Back and Ready for you

Mood is.......: busy, busy, busy
Listening to..: "Wish I May"- Breaking Benjamin
Watching......: Nada

Welcome to my little catch-all of the sketches I did during my exile.

First up- Ato and Pidge playing at Peter Pan and Wendy. She doesn't really make for such a great Wendy (she probably has more in common with Tiger Lily) but I was watching the most recent adaptation of "Peter Pan" and he reminded me quite a bit of Ato.

Older Pidge and Ato clearly. Nothing says homecoming like a fullbody hug, no?

Ato and Papi fighting. Which they do often but more so while Avo is away. Fear my wonky proportions.


Mul might be "Braid girl" in Ato's mind but she knows how to get him to behave via hard labor. I clearly have no idea how to forge a sword (or anything about blacksmithing) but to my defense I had absolutely no refs.

I like the idea of this one but I seriously need to fix that hand. Inspired by some story/Rp plot lines. Ato has bad, bad dreams.

Ato at various ages- top level is a young Guard. Bottom left is him still around that age, probably a little older but in something I was considering for his mating robes. A take on military uniforms. And the one on the right is him in his 30's or so.

Moving out of Una territory we have some humans. Left to right: Moira, Aidan, Garan and Elena. Aidan and Garan are half-brothers that get along like...well, junkyard dogs. Opposite sides of the law with very stubborn, macho personalities. Their ladies tolerate it only to a certain point thankfully.

Moira and Aidan again. Was thinking of it as around the time they were first partnered together. Moira is clearly uncertain of him but intrigued. ;D

Drawing a police uniform from memory ain't east. Nor are those little hats.

Pom and Adrik. Being lovely-dovey and shit. ;P

Sketch Exile Post 1 is finito! More tomorrow!

My geeky roots are showing

Mood is.......: tired
Listening to..: the AC unit running outside
Watching......: Criminal Minds (or about to)

Dunno how I got onto this kick. Might've been the convo with Mel yesterday (I think?) about what's going on in the comic book world. Sufficed to say, I won't be picking up anything anytime soon if they keep doing stupid shit. Ah well, the kernel of the characters are good.


This one I've already shown off the sketch but I've been poking at it. I hate the pose I stuck GA in (the male) and now I've made him too skinny. Well I don't hate the pose so much as drawing it frustrates me.
But I do like their expressions. I'm not fully sold on Canary's 'Smallville' inspired hair. I like the way they rocked it in the stills but I haven't quite got it here.


Man oh man it's been a long time since I drew Rogue. And more over, I've never drawn her as well as I have here. When I was poking around looking at Canary drawings, I noticed a cheesecake theme. Which isn't surprising considering her outfit but not something I'm fond of considering her personality. What that has to do with Rogue...I'm not sure. Except her outfit kinda reminds me of this one of Rogue's above. It isn't the one I grew up on (that was the green and yellow + bomber jacket) but it's my favorite.


Also, check out that expression. Rogue should be impish and a little crazy/naughty. Not emo dammit (or at least not emo-overload jeez).
That's all tonight, back to packing.

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.