Neon Dragon's Supa Big Exciting Journal That Holds the Key to Universal Harmony

Recommended Podcasts

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:13:39 GMT

I think I've mentioned a couple times before that of late, I listen to audio books more than music when I draw these days. Having a story told to you makes sitting still for 4-8 hours much less of a chore! As my budget for audio books is not huge, I've been taking advantage of some of the free podcasts to listen to as well. I thought I'd link a few of the ones I've enjoyed for anyone who's also looking for some listening material.

Writing Excuses - Brandon Sanderson (Fantasy author), Howard Tayler (Web comics), Dan Wells (Horror author)

I highly recommend writing excuses for anyone who's ever wanted to write their own novel or web comic. The podcasts are 15 minutes each and every week they cover a different subject. I found them very entertaining and they give you a lot to think about when writing. Coming from someone who produced 200 page failed web comic out of high school with no plan at all for what was going to happen more than 3 pages down the line, I can safely say that the importance of thinking your story through is something everyone who wants to do a comic (print or web) or novel (I think preplanning is a given there, haha) should consider. You can listen to seasons 1 and two through the archives, as there are too many episodes to have on itunes at once.

12 Byzantine Rulers - Lars Brownworth

A series of podcasts about the eastern roman empire. My friend Erich recommended these to me. The podcast covers the history of the Byzantine Empire by giving you the life stories of 12 key rulers. These probably won't be for everyone, as it is very much like having a (very good) history teacher lecture to you. But if you're in the mood for some learning, they're a good listen.

If anyone has any podcasts they favor and would like to recommend them, I'm all ears. I'm finished with Byzantine and halfway through season two of writing excuses and my stockpile is dwindling fast: Honoes! D=

---------------------------------------

Patch Together - Eurukatt's Butterfly Cobra
Eurukatt recently submitted a rather spiffy butterfly cobra to patch together. Stop on by and comment / vote if you enjoy it and would like to see this made into something fancy and tangible.

NeonDragonArt Etsy Shop

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:49:47 GMT

Warning: Shameless self promotion

I opened up a NeonDragonArt.com etsy shop for discontinued or limited quantity items. Etsy is very easy to use, and I am very excited about it. In the etsy store you will find some con-only items, discontinued (and thus discounted) items, and some popular items from the neondragonart store.

Edit: Sold both pillows! Thank you very much. At the etsy store we have a pair of throw pillows left over from Youmacon. We walked into the show with 25 pillows and left with two; they were very popular! Because the pillows must be ordered in bulk, we can't place orders for them often and thus we don't carry them in the NeonDragonArt.com Store on neondragonart.com itself. Because of this, they're pretty much a con-only item. They make great xmas gifts! Very soft.

We also have t-shirt designs that we've discontinued carrying from conventions. We're selling these shirts at etsy for a discounted price. For available sizes, check the description. You can still order any design on any color of shirt off the NeonDragonArt.com site store, but you will pay full price.

There's also fun things like keepsake boxes, dogtags, and buttons available as well.

Click here to take a peek at our etsy shop. Thank you!

It's late and thus dangerous

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:46:27 GMT

I've been feeling extra crafty lately and I really want to mindlessly make something pretty or useful. As lovely as digital art is, I've been doing it far too much lately trying to get my book's last illustrations done in a timely manner. I'd like to just make something simple that I don't have to think too hard about and can listen to audiobooks to.

Glass Pendant Jewelry
I thought I'd give glass pendant jewelry a whirl. I'm not really sure how well my current artwork is going to translate to that, but I figure it's worth trying. I did a lot of research (which was fun) and the startup costs aren't huge, but they aren't small either. To get anything at a decent price you had to purchase 25 or more pieces, and if you really want to save money, you should go for the "more" since you're paying for shipping. All of the items I needed came from amazon, Joanne fabrics, etsy, ebay, and specialty bottle, so I had quite a few shipping costs incurred! When all was said and done I ended up spending $130 on what will only be enough to make 25 complete necklaces. If I were to purchase some more silver plated bails I could take that number up to 40 (That's where my tins would run out :-))

They would end up looking something like this. (only with my artwork, and on a different cord)

I was able to get ahold of some nice square glass one inch tiles, as well as some rectangular ones. I looked at larger tiles and at circular ones, but I think I need to see how these first few do before I end up spending more money then I will likely make back. As stated, I don't know how well my art will translate to jewelry, or if the visitors who frequent my table or site are even interested in this sort of thing. At the same time, the dog tag necklaces that I sell always do very well, so maybe the glass necklaces would do okay as well!

I purchased some really pretty 18 inch Organza Ribbon Necklaces to string the finished pendants onto, and some cut metal tins with a clear window top so that they can be displayed in a pretty way.

The organza ribbon looks like this, sans big bubbly pendant at the end:

The tins look like this. They would simply end up being packaging for the necklaces. They may end up being a dumb, costly thing to have, as many people will probably just throw them out. Eh, I figure if I'm going to make something "handmade" I may as well display them as nicely as possible at the cons I do. Maybe I'll try an etsy store? Dunno.

ZOMG SOAP!
The next crafty thing I've been interested in for some time was working with handmade soap. Once again, I'm a bit daunted by this, as it requires purchasing a substantial quantity of material from various places, and I'm just not sure if anyone would WANT soap made by me. I was looking into melt and pour and it doesn't seem like I could mess it up too badly.

I thought it might be fun to sculpt my own mold and then color and fragrance my own dragon shaped soaps. At the same time, I'd like to be able to seal them in plastic, then wrap the entire affair in a decorative paper sleeve, so I don't think I could get too crazy with the soap shape. I could try something similar to this, (only of my own design, obviously!) It's mostly rectangle and could thus be easily sealed and wrapped in packaging. The process of making a mold intrigues me, because I'd get to play with silicone and scuply! Bwee!

I could also look into making a soap stamp and purchasing a plain mold, something like this. I could then take my stamp and have a relief stamped into the soap. I saw the soap stamps on a few of the soap supply website. I am a bit foggy on how I'd go about making my own. I know how I'd sculpt it... but turning it into something tough enough to press into hardened soap... not so sure. Any seasoned soap makers know how to make your own soap stamp? Do I have to get that sucker cast in metal?

I could just buy a loaf mold and say to heck with fun shapes! Though that would be a bit strange for me, as the soap would then have absolutely no artistic flair aside from packaging. It would then become pure craft, thus how could I sell it at a con? I don't think that would be appropriate. Might make fun holiday gifts though! There's a lot that can be done with coloration, fragrances, and extracts to make the soaps special.

I havn't made a single soap purchase yet. If I do get into soap making, I'll probably end up dropping a couple hundred bucks to purchase startup supplies and quality colors and oils. It's a fairly large risk if I'm trying to make them to make money, but maybe I need to just look at these as holiday gifts and if I like the soap making experience, try to gear it more toward being a product from there. Either way, I'm very excited at the prospect of trying it!

I geek out over dumb things. It's 4AM. I wonder if I'll still be geeking out about soap in the morning; everything's cool at 4AM.

Art Community/Gallery Recommendations

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:11:35 GMT

I was wondering if anyone knew of any art communities besides the ones listed below that may be a good place to share my current artwork. The gallery would have to be something that I am able to add to and delete on my own, not someone's personal web space where I e-mail them my images and they update the site. These are the only ones I know of at the moment.

ND @ Artspots
ND @ Artwanted
ND @ DeviantArt
ND @ FurAffinity
ND @ SheezyArt

Thank you!

NeonDragonArt.com Updates

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:04:18 GMT

DragonArt DVDs
For those who keep inquiring when the video workshops I participated in would be available on DVD, the answer is now! I received an e-mail from Impact about a month ago regarding these DVD's, and here are the direct links where you can purchase them should you wish to.

Now you can learn to draw a dragon from start to finish! Learn everything from generic shapes, to specific anatony, and even the minute details. Starting with a simple dragon, you'll progess to more detailed dragon heads, horns, wings, and finally a complete dragon.

In this workshop, J "NeonDragon" Peffer reveals some of her favorite digital art secrets using photo imaging software. You'll learn techniques for digital inking, coloring and special effects all in one place! Includes digital files so you can follow along with "NeonDragon" as she demonstrates her techniques, step by step.

--------------------------------------------------

NeonDragonArt.com Updates.

Store
I updated the Store of the site so that print and t-shirt dropdown choices now have the most current art listed in the dropdown. It was over half a year behind on the artwork that was available!

Oekaki
The oekaki graphic has changed and now features a piece by Sketches. Congrats to Sketches, and thanks for making such great art for our boards! Don't know what oekaki is? Oekaki boards are online boards where users can create and share digital art, all through their web browsers! NeonDragonArt has some very active and creative oekaki users. Stop on over and create an account to begin drawing today!

Gallery
There are 8 new pieces of art in the gallery. I took the liberty of adding quick backgrounds to a few of the spot illustrations for the next DragonArt book. I have about 20 more pieces to add to the gallery in the coming weeks, so be on the lookout for more updates shortly!

Update :-)

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:08:41 GMT

DragonArt 3 & Net Absence
I thought I would update my journal just to give a little status update and an explanation of why I have not been around. My book was due October 2nd and... it's just not finished! I'm now in a frantic rush to finish all the content I would like to be included and I've had very little time for the net. Apologies on the lack of replies to my journal/DA/e-mail. I simply haven't been very active online.

Conventions
I'll be attending Youmacon this coming weekend.

Zap! Billy the Squid
Pascalle, creator of Zap! has recently submitted a design to Patch Together. Patch together is a site that creates designer toys in very limited quantities. Artists can get their toys made if they toys receive enough votes and then preorders. If you're a fan of Zap or the unfortunate Billy, then you should head on over and give him a vote!

/random
Umbrella Cockatoos are just about the best. (Sadly I will never have the time and space to own one.)

FIRE DINO DRAGON!!!

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 15:04:11 GMT

I colored this guy up while I was at Matsuricon. I'm currently behind my table still coloring, haha. It's a fun con so far. :)

Backwurds

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 06:00:30 GMT

Those are supposed to be stripes on his wings, not some sort of bizarre highlighting system. Haha.

Computer Paranoia

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:31:56 GMT

Computer Paranoia
I think that these last few months have made me irreversibly paranoid. I now maintain 4 external harddrives... One for the Mac as an automatic time machine backup... One for the mac as a backup that's me just dragging files into it as an archive. One for the PC as an automatic (but difficult to access without a "full install" of the entire archive) backup, one for the PC as an easily accessable file archive.

What's horrible is that I'm considering getting a Carbonite subscription to boot... to have my files stored online so if the house burns down I still have them. I suppose I could back everything up on DVDs and send a set of them to my parents. I know it's silly to worry about things that are backed up on multiple machines, but when both your Desktop and your laptop fail on you and the only thing that saved your butt was your external HDs... that's kinda scary. The external HD can fail too! It makes me think that frequent DVD backup may be something I should begin again.

Digital art is great, but so much can go wrong with computers that the thought of losing hours and hours of work is a little scary. (Especially when some of that work is for a 800+ illustration count book that hasn't been sent off yet.) I can't imagine what I'd do if I had lost everything and my deadline was borked.

Faerie Art Club Promotion
I know a lot of people watch me for the dragons, but one of my favorite things to draw was (and still is) faeries. I thought I'd mention a Livejournal community that I've been a member of for several years now. Faerie_Art_Club is a community where artists can share their faerie/mermaid/nymph artwork with others.

They're really a fabulous group but in recent years the club has had less and less frequent posts to it. I thought I'd give it a bit of linkage just in case there are faery lovers who are watching my LJ who were unaware about this Livejournal community.

Art Trade
My long overdue half of a sketch trade for Kiliara from two years ago. Haha. Oh boy. My busy schedule is the reason why trades are currently closed. I *DO* love drawing other peoples characters and creatures, so I hope that in the future this changes. But I can't let myself get into the same mess as I did previously. It's utterly unacceptable and very rude to the person you've traded with.

Click for full view.

Snake Housing Ramble

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:41:55 GMT

Yesterday I bought Salizar (my ball python) a new 30 gallon critter cage. I REALLY like the size because all the area of the 20 long to 30 went to ground area. It's very deep and wide. The lid on it is amazing. Previously I had to weight down my lids with books and CD spindles to keep the snakes from escaping. This lid opens on a track and is very tight.

I don't know if he's freaked out or if this is what he would normally do, but he's moving all around and really using the space, so I feel pretty good... I think he's just freaked out... but I'll pretend he's moving around so much because he's exploring, haha.

The next time I get $84.99 to spare I'm going to have to get a second 30 gallon for the cornsnake, Scooter. I worried about a larger tank with her because she's even more of an escape artist than Sal, but I don't think even Scoots and get out of THIS style of aquarium.

I'm very pleased :-) I've felt my snakes were too large for their aquariums for some time now, and I'm happy that they have more space to putz around in. They're not large snakes or anything. Both are 3-4 feet and they won't grow much beyond that... but I like knowing that they have room to climb and stretch and hide in multiple places. The aquariums has room for multiple hides, soak dish, driftwood, and climbing vines in addition to the bedding they burrow in, so I think that it offers them a pretty good life.

Snakes aren't cuddly pets, so they only get out of their aquariums when I'm feeding them, giving sal an extra soak and some assistence getting off the tips of his last shed, or sitting at the computer using them as a snake bracelet or necklace. I try and take them out frequently to keep them used to being handled so they remain calm... but their life is mainly them in their tank, so I want them to be as happy as they can be in that environment.

Livestream August 19th

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:37:22 GMT

I'll be streaming LIVE for a couple of hours tonight.

If you miss the stream I should have a couple segments recorded and available on demand in the livestream channel itself :-)

Here's a little something I sketched up this afternoon. There's a unit in the next book on two legged dino/ostritch dragon leg construction and how you need to balance such creatures with a very upright position or a long heavy tail and such. I'd imagine that this guy walks on his wings a little bit when he's idle :-)

Oh yeah, and he's on fire.

Eastern Flare

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:43:37 GMT

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Livestream to say hi. My apologies on the multiple breaks and technical difficulties. I'm not supposed to be using my left arm for another two days, strictly speaking, so I'm being bad for taking it out of the sling and I like to give it lots of breaks. The muscles are especially cramped and I cannot fully rotate my wrist or bend my elbow. It was nice to have the company :-)

Here's the final version of that image I was working on. The pattern on the cloth is a mix of layer effects, a paint job, and some Keen Floral Brushes by Hawksmont.

I wasn't especially happy with the drawing on this guy, but now that he's got some color and a sky (that I adored painting), I think he turned out much better than I thought he would! It was a pleasant surprise. Usually I start out with an image thinking it is going to be awesome and get let down when well... it's not as awesome as I had hoped, so the reverse was a nice change of pace!

Right Click View Image to see at full size, or click cut link to see it at full size under the cut. :-)

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:21:16 GMT

I'll be streaming my art live at Livestream for a couple of hours. Stop on by if you'd like to chat.

Livestream is basically a site that allows me to stream my desktop to you with a mere 10 second delay. You can watch artists create their art very close to being live. It's quite cool. OF course, people use livestream for other things. The artists are a minority but it's still mega keen!

Watch No Need For Bushido Live on Ustream

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:22:55 GMT

As many of you may know, I live with Alex, artist of No Need for Bushido. Alex and Joe are trying out ustream for the first time, and will be creating a page live for you to watch. They have a great music/mic setup going, and it should be very informative. They will be taking 10 minute breaks every now and again to let his computer cool off, but they should be streaming for most of today. STop on by if you'd like to see how he works. The art for no need for bushido is fantastic!

Watch a No Need for Bushido page be created live!

whoever has a voodoo doll of me: stop it

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:52:26 GMT

storytime with no caps and no editing reason below.

--------------------------------------------

my boot discs for the pc arrived yesterday. i was unsurprised when a fresh install failed 4x and on the 5th it worked but the computer reverted to the same 1/10 speed freezing constant restart w safe mode not working unless i ran a repair utility after every freeze problem. hardware issue. duh.

i go up to best buy and get a new hd. many dollars. they needed 45 minutes so i went to get lunch. i ride a scooter like this: http://www.surfsidescooters.com/i/tgb_scooters/tgb_delivery_lg2.jpg

on my way back i autopiloted at a light that looked just like the one to brit prkwy, bestbuy street. i started turning only to realize i was about to enter the highway. my scooter cc engine and motorcycle license allow me to go on the highway, but i have never done so before and panicked. i drove into the curb and then for good measure went into the grass at 5mph so as not to be accidently hit,

going slow on a scooter or motorcycle is when it is most difficult to stay upright. in the grass going 3-5 mph i lost my balance and the weight of the 300lb bike forced me to the ground. i jumped out of the way but fell hard on mt elbow. it hurt quite badly initially but after 30 seconds it became a dull ache. this can mean 2 things:

1. i'm not hurt badly and hit my funny bone.
2. i broke/fractured it and endorphins kicked in.

a nice fedex driver helped me right the bike and get back on the road in the right direction. go humanity! i tenderly drove back to bestbuy and was treated with a 10 min waot in line. during this time the endorphins wore off and i could only hold my arm at a bent angle. a nice man let me cut in front of him and a bestbuy employee helped me carry the desktop to my scooter.

i then drove home in the most awkward way imaginable. i could not hold my arm straight but i needed both to drive safely. i found an awkward position i could manage and drove home with every bump making me wince, haha.

when i got home *another* nice man helped me get my pc inside.

i'm sitiing here with my arm in a sling made out of a long sleeved tee typing this as i wait for alex to get home after he finishes work. i want to see if the arm recovers before i go to the hospital. i don't want to go only to find i paid for xrays on a non-broken arm. i don't have that kind of money.

its not my drawing hand but i use my left hand quite a but when i draw to steady the tablet and hit hot keys. it also makes typing difficult as this post attests. down to 2wpm from 90, haha.

i'm just amazed at this streak of bad luck i'm having. i'll post an update on my arm later. for now i just needed to rant. all my frens and family are at work and i'm so frustrated, haha.

on the positive side, humanity scored 4 points today for kindness to strangers.

--------------------------------------------

Edit: i have a broken radial head. the radius is one of the bones in your forearm that moves when you twist your wrist. if i move my wrist or elbow i am in some pain. all my body's natural pain suppressants have worn off, and the pain killers they gave me aren't half as amazing as what mother nature had going.

the bad news is i can't do anything with my left arm right now.

the good news is treatment was a wrap, a sling, and 1-2 weeks of not moving it. in 3-6 weeks it should be fully recovered.

A second look at things.

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:31:36 GMT

Its amazing how many drawing issues you will notice if you leave a piece of artwork alone for a night and return to it with a fresh perspective.

Random Musing.

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:22:14 GMT

You know, if I weren't so well established under the internet alias "NeonDragon" (a throwback to my middle school e-mail address...) I would probably go under the handle "Undel" or "Arvin" these days.

These Bones Final Artwork

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 12:52:41 GMT

I do love zombie dragons :-)
Right Click ---- View Image to see Full Size

I'm still at Ikasucon this weekend. This will be the first show in several years that we're going to leave in the red. We didn't even break even, let alone cover our hotel expenses. I feel a little bit upset, as the convention staff we talked to promised an attendance that was larger (though still quite small at 1300-1500) then what really happened (700ish? They're rather elusive when you ask how many people actually came.) the problem with this attendance is that between three nights of hotel expenses, our table and badge expenses, gas, and food, not to mention restocking what was sold (when we sell something, only a small amount of it is actually profit. We have to restock the item for the next show, so if we sell a $17 pillow, we really only "made" $6, as the pillow itself cost us $11 to make.) we are going to end up a couple hundred in the hole.

I'm glad I don't do conventions for a living, but still, it's pretty discouraging. Staff really needs to be more honest with artists and dealers about what attendance they've had in the past and expect for the future. Many of us make our convention choices based on attendance... because it usually directly correlates with what we will do in sales. We EXPECTED this to be a break-even or make-next-to-nothing after expenses based on the low attendance figures of 1300-1500, but wanted to come anyway because working artists alleys at conventions is fun! When you end up in the red due to misinformation... it's problematic.

Oh well. Live and learn I suppose!

On the positive side, the environment, our artist alley neighbors, the staff, and the people I have met have all been very nice. I did have fun this weekend.

Fairy and Welsh Folklore

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:46:21 GMT

Does anyone know any good books on Welsh mythology and European mythology pertaining to fairies? I'm talking about the old stuff, not recent reimaginings of the folklore. I'm trying to do some research for some future illustrations, and I'd rather get my folklore info from an older source then to pull from Brian Froud and such.

I'm probably going to go book shopping soon, but if anyone has a recommendation that they have as being "THE" book to have, I'd really appreciate it. As much as I love wikipedia, I'd like to have a dead-tree-format closeby.

Lung Knot + Another Computer Bites the Dust

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:48:59 GMT

Leopard dragon, haha. He/She was sorta long the same lines as tiger dragon, so I decided to keep the big cat markings

In less fun news, both of my computers are down. The laptop has been sent off to some third party repair place, and the desktop cannot load windows. I talked to Gateway about the desktop, and they told me that the errors I was encountering meant I needed to use their utility to burn repair discs that would wipe the system and make the computer as it was when i got it from them. I did so, and it didn't work. To boot, it didn't work AND now windows doesn't have all its files, and the discs I burned can only be launched FROM the gateway utility inside windows.

All in all, its a ridiculously stupid utility. Every computer should come with boot discs or at least the vista discs and driver discs so you can wipe it yourself.

I had to pay $25 for my boot discs to be sent via snail mail. They will arrive in 3-8 business days, but I don't think they're going to get here before Ikasucon this weekend. Fortunately Alex bailed me out again, and I finished this dragon on and am now typing from his spare 5 year old laptop. All my illustrations are due very very soon, and I can't have downtime right now.

Anyway, I may be online less frequently and there will be no streams for a time. My apologies. When my laptop gets back from the shop OR I receive my boot discs, I should be able to resume as per usual.

All of my website work and ~~World of Warcraft~~ my addiction are on my desktop, so in a way having it down has actually been very good for making me productive. Those that watch my streams know that I'm a nocturnal creature, and in the wee hours of the morning there's not much to do at this point BUT listen to audio books and draw! I finished the 10th and am halfway through the most current Dresden Files audio books. I forgot how entertaining they are. Harry is just about the best.

Lung Dragon Knot.

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:19:28 GMT

My Desktop gave me a scare last night. In fact, I'm not sure that everything's 100% okay. It sorta... wouldn't start windows. For an hour. I ran the windows repair utility a couple of times and for no apparent reason, it finally loaded up. I saved everything I could think of on something that wasn't the auto-backup external harddrive. (I'm still not entirely sure how to use the PC external HD backup. It's not as intuitive as the mac's time machine external auto-backup.)

I wanted to apologize to those that came to my stream last night. I did not intend to cut it short or leave people hanging. The audio troubles have been resolved, but after that happened the computer fried and by the time I got things running again, it was simply too late to stream!

I did put in some more work on my lung knot sketch. He's kinda cute and twisty.

Dragons + Art Process Disgruntlement

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 11:37:56 GMT

Some of the dragons from my livestream sessions. :-) It's crunch time, so I'm going to be cranking out spot illustrations like a madwoman. Haha

-----------------------------

I'm drawing up a new eastern dragon right now. The last three or 4 dragons I've done I've just had a blast just sketching. I love the drawing part of my artwork, the creating of something from nothing. I noticed how much fun I was having when I was geeking out over something as silly as a double chin. "Drawing overlapping muscle and fat is fun!!!"

I joke on livestream and such about how watching me sketch is painful, but it's really my favorite part. I'm just self-concious when people see how often I change my mind or rotate, resize, and tweak things after I've gotten the initial sketch out. I feel silly letting people see my mistakes. I need to get over myself. I've never been an especially confident person.

The thing is, working out a drawing, trying to get a pose to look correct, a creature to look real, or putting a detail on... is so enjoyable. Without an audience to make me feel self-concious, I LOVE making mistakes and then solving them :-) Drawing is a puzzle!

Then, after the joy of drawing for 20 minutes to an hour... I have to do what I always do. Painstakingly ink it with good line quality. Fill in base colors just so, leaving no gaps. Tweaking the base colors. Apply gradients. Adjust hues. Build a shadow layer. Build a highlight layer. Apply a background before or after these steps, or not at all.

The way I work has gotten incredibly systematic past the sketching stage. It's not really art at that point. It's simply a process and I'm going through the motions.

What's frustrating is, is the fact that I can't break out of the system just yet. I wanted -and still want- for my third book to have a consistent style throughout, and for that, I need this process to keep the art similar. But a part of me is very very tired of slugging through this A to B to C method of finishing my work. I want to experiement with painting styles. I want to try more rendered, super tight things. I want to try something that looks like oils. I want to try some really quick sketchlike things. I want to try playing with textures more. I would like to try and paint things with obvious brushstrokes. I would like to try working traditionally as well.

I want something that's NOT a system. Something that's a puzzle. Something that's "art" as corney as that sounds coming from a girl who thinks "ZOMG MONSTERS" is "art".

I can't do that just yet... I have to finish what I started.

(Mind you, I still like the art I'm creating now. In fact, I'm incredibly happy and proud that I've found my own style of creating art after all these years. I like how my art is "finished". I like cartoons, I like the cel style, I like the detail that I put in despite the previous two things. I like my muted colors. I like the end result very much! I like the style.

Liking my style doesn't mean I don't want to seek improvement. I recognize that I have a long ways to go in regards to anatomy, composition, and lighting. I'm just at a place where I'm happy with my digital finishing style, and feel that I've made something recognizable, distinctly my own, that is time-efficient, attractive, and something that appeals to my artistic sensibilities in particular.

Despite liking my digital painting style, After a year of having to finish everything in this very systematic way, art has become... work. A chore. Aside from the drawing, there is no "art" in it. It's just a set of skills and techniques that I connect the dots to and have a finished piece.

I want art to be something fun for me again. I want my puzzle back.

Perhaps after I finish this book I should take a break and just concentrate on drawing a bunch of sketches that I will never finish. I would LOVE the chance to start trying to improve my drawing again. For the past year I have not sketched for the heck of it, or drawn from life, or even done some for-education-only reference photo eyeballs***.

(for the record, eyeballing photos to learn anatomy is very helpful! I'm not endorsing you to completely eyeball a photo and then go "look guys my own original art!" I'm saying that it's a helpful way to learn things that you can file away and then have that anatomy, lighting, texture, and whatnot at your disposal for your own original stories, creatures, compositions, and settings!) I feel it neccessary to clarify this, because so often I see people completely rip off art or photography and then attempt to pass it off as their own. I've seen so many poorly done tracings and heavy referencing without credit that it makes me sick.

I also want to try out some painting tutorials I've seen on DA, to see if trying a new technique can help give me a larger skillset to play with. I want to try playing on conceptart.org and actively seeking self-betterment for MORE THAN A WEEK. (which is how long it has taken me the handful of times I've been there to fizzle out.)

This ramble has gone on long enough. Haha. I don't know how to end this. It's 9AM and I still havn't gone to bed. That's also a problem I should seek to correct. Being nocturnal is great for productivity (Having nothing around BUT the computer makes staying at the computer and working very attractive) but it's killing my social life. I want some sunshine.

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:19:07 GMT

http://www.livestream.com/neondragonart/

Edit: Off the air, but the stream is going to autoplay the two dragons I did for 45 mintues each :-) You can also access these dragons by going under "menu" and "on demand library". If you choose it yourself from the on-demand library, you can skip around in the file!

(So no, I'm not really online to do chat unless you see "live" under the "fullscreen" button. If it says "on demand" then it's just a recording from a previous stream, and I will be unable to answer your questions in chat.)

-------------------------------------

I'll be streaming my art live at NeonDragonArt's Livestream Channel. I moved away from ustream (possibly temporarily) because I was unable to find a good cam capture software for PC. NeoGeen recently moved to this site and I picked it up from her.

It offers higher resolution than ustream, so it's possible to see what I'm doing more easily. You also do not have to register to chat. It's audio options kinda bite, so I can't switch between mic and music, but overall it seems pretty nice. It also offers easy archving and playback of previous broadcasts. You can even skip ahead in the video. Kinda nice.

THere is a 50 viewer cap on this channel. I don't think it will be a problem at this hour, but during some peeks I know the ustream channel had 100 viewers. I have to get verified before I can have more viewers, and I can't get verified until I have some recorded video available. Even then, it may take some doing to get verified. I'm not sure if I can be if I record streams with audio I do not have the license to. So we'll see. :-)

Anyway, stop on by if you'd like to watch me draw!

If you love monsters, go get this :-)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:45:00 GMT

I don't know how I missed this, but Beast of Oblivion has put out a really keen book of her drawings and sketchworks. If you love monsters, it's definately worth checking out. Her work is amazing. I can't wait to get my copy!

A Book of Mostly Creatures by Allison Theus

Color Choices?

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:47:55 GMT

Edit 3: This is what happens when I second guess my colors. Ahhhhhh. RAINBOW EVERYWHERE. This is probably the final colors. Time to shade this guy.

~~Edit 2: Actually... hmmmm. There are other options. Hmmmm. Time to play with this some more.~~

~~Edit: The two are now combined. Thank you for taking the poll! It was really tough to choose between the brown and the charcoal. I liked them for different reasons. :-)~~

~~Brown vs. Charcoal~~