Initial Thoughts on the Wacom Inkling

Well, I suppose I shouldn't be too critical since I've only tried the Inkling once. (Today; it was a Christmas present from my amazing in-laws, but since it's been on back order, I only just got it this past weekend.)  But here are my initial thoughts on using it so far.
It's relatively easy to figure out how to start using it, which is nice.  The Inkling takes normal ball-point pen cartridges, which will be cheap to replace.  I noticed that it didn't start picking up my lines until well after I had started inking, so I had to go back and re-draw some spots.  It also imported some of my spots a little wonky; I was drawing a super-hero type commission and the dude's face ended up all kinds of messed up, so I had to re-draw a lot of that in Photoshop.  I'm used to using Microns to ink with, which is a really nice, warm black, and the ball-point pen is more purple-blue black, so that was a real shocker.  (Nothing a little Photoshop tweaking can't fix.)  It also doesn't like it when you draw past what seems to be it's threshold of letter-sized paper.  The Inkling would be perfect for something smaller, but not so much any big projects on bigger paper.  (Granted, I haven't tested putting the receiver on the side as opposed to the top of the paper.)  I found out the hard way that if you move the receiver mid-drawing, it starts it as a new sketch, so the last few bits of sketch didn't end up on the right file. 
Overall, my first impressions of the Inkling are that it takes some tweaking and it isn't worth the $200 price tag.  At least, not yet!  I plan on using it more to get used to it; I haven't given up on you, Inkling!  Here's a preview of what my first attempt at Inkling drawing looks like:

You Should Go See John Carter

Yep, read what the title says.  I know that John Carter has been given a lot of bad hype lately, especially before the movie even came out, but I really think you should give it a chance.  You can take my opinions with a grain of salt, of course; I'm not saying I'm some pretentious movie critic that demands my reviews be taken seriously.  I loved the movie and have already signed up on Amazon to be notified when it comes out on blu-ray, so I'm a little biased.  Here's why:
It's fun.  I like deep, thought-provoking movies as much as the next guy (gal? ugh I hate that term) but sometimes when I go to the movies, which is rare given the fact that I have two toddlers at home and a full-time job, I just want some full-fledged escapist fantasy.  John Carter fits that bill perfectly.  It's got lots of awesome action sequences, if you're into that sort of thing, there's a star-crossed lovers sort of romance, and four-armed aliens.  Come on!  The tharks look sweet, you gotta admit.  The CGI in this movie is downright fantastic and looks REAL.  Anyways, you don't have to rack your brain trying to "figure it out," since the book it was based on, A Princess of Mars, was written 100 years ago.  In fact, all kinds of movies and genres have stemmed from the John Carter series of books.  (Avatar anyone?  Ripped off the plot from the book.  No wonder I didn't like that movie ...)
At the risk of sounding super girly, I wish the romance sub-pot was a little more fleshed out.  In the book, it was really apparent that John Carter would do anything to be with Dejah Thoris, even if that meant living on a completely different planet.  This eventually happens in the movie, of course (the guy always gets the girl, right?) but it seems John Carter is more reluctant to get involved with anything.  It seemed that all of a sudden he's smooching on Dejah without much buildup or tension. 
I did like the medallion idea as the means of him transporting from Earth to Barsoom.  I've only read the first book of the series, so I don't know much of what happens after the events in A Princess of Mars, but his means of reaching Mars was never fully explained.  And that's OK, I don't expect some scientific babble - in fact, I really don't care to read any of that sort of stuff, to be honest.  It bores me.  (No offense, science peeps.  I just can't get into it.)
I think Taylor Kitsch did an awesome job as John Carter, and Lynn Collins was wonderful as Dejah Thoris, though she wasn't exactly who I imagined while I read the book.  The costumes were sweet (better than full-on nudity like the book!!) and I liked the tattoos the "red men" of Mars had as opposed to having actual red-tinted skin.  Nice touch there, even if it did deviate from the novel.
And then there is Woola.  Oh Woola!  I never thought I'd like an ugly space dog as much as you.  You have to see him to know what I mean. 
I wish more people appreciated this movie!  It breaks my heart a little bit that there aren't more people into it.  Maybe when it comes out on blu-ray, it will have a huge surge in popularity and become a cult movie.  Here's hoping.
Now I want to draw some John Carter fan art.  Perhaps you'll see some pictures here soon? 

:beginrant:

Now, I know that I am not a "professional" artist. I don't make a living off of the commissions I illustrate, nor do I make any money off of the stuff I create just "for fun." That's fine with me. I've come to terms with this, and realize I will always have a day job. Though I am highly critical of myself, and deem my work less worthy than other aspiring artists in similar situations, I know that I am skilled enough to balk at someone wanting to offer me less than minimum wage for a fully finished illustration. I've spent my entire life honing my craft, not to mention five years of (expensive) college that earned me a Bachelor's Degree in Art and Design. I would never dream of asking for some of the outrageous prices other, "real" artists ask for; I don't feel I have the same skill level and probably never will. But to offer an artist such a pittance is an offense and a slap in the face. Does this make me an elitist snob? My God, I sure hope not.
It's late and my thoughts aren't assembling themselves into coherent sentences. I just really, really needed to rant about this.

It's ALIVE!

Yeah, I'm still around. I seriously haven't been motivated to do much of anything but brainless activities since my last post back in February, though I'll get to that later. My big news is, I am pregnant again and I am having a boy. Liam (what we're gonna name the little squirt) is due December 2, and I am just as excited and nervous the second time around as I was the first. I was really expecting another girl! I've been getting complacent, and then WHABAM, I get a big shocker. I'm used to taking care of a (now two years old!) little girl, so having a boy will definitely change things up a bit in the Webb household. Good thing most of the big stuff I already have, like the car seat, bouncy chair, stroller, etc, are gender neutral. Hell, even if they weren't I would still use 'em. Too poor to buy more baby stuff! (Though I must admit, I did buy my first little boy sleeper while shopping with mi madre today. It irritates me that boy clothes are limited to trucks or sports decor. Both Rory and I are quite artsy, thankyouverymuch, and don't want to make our son one of those manly men, if you get my drift.)
Not to keep Fiona out of the spotlight, she just celebrated her second birthday this past Monday. I can't believe my little girl is TWO! My Mom asked me if she was gonna go to preschool next fall. That is even weirder for me to think of her going to any kind of school ...
Anyways, onto more depressing matters. It seems that I can't find my art groove again. I have had art funks in the past, and some prolly just as long as this one has been, but I feel like I am losing it. Since march, I've prolly only done 5 or 6 different illustrations, all of which were commissions that I had to literally force myself to do. I don't know what to do, or how to get myself out of this. It's hard to explain, because I have lots of ideas for what I want to draw, like starting my own comic, or character illos from my stories, but the actual "design" of what I want to do is just not coming to me. For instance, I usually get an idea in my head for what I want to draw, like what sort of composition, and then I am off into that weird drawing voodoo and I can't stop until it is finished. But ... I haven't had that voodoo in a long time. I sincerely miss just DRAWING. I know that I should just be working it out and forcing myself to sketch, sketch, sketch, but I have tons of excuses not too. "I'm too busy, I am tired, I wanna catch up on Glee before season 2 starts, I wanna finish playing FF13 ..." the list goes on. If anybody happens to read this and has some ideas, send them my way! I'm getting desperate. Cross your fingers that this funk ends soon. (Prolly as soon as Liam is born, and I literally won't have ANY time for doodling with two kids to contend with!)
That's about all I've got for now. I really will try to keep this blog updated more often, at least to show I am still around and still serious about my little freelancing art gig. By the way, I am most definitely still taking commissions, despite my art funk! Maybe YOUR commission will be the ray of light to guide me from this crazy shadow!!

Back in the Good Ole Days ...

... I would have hours upon hours of free time to sit in front of the computer and digitally color my illustrations. Now I have to wait until my day off (Wednesday) for the two hour window when Fiona sleeps before I can get any computer work done! I wouldn't trade any of it for the world, but I do miss being able to crack out fully-colored drawings in one, sometimes two, days. Ah well, I've still been told I produce illustrations quickly, especially given how little time I have to actually draw. That always makes me feel better.
I've still been working on Otherverse Games commissions, as well as a portrait of three young girls for an etsy customer. That one has taken me lots of tweaking to get the sketch just right, but I want it to be perfect.
Pretty soon, I should have some stock art packages up on indie rpg game websites, thanks to Chris Field. I just wish I knew more about some of these programs (that I don't have the money to purchase) to be able to figure this stuff out on my own! What I really want to be able to do is make a badass website. Alas, I shall suffer with my poor attempts at one for now; it's served me well so far and gotten me lots of commissions. If only I could continue to do this as a full-time job! That seems to be my most common complaint/rant, and a similar one for other freelance artists as well, I'm sure.
Here's another art teaser for you guys. This is the finished inks illo called "Shiftsteel Symbiont" for Otherverse Games' "Psi-Watch." I'll be coloring this digitally pretty soon and I am quite excited about it.

Lots of Work

As the title says, I have been busy the last week or so with a bunch of new commissions, most of them from Chris Field for his Otherverse stuff. Here's a little preview of what I am working on:


I don't normally post sketches, as I tend to look upon my own with disdain for the looseness and overall messiness, but I know people sometimes like to see the "works in progress." I've always wanted to do a Mucha-style illustration, and Chris's "neo-Witch Midwife" commission gave me a perfect opportunity to do so. I'll try to post the finished images as I get them done.

On top of commissions, I've got the impending artprize 2010 to work on. I'm feeling nervous already, since I haven't started any of the drawing yet, even though I have, technically, until September. I know how stressed out I was last year scrambling to finish all of my Tarot cards, and I definitely don't want a repeat. Hopefully fully illustrating a fantasy fairy tale won't be as crazy as an entire deck of Tarot cards ... riiiiiight. At least I KNOW that I can finish these huge projects; it makes me feel better knowing I've got that going for me, at least.

In non-art related news, Fiona is growing SO FAST and is a little girl all of a sudden. When did this happen? She's almost 19 months old. We went to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum yesterday with my best friends, Kate and Brad, and their son James, who is two and a half months older than the Fij and who I babysit once a week. (It's so cute that they are growing up together. Kate watches Ona once a week as well.) They had a BLAST and I realized how old I was when I was tired after an hour of chasing after a running around little girl!
She loved those Legos. Dad will be pleased!

A Lengthy Endeavor

I am in the process of trying to create my own book entirely from scratch. I've always had lots of stories floating around in my head, but this one lent itself to a sort of Stardust-esque fairy tale, only not as racy. It's called "The Blind Queen," and I've already finished writing it except for some minor editing.
The next part is the layout and illustration. Anyone have any pointers on how the heck I even start the whole layout process? It's quite daunting and I feel stuck. I have a general idea of what I want the book to look like, and I still have to start on the illustrations, but I feel like I shouldn't waste time with drawing until I know exactly what I need to draw, how big, etc. If anyone can point me to some helpful website or tutorials, that would be greatly appreciated!

Some Artprize Musings

So I didn't do it for the money, let's start right there. Since artprize began last week, I've seen some really awesome pieces of art in the limited areas I've traveled downtown Grand Rapids. There's been a lot of controversy surrounding some of the artists, some of the rules and voting procedures, how the contest is set up, etc. I'd like to draw your attention to this article over at the Grand Rapids Press that pretty much sums up how I feel about artprize so far:
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/09/artist_asks_to_be_withdrawn_fr.html
Lots of artists have been given free press from the news stations around here, the papers, all other various media outlets, like Rob Bliss with his 100,000 paper airplanes and the huge table and chairs setup atop the bridge. (I'm too lazy to look up the actual name of that one, sorry. Just look at the top 25 artists on artprize.org and he'll be one of them, I promise.) So basically what this boils down to is: If you are an artist participating in artprize and you aren't at the BOB or the UICA or the Old Federal Building as your hosted venue, or you don't have huge sculptures outside for all the world to see, you aren't going to get any prize money, publicity, or votes. I'm not trying to sound bitter, but this is absolute fact. We'll find out for sure Thursday based on who the top ten artists are.
Besides all of that, this is a wonderful opportunity for people to get their names out there. I am so thankful to Independent Bank, especially Nickie Leppek, for hosting me at the Monroe Center branch; I had 100 business cards sitting out by my piece, unaware that they would all be gone in two days! I was utterly unprepared for the huge response artprize has had on the people of Grand Rapids. Makes me proud to live here. :)
There's one more day to get registered and vote, but even if you don't, please take some time to scope out the little known venues, because lots of them are packed with some really great artists. Who cares about the prize money and which artist was the most popular? It's about the artwork and the joy it brings people to see it.
All of the art will be up until October 10.

Artprize is TODAY

Please stop by 86 Monroe Center at 6 PM tonight to vote for my Tarot Cards!!
All the info you need for locations, voting booths, and venues is here
Directions to the bank are here (Just change the starting address to wherever you are coming from)
I really hope to see lots of people there tonight! Wish me luck!!

Important artprize Update!

Sorry about the lack of posts to the one or two people who actually check my blog! Anyways, I wanted to take a minute to inform you about artprize and how I fit into it.
Artprize is basically this huge art contest where the public votes on who should win. It's based solely in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the artists display their works at different businesses, local parks, or buildings that paid to become official artprize venues. Thousands of artists are taking part, and I am one of them.
My venue is the Independent Bank at Monroe Center. The address there is 86 Monroe Center, Suite 101, Grand Rapids, MI, 49503. I was lucky to find a venue at all, and the only reason I secured the bank is because I work there. (At a different branch) My completed Tarot card deck will be on display as my artprize submission. (The cards are all printed into decks and I will take some pictures soon.)
Artprize begins September 23 and runs until October 10. The first week, the public has to register to vote at one of many registration booths, and after that they can vote for as many artists as they like. (Only once per artist, however.) You can either vote online at artprize.org or via text messaging. Voting works like this:
"To vote online, an attendee can search your name or the name of your work and vote right on your profile.

To vote by text message, each artist will have a 5 digit code that attendees can type into the body of a text message to either vote up or vote down your work (read more about voting up and down below).

Attendees will send all votes to 878787

Your voting codes to include in the message:

vote32111 (vote up)
vote32110 (vote down)"

I really hope you can all make it out to the bank to see my artwork. I would really appreciate your votes!
Here are some helpful links:
map to Independent Bank Monroe Center
locations of voter registration booths
voting information

I'm done!

Yes! I finished my Tarot card set this week! The work isn't over, however; I have to get them printed (and based on my first quote, it will be quite costly) into decks. I also have to find someone on the artprize venue list who is willing to host me. :( I'm getting depressed thinking that all of this work will be for naught ...
Anyways, I won't bore you with the sad details of my life. I'll save that for a later date, hehe. Firstly, here's a "Christmas face" shot of Ona as she got her birthday present, a light up, music playing shopping cart for her to walk around with.
And here's the last of the major arcana cards. Next week I'll post the Aces, then the Twos, etc. If you really want to see them all in their colorful glory, however, click here.

So where did I leave off ...?

Oh yes, Tarot cards, of course! I'll get to the images in a second. Firstly, some news. I've only got FOUR MORE CARDS TO GO! That means I'm all the way to the Kings, and rolling right along ahead of schedule. Now, to pay the 50 bucks to enter artprize and find myself a venue ...
After the cards are done, I've got come commissions on deck to get started. There's one more pencil illustration to be finished for Heroes of the Jade Oath, and then I'm working with Chris Field once again for Black Tokyo II. No rest for the wicked, eh? It's fine by me. Because of all of this commission stuff, I haven't fallen into my yearly art funk. That's cause for celebration.
On a different note, my equally creative (only in the film field) husband Rory is hard at work on his latest movie, T.A.R.D.S. I've read through the script and it is hilarious. I know as soon as he's all finished, he'll be posting it in segments on Youtube. (Currently the script is 45 pages long, which equals about a 45 minute movie.) You can check out his progress at the T.A.R.D.S website here. (The site is also a work in progress so check back often for updates!)
Now, back to the Tarot-carding!

Grumpy

The title says it all. I'm having a Monday for sure. I'll post some more tarot cards to make up for my lack of posts last week. I'm getting a little burnt out, but I only have 7 more cards to go! Full speed ahead, I say. Lots of personal stuff has been making me sad, thus the crankiness. Needless to say, the last three weeks have been dragging on and on.
But, to help cheer me up, I'm gonna post a more current picture of my beautiful daughter Fiona. She'll be a year old July 19! I can't believe it!

Heroes of the Jade Oath

I'd like to take a little break from the Tarot cards to showcase a set of commissions I've recently worked on for Rite Publishing's Heroes of the Jade Oath. It's a Chinese fantasy setting that I was asked to illustrate in pencil, which is a slight deviation from my normal, stark black and white inking. I haven't done pencil shading since college, so it was an interesting step to take as far as remembering my skills. "White Hair of the Deadly Lotus." "Shenxue Adventurers"
"Monks of the Jade Oath""Sutra"
I have one more illustration from this batch, so look forward to seeing that in the next few weeks!

more more more ...

Been a sorta crappy past few weeks for me. Family stuff any what not ... I'll just say the next four months are going to be the longest in my life. :(
Anyways, to keep my mind off of things, I've been diligently scribbling away at my cards. I've only got 23 more to finish!! Here's a few that have been done for awhile, the next batch of three that come in line with what I've already posted here.Korgith and Astraea have one of those sappy, sorta dramatic love stories, so they fit well in the card "The Lovers."
What's more badass than a half-demonic man wielding a scythe? Nothing, as far as I'm concerned. Zane is featured on "The Chariot."Here we have Rayne, the saucy piratess, gazing off into the distance on the "Strength" card of the series.

All of the finished cards can be seen, as usual, here: http://www.mandapandarawks.com/current.html

fixed!

I'm such an idiot.

Next batch of cards

Here's a few more Tarot cards, as promised:Thesa, instructing a young, large-chinned Rufus decorates "The Empress."
My friend Joy's boyfriend, the evil Calidor looking imposing on "The Emporer."No, he's not accepting an Oscar. This is Nestor standing inside of a crappily-illustrated temple. I hate drawing backgrounds; it's my biggest weakness.

More next week! You can see them all on my website: http://www.mandapandarawks.com/current.html

Artprize!

Just so you can check it out yourself: www.artprize.org
It's an exciting time for artists in Grand Rapids! I've been working like a madwoman trying to get my nearly-decade long project finished in time to submit to this art contest, an entire set of tarot cards illustrated by me, of course, and featured characters of my own (and my husband's) design. I did a little calculating, and based on how many I have left to complete, (I've got about half of them done out of 78 total) I have to completely finish 4 every week from now until July 31, the contest deadline. That's fully inking, coloring with pencils and markers, scanning, and touching up a half of a deck. Needless to say, I'm a bit overwhelmed and burned out; I'm trying to accomplish this AND stay (barely) on top of my few unfinished commissions. But I've never been more determined in my life to get something of this magnitude finished. Even while in college, with big projects due and my grades on the line, I was never as fully invested in something as I am with this Tarot card ordeal. Perhaps it's because I care about it more than I did a self-portrait for my painting class. (Heck, who the hell wouldn't?) So far I've been able to keep up with my self-imposed pace.
My next step, which will probably be a hurried and frantic one if I manage to complete all of these cards, is to find a decent printer to actually create my images into a physical deck of cards. Any ideas, anyone out there who may actually be reading this? I'm thinking I want them over-sized, like 4x6 or 5x7, glossy, with images on the front and the back. (The back being the same design on each card) I can't wait to see them finished.
And what next? I'd like to bring the stories my husband and I have developed to life via a webcomic of some sort ... that's a mighty undertaking, but we'll see where that goes when I get there.
Anyways, I figured I'd post some of the finished cards here each week so you can see all the hard work I've done.

The one that started it all. "The Fool" is the first card of the major arcana, and my version features a melancholy Korgith gazing across the waves as he begins his search for his mute lady love, Astraea.
(A humorous side note: my friend and former co-worker Brooke developed a crush on Korgith and dubbed him "Nicholas.")


I think this is one of the better colored out of all of the cards so far. "The Magician" features The Prophet foretelling the demise of Rufus and Keldith.



Here's Astraea, and she's naked! She runs around like that lot. This card is "The High Priestess."

You can see all of my completed cards on my website if you're interested. http://www.mandapandarawks.com/current.html

Finnaggler no more

Geez, I need to update this more. So I love my mac, it's great, but I can't update my website on it because I haven't found anything to actually do it with that I understand. So I had finnaggled an update a few weeks ago from my piece of crap old PC, which is a pain, but it works. Now the PC is dead. So, no new pictures for anyone to see unless I magically learn how to use html code ...
Guh. So thats it really. That and I need a new job. :( But at least I have one, which is more than a lot of people can say.

New Computer

Yep, I went and bought myself a Mac. I'm still in the process of getting all of my files transferred over, and since my old computer is a POS, it's taking a lot more time and creativity than I originally planned.
So, the artwork is on a short hiatus while I get this figured out. Also, the program I use to make my website isn't Mac compatible, so I haveta find something else that will work. (and is also free) Wish me luck ...