Werewolf Calendar 2012: Now For Sale!

Hi everyone! I apologize for being offline so much; between work, our daughter, family stuff, and lately, Hurricane Irene, I've been busy, and I know I've missed a lot here, both good and bad. I hope you all are doing well!

I did complete a very big project (literally): my piece for the 2012 Werewolf Calendar. My theme was "urban werewolves".


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About this image: I went with more of an "urban werewolf" idea, rather than a "hybrid werewolf". I love werewolves of ALL kinds, from big raging beasts to long lanky ones and everything in between, but I went with somewhat "average-sized", more lithe ones for this idea. I thought they might make more sense in a city where they don't want to stand out too much.

I wanted to try a night scene: moonlit, though the city's never REALLY dark, I suppose, with bare branches as the season is winter. I had done a sort of urban werewolf couple years ago, and this is kind of an update. The lion statue is "Patience", one of the two lions - along with "Fortitude" - from the NY Public Library. I hoped it might make a striking calendar image, plus I thought the idea of werewolves disrespecting a lion as top predator might be subtly funny.

Work notes: The original pencil drawing for this is HUGE: almost 20" wide. Last year I couldn't get in the detail I wanted working at actual size, so I drew this much larger. My pencil technique (lots of layering and push-pulling of the graphite) is very time-consuming, so this took me a very long time, but I did enjoy it. I scanned it in six sections, merged it together, then added color with a mouse in Photoshop CS3. I looked at hundreds of wolf photos and royalty-free and creative commons images for the lion and library, and the trees are based on a photo I took myself.

I hope you like it!

Just heard it's the centennial of the New York Public Library too! Neat. :)

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays, 2010. Feeling a bit brain-dead from all that's been going on lately, I wasn't sure what to do this year; Paulie very helpfully suggested penguins, so here are two very stylized ones!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Joyous Yule, and Happy New Year! Whatever you celebrate, Paul and I wish you all the best. :)

Done in Adobe Illustrator CS3.

I was really pressed for time this year, so unfortunately I didn't get to do a big card-mailing. :/ I hope this (sort of) makes up for it! I'm very sorry and I hope to be able to mail out cards as usual next year.

UPDATE: Art (Pen Sketchbook: 3 Lupine Shapeshifters), Werewolf Calendar Sales Closing!, Imagekind

I'm chugging along at work and at home, but still trying to fit in some art time! Here are three pieces from my Pen Sketchbook II. The Fall (especially near Halloween) always makes me want to draw werewolves, or at least werewolf-type creatures; I don't know if these would pass for werewolves in the "this is what the general public thinks werewolves are like" sense (like The Howling or The Wolf Man), and I know people are very picky about them online too (judging by the comments I see everywhere), so to dodge the (silver?) bullet so to speak I'll just call them "lupine shapeshifters". I would like to thank all the books, calendars, and magazine clippings I've been sorting through in preparation for re-doing the living room for inspiration as well.

    
First is "Ruffian", who looks to be somewhat more of a red wolf or coyote-hybrid type guy. He came to mind while listening to Tori Amos' Don't Make Me Come To Vegas. Yeah, I know this idea has probably been done a million times before (and better, too), but who cares? He doesn't. Heck, I don't, either. I'm just glad to be drawing something!

Second is "Vagabond", a scruffy wolf-type guy, also more red-wolf-like. I love to draw big, muscular creatures with perfect pelts (as you can no doubt tell from most of my other stuff), but scraggly and lean is fun too. I tried to mix human features with the lanky frame, so his face isn't quite lupine, nor are his legs. Some wolves have surprisingly thin limbs!

Third is "Den Mother", also territory that has been crossed many times before by many artists, but it was still fun and enjoyable for me. I liked layering things up and I enjoyed doing the roundness/flatness of it. If I re-did it, or painted it, I might try to make it more realistic, as well as do a more general-public-pleasing hand/paw or full paw instead of the weird hand/paw mix thing I've got going on here, but when sketching for me I just draw what I feel like.

Thanks so much for looking! :D Also, two things to note:

Orders for The Werewolf Calendar 2011 will be closing November 12th! After that time, there will be a limited number for sale on a first come, first serve basis.

Imagekind: I've had a placeholder there since 2008(!), but only started uploading stuff there recently. I've been pleased with their printing, having bought a stretched canvas, a print, and a card from them, and even though I know print sales are slow and money is tight for everyone, I do still get asked about prints: so, if you're so inclined, please do take a look at my Imagekind gallery. I'm still adding things, and I'll have my Fantasy gallery up soon, too. Yes, I had some things in my Etsy shop as well, but they sold and I have to replenish things; at Etsy those would all be prints made and matted by me (as well as originals, like the Prehistoric Series pieces I had up there), but Imagekind has a really nice range of sizes that I do not sell myself, and the canvases are especially nice.

Thanks again for reading! I hope you all are having wonderful days. :)

Art Post: Cave Bear

Here is another painting from my "Prehistoric" series, done for a convention (see the other three in previous entries). This one, like the Giant Hyena, is approximately 12" x 12", and also on Natural Fiber Painting Panels, painted in gouache. It is based on the cave bear, Ursus spelaeus.

Like the others, this was a learning experience, and I don't claim to be completely accurate; I have so little free time I wanted to make sure art stayed "fun" for me, so I did this one like the others - as a stylized and iconic interpretation, where I took liberties with scientific accuracy. I tried to keep the colors toned down and similar for cohesiveness, as it will be with all the paintings in this series.

As always, thanks for looking!

Art Post: Giant Hyena

Here is another painting from my "Prehistoric" series for an upcoming convention (see the first two in the previous entry). This one is approximately 12" x 12", also on Natural Fiber Painting Panels, painted in gouache. It is based on the giant (or "short-faced") hyena/hyaena, like those from the genus Pachycrocuta.

Like the others, this was a learning experience, and I don't claim to be completely accurate; I have so little free time I wanted to make sure art stayed "fun" for me, so I did this one like the dire wolf and sabretooth - as a stylized and iconic interpretation, where I took liberties with scientific accuracy. I tried to keep the colors toned down and similar for cohesiveness, as it will be with all the paintings in this series.

As always, thanks for looking. Sorry I have not been on much. More art soon!

Art Post: Sabertooth & Dire Wolf

    
Here are two paintings from a "Prehistoric" series for an upcoming convention. They are 8" x 10" on Natural Fiber Painting Panels, painted in gouache. I really like the surface - I transferred a xerox of my drawing using Saral Transfer Paper onto the boards, and the lines held up under multiple washes of color. Best of all, for me, the surface didn't buckle, shred, pill, or otherwise deteriorate, a problem I'd had with other paper-based surfaces.

This was definitely a learning experience for me. I still have a long way to go to improve my lighting, anatomy, etc., but at least I found a surface that seems to work with my style.

As for the images themselves, they are my stylized, iconic interpretations of a sabretoothed cat and a dire wolf. The sabretooth I did first, and was good practice. The dire wolf is roughly based on dire wolf skulls, which are a bit thicker and broader than today's gray wolf, but are overall rather similar. Obviously with both I was playing around and not going for complete scientific accuracy. I tried to keep the colors toned down and similar for cohesiveness, as it will be with all the paintings in this series.

Sorry to be out of touch; I have not been online much lately, and the last few days not at all.

Protectors of the Small

For two wonderful people who do so much for animals...

  
Thanks for ALL you do, "laturner" and "gesthen"!
These are two little drawings (approx. 4" high) done the same way as my other sketch/art cards, on invitation stationery. The border is pearlized and embossed. I love the cards because they're small and easy to take with me, to work on in bits of free time; plus, the surface has enough tooth to take the graphite nicely, without smearing too much.

I know the animals aren't 100% accurate and in proportion (the badger is supposed to be large, more human in proportion to the bunnies, etc.), but they're meant to symbolize the recipients, so I took artistic license; they are slightly anthropomorphisized, among other things. The kittens and bunnies are loosely based on ones they've fostered, though I wanted to keep them somewhat unspecific to represent all the animals they've helped. I haven't drawn a realistic polar bear or badger in years (hmmm, if ever...?) so this was an interesting challenge for me (I like to try something/learn something new with each piece I do). I hope you like them!