And the Folks Like Me on the Job from Nine to Five

Ugh I have not done a thing this week as far as my art goes. When I work so hard on it for weeks and then just stop I feel so guilty. Things at my 9-5 have just been so hectic and with the holiday this weekend I was just so worn out. I really only have a few hours after work for my art anyway. Sometimes after coming home through the traffic…you all know…all I feel like doing is flopping down on the couch and watching TV. I have so much I want to get done before Dragon Con but at the rate I am going right now I’m not going to get very close. It would be easier if I had a full day to work on my art but what are you gonna do…you gotta pay them bills am I right.
Anyway let me tell you a bit of what I plan to work on tonight…cause I know you are all dying to hear all about it :)
I have been working on coloring a new picture in PhotoShop. It is of an Angel in front of a Stain glass window. It’s almost completely done I just can’t figure out what I want the stain glass to look like. I was thinking I would make a scene behind her on the glass instead of just splashes of color but I’m having a hard time figuring out what to put. Ugh if you can’t tell from all my other blogs…I have a lot of issues with backgrounds. Ay Me, it’s my cross to bear.
But tonight, I’m hoping I can figure it out and finish the picture Finally. If all goes according to plan I will have a brand new picture to show you next week….I said IF.

Okay well I have a lot to get done so Stop distracting me :P
Talk to ya later!
~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

Can't Think of a Good Name for This Blog

Man, I have been working my fingers to the bone this month. I’m trying to get a head start on the pile of work I want to get done before Dragon Con. I have so much to do but I think I’m making progress. I’ve finished up a few paintings, some scratch art and I’ve been working on coloring my newer drawings in PhotoShop. I posted a couple a few days ago that I finished last week and I’m going to try to keep posting them as I finish them.
On this picture I was trying to make it look a little more anime-ish then what I usually draw. I’m not sure if it came out that way but I think it looks good anyhow. I don’t have an official title yet but for now I just call it Angel. It took me about 4-5 hours to color in PhotoShop.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=201883352&albumID=1475118&imageID=28309871


Thanks for looking and keep checking my blog for updates on my newest work.

Tootles!
~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

Myxierama

Good news Everyone, I finally got off my lazy tuckus and made some New Myxies. Hard to believe I know :P
Please check out the New Myxies on my Etsy Store

http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_type=handmade&search_query=myxies

Happy Monday to you all.
~Caralyn

No You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down

Well if you read my blog about submitting a picture into Spectrum http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=201883352&blogId=465900536
I’m sorry to report…I didn’t get in It really bummed me out but I won't let that discourage me, I’m going to keep trying until they accept me.
But I have some good news, I got into The SiFi/Fantasy Convention, Dragon Con again this year. I was so nervous to hear back…not as nervous as last year cause I have gone though it all, both being rejected and accepted by the D-Con jury. And this year they accepted me OH BOY!
Oh So much to do, so much to do. I have a pile of projects to finish before the con. But unlike last year…I have time to finish them…I think. Also unlike last year I have many more Large pieces I will be selling. I am currently working on a 24x30 painting. It is a menagerie of Fantasy creatures, like dragons, unicorns, griffins, ya know all the classic ones. I’ve only done one other painting this large before and that one wasn’t as detailed as this one will be. So I’m pretty excited about finishing it. Along with that I have a slew of other projects I’m working on, including MORE MYXIES! Oh yeah, you know you are excited :P

Well I guess I better get started…I’ve got a lot of work to do.
Have a great weekend everyone!

~Caralyn

It’s Just So FABULOUS!

Helllllo Friends!
So I totally got this fun idea for a picture I am working on…Okay really it’s kinda cheesy but I think it will be totally fun because it makes me feel like I’m back in elementary school doing arts and crafts. Those were the good ol’ days. Okay so the picture I have I did on about a 20x24 white board. It is of a dragon, just like the head and upper torso of the dragon. I was bored and sketching one day and I wound up drawing a pretty good looking dragon so I redrew (or attempted to) on the white board, but I had to make him larger to fit on it. He still looked pretty good but now that it wasn’t a 4X7 sketch on notebook paper…the dragon seemed to need more detail…he was detailess I tell you! Anyhoo So I was thinking of ways I could color him to give him more depth and nothing seemed to be doing it for me. So I shoved him to the side for a few days, like an outcast…how tragic. Then while rummaging through some art supplies I got from a friend, I found the coolest craft tool of all time. GLITTER! Yeah Baby, glitter is the bomb. So my splendiferous idea was I would color him, not with markers or paint but with GLITTER! Now I know what you are thinking…It’s gonna look like it belongs in a Las Vegas show but I promise I won’t make it that flashy. Next I plan to make a diorama with a shoebox..just kidding :P

Well back to art class. :)
~Caralyn

The Never-Ending Story...er Drawing.

OH MY GOODNESS! This picture is taking forever…sorry I guess I should expand on what the heck I’m talking about. Okay so ya know a few weeks ago I blogged about a picture I was working on of Aragorn and Arwen?...if you didn’t read it here it is. http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=201883352&blogId=470260667

Anyway I normally do a cartoon/comic book style with my art, dark outlines and bright colors. Well with this one I was thinking I would try a more natural approach something that looked a little more realistic…and let me tell you it is taking FOREVER! Ugh I spent 4 hrs just coloring her hair yesterday. Incredibly tedious. Don’t get me wrong it’s turning out pretty good I think and since I am coloring it on Photoshop makes it easier to get the look I’m trying to. But it is very slow going.
I’m sure it doesn’t help much that I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my art. After I finish a picture I should never be able to look at it again because every time I do I find something else I think I should fix. That’s why I have so many “unfinished” pictures. Of course I’m not to that point on this picture yet…I’m still filling the lines in I won’t start picking at it until it is fully colored and to everyone else that isn’t crazy like me, it is complete…Then the unrelenting flow of self criticism and nitpicking will erupt from me until I have the picture exactly the way I want it…or I give up and storm off defeated. Wow it sounds like it’s almost routine for me doesn’t it…no comment. Okay I just thought I would take some time to let you know how hard I am working…as if there was ever any doubt :P
Oh well I’m off to fuss with the picture some more.

Talk at you later.
~Caralyn

The New Phonebooks are here! I'm Somebody Now!

Hello Everyone!

Polymer Clay Chameleon posts blogs on…what else, Polymer Clay and I just wanted to let you all know that I was featured in one of their blogs.
Check it out!

http://polymerclaychameleon.blogspot.com/2009/04/mystic.html

Well now that I’m done bragging I’ll talk to you all later
~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