Fear the Brush!

There's this little gallery on the other side of town that hosts periodic open-submission shows...you bring it, they'll hang it! So I'm painting a little portrait for it, in the hopes of shaking off my fear of failure (in the traditional medium.) I've started SO many paintings, only to abandon the poor things in a fit of insecurity and lack of direction. Gotta stop that sh*t. So here's a peek, to hopefully keep me on task. If I say it out loud, it makes it real, right?

The theme of the show is "Pretty or Funny or Both". Not sure which end of the spectrum this will wind up in, though. Hrmmm.

Fickle, they name is Quickreaver...

There are so many sketch/inspiration groups around, I could do a different one every day. A new one is the Crimson Daggers, spearheaded (HAR!) by Dave Rapoza, digital wunderkind. It's nice to get the art blood pumping in the morning. Oh, yeah, linkage: http://cghub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1704

(Photoshop7, 2-ish hours)

Oh, since 'Twilight' is released today...

...how about another vampire? He is one, trust me. Or so says his creator. Call him 'Flynn', but speak quietly. He might have to kill you, otherwise. ;) (private commission for a wonderful author; happy Friday!)

I'm such a lemming...

This got viral over at ConceptArt.org, and I just had to be like all the cool kids. Some guy posted a character sketch on notebook paper, asked for other people's take on the critter, and it was just cheesy enough to tease folks into doing their own Nibrus. Now, part of me thought it was rather cheeky of him to ask for free work, but the other part of me got into the spirit of pimping and community. Sometimes, you've just gotta loosen up. It's not the fanciest piece I've ever done, but practice is practice! Check out all the versions here: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=171264 But only if you're not afraid of floating bagels...

Flying is falling...with style!

I saw this beautiful photo of a woman, swimming. It was so mysterious, so soft. Then the subject of Illustration Friday came up "Flying", and I thought...okay, that'll fly! *HAR* So I opened up my much ingnored and equally mysterious Painter program, and struggled once again with its brushes and color application. Fly...be free...

I see a red door and I want it to turn black...

It's a beautiful day. Autumn is in the air, the kids' trip to the dentist went better than planned, and I don't feel like doing a darned anything before dinner! So I played with Painter. So there.

PS...the seething, retro reference in the post's title really has nothing to do with anything! I just like the song. More so there. :D

PPS...does a "come hither" glance count as some sort of welcome? I'm saying so! For the sake of Illustration Friday.

Proceed with caution...

....and wear asbestos gloves. Another 'Illustration Friday' whoop-de-doodle that was also created for a little experiment over at Epilogue.net. I need to work with Painter more often, to keep control of those damnable brushes!

Woman In White

Just a painting I've been fiddling with, over the course of the month. I wanted a sort of glowy vibe, something etherial, something somehow modern, but not. Bah. Time to work.

No tentacle love FOR YOU!

I pulled a literal all-nighter and 'finished' this for Art Order's 'Drow vs. Mindflayer' challenge. I'm not happy with the design at all, but there are tiny portions I enjoyed, so it wasn't a TOTAL loss. My sons, ages 9 and 11, were my models and the 9 year old wasn't overly impressed with the fact I gave 'him' boobs, but he was faboo with the grimacing expression. I want to thank Melissa Findley for pushing me to finish, regardless, because it helped me get yet another step closer to actually implementing plans to shove my art in the direction I want to go with it. *phew; that was a blathery sentence!* Anywho, thanks, Mel! And good luck on the challenge! I think you'll kick purple ass...

Hollow?

I've got such an idiot crush on Butch Walker. And I'm way too creaky for such foolishness, but hey, let an old woman have her harmless fun! I hardly ever do fan art, but I was gifted with a ton of colored pencils, so I finally put them to use. Prismacolors on plain brown cardboard. I'm sure it'll decay in a year. Oh well! Nothing gold stays...and Butch has the sexiest hollow cheeks in the biz. So that's my loose tie-in for Illustration Friday! Ta!

She's Come Undone

I lieu of actual work, I opted to do an Illustration Friday thing. More and more I'm looking at my age, and my life, and saying to myself "Self, why aren't you doing what you truly want to do with your stinkin' art?" No more commissions. When I get finished with this last, rather weighty batch of assignments, I'm done. Finito. I'm breaking out the traditional media, and putting on my beret, and tripping the art fantastic. (Ya think because I've put it into words it'll happen this time? We shall see...)

Anywho, Illustration Friday's topic is 'Cracked'. Funny, that.

The Endless...Desire...

Dang it, haven't had a chance to keep up with Illustration Friday, so I'll slip this little bit of artistic masturbation in here. This was created for ConceptArt.org's CHOW challenge, found here: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=157526 (If you're a member, get over thar and vote!)

Yup, it's inspired by Klimt, and Gaiman, and Sandman, and the fact I really should be working on paying gigs. At any rate...enjoy! We all need a little desire.

Illustration Friday-"Fleeting"

Look! Another one! This painting, done over the course of an Easter Sunday afternoon in Painter 9, is an homage to Phil Hale and Jon Foster. I really lurv those guys. So juicy and imaginative. My quest for 'realism' may be at an end...life is so...fleeting... (I'm really not that emo, despite my artwork! I swear.)

Illustration Friday

I've had this sad little Blogspot thingy for a dog's age now, and done nothing with it. So I shall repurpose the bugger into my official home for All Things Illustration Friday! So with no further ado, it begins...the topic? "Talisman". PS7, hour and a half's time, or so.

I thought I had a Blogger account...but maybe not!

Nothing here yet...but here's hoping there will be soon!