Gallery of Shadows and Reflections

So after almost a month of struggling to create artwork every time I had time to sit down and attempt to work on projects, I finally had a wonderfully smooth day with few interruptions and ACTUAL DRAWINGNESS.

I did rough line art for all-- read it, ya'll, ALL-- of the outstanding character portraits.  All in one day.

I'm gonna post them here because, well, I'm so happy that I actually got something done without, you know, erasing it five thousand times or getting dragged away two minutes after beginning work, that I could scream.

Fair warning-- these images are still very rough.  They need a lot of work.  But I completed stage one of portraiture and kicked serious ass today, so you all get to see them.

If Photobucket ever finishes uploading them, that is.



( Several unfinished drawings beneath cut. )

So, I thought I would put together a little tutorial on how I create the character portraits for my weekly Discounted Character Portrait Days. I create these images in Gimp using a Wacom tablet; this tutorial will focus more on technique and less on the technical aspects of the program and tablet.

This is a portrait of timelord1's character Jaerus. She gave me a detailed description and a picture reference for his armor, which can be found here under the first character description. She also specified that she pictures Jonathon Rhys-Meyers in the role, so that gave me an idea of what the character will look like.

Click image for full size.



The very first thing I do is scour the web for references. As she has given an actor as a reference, I look for images of him. In other character portraits, I try to think of appropriate actors/actresses and use them as references. I don't always aim for a strict likeness; sometimes the reference is used very loosely just to give a *feel* of the character. But in this instance, I'm trying to give more of an impression that the characterresembles the actor, without really going for a tight likeness.

( There are a LOT of images under cut. )

Well, the sinus infection seems to have eased up a bit.  Still feeling a bit "bleh" but mostly better, I hope.

Will probably do Free Sketch Day next week, and Character Portrait Days.  I might also start a new crowdfunding project based on FSD prompts, but I might do that the following week instead.  Or maybe I can start work on two or three of the runner-ups that were voted for?  What do you guys think?  Several projects in the works at once, so people have an opportunity to fund and/or follow the ones they like the most?  Yes, I'm still trying to figure out the best way to work this crowdfunding model.  It's sort of new territory for me in practice, though I've been familiar with it in theory for some time.

Edit:  Also, I'm considering what to do about the exorbitant shipping rates on Zazzle.  Since I went ahead and bought a paid account on there, basic shipping is free for me, so I may just set up a page for people to pay here and let me manually ship their prints and other orders, rather than have them pay insane shipping rates.  Much cheaper for people wanting prints and such.


Caught up on the last of last week's character portraits today.  Both of these are timelord1's characters.   Left is "Firthlun" and to the right is "Adonais."  As always, click for larger versions.

Had two commissions from this week's Discounted Character Portrait Days.  (The sale is going for the rest of the day, so feel free to put in your requests!  Prices are $5 for black and white portraits, $20 for digitally inked and colorized, and $50 for digital paintings.)

Click the thumbnails to enlarge.  Both of these are requests from timelord1 for her ethian_wanderer project.  The first is "Lavinnia" and the second, "Lily MacTalla."

   

Also, timelord1 was the winner of last month's Free Sketch Day Prize Drawing.  She had asked for "TARDIS" as her prompt, and so:

Hey, all!  Just dropping by quickly to say I'm going to leave my "$5 Character Portrait Days" open one more day this week.  So if you have an original character that you use for role playing or fiction writing that you'd like to see drawn in a head-and-shoulders grayscale portrait, go here to put in your order!  I'm being a bit slow right now due to some time-consuming family issues, but I promise to get to every portrait that is asked for.

Yesterday's Prize Drawing is now closed and comments will be taken to screened.  Thank you for participating!  

Good afternoon, friends!

So, here we are nearing the end of December, as well as 2011. This month has been a rocky one for my family and me, but we've all gotten through it more or less intact. I didn't hold as many Free Sketch Days as I'd hoped, but when I was able to, I was very excited about the turnout and the wonderful prompts given.

And today, being near the end of the month, it's time to hold my monthly prize drawing! The prize is a free digitally inked and colored image of your choice, from this month's Free Sketch Day posts (which I'll link to here). Anyone is eligible to apply-- just leave a comment here and state which sketch you would like to see completed. Tomorrow morning, 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!)

Here are the sketch compilation posts for this month for the FSDs held since the last prize drawing:

12/27-- http://shadows-gallery.livejournal.com/24647.html

12/13-- http://shadows-gallery.livejournal.com/23007.html

11/29-- http://shadows-gallery.livejournal.com/21261.html

Choose any one sketch from these links and comment on this entry to apply for the prize drawing.


As always, I take private commissions for finished pieces. Also, any tips accrued on this page at any time will (unless otherwise specified by the tipper) go towards funding finished artwork that will be voted on by all of you when the cost of completed work is reached. There is currently $3 in the Tip Jar, so another $17 will fund a completed, detailed black and white drawing; an additional $37 will fund a digitally inked and colorized illustration; and an additional $97 will cover a simple digital painting.

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable holiday season!  Until later,

Amyla

Attention friends:

I am holding a Holiday Sale!

From now until December 16, my commission/crowdfunding-total prices will be the following:

Black and White Drawing-- $10 (usually $20)
Example (to see the full sized images, click thumbnail):


Digitally Inked and Colored Drawing-- $30 (usually $40)
Example:


Digital Painting-- $75 and up (usually $100 and up)
Example:


Please do remember to allow time for completion of artwork!  More complex pieces and digital paintings will take longer, so if you're wanting it as a Christmas gift, be sure to get your order in a.s.a.p.  I can take payments in smaller increments if it's easier.  Send me a private message through Live Journal for more information or to order a piece.

I take payments through PayPal.  For easy access, click the Tip Jar icon below.

I hope everyone has a wonderful winter holiday season!  Cheers!