Ugh, spam attack here! Sorry for the unsightliness of it all. Not sure if it's being fixed or not...

Sorry the art updates have been few and far between lately. I've gotten a job that takes up a lot of my time. I just don't have the ability to be as productive as I once was. Not that I was ever that productive...

The best way to reach me is by e-mail. I check every few days or so. Yeah, it's essentially snail-mail. I'm not currently doing commissions or any jobs, but I can always answer questions about anything.

Thanks for all the comments! I really read every single one.

In Florida! Yep.

I really need a scanner - not having one is not very fun. And this is a very boring journal update

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's see. Updates....

Finished that dissertation, so now I have a PhD   Still trying to find time to draw and mostly failing. Not much else to say.

Here's an updated link to my coloring tutorial in case the links go down in the original: [link]

More method stuff (since I get asked a lot about it):

For things that are eventually colored in Photoshop, I use Bristol paper with a little bit of texture - I like it because it's thick and I can erase again and again without doing too much damage. For inking, I use Koh-i-Noor rapidographs with waterproof India ink (black), though you could get the same look with various sizes of Micron pens much more cheaply. Then I scan, clean up, and color in Photoshop. For that cool 'fake' watercolor look, I use a texture overlay. You can find some really nice free textures here: [link] They're really fun to experiment with.

Well, I sure let old journal entries sit around for a long time. Don't worry, I'm still bitter about Chamber

Anyway, not much to report: I'm trying to finish up my dissertation so I haven't been able to do as much art as I'd like. That makes me sad. I'll put up some more stuff soon, though... Eventually.

Just wanted to say, thanks for stopping by! And for comments - they make me happy

Cheers!

Aaaaand... Now I'm procrastinating! I figured since I get so many comments asking about techniques, etc., that I'd just put it all here up front. Basically, most of what I do consists of ink lines and digital colors. I'll sometimes get out the watercolors or use my tablet to draw lines, but not that often.

Lines: I use Koh-i-Noor rapidographs - they're nice (almost too nice for me) and a pain in the butt to care for, but they do make sweet lines. Micron pens in various sizes work just as well. I'll use a brush and ink to fill in large areas of black to save the pens. I tend to draw on watercolor paper because I like the weight and it leaves open the option of finishing with paints later.

Colors: The most common way I color is by cutting and pasting textures in Photoshop (once my lines have been scanned and prepped) and erasing the parts that fall outside the lines - basically, a digital collage. I'll also sometimes do very rough coloring and slap a texture over the whole thing.

Rather than explaining the 'rough color with texture' process, I made a tutorial a while back that goes through each step in PS7. You can find it here if you're interested:

[link]

Anyway, that's about all I wanted to say

Yep, it's true. Not like you couldn't tell from the various dorky things that can be found throughout my gallery. I am not ashamed (at least, not much). So, I'm going to go off on a little mini nerd-rant, since someone suggested I should.

*But, first: thanks to all who comment on pics or on my main page. I read them all and appreciate very much - I'm just too busy (lazy) to respond individually*

Now, onto the rant... (Spoilers for upcoming Marvel events, maybe, but not really)

I'll let you know that this was brought on by some very nice comments people left on a little scrap pic I put up when I was bored and a little sad about the state of things in Marvel's X-Men comics. It was a silly sketch I never finished of two characters: Jono (aka Chamber) and Jubilee (aka Jubilee ). Anyway, many people (meaning 3) asked what was going on at Marvel right now.

Well, what's going on is that both of them (along with 96% of the mutant population) are getting de-powered. The gist of why is really too long to go into here, but basically it comes down to editors blaming the poor sales of the mutant books on an excessive number of mutants in the MU making comic buyers skip the super-saturated X-Men franchise. So in an effort to increase sales, they've drastically reduced the number of characters in one fell swoop... but actually increased the number of books coming out (huh?) Personally, I'd blame the sales slowdown on the number of books, not the number of mutants, but hey, who am I to judge? So the result of all this is that many, many characters will simply disappear. Most of these will be those who've existed in comic limbo for years, but the editors have singled out a few fan-favorites to de-power in graphic detail (Ha!), including Jubes and Jono *Sob*

I know what you're saying: "They're comic characters! They'll be back next month in a special issue" etc. Well, Joe Q. has also declared that they won't be back - at least, not while he's in charge - and he's put a moratorium on any new characters which may not be a bad idea, anyway.

So, I'm kind of saddened (okay more than kinda...) that my favorite character is going away, for a while at least, and maybe never coming back. Also, I think this is a pretty stupid backwards step for the MU - I enjoyed the 'mutants as a new culture' stories that were emerging. I could go on, but I won't...

I will say this: if you enjoyed these characters and are upset about this, you should write to Marvel and tell them. Actual letters, not e-mail. It'll make you feel better... a little. Technically, this hasn't happened yet, but it's been confirmed - so you might want to wait til it does to send that letter

Anyway, thanks for reading this little rant.
Cheers!

I thought since my last journal entry sat up here for, like, 6 months that I should just put up a sort of general "Welcome to my gallery" type of deal. So here it is:

Welcome to my gallery! Here's a quick link to the meagre prints I have available on DA: [link]

I'm actually kind of embarrassed about this particular gallery because there's such a range of crapiness. I just put everything that I bothered to scan up on this page with absolutely no thoughts of whether it was good or garbage. Hint: most of it is garbage You have the honor of seeing the whole range of my talent. Honestly, I could spend a lot more time and effort producing pieces that were all up to the level of 'not crap'... but that's actual work, dammit! I have a real life, too. That is also going to be my excuse for not replying to comments, friending people, 'watching' anyone, or participating in the DA community in any way. I do read and appreciate very much, but that is all I really have time for.

Real Life:
I'm old. I'm a female. I'm originally from CA, but now (unfortunately) I live in Indiana (no offense to Hoosiers out there). I'm a PhD student in biology - animal behavior, to be exact. I study lizards. I like lizards... a lot. I live in a small, crappy house with 2 dogs, 2 cats, a large skink, and a bunch of smaller lizards. I'm a dirty liberal. Blah blah blah... you don't really care about this stuff, do you?

Art Life:
I make drawings. I like drawings... a lot. It's a fun hobby that's different enough from what I do in real life that I'll continue to do it until it isn't fun anymore. I'm pretty consistent in that I let my media dictate the subject I'm going to depict: ink, pencil, watercolor, digital, charcoal = fantasy, oils = landscapes or 'real' things. I'm trying to get over that, but it's hard. I also have some 'style rules' - not really sure why. If I'm doing a fantasy type picture, (1) the people must have patches on their clothes, (2) if they don't have clothes, there must be twisty branches, (3) whenever possible, there must be stripey socks or scarves** That's just the way things are for me. I'm very picky about commissions because I know if I'm not really into it, I won't finish it. So, rather than disappoint people, I just don't take on a lot of them.

Thanks for visiting! Hope you enjoyed the crap... and the patches!

**Could this be the sole reason why I do so much Harry Potter stuff? Pondering...**