State of the Artist 11/28/2011

View halloo, peoples!

I hope all my fellow American followers had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday, and that my international followers had a lovely weekend!

It's Monday, folks, and you know what that means! Yes, it's time for another State of the Artist update!


Weekly Words

Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.

-Abigail Adams, 1744 - 1818



Current Project


Current commission work: (clicking on the thumbnails will take you to the larger version!)





I was commissioned to complete a set of character sheets for an RPG character, and these are the roughs. For those of you who don't know, character sheets are mockups of a character's appearance with relevant color information and data for developers to use to keep a character consistent. They're predominantly used in the video game industry.

These two pages are the roughs for a character named Kavanaugh: front and back, in skivvies and in his normal daily dress. Right now, it's just the pencils, but when done, they'll be inked and filled with color (digital) along with HEX code color "splotches" for continuity and any pertinent character profile data.

I really hope to have these two pieces, along with the character cover sheet done before it's time to take the family holiday trip! *keeping fingers crossed*




From The Archive




Kitsune Dawn
August 2005
Mixed media: alcohol pigments and ink

Kitsune Dawn is the companion to last week's Geisha Moon and a continuation of the Japanese aesthetic and theme. I decided I wanted to keep a common thread running through these two pieces, regardless of the foreground images and colors, and that was the iconic Mt. Fuji in the background.

Original (A4, ink & alcohol pigments): $150
Prints (8x10" giclee): $12

*Please note me if interested!*



Near Future

I'm happy to say that the Holiday Card artwork has been sent to the printers and now it's just a matter of getting them back before I head out of town for the annual family holiday shenanigans!

Thank you to all the generous people who donated for the cost of production and postage, it is much appreciated! I'll be contacting you over the course of the week to send you a little special something for your generosity!



So, folks, that's all for this week's State Of The Artist update, I do hope you've enjoyed this week's offerings! As always, feel free to comment on this, or any other, post!


If you enjoy seeing posts of new or in-progress artwork, please consider a donation.

Become a patron of the arts!

Feel free to post links to this journal/community if you feel there might be interest in my artwork!

State of the Artist 11/21/2011

View halloo, peoples! It's Monday, and that means it's time for another State of the Artist update!


Weekly Words

Focus 90% of your time on solutions and only 10% of your time on problems.
- Anthony J. D'Angelo

Wise advice, now if only I could override my own intrinsic reaction to worry and get anxious and fret and panic, and just take time to breathe, relax, and put the worry aside.




Current Project

Still working on Holiday Card artwork, and rejecting nearly everything that hits the page, but, I thought I'd post the last two sketches, as I *think* I've come up with the design I'm going to go with. I do need to hurry as I need to get the files to the printers soon so I'll have the cards on hand to mail before heading out of town for a family trip.

Clicking on the thumbnails will open up the larger image!








***

This will be the LAST CALL for Holiday Card requests. As of next week, I hope to have the image file to the printer. So, if you want a 2011 holiday card, you MUST leave your reply to THIS LINKED POST ONLY by Friday, November 25th, midnight ET. You MUST include your mailing address, even if I have sent you cards in the past, I do not keep addresses after the cards have been mailed, so please do not assume I have your address!

If you want a card, you must reply, I do not send unsolicited cards anymore, as the production and postage costs are too high to order "extras."

If you'd like to donate to the cost of printing and/or mailing holiday cards, please click the "Donate" image at the bottom of this, or any other, post. As always, donations are appreciated, but neither requested nor required. Thank you!

***


From The Archive



Geisha Moon
Completed: 8.2005

I've long had an interested in Japanese culture and aesthetics. The idea of "wabi sabi," or perfect imperfections appeals to my rather cluttered mind, and I'm usually trying to put my own take on this concept into practice in my own life to greater or lesser success.

Original (A4, mixed media): $150 USD
Prints (8x10" giclee): $12 USD

*please note if interested*



Near Future

A number of journal followers have asked for my holiday wish list, so I decided to post it here, since the near future really consists of me needing to get my Holiday Cards and commissions done by the end of the year.

Pretty simple wish list, really, but here goes!

Holiday 2011 Wish List:
1. Gift card/certificates to Amazon.com
2. Gift cards/certificates to dickblick.com (art supplies are my crack)

... and, that's it! See, simple. :)


And... that's all for this week's State of the Artist update! Thank you for joining me, and I hope you've enjoyed this week's sketch offerings!


If you enjoy seeing posts of new or in-progress artwork, please consider a donation.

Become a patron of the arts!

Feel free to post links to this journal/community if you feel there might be interest in my artwork!

State of the Artist 11/14/2011

View halloo, all!

It's Monday, and that means, it's time for another State of the Artist update!


Weekly Words

That which you fear the most can meet you half way
-Pearl Jam "Crazy Mary"


Some of the best 3 minute philosophy is found in song lyrics.


Current Project

Thought I'd post some more of the Holiday Card 2011 reject sketches, since that seems to be all I'm coming up with at the moment... the reject pile is growing, and I really need to find something I'm happy with so I can get started on the final piece!

Clicking on the smaller images will take you to larger scans!







Not much to say about these, really, as they're all rejects for this year's images. Like last week's, there are elements that might end up being incorporated into the final project, but as of yet, I've no idea what that final image is going to be! O.o

***

Again, if you missed the original post regarding requesting Holiday Cards for 2011, please reply to THIS POST HERE! There will be NO unsolicited cards send this year, so if you want one, you MUST request one.

Donations to assist with the cost of card production or postage are always welcome, but not required!




From the Archive



Xmas 2005
Completed: December 2005

One of the very early Holiday Card designs produced for the request list when I was still working almost entirely digitally, so there isn't an original for this image. Even after all this time, there are a number of elements I like about this image. I have long been enamored with the Art Nouveau movement, and it has long been a presence in my artwork.

Original: N/A
Prints (8x10", giclee): $12
Prints (4x5", giclee): $6



Near Future

The near future sees me at work on Holiday Card artwork and commission backlog... STILL.

With luck, I'll have a finalized design this week so I can get it out to the printer as soon as possible, and make some significant progress on my commission backlog so I can get a new queue started. Again, thank you so very much to all of you who have been so patient regarding the wait for pending commissions and new slots for upcoming commissions, I truly appreciate it!


Well, folks, that's it for this week. Thank you for joining me for another State Of The Artist update, I do hope you enjoyed the work posted this week!



If you enjoy seeing posts of new or in-progress artwork, please consider a donation.

Become a patron of the arts!

Feel free to post links to this journal/community if you feel there might be interest in my artwork!

State of the Artist 11/7/2011

View halloo, peoples!

It's Monday, which means, it's that time again... time for a State of the artist update!


Weekly Words

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.
- Pablo Picasso, 1881 - 1973

We are born as blank slates, such creativity encapsulated in the mind that doesn't know "those things aren't real," or "you're not supposed to be able to do that." The challenge, I think, is to retain that creativity and imaginative spark as we go through life being told "that's not real" or worrying about rent, food, bills, all the trappings of being an "adult," without losing sight of the joy of being childlike.




Current Project


Aside from commissions and an unrelated, ongoing project, still taking up the bulk of my time and energy, I'm working on my Holiday Card art... and rejecting most of it. *heh* Such is the way of the creative mind, right?

I thought I'd give you a couple of the sketch ideas I've rejected... although elements might reappear in the finished product.

Clicking on the thumbnails will take you to the full size image!



I find it interesting that I live in a tropical region where it rarely drops below 65 degrees, even in the "dead of winter" (if we're LUCKY) and yet I'm drawing images of snowflakes... O.o I really need to experience a more traditional northern hemisphere winter one of these days.




*** If you didn't see last week's State of the Artist update, you missed the open call for Holiday Card requests. If you'd like to receive a Holiday Card (featuring brand new original artwork) please REPLY ONLY TO THIS LINKED POST.

All replies to the linked post are screened for privacy, and only I will be able to see them. Please, even if you've received a card from me in the past, leave your mailing address in the comments ONLY to the post linked above. I do not keep addresses after the holiday cards have been mailed out. ***




From The Archive




Forest Throne
Completed: 9.2006
Media: Graphite, 9x12"

Since I posted rejected sketches above, I thought it appropriate to post more pencil work here. Although this piece was completed five years ago, I am still very much enamored with it in nearly every way. I love trees, particularly atmospheric photographs of large stands of leafy trees (the kind we don't get where I live,) but I don't particularly relish drawing them, so this piece was more of a personal challenge.

The figure seated in the throne-like tree trunk came first, rather floating in the center of the page until the tree-throne actually grew up around him, rather organically.

I was then left with the challenge of what to fill the resulting blank space with... I actually spent a few hours combing through my morgue of tree/forest photos before settling on something Aspen/Birch-like, with a heavy-dose of "making it up as I go along." :)


Original (9x12" archival paper, graphite): $150
Prints (8x10" giclee): $12

*please note if interested*




Near Future

Convention season is over for me for the year (unless I find some random new venue to attempt,) so it's time to buckle down on the (still) remaining commissions in my backlog and my Holiday Card art project, before posting a new commission queue for those of you who have sent me notes asking when I'll have new slots open. I thank you all so very much for your patience and understanding regarding ongoing commissions and future commission slots, it means the world to me in what has been a rather difficult and stressful year!

Convention season starts again for me come February where I will have a table at MegaCon in Orlando, Florida, the weekend of February 17-19.

I do hope to start up Sketch-A-Day again in January, although it's primary purpose was to make sure I had enough to start the Work-A-Week project in February so I'd have at least 4 new pieces by MegaCon.... however, MegaCon is early next year. So, who knows, maybe Sketch-A-Day will start in December this year.... we shall see!


Thank you all for joining me on yet another State Of The Artist update! I do hope you enjoyed this week's offerings. As always, feel free to leave comments below!



If you enjoy seeing posts of new or in-progress artwork, please consider a donation.

Become a patron of the arts!

Feel free to post links to this journal/community if you feel there might be interest in my artwork!