Work in Progress

I'm so excited about this bad boy. Worked on him for about an hour and 45 last night while watching Futurama re-runs. Jesse was playing Star Craft 2 next to me and I started thinking about how amazing gaming graphics are...truly amazing. So it dawned on me to use that as a reference point.

After rifling around in the office I found this big ass book "Art of World of Warcraft" that came with Jess' Lich King X pack and spent the next hour flipping through and marking pages that I'd want to come back to.

I started with this guy, though I probably shouldn't have, because it was really late and he is so detailed...but I love the way you can tell hes striding across some battlefield.

I really wanted to nail the way his left arm is swinging back and his torso is twisted away from the leg he is stepping forward with, and the fact that the wind is at his back so his hair and his cape (camera phone is too small to get the cape in the frame, ha) are swirling around his body.

So far, I am really really pleased, it was a lot of fun. The different shapes, slopes and angles and symmetry involved in this piece were sooo satisfying to draw, like, someone is scratching my back, satisfying. My hand felt happy making the lines!

I started getting the detail and the shading done in the upper left corner of his armor, but I got tired at that point and I didn't want to risk getting sloppy so I put him away.

I'll post more when I finish it off.

Miranda

This sketch took me about forty five minutes. Spent most of that time on the damn hands, ha! This piece makes me want to get better at shadowing, and using light-play to create shape...that is: using a shadow to show the curve of a cheek, instead of a line to indicate a dimple...or shadow to reveal a fold in a shirt as opposed to drawing a line to indicate a fold. I used both of these methods in this particular doodle, and, had it been a color piece, I'd have explored more: the technique of lineless art...but frankly the idea frightens me. I'll get there eventually.

Anyway I'm actually pretty happy with this piece.
I feel like looking at her face you can tell she's sixteen...
Apprehensive, skeptical, aloof and somehow sexy...haha she thinks she's a woman but she's not, she's still just a girl.

I skipped that phase...I was never nubile and beautiful, or a blooming flower. I was a nerd and a weirdo and had no status quo whatsoever. I read books, not magazines...I played video games, and not boys. (though even if I wanted to they wanted nothing to do with me.) I hung out with my parents, and not the cool kids... And I had a blast. High school was fun mostly because I just didn't care what people thought of me.

But Miranda here? She cares. But she doesn't want to. She'll let go eventually.

My new nephew.

I realize my shirt is falling off and you can see my weird sunburn line...but Hunter looks too cute all snuggled up in this picture! 6lbs10oz. Tiny little noodle fought his way into the world yesterday afternoon. I've gotta admit it...I want one real bad.

It is impossible to look at a newborn and not smile.
SO many possibilities await this lil' nugget!
I am an auntie! I'd better start working on my awesome toy collection...I wanna be that cool aunt that has secret candy stashes and who lets you have ice cream for breakfast!

A hot day with some cool animals.

This guy had the right idea. A massive Bengal having a soothing soak. Took one look at my camera and turned his back. Ha! That's an attitude I'll let slide, I'm not about to go head to head with this big boy. Beautiful.

These guys slung themselves around with such ease! It's almost disconcerting how human they look, comical even, to see how agile they are weaving in and out and up the vines while picturing them to be little people!!
This healthy hyena had paws easily six inches in diameter. What a huge guy!
What a cheeky little fellow!! He must've sensed this was his moment to shine!
The sweltering heat did me in after a few hours, but it was no match for these Serengeti soldiers! I swear some of these guys knew they were being photographed!

I realllllly hate this one. Ha! I know i'm my own worst critic, but it was late, I was being lazy, and the fucking hands!! Gah! After all the erasing and CRAP I had to re-do to get the hands, like that, they are the only part of the thing I like. I don't who to give credit to for this, but I drew this using a really awesome picture as a reference. It was on DeviantART, so if you recognize this, and it was yours...thank you, and I'm sorry I bastardized it in pencil.

Practice practice practice...

These are some doodles from my sketchbook. I am ashamed to say I haven't picked up a pencil in some time...ug, so these are a few sketches I did in a few minutes. I, personally, am awful at drawing people...body types, faces, especially hands and feet...and as a result I tend to avoid it at all costs. So, I decided I'd force myself to practice. The result is what you see here. I'm really not all that happy about these, I just figure it is a small step toward actually getting comfortable with drawing people. So my mission in the coming weeks is really focusing on human anatomy: the shape of a body, a face, from different angles and perspectives...With special focus on features like hair, feet, hands and facial features.

Trying some new techniques.

This is a piece I did as a birthday present for my mother. I tried a few new techniques with this one that I hadn't before.

I watered down some of my black paint to do some watercolor-esque shadowing on her arms and face, as well as using the same watered down black to do a wash effect on her dress.

I am pleased how the wash on her dress suggests a shagginess, (your typical flapper style) without me having to actually go into that sort of detail.
I feel like if I had, it would take away from her face. She is a powerful woman, and the focus of the piece is such that your eyes go first to her face, then following down the trail of her beads, letting you see her pose and sensuality, and then your gaze is drawn right back up to her sexy pout. A highly detailed dress would take away from that and clutter the piece, I think.

And the quote I chose for some girl power for my mama, hehe.
This was a fun one.
Took about an hour and a half on it.

Ceramic fun.

This is a sample piece I did. Had a lot of fun with it. I <3 Chimpys!

More shots from Rock For Research

Make The Mountain
Mitch on the bass. Warwick Thumb.

Kerry-DW and Zildjijan. Jesse-Fender Strat with Seamour Duncan JB pickups.
Jim- lead. Fender Telecaster.

Make The Mountain at Rock For Research!

Me at the inaugural performance of Make The Mountain, my hubby's band (L), and Jesse <3 belting out some sweet tunes (R). A Rock For Research event, raising money for brain cancer research and treatment.
Click and have a listen to Make The Mountain!

A night of fire.

This is my second time with a flaming hoop! Exhilarating, scary, HOT!, and powerful! An amazing experience to manipulate such a volatile element. I can't wait to try it again.

Back to Work

Vacation is officially over.
I always have a weird time with vacation:
The first two days I just can't relax, I feel like I'm supposed to be doing something?
Then when I finally get settled in to a groove, I start to itch for a project, or a school assignment or my job. What is wrong with me!?
I'm happy to go back to work today.
I'm ready to be surrounded by pottery and paint and the heat of the kiln.
I can feel my creative juices flowing.
Worked on the storyline for a children's book today; it felt great to dig my heels in and work on something fun. Seeing faces and images and personalities in my head that will eventually need to be put on paper, so when the prelim illustrations start popping I'll start posting.