sculpture in progress

this is my half-finished Cteno II. "Complete" with wire armature sticking out of her butt.

She currently has no hair or tail and she's still covered in fingerprints and nail marks, but she's pretty cute so far. I think so anyway.
I might work on this tonight. Or I might crash on the couch with a bottle of white wine. I'm celebrating.....Thursday. JOIN ME! Go, Thursday!

current WIP

busy bee

I have been so caught up with Christmas and work, and other distractions, that I haven't been doing much art these past few weeks. Now that the holiday is over, I can get back to business.

I FINALLY finished my commission prize for the second place winner of the contest I helped judge last month, ....two months ago....anyway, I think it turned out nice, even though it took me forever.

I have another commission I need to work on, and I have to finish my second sculpture of Cteno, which will most likely go up for auction.

I have been working more with my new technique involving a grayscale underdrawing.

It helps me a lot with maintaining the style of my original sketch, and with keeping a good amount of contrast, which I tend to lose when I color more traditionally. I used to work almost exclusively in pencil, so all of my drawings were black and white when I was a teenager. It's kinda what I'm used to even though I've been using photoshop for several years now. I like this new technique because it allows me to work more easily with my paper sketches, and with a method of shading that I am more comfortable with. I think there is definitely room for improvement, but I am going to stick with it for now.

too busy sculpting to draw; a good problem to have?

I've gotten so into this polymer clay thing, that I have been too caught up to work on anything two-dimensional. I have three or four sketches I could upload and start coloring, but I haven't found the time!

I completed my first sculpture a couple days ago. It turned out pretty nice for my first try.
I think so, anyway....

It's a pony character created by another artist (who just happens to be my fiance). I like her a lot and thought she would make a great subject for my first attempt. It was a good choice. She's a gooey gal (the character is actually supposed to be made of goo surrounding a pony skeleton...) and I felt like I had a little more freedom with the surface texture. Plus, I got to use a ton of gloss, which helped to hide most of the flaws.

Making the glasses was a challenge. I thought of several ways I could go about it, and finally settled on the use of liquid Sculpey over a wire frame. I had never used this stuff before and wasn't even really sure it would work the way I thought. But it did! It cures translucent and gives a really nice effect. I have to experiment with it a little more to improve my technique, because it ended up having a lot of tiny bubbles in it.  :/  It doesn't really affect the overall look too much, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist....

I am actually working on a second sculpture of this pony, Cteno. It will be about half the size of this one, but I learned a lot with my first attempt and I'm sure this one will turn out even better. It might even go up for auction once it's complete. The body is mostly done, just need to work on the tail (which actually makes up almost half of the sculpture) and the hair. Then it will be ready for firing!

stringmouse

I have had a deviantART account for many years now and have been using the same one for two years. Which is not very long for these things. Many accomplished artists have had the same account/username for 8+ years. And in my two years, I hadn't really acquired a very large following, so I have decided to make a change. I am renaming myself for the purpose of spewing my art all over the internets. Don't think too hard about the new identity. Stringmouse.

It will take me a while to build up my new gallery. I will be resubmitting a lot of my older work and mixing it in with new work. It will be a long transition, but I think it will be a good move for me. For some reason I have been reluctant to do anything too expressive. Fear of judgement and/or rejection, I guess. But this new name has a little bit more feeling. It's kinda cute, a little confusing, kinda feminine, but not really. Like me! It has meaning to me, but does not represent anything really specific. I mean, who really knows what the hell a string mouse is...?

I will probably continue to post journals on my old account for a while, maybe a couple months. And I will keep posting here, but the blog will eventually be renamed. I'm a little scared. But I think once I get things started, I will become more comfortable with it.

WIP Experimental

I am trying a new coloring technique with one of my latest sketches.

it starts with a grayscale underdrawing. and ends with color. somehow.

FIZZY!

adventures in polymer clay

My first polymer clay project is now complete. 

I made little teacups and painted them the colors of the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic "Mane Cast".  I am extremely happy with how they turned out, and it was definitely a learning experience.

I started out with a hand-sculpted teacup that I designed in my brain in a half-waking state one morning before work. Then, somehow I remembered it later and put it down on paper. I used an air-dry modeling clay for the original.  The tiny details were difficult and I actually worked on this 1x1 inch little cup for about 2 days before I decided it was good enough.

So the next step was to create a mold using a silicone based molding clay. I had never used a clay like this before and had only a little experience with firing clay of any kind.

It was such a small shape, I figured I could bake it in the toaster oven.  This was a great idea, except that my toaster over was purchased at a goodwill and is probably older than me. So the elements do not heat properly or evenly and get really hot really fast. So....my first mold turned out like this:

You can kinda see the cup shape but it exploded outward a bit and looks really distorted. And charred to a crisp.

So I actually went out and bought a new toaster oven.  Kinda crazy, but whatever, it was only $29.

So I tried it again and this time it turned out awesome!

So after that I was able to make more and more little teacups. Each one still needed refining after coming out of the mold,  and some sanding/smoothing after firing.

Then, I had to paint them. I was most nervous about that part. I chose 3 different brushes, one for the base color, one for the hair color inside the cup, and one for the small details of their cutie marks.  Paint is not a big deal for me, since I've been painting for as long as I can remember, but the details were so small and it had to look as smooth as possible.  After the first few, I got into a rhythm and it was pretty simple.

This first batch is on eBay right now. I might make a second batch of the mane cast, then maybe some of the other ponies. (Including some G1 classics?)

I'll also be doing some teacups in classic designs like a blue and white floral, and.... something victorian?
Who knows?! But I think I've discovered a new favorite medium.

brain = broken

I have at least three things I should be doing instead of blogging, drinking a Natty Bo and chewing on Fruit Stripe gum. HOWEVER....I am a little lacking in the motivation area right now.  I have half-finished projects all over the place, so many, I can't decide which one I am the most not working on.

I have started a new jewelry project involving the polymer clay I purchased (then, in one day, clumsily figured out how to use) but I got distracted from actually working on it when I randomly decided I would think up a new name for my Etsy store, where I might eventually sell the items. Two days later I have given up on a new name and will get back to work, in a couple days.

I bought some new tools today, and a new glaze. So that counts as progress.

I think that I am more distracted by cartoons now than I was when I was a child.

By the way, Fruit Stripe + Bo =....not too bad.

80's Pony Time

I started this last night.

Fizzy was one of my favorites when I was little. I also started one of Bowtie, whose colors I always liked. They toy's colors weren't as cool as on the show, though. D:

tests=normal=what now?

Well, I found out that there's nothing wrong with my thyroid. Which really just means that I have to keep looking for ways I can improve my health, both physical and mental.  I feel a little deflated because I was kinda banking on this one. But I have some plans to make improvements here and there. So hopefully those things will make a difference, even if it's not an immediate change.

There are a lot of things I like to do creatively that I have let fall by the wayside over the years. One of the things I am going to try to do is make sure I do some of these things, at least once a week.

Today I bought some clay! I have worked with clay a lot in the past, but I have never tried polymer clays. So that's what I picked up. I had a little idea that I wanted to try and I'll actually be posting about it later, once it's all complete. It's nice to do something different and I feel like I am getting back in touch with myself through these little endeavors. bit by bit.

so tired....

I would like to still be drawing right now, but I have found that I can only draw steadily for about 2 hours before I start to suck because I am tired and my attention span is kaput.  I get tired a lot. I am basically tired all the time except for maybe a couple minutes after I eat something wholesome (which isn't all that often).

The fatigue might have something to do with my thyroid...I got some tests done last week, and I should be getting the results back in a couple days. If it turns out I have had a problem with my thyroid, it may explain not only the fatigue, but a lot of other problems I have dealt with over the past several years.

If the tests come back normal, however, I am just a very sickly person and will probably have to deal with that for the rest of my life.

Citrine sketch

here is my most recent sketch. It's of the newly designed "Citrine", the Key Lime Pie themed mistress.

Look how tiny and cute her hand is! (I'll fix that later)

Gettin' ready to start coloring this now!

Key Lime Pie

I drew this cute girl, inspired by delicious key lime pie. I wish I had some. My fiance tried to get me some from the grocery store the other day, but came back with chocolate cake. No arguments here. But I still have a slight craving for key lime pie....

WIP

workin on this right now....

today

I'm planning on doing some sketching today. Not sure if anything will come of it, but I am trying not to force things.  Ive come up with some cute sketches that might turn into pages for the next Epic Tail. Or they might not! I am still unsure what direction I want to go in for this next book.

But right now, I might need to take a nap.

Satisfaction

My most recently completed digital piece was accepted into a pretty selective deviantART group. I submit stuff to them pretty frequently, but only a couple of my drawings have ever been accepted. Little stuff like that makes me feel good. And makes me feel like I'm not wasting my time, and that there are people out there who really enjoy the things I create.

Inspiration Hat

Sometimes it helps to wear a special item when you really need to concentrate. Something to put you in the zone. Well, I have a certain inspiration hat that I wear when I mean business.

it's not weird.

slowly picking up

I haven't been drawing a lot lately due to interference from other aspects of my life, like work and stuff.  But I am planning on trying to sit down and do some sketching tomorrow.  Hopefully something will come out of it.  I am also working on some other things, like a cute Halloween whatever >

blah

sometimes......i do not feel like drawing...

loss

Our family dog was put down today. Its pretty sad. I haven't lived at home for several years, so I mostly feel sad for my little sister. She's such a cutie and he was her best friend. He used to walk her to the bus stop every day. And he protected her from not one, but two dog attacks. He was probably the greatest dog ever. Anyway, I was feeling rather sad about it, so I drew this>

pin-up prep

rough sketch for something for the next Epic Tail...maybe?

sketches

Playing around with some animal girl poses. Here are some pencil sketches....

my sketches always look a little more cute and cartoony than the finished product. I have to start trying to hold on to some of that cuteness....

Epic Tail [forest]

I have decided on the theme for the next Epic Tail.  It was between Jungle and Forest. But I felt like I was more into Forest for the next one.  Jungle will probably still happen, but not until later.

I have already come up with a list of animals. This book is going to be a little bit bigger and have a couple more pages.  I am also going to spend a lot longer on it than I did the first one.  So it won't be out for a while, but I will be posting my progress, probably with some teasers and screenshots.

I'm excited to get started on some sketches!

ugh. unsavory conditions

I'm trying to draw but its hot in here.....

So I keep getting distracted and start thinking about eating the cake that's sitting in the fridge.


I am weak-willed...

WIP fun

workin' on this right now. Haven't done anything with Libby in a while, I missed her.

i set up this blog...

So, after getting some advice from a fellow artist, I decided to set up this blog. Still not sure why, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.