search. But I came across this link, which intrigued me.

http://www.premierfacepainting.com/index.html

Holy crap.

It made me think of the festival face painting I do every year and got me to thinking hard. The festival is the second weekend of October. Sugoi Con, an event I’d very much like to attend this year, is on the last weekend of October. Now, I could probably be raking in cash if I did face paintings like those—and I do have the ability. The problem is the venue for it. I generally have so many kids lined up that my dominant arm goes numb from the elbow down and I get cross-eyed. And each cheek picture I do takes approximately 2-3 minutes, depending on what’s wanted. However, I usually walk away from the event a few hundred dollars richer at just charging a buck per picture. Anyway, she has assistants that she’s trained to help with influx. I do not. So, I don’t have the time it would require for anything intricate. And she uses airbrushing in a lot of her face painting, something I’m not comfortable with inflicting on children, as it’s hard enough to get them to hold still.

However, I do have an airbrush. I know how to make stencils. I could easily add airbrushed tattoos to my repertoire. All I'd have to do is stock up on cans of compressed air and paint containers for watered down acryllics. I could sell these for $2 a picture. That means I'd better get some airbrush practice in once I return home from my second stint of house-sitting. I think this is a good plan indeed.

Brief Update.

2009-06-28T00:56:00.000-07:00

It's 4am and I'm exhausted. I'll rant for my next posting, but for now here is products of my labors. Click on the pictures for full-view, as always.

My soon-to-be background for my Gaia profile:

And new pony mods done for my friends to commemorate their espousal:

Keeping up the work.

2009-06-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

So, I've been a little lax in drawing lately. There's been house work and such that needed desperate attentions. I've also done some crafting, but I can't post it here yet till the package arrives at its destination. So, for now, this little working sketch is all I have to offer. I've already got a title for it, but I'll save it for later.

E.K. on Criticism

2009-06-09T21:51:00.001-07:00

There are some pretty good discussions going on over at E.K. Weaver's LiveJournal right now about defending one's art and, subsequently, ideals. I sent her a lengthy "note" via DA on the matter (too chicken for real e-mail I suppose, since she is an artist I respect). I thought I'd toss up the link to her blog so everyone can have a looksie and maybe get in on it.

http://gallo-de-pelea.livejournal.com

Personally, I feel that if you can't respect your own feelings enough to stand up for them, even to friends and family, then you lose respect in the eyes of those looking at you with critical eyes. Even a stammered defense at something you can't quite explain in words is better than no defense at all.

Zetsumei line art

2009-06-07T23:30:00.000-07:00

Here's the third Gaia Online character requested by my friend, Zetsumei. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I think my inking skills are getting more confident. Only trouble is now I need to redraw Metsu. He's not on the same scale as Ama and Zetsu, and it's bugging the hell out of me >__<

Simple cheer and good will.

2009-06-03T23:33:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of quick, crappy doodles I did to cheer a couple of friends up tonight. One made me chuckle and had to be drawn, the other I wanted to dual as the guy's signature art on Gaia Online >_> Dual purposes..

Where's the emotion?

2009-06-02T21:59:00.001-07:00

So. I was reading up on each artist involved in the SIREN anthology coming out (http://www.sirencomic.com/) and, after the initial delight at such a wide range of talent, I realized something. Upon closer inspection, some of them had work that was actually quite dull. Oh, there was color balance, mood, and other artistry rules observed, but....There was no life. No emotion. I sat for a good few minutes with my face all scrunched up at this revelation. Surely it can't be that so much inherent and learned skill can only produce one or two fully completed and rendered drawings/paintings with any shred of emotion to the characters.

So, to solve this mystery, I looked at those selected artists that stood out for this lack of emotion and their rough sketches and doodles. I saw ten times more life in messy penciled sketches than anything they had that was "polished" and completed. I mean, it's plain some of the illustrations were meant to be stoic...But they didn't even feel that. They felt numb, for lack of a better word. What happens to these artists, I wonder, between their concepts and their completed work? Where does all that zest that seemed to make their images move on the page in sketch form go when working toward a (supposedly) better piece? It's like they forget that one of the main functions of illustration--aside from but hand-in-hand with telling a story--is to make the viewer feel something. When I went back to review their finished illustrations I was only left with frustration that I felt NOTHING from their images.

That's not to say all the artists I looked at were like this. Some where just bubbling over with personality and emotion in their works from roughs to completion. Those artists (oddly, mostly female) were just a pure joy to go through their portfolios and I find myself excited to see their contributions to SIREN--assuming I can scrape together $22 for one. But, it makes me a little sad for the others whose works were just....meh. That's all I could say about them is "meh."

But, conversely, they'd probably look at my work and chuckle, roll their eyes, or just ignore it completely. But, at least I try to stay true to the spirit of my sketches and emotions. I'm beginning to see that this isn't always the case with artists.

Ama line art

2009-05-26T23:28:00.000-07:00

Image #2 in the list of commissioned characters. My friend will be coloring them and he's gonna do something with them....But he won't tell me what. XP Jeez. Ungrateful. The final character will be Zetsumei. But for now, enjoy Ama/Nyami. Click to view the larger image.

A couple more pictures to dump.

2009-05-25T22:32:00.001-07:00

A mural I painted a few years ago for the friends I house-sat for. It needed major repairs and they wanted some additions, so I ended up repainting it all. (Sorry for the crap photo, all I had was a cell phone.)

A My Little Pony mod I made while there. I left her original packaging to show what she looked like before. Found Rainbow Dash on sale dirt cheap. Painted with opaque and translucent gel pigments and glossed. The hair is her original hair coloring. She is unnamed at the moment. I may attempt to sell her, if none of my friends want her.

While the cat's away...

2009-05-25T22:26:00.000-07:00

All sketches and doodles I did/started/finished while I was away. Just click each picture to view the larger image.
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Watercolor/colored pencil

Some revelations.

2009-05-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

So, I was moping the other day about my abilities, and that night I began to shake it off and WORK again. Or force myself to. That's when me and my friend Nate had a long talk about it.

Essentially my biggest problem is comparing my work to others. I find things that their drawings have that mine doesn't, thus think this lack means mine are worse. He says mine DO have a distinctive style and are just different from everyone else's. So much so that I can't even make a comparison. He said that while the anime/manga influence is apprent...my drawings don't LOOK like anime/manga. They're "something else" and something that's mine. And I have to focus on what's mine to somehow further it, rather than focussing on what it isn't.I've already come to some conclusions. Big brother gave me examples and talked about how "soft" my work is, and how I pay attention to details like volume and clothing movement. He recommends drawing from life...But as I see it. I've already come to the conclusion that I like curvy things that feel alive, and that that's why still-lifes of inanimate objects bore me silly. And I like/want my drawings to feel like they could be alive, so details like movement of hair or clothes is important because it moves with the characters and has a sort of life to it.

So I've been thinking about all that. I'm not sure how to make it stronger yet, but I already have an idea for contrasting. Not a revolutionary idea by any means. But since my drawings are so oganically inclined, tossing in more elements like metal objects to contrast them and bring them out might work.

Then, I was reading a review in the latest Otaku USA in the bathroom today....What? Jeez, yes, girls read and play DS in the bathroom, too. Just like we also fart and make BMs. We nerd-girls have to have something to do while we pay the price for our poor nutritional choices.

Anyway. >_> So, I've still been mulling over my and Nate's talk the other night. And as I was gawking at the delicious Udon Street Fighter IV illustrations, this thought occurred to me. I can whore out my business card at a table and such with the best of 'em, but I'm scared shitless (ironic metaphor given the activity during which this thought came about) to ASK publishers/companies/etc if my art would appease whatever archaic gods they worship in the basements of their firms and studios. For truly some of these dark elder gods have some pretty low standards if WotC's NeoPets franchise is still going strong, right?

It goes back to what he said about how I'm constantly comparing myself. I look at "amateurs/students" like Jullie Dillon producing fucking EPIC works for Paizo and Wizards that I am reduced to uncontrollable bladder leakage at the thought of submitting a portfolio of any kind to them. Then I have to go change my pants, because the result is I look like I've been trying to kayak across the Mississippi River with gators and monster catfishes right behind me. But I've never found the nerve to just shove my portfolio at them and run like a little girl who's just given a boy a love letter, let alone ask for any sort of constructive imput as to how I could improve or what facet of their company they feel I ought to be submitting to.

I'm slowly garnering a portfolio--even if, right now, it mainly focuses on Gaia characters. Work is work, and I'm more motivated to illustrate them right now. So. The next step needs to be getting off my ass and getting my website done. (~cough~ I could use some swanky graphic help.) And final step will be stepping up to those fearful publishing druids in the playground and handing them the URL or CD--preferably not in an envelope sealed with a heart. I mean, that's just fangirlish and creepy, right? Ah ha ha ha... ;;>_> ~burns all such envelopes to resist temptation~

A stolen art meme.

2009-05-12T08:51:00.000-07:00

▶ What is the character you've drawn the most (Can be original or fanart)?
Uh...huh. Most likely little doodles of myself or Nyami, honestly.

▶ What colour do you most often use?
I tend to mix in a little bit of purple into all my colored pieces, even if it's just in shading.

▶ Any colour you are bad at using?
Hoo....All of them? Seriously though, I'm not honestly sure. It's not something I think alot on. Maybe the use of blacks? Sometimes it's hard to gauge when I've used too much.

▶ When drawing people, where do you start?
I usually start at the head and then try to focus on a general pose and feel before fleshing things out. Clothing are usually the last things to be added.

▶ What is a character only your eraser will love?
Usually all the ones I'm putting good effort and thought into. -_-;

▶ Which of your works took the longest time?
Fuu....Aything I do in Photoshop. It's like coloring in that program becomes some sort of time wormhole.

▶ What techniques do you use when you want to improve in drawing?
I try new poses or draw new outfits. I'll also sometimes try to assimiliate nuances from favored artists, just to break out of my norm and help my own drawings evolve.

▶ What do you think of the art of the person who gave you this picture meme?
EK could nail my sucky ass to the wall with her skills.

▶ What art tools/media are you good with?
I'm best with pencils, graphite, and charcoal, but I'm getting better with markers and Photoshop.

▶ Art tools/media you are bad at?
Hm...Inks. It's hard for me to loosen up with them and just let them do their thing.

▶ What do you think about your own art?
~deep breath~ In my best and sincerest attempt to be objective...I think it still has a long way to go. I'm beginning to realize about my art that I'm trying more to incorporate a more realistic feel to an essentially anime/manga-based skillset. My realistic drawing abilities have improved greatly, however, when I try to incorporate that into painting I fall horribly short. I can only hope that others see I'm working hard to improve.

▶ Do you consult magazines for your drawings?
I usually use them for sources of mental inspiration more than anything. But magazines like ImagineFX are indispensible with their tutorials for certain skills and also helpful advice from pros.

▶ What do you like about your art?
Uh....okay...uhm...hm...The emotions I can convey through characters, I suppose. Usually I just rely on the opinions of others. You know...all two of the people who like my work and ask for it XP

▶ What habits do you have while drawing?
I have to have an audiobook playing. Usually Pern. However sometimes I play songs to further emotions I'm trying to capture. I have to be completely comfortable and usually slouch, sitting with one or both legs folded underneath me. I chew on my shirt collar out of anxious habit, too.

▶ Are you good at drawing faces facing right?
I'm better at it than I use to me, but I tend to draw faces facing the left. Not sure why...Just habit.

▶ How frequently do you draw?
I'm TRYING to draw everyday. This does not always work out as much as I'd like. So much for my New Year's resolution.

▶ What do you do when you have artist's block?
Illogical brain: MOPE. And scold myself for laziness/ineptitude/etc.
Logical Brain: Scold myself for moping and try to forve myself to doodle anyway. Usually talk to Nate or Drake about it till it's out of my system.

▶ What must you have when you draw?
Few distractions and lack of my mother's presence (because she is a distraction).

▶ Do you have a lot of stray lines (messy lineart)?
Of course. I couldn't tell you an artist who doesn't.

▶ What is drawing to you?
An outlet and one of the few things I can fathom as my purpose for existing, even if I'm still unsure why. It's also just about the only thing I can half-way claim to be good at.

▶ Your goal from now on?
To become a better artist. To improve at composition and balance. To especially improve at backgrounds.

▶ Artists you've had influence from?
...This is gonna be too long a list. Michael Whelan, Yoshitaka Amano, Udon Entertainment, EK, Julie Dillon, "Aido", Chynna Clugston, Jason Chan, Les Edwards...the list goes on and is always growing.▶ Artists you like?Isn't this pretty much the same as the last question?

▶ Which is easier to draw, humans or animals?
I can switch between them pretty easily.

▶ Please tell us the title(s) of your own comic(s).
~siiigh~ I've had a lot of failed ideas, none of saw the light of day beyond character concepts.

▶ Show us an old picture.
No access to my PC right now. Plus, I don't keep anything saved on it past 3 years.

▶ What is the charm-point of your art?
I...have no idea? Any one care to answer this question for me?

▶ What is the first thing you would draw if we're talking about fantasy?
Oh come on, this one's easy. Dragons.

▶ Please draw your most beloved character:
Once again, without my PC.

▶ When thinking of characters is it mostly female? male? or androgynous/no sex?
I tend to draw more females, just cause I feel I'm bad at drawing males as I'm not personally familiar with the male body.

▶ What did you draw yesterday?
A small watercolor sketch to go into Aniki's now-very-late birthday package.

▶ What is the funnest part to draw?
Tenderness and anything depicting it. Because it's not something I often get to outwardly express except with pets.

▶ What part of other people's drawings do you notice first?
Skill first, then the overall feeling of the piece. Unless it's gift art, then my blinders are on and I love and adore whatever I get.

▶ Regarding backgrounds, what is your method of making it easier to draw?
Working from the objects closest to me and/or the characters and working backward. But honestly? ~sigh~ I need some serious work at them.

▶ What colour coordinations do you like?
I usually like alot of earthy pallettes.

▶ What character did you last draw?
Ama

▶ Does your style change easily?
I have to beat it like a logging mule into changing course.

▶ What part of drawing do you pay most attention to?
Whatever is the best way to capture a feeling of the character. It's usually some little detail around the head or expression.

▶ How do you feel about drawing H pictures?
Thanks to a certain someone, I'm pretty comfortable with drawing them now. I'm just not so good at making them not look stiff (no pun intended, honest!!) and awkward. But I won't do art of any character not 18 or over. EVER. Or furry porn.

▶ Do you like criticism from others?
As long as they are being objective and helpful, I love it. But if they're just being douchebags then they can buggar off.

Ahhh...The soft sound of solo.

2009-05-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

I made no mention earlier, but I'm currently away from home house sitting for my mom's friends. This involves me feeding the dog and cats, walking the dog, and continuing the buffet that the local wildlife are accustomed to getting. I've spent several days lazing around the house, though. I swear the couch has sleep dust in it! But it's felt so good to not do anything and to not have anyone around me nagging me or running me to and fro doing chores. I do miss my pets, but it's a small trade for relaxation and restoration of sanity.

And I'm becoming productive again. I'm working on sketches for my friend's commission, as well as belated birthday drawings. I've been knitting. I've been re-teaching myself to crochet so can learn to make amigurumis. Today I played with watercolor for the first time since I left my apartment. I forgot how much I enjoyed the medium. I also brought my clay to work on scultures with, and gours to paint and design. I've been getting exercise, too, which is helping my brain think clearly.

It just feels so wonderful that I wish it could last. Ah well. At least I'll have photos to post when I return to my computer.

No one likes a petty book snob on Pern.

2009-05-05T05:09:00.000-07:00

So, I logged on to Ravelry for the first time since forever. Now that I'm unfrustrated and knitting again, I felt it was time. I checked up on one of my groups--the Dragonriders of Pern group--just to see if anyone had finally started posting again. And lo, they had. But as usually it was all talk about the books and mostly bitching about Todd McCaffrey being the chosen heir to the series. I understand apprehensions because in fans' eyes he will NEVER write like or be his mother. That being said, I think alot of these whinges and bitchers went into his solo Pern titles with expectations too high. It's like going to see the previous two X-Men movies expecting them to be rock-your-world awesome and by the books. That, and alot of them just sounded soooo snotty about it. Very few had anything at all good to say about his books.

I will admit, he writes more simply than his mother did, and adds nuances that weren't previously canon to the series, but it's HIS way of writing. He's not an Anne clone. She gives him her notes of how she wanted stories to develop, and sometimes collaborates with him on books, but by and large he has free reign to write because he grew up knee deep in her stories, so he ought to know the characters and settings by now. I'd say the only REAL thing that bugs me is that a lot of typographical errors slip through into hard copy when he writes solo. I'm not sure where his copy editor is, but they're obviously asleep on the job half the time. sometimes full words go missing into the ether. It was glaringly apparent in Dragon Harper, at any rate. The others before it weren't as bad. (Do they go back and fix problems like that for reprinted editions and paperback?) But his writing isn't bad--just not what Pern fans are use to and cut their teeth on. It would be like if Tolkein were alive and handed the reigns to his Middle-Earth stories to say, (another dead writer) Douglas Adams. You'd get no less an engaging story at the key points, but it would be very different from what you knew.

I just think there's a time for book snobbery--such as when movies are being made and totally butchering a good book (I'm looking at YOU, Eragon)--but by and large this is just stupid. I've enjoyed the newer Pern books that Todd's been putting out--moreso when his mother is involved, of course. They aren't bad. They still make me laugh and cry. They are just different, and he is not Anne so he shouldn't be held against her standard. She chose him over her other offspring for a reason, so deal with it.

Picking up my heels.

2009-04-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been fulfilling requests for a friend of our respective Gaian characters. He's gonna color them in Photoshop, but wants good inked line art. So...I guess this could be considered a collaboration project! Which has me all sorts of stoked. No one's ever asked to collaborate with me before. I've got the first of the three drawings below and an initial sketch for the second. I'll be going away for a month to house sit, so I'll finish them in the interrum. But I'm also starting to develop new drawing ideas. And, since the theme of this art dump is Gaia, it's only fitting the other thumbail posting should be of all my female characters.

Inspiration!

2009-04-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

I just had totally sudden inspiration! I've done this time and again, trying to make up webpage designs and crap and then tossing the ideas a week later. But I think I've realized my problem. I've been too worried and hung up on the idea that it needs to look sharp and swanky-professional like Sam's, or that it must have eye-catching beautiful illustration like so many other artists I admire. But I failed to realize the one thing I constantly criticize myself for--I'm not them and not like them beyond a certain degree. I kept telling myself that I must have this, this, and that for my page in terms of visual aesthetic and nothing I've done has made me happy.

But just now my brain was all "You're NOT like them, or anyone else." I blink for a moment, and realize for once the things my brain was telling me were right. I need to just cease trying to push myself in a certain stylistic or creative direction, and just draw for me. I have the one thing that the artists I know/admire don't right now--time on my hands in regards to what I draw. My portfolio page doesn't have to have a visual theme or a subject. It just has to represent ME. Simply me, laid out concisely and clearly. And I have Dreamweaver to help me where my rusted and behind-the-times HTML skills fail me. FINALLY. Finally it will effin' happen. I'm totally stoked now.

Some thoughts on my day job(s)

2009-04-03T20:51:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a lot of doodling lately. Mostly because I've gotten three days of substitute teaching at a school where I have to do little else but give out assignments and make occasional small talk with my students. It is the most awesome high school I've ever seen and I feel cheated that I'm not a high school freshman again just so I could go there. The teachers are nice and so are the students, mostly. Teenagers being the wretched beasts they are, there's always a few bad ones that ruin the bunch--but luckily most of them were absent the last two days. And I even felt happy today that I could instruct a freshman girl on what she's gonna need to do if she's gonna pursue art in college. (Basically I told her most of the things I WISH I'd done.) That class was the most interested in passing my sketchbook around, which was amusing and they were all respectful of it--meaning it didn't come back to me with little penises drawn all over it, as I'd somewhat feared. I've another work day there next week. I want to sub for that school all the time. Screw these other schools with bratty hellions running the place.

And as for my office job, that will be drawing to a close as of April 15. I survived a season working for my mom. Then, my new day job begins--fishing season. I run a small bait business out of my parents' little craft shop (where I also sell my craft items) and it's somewhat lucrative. Last year was terrible, but I have hope that this year will be much better because gas prices aren't in the stratosphere. A lot of my business usually comes from people going to bigger lakes and rivers several hours away. I'm totally ready to go and have already made a little money from early sales, so I'm optimistic. This also leaves me days free to work on things. It's just a good feeling to do up my bank registry and not see it dipping closer and closer to zero. I have to be thankful that I have my parents on my side, otherwise me and my cats would be homeless and broke. But, the goal is still the same--save up, build portfolio, move back out.

A small sample of some of my scribbles of the past few days.

Doodle Sheet 3/27/09

2009-03-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

I had the easiest day substituting today ever, so here are some of the minor fruits of that time. I'm particularly fond of the jelly fish and barrel-head at the bottom. Katie Ryan has inspired me.

Warming up.

2009-03-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

So, if I haven't already stated as much, when I warm up sometimes I do so by doodling characters I've made, or the characters of friends. I think this is when I'm enjoying drawing the most, really, because I can do quick random doodles, sometimes of amusing dialogs, and then sometimes more inspired designs like this one. I'm happiest with the hair really. Yes, I know the tip of her weapon is fudged, but this IS just a sketch.

I think that if you're a gamer, or do online RP, or just love certain franchises and characters that this is a really good way to stay loose and acquaint yourself with drawing the same characters over and over. I've seen a lot of webcomics online that, for some reason, they can never seem to draw their characters consistently. So, if you have a favored character (or more than one), then I don't see why you shouldn't draw them over and over to get the hang of it. It's good practice and it'll help you better develop a visual personality to the character you're drawing. That's my two-cents anyway.

Some links to inspiration and some blah to life.

2009-03-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, so. In the wake of the Darkstalkers contest, I realize I have a lot more work to do before I'll be of a standard that people want to see. So, after sulking it out of my system that night (a process that involves a lot of crying, self-blame, and potato chips) I began my hunt for new inspirations. Anything to just light my fire from the norm. Because if I'm to run with my own art book idea, I need to first develop art that people will want to, you know, pay for. But it's not just drawing inspiration I've been looking for, too, it's general work ethic or crafty things, too. Just generally anything to kick me in the ass. So. Here are those links.

http://fresh4u.deviantart.com/ --The DeviantArt page of Katie Ryan. Her ink and wash work is phenominal, and she just printed up a nifty artbook. The link to her personal website is also on there.

http://moonscreations.blogspot.com/ --MoonYen's crocheted amigurumis are to die for. I'm envious of her small, but adequate, workspace. I need to get one of those.

http://laichro.deviantart.com/ --Stunning contrast in her work and rich use of colors.

http://gueuzav.deviantart.com/ --A frantastic French artist whom I first found on a link from Three Panel Soul.

That's all for right now, really. There are a LOT of artists I follow online, but these are just the ones sticking to the roof of my brain lately. It's difficult to get my inspiration going, because I spend a good deal of time worrying about life-related issues. And I would so love to have my own little workspace where I could hole away all day and work--but I don't and can't. For one, my parents' house is already running at capacity and all rooms are occupied for other purposes. Secondly, I can't get ten undisturbed minutes if I tried. This is usually what ends up in my staying up way later than I should to get that alone time and being tired and grumpy the next day.

I think the biggest problem is that I don't have my own place. I'm working and trying to save to change that and get back on my feet, but it isn't easy in this region. If it weren't for working in my mom's tax office till late spring, when I'll be slinging and selling fishing bait again, I dunno what I would've done. Schools were only sparsely calling me to sub for teachers. (Ironically, now they call every day that I have work and none on my days off when I can sub.) There are very few jobs anywhere right now, but especially here in Eastern Kentucky.

That's why this summer I have to work extra hard and creating a niche for myself. I have this idea for modified old clothing and some new craft ideas to sell. I've looked into Etsy and they're pretty reasonable. Certainly moreso than doing a consignment with stores, as they tend to mark-up the base price of your stuff (usually double your asking) to make money off the item, but this is ridiculous because then the item usually gets priced so high that no one will buy it unless you're willing to come out in the red yourself. But there's also a printer here in town, and I'm gonna look into posters and maybe printing up cardstock sketchbooks of my work to peddle around town and the internet. This is where having multiple talents and interests should, by all logic, stand me in good stead. Oh, if only that were the case...~sigh~

Results

2009-03-14T17:32:00.001-07:00

Okay. Udon Entertainment announced their winners of the Darkstalkers Tribute contest yesterday. For anyone interested, you can find the list here: http://udoncrew.deviantart.com

I admit, I wasn't exactly expecting to winning anything, but it didn't make not seeing my name in any form on the list suck less. ;>.> But, on the positive I did try. I'll sulk it off over the weekend. But, as promised, here's what I submitted. I'm not happy with the BG at all, so I'll be redoing it. Just click on the image for the larger version.

A brief note.

2009-03-01T02:00:00.000-08:00

I met the Tribute deadline...I made sure to look over my submission info many times for mistakes. It's 5am. I. Need. Sleep. x__x Then, the waiting can begin.

The deadline draws near, and there's a lot on my mind.

2009-02-28T00:05:00.001-08:00

So, the Darkstalkers Tribute deadline is Sunday. I'm filled with such an excited panic that it's exhilarating! It's like being in college all over again! Will I make the deadline? Can I estimate how much longer it will take to do a good job on this? Failure is not a consideration at this point. I admit, today I didn't get much work done on it due to the death of my beloved 3-year-old rat, Jonathan Frisby. And, yet, I can't let myself take time to properly grieve till I bury him tomorrow, because I must make sure that the sadness of his death won't be in vain. That's not to say my rat died for the sake of my art or anything ridiculous like that, but there's been so much negative crap floating around me for so long and now that I'm finally seeing through the fog I can't allow all that time spent there to be pointless. I have to come out of it with a brighter fire than I had before, and this personal loss is one more attempt to stop that from happening. I have to meet this deadline. I have to get myself accepted into this art book. I have to prove to myself that my talent is worth something and that I'm not a lost cause floating around aimlessly.

Another revelation I had this week regards crafts. Now, people with creative minds know that it's possible to salvage old clothes and give them new life. This can be done with things as simple as a spritz bottle of bleach and some paper cut-outs. I have found inspiration that continues to fester in my brain. I could make that into a lucrative business. Etsy, from what I can tell, is reasonable in their fees and a good starting point. Lexington also has a good deal of stores I could do consignments through. We also have my parents' craft store here, and a good number of festivals I could hit up. We have a business tax number so items like t-shirts could be bought at wholesale cost, and there are TONS of thrift stores and yard sales for old (but good conditioned) jeans and shoes, and accessories, too! I have endless ideas of what to do with such things. It's not a definite yet, but this idea is holding so much merit in my mind that I can't, and don't want to, shake it.

And now I need to crash. Tomorrow is a day off, so once the house is clean and my rat tended to, the day will be spent eyeball deep in Photoshop. I'll post the pencil sketch here, but the finished version will not be posted until Tribute winners are announced. Cheers, people!

Sketch Dump - 2/23/09

2009-02-22T23:40:00.000-08:00

These are some working sketches I've been doing for my Darkstalkers Tribute image. They're in order from latest to first.

Buhhhh..

2009-02-18T22:52:00.000-08:00

I need to get off my ass and get my website up. Once again I'm dissatisfied. Not necessarily with the skeletal layout I came up with, but I'm stuck again on how I want it to look. It's times like these I envy people like Drake and Sam, for whom design seems to come so easily. -_-; I really need to get a consolidated portfolio space put together and I just feel dumb about it.

Anyway, I've gotta couple of good working concepts for my Tribute piece. One funny, one more serious and illustrative. Gonna go with the series one first, then, if I have enough time, work the other one up. May work it up anyway cause I've taken such a liking to Lilith. It'll be another portfolio piece. If I accomplish this, I'll be able to say I'm doing better artistically in terms of management and work ethic. I just need to get out of this slump so bad before I drown in stagnant water.

Dark Stalkers Tribute

2009-02-12T22:04:00.000-08:00

http://www.udonentertainment.com/darkstalkerstribute/

Considering I missed the Street Fighter Tribute deadline, this newest contest has me excited and fearful. Excited because it's a second chance to impress Udon, and fearful because the deadline is March 1st. Still, I'm gonna give it a shot. I'll post working sketches here, soon. I also need to finish a V-day present for someone. But drawing has been happening this week, and this provides only more motivation to beat sickness, doubt, and nature's wrath.

Wow. Okay.

2009-02-01T08:17:00.001-08:00

The power has been out for FOUR DAYS. It finally came back on last night. Eesh. I did get some sketching done for a new painting concept though. It was a fairly productive blackout, at least.

Also, I've been invited to come back and set up a vending booth at UKON this year. I get this invite...you know...two weeks before it effin' happens. But with last year's unsuccessful venture in it, I'm passing it up. It's pretty much just a small all-day LARP-fest for the uber nerds and vamps at my old school anyhow. The "con" aspect of it is pretty much just tossed together as an afterthought. Seriously, the dude in charge could make it SUCH a better event if it were PLANNED. Ugh. ~rolls eyes~