Splatter Effect

2010-02-10T11:16:00.003-05:00

I didn't have time to make any art today or yesterday... but here's a picture of a moleskine I finished for Bex. The theme was the moon. Did I mention that I despise not being able to use watercolor without pasting paper into the book? Moleskine needs to fix that, teehee. I've had this idea floating around in my head (done a lot of sketches on work of the bunny and the moon) since I saw something similar someone posted on AFA (I'm sorry, I don't remember who! But thank you for the inspiration!) ::copic markers, colored pencils, gel pens, white acrylic::

I made Bex an ATC in this theme as well, thankfully, out of watercolor this time! The background is Dan Smith Amethyst paint... which has this awesome sparkle to it, because it's made from real ground amethyst.

OH, COMPLETION!

2010-02-08T23:42:00.005-05:00

I have finished my cards for Tlouey's Unicorns swap over at AFA. It was much more challenging than I hoped. I have attempted a few other pony-type creatures before, but I really haven't studied the anatomy enough to feel comfortable drawing them, not even whimsical ones! I heavily referenced a cool book on kodomo manga. I think they turned out über cute, which is the look I was going for. Somehow they still look "flat-shaded" to me... but I'm hoping that's just the scan, because I was really satisfied looking at them upon completion IRL. I like the first one, with the pink hair, and ironically that is the least original out of the bunch. Also, you can't really see it, but I used gold and silver gouache, for the horns, and on the hair. So, they SPARKLE. OOOOH. And that purple-haired one's back leg gave me the hardest time!

Used... watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, on new arches hot-pressed paper. (I ran completely out of hot pressed paper, and I didn't realize how much I rely on that smooth, velvety surface until I had absolutely none left. I like using cold press for some things, but it just doesn't erase and lift the way the hot press does. I had to settle for arches, which is not as good as the Sennelier, IMO. I also had to buy a gigantic sheet of it and I had to cut out little ATC rectangles that I'd traced. :D GOOD TIMES!)

2010-02-08T14:01:00.005-05:00

So I'm doing two moleskine exchanges right now. One on www.atcsforall.com and another on www.iatcs.com. This is a pic of my own moleskine for the iATCS exchange. I really like it a lot, especially since I usually suck at the illustrative style. I didn't get a LOT of comments on it, but I am not really concerned because it's coming home to me! I will be utterly heartbroken if the stupid thing gets lost, but I guess that's a risk I'm willing to take in order to have some awesome art added to it! I really love the blogs about the moleskines' journeys through the art world, so I wanted to include my own little version here!

My theme is Fairy Tales and I chose Alice in Wonderland to portray. I thought it was a bit funny that I didn't portray Alice at all, however. Maybe that's what I'll do on the last page when it comes back to me. I bought this book about "kawaii" or "kodomo" manga styles and they have a bunch of different illustrators drawing up these kawaii fairy tales. They were so cute that I really wanted to imitate that style for my own moleskine. I am a bit peeved that I can't use watercolor on the inside of the book, let alone on the outside, but I am pleased with the results. I gessoed the cover, let it dry overnight, and transferred my drawing, which was originally in my sketchbook. I painted the rabbit with some gouache, and I was really freaking out about it rubbing off... so I switched to colored pencils. The micron and gouache really wanted to smear all over the place, and I doubt I'll ever use anything other than colored pencils or acrylic on a cover again, but I'm still pleased with the results. I am so impatient that it was difficult for me not to smear everything I'd worked on. :) Since I was worried about everything getting rubbed or chipped off during the mailing process, I asked Bill what he thought I should fix it with. I know they make all kinds of fixatives, but I wasn't sure which to choose. I had, at that time, a workable charcoal fixative, but I didn't think that would suit my purpose. He suggested using some clear spray paint and I absolutely ignored his advice and set out to the local Michaels to buy some artist's fixative. I settled on some Winsor and Newton craft fixative and I went ahead and sprayed the entire moleskine cover. Well, guess what! The stuff was horrible! It was sticky, and remained sticky until I went ahead and took Bill's advice and coated it with rustoleum clear, glossy spray paint! It turned out PERFECT, except where the sticky stuff absorbed some of my fingerprints. What the hell, it adds to the overall artistic-ness of it (doesn't it? :D). I'm almost loathe to part with the thing, but it's too late for such thoughts now!

I've also completed what I'm going to do for the inside, but I haven't taken pictures of EVERYTHING inside, although I probably should have, considering that my AFA moleskine was almost lost traveling between Scotland and Sweden.

My fairy tale moley is all ready and packed up, waiting for the snow to dissipate so I can run off to the post office.

Oooot! Ooooot! First post!

2010-02-08T11:19:00.001-05:00

So, I've been wanting to start a blog for some time now, because all the cool kids are doing it, but I really didn't (and still don't) have anything to write about. I wanted my blog to focus on positive things, and not just be a place for me to rant and rave about work, bad drivers, or politics. While I'll probably still rant about some things, I want my main focus to be art, and the creative process and my desire to grow in my artwork.