Gallery of Shadows and Reflections

Hello, all.

So, this week was such a wash it wasn't even funny.  It seemed as though one thing after another went haywire and insane.  But-- the week is over!  (thank the gods)  

This coming week, I hope to catch up on what I got behind on this week.  I'm going to forgo a calendar posting to crowdfunding, because I really just need to get up to the present.  However, I will probably hold Free Sketch Day over two days like I did last week.  I'm going to try to catch up on character portraits, so I'm putting Character Portrait Day on hold until I'm current on all that.  If I'm caught up by Thursday, I'll open up for more portraits.  And I'm going to hopefully have that hair tutorial up on Friday.  Sorry guys for not getting to everything I said I was going to post this week.  I feel like I've been put through the heavy spin cycle in an industrial strength washing machine.  (That analogy comes directly and completely from those years I spent in a resort laundry room)

Also considering cleaning up a short story I wrote several years ago and illustrating it, as a crowdfunding project.  Maybe I'll post it on Kickstarter.  That's a future project, though-- really don't have the time for it right now.  

I just posted some backdated entries with a bit of my original writing and updated tags, if anyone's interested.  It's a bit of an eclectic collection-- a few short stories, a longer work in progress, some free verse poetry, and some creative prose.  It's mostly unpolished.  There's more, but I'd have to dig around on various online haunts to find it all.  Anyone interested in seeing more?

Also, because I'm so slow and behind on cool technology and internet things, I've finally given in and gotten Spotify.  I'm not sure why I waited so long.  I love it!  

So, yeah, that's the fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants update.  Later, guys!

It's been a very productive week, with three character portraits completed, fourteen sketches for Free Sketch Day, and two crowdfunding projects and a prize drawing illustration started.

Character Portraits:

From left to right (from the last two weeks):  timelord1's Rowenne Kennock and Jaerus, ellenmillion's Torn World character Ivarra, timelord1's creature the Uilebheist, and just_the_ash's character Angamarth.

 



Prize Drawing Illustration:

I completed the line art for minor_architect's prize drawing illustration.  I'm calling this one Firespirit. (Note: nudity, so full size sketch is not work safe!)


Crowdfunded pieces:

Blocked in the flat colors over the sketch for the waterfall painting, as yet untitled.



And completed the line art for Trickster.



Remember, the waterfall painting and "Trickster" are open for crowdfunding!  Contribute to whichever one you like by clicking the "Tip Jar" icon.  Be sure to specify what you want tips to go toward, and let me know what your LJ ID is so I can keep track of everyone and send out perks when they're ready.

Two down on the backlog list!   Eight more projects to go.  I really need to divide up my days so I can work on more than one project a day.  I've always worked several projects at once, but I've also always been terrible at goal setting.  Tuesdays are usually taken up by Free Sketch Day, so project work will have to be on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  

So, I should set goals.  Tomorrow's goals:  

1)  Line art for just_the_ash's Moraiwe. 
2)  Refine Prize Drawing sketch and prepare for digital inks.
3)  Block in basic colors for waterfall painting.
4)  Refine the fae sketch and prepare for digital inks.
5)  Tutorial: Drawing Eyes.  (I almost forgot)

I'll get the hang of this one of these days!

Have an original role playing character, or an original fiction character that you would like to see realized in a drawing?  

I'm once again open for character portrait commissions.  These will be head-and-shoulders portraits.  Black and white portraits are only $5!  

I still have a small backlog of portraits to complete; every commission will be completed in the order they were asked for.

Color options are also available during Portrait Days at heavy discount.

Go to last week's landing page for more information and to put in your order.

Today's Free Sketch Day is now closed; comments on this entry will be set to screened.  Thank you as always to everyone who participated!  I will continue working on prompts throughout the day as I have the time; I will get to all of you by tonight.  

Good morning, friends list, visitors, and lurkers! Once again, it is Tuesday, which means that it is the (somewhat) weekly Free Sketch Day that I host on this blog.

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. :)  Today, as I have to handle a caretaker shift for an unwell family member, I will need to close for prompts at 3 pm CST; at that point I'll start screening comments for this post.

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 finished digitally inked and colorized artwork.  

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.

And that's about it. Have at it!

Some sketches from previous FSDs

So, to give a bit more variety, I thought I'd test working three crowdfunded pieces simultaneously. I will be doing two digitally inked and colorized pieces and one digital painting. And you guys get to vote on what I'll be doing!

So, go check out my last two FSD compilation posts, linked to here, and vote for three images each. The winners will be the next projects I commence with. Voting closes at 10 p.m. tonight, and results will be announced tomorrow at 10 a.m.

January 17
January 31

Finished the rough line art for the next character portrait commission on the list just now (Ivara from Torn World), and will finish it up tomorrow sometime.  Just spent far too long reading about the cultural significance of beads on the Torn World site; the detail put into this project is fantastic!  

It occurs to me that it's time to hold a prize drawing for a free colorized drawing!  I'll put that on the agenda for Monday, in addition to holding a vote for the next three crowdfunded projects I'll be doing.  I think I may do two digitally inked and colorized illustrations and one digital painting.  Also next week will be the regular Free Sketch Day (Tuesday) and Discounted Character Portrait Days (Wednesday and Thursday), so be sure to drop by for those!

I'm considering whether it would be better to do a weekly schedule post to crowdfunding instead of posting whenever I have an event on my blog, because events are beginning to be every day.  I think I may give that a try, because I'm starting to feel like I'm hogging the community.

We've had about two solid days of rain here.  The yard is starting to flood in places.  And, wonder of wonders, it's actually getting a little bit-- just slightly-- cool outside.  We've had a very warm winter this year.  I miss the snow in California-- yes, it got to be a little ridiculous after awhile, but it was still beautiful.  I did, however, have a very bad habit of slipping on the ice.  I blame my southern upbringing for my lack of balance on icy hills.

I think, at this point, I've run out of things to say and am just typing because I am afraid insomnia will kick in when I try to go to bed.  But, I suppose I'll draw this to a close.  Good night, all!

I have too many Live Journals, but I don't want to delete them.  For some reason, every few years, I seem to drift to new blogs.  I don't know why.  I suppose I'm just capricious.

I looked up my old siabha_maellyn blog this morning.  It's been three years since I updated it.  I realize it's been ages since I've written anything as intensely personal as what I routinely wrote in that blog.  Even my poetry was torn from my heart and soul, sculpted in word-pictures what plain speech would never describe.  I mean, I still often ramble to de-stress about things in my personal LJ, but to really write out the intricate complexities of my thoughts and feelings... I think I no longer really know how to express them, to articulate things that run too deep for words.  That makes me sad somehow, as though I've somehow grown detached from myself, lost something of who I am.  Or maybe in trying to conceal myself from others, to put on a face that might be deemed acceptable, I've hidden from myself as well.

Today, I'm going to work on portraits.  I started one yesterday evening but wound up erasing it because I didn't like the way it was looking. (I wonder if I'm just being too self-critical again, as people always tell me I am)  Hopefully today's work will be more fruitful.

I wish I could blink my eyes and be in various parts of the world so I can visit with friends I haven't seen in far too long.  That would be absolutely perfect.