Sky Bird Fly Away Home

Hello Everyone!
I told you I have started new art on some Comic Backing Boards…I did too!
Anyway here is the first one I finished. I started out with a pencil sketch on the white board. After that I inked it, usually I like to use pen but with this particular one all I had at arms reach was sharpie so the lines are a bit thinker then the others.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=201883352&albumID=1828666&imageID=33244973

When I was ready to paint I started with the background using water color paint. I did a mixture of pink and orange and then just added white clouds over that. Then purple and I just added the squiggly lines cause I liked them. :)
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=201883352&albumID=1828666&imageID=33244975

Next I started painting her…I tried to stay in the lines but with painting that gets hard so then I just painted over them
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=201883352&albumID=1828666&imageID=33244976
but never fear a small bit of water on a thin brush helps clean those lines right up when you are done making a mess :)

Whelp let me know what you think of her. SkyBird is the title for now.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=201883352&albumID=1828666&imageID=33244978

Thanks for looking, keep checking my blog for more art updates!
~Caralyn

Moving Right Along

Okay so now I’ve started on the background. First I worked on the land, abundant with hills and a few bushes. At the bottom of the picture I used some browns to fade the green hills into a sort of dirt road. Next was the sky…I was going for a sunset so I used a couple different colors. Starting with a light blue and ending with orange just above the hills.
In the second picture I added detail, clouds in the sky and filled in the outline of the castle. Then I made the hills all grassy by painting small blades of grass…yes it took a long time. Also added a few cracks and stones at the bottom to make the “dirt road” appearance and highlights to the bushes. Now the background is complete it’s time to finish paintin dem critters!

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=201883352&albumID=1828666&imageID=29934578

Just about done I have about two more blogs on my progress so keep checking for updates.

Thank you for looking!
~Caralyn

Celebrate Good Times...Come On!

I’m FINALLY FINISHED! I think this calls for a celebration, everyone join me in the Happy Dance…okay enough of that you look silly :)
This picture took me such a long time…partly because it was taking an extremely large amount of time to color the characters. I was using a slightly different technique then I normally use, or at least one that I haven’t used it in quite some time. But it also took longer than expected because I couldn’t figure out what background I wanted to put behind it. I tried a forest scene, a few trees and greenery. I tried a sunset, lots of orange and yellows behind them. Then I tried putting them both together for a foresty-sunsety (sunsety’s a word) background…but I just couldn’t get it to look right. But then I scrapped that idea and decided to try something else, Like a stone border. Well it turned out to be a stone wall with a window in it when I was done but I was happy with the finished result.
Have a look-see.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=201883352&albumID=1475118&imageID=28441267


Unfortunately I can’t think of a good name for this piece, so for now it remains untitled.
Keep Checking my blogs for updates on my art.

Thanks for looking.
~Caralyn

I Been Working on the PhotoShop All the Live Long Days

Yeah so I have been blogging about a few pictures I’m working on…well worked on, I have finished most of them now… but I’m pretty happy with how they turned out, which is very rear :P So I figured I would share some with you. Oh Boy! Okay so the one I finished first was “Behind You” this is one of my few drawings that I did most of the details in photoshop. I usually sketch it on paper and fill in the details while I ink it before scanning. With this one I did a simple sketch, scanned it and it became what you see now with my good ol’ friend PhotoShop, I guess I was feeling adventurous. :)
Anyway it took me approximately 8 hours from start to finish, starting with the sketching and ending with the signing.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=201883352&albumID=1475118&imageID=28172153 Behind You
On this picture most of my time was spent on the background, I just couldn’t get it the way I wanted. I tried a few different backgrounds before ending on the one it has now. I was going for a sort of coagulated lava looking boarder…I think it turned out good. It looks hot enough for her :)
I unofficially call it Devil until I can come up with a good title but it took me about 5 hours to complete.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=201883352&albumID=1475118&imageID=28172156 Devil
I have a few more I’d like to show you all that I will try and post a blog about next week so check back later.
Have a great weekend.
~Caralyn

OH MY GOD! DON'T LOOK BEHIND YOU!!!

Hey what's that behind you…

Backgrounds! Ya know, the thing behind the thing on the picture….yeah.
When I was younger, I never drew backgrounds. I was more interested in drawing the characters then about putting something behind them…they were all alone on a cold piece of white paper... So cold and so lonely :(
At the time I didn’t realize how much a background could add to my art. I always assumed it would somehow distract people from seeing the details in the character. To tell you the truth I didn’t really incorporate backgrounds into my work until recently. Despite my manager/sister insisting it would enhance my art and help me to grow as an artist, alas I am a slave to habit. So it was hard to break out of my single character on a blank paper stage. I should listen to her more often I suppose, because she was right.
If you add a background to a picture it sort of creates a story for the characters on the picture. Even simple backgrounds like a border or a splash of color behind your sketch can make your drawing more eye-catching.
It took me a few years to realize that but now I try to add something to each of my drawings. Don’t get me wrong I still like to draw a single sketch on white paper, not every picture needs a background, it’s just a great way to take your work a step further.

Well thanks for letting me act like I know what I’m talking about. :)

Later!
~Caralyn