Wandering Wings

Cover for The Last Legend - Final

2011-03-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

...and I can check another project off the list! The book cover illustration for The Last Legend by K. Writerly (available soon on blurb.com and lulu.com) is complete.

I rarely keep records of the exact time I spend on each piece, but I'm going to estimate that this took between 15-20 hours of hand painting in Photoshop. I am really in love with the new color mixer brush in CS5! All total I think I also created 6 new brushes for the texture work, which was quite a bit of fun to experiment with.

I'm pretty happy with the end result and I'd love to hear your comments.

Here's the finished illustration:

Here's the illustration with the book cover title, spine and flap design added in:

and here are a couple random detail clips:

Cover for The Last Legend - In Progress

2011-02-19T19:39:00.001-08:00

One of my very best friends, contacted me recently about doing some illustration work. With her permission, I am posting the progress I've made on one of the projects - a book cover/dust jacket.

The preliminary thumbnail:

and a sequence of progression following that:

As you can see from the progression, I still have quite a bit of work to do on the castle and there is a tree line/woods section that has yet to be added. I will be sure to post the completed image as soon as it's ready. In the meantime, now is your chance to visit the author's site: K. Writerly

Bookmark it, check out all her incredibly awesome stories and don't forget to buy a copy of The Last Legend as soon as it's available!

MI Renaissance Festival 2010

2010-08-29T17:22:00.000-07:00

It should also come as no surprise that in the 'off season' I spend a lot of time thinking about which costume I shall wear next and what I need to make it.

This year I chose to make a griffin costume... enter mass quantities of fur, feathers and assorted yarn, lots and lots of planning and some very lucky thrift store purchases. The mask, bra and fur/feather belt were made by yours truly. Kudos to my mom though for the crochet work along the top of my yarn skirt! (One of these days I really must learn how to crochet.)

My sister went with a phoenix theme and we decided to use a lot of different colors of fabric to simulate a fire effect. In the end it's a bit different than I think either of us was thinking, but I still think it turned out great!

So to commemorate what I believe to be some pretty successful costume designing this year my sister and I had our pictures taken professionally on site by Medieval Memories. The photos below are posted with permission by Medieval Memories - I highly encourage anyone attending the Michigan Renaissance Festival to have their own photos taken! (ps. if you need garb - they'll even dress you up first!)

New Product Line

2010-08-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to drop a little note to let everyone know that I launched a new product in the cafepress store. I could be descriptive, but I think the picture rather says it all. I know I've had this thought often, have you?

ps. coming soon, several new masks, a new header for the blog (please excuse the current incompleteness, and hopefully some new content on the portfolio

A little less melodrama

2010-06-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

So this post is comes on the tail end (I hope) of my cold from heck. I have been seriously lacking energy lately but this week I did manage to accomplish a submission for the Ripple blog. If you haven't been there I heartily encourage you to visit. All the artwork (most in the form of artist trading cards) are for sale. For a $10 donation to either The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies or The International Bird Rescue Research Center you can buy an original work of art.

Well without further ado, here's the first of what I hope to be many submissions.

a tale of woe

2010-06-09T13:32:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been pretty rough. My desktop power supply was fried during a storm, I caught a major cold that I'm still trying to kick, hit a deer with my car, fell holding my camera so now the anti-shake on the lens malfunctions and had to complete wipe the drive on the desktop after a virus issue. I've had the desktop back up and running for a couple days now and I think I've almost got all the software back on it. *sigh* Now, of course, both of my Seagate external backup drives are acting funny. I think I really hate Seagate. I need to try and find a high capacity Maxtor drive, the Maxtor I had never gave me a minutes trouble!

All this bad luck I've been having has got to be paving way for something good to happen. I hope so anyway!

Now that I've got all that off my chest, here are a couple of the latest sketches.

Weeks 4, 5 & 6 of the 12 Week Challenge

2010-05-19T17:42:00.000-07:00

Lists - check
Business plan - check
Now it's time for some artwork!

The goals for weeks 4,5 & 6 was to create 2 pieces of art each week. I didn't get nearly as much work done as I'd hoped to, but I like what I have so it balances out.

I had a lot of art on my 'to do' list, but what I focused on in these weeks was a character group I've name the 'Ittles'. With the ultimate goal of licensing, I wanted to first make a character sheet for each one and then make patterns, and objects to mix with them to create sets.

I don't know what the norm is for a character sheet, but I decided to make four standard views of each character: front view, side view, back view and suprised.
So without further blathering... on to the art... (are you happy now Michelle?)

There are plenty of character sheets to go and one little guy that's not even on the line work page yet, still I'd be happy to hear what you all think about what I've got so far.

Week 3 of the 12 Week Challenge (in retrospect)

2010-05-06T16:50:00.001-07:00

I'm still catching up with my posting, so here's what week 3 entailed.

The task was to define your business type and start your marketing strategy. As I've freelanced in the past, I already have my business type so I focused on the next task which ultimately begins with two lists.

The first list consists of 10 art directors/companies that you will submit your art to at the end of the challenge. List two is the 6 portfolio pieces you plan to make.

With the shear number of ideas and interests I have, I've found every step of this challenge to be truly a challenge. My initial list of companies consisted mostly of children's book publishers -- as I tend to think most of my work could be a good fit for that genre. My plan was overturned though after listening to Tara Reed's interview on the zero2illo.com blog. I can't say that it's unusual for me to change my mind - but listening made me realize that my mindset about my work is much closer to a fit for licensing than standard book illos.

So with my paradigm shift hovering in the foreground I decided that list #1 needed to be completely redone. There are a ton of new options and venues to explore and in all honesty I think that list #1 may take me the full 12 weeks to accumulate.

As for list 2 here's what I posted:

Oddballs (character design & image set)
Chubs & Grubs (character design & image set)
'What I Want To Be' Trees (scene/possibly sequential illustration)
Holiday Dragons (character designs & image set)
set of Art Nouveau floral motifs (embroidery design)
series of editorial illustrations featuring high heeled shoes

I mentioned previously that I tend to change my mind 'just a bit' so I'm pretty curious myself to see if I hold true to this list in the coming weeks.

Week 2 of the 12 Week Challenge (in retrospect)

2010-05-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

When it comes to the 12 week challenge, the word challenge definitely isn't for show. In week 2, participants are requested to make an OGSM for their business.

An OGSM is a one page summary that lists the Objectives, Goals, Strategies and Measures of your business.

Here's my understanding of the categories:

Objective: What exactly are you trying to achieve? Think long term here.

Goals: List 3 or 4 ways you can achieve your objective.

Strategies: Take each goal and break it down - these are your strategies.

Measures: What can you do to make sure your are progressing? Are you closer to your objective?

I'm being rather simplistic with the explanations here, but for anyone wishing to create their own I encourage you to visit the zero2illo blog and read the in depth description.

Without further ado, here's what I came up with. *disclaimer* I reserve the right to modify this at any time...ha! You didn't think I would actually make up my mind, did you? *disclaimer*

Week 1 of the 12 Week Challenge

2010-04-10T13:40:00.000-07:00

A recent bout of determination has inspired my to take part in the 12 week challenge over at the Zero 2 Illo blog.

The challenge for Week 1 is to answer the following question:

What do you want to illustrate?

So after numerous drafts and a whole week of consideration, this is my response:

That certainly seems like it should be an easy question but here I am almost a week later and I'm still trying to figure it out.

I work as a designer so I tend to use whatever illustration skills I have to offset that. I create my own stock art, t-shirt designs and mascots/characters. Sometimes I do manage to draw/paint an image 'just because' but not nearly as often as I should. As it stands currently, I tend to use illustration as a design tool more than anything else.

Since I already illustrate in a variety of ways, it's rather hard to narrow it down to just one. I'm also not entirely certain that I should. As a designer I've found that versatility often comes in handy and I think I'd like to keep my illustration on the same track as my design work. To that end, I'd like to see myself following through with several different types of illustration with the ultimate goal of marketing myself as a designer and illustrator.

That said, I think I'm going to group my interests into two categories: design illustration and fantasy illustration.

The design illustration I want to pursue will consist of the types of things I've already been doing:
- Mascots and Characters
- Stock Art/Embroidery Design
- Illustration for Apparel

Fantasy illustration is something that I would like to pursue primarily for myself. I haven't done very much of my own fantasy work, so I'm not expecting to make a living with it anytime soon. Still, of all the types of illustration work out there, the fantasy genre captures my attention the most.

Social Media & Me

2010-03-02T13:07:00.000-08:00

Like all good internet junkies I have a Facebook account. It started out as a way to stay in contact with people I went to school with or friends I used to see every day. Then I was introduced to applications.

Applications I've found are rather insidious. They start out small. A friend forwards a quiz, invites you to play a game or you catch a good looking graphic in an activity feed. Pretty soon at least one of those games is going to get you hooked. For me it's a toss up between Vampire Wars and Mafia Wars. Just when I'm satisfied with my character's skill or maybe even a little bored, a new level or rare item is added. Of course, bonuses are often offered to my fellow gaming friends but only if I post them on my wall. This is great except now my non-gaming friends have all my game related posting cluttering up their feed.

I find myself quite often passing up these bonuses just so I don't irritate my non-gaming friends too much. Considerate? I think so. :P

More recently I signed up for my own twitter account. Now I'm bombarded by a stream of 140 letters blurbs all day and night! Don't get me wrong, some of those blurbs are incredibly helpful and I love to share my own. Still, I find myself drifting over my tweet list more and more frequently. It doesn't hurt that the dang bird is soo cute either and it's EVERYWHERE!

By the way, don't forget to follow me on twitter here.

Vanity Aflame Step 6

2010-03-02T12:35:00.001-08:00

I decided to change the bird's coloring and head slightly so that it looked more realistic. I love peacocks and have quite a few photos that I've used as reference. Still, I took some artistic license with the crown of feathers on the head as I liked the longer more flowing version I had already drawn.

Vanity Aflame Step 5

2010-02-25T17:10:00.000-08:00

If you are an avid follower I'm sure you've caught on by now that I've changed the name of this piece yet again. I'd apologize, but that's pretty much the way I'm hard-wired. I have a very tough time deciding on names!! Just consider the evolving name another part of the process and enjoy the next step in the evolution of ‘Vanity Aflame’.

In step five I've started to add some detail into the head of the soon to be less-naked birdie.

Vanity Aflame Step 4

2010-02-21T16:00:00.000-08:00

I've finally started to work a bit more toward the finished coloring on the clouds and I've now added in the rough shape of the bird itself.

Vanity Aflame Step 3

2010-02-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

For step 3, I focused on fleshing out the background and really making it look like clouds. I also decided to change my plans for the opening in the clouds from a town to an island. After all what self respecting fire bird would prefer a city to an island paradise?

Vanity Aflame Step 2

2010-02-18T08:13:00.000-08:00

Step 2 in the series is the beginning of the background work.

Vanity Aflame Step 1

2010-02-16T16:47:00.000-08:00

If the title doesn't give you an indication, this piece was inspired by the quickie contest entry I showed in my last post. I've decided to help keep myself motivated by showing this work in progression. I've always enjoyed seeing the steps involved in an artwork and I'm hoping you will too.

Without further ado, step 1:

If you compare this to the concept image in the last post, you can see that I've improved the overall composition, perspective and made the bird's anatomy a bit more realistic. The details may change as I go along, but I'm happy enough with this sketch to begin working.

Phoenix/Peacock cross

2010-02-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon an art contest that called for the artist to portray what a phoenix would like like if it were crossed with a peacock. As I love both of these birds, I couldn't help but create a quick doodle. I hope to develop this into a larger scale more complex work at some point, but for the moment this was enough to satisfy my drawing urge.

Bead Organizing Tip

2010-02-09T15:44:00.000-08:00

If you've ever bought plastic organizers with compartments to organize beads, findings and other small stuff this tip is for you!

I've literally spent hours separating and organizing all my seed beads so that when a project comes along everything is easy to find. After spending all that time making things organized nothing irritates me more than to have bead spilling underneath the dividers and mingling together anyway!

The quick fix is to run a bead of hot glue along the bottom of the divider before snapping it into place. The glue will keep your divider wall stationary (unless you really yank on it) and it will also keep your beads from sliding underneath the divider.

Handy Organizing Tip

2010-02-01T10:20:00.001-08:00

Today I decided to work on a few chokers, which at this point require a bit of high speed sewing. So, my sewing machine gets hauled out of it's box and I set about finding just the right thread color for my bobbin.

What do I find when I open my little bag of bobbins? A huge mess!

The free ends have, of course, had plenty of time to intermingle and now I'm being sidetracked by untangling instead of getting on with my project of choice. I decided to fix the issue and this is what I came up with. All you'll need is one of those misbehaving bobbins and a piece of tape.

I'm using scotch tape, but I'm sure any kind will do.

Cut off a piece of tape and the fold one end over (sticky side to sticky side).

Then take your wayward thread end, lay it on top of your bobbin and place the remaining sticky part of the tape over it. The folded part of the tape will now act as an pull tab for easy removal and best of all no more loose ends!

It's always 'In Progress'

2010-01-30T18:12:00.001-08:00

I like to periodically browse through my hard drive looking for files that for some reason or other never got finished or that I abandoned deliberately. I came across one such image the other day that sparked my interest and so I've begun working on it again. It's far from being done, but I'm sharing anyway. I'd love to hear what you think and maybe what you think I should do to finish it.

Transforming Your Face - Digitally

2010-01-26T23:13:00.000-08:00

During the latest course of mad internet browsing (the topic was microscope slide pendants this time) I managed to stumble across an interesting tool. Students at the University of St. Andrews have created a tool that will transform a face into a number of 'styles'.

The list of options isn't extensive, but there are a few artistic styles represented and the resulting art would look great as part of a collage or scrapbook. I tested this out with a rather blah photo of myself. Here's my favorite result in the style of Mucha:

Overwhelmed & Undervalued

2010-01-25T15:27:00.000-08:00

For a while now, I've been contemplating taking my freelance work to a new level and trying to making a living at it full time. I have to admit the idea of setting my own schedule and not being limited to one place holds a great deal of appeal for me. So, in the interest of this pursuit I've been browsing through the sites online that offer 'help' for freelancers to find work.

To begin let me say that it's a sad state of affairs when you have to devalue yourself just to get a job. It seems to me after browsing through quite a few of these sites and even submitting bids myself that the only one who profits is the customer.

Just today I read a post for a full time graphic designer. This individual wanted one designer to work with him/her to create a php/mysql back end website and work on it exclusively. That's right 9-5, working on just this site and not being able to take any other jobs. The pay? $12 a day. Wow look out world I might managed to feed myself on that!

A Vampyre Prayer

2010-01-16T20:23:00.000-08:00

One new design is available in the Inherent Darkness store. Tonight it's limited to clothing only, but tomorrow I have plans to alter it for printing on a bunch of other merchandise. Light and dark versions of the design are available and I'm including previews below. Click here for a direct link to the section should anyone wish to order.

Sand Painting

2010-01-03T12:13:00.001-08:00

A long time ago I had the opportunity to watch Tibetan monks paint a sand mandala. It was a very beautiful and tranquil thing to watch. Since then whenever I think of sand painting - a mandala is what immediately springs to mind.

Recently a good friend shared a link to a video on youtube of the artist Ilana Yahav who changed my perception of sand painting.

If you have not heard of this artist, I highly recommend watching at least one of her videos. She paints images with sand the way I would expect to see someone use paint. These images are lit from beneath and projected onto a screen for the audience. A very unusual method of performance art but very interesting to watch.

Inherent Darkness store update

2009-12-11T18:04:00.000-08:00

Three new products designs are available in my cafepress store.

Here's the shop link: Inherent Darkness

New T-Shirt Designs

2009-12-05T09:54:00.000-08:00

It seems like forever since I worked on T-shirt designs. I know I have a list about a mile long of phrases to either set or illustrate! At any rate, I decided to jump on the fan merchandise bandwagon at cafepress and made up a couple of Twilight designs. The first design is just a random thing that wormed it's way into my completed category.

Oh and for anyone wanting to buy there very own, shirt, button, etc, here's the link:
http://inherentdarkness.net

Status

2009-10-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

If anyone reading knows me personally, you know that I Friday I lost my job. I knew in advance that it was going to happen so I had a little time to prepare. Still, I don't think you can ever be truly prepared for something like that. At the moment I'm looking around my apartment overflowing with boxes and trying to imagine where I'll end up.

The dark cloud of negativity is hanging over my head tonight and I'm having trouble picturing the positive. I would really like to crawl into a hole and not come out for a while, but I don't anticipate having the opportunity.

Tomorrow I start moving furniture.

More of us tryin' to be models... lol!!

2009-09-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

Mi Renaissance Festival 2009 - First 2 Weekends

2009-08-31T03:54:00.000-07:00

I can't seem to go without bringing my camera along so I decided to share some highlights. I'm sure more will follow as the weeks progress!

Dragon Mask - Step 7 - It's Finished!!

2009-08-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

Well, here's the finished mask. I hope you all enjoyed seeing the progress.

Dragon Mask - Step 6

2009-08-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

I've started adding feathers!

Finished Mask

Dragon Mask - Step 5

2009-08-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

Now that the painting is complete, the support for the feathers is added.

Step 6

Dragon Mask - Step 4

2009-08-23T18:18:00.000-07:00

At this point I finally got the paint job the way I had envisioned.

Step 5

Dragon Mask - Step 3 Image

2009-08-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

At this point I've gotten the base color darkened up nicely and I'm starting work on the scale painting. The materials next to the mask are things I'm considering incorporating into the final.

Step 4

Dragon Mask - Step 2 Images

2009-08-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

Here's the first coat of paint. The whole thing is way too bright but everything needs a starting point right?

Step3

Dragon Mask - Step 1 Image

2009-08-10T17:16:00.000-07:00

Originally, I was going to post a series of images detailing the process of this mask after it was complete. I've since decided that I may as well break up the posting.

I generally don't rush through making a mask, but I have to admit the sheer amount of time I spent thinking about this one before I even began was extreme. I'm pretty sure it counts in months and not days. Because this was such a departure to the masks I've done in the past I had to work out how I wanted it to conform to the face, how wide the bridge of the nose could be, where the eyes would be placed and how I was planning to decorate it - all before I even began!

The first step was to create a form I could use to drape the paper mache over. I used a cheap air day clay mounted on a giant easter egg of all things. (For anyone wondering, the easter egg has roughly the same size and over shape as the human face.) It worked well, although once I finally got my paper mache shaped the form I used broke. :(

The image below is what the paper mache mask looked like after it had been removed from the form and lightly sanded.

Step 2

Blog Customization

2009-08-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around with customizing this blog for most of the day so far. I finally have 3 columns like I wanted and now I'm trying to decide on a name I like. As soon as I get that squared away, I'll finish up the header graphic and post it.

In other news, I realized that I neglected to post the last mask that was finished. This was made for my sister who liked another that I had done in a similar style. (see post below) Enjoy!

Another Stream of Consciousness Post

2009-08-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

I spent most of the day driving around looking for garage sales in the rain. A lot of people commented on the miserable day. While I did get wet, I thought the day went rather well.

I finally managed to get part of a costume I'm making dyed black to my satisfaction so I can finally continue on with that project. Thanks go to wench-wares.com for the wonderful top, earrings, fan and matching feathers I'll be using in the mask.

When the mask I'm making for the aforementioned costume is complete, I'll be posting a sequence of images detailing it's progression.

Current projects I'm thinking about and dabbling with include:
dragon belly dance costume (see above)
2 other masks in progress
updating my various websites
making new t-shirt designs for my store

Masks Galore

2009-07-09T09:48:00.000-07:00

For the last two weekends, I've had a booth at one of the local Farmer's Markets for my masks. As such I've been thinking of them quite a bit and realized I hadn't posted any of the newer ones here. So without any furthur ado...

More info and pricing of each of these can be found at facades.vixpi.com

Newest Masks

2009-02-07T14:50:00.000-08:00

I've made a few new masks in the last couple months. If you're watching facades.vixpi.com or are fortunate enough to work with me chances are you've already seen these but I thought they were worth posting here as well. All the masks pictured here are for sale, although I'm waffling about the one with the veil. I really like that one!

morning commute

2009-02-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

I was entranced with the scenery one morning not too far back. It was foggy, which is generally odd in wintertime and the morning sky and treetops were just peeking out above the fog bank. With all the snow on the ground the world had no horizon for a time. I just couldn't stop staring out my side windows and kept cursing that I didn't have a camera in the car. Later I made this sketch as I tried to remember how it looked. I'm sure someday I'll develop this further.

Illustration Friday Sketch

2009-01-04T19:32:00.000-08:00

I resolve to eat more healthy foods...

What's new

2008-12-24T17:51:00.000-08:00

And now for the stream of consciousness post:

I've recently found myself enamored of a podcast called Craftypod. If you've never heard of it you can get it from itunes or right at the source www.craftypod.com

I finally finished all my Christmas presents. Just in the nick of time too...(bad pun intended)

I've also managed to convince myself that joining facebook was a good thing. I basically a hermit so I'm amazed that so many people have friended me.

I've discovered that Christmas lights are a real pain in the *** Does it take some sort of technical genius to work out how to get a strand relit or what?!

From the craftypod podcast I learned of a site called SpoonFlower that lets you design and print your own custom fabric. Not sure when I'll be using it, but I had to sign up.

More masks are in the works, although admittedly I'm slower than I should be in making them.

My vacation to Toronto is coming up soon and I'm a nervous wreck thinking about the traffic. I've never been there so driving is going to be stressful. I still have maps to make. Thank you google maps!

I've also been working on setting up another blog site. I don't know why really as it's not like I'm all that speedy updating this one, but I've got a bunch of space on my server so I figure I may as well use it, eh?

next time....Christmas the aftermath...

Finally posting the newest mask..

2008-09-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? I've posted more in the last 2 days than I did all of last month! lol.

Above is the latest mask. I call this one the wedding mask. It's all in white & antique white with pearl accents. It's for sale if anyone is interested.

2nd Costume

2008-09-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post I mentioned a second costume that I wore for this years Renaissance Festival. Here it is!

The second image is the mask that was worn with this costume.

Mask Closeup

2008-09-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

I had this handy, so I thought I'd post it. This is the mask I am wearing in my previous post.

This Year's Costume

2008-09-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I've had a great Renaissance festival season. I had 2 primary outfits that I alternated wearing each weekend and it's possible that I'm even in the background of a movie that was being filmed there. This image is the my black and gold costume. The mask is something I made myself. The feathers on my head were purchased at the fair. The base skirt was found on ebay, the coin scarf came from a convention, and the beaded scarf (at some point I'll be posting pictures of that separately) was found at a thrift store.

Introducing "The Mask Gallery"

2008-08-10T07:16:00.000-07:00

by popular demand I've now created a site strictly for the masks I make. Anyone wishing to purchase a mask can now view the site and make a request. At the moment there is only one mask for sale but I hope to change that soon. Without furthur ado, the new site address is themaskgallery.vixpi.com

Purse Makeover

2008-07-06T04:08:00.000-07:00

I've been experimenting with a number of projects recently and thought it was about time that I posted one. This is an example of a purse makeover I did recently. The left side of the image is obviously before and the right side is the after.

A New Mask

2008-06-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't quite decided if I completely finished with this one yet, but I'm posting it anyway. I may or may not be adding some paint detailing around the eyes. Until then, I'd love to get some feedback!

This is the first mask that I made solely with the intention to sell. I haven't decided exactly what the price tag will be though. (Feel free to email me with offers!)

In terms of it's details: the beads that drape from the top of the mask can actually be removed or replaced with other dangles via convenient little hooks on the back. I quite liked them myself but I wanted this mask to be versatile.

Have we seen the end yet?

2008-03-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, you guessed it folks - another Renaissance festival themed post. Here's the tile image that I made for myself from pictures taken last summer. Again, for anyone interested my friend owns a business that puts images on tiles. It can be found at www.reflectedmoments.com

More Ren Faire Flashbacks

2008-03-02T09:14:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me that I never posted the collage I did for my sister featuring photos of the her and the Renaissance Festival. As I'm now in the process of working on one for myself, I think it's a good time to post hers. This collage was printed onto and 8x8 ceramic tile by a friend of mine (www.reflectedmoments.com) to commemorate the occasion.

Mask me - Death Eater Style

2008-01-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

As I'm completely enamored with my mask making, I offered to make a Death Eater mask for a friend for Christmas. It took quite a while and I just finished the distressing about 20 minutes ago, but I couldn't wait to show it off! This mask is based off of the official HP art for the Bellatrix Lestrange mask.

Presents Abound

2007-12-27T12:53:00.000-08:00

My aforementioned little sister also took it upon herself to make a few Christmas gifts this year. I was the lucky recipient of 2 handmade hand flowers. This is the first and is completely her own design.

Mask 2: The plot continues

2007-12-27T11:34:00.000-08:00

Well here it is: the second finished mask! It was really hard to let this one go. I think it's actually a toss up whether I like this one or my own more.

The Infamous Mask

2007-12-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I finished a mask to accompany one of my Renaissance Festival outfits. I may add feathers to it at some point, but it's complete enough to stand on it's own as is.

I can't even begin to describe how long it took to string all those beads! Which must make me a glutton for punishment as I'm now making a second one for my sister for Christmas.

If anyone is interested, the mask itself was formed with a rolled out piece of paper clay using another mask I had as a guide. Once it was shaped and sanded, it was painted with acrylics, textured, painted some more and the jewel was added. The beads were added next and then I sprayed a clear gloss coat over the mask to make it glossy.

Methods of time disposal

2007-12-09T00:07:00.000-08:00

My freelance work has slowed down considerably, so I've been making an effort to waste time in other ways. If you take a gander at my sidebar you can find links to a few of them. See those little critter images? Yeah, I can thank my best friend for my current neopian revival stage. It seems I've been re-addicted.

If you haven't heard of Neopets and need something to do, I highly recommend you check it out (just click on one of the critters to the right).

In art related news, I've been working on a few Christmas presents. Obviously, I can't post them until after the big two five but eventually pictures will make it here.

I also recently managed to finish a mask for a costume I'm creating. I'll try to include an image of that in my next post.

later dudes.

Hephaestus

2007-11-05T16:44:00.000-08:00

This little doodle has been sitting around forever but I finally saw what I needed to in it. I might develop the concept at some point but with me, who knows? *shrugs*

Inflating my ego...

2007-10-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

I can't normally say that I've ever really been happy with a photo of myself before. That is until my sister took this one for me!

The costume I'm wearing is the culmination of an entire season of visiting the Michigan Renaissance Festival. I bought one or two accessories each time I visited, purchased the mask on E-bay and made the cloak myself. Not bad if I do say so myself!

Egyptian Pharoah

2007-10-25T19:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a pretty long time since I've posted an actual image here and I figured now would be a good time. This one is still in progress and has been for a while. I like the details but the image itself is too static. At this point I'm not sure I can fix that without changing everything though. If anyone has suggestions for me I'd love to hear them!

Defense Association

2007-10-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

So I've managed to find yet another method of procrastination and felt the need to share it. If you are an obsessed HP fan and you haven't tried this, check it out!

http://www.darkarts-defence.com/

endings

2007-07-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

I found out a few days ago that this year was to be the last 4th of July party hosted by my aunt and uncle. Considering this party has been hosted in the same location for the last 26 years that's saying something!

It was something of a surprise that very few of us actually showed up to celebrate. I had a decent time, but I think it was more to do with being distracted by my surrogate nephew than anything else. Also due to afforementioned distraction there was no 4th of July sketch this year.

emergence of the shadow people

2007-06-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

Yes. I've done it. I've put myself on the path to eating healthy. correction. Manwell put me on the path to eating healthy by recommending a rather remarkable and free (did I mention it was FREE) website to do it for me. It has an awesome nutrition/calorie counter and there's loads of support available should you need it. See for yourself the site's called Spark People.

Cheesy infomercial-ness asside the site really is a great source of information. So far I haven't even had to give up my favorite foods!

Time: the thing that waved as it passed by

2007-05-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how quickly things are moving now. The freelancing I began this year has continued to increase and it seems I don't have much 'me' time anymore.

Oddly enough though it's been my lack of time that's encouraged me to begin completing my own things in any spare second I have. Dare I hope that my procrastinating days are numbered?

I won't hold me breath counting on that, but it is a rather nice feeling to end a day knowing you've accomplished something on the infinite 'to do' list.

As far as projects go I have a number of things in the works. The current and partial list is as follows: 3 acrylic paintings of various sizes, 1 children's book, 2 sets of clip art designs each week, 1 ink drawing, 4 fanart images and a partridge in a pear tree. Ok so the partridge is a bit of a stretch but you get the idea. The insane thing about all this is that I'm still poking around looking for work! Can we say masochist?

silence interrupted

2007-04-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Lots of new things happening in my world lately. The freelance work is picking up a bit which always make me feel important...yay!

I'm also in the market for a house. It's going to be a huge step for me as a single lady and all, but I'm just dying to get something I can decorate just beacuse I want to. Yes, I'll admit I'm a home improvement show junkie. Give me a can of paint and let me at it!

I'm not looking forward to mowing a lawn, but on the upside I might finally be able to get a dog.... or a cat ....

A Day In The Life...

2006-10-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

sometimes being a ghost isn't all it's cracked up to be....

I'm not really sure where this concept came from. The thumbnail just kind of appeared in my sketchbook one night and I decided to follow through with it for the latest Illustration Friday theme. Comments welcome. :)

A new style

2006-10-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to try out a new style. Completely disregarding the fact that it's morbidly cute, I like the way it turned out. This also happens to be the first Illustration Friday entry I've managed to complete. Go me!

The necessities of busy work

2006-10-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that when you're completely swamped all the best ideas start springing forward? I think they lie in wait to jump in only when there's no time to actually implement them. The little buggers...

At this point I literally have books chocked full of ideas that I either haven't had the time or the motivation to implement. I think I might be starting to change that.

Creatively speaking, things have been going well for me as of late. Just today I had a new idea for a digital art style that I wanted to try! With any luck, I'll be finishing a post for Illustration Friday rather soon as well.

Ironically enough it's my complete dissatisfaction with my 9-5 that's fueling my little trip down the creative well. I've been tunneling a lot more energy into freelance work that 'low and behold' people actually appreciate having made! It's an interesting concept that as of late has left me feeling much better about myself.

The celebratory Independence Day sketch

2006-07-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

Every year during my family's Fourth of July party/reunion I make a sketch. This is my example for this year.

The coloring is due to the quad color colored pencil I was using. (I'm not actually sure if that's the correct name for it, but it's a good description.) Basically, it's a colored pencil that has four colors of lead: blue, green, yellow & pink.

Road Construction (concept sketch)

2006-07-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

This idea came was inspired through the Art Project system at wetcanvas.com. The assignment was to create something that portrayed a job in a fantasy world. I chose a snail and gave him a letter carrier to play off of the phrase 'snail mail.'

While sketching the thumbnail though, I decided to add in a obstacle in the form of road construction. Yet to be added is the 'construction crew' as I have yet to decide on a species to make them.

Overall, I'm happy with the color scheme. I rarely limit my color pallete when I work digitally, so I found this a refreshing change. I'm also happy with the body language of the mail carrier.

I think I might toy with the composition a little more, but overall I'm pleased with the preliminary.

New Pirate Inspired T-Shirt Design

2006-06-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

I decided that I needed a new shirt to wear for the premiere of Pirates of the Carribbean. So, after much deliberation, this is the design I settled on.

I think it might have turned out a little too cute, though. *shrugs*

For anyone who might want a shirt of their own with this design visit the CafePress store for this design: A Really Bad Egg .

A logo for the header

2006-06-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a new logo design form myself for a while now. This is one of the finals I've decided on. The concept started with my name, which I then shortend to C. Rowe, combined to become crowe and then shortened again to CR.

At some point I'll post them all up on my portfolio if anyone is interested in seeing the range.

An addition to the biography page.

2006-06-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

I've been told I don't look very approachable in this picture. I'm not sure that bothers me really. I still find this to be one of my favorite photos of myself (trust me they're rare!), so I've decided to post is as my biography picture anyway.

Digital Painting Software

2006-06-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

Has anyone purchased Painter IX and used it recently? I've wanted to upgrade for a while to fix the brush delay times I keep getting, but I'm not sure just how well the problem has been fixed.

Unfortunately the trial version I downloaded to test stopped working after the first day and won't re-install. Anyone have an opinion?