A commissions and some thoughts

Mood is.......: hungry
Listening to..: the tv
Watching......: "Law and Order" on TNT

I've been going slower than I'd like on my last few commissions. Some of it is the whole moving thing, the other is the fact that I'm just tired of thinking of interesting ways of drawing people and situations. Granted, I take pride in making my commissions interesting but I'm getting burnt out. I doubt that I'd get pleasure doing the regular straight on or 3/4's view either but I dunno. Maybe I just need to figure out something new to offer, something with a little more structure?

Anyways. Ruthie's last commission of our characters- Spencer and Ariel (otherwise known as 'Fishie'). I'm definitely liking the green as the base to the skin tones and it even works for the hair (since they are blond) but I'll have to play with it more with other skin tones and colors. I did go to art school and I do know color theory (in theory) but that was done with real paint.

Been thinking about putting up some commissions on ebay and then maybe doing some portrait adoptions for EllenMillion's portrait adoption site. Except I'm not guaranteed money from either (and I'd really like to get away from the fantasy part of my art). Still, from what I've seen, in order to sell prints and things, fantasy would probably get me money if I took out the extremely personal aspects of them and made them more universal. Which is an interesting thought but ultimately sort of frustrating. I like creating art that appeals to me, it's why I became an artist- to have control and tell 'my stories' basically. But in order to make money, I need to make my stuff more approachable. I'm just not creative enough to come up with something that appeals to a wide range and I'm not talented enough to get by on 'pretty pictures' alone.

Speaking of talent, I ran across this rant at DA. I find it interesting what the artist says (haven't had a chance to read all the way through the comments) about perhaps using the term aptitude rather than talent. I like that. It gives more accomplishment to the artist rather than write it off as something that was handed to them. My less-than-artistically-inclined roommates (and even the one who was) can attest to how many hours I spent in front of my computer working on my art. Because art is a living thing that stretches and grows. And more over, if you don't use it, you do lose it to certain degrees. It's not just hanging around in your head waiting for you to pick it up whenever you feel like it. And that's enough of that.

I've also been considering getting into more 'hands on' stuff. I'm almost an exclusively digital artist right now and I find myself wanting to do ACEO cards. I think it might be fun- except I've never been able to do traditional media with the same flair or interest as CG. But hey, sketching can't kill me.

Another thing I'd like to try out is working on 'face ups' for BJD (ball joint dolls). Stuff like this one here would be immensely satisfying I think (and I adore freckles). I've seen some with tattoos that would be really fun to play with too. I don't really want to own a BJD (at least not at their prices, yikes) but the idea of making them from a blank canvas into someone or something really really appeals. Sort of like the make-up heads from when you were a kid (although those only came up colored in certain parts, bah).

And I think that's enough rambling for today. More as I figure out what I want for a new tattoo.