Reds and Gold

This one was a blast to work on! After all this time I got my gold metallic pen to work! Was so excited it didn't crap out on me either ^_^ I probably should have picked a darker red for the second red but I didn't want to risk messing with it too much and then hating it.

Baby Triceratops

Jurassic World, this is all your fault :D Partially anyway, I have been wanting to draw a dinosaur for awhile.

Coral, Teal, and White were my palette colors, coral is hard to get with markers, I know it looks more peachy orange then coral (probably because I did use peach).

I giggle every time I look at the back horn, looks like its about to slide off the poor things head :D

Aqua, Yellow, Pink

Because those are the colors I was following :D

I am definitely scanning this tomorrow because the colors aren't showing to well but I am so darn pleased with this first attempt. Three colors but seven markers since the color palette isn't as strict as the last three. ACEO size seems to work quite well so I don't know if I'll try anything larger. Maybe later...like way later :D

So here is something slightly amusing. I am using Prismacolor markers for the main bits, the black outline is actually Prismacolor ink pens, and for the longest time I only used Prismacolor pencils. Yeah just call me the Prismacolor poster child! But seriously, those ink pens are awesome ^_^

Playing With Markers

Figured it has been awhile since I messed with prisma markers and when I did I never really tried to do anything great with them. So thought it was time to drag them back out and see what I could do. Starting off small, I only used three colors for this, I think I'm going to follow the color schemes for the Summer of Colors deal to play around with.

Tattoo Ideas #1

Title is an indication that there may be more ideas in the future. That is without a doubt.

So the theme for this round of tattoos is Moon and Sun. I started with the hubby's moon first because I wasn't sure how many ideas I was going to have to throw at him before he pounced on one. Imagine my surprise when round one (with four to look at) was all the further I had to go.
These two were turned down because he knew I wouldn't want to match my sun to something like them (thank goodness!) Don't get me wrong, I like skulls but I don't love them like he does.
So I am throwing them out here for others to enjoy or get an idea off of. I won't be showing the one he chose till it is inked onto his skin :)Unfortunately that's going to be awhile :D

Speaking of tattoos on skin here is the one I got last month, I apologize for the blurriness but person with camera doesn't have very steady hands :)

I designed it, the tattooist suggested the detailing as I had the design plain. I liked it so bam here it is on my right shoulder.

FR Dragon

"Linna"
8.5in x 8.5in
Derwent colorsoft pencils on mat board

One of my Flight Rising dragons, Linna. She is a first generation lucky hatch that I have proudly added Genes to. The background is actually the markings that are on her wings.

There are a lot of mess ups on this and I know what mistakes I made but I left it go as a visual reminder what not to do next time. Think I'm going to be waiting a while before doing another color surfaced piece as the blue was really throwing me off when trying to get my colors right.

FR Dragon

This is Two, my Tundra dragon. He is wearing a scarf because what if they just need that little bit extra to stay warm? Probably shouldn't have used a red mat board for this one but oh well :D
-Finally- used my Derwent coloursoft pencils, I didn't think they were going to be THAT soft.

Finished Pieces

Got a few things done finally and since I have this entire week off (not my choice) maybe I'll get some other things accomplished.

Drew these up for a co-worker. She has the blessed/cursed part on her wrist but the artist messed it up and she wants to have it redone to cover up the crappy job. She told me her idea for the theater masks and I offered to draw it. She was torn on which way she wanted it done :D

I had been working on this little guy when I was getting sick of the bigger piece. Sometimes I just needed a break from the serpent but I still wanted to cross stitch. This Flareon is for sale and will be available once I open my Etsy store :)

The best for last! The Serpent is finally finished!! So glad I got it done within three months. I already know what my next big piece is but I won't be starting it for another month as I need a break and I still need the right color cloth for it.

Right now I am working on a biscornu. It is going to be a small one for myself but it will be an interesting change of pace when I go to put it together.

One Down, Three To Go

"Eye of the Stormfly"
3.5 in x 2.5 in
Prisma Colored pencil on mat board

So I finally finished this piece and I couldn't be happier. This is a terrible picture taken of it, I will probably scan it later this week to get a better quality image of it. I am debating whether to spray it was gloss or matte fixative.
I already have the next eye lined up but I still want to finish my three other unfinished pieces of art. I think I am going to work on the dragonfly cat.

Back on Track

I am hoping I am back on track now after teetering the past few months, not being mentally able to work on art. Before spring is my worst; I have to wean off my winter meds, cabin fever is running rampant, and you can't do anything yet cause it is still too damn cold.

Now though I have been working on art a little here and there till I start to get the feel for it. Right now my big deal is that I am disappointed in myself for letting so many decent drawings go unfinished. So my goal at the moment is to finish them and I am surprised which one I went back to first.

Even though it is so small, it is taking me so long because there is so much detail in the piece. I have never done something like it before.

If I loved HTTYD art before, my respect for it has escalated tremendously since working on this piece. Getting closer to the dragon has really shown the attention and love that went into making these dragons and my heart almost aches with envy. The creators are so lucky to be part of something so fantastic.

It was suggested to me to spray my "Eye of Toothless" piece with gloss fixative simply because they thought it would look better glossy.

Glossed

Before Gloss

I was shocked to see the difference it made, I really had no idea the fixative could improve the way it looked.

Of course I am also working on a cross stitch piece which happens to be the largest one I have ever taken on.

15in x 18in and it's going to have somewhere around 36,800 stitches. I have a rough guesstimate that it will take me till the end of the year to finish it :D

Wordless Wednesday

Cat Eyes

Well I am glad to discover that the Bruynzeel design pencils blend well with Prismacolor pencils. Now I want to see what they look like with mineral spirits!

I think I just may do a red feline next, I've had an idea for one on the back burner for awhile.

The Bruynzeel design Colored Pencils

First off, Happy New Year! I hope most are in slightly warmer temperatures then I am tonight in the below zero range. I know there is a ways to go but I really can't wait till mid-spring! Mostly just so I can play in the garden :)

I got around to finishing my piece that I used my new pencils on and wanted to share my thoughts; trying to be as thorough as I could think of.
Since the Bruynzeel design colored pencils are new to me, I wanted to do a review on them. With Prismacolor premier colored pencils being the only other brand I have used, I will be using them for comparison. (I am not counting the Derwent water color pencils or watersoluble pencils into this since I use those with water). When first picking up one of the Bruynzeel pencils, I noticed they felt slightly heavier then a Prismacolor.

First thing I did was make a compare sheet for them. Most of them did not share the same names and I had to sort of eye ball them to get the closest colors. Yet even some of the ones that do seem way off like the light green, so I found another Prismacolor color that was closer.

The Bruynzeel pencils have a very creamy feel and lay down to them. You can see too that the colors are very vibrant. Layering is very smooth and many can go on one another. They also sharpen very well and I do not see any problems of cracking or breaking off of the core in the process; they seem very sturdy.

On the drawing I used them on, the goal was to only use the Bruynzeel pencils. This didn't work out when it came to the golden yellow parts and the nose. Since I couldn't replicate the desired color with the Bruynzeel, I used Prismacolor on those parts. I did not mix the two brands together.

"Shinx"
4in. x 6in.
Colored Pencil on Drawing paper

The light blue and cobalt blue were the most used in this with a little white, black, and havana brown. I loved that it was easy to sharpen them to a fine point so that I could make thin, solid lines. I think the only 'problem' I had was working around the fact that I didn't have extra blues to make shading easier. I am a little spoiled on that with my Prismacolor pencils since I have almost the entire set.

I wouldn't recommend these for a beginner to colored pencils, I did have to work them out a little bit to get the right feel for layering and shading. Also they are a little higher in price and this may be discouraging. (What convinced me to buy them was that they were on sale AND free shipping was offered at the time).
I enjoyed using these pencils and am currently considering whether I want to buy a few more of them or not. Unfortunately they are harder to come by here in the States and I have only seen them online and by a small number of sellers at that. Next I want to try mineral spirits on them, then see if maybe they mix well with the Prismacolors.

If I forgot anything and you have questions, please feel free to ask!

Bruynzeel-sakura website: Site

Art Update And New Toy

This is as far as I got with it before I got...bored? Restless? Something. Maybe I'll go back to it, really don't know.

So I have had these urges to do fanart. I think I have been looking at too much of other peoples art and now want to do my own. Contagious I guess but I also look at it as a way from me to explore with drawing as some might present challenges. Of all things I have started with Pokemon, yes I still play the games and no I don't watch the anime. So a few of them are going to show up till I get this all out of my system and move on.
Here is the first one:

"Plusle and Minun"
6in. x 6in.
Colored Pencil on Bristol smooth

I read this interesting article on using mineral spirits on colored pencil. I loved the demonstrations they gave and had to try it myself. I used mineral spirits on the background of this and love how it looks. I think it did a better job of blending the two colors together then if I had done without or used a blender. So I will definitely be exploring more with the spirits in other drawings.

Today I got my new colored pencils I ordered super early. This is the first time since I started using Prisma pencils that I have bought any other brand of colored pencil.

They were on clearance with free shipping so I thought they were calling to me :D I am now going to go use them on my next drawing!

Oh and I have twitter now! *points to right side bar*

Current WIP

I like dragon eyes :)
Hopefully after I finish this one I will want to finish my bird and cat, they are still worth finishing. Then maybe more dragons! Ooo and I got more mat board, different colors; can't wait to play some more!!

Dragon Eye

"Eye of Toothless"
2.5 in. x 3.5 in.
Colored Pencil on Black Cardstock

I couldn't believe how long it took me to get this finished; but with working way more hours, sore hands and twitching eye lids (which is very annoying and makes it hard to see by the way) I was only able to do this is small spurts. I love how different it is working on black paper but this paper in particular was not made for colored pencil and I found it out the hard way. It didn't want to layer the colors right or at all and was a little frustrating. I don't think I will being using it again for pencil so maybe I will bust out the gel pens and play with it that way.

If you haven't see "How To Train Your Dragon" you are missing out on a wonderful movie. This is actually from one scene when the main character meets his future best friend. I absolutely love the detail and attention they put into these characters and dragons and I am so excited that the second season to the show just started.
I am actually hoping to do the eyes of some of the other dragons, which gives me an excuse to go get better black paper for pencils :P

Playing With Metallic Pencils

Over the weekend I had some free time to try my new pencils. I have used metallic pencils in the past, but that was over ten years ago and they weren't water soluble.

So first I made my reference cards, I have this for all my pencils. Though admittedly these are the only ones with three different ones!

Then it was time to play with the black paper, something I have never used before. I was hoping it would bring out the metallic more but I think some of the color I used under them for shading took that away. I tried taking a picture of it with the camera and also scanning it to see the difference. Definitely going to have to play with it some more.

Scanner:

What a silly smile he seems to have.

Camera:

Then I tried something that I have been wanting to do but afraid to, watered the subject and not just the background.

Scanner:

Camera:

First off, I LOVE this guy! I feel for my first attempt, this came out awesome, even if it isn't perfect. I might even frame it. Secondly I used actual water color paper this time. Not sure if most notice this, but a lot of papers have a different tooth on the back side of them. I used the back of the water color paper cause I thought it looked neat (and there was a weird splotch on the front). As you can see when watered, the pencils lose their metallic altogether.

Next I will have to try them on regular white paper, though when I was doing my little reference card I wasn't impressed but that just could have been the paper type. So here is to me crossing my fingers I get some free time again soon!

Swapping Subjects

Got a little bit colored and now I am putting this aside for something else. I will come back to it (I hope) but something caught my attention.

The Color Pencil Magazine had a drawing competition every month. I have been watching it for awhile now, waiting to see if anything 'calls out' to me and this months finally has.
-->Here<-- is the subject, I don't care about winning; I just know that if I draw that bird, when I am done, it will feel really good. There is a good chance I won't even enter it in.
I won't be posting progress of it or anything, sounds silly but this has that "Do it privately" feel to it.

Cat Progress

Got a background in and some dragonflies, this should be interesting to do :) I trimmed it as all the empty space felt like peer pressure and I didn't want to add anything more. I know mat framing is an option but, ehh.

So what is going on with me and all these blog posts this week?! I had no work this week; this is the third week (not in a row) they have done this to me. Since this is the slow time of year for them, they just make a bunch of people have almost no hours. Next week I work one day for four hours; woo. Trying to find another job but it is outrageous what they are expecting now a days, even for simple entry level jobs.
So I am using this time wisely to work on drawings. Even when I don't feel like it, I make myself sit down and just do it. I am just thankful I don't have artist block right now :)

Cat Outline

"First you draw what you see. Next, you draw what you know, and only then will you know what it is that you see." -Robert Beverly Hale

My brain is fighting me on this one, I know the head is tilted slightly but I keep trying to draw things on the face like they are straight up and down. Also, out of curiosity, I went and looked when the last time I drew anything feline like was; that would be almost nine years ago. I just might take a step back from this one and do some small studies, like on paws and eye to nose alignment.