Intro: For my first ever 1 on 1 trade on IllustratedATCs (monthly sign up trades) I got to make a 4"x6" artwork that I ended up turning into a postcard. KP selected a sheep or goat as the animal she wanted to get and she made me a horse portrait in exchange.
What I created: I wanted to hand-make a postcard that I did the back for as well. No stamps or templates were used for this postcard as I am testing if making postcard backs are better by hand or if I should invest in a stamp (perhaps custom made). The "Night Dreamers" is a series that I started in high school but never got any more ideas for again to make more pieces for. I ended up using the same setting but changing the main animal out. Originally I made a bunny in PJs looking out through his bedroom window. I wanted this to be different to show that the sheep is tiny (the bunny was in a room made for his size). I was going to have more cutout elements added here with the moon like stars and comets but they were too big to look nice so I just kept the moon only. Throwing salt onto the watercolors really does help to make the moon look better than the previous one I had made. I also did not sue a toothbrush or any other tool for spraying the stars on, I ended up using a pen to lay down the stars with a controlled hand. I did this to make it easier to create focusing areas for the moon - even though it was time consuming. Final thoughts: I am going to work my way through the other zodiacs made in a night setting (not the same exact scene). Along with that I think it is better to create a stamp for the back... I'll be repainting this image again in the future just because of all the mistakes I keep picking up everytime I view it.
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Intro: Well a belated Happy Earth Day everyone! I hadn't forgotten it as I was already doing a trade focused on this day on Facebook. I just didn't get a chance to post about it here yet. So with this great day I bring some new things for us to look at!
What I created: I made 2 ATCs for a trade on a Facebook group called Studio A B See. We all sign up and afterwards are randomly assigned partners that we mail 2 ATCs out to going with the theme of that month. The theme was "grow" but I already knew Earth Day was in April as well so I thought "what better way to show a growth theme than to focus on Earth". I wanted to make these cards special just because I was feeling really connected to the theme...and thus I gave myself some opportunities for growth (and learning). YSH: Your Subject Here (or for those on dA this is the Your Character Here image)... I have been wanting to release some of these as options for commissions and decided to attempt it when I first did the hands. I originally planned some dirt with a small plant taking form in the hands but scratched that idea once the hands were completely drawn out. Instead, I saved a scanned copy of just the hands to use as a YCH image. For those that are not used to these terms: typically an artist can create a pose or a background and post it up for anyone who wants to commission the same art being drawn again but changed a bit. In some cases (like with a pose) you edit the character to look like what the commissioner wants while keeping the pose. In other cases you just have a background that you can get a character (or more than one) place in the background. 2D/3D Elements: The small hill with a person standing on top was going to be the second card but I decided to combine the two instead. When I started sketching this person and hill I wanted them to somehow pop out because of the small size that they were made as. This of course got me so excited that I ended up wanting to use the same method on the second card. I made some roses... 8 at first and found that they were so natural to make that I just kept making till I had a total of 30 roses made. I only used 8 on the second card but started planning on more trees of different colors for the other roses. I have some ideas in mind so be on a look out! Shimmering Paint: I have been watching plenty of calligraphy artists an even ATC makers who use shimmer paints to add small touches to their art. I have been waiting for the right art piece to come along to test this out on. I found it worked best with the rose leaves but stuck to the shimmer paint on my Steampunk cards as well. I think using these can be great if done for tiny details, but not so great for bigger areas as they tend to be flat in photographs and scans. Final thoughts: Plenty of experiments happened in this set... I need to get better cutting tools for one! I also need to get nib pens to work with the shimmer paints as brushes tend to have small moments of misery. I do think I like making cute mice and bunnies now... Intro: My first time attempting this Steampunk style/theme in art. I must say after making the "Fawn" ATC I was not all too happy to be working on this. I left it alone for a few weeks then came back with new ideas. I decided it was best to just take a normal drawing I have in mind and start adjusting it so that it fits a steampunk theme. These cards were made for a swap held on Instagram by Pabkins (#atcitupwithfriends).
What I created: So I used these to continue my collection of "Steam This!" theme that I have in my ATC binder plus now moving on to a deco book. I'll just make prints of these to add to my personal binder. Using the regular tools of trade I added only one new material (you can see the little bottle sitting on the left). This is a small packet of 6 colors that I got while on my trip to India - Hobby Ideas Pearl Acrylic colors. This brand is amazing! Especially if you use these on clothes (which is what they are intended for). If used on clothes these are permanent (the fabric is going to fade but not the colors) and if used on paper they are like normal acrylic paints. I say this from experience: I made a dress back in 2011 and used the same colors on a tablecloth. The tablecloth was washed so many times over the years that the fabric is fading but the colors are just as bright as they were on day one! I feel more comfortable now making the steampunk theme now that I have some ideas on the elements that can be added. I still need to do more research though to make the art improve as I am not even 60% satisfied with what I have created. Final thoughts: I think if I get a hang of this, Steampunk might become a regular theme that appears in my future art. If things go well I just might finish this entire series of "Steam This!" ATCs. Intro: I did not think that I would succeed in getting commissions so quickly... Once I posted the sale up I got 9 new commissions plus one from my regular price listing... so I have roughly 10 commissions that need to be completed. So yes it makes sense that I got lazy in posting any art any where... you can expect this to stay as is for the rest of this month as I am spending every free moment in making art instead of spending time online. Once I have art trades and such out of the way for this month then I'll be free to start posting again online (IG, dA, and AFA plus this blog).
What I created: plenty of things!!! Too many to take images of as they are all either in pencil or only marker outlined (not colored). The only colored art I have are 4 betwinchies done for the #smallcanvaschallenge2017 plus my first attempt at Steampunk art. I also got 3 total Equines registered for ARPG (2 lovely Dyurs and a Moritzburger sport horse). I'll post those guys later when I have the rest of the registries completed and the other 3 steampunk ATCs done. So far...the small canvas challenge seems to be going great. We are getting participants making things on and off during the week on Instagram. I managed to complete 4 more tiles for week two and sketch out the next 3. I have decided it was better if I just posted them as sets by week when I get them done instead of posting them one at a time.. but it seems Instagram likes to see art one at a time. Enough with the ranting... Same materials as usual - absolutely nothing new was used. Sharpie for the nice cutting edges plus watercolor pencils, white gel pen, and Stadler liner. I am going to say that I am most proud of the Mt. Fuji emoji betwinchie that I made... I really got to test out my skills with water, reflections, and snow. I really love this tile...and I think this one and a few others might get carried over to ACEOs pretty soon. Happy easter everyone! For those that don't celebrate like me - just enjoy the sugar! I'll have a Easter themed Pocket Letter to share here shortly once it reaches its destination.... plus some more ATCs I made to put up for trades that are Easter themed as well. And...happy arting everyone! Let's make the rest of this month creative and productive! Intro: Recently I learned that creating IDs for everything seems to work best especially when sharing it on social media and for passing the word around quick...plus it makes it easier for the audience to get the information that is key without throwing too many words at them. I decided to create some test IDs for commissions first to see if I could even make them... What I created: I did not create an official template as I want it to be made once I have my logo and website up (I want it to match those colors). I used the handy dandy Microsoft Office Program slide designs available to create a nifty commissions ID. I am pleased with how calm and lovely it looks (for a first timer). I am liking the color so much that I am thinking about making my website to match (but that is not going to be). First: to celebrate the whole idea of commissions and finally launching them I am doing a 50% off sale on ACEOs. I have limited slots available with specific categories as these are the categories I am going to use on my website. The only main reason behind the discount is - I am asking for a well written review/critique in return. Once the commissions is completed you must sign the guestbook or do a critique if on DeviantArt. I am trying to put together a page of commissions that have feedback so that future customers can have something to look at before making a decision. There are a total of 48 slots... so if all the slots fill up I'll have 48 reviews to add to my profile. And the customers get 50% off the original price on custom ACEOs! A win-win situation for everyone (I think). Second: This is just a mock-up...still testing the waters on this ID. I want to create an official ID for each canvas size I make as I'll be making an official listing for each canvas size (I am going to charge by canvas then further by my art stage). I do not think I'll be officially launching these till I have actual art I am happy to show off. I did think of another idea... perhaps I should set this up like a calendar? I would have the price, canvas details, and other relevant information in a small section at the bottom with my name and title at the top. Majority of the entire ID (95%) would be just images set up like in a calendar in the middle. I feel that the current ID mock-up has too much words and not enough images... The thing is: when I'll be uploading these IDs I'll have an "About" or "description" section where I'll write up all the details... including available slots and rules and such. So I thought, if I already am using another spot for words then why repeat?
Still thinking it over..... Intro: Hello everyone! Just wanted to share a recent batch of inchies that I made. I never got a chance to upload these on here... 3 sets were made for swaps on ATCsForAll while the last (Whimsical) set was part of a personal trade.
What I created: I followed the themes that were set out for the swaps.... using my normal tools of watercolor pencils, Stadler liner, and white gel pen. I did nothing fancy to these inchies as I wanted to get used to the watercolor pencils first. The next batch is going to be more creative as I'll add more materials to the list.
The little baby dino in the egg is now going to be an official YYH (your character here) option that I'll release in inchie and ATC sized formats (commissionable). Along with that I am going to be making some ATCs that are whimsical...perhaps some postcards too. Intro: this challenge has been going off great so far. I have managed to get an emoji scenery tile done for each day of the first week!
Issues: I had a feeling that the canvas I had originally picked was going to cause me problems...and it did! The pack of artist tiles that I had set aside for this challenge is 300gsm regular print paper and watercolor does not work too great on them. I only created Day 01 on this paper before tossing it aside... I ended up switching back to what I am most used to - cold pressed watercolor paper. Which actually worked wonders! The original tiles were 3.5"x3.5" and I created a frame around the tiles so that I had a 3"x3" surface to paint on. What I created: When I switched over to cold pressed watercolor paper I used scraps that I get when I cut a 9"x12" paper into ATCs. The scraps are great because I can cut them perfectly into 1.5"x1.5" tiles (also called betwinchies as the size in between inchies and twinchies). These would be considered as mini artist tiles as well but I think artists are more familiar with the term betwinchies when looking at those measurements. I stuck to my theme, and plan to for the rest of the month. I used my normal tools of watercolor paints, watercolor pencils, Stadler liners, white gel pen, distress ink, and Prismacolor markers. I almost felt like switching over to acrylic paints but at the last second decided against it as I do not get use multiple mediums when I work with acrylic paint. Final thoughts: for those that are interested - don't forget that this is laid back with no strict guidelines or deadlines! So just jump in and out when you have time! Congratulations on those of us doing this challenge (mainly on Instagram) and for surviving week one!!! Intro: My first ARPG references are finally done! I was able to successfully get these two beauties for the Kahuvaa breed group.
What I created: I decided to make two portraits on postcard sized watercolor paper for both of them. I ended up coming up with names on the spot when uploading them to dA. I tested some watercolor pencils with these two references on top of watercolor paint to see if anything got muddy... and it did not. Everything flows as it should with watercolors. I do not think I like using the watercolor pencils for covering a large area (like the background and even the horses). They work great for small sections when you have to lay down one color type in a small part but for covering large parts the pencils are not great. Good thing I learned this now and not while creating a contest entry. With a few shows and some events going on at dA concerning horse focused ARPG groups you'll be seeing plenty of horse art from me. I hope by drawing and painting them more I am able to better understand the different structures and features of each breed. Intro: And I present to you the last of my Valentine themed ATCs (I hope) for this year. I made these 2 specifically to open up for trading. Finally tried my hand at using distress ink on scrapbook paper.
What I created: 2 ATCs that I think are categorized as "mixed media" due to the materials I used. I have been itching to use a stack of scrapbook paper that I purchased from Michaels and finally got to use them for these two cards. I think I got carried away with the distress ink but I think they still look decent. For one heart I carried on that theme of using watercolor painted scraps to put together as a shape. I had a few strips left over for a postcard that I mailed out and so decided to make one last heart out of them. I really like these cards as they show just how many different materials I finally used (some for the first time) and got to experiment with. I tried using washi tape (first time ever touching these) but I don't think I fully understand their function enough to know what exactly I can accomplish with them. I also added some puffy paint to the cards for some dimensional effects. Final thoughts: I feel as if I should always create 3 cards at a time or 4 when trying to experiment... I had more ideas when I was creating these cards but could only do so much as I was only making two. Note to self: only make three or four cards at a time. |
Author: RejiI used to be a digital artist but switched back to traditional art as I feel more connected with the art I create this way. Currently, I create art whenever I can for art trades and commissions. I have worked with clay (earth clay to modern forms like Polymer, Sculpey, even Air Dry clay) along with watercolors, acrylics, oil paints, pastels, charcoal, pen and pencil drawings, India ink, Chinese Colors, wires, felt fabric, yarn, weaving, basket making, and the list goes on and on. I am currently working on exploring nail art, make-up, dress making, scrapbooking, and small canvas art. Archives
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