Personal Work - Realism

This is actually a personal commission I did for a co-worker of mine (I ended up giving it to her free of charge, due to circumstances preventing me from getting the work done in a timely manner.)

It's of her best friend, Paul, who died unexpectedly last year. She asked me if I could draw a stylized realism portrait of him for his sister. I was happy to oblige, not only as a friend, but also to give me a chance to practice more at realism.

My beginning attempts were frustrating, as realism is rather difficult for me at this time. But towards the end, it got smoother, coincidentally as I relaxed more about it. She wanted it in simple gray-scale shading with a simple background. Though they are not well emphasized, those are clouds behind him, meant to represent peace and heaven.

Overall, I enjoyed doing this as it was a learning experience. Both her and the sister were happy with it, which is what mattered most. :)

Drawn on 12x12 Bristol Board Smooth Paper, with a regular graphite pencil. A willow charcoal stick was used to help create the background, as was a kneaded eraser. This was also put into a simple black frame.

Still Life - Sunset Trio

This is a piece I did back in 2007, for my Drawing II class.

I admittedly haven't done much still life, but this is by far my most successful attempt, and one of my favorite pieces of work. Our professor encouraged us to shade it with unusual colors, to create vibrancy and be creative. I chose to do mostly warm colors with the vase in contrasting cool colors.

The objects were completely at random and thus, this is the way they were set up when I drew them. The "sun" or "circle" behind them is a plate.

It was sketched in regular pencil, then colored with Prismacolor pencils, on brown paper.

Welcome to my Spot

 A post about me, the artist herself, with a photo included. 

 You can check out my introductory details in the About Me section, which is also connected to my Profile. Art is a big part of me and I hope people enjoy my drawings and stories as much as I love making them. My focus up until this point has been on anime (Japanese style animation), single character portraits, and coloring. Now that I am older and a little bit wiser, I'm starting to break past that and include other important elements. An artist is forever growing and learning in my opinion, so I aspire to acquire as many skills as I am capable of having.

Besides showing my work, I'm really hoping to get feedback and constructive criticism, as they are extremely helpful and motivating effects. So please do not hesitate to leave me a comment, or send me an email to smoss1130@yahoo.com. Tell me what you like, dislike, what could be worked on and what were the strong points. I will not tolerate rudeness, but I will welcome helpful insight.

If by chance you are interested in commissioning me for art (commissioning meaning you pay me to draw you a picture of your choice), then please email me at the address in bold above. I will let you know when I am available and you can let me know what it is you'd like. From there we'll discuss the terms and negotiate a price. Please keep in mind the price will be determined by the pictures attributes: size, number of characters or people, detail, choice of background, traditionally drawn or digitally drawn,  and the amount of time spent on labor. Cartoons are my strong point, but if you wish for another style (i.e, realism), I may be able to accept your request. Please bear in mind though the difficulty of the drawing will have a large impact on the final price as well. The easier and quicker I can get it done, the cheaper it will be.

This post will be updated with more details and specific information regarding the commission process. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy my blog, and don't be afraid to tell your friends and link them back! :) The more, the merrier!

Slide Show

A slide show of some of my best illustrations, starting with 2006 until currently. As you can see I strongly prefer and enjoy cartoon illustration and coloring is one of my strong points, particularly digital coloring. More variety will be incorporated over time, however, as my desire to expand beyond my comfort zone becomes stronger.

This slide show may be edited or updated as time progresses. I will also continue to make individual blog posts with pictures, but I figured this was the best way to showcase a group of my better works.

Sera

(Please click for full-size viewing)

Another original character, her name taken after mine but with a completely different spelling. I cannot be credited for the spelling, I saw it from an online web comic a few years ago. 

She is a new character, I made her just last year. Her story and the like is still under work, but no, she is not supposed to be a copy of me just because she has the same sounding name. :P

This was originally drawn on paper (the back of a restaurant mat, actually) and I cleaned it up, did the lineart, and colored it primarily in Photoshop CS5. Alittle bit of work was done in openCanvas as well. 

First Post, First Step Towards a Better Future

-reach for the sky...-

(Please click the image for full-size viewing)

My first full colored illustration of 2011. A piece meant to represent optimism, courage and hope. This is how I wish to be, not just regarding my art as a career, but my life in general. The girl in this picture is an original character I created back in 2003-2004. Her name is Satsumi, pronounced Saht-sue-me. Her history and personality has undergone some revisions since then, of course, but she still represents the innocence and optimism I had as a child, and the kind I am looking for as an adult. In a way, she is like a self-reflection of myself.

This was drawn and colored on the computer via tablet, in the program openCanvas4.5.17. It took me an estimate of 4 hours to complete start to finish. Reference was used for her right hand.