Reaper

Oh hey, I forgot to post this when it finally got finished.

My latest drawing challenge was to combine the redesign of a book cover that is NOT a movie  with a monster performing a mundane task.

I chose Reaper Man  by the wonderful Terry Pratchett. In the book, Death takes a holiday and winds up helping an old lady on her farm. So the mundane task is using is scythe to harvest wheat!

I know I've gotten a little lazy with the last two drawings. I've gotten busy with actual paintings and pre-wedding to-dos and all those other things that life can throw at you. I know that shouldn't be an excuse and I'm getting much better at toughing it out and doing it anyway. Also, the ink I used for this image must've been old, because it bled into the paper kind of strange.

Another distraction was getting ALL of my jewelry listed in my Etsy! Not all of them are live yet, but at least 15 brand new items are up! Check out these awesome Christmas gifts!

I also just finished by fiances birthday present and I'm quite proud of it. I will post it here after he gets it!

Next challenge is to combine favorite actor/actress/movie character with a liquid in motion!

Sew I Did a Thing

I'm really hoping to get some actual art done sometime. I keep getting distracted.

Today I took in an old flannel shirt that used to belong to my late grandfather. He passed away in the spring, and this is one way to keep him around.

I know they aren't the best pictures, but I'm not a photographer. Anyway, here's the before.

And here's the after! It lays a little awkward on me, but it's a better fit than before. At least accomplished my goal. Yay for flannel!

Rings and Mysterious Things

Okay, I'm finally around to posting my next drawing challenge step. The fifth challenge was to combine my favorite cartoon character with a mysterious device. I had a difficult time deciding between Courage the Cowardly Dog and Invader Zim. Both shows are utterly amazing and both contain many mysterious devices. 

I had this drawing started, then my amazing other half proposed to me so I had to say yes. (Duh) So the last couple of weeks I've been a bit distracted with all sorts of wedding nonsense. Here is a picture of my perfect ring! I had no idea what style I wanted, but I could find a thousand I didn't want. I believe he picked one wonderfully, nevermind he spent ten months looking for 'the one.' 

Beautiful and simple, traditional and unique, sapphires, I can show it off but it won't be in the way.

Anyway, back to the art. This is my drawing #5 in my level two drawing challenge. I got lazy because it's not quite a finished drawing and there is no background, but I hope to come back to this one someday. I have a bad habit of getting bored with a piece of work if I don't finish it soon enough or if I leave it sit for too long.

Either way, ta-da! I hope you enjoy the image and look for a redesign of a book cover that isn't a movie combined with a monster doing a mundane task!

Courage the Cowardly Dog is trademark of Cartoon Network, this is just fan art.

I Sew Too!

Not only do I make traditional artwork, I sew too! The other day, I made a yoga mat bag in about an hour or so. I found the tutorial here, and original credit goes there. I fudged the measurements just a bit so I could use the imperial system since hers are in metric. It all worked out quite well!

I had just enough of this fabric for the whole bag and a few scrap pieces left over for a future project. Isn't it beautiful?

You can see my modified pattern below. I simply traced a roll of tape that was about the right size since I am currently without a working compass.

The piece for the bag has been cut and the loop for the drawstring is pinned in place!

I folded over the edges at a slight angle so the finished product wouldn't have fraying seams.

Here is the strap piece all cut out and pinned.

My very first attempt at sewing a circle bottom to a tube. Rather difficult, but it turned out just fine!

Ta-da! The bottom edge of the strap was in on that circle above.

Add random drawstring and sew top end of the strap in place.

Simple, yet excellent! It turned out to be a little longer than anticipated so there is extra space in the bag above the mat. That just translates to room for accessories like hand weights or a yoga strap!

I hope you were at least mildly entertained by my simple sewing adventure.  Until next time!
Namaste

The Puppeteer

I was driving back to my place one night, just me and Kora, listening to some good 'ole rock music, when this image popped into my head. I told myself I should really create it, but my inability to draw hands may never cease.

I tried anyway. I tried to draw these hands for hours with not a single one looking anatomically correct. I gave in and photographed my hands in the position I wanted them and uploaded the photos to my computer. I then fixed them on the computer and printed them out the size I wanted them to be. After that, I traced the hands and did a little artsy magic to make the one female and the other male. 

Finally, they looked like I might have a little talent at drawing anatomically correct hands. (Which I still don't.)

I present, The Puppeteer in watercolor. 

I'm working on my next drawing challenge piece. I'm also hoping to get working on a big project for a special someone....

Pop Ewoks

Another drawing challenge complete! This challenge was to combine Star Wars with an unlikely candy.  Of course, I had to create a Star Wars/candy pun! Some of the candidates included Yoda-Pop, Death Starbursts, Jedi Beli Flavored Beans, and Tatooine Rolls, but the ultimate winner is....

POP EWOKS! 

I was seriously considering creating yoda-pop and death starbursts as well, but I was running out of oomph for the day and really wanted to post this one. Maybe they will appear one day. 

That's all for today. Keep an eye out for my next concoction: a mysterious device  combined with my favorite cartoon character.

(Star Wars owned by Disney and Pop Rocks owned by....Pop Rocks.)

Revenge of Fuzzy

I hate being so slow with this challenge, but I am proud of each piece so far. I also don't want to give you a crappy drawing on time, so I give you better drawings. They're worth the wait, right?

My third challenge was to combine favorite pet or animal with an unfit means of travel. Hamsters aren't my number one, although I love them, but I had to draw this after I thought of it. It is a skeleton leader riding in the mouth of a hamster zombie. I would consider that unfit, wouldn't you? Anyway, here is the drawing. I even added a tiny splash of color for variety. 

Sweet dreams.

Pierce the Heavens, Gurren Lagann

Another commission! My path towards arthood is well underway.

A friend of mine asked me to paint a picture of the drill from an anime titled Gurren Lagann. I have not watched this anime, but I've heard a lot about it. I also did a little research into the storyline and significance of the drill. The show takes place in a future Earth with some people living in subterranean villages. Some of these people are diggers that use drills to expand the living spaces underground. The main character, Simon, unearths a drill-key to a mecha and joins his brothers gang to one day reach the surface world.  There is much more to the show and you can find more information on the wikipedia page. 

Anyway, I created the painting based on other images of the drill and the dark to light represents the drill traveling from the isolated, subterranean world into the light of the surface world.  The spiraling clouds and dirt represent the divide between the two.  

I hope I've done the image justice with this painting. It is acrylic paint on canvas panel, size 11'' x 16''. (I think)

Dragon and a Kitten

I recently painted a dragon for a friend of mine. It took me two sessions of painting from start to finish; that didn't include sketching. I used acrylic paint on canvas panel and several pallette knives. No brushes were used for this painting.

Here is a close up of the dragon's eye to show detail.

I also remembered to take my camera the last time I visited my parents so I could take pictures of their kitten, Grimm. Enjoy!

Grimm is a handsome fella.

He was rubbing his face on my finger and then derped.

He's also quite fierce.

Nap time on the dog toy.

Babies!

Sorry for the wait, I'm working on projects and being slow to get stuff uploaded. Here is some information about some stuff I did a while back.

My SO has two goddaughters, both born after we started dating (barely). The oldest will be four and the younger one will be a year old this year. For their births I drew each of them a little colored pencil animal to match the rest of their theme, considering some babies have themes. Anyway, goddaughter 1 loves giraffes, somehow they knew that before she was born.

So I drew and framed this for her! It's colored pencil and ink and 4x6 on heavy sketch paper.

When her little sister was born last year, her theme was elephants! Unfortunately, I was slow on getting the drawing finished and even slower on getting it to the family. It's really sad they live four hours away from us. 

Here's the elephant! It's also done in colored pencil and ink on heavy duty sketch paper and is 4x6.

Sorry for the image quality on these two. They are just pictures of the finished drawings on simple cameras, I never thought to scan them into my computer, but you get the gist. 

Another friend of mine had a little baby a handful of months ago and she lives up in Alaska! This baby loves her toy moose and since they were back in the lower 48 for a few weeks, I got to see them. Yay me! 

Here is her moose! Same as the previous; colored pencil and ink, heavy paper, give or take it's 4x6.  I blended the colors into the paper more on this one for a richer and brighter image. I also had the smarts to scan the finished drawing.

It's still not the best quality. I have a simple cheap-y scanner/printer, but it does its job well enough for my needs until I get rich. HA! 

When a friend or relative has a baby, some people make blankets, some people make stuffed animals or clothes, but I draw cute little animals! 

The Mighty Sea-Star-Crab-Fish!

Finally! I've completed the second drawing to my drawing challenge!  I apologize for the length of time it took to complete. I got really into the drawing, and the holiday weekend, and work... adulting can be hard.

Anyway, with these drawings I'm working towards more complete images, meaning I need to make a decent background, not just shadows and a horizon line. The last drawing had some clouds, and the basket and this drawing has a whole sea storm! Full of waves, lightning, and some simple clouds.

The two challenges were the offspring of 2 unlikely animals and something from the sea, so obviously I created a sea monster that seems to be a cross between a starfish and a crab. I think he's beautiful.

My Independence Day adventure was taking the motorcycle on a four hour road trip to see the most amazing fireworks show I've seen yet! The bike ride wasn't so bad since we stopped every hour or so to regain feeling in our posteriors and stretch our legs. We got to see my other half's beautiful goddaughters. I so wish we lived closer! Too bad I couldn't take my nice camera on the bike, otherwise I would have some pics on here to show off how lovely those girls are.

I have a deadline to reach today with some preliminary drawings, so wish me luck. Join me next time for an unfit means of travel combined with a favorite pet or animal!

Drawing Challenge: Level Medium

A few years ago I completed a thirty day drawing challenge that was fun and most of the drawings ended up really cute. This year I decided one challenge wasn't challenging enough. I've decided to combine two different drawing challenges into one drawing per two days. I'm changing it to two days per drawing to allow for more detail in my drawings, cuz I need the practice.  Here are the two challenges, hopefully big enough for you to read. I combine the corresponding days in a creative and (hopefully) humorous manner. The original creators of the challenges are in the photos, don't go thinking I came up with them on my own. That comes on challenge 30.

So the first challenge is a self portrait and someone or something experiencing flight. The result is a picture of a couple on a hot air balloon ride. To give credit where it's due, the drawing was first inspired by the book The Kraken King by Meljean Brook. It's a steampunk romance, so I was wary at first. Too much romance makes me want to vomit. I'm not a chick-flick kind of girl. It was mostly steampunk adventure with a little romance, so that was nice. I enjoyed the book and recommend it to others. (No, I wasn't paid to say that.) Anyway, I decided to call it a self-portrait because the female lead and I have similar features, (pale, not-stereotype-pretty, pointy features, small) so I thought close enough. 

Also, forgive the anatomy mistakes and poor man-drawing. This is the first male character I've drawn that didn't look like a morbid concoction of a two-year-old. So here it is, the first step to a medium level drawing challenge! 

Wish me luck. 

PS: If you think of a clever idea for one of the challenge combinations, don't be afraid to let me know! All ideas are helpful! 

Love Wins

Congratulations to all those happy couples that can finally be married! I've always thought love between two consenting adults should never be hindered by the government. Now they have the right to become one being in two bodies with all the rights and privileges of traditional marriages.

This is a drawing I did a few years back for a friend that had come out and it wasn't always easy. Here he is, just as sparkly as ever with his fabulous lizard.

#LoveWins

Farm Pictures

Second post, doing well. Okay, so here it goes. Last night I tore my middle fingernail of my right (dominant) hand three-quarters of the way across about a quarter way into the living tissue. Needless to say there was a bit of pain, a spot of blood, and a long lasting inconvenience. I plan on posting some drawings soon, so don't lose hope.

Yesterday I went to the parent's farm and took some pictures while I was there. I know I'm not a photographer, but I enjoy taking the pictures and they are fun to look at. Who doesn't love animals, right?

Anyway, our GOS sow had piglets about a week ago and they are so tiny and so adorable! She is a great mommy and lets me just sit in the pen with her and her nine little ones. Her name is Lillian and she will literally roll over to let me rub her belly. I've added a few more pictures of the babies for good measure.

Lillian and her nine piglets. 

Then, we had to move a t-post and we found a spider living on it, so of course I had to take pictures of the terrifying beast. She posed rather well while I took the pictures. Then the noise of the skid loader mixed with us moving the post around made her attempt to hide in her little web nest. 

Humans are scary. I must hide. 

Also, our llama got her annual haircut. Taking pictures of the animals is so much fun. I never know when I'm going to get a great shot and who is going to be friendly and stand still that day. If you want to know more about my parent's farm, I run there website and you can check it out here! 

Cria, the llama that doesn't understand personal space.

Chloe, the guardian dog. She guards the cows.

I have returned!

Hello to anyone who follows this blog, which I'm assuming is nobody since I haven't posted in two years. I started this blog for a social media class I took in college and just never deleted it. I recently created a Patreon account to help support my dream of being able to pay my bills by creating art. What is she, crazy? I am.

One of the hints to a successful Patreon is to have a blog, so I thought "Hey, I have one already, I'll just add on to it!" We'll see how up-to-date I can keep you all.

By the way, Patreon is a site for content creators such as artists, musicians, designers, etc. I am a visual artists that creates mostly drawings and paintings, but I also dabble in graphic design and some jewelry and keychains.

Like this little leather bound journal keychain I made! Fully functional and easily transported!


Oh! I'm so terrible at introductions! I create under the name of Owl Eyrie (owl air-ee) on most of my sites. I have a few that are under older urls because, as a starving artist, I can't pay to change them (facebook.com/MyWayDesigns and my-way13.deviantArt.com).

You already know I have a Patreon, but I also have an Etsy store in which I sell some of my jewelry and I can easily create and sell custom artwork and jewelry for anyone! I accept credit cards, gift cards, and Paypal. I am sometimes on Twitter, I still don't quite understand the hashtags and whatnot. I'm young, but old fashioned. Ha.

I've been drawing a lot of koi fish lately, but they are so fun and free! The watercolor above is one of my favorites. My most recent commissioned painting is called Hope In Darkness and is in acrylic on masonite board. It's approximately 3' x 1.5' unframed, and sold for $160.

I guess that's a pretty decent update. I will attempt to post at least once a week on how my art endeavors are moving forward rather then backward like they sometimes feel.

Thank you for reading and I hope to gain your support!

-Owl Eyrie