Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays, 2010. Merry Christmas, Joyous Yule, and Happy New Year! Whatever you celebrate, 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 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!

So I was in a Bad Mood...

...but, after some time outside in the sunshine, plus some sketching, and some MST3K on my iPhone, I feel better.

(the thing above is a result of crankiness + research on prehistoric creatures; it's just a quick scribble)

Beasts of Yore Preview: Bixie and Winged Lion; Lion & Unicorn Tale; Old Coat of Arms

Hi guys! Been busybusybusy working on art, trying to draw at least a little every day, though lately I've been only managing maybe 20 minutes at a time!

Two things that have kept my busy are for the Beasts of Yore Portfolio; they are the Bixie (check out this guy!) and the Winged Lion. I'll go more into detail about the portfolio, the artwork, and the creatures themselves once the portfolio is ready and we're permitted to upload our full pieces. For now, I hope you like the previews!

    
Also, for fun, here's two illustrations from a book I had when I was really little, that had a lasting impression on me. It's from Best-Loved Nursery Rhymes and Songs (1974 edition). I loved the way the lion and unicorn were done - not very accurate, perhaps, but wonderfully heraldic. I loved the soft colors, too. After that is *laughs* a project from 1991 for a color class - I chose to make up my own coat-of-arms. What a mess, but still fun. XD I always loved heraldry! I featured The Five (some other old images of them: 1, 2) in it, though I played with their forms and colors. They show up in a lot of my work, though often only symbolically. Hm, I remember loving to paint on colored board; I should do it more.

    

I'm Still Alive...

... just in the bowels of Trade Show preparation. This is typically the craziest time of the year at work (my 9-5 job, not my personal stuff), and this year is no exception.

However, I am still drawing in bits & pieces of spare time! I still have other things to post, but for now, here's a little ACEO-sized pen and white pencil drawing on some chipboard:



I've been inspired in part by all the prehistoric creature reference books I've been reading/researching lately, in preparation for a summer art show. Still hoping to have lots of new stuff! I would like to make this into a full-color painting, maybe with him as a white lion. Though I don't play it myself, I think there is something in the World of Warcraft game that looks like this, but he's not based on that; back in college in the 90's I'd drawn him on the back of a spiral notebook, and the chipboard's color and texture reminded me of that cardboard back cover, so here he is, in 2010 form.

More soon! Hope you all are well!