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: 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: I have started a project over on Kickstarter to finally take the steps that I need in order to bring the Paradox Sketchbook to life. I have to start somewhere and having prints available is a good starting point for a beginner like me. Samples: Below are some samples that I picked for anyone wanting to see what I have created using basic art materials bought from local stores (mainly Walmart). Imagine the quality and details that can improve if the materials that I worked with were better... ACEO - 2.5" x 3.5"Postcard - front - 4" x 6"ACEOs made for tradesThoughts: so you might be wondering where I plan on going with this? The goal in steps is to first get the high quality materials that are going to allow high quality art to be created. Then step 2 would be to get the materials needed to make high quality prints available for purchase. Once these two steps have been completed then the third step would be to set up shop. Mainly I would set up shop online but once in a while attend events and shows where I can have prints and other goodies available for purchase.
Now you might be wondering where is this going? What's the big deal on getting art prints out? The idea is to get fans... to spread the word about my name (the Paradox Sketchbook). I care about my fans and thus want to put effort into getting quality materials and a quality shop set up. I want to build a fan base so that in the end I can offer my fans something unique - publish my illustrated story. I want to get the story published first then work on a trading card game based off of it. I would think if my fans see that I care so much about them to put extra work into building up efforts and abilities so that what I give to them is my best work possible. If they see that I care then I would hope they return the favor and support me when I take on the journey to illustrate my story and release the trading card game. Intro: I recently was involved with multiple MMH (Make Me Happy threads) of ATCsForAll where we had to create postcards. Some of them had themes already decided by the person who they were made for and one had no theme at all. I was also participating in a Valentine Exchange that let me create 2 Valentine postcards. Along with an EAU thread - I got make my first envie and mail it off. There was also an art marathon going on that inspired me to make some heart themed ATCs. What I created: All of the snail mail art that I made used the following materials:
Note: For those that these were surprises for: I am sorry if they still have not arrived and I have already posted them here. It has been over 2 weeks since they were sent off, so I posted these keeping in mind that they have already arrived. The longest time for me was a trade completed in Slovakia and the cards reached their destination within two weeks. Intro: As you already know I have plenty of portraits sketched out and ready to go. They are on their final stages, with the guided lines that I use to paint already set up on watercolor paper. All of them are 4"x6" and waiting for my to lay down paint on them. I do believe I have now roughly 24 total faces with half of them painted and completed. Below are the first pair that I actually got requests for during the 29 Faces Challenge. What I created: again, 4"x6" postcards done on Canson watercolor paper using Reeves watercolor paints and normal white gel pen with Le Pen marker for detailing. Face #11 - plumhill2001 (Lisa R.) She has given me permission to keep the original as a part of my portfolio. She provided me 3 references to work with and I found this one to be the most unique as it is not a simple selfy done with a mobile phone. This makes me wonder if I can get enough volunteers to sign up for a Selfy project... Face #12 - zandradee (Rebecca W.) I have got permission to keep this portrait in my portfolio as well. I really liked how the realistic anime approach worked out with this portrait - something that I need to practice. Define Selfy (Project): I mentioned it in face #11 so might as well give some details on it. I am hoping to get roughly 20 people to sign up for this project or more (even better if I get more). I think it'll be interesting to see how people take selfies, not just using a mobile phone. I'll limit a "normal" and modern selfy to only one individual from the group of volunteers and request that everyone else tries something different. It'll be hard to get volunteers as not that many people like getting paintings done of themselves. Limiting the use of phones might not be a good idea... but it would be less unique if everyone who volunteered used a phone. It would be free of charge of course... all you have to do is send me a reference picture to work with and be okay with getting a printed copy of the original work.
I really want to do this project, especially near September. Let me know if you are interested? Any tips or ideas maybe...? Intro: a bit late I know but I never got around to taking an image of this just because I was struggling with what words to use on the back. I completed the back and even gave this to my husband but then never got around to sharing it with everyone. What I created: the postcard-making-bug was still infecting me and so I ended up preparing the front of one card, backs of 3 cards, plus completing this postcard for my husband all during February. I learned how to age the postcards using Distress Ink which has now been carried over for all of them. I do believe that I'll never leave the back of a postcard blank now. I have only done that to my first postcard. This was my first attempt to work with scrapbook paper to assemble something. Finished product is a Valentines postcard given to my husband (and made for him). Happy valentines day to this blog! And a very happy valentines day to everyone who reads any posts here! =)
Intro: as predicted by myself... I got behind due to other art distractions! Woohoos for starting off my first challenge properly. At any rate... I am putting all efforts into this challenge now as I find it is helping me find my own art style. I am starting to figure out what things (elements, color choices, decorations, etc) I like putting in my art. I spent the weekend (partially) catching up but did not spend enough time. If I had spent some of Sunday catching up then I would have gotten ahead but that was not to be...
What I created: As you can see from the slideshow above, I created four total faces this weekend. I had only one sketched out before but I sketched the other three on Thursday. All four were painted Friday evening and majority of Saturday afternoon. All four are ATC sized (2.5"x3.5") and done in watercolors with some detailing in Le Pen marker and white gel pen. These are probably going to be the last of my ATC sized faces for this month... I have up to number 24 sketched out all on postcard sized canvases (4"x6"). I might for the last few come back to ATC just because they are quicker to finish but who knows...it'll depend on my mood. For Portrait #06 (Janine) I went and had a little experiment with materials and my style. I would say that it was fun but I would probably not make faces in this style again as I did not like how her hair turned out in the end. I used distress ink to lay down the foundation for background and some parts of the face. Then went in with watercolors on the face only. Added to that I used Prismacolor Markers to make the bold shading in the hair plus some areas of the face. Final touches were done with a white gel pen, Le Pen Marker, Sharpie Fine-Point. Further thoughts: Out of nowhere... I have gotten this blog an Instagram account (ParadoxSketchbook). I'll be focusing on uploading all of my work on there (all media, and all canvas types). I might eventually start sharing some works-in-progress and just other musings. Along with ARPG related art... that'll be big starting in March as I have officially joined 2 ARPGs and am in the process of working on joining 3 more. You ask why so many? Only because I know I get tired of drawing the same subject over and over again... so just to keep my creativity fresh and your eyes fresh it'll be nice to keep rotating between them all. I am planning on finishing up my first art related to an ARPG for a February event soon but it is not a priority right now. March has another challenge in store for me... Arch Triptych Challenge! I have already prepared the canvas that I'll be painting for the challenge... and soon to start coming up with themes and possible sketches this week. I hope you do join me when the time comes as I find the challenge quite entertaining. Intro: I ran into some contests that were happening on DeviantArt.com and just couldn't resist entering because the prices were too good to pass by. I do not have any hopes of winning but I think it helps as I have some art now that I can use in trades or swaps or even as gifts.
What I created: I had to make a group icon (final is only 50x100 pixels exact) and not having a computer I could not use my tablet to do digital work. So! I ended up cutting out domino tile sized watercolor paper (1"x2") and using those to make three total designs for the group. The purpose of the group is ATC being made and possibly even traded but focusing on ARPGs in the dA community. All three were made using watercolors, Prismacolor Colored Pencils, Le Pen marker, and white gel pen. I also entered another contest where we had to draw an original character created by the host - a lioness. The lioness was personally a struggle for me. I am not sure if it is the materials... my motivation or some other factors that got in the way but it was a true struggle. I had decided I was going to paint the lioness in watercolors from the start. So I sketched her out on a 4"x6" (postcard sized) watercolor paper cut-out. I started working in simple values using watercolor paints. When I went in to start blending the results were horrifying. To hide the nightmare I decided to use Prismacolor Markers... with the same thoughts I laid down the main values then decided to use Baby Oil to blend them together to get a painterly effect. Another mistake... it looked like a blurred out painting with no ideas as to what the painting subject is. My final attempts on the lioness was to use watercolors again on top to see if I could fix some things. I was not able to get much done as the watercolors kept sliding as if there was wax underneath. In the end I used a black marker (pen) and a white gel pen to create lines. I outlined the main parts to make the whole thing look like lineart then added some shading in using cross hatch and other techniques using just a black pen. I could not fix it any further...and was too frustrated to make a new one so I ended up submitting her as is into the contest. The final image is above this post. Closing thoughts: Both contests end on February 14th so I should know a few days after that on what my status is.. .as I said I have no hope of winning. For anyone interested I have given a brief into to ARPGs below as I am participating in them now. I believe it'll be a good way to continue adding works to the dA gallery. Also it has inspired me to finally start working on my own story. I am now going to be working on a mixture of literature and art.. combined together. I call them "Quick Reads" because the written part is only suppose to focus on perhaps aiding the illustration or making up missing parts. They are suppose to be shorter than traditional novels, perhaps something in between a manga and a children's illustration book. When I post my first one I'll explain the whole idea at that time... What is ARPG: Like me, most of you are wondering what this is and perhaps are going to be interested in taking part too. Does anyone one remember RPGs? Role Playing Games that you can play on any platform (from mobile, to PC, to handheld)... but instead of playing the actual game add art to it. ARPG (Art Role Playing Game) are designed so that you can progress through set stories (or your own storyline) by making art. When there is a quest, you draw your character participating in said quest. Some artists even take it to a different level by writing only. You can draw just a scene summarizing the quest or you can show a progression by doing multiple art works or setting it up like a comic strip. For those of us struggling to find inspiration or themes to draw/paint these ARPGs are a great place to go. Having regular timed events happening also encourages artists to use skills on a regular basis allowing for the development that any artist seeks. Some people participate in these to make money, while others do it for the development of their artistic skills. Stuff to come: I have been getting behind on my 29 Faces challenges (applause) because I have been busy with contests, swaps, and now ARPGs. So a little overview of what is to come for the rest of this month and perhaps even some of March:
Full list: Art Challenges and Projects 2017 |
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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