Confession Time

Alright guys, I have a pretty big confession to make.

I am... addicted to Neopets.

I used to play all the time when I was younger. In fact, it was meeting other young artists on the site that really hooked me onto pursuing art as a career. I would constantly draw my pets and write stories about them, it was great.

I took a hiatus when I was in college because I felt I out grew it. When I was under going physical therapy, I got back into it to keep me busy. Then when I was able to start drawing again, I began drawing my pets and other person's pets, and now I'm having fun painting them.

I was really embarrassed about this fact for the longest time because my feelings about fanart are conflicting. Especially with Neopets, I found a process in Photoshop that helps me pump out pictures pretty fast and I felt like I was being a half-ass.

The few friends who I've confided about this addiction with have all said the same thing - art is art. Even fanart still has the word art in it.

Plus, I'm having so much fun and am learning a lot from these pictures.

Here are some of my favorites, a mixture of my own pets and others.

Phew, that felt good to get off my chest. Bouncing between this fanart and also gift art has kept me busy, I hope to get a few more posts in before the new year!

Also, my blog has broken over 10,000 pageviews. Thank you everyone!  

Self Portrait Day 2012

Gosh this year is flying by! Today is International Self Portrait Day.

I originally wanted to keep it in the same time frame as the one I did last year, but decided to just keep going to finish it.

Demon Babe

Wow, it's embarrassing how long I've updated... Here's a speed paint clocking in around 4-5 hours!

Idyllwild

Time is sure flying by faster than I would like!

Here are some paintings and sketches from my trip to Idyllwild this past weekend. I had a lot of fun!

My first attempts at watercolor painting... I still have a lot to learn, especially how to not make my colors look so pastel and edge control.

Some pen and paper work... I forgot how relaxing hatching can be. 

Name Change + White Lily Sprite

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to share my thoughts about my little flower trolls. I've been thinking a lot about their purpose and their name, especially because I would love to eventually draw different fantasy creatures and monsters. Plus with some input from friends, I've come to a really big decision!

No longer will they be called trolls, I'll now on refer to them as sprites!

Even though calling them trolls is cute and catchy, my peers have agreed that they are far too pretty to be called trolls. Plus I already have an idea of what trolls will look like, along with fairies!

I also attended an artists' workshop called Workshop SF this past weekend. Unfortunately I did not have a portfolio prepared, but my sketchbook was passed around. It was really awesome to hear everyone's thoughts on my sprites, even a friend wanted to get a tattoo of one, ah! What started off as a little fun has turned my art career around, and I never realized how much people respond to my art when I'm just relaxing and having fun. I'm blessed to have gone and to gain a million ideas of what to do with these little critters!

I have a couple illustration ideas I want to do, keep an eye out for them!

In the meantime, here is my latest sprite: White Lily Sprite! A very special sprite for a very special friend of mine.

Here are the sketches for the design! I'll admit I had a very difficult time choosing. I try my best to really make the sprite one of a kind yet still fit in with the preexisting sprites I have drawn. 

Moth Girl

What started off as a quick noodling around turned into a painting for the weekend! I was inspired by a moth photo I stumbled onto online and the idea just took off from there.

Moth Girl
Adobe Photoshop cs 5

Here is a process image!

EDIT: Just made some quick changes! Here's the update. 

Sketchy Saturday: Mo' Monsters

Ahh, I'm still addicted to sketching out monster heads. I'm going to start taking some of these guys further, both 2D and 3D mediums!

Here's the start of a collaboration between myself and Juan "Amaakir" Alvarado! 

 Already started sketching out body designs. Juan will 3D model one of these guys and I'll texture him. The other two I'll save for when I get better at 3D modeling!

 In the meantime, here are some life drawing sketches I did at the airport or on the airplane last week.