Category: Art

Cartoons, webcomics, sketches, 3D art and other artwork.

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WIP Wednesday – The Cookie Thief

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I’m still having far too much fun with my iPad, this time with an art program called Brushes. It’s rather different from ArtRage, in that I’m having an easier time producing oil paint style artwork. Below is an image I’m currently working on called “The Cookie Thief.”

I will admit, Brushes is easier to use, but unlike ArtRage, the image changes a bit when I transfer it from my iPad to my desktop computer. That’s okay though, because apparently I can send a movie version of the image to the desktop and then use Brush’s playback software to recreate the image at a larger resolution, which will then allow me to work on the final in Photoshop on the computer. Oh, and I’d also be able to show that movie as an AVI or similar format so people could see how the work progressed from start to finish. I like that idea a lot.

Anyway, that’s one of the things I’m currently working on. I hope I get this one done soon 😉

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Freaky Friday – Victoria Z!

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Welcome back to Freaky Friday! Here’s another artistic oddity, this time from my digital sketchbook on my iPad. This is “Victoria Z,” drawn using the ArtRage app. I love how the different painting tools in ArtRage layer over each other to get these really great textured effects. Poor Victoria really looks like she’s rotting away before our eyes! And of course, the pen tool has become my favorite feature of ArtRage. It’s perfect for cartooning! I’m still “finger painting” on the iPad to create these images, and it works very well, but I think next month I’m going to order a stylus. It might give me a bit more control over line drawing, which would be nice for specific images.

Anyway, here’s hoping you are enjoying your Friday. Have a freaky day!

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Freaky Friday and the Mermaid’s Curse!

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I’ve decided to do something new this year for Fridays. I’ve tried different themes over the past two years for Friday’s blog posts and they’ve always petered out. Hopefully this one lasts longer. It’s a peak at whatever freaky sketch or doodle I’ve come up with during a particular week. Unlike WIP Wednesday, where you’ll see a work in progress, this is really more a look at my sketch book, both digital (i.e. my iPad) and traditional, and the odds and ends I doodle in it.

So for the first Freaky Friday post of the year. Here’s something I drew in my sketch book while on a school field trip with Princess. The subject matter has nothing to do with the field trip, of course…

I’ve drawn this character before, though not quite in this state. Her name is Claire de Looney, and she’s a Gothic style heroine always getting into dire straights. Apparently this time she’s been cursed, probably by Dagoth or some such abyssal entity.

Speaking of mermaids, I was cleaning out some old papers and found this little doodle.

I remember sitting down to draw with the kids one afternoon a couple years ago, and this was the result. The way the paper is crinkled and warped, it’s obvious I got it wet at some point. Still, it’s a nice little doodle to save for work later.

Anyhoo, those are my freaky offerings for today. The nature of this website is changing, just so you know, heading more into the visual arts direction. I’m still writing, but focussing more on artwork and cartooning these days. It just seems like the thing to do.

And it’s what poor Claire would want… 😉

So, what do you think?

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WIP – Noir at Sea

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Well this has come a long way. It’s no longer a 3D render, but a more painted image. I still don’t have the painting effect down as well as I would like, but it’s getting there. Someday, I want to be able to just paint straight in Photoshop without having to rely on 3D programs for the basis of the image. I think things would go fast that way, in the long run. But for now, this is looking pretty good. We’ll see what the client says.

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On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me – SKULLS!

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“Skulls!” by Helen E. H. Madden, 28 December, 2010

I told you you’d get sick of hearing about my iPad, but I can’t stop posting the results. I’m in LURVE with iPad and ArtRage! I made this drawing to be the background image for my unlock screen on my iPad. I really ought to add a skull and crossed bones in the center, and I may later on, but for now, I like it as it is!

You just know there’ll be more to come…

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ACW Episo– HEY! Did I mention I got a new iPad?!!

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“Bloody Mary” by Helen E. H. Madden, 28 December 2010

You guys are going to be so sick of hearing about my love affair with my new iPad. Sorry about that, but I am really, truly, honestly in LURVE!

I’ve done about a drawing a day on the iPad since I pulled it out of its box on Christmas morning. That’s a drastic increase in productivity and creativity for me, and I’m not at all unhappy about it. I’m mainly using the ArtRage app, but have been playing around in Sketchbook Pro, Brushes and Inspire Pro. ArtRage is the most complicated of these apps, but also the most flexible and it’s given me the best results so far. I’m sure, however, that I’ll get up to speed with the others before long.

I’m not using a stylus for these images, just my fingers. ArtRage lets me zoom in very close for detail, which is nice even though the zoom function is a bit of a pain to use. But it makes up for that with all the other natural art tools I can use – water colors, ink pen, chalk, crayon, etc. Layering various tools on top of each other has produced some interesting results. Again, I’m a very happy camper.

And this is far from the last you will hear about my iPad. In addition to creating artwork with it, I found a yoga app and a calorie counter/fitness tracker app. Plus I’ve downloaded plenty of ebooks. I’ve already read one book since Christmas, and plan to get through another before New Years. Yep, I’m a happy girl.

Enjoy your holidays, folks!

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Sunday Contentments – Of iPads and Zombies

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I don’t know if I was good or not this year (okay, I was outright evil and we all know that), but Santa left me a very nice present anyway. I got an iPad! Since yesterday, I’ve been very busy with it, downloading ebooks and apps. I love reading on the iPad even more than I love reading on the netbook (but I still love my netbook, yes I do! Best little device ever for writing and blogging!). Even more than reading though, I love creating digital artwork on the iPad. I downloaded a few apps, including Brushes, Sketchbook Pro, and ArtRage. Since yesterday, I’ve done 4 paintings, which is an amazing amount of output for me. Here’s my favorite piece so far…

This was done with ArtRage. I don’t have a stylus for the iPad, so this was all done by “fingerpainting.” It kept the style of the artwork pretty loose, especially the inking, but I think it works very well. In fact, I’m hoping to do more like this, using a very loose style of inking and then using the watercolor brush and other tools to color the image.

I’ll post some of the other images from the other programs later today. Sketchbook Pro allows me to export my artwork as a Photoshop document, so I’ll be able to start something on the iPad and export it to my desktop for further work. I can’t wait to try that and see how it works!

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WIP Wednesday – Noir book cover at sea!

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This is far from finished yet, but here’s what I’ve been working on this week, a book cover for a paranormal mystery. I need to refine the guy lurking in the background, plus I’d like to add some details to the woman’s dress, then change the lighting a bit to make this a nice sunset scene. Of course the biggest problem is the background image of the ocean. That horizon line doesn’t line up with the set or the characters at all! Once I’ve got a decent 3D rendering, I’ll be looking at converting the whole thing into a painted image via the wonders of Photoshop!

And that’s this week’s WIP 😉

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ACW Episode 97 – Merry ChristmaaaaaaaAAAACK!

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Happy holidays, folks! I opted to go with a Christmas card rather than the usual strip, and decided to play around with ArtRage to give it all those pretty colors! Huzzah!

This is the first Christmas for our new cats, Hiccup and Toothless, and they’re quite excited by the tree. So far they’ve stuck to just knocking off lots of ornaments, but I’m pretty sure they’ll be climbing that tree any time soon. And I just know how that’s going to end. Meanwhile, we’ve failed so far to take our annual holiday picture and send it out with our cards, so if you’re on our list and you get a copy of this in the mail, you know what happened!

Anyway, Merry Christmas and all that jazz. Blog updates will be spotty at best this week, but you know I love you all anyway!

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New WIP!! Zombies at school

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I’m embarking on some entirely new projects next year, mainly cartooning and art. So far, I’ve just been doing some doodles of the things I plan to draw, but I have some interesting samples so far. Take a look at these zombie high school senior portraits!

Whadya think?! Even zombies want to look good for their graduation pictures!