About Me:Mother by day; Web Developer and Illustrator by night.
You can find stuff I've done by cruising by the following sites (and please do!):
ArtStuff
Kir's at Ellen Million Graphics -- Ellen is terrific, and I prefer this shop, despite the competition and that I have too little stuff there (my fault, not hers!)
Whimsical Dreams -- my CafePress Shop, which has the most variety of both items and images.
Metasilk at deviantArt -- primarily prints, using high-quality photo-like paper (last I checked) than anything else I've had done so far
Whimsy at Zazzle -- another shop. Products may overlap with the first Whimsical Dreams, but I've not had the time to get everything up on both. I hope to just add traffic and get lucky (that's why these extra places).
WebStuff
Metasilk Webworks -- my usually slightly-out-of-date business site. (between work, art, and mothering, who has time to update her own stuff? *chuckle*)
I also received my notecards from Zazzle. I like the print quality and the way I can put a logo and the picture title on the back.
The picture is noticeably more purple than the original; I think that's partly Zazzle (it was apparent on some other products I bought from them) and probably partly my scanner, which doesn't pick up blues so well, and there are a lot of blues in this:metasilk.deviantart.com/art/Snowstorm-AC... (this image is slightly more purple and black than the original). I'm tickled by how well the painting reproduced; the card is decidedly larger than the original!
By and large I like the prints from deviantArt, so I think I should buy a few cards from there for comparison.
I must have picked (guessed) the right tags for this one; it comes up in the CafePress marketplace searches, I think. Or perhaps it's because there's an affiliate store that lists it.
New art in Whimsical Dreams, plus holiday designs and a revised 2010 calendar. Enjoy!
Yuletide Dragon and Snow Fleas are also up.
Hope to get them up at my Zazzle shop and deviantArt prints in addition to the CafePress one... if anyone has preferences as to which outlet they like the most, I'd love some feedback.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 07:08 AM EST
[Art Added]
One of the things that impresses me about Jessica Douglas's work is her use of references in wings, and her ability to work large and fine enough to get just about every darn feather. Not to mention what David Sibley can do (have you seen his bird guides??!!)
I was noodling about on a 4"x6" piece of paper meant actually for printing cards on inkjet printers. As such, it moderately sucks for watercolors, but once I laid in a background (while vaguely thinking I might work at some of Linda Kemp's techniques), I switched to mixing colored pencils and gouache and thicker watercolors, and kept thinking of Ursula Vernon's advice that people will "believe" any lighting and skin tones if you get the shadows right.
Well, I'm not in their class, on any of those counts. I'm not even sure there are enough shadows (there often aren't, in my stuff). And I know I'm working too small and too impatiently to even get halfway to some of their techniques, let alone toward their deeply practiced skills and cool creativity.
On the other hand, they're all teaching me stuff, I keep going when I can find some damn time, and I'm grateful, and pleased with this as a step towards their levels (say, as of a couple years ago; I may never catch up and that's OK too).
This is a great composition! and I love the way you created the feathers!
I also love the work by David Sibley!
"I'm not even sure there are enough shadows (there often aren't, in my stuff)."
I always start a drawing/painting by deciding one the deepest shadows first. I paint them in, and then I find the highlights. After this work is done I graduate the color between the shadow and light.
If you can't decide if you have enough shadows, you can try to scan your drawing/ painting, and then grey scale it in Photo Shop. This will clearly show you where you need to go darker! Some artist looks at their drawings/paintings in a mirror to decide if the proportions or light and shadow are right.
I haven't tried Daniel Smith watercolours as can't buy them in UK but have promised myself some when i have some more paintings done as the paints look gorgeous!!Have not tried American Journey either,mostly i have just used Winsor & Newton.
I have only used Winsor & Newton gouache in the past so i do not know how other brands compare.
Let me know how you get on with finding a suitable gold irridecent paint.
Good Luck with your little dragons,they look cute :)
Hello Kir, thank you for being part of the EF community - I have really enjoyed looking at your art and just loved your Christmas Mouse, I agree that he was probably helping though we tend to have voles and shrews to assist us here!
I have thought of sketching people in B&N but I'm not good at getting something down quickly... I am one who is very detailed. Check out my website and you will see what I mean: www.aheartofmersea.com
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metasilk.deviantart.com/art/Snowstorm-AC... (this image is slightly more purple and black than the original). I'm tickled by how well the painting reproduced; the card is decidedly larger than the original!
I'm very happy with the quality of the minipins and travel mugs from #CafePress: 
and 
Thanks to T out west for choosing a Dragon Reader magnet! 
Thanks, buyer in NY, for choosing the Parade print! 
New: "Unexpected" (aka "Dragon Tail") 
Lovely art my friend :)
Marianne02:35 AM EST