Week Twenty Six is Still Kicking

Fear not, for this week's drawing has not died. It's being worked on between actual work and writing for the August edition of Camp National Novel Writer's Month, though Aleron being one of the characters in said novel certainly helps.

His eye isn't colored yet because he's based on an Asian jointed doll I own with two different colored eyes. One's green and one's blue but I honestly can't remember which is which and the box isn't within my reach right now. And I'm lazy.

Anyway, he's almost done. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to do finish his hair at least.

Happy Long Weekend!

Hello Friday of Labor Day weekend. A few stresses going on to start my three days of chilling, but I'm not letting them bother me much. And hey, I've got some art to upload!

Maybe I've been vague about it, but since Kessie asked, allow me to explain. The painting and the digital project art two totally separate classes and not connected in any way. Speaking of, here's an update on the painting:
I've grown braver about laying the paint on thick, but having trouble blending the colors on the canvas (well, gesso-covered paper in this case).

Also! My first model car. It was easy to put together, though I ended up gluing bits into place because they'd fall off while I was doing something else. I also painted the interior black. It was white by default, which was totally unsuited to the rest of the car, I thought. I had a lot of fun, though! I think eventually I'll invest in another one.
Here's the commission, scanned better.
And last, the other commission that I need to work on. This will be the last for quite a while. Work, school, and homework mean that any non-curricular drawing I do will be for myself.
So here's to a long weekend! Hope everyone enjoys it!

Impact

Six days have come and gone since the last update, and what a busy six days they have been. I started a job at the school that earns me 25 hours a week and graciously works around my class schedule. My co-workers are pretty awesome as well.

I did start painting class, but it's one of things that starts slowly. We started an exercise on Thursday, but I didn't take a photo. Instead behold the new toys I bought for the class:
Brushes thankfully were not necessary as I already owned all the required sizes. I realize any old hand soap would have done, but I forgot it last time and was in the book store already, so just picked that bar up. Also, palette knives baffle me. It's been too long since my days of watching Bob Ross obsessively as a kid. And yes, we have to stretch our own canvases for this course. What a pain.

While I didn't take a photo of the horror that I started in class, I did experiment with the left-over pigment from that session so as not to waste paint.
It's not especially exciting or well-done, but again I was just playing around. I think I'm having issues mentally transitioning from knowing how to use watercolors or acrylics to figuring out oils, which are a whole new battleground.

Also, I have two commissions that need completed, but thankfully I know both the clients well and they are patient. Being at the school either in class or working from 9 - 5 every day does cut into my creative time a bit.

This one's Hetalia, Australia and Wy, having a father and daughter moment (or they will once they have bodies):
Lastly, on something of a whim I bought a car model kit. Well, not exactly a whim, but explaining would take too long. No photos yet, however, as I'm not allowing myself to open it until after I've done some homework.

Stuff's Happening

Yes, it truly is. It's also not happening, which is problematic. Despite all my applications I still have no work, and therefore no work hours during the last week. This is going to make paying rent at the beginning of next month painful enough, so hopefully something will hire and start me this coming week, which is also the first week of school.

Lack of work being the case, however, some sketching was still done. I finished a couple of commissions:

Started working on another one (today):
And did some Hetalia-related scribbles in pen for myself:

I also have another commission to work on after the current one is finished. Something else I've done lately that makes using my tablet easier is watching other artists streaming live while they work. I've picked up some little tricks that make it more fun and save me some work. Sure I could have read a tutorial, but actually watching it happen does more for me. Visual learner and all that.

Week 25: Redux

Normally the trends among my fellow artists are something to be avoided due to my mentality of "if everyone else has done it, then my contribution wouldn't make much difference" or "everyone else is doing it, I want to be different." A recent trend I've noticed, however, is that of artists re-doing old works for comparison's sake, and probably for a self-esteem boost as well. As an artist, I find any sort of self-esteem boost too good an opportunity to pass up. So I found something well over a year old in my DeviantArt gallery and decided to re-create it.

Behold, "Delivery" . It's old and it's awful and it begs for me to try again. This time my aim is to have a believable background, characters that are proportionate to one another, and improved anatomy. A more dynamic angle wouldn't hurt, either. It'd be wonderful to do this in traditional media, but a combination is most likely at this point since my marker collection is still dwindling.

Also, to help pass time and hopefully earn a little more income due to work being slow, I've joined a couple of paid journalism sites and taken on a few assignments. I've been discouraged with writing of late, however, so hopefully my trip to the library in about ten minutes will cure that. On top of that, I'm searching for a second job to take on in order to make sure bills are paid.

Hello stress. I did not miss you while I was on vacation.

Week 21: Less

Yesterday was uneventful and went by quickly, which is always acceptable for a first day of work. Today went by even quicker still and I was finished by 1:30 (or 13:30, for you military time people). The above sketches were done before work yesterday, since I arrived early. There's a coffee stand right in the office's parking lot that I am certain to become a regular at before summer ends.

I also did some sketching on the commission and aim to have it finished by Monday evening. Ah, bank holidays are wonderful things.
This week of sketching and breathing was great. I do believe another one of these will happen before the year's end, maybe even a couple of times.

Next week (As in, the one that starts this Sunday) and the weekend following will be a bit insane. As mentioned, I have Monday off, but will be working through the rest of the week and then moving in with my new roommate over the weekend. Then after that, my family is leaving for a trip. I intend to take the tablet-compatible laptop with me and my sketching supplies. We'll see what happens with that. I will, however, be attempting to complete Week 22 during this upcoming madness. Bottoms up!

Week 21: Lyrical

Yesterday was great for a sort of "last hurrah" for taking walks on weekdays. It was sunny mildly breezy, and regardless of the lack of Farmer's market the "Friendship Square" area where I sat was far from boring. There were two young women hanging out playing guitar which was lovely ambiance for drawing. One of them made it onto my paper a couple times. I made sure to thank them for the background music on my way back home.

No adventures in Photoshop yesterday, but instead I started on another art commission for a friend. So far, so good. I do so enjoy drawing couples, and dancing poses are always an enjoyable challenge.
Right now I'm killing time before I leave for work. I set my alarm to 7 am - a good hour and a half before I even need to be there with only a five minute driving time from my house to work. I may try for half an hour later next week because now I'm practically pacing the floor being a combination of nervous, excited, and caffeinated for my first day.

Week 21: Loosened Up

A walk wasn't on yesterday's schedule, but going to church was. This was a great opportunity for sketching some faces, but the minister is quite a... kinetic speaker. Yes, I was paying attention, before that concern rises. I always am.

I didn't work a whole lot with the clay yesterday. I think I'll be taking a short break from clay for a bit after this. Inspiration could strike at random however, so we'll see. Photos of it will be up with tomorrow's entry.

Also, Photoshop is back from the dead! Yay! Having to use Open Canvas on Saturday made me appreciate it so much more. A couple of Hetalia sketches to celebrate (though the bottom one doesn't have to be fan art. Could be anything)


Also, for the few of you coming here not through my Facebook or my Twitter, I start my summer job on Thursday! It will be full-time, so less time for art, but I'll manage. I also have an idea of what I want to do next week, but I'll save that for tomorrow's entry when I post artwork from today... it works, trust me.