Rachel and Tristan Gettin' Hitched

So my cousin Rachel got hitched. I decided I needed to paint them a picture. Because that's what I do... and I couldn't make it across the country for the wedding (many sad faces were to be had).

There was only one problem. I haven't painted (really painted) in lord only knows how long. O.O

BUT! I knew I was inspired by their theme of desert succulents and some other paintings I did in college. To the drawing board!

 I know it looks like a bunch of scribbles, but I promise there is a plan! (see thumbnails to the right!)

See! Breaking the whites and getting stuff down. (also phone photos :P)

I even have outlines and forms happening. Now comes a bunch of going back and forth with paint layers and colored pencils...

 Almost done sitting with it's companion piece I made for my mother one year.

The final! And it got done surprisingly on time! I sent it with my dad in his carry on to deliver it. So I haven't lost the painting bug completely. :D

New Covers!

To show I'm still alive and stuff, here's some covers I've been working on! All are out or about to come out over at Desert Breeze Publishing. I had a LOT of fun doing these. Enjoy!

New Covers for the New Year!

New Covers! Yay! Dragon Flame is out already and the rest are scheduled for the mid-month release! I'm super happy with all of them. The Warrior Queen was done early last year and even that one still holds up. I'm very pleased with them! I happen to have a special place in my heart for YA, romance and fantasy. ^.^ Go to Desert Breeze Publishing if you'd like to buy any of these e-books!

Biscuit Cutters Have Scalloped Edges... and other musings

Okay, so I know I've been MIA for a while... life happens.

I'm teaching and co-teaching at Scotsgrove more due to unhappier things (instructor broke her ribs a month ago and co-instructor went back to finish up her PhD- we miss her already!) and so I've been called in more and more. Not that I don't like the work! I just don't have the computer time that I used to. So updates all over have been lacking. :P

As far as what I'm planning to do, Christmas present making! Christmas baking! Soooo excited. ^.^ Emma and I were going through the store when we came across cookie cutters. Apparently, a biscuit cutter has scalloped edges. I mean, I knew that, but I didn't know it was official. Too bad the only one we could find was in a holiday collection of 12 to 15! (sigh)

So Art Update: Here's a new horse, the most extensive headshot I've done so far!

I also have been back in action over at Desert Breeze Publishing. Several books are now for sale!

 

So, I'm pretty excited about them and the ones to come next year!

Since I probably won't update for a while: Happy Holidays to all!

Updates!

Hello, I've got updated ponies and news!

First up, the newest headshot, a gray colt named Tricky Business. I'm just in love with that stripe. ^.^ If you want to see ALL the new additions check out my links on the right to go to a public FB gallery. 

In other exciting news, my cover won the September 2011 cover contest over at Books in Sync! I had some stiff competition so this is AWESOME! ^.^ Buy the book here, if you'd like.

http://www.booksinsync.com/bookcovercontest.html

Horse Spotlight

Well, this is my second attempt at a pure white horse. I think he's absolutely spectral. A while horse on a white background is pretty hard. You have to make sure there is a dark outline even if it's tiny so that it doesn't fade into the background. Different reference pose too, by the owners request. I went in cursing this guy... and now I'm pretty happy with it. Who knew? ^.^ 

Go HERE to see ALL my headshots!

6 of cups: color

Well, it has certainly been a while since I've put anything artistic up and this is supposed to be an art blog! For shame...

Anyway, that sketch so long ago now has some color on it. Mind you, I LOATH these jpgs if only because the colors look muddy and dull. The green is supposed to be a vibrant sap green and the blue is ultramarine. Apparently, I still need to work with my new scanner.

So, to go along with my tutorial a while back, this is the first stages of my watercolor layers. Get washes down, think about values and basic colors, a bit of shading taking form, very loose and transparent.

Next, start building up your layers. Preserve your whites, put in your darkest darks (yay Payne's Gray!), develop texture and form, mix in colored pencils to get your sharp edges and fine lines. Then step back and look at the over all composition, values, and the way it "fits" together.

So, I noted here that the boy isn't standing out to his best advantage and the top left corner isn't falling back like it should. Still, pushing it back into shadow hasn't helped much. Also at this stage you are just "working the surface" putting in details, texture, interesting little pockets of stuff. 

And here's a version that's closer to the actual painting... still not quite right, but closer than straight out of the scanner! So, I've added a green layer behind the boy to push him up in space and developed a lot of the surrounding plants and animals. This basically putting on the final watercolor touches before it is sealed and then worked in acrylic glazes.