Artwork in Progress Update

A quick little update. I have so many paintings in progress I can't even count them all at the moment, lol. 

Art Business - thoughts, plans, insecurities

Today feels like one of those 'what am I doing, where am I going?' days.

I feel a bit insecure about my art - am I painting what people want to see? Am I painting something that is worthy of a dollar sign? All I know is that when I put my paintings on the wall to dry, I smile when I wake up and see them. They make me feel happy, so hopefully there's some people out there that feel the same way.

My audience has grown quite a bit in the last month (now up to over 1500 fans on facebook, which feels pretty awesome if I do say so myself), but I'm not sure how to sell stuff to them. I don't want to come off pushy, or fake, or something, if that makes sense... I don't want to use some marketing trick to try and get sales. I want people to fall in love with my art, and let their hearts make the purchase... I know, it sounds cheesy, but it's how I feel.

I suppose the first step is to actually make some art available for sale. I'll have some of these originals ready very soon, so that will be a start. If they sell, I can fix my printer and then start to offer some prints, and see what happens.

I've also been meaning to look up publishing opportunities in books, magazines, and in art blogs and online zines. I also need to save to get an ipod touch so that I can join instagram and meet some new arty folks on there.

I've also been thinking of seperating my fine art and illustration business (which I've named after myself), and my Bohemian Faerie business (which is focused on wire jewelry and other items for other faes out there). So I'd have two different shops for them - for my art and prints, I'd sell it directly on my website, and for my Bohemian Faerie items, I'd sell that on etsy. I don't know though, there's a lot to think about. What do you guys think I should do?

I'll leave you with an update of my artwork in progress, and something that popped into my head just as I was dozing off last night...

"if I paint it, they will come."

I am a Sketch-a-saurus

I just finished watching Terra Nova, and it was pretty amazing (and I am so sad it got cancelled). Dinosaurs are really cool, but it's not necessarily the thing I 'geek out' over. I am however fascinated by the possibilities of time travel. This show had so much going for it - great characters, critical/suspenseful conflicts, really good filmography, cgi, and set design... I really don't know why it got cancelled. Just like Firefly... Makes absolutely no sense. :/

Anyway, back on the dinosaur spin, I started watching Primeval, another dino series. This show is far, far, and let me emphasize, FARRRR less sophisticated of a show in comparison, and I don't just mean the crappy cgi. But I was drawing, and I like drawing while a show plays in the background, so I let it ramble on. And admittedly the show has begun to grow on me, though it's a lot less intense feeling compared to Terra Nova. I am intrigued by the various anomaly's that keep popping up, and the possibilities of where they could lead. And I feel that the character that adds the most interest to the show is Cutter's mysterious wife, Helen. I kind of wish the show actually featured her as the lead, even if it was all about her villanous activities.. I really love the realism and ruggedness of her character.

So now onto the good stuff. Me sketches!

I've been working out the details for my Red Riding Hood piece. It's a whopping 12x16 inches, which is huge to me, and has taken a very long time to sketch it all out... and has a long way to go.

Click on image above to view larger size

This is my predicted colour scheme for the piece, below.
I'm thinking of a poppy red cloak, and the underside will be a dark crimson, the sky will be kind of a smoky lapis lazuli blue, and the trees, dress, and wolves, will be creams and grays. I hope it turned out how I've imagined it in my head!

I also worked on a bunch of other rough sketches, for my upcoming 'secret' series of paintings.

Based on my own idea/inspiration for secrets, involving a mysterious forest with eyes,
a girl, huddled in a secret spot, making secret writings in her journal, while the
creatures of the forest look on. 

Based off of Angie's idea of a masquerade mask. 

Based off of Karen's suggestion of a tree growing around something...

And, lastly, a couple of other sketches I like enough to post. :)

*whew* I do believe I am all sketched out. I can't wait to ink, and then start painting. :)

Painting Progress

My experiments with oil paints continues!

Christina suggested I paint a large, frontal portrait, so that is what I did! 

I've gone for a very painterly approach here, which is a departure from my line-dependent simplistic colouring style I use with watercolours & markers on paper. 

*edit*

So I gave the painting some time to dry a bit, and looking at it now, I'm not very satisfied with the skin tone. I definitely want something a bit more pale, glowy, and ethereal. 

I decided to paint over it all, and give it another try. 

That's the funny thing with art. Sometimes/oftentimes you have to wipe the canvas clean and start again, if you're not satisfied. 

Here's what she looks like now: 

Once the white paint dries, I'm going to do a second and possibly third layer of white/creme, just to make sure that you can't see the under painting. 

Wish me luck! :)

An Unusual Perch - Oil Painting in Progress

Alright, well this is where I'm at so far, in my first oil painting on wood!

Pencil Sketch Completed

Started adding some colour...

Almost finished, getting excited...

Snow White Painting

Snow White is finally finished!

I hope you guys like! :)

Snow White Art

Forest Elf Painting - Work in progress

Forest Elf Painting

Well my forest elf is starting to come along!

Here's my first bit of painting. She's not quite finished yet, but getting close! :)

Drawing Manga

Here's the beginnings of a comic I'm working on.

I'm not sure what it's going to be, or how long I'm going to work on it, but it's a fun way to learn how to use Manga Studio 4 for future projects. 

It was all drawn directly on the computer, with my wacom tablet & stylus. I find drawing in this program incredible, compared to photoshop. The pen tool is so intuitive and easy to use, there's little erasing or fixing of lines, and the drawing actually turns out the way you envision it, taking no more time than it would with traditional tools. I can see artist's pumping out comic pages super fast with this awesome program. 

click image to enlarge

Anyway, back to the comic I'm working on -

It's a story about Etienne the vampire, living in Paris, in the mid 1800's. He takes care of a human boy, because he feels indebted to the family his vampiress murdered. I imagine that the boy keeps his human side alive, and challenges all of his decisions, morally.

But the story really gets going, when a vampire of nobility, calls in his own debt... Etienne must protect a young woman, who lives in the English countryside, from her fiance's father's supernatural enemies. If he fails to do so... well he'll be seeing the first sunrise he's seen in the last few hundred years.

Or something along those lines. XD

Painting Work in Progress Photos

Progress shots on my Tree Dryad painting...

*Edit* September 28th 2012
Here she is, completely finished!