shadows_gallery

If you've stumbled on this blog, be welcome. I'm Amyla. Here, you'll see a plethora of artwork created by myself; illustrations and characters, drawings and paintings, Sketch Days and miscellany. I hope you enjoy what you see here.

I offer my artwork for sale using a crowdfunding model. What this means is that a number of people can put money in the "money pot" for a piece of art to be completed. Even a dollar can go to funding a finished piece.

I also take individual commissions.  I especially love illustrating stories and creating character designs, so if you have a novel or short story you would like to see brought to life artistically, you've come to the right place!

Artwork prices for both crowdfunding totals and for commission work are as follows (click the sample thumbnails to see larger images.  These images are samples only of my style and technique; however, the last image is for sale on Amyla's Designs on Zazzle.):

Black and White drawing-- $20


Digitally inked and colored drawing-- $40


Digital painting-- $100 and up (more complex pieces will be more expensive)



Also, be sure to watch this Journal, as I often post freebies and host events, such as the weekly Free Sketch Day!

As always, tips are welcome and very much appreciated.

So, today is the day known as "Black Friday." All the big chains open their stores early and rake in the cash.

And yeah, sometimes people suffer for it. I remember a few years ago I was working at one of these big chain stores, a Wal Mart, and the story came through during my work day on Black Friday (also "affectionately known as "Blitz Day" to the employees there) about a Wal Mart employee being trampled to death in another state on that very day as he unlocked the doors to let in the throng of humanity waiting to snatch up as many things as possible before everyone else did. It made me physically ill to think of it.

I'm not here to talk trash about monstrous corporations or greedy people, though I likely could go on a rant. As far as Wal Mart especially is concerned, I do understand that many people can't afford to shop anywhere else-- I'm usually one of them. I'm not one to say people should NEVER shop the big chain stores, EVER. But I will say this: There are so very many small businesses struggling to make ends meet. Artisans, craftsmen, booksellers, gift stores, online and in the physical world, all offering wonderful, unique, and high quality merchandise for sale. Yes, prices are often higher than they are at a big discount-chain store, but the quality and attention to detail, and the love that goes into the creations and places of business make SUCH a difference. People who take the time and energy to build and run these small businesses, to create and offer unique crafts and works of art, who don't use cookie-cutter templates and mass-produced claptrap-- well, in a way, they are amongst the backbone of our culture. Never, ever underestimate the power of Art to shape and flavor a culture. These artisans, and the small businesses they run or work in conjunction with, are indispensable.

So, I'll put this forth today, on Black Friday. As the holidays are hovering closer, and you need to do your shopping for your loved ones, don't forget to at least look into some of these small businesses, artisans, creators, those working independent of the big corporations. Please lend your support to them in whatever way you can, whether it be monetary (and I know many have fallen on hard times and can't afford it), or even just word of mouth. It makes all the difference.

www.smallbusinesssaturday.com

Today's Free Sketch Day is now closed; comments to this post are now screened.  Thank you to everyone who participated!  All of the sketches from this event will be gathered into a separate post.

Good morning, friends list, visitors, and lurkers!  Once again, it is Tuesday, which means that it is the second weekly Free Sketch Day.

So, come on in, make yourselves comfortable, and leave your one word prompts.  I will create a free sketch for every prompt left.  You can leave more than one prompt if you want, but do be aware that I'm only one person and that there are others waiting for sketches as well, so please be reasonable and considerate with the number of requests.  :)  I'll stop taking requests at 5 p.m. CST; at that point I'll start screening comments for this post.  Also, please allow time for me to get to your prompt, especially if there are a lot of prompters.  I will make every effort to get to all of the prompts today; barring that, tomorrow.  Again, it depends on how many prompts I receive.

FSD (Free Sketch Day) will ALWAYS be free of the obligation to pay; however, I am going to add a Tip Jar to the bottom of each weekly post.  The funds accrued from these tips will go to funding a finished piece, either a refined drawing, an ink-and-color drawing, or a digital painting depending on how much has been put in the Jar.  (For pricing, see This Post)  If funding is successful, the prompt that will be used will be decided by you in a vote!

Also, once a month, I will hold a prize drawing for one piece of free digitally inked and colorized artwork based on the FSD prompt of the winner's choice.  This month's winner was nekomata, who asked for Transcend. 

(ETA:  Don't forget to right click the images in the comments and select "View Image," because LJ is still cutting off the right side of the sketches.  I'm going to look for a different layout soon, spruce things up a bit.)

And that's about it.  Have at it!

The artwork for nekomata, who won the drawing for a finished piece from last week's FSD, is complete.  Posting a sized-down, watermarked image here.

It is also for sale as a print on ImageKind, starting at $9.49, and will be available on Zazzle on a variety of merchandise (such as mouse pads, coffee mugs, tee shirts, and the like) as soon as the administrators approve it.

Don't forget to drop by this Live Journal tomorrow for this week's Free Sketch Day and leave your one word prompt!

Click thumbnail to enlarge.  :)



As always, tips are welcome.  Contributors will receive a free high res file of the full sized image either in a link or an email, depending on preference.

ysabetwordsmith is writing a poem based on my prompt of "Aliens posing as human" to the Creative Jam at crowdfunding.  It involves shapeshifting, religion, and the quest for enlightenment.

One verse has been funded so far; more will be revealed with further funding.

The Inescapable Agony of Being

So, I've set up a Dreamwidth account for shadows_gallery.

Feel free to add, follow, comment, etc.  I'm still getting it set up, and will be crossposting between here and there to some degree.

http://shadows-gallery.dreamwidth.org/

LiveJournal, are you possibly chaos embodied?  Or are you just weird?

Or maybe the appropriate word would be "annoying."

In other words, please stop vanishing and re-appearing my entries at random.  It's irritating.

KTHXBYE

Good afternoon, friends!

I have a treat for you all today.

After some further thought, I'm going to be instigating Free Sketch Day as a weekly event, held every Tuesday.  So, do be sure to drop by here this coming Tuesday, and bring along your one word prompts!

Each sketch that is created in these events will be available for crowdfunding, if anyone wants to see a finished piece.  (For pricing info, see this post.)

FSD (Free Sketch Day) will ALWAYS be free of the obligation to pay; however, starting on this coming Tuesday, I am going to add a Tip Jar to the bottom of each weekly post.  The funds accrued from these tips will go to funding a finished piece, either a refined drawing, an ink-and-color drawing, or a digital painting depending on how much has been put in the Jar.  If funding is successful, the prompt that will be used will be decided by you in a vote!

And now for the treat:
Today, I am going to hold a drawing for a free digitally inked and colored image of your choice, from this week's Free Sketch Day.  Anyone is eligible to apply-- just leave a comment here and state which sketch you would like to see completed.  At the end of the day (8 p.m. CST), I will write down all the names on scraps of paper, put them in a bowl, shake them up a bit, and draw one name at random.  The winner will be announced in the morning, and I will create and email him/her a full-color, full sized, high resolution piece of art based on the sketch of their choice from this week's FSD.  (Please allow at least a week for completion of the image; I'm a very busy gal!)

So, go take a look at the Prompt Sketches from this week's FSD, choose one, and comment here with your choice!

fan_tasylov_er, who provided the prompt of "Slide" for my Free Sketch Day event yesterday, has expressed interest in having me open up that particular image for crowdfunding as a completed, full-color illustration.

If you would like to see the image completed, please feel free to contribute to the fund! If just $40 is amassed, I will finish the illustration and post it as a high-res, full size downloadable image. I will also offer it for sale on Zazzle. Donors will have the option to receive a free unframed photo print of the image through Zazzle; sizing will vary according to amount donated. I will also list your names and/or LiveJournal IDs in the final post displaying the completed image as contributors, unless you specify that you would prefer to remain anonymous.

How to crowdfund this illustration:

1) Click the "Donate Now" button on the bottom of this entry.

2) Put any amount you like in the "Pot." Even $1 will go towards funding the image.

3)  Once donations reach $20, I will create a detailed, digitally inked drawing and post a small preview.  Once they reach $40, I will colorize it and make it available full size, and post it for sale to Zazzle.

4) DON'T FORGET this part, so I can be sure to send you your perks and acknowledge your participation! Unless you would rather remain anonymous (in which case you would automatically opt out of the perks), message me here on LiveJournal to tell me:

a) How much you've donated (so I know what size print to send you)
b) What project you've donated for
c) If you would like a free print sent to you

This is the sketch in question (click for larger version):



Any other sketches from yesterday's event that you would like to see as finished illustrations?  Leave me a comment or a message, and I'll add them to this post to open them up for crowdfunding.

Thank you to all who are participating in this! You guys are awesome.

And here are the results of today's Free Sketch Day!

If anyone likes what has been done here and would like to purchase a full color illustration of any of these prompts, do comment here and I will take it on as a commission at $40 per illustration. Crowdfunding does apply to that-- several donors can put money in the pot to fund an image. Please do allow time for completion, especially if more than one illustration is asked for!

And, on to the sketches!

( Many large pics under cut-- dialup users beware! )