ACEOs - Round Two

Hi! Here are a few more of the ACEOs I did back in May and June 2012. As I've said before, ACEOs actually work out really well for me, as I like to draw small anyway, and the cards are easy to carry around and sketch on in bits of free time. Also, they are good for working out ideas that I may develop into bigger paintings later.

    
I love thylacines, so the first (titled "Not Forgotten") is my take on one. I also love (as you probably know by now) Mesoamerican art and jaguars, so the second is another painting of a jaguar lord/Tezcatlipoca– or Tepeyollotl-type figure. The third is just a silly painting of an African Wild Dog, a species I haven't painted much (but should paint more - it's fun to try new things). They are done in pencil and gouache (some with a little ink) on illustration board. They are up for sale at my Storenvy store. I took artistic license with all three, and just tried to have fun. I have some more I will post soon.

Thanks, as always, for taking the time to look! :)

ACEOs

Hi everyone, as you may have noticed, I've been popping online in various social networks, but figured I'd better update here, too! I've been trundling along, fitting in art where I can. ACEOs actually work out really well for me, as I like to draw small anyway, and the cards are easy to carry around and sketch on in bits of free time. Also, they are good for working out ideas that I may develop into bigger paintings later (like the unicorn).

If you like them, some are for sale at my storenvy store. Click for a larger image.

  
  
  
  
The first three were drawn in pen over the summer of 2011, colored earlier this year. They were drawn freehand in ballpoint pen and colored later in gouache on an ACEO sketch card (90lb. weight paper stock, specifically in a Borden & Riley Artist Sketch Vellum Mini Spiral Pad). They are the standard ACEO size (which is small – 2.5" x 3.5").

1. Fox Magic V (kitsune); 2. Rusty Cage (lupine); 3. Pale Shelter (canine): Kitsune lore fascinates me, and "Rusty Cage" and "Pale Shelter" were inspired by the respecive songs.

The next batch were drawn on illustration board, and some were painted with gouache.

4. Unicorn: I find unicorns of all shapes, sizes, and conformations beautiful, whether they're the wildly fierce heraldic type, or more deer- or goat-like, or even the horned, cloven-hooved horse kind. I love to draw all different types, too, but here I was inspired to draw a more horse-like one. Fluffy manes are fun! I hope to make this into a painting. Note, this one has sold.

5. Lynx; 6. Golden Tiger (a modified "golden tabby tiger"); 7. Happy Cat: (this little smiley cat could be related to the Cheshire Cat, as a matter of fact! ; 8. Tigerish Hellcat: I have always loved to draw snarly things, even when I'm in a good mood; it's very satisfying, drawing all those curved muzzle wrinkles and teeth. I loosely term this stylized fiery creature a "hellcat".

I know, no big epic paintings from me lately, but it's either this, or nothing with what time I have... and I'd rather do something small and achievable than nothing at all! XD I will get back to bigger things someday.

Thanks, as always, for looking! :D I hope you are all well.

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".


NOTE: Sales are now closed.

www.WerewolfCalendar.com

Join the Werewolf Calendar Community on DA: http://werewolf-calendar.deviantart.com/

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. 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!