Illuxcon Prep!

So finally it is all here! A number of 12"x18" prints (from Kessler Color), postcards and business cards from moo.com and some nifty clear acrylic displays from cleardisplays.com.

Can you tell what images are new for this year? ;) (I'll of course be bringing a huge backlog of older prints with me as well.)

Very excited about attending this year's Illuxcon... come see me at the Showcase event!

Autumn Magic

Time to show off my last personal piece before Illuxcon! =)

Autumn Magic had its beginnings in a morning sketch... but initially it wasn't a "fall" piece at all. It was a child sitting over a mini tree (I wasn't necessarily thinking bonsai) and behind him a giant/old tree. The fall colors crept in when I went to do the color sketch. Surely inspired by the gorgeous autumn weather we've been having here these past few weeks... And the leaves she is "magic-ing" just seemed a perfect fit.

Workspace Update! =)

I finally put the finishing touches on my new work space... This one comes fully equipped with a pretty blue wall ;) and kodama decorations handcrafted by Cute Art on Etsy. Also featuring desk 2.0 thanks to Dad! (Computer specs haven't changed since the last photo shoot.)

The Hare King!

New personal artwork! I've been working hard lately to rearrange my time and schedule so that I can put more energy toward personal pieces. This is the first piece to come out of such efforts.

The concept came from one of my mid-morning sketchbook brainstorms over jasmine-green tea. It was the glimpse of a young boy standing in a circle of snow hares, being crowned their king. Like many of my self-motivated pieces, the image did not need to arise from a full understanding of an entire story, but rather came from trying to fully envision and illustrate the scene I had snared in my mind's eye. I'm still having fun imagining the story behind the scene...

Cosmic Sorceress!!!

So I changed my mind as to what class/character I want to play for the aforementioned D&D.... I discovered that there was a new Sorcerer class that lets you use all cosmic-y spells and such. Thus portrait #2:

DnD Eladrin Shaman Druid =)

I am into many many fantasy things.... I draw fantasy scenes for a living, I read fantasy books, watch fantasy movies, yet I have never played D&D. Well, a group of our good friends (including fellow fantasy artist Cynthia Sheppard) have decided to change that.

With my good fiancé, Chris, nominated as DM, we are about to embark on an epic quest of dice, math (shudder >_<) and epic story.... And, of course, fine beverages and cheeses.

After careful thought I decided to go with a an elf of the Eladrin race. Something about looking all pretty and mysterious and being able to teleport around. As for class I am technically playing a Shaman(ess) but that is only because it seems to work more the way I envision a Druid. I'm much more into getting all buffy and healy on my group than rending things and splattering blood. And I get a kitty companion! =)

Anyhow, in my excitement (and badness) I chose to do a piece for myself today, a portrait of my character:

Photoshop CS5!

So today I made one of the most exciting upgrades in recent history: I went from Adobe Photoshop CS4 to CS5. The reason for my excitement? Three words: wet media brushes.

I believe I should preface my thoughts by saying that my first digital art program (back in 1998) was Fractal Painter 5.... which has since changed hands a time or two, and today goes by the name of Corel Painter 11. It was my first love of art programs, but over the years we drifted apart: it became more and more convoluted or perhaps I just discovered the clean simplicity that is Photoshop.

At any rate, for YEARS I have longed for a way to do wet-media (read: wet paint) simulation in Photohop, every time I've tried going back to painter I've quickly gotten a headache and ArtRage just can't cut it with large files or keeping layer effects intact (a must for the large complex paintings I do for clients).

I had all but given up.... but here we are, a decade after I got my little hands on Photoshop 4 and they are here! I can only related what an afternoon of "playing around" has shown me. And they work nicely. The options for the wet brushes have been expanded we now get to adjust things like: wet, flow, load, etc.... there is brush length, stiffness, angle, etc. In short everything you need to paint with that nice "squishy" wet paint in Photoshop.

I feel like I have much more to experiment with in this realm. I'm excited. =)

You can read a bit more in-depth review of the brush feature here: http://www.photoshopcafe.com/cs5/Wacom.htm


A speed painting using some of the new brushes: