Getting These Posted

Before I head to class! Sorry guys, I don't have too much to say tonight. Hopefully I'll have something good for next time!

More book pages. Never fear! I used Gossip Girl pages, to prevent anyone from reading that trash :D

Sleeping kitty. I think I did this in marker and then tried pastel.

Trying a cartoony style. Stylistically, I like this one a lot. COLORS

Farting around with oil pastel backgrounds and gel pens. Why not?

Axl's helmet. This one scanned in really well. I'm particularly proud of figuring out how to do the crystal effect with markers!

Enjoy!

Chickens

I finally got the last of my money from the summer crops. I picked so many yellow beans this summer that at one point the only thing I could dream about was yellow beans. We're hoping to get an early crop started in April to sell in June (way ahead of competitors), but we'll see whether the wind will allow the greenhouse roof to stay on or not.
Also, while I was picking up the money, I visited my chickens which are wintering with Contessa's birds. My rooster is double the size of her biggest chicken, and he has the attitude to go with it. Those poor, poor chickens. My hen just hides in the corner because he picks on her so much.  
I've created a monster! 

So! On to the pictures!

Golden crowned kinglet. I used to sit in the school library during all of my free time and sketch. I'd flip through an encyclopedia, find something interesting, and draw it.

Axl. Always up to something. I don't like peach colored markers for skin. >:(

Colored with nail polish.

A pacer. Looking at this scanned in, I can see the conformational flaws. Still, it's a pretty neat use of a brush pen!

Branching out of my comfort zone! Book page, oil pastel, and picture clipping.

That's all folks!
As you can tell, I've been rather busy, so it will be harder to post on a regular schedule. I will try my best to do so, though!

Untitled

Sometimes thinking up a title is more difficult than actually writing the post. So I've decided to be lazy and use the age old trick of titling a piece "Untitled." This is often used by artsy types who want their pieces to seem really profound, but in truth they are just lazy bums.

SO!
I dabble in painting as well as drawing, so I figured I would post a picture of my pictures.

The one in the frame was my first attempt at painting after several years. I think working in colored pencils and markers really allowed me to understand the concept of "layering color." It was hanging in the Lt. Governor's mansion all summer, and was there when the royal couple came to Charlottetown. I'm very proud of it.
The blue face was me trying to use up some excess paint, and it turned out okay, but there are some proportional mistakes that I'll keep an eye out for next time I attempt a picture like that. The bottom one is a step out of my comfort zone with paints, but I really like out it turned out. Originally, it was only going to be done in blue, white, and black. My dad said something along the lines of "It needs another color... maybe yellow?" which I took a bit of offense to, because my ideas are always the best ideas. Yeah... Anyway, after looking at it for two months, I finally gave in and added the yellow to it. Sometimes, you just need another set of eyes to make improvements. Thanks Dad!

Enough of the paintings. Have some fan art stuff!

Zero with some baking ratios. Yup.

X. I really need to remember to put a blank sheet behind the picture I'm scanning...

The trio would not be complete without Axl.

It's a Lovely Day!

The sun is reflecting off of the latest snowfall, giving the light coming in through my window an angelic quality. It is cold out, quite cold, but the snow always seems to make everything a little warmer than it truly is.
I will likely be outside all day, by choice. I just figured I'd share what I'm seeing right now, because days like this make me pity those who have never experienced snow.

... Watch for my change of opinion when the snow is still falling at the end of March. >.<

Here's some more early 2009 pictures:

Axl. I was getting really fed up with orderly things, because my life was in chaos...

Trying different styles. This one didn't last for very long.

My cat Seneca. She was possibly one of the most beautiful cats we've ever owned. We had to put her down weeks before moving to Canada. She was so very, very sick.

I'm heading out! Maybe I'll get a picture of Willie running around in the snow :)

I'M BAAAAACK!

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*Ahem* 

Anyway, I come bearing gifts!

A Shire horse, one of my favorite heavy-horses. I have no beef with this picture, so it gets the STAMP of approval :D

You know that STAMP I mentioned above? Yeah, this one does not deserve it. (This was practice using a brush-pen, btw)

This horse is cute, but has terrible conformation. Still up there in my favorites, though.

Axl! Drew this in class and taped the looseleaf into my sketchbook. Very unrefined, but hey.

Julius Caesar. The proportions are off*, but seeing as this was for a Latin project, I don't really care. So there p:

I should draw cats more. They are probably the most difficult animal for me to draw, and I spend all of my free time with them :/

I really like the background (done with a sponge, no less). Ignore the horse, and the picture is quite pleasant.

See those cool yellow circles? I did that by using the stopper from my yellow India ink bottle to place a whack of ink dots on the page. When they dried around the edges, I took a sponge and swept the color across the page. Pretty cool, huh?

 

Blue horse, because being realistic all the time was getting boring...

*I am going to share some pro-tips for drawing faces with y'all.

1st: A face is 3 foreheads long. If you want to trip someone up, mess with those proportions a bit.

2nd: Human ears generally go from the eyebrow line down to the lip line.

3rd: There is one "eye space" between your eyes.

4th: When drawing teeth in a smile, do not outline each individual tooth (unless you are going for the gap-toothed look).

Simply draw the bottom of the teeth and the top along the gums, and your eyes will do the rest.

It's not last night anymore...

...Oops. Heh.
Anyway, I'm posting in the wee hours today because I was thinking about going to bed early for once when I was suddenly struck with a massive art attack. I simply could not ignore it, so I quickly got to work. Indeed, it has been the most productive art day ever, and by that I mean "two paintings, a large scale oil pastel picture, bunch of sketches, two comics pages, and some writing all done in a period of 3 hours" productive.
Oh, yeah, and I finished my current sketchbook. YEAH! I still have quite a ways to go before I'll be posting that one here, but it will surely make an appearance sooner or later.

Okay, pictures!

Experimenting with pastel. Even now, I have quite a ways to go before I can say that I'm comfortable using them.

Guys are actually really difficult for me to draw. I think it's because their jaws are squarier... Yeah.

FANART. :3  Axl's such a doof. There are numerous things I would change now, but I think this was a fair attempt at a "group photo" for the time.

Charcoal horse. I'm quite fond of this one. I don't use charcoal very often, but it is quite fun when I get around to it. :)

My morning face. watchulookinat?!

Depending on whether I'm still super sore/tired/cold tomorrow, I might go riding. There's supposed to be a high temp of -1 C tomorrow, which really isn't that bad, but the weather this week has been changing rapidly, so it may be too soon to tell what tomorrow holds. If I do end up being stuck inside all day, I will likely crack open my new-to-me encyclopedia from the 1920s to get a peek at what was common knowledge back then. I love stuff like that. If I could have one extra room in my house, I would have a library/study. Dreams, dreams...

Quick post!

Today in summary:
Angry morning (GO TO WORK!)
Sulking at noon
Chase the chickens
+ Bill gets stuck in a bush
   - Hilarious "I think he's dead... Mmm. Dinner," moment.
Visit Willie
+ Wants to eat grass so badly that he lies down to eat so I can't move him
+ Feel much better after horse-walk
Dinner/chat with pseudo-grandparents
Read entire chapter of Bio
Another dinner, this time with dad
Waste time on internet
Writing blog post

Fun with date-stamps. I like the textures here.

MMXCM version. I always meant to color this, but once I'm finished with a sketchbook, I never mess with any of the pictures.

Axl being badass. Looks like he's going to pull some kind of Matrix stunt.

The neck. Oh god, the neck.

This is definitely one of my favorites. Sometimes a very simple composition is the best way to do a subject justice.

This finishes the upside-down sketchbook! No worries; there is more to be had. :3

I'm Incredibly Busy.

HA! Fooled you >:D
My vacation has officially started. I've been chowing down on Sour Patch Kids (100 candy box? Challenge accepted.), painting (I don't even feel like painting usually), taking Willie for a walk (best tiny horse EVER), reading, watching youtube videos, sleeping like a fiend, and... studying.
Yep, that's right folks. My last exam was yesterday.
Supposedly. >:(
   I got stuck behind a tractor hauling hay on the way to campus, and hit every single red light on my way to town. I parked the car at 2:00, got to the building at 2:05 exactly, and no one would let me into the gym. So I left as a wreck, and wrote my prof an email explaining what happened. I now am going to write the exam the day after I return from the US. *le sigh*

I need to write a thank you card for this person:
   Before I went to the library, I went to the student building to sit alone and calm down for a bit. However, there was a little table set up, and the lady manning the table offered me a free coffee. I normally despise coffee, but they had run out of tea, and if I didn't get something into my systems, I was going to... I don't know. But anyway, the lady made the mistake of asking how my day was. I told her. Normally I try not to get other people down, but I felt compelled to tell her what happened, so I did. She felt so bad for me that she bought me a cinnamon roll to go with the coffee and talked to me for a little bit to try and cheer me up.
   Coffee-lady, if I ever find you I will give you a better thank-you than a sniffle and nod. I promise.
... the coffee was delicious, too. Thank you for your kindness! ;_;

Pictures for today:

This sketchbook had a bunch of helmetless Reploids. I was trying to get comfortable with that idea, but fortunately it didn't stick!

Someday I will find the original picture of her. This is Phix. She was my very first MM fan-character, and still a favorite of mine.

Hoss hoss hoss

I want this. If any mechanical engineers are reading this, please build me one for Christmas, okay?

This one actually looks a lot better in person. It's still charming, though.

This sketchbook was the earnest start of coloring in marker for me. Before, I viewed markers as childish, but actually playing with them again completely changed my mind. In fact, the only reason that I was excited at all to go to University this year was because my mom bought me a 90 pack of Crayola markers. Aww yeah.

Heading into finals!

One more week of this science stuff, and then I'm OUT.
My Chemistry exam is Tuesday, but I'm not too worried about it. I've been doing well in this class, and I enjoy it. If my final does not go too well, I will at least have the satisfaction of feeling like I learned something and enjoyed myself while doing so!
My Global Issues exam is Wednesday. Am I worried? Not particularly. I need to skim the book once more, but it is very basic information concerning overused topics. If I don't do well, I really don't care at this point. My seminar classes in the Lyceum were probably more challenging and enjoyable. I will do my best, regardless.
My Biology exam is Thursday and, well, I'm screwed no matter what I do! I'm trying to study the lecture notes, but I'm not sure if I should bother or not, seeing how the information covered on the midterms had absolutely nothing to do with the lectures. I will be so glad when this class is over and done with!

On to the pictures!

I like the "woodcut" style this picture has! I should try this again, sometime.

A simple "playing with colors" painting. It is much more sublime in real life. *STARE*

Itachi, my favorite bamf. Too bad he dies. :(

Axl! Too bad you can't see the glitter crayon, a-hur-dur.

This is cute. I don't enjoy babies, but I do enjoy the perspective in the background ;)

I want to go back to the woodcut picture for a second. This was one of John Greenwald's (http://www.johngreenwald.com/) favorites that I did. He was a studio neighbor and a friend. When my mom was giving art lessons, he would always pop in with some encouragement and kind words for the students. I often helped him catalogue his paintings, but I was mostly there for the conversation. He was overall a great person. I don't want to say "rest in peace" because that would be very un-John-like, but wherever he is, I know he's making an impact on everyone around him.

These were the last of the sketchbook-less pictures. I will likely be posting sporadically over the next few days if at all.
Wish me luck in my finals!

Schnuuding

It snowed quite a bit last night. This, of course is not unusual for November on PEI. What was unusual was how nice the fall was up until this point. In fact, the beautiful weather is supposed to return this weekend. Very odd indeed.
Oh yes, I nearly forgot:
Happy Thanksgiving, Motherland! We're having our American-style turkey day on Sunday. Mm-hm.

I like the shading in this picture. Does having three swords count as overkill?

Axl and Zero, goofing around.

Can't exactly remember the story behind this one, but Accel adopts a kid somehow. >.>

This was pretty neat. I used a calligraphy set to ink this trio. I only wish their poses weren't so stiff!

Two of my favorite baddies, Sesshomaru and Itachi.

This is actually the end of my (yellow) 2006 sketchbook. There's no need to be all disappointed, though! I found another 2006 sketchbook (brown) in my cottage the other day.
Prepare yourselves!