Monday, April 30, 2012

State of the Artist 4/30/2012

View halloo, peoples!

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


Weekly Words

This is here, and this is now; it's the moment that we live for and we just can't live without.
It's all clear to me now, we've already started dying and our time is running out."

lyrics: Here and Now -Great Big Sea


Current Project

Finished one of the commissions sitting in my queue (yay!) It was for a series of 3 small ink wash 2-character paintings from an original short story. I really enjoyed the story, and so, was happy to take on the commission and complete this project.

It's been quite a while since I've done ink washes, but I'm rather pleased with how these came out. As always, clicking the thumbnails opens the larger files.

*there is some mild, fluffy m/m interaction in the following set of images*








Near Future

The Near Future sees more commission work on the table, and I've been poking around at some original pieces to work on during breaks from commission work and when they're all done so I'll have some new artwork come summer convention rush. I've been sadly less productive in terms of original artwork this year than I was this time last year, but, so it goes, right?

Also, should be prepping for some upcoming conventions, but just have too much other *stuff* going on at the moment, but I still have some time before I really need to start cracking down on travel arrangements and such.


Anyway, that's it for this week's State of the Artist update! Thank you for joining me here, as always, feel free to leave comments on any post in this journal, LJ accounts are not required. Hope to see you here again next week!


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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!

Monday, April 23, 2012

State of the Artist 4/23/2012

View halloo, peoples!

It's Monday, and that means time for another State Of The Artist update!


Weekly Words

The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.
-William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616



Current Project

So, I put aside the steampunk airship brothel floor plan sketches to get back to work on commissions I still have outstanding. As such, I don't have any new, current art to post, but I can post the commission completed late last year for a client's character reference sheets. I posted the original pencils for his character sheet last year, but forgot to post the finished products when they were done. Oops.

*clicking on the thumbnail will open the larger image*

Since these are character reference sheets, my client would have added character notes to the final image files for anyone commissioned in the future to use. The text is not included in these images.








Near Future

More commission work to finish, no surprises there, and hopefully more progress to be made on "The Eastern Star," which is the next Lofty Pursuits crew member on the drawing board. *crosses fingers*


Outside World

Check out the progress my good friend Amy is making on her cross-stitch of "Azthahar," it's pretty amazing!


Thank you for joining me on this week's short State Of The Artist update!


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!

Monday, April 16, 2012

State of the Artist 4/16/2012

View halloo!

It's Monday, so it's time for your regularly scheduled State of the Artist update!

First, many thanks to everyone who voted and replied to the Steampunk Tarot Project post! It provided some useful information, the most interesting of which was the overwhelming majority voted for the "do your own thing" model when it came to the divination cards. This definitely requires more research, sketching, timeline breakdown, and project pricing before I can put together a Kickstarter pitch, so I thank you all very much!

Weekly Words

Nothing is more apt to deceive us than our own judgement of our work. We derive more benefit from having our faults pointed out by our enemies than from hearing the opinions of friends.
- Leonardo da Vinci, 1452 - 1519

It is a hard-learned lesson that creative endeavors benefit more, and tend to improve, from honest, constructive criticism than adulation. No one ever learns anything from being told everything is perfect; that only results in the same errors repeated time and time again.

This holds true for any creative endeavor, for when we cease to believe we *can* improve, we stagnate.


Current Project

I had to take a small break from current commissions this weekend to work on sketching something personal before I lost the idea completely, or convinced myself not to tackle it.

What is this idea? In order to produce more of Madame Scarlett's crew of the Lofty Pursuits, I needed to create interior spaces of her airship brothel. That said, I am not an architectural illustrator, but I took a whack at drawing up an escort's cabin. I have to say that sketching out the floor plan first helps a great deal! It gives me a much better sense of where things are supposed to be in the space.

*as always, clicking on the thumbnail opens the larger image*

To start with, I created the floor plan of Madame Scarlett's captain's/madam's cabin. I do realize, that were this on a Real Live ship, it would most likely take up the majority of the deck, but, hey, she's the captain!



Then, I moved to the floor plan of a "typical" escort's cabin on her ship. They are much larger than any cabin on a real vessel of comparable barque size would be, but this is a "reclaimed" warship, and she's been refitted to serve her new requirements, so bigger cabins it is! (Think of the Lofty Pursuits like the Tardis... she's bigger on the inside. :)



This second floor plan has been of immense help when creating the actual room for the escort (which will be the background image for the next piece featuring a new crew member of the Lofty Pursuits.) I've never drawn an interior with so much detail, and it was quite the challenge, fun and frustrating at the same time. The thought of putting color and pattern detail in the final inks of this piece make me extremely nervous! (Especially seeing as it should hopefully match the stylistic feel of the background to "Red Light Flights," in which I unintentionally ended up with a more Maxfield Parrish atmosphere.)



It definitely needs tweaks and fixes, but all in all, I think it's a pretty good start.



Near Future

Near Future sees me, hopefully, completing at least 2 of these backlogged commissions by the end of the month, and I am eternally grateful for how patient my clients are!


That's all for this week's update, thank you for joining me, and hope to see you here again next week!

Kit

Monday, April 9, 2012

State of the Artist: 4/9/2012

View halloo, peoples!


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

Weekly Words

You cannot force ideas. Successful ideas are the result of slow growth. Ideas do not reach perfection in a day, no matter how much study is put upon them.

-Alexander Graham Bell, 1847 - 1922


Ah... the gift of patience, with which some are blessed and others of us must work very hard at cultivating.


Current Project

Still hard at work on commission projects, so there has been little to no time for personal artwork, but I'm hoping to get some artwork transferred to board *some* time this week, if for no other reason than to encourage myself to buckle down on these commissions.

The pieces up for transfer consideration are:

Tumor
The Archivist
Day 8, 2011
Angler-mer

Eventually, I do hope to have them all transferred to work on, it's just a matter of which one I feel like tackling first.


Supplemental

Last week, outside of my regular posting schedule, I popped online to propose a quick poll for a possible future project to be produced via Kickstarter. (I really didn't not intend all the alliteration!)

If you missed Friday's post, please take a moment to consider voting in the poll and/or leaving a comment: HERE. Thank you!


Near Future

I will be attending Florida SuperCon: Miami, FL June 29-July 2 with a table in the Artist Alley. Come by, say hi, buy a print or order a commission!


Thank you for joining me on this rather short State Of The Artist update!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

State of the Artist: Supplemental

View halloo, peoples!

I'm considering producing a new crowdfunded Steampunk art project, if you'd like to know more and/or refer others who might be interested, please visit the following link!

Steampunk Project on LiveJournal

Thank you!!

Monday, April 2, 2012

State of the Artist 4/2/2012

View halloo, peoples!

More random life interruptions and minor family emergencies have cropped up, resulting in a lack of posting and a lack of recent art progress. You've all been extremely patient in waiting for updates and new art, and I do hope you'll indulge me just a bit more as I attempt to work though all these Real Life randomocities... :)


Weekly Words

Whether we're a preschooler or a young teen, a graduating college senior or a retired person, we human beings all want to know that we're acceptable, that our being alive somehow makes a difference in the lives of others.

-Fred Rogers, 1928 - 2003


Current Project

Unfortunately, there is no art to posted this week, but I do have a few projects on my plate. I'm currently working on some commission projects, but they are slow going at the moment.

I've been kicking around the idea of a steampunk major arcana project and the realities that would be required to make this kind of project come to life. I'm still doing some research, but it looks like a kickstarter project might be best for funding this kind of undertaking.

If you have any interest in a steampunk major arcana project, or know anyone who might, please feel free to spread the word or comment here.


Near Future

The Near Future brings more work on backlogged commissions along with art appearing at upcoming conventions. If you'll be attending any of the following events, stop by in the art shows and pick up some work!

SakuraCon: Seattle, WA
RavenCon: Richmond, VA
AnimeNorth: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I'm hoping to get "Tumor," one of last year's Sketch-A-Day pieces to the painting table some time this week. *crosses fingers*

So, a short post, but that's all for this week! I do hope you'll join me next week for a new State Of The Artist update!