Song of the Sea

I have a very good friend whose birthday is actually today (I should probably wait and post this tomorrow, after I've given this to her...nope, I'm not waiting!). Recently she took me to see the animated movie "Song of the Sea" - we both not only loved the beautiful visuals of the film but also the haunting Irish music. I wanted to involve the soundtrack for the movie with whatever I gave her as a gift, but online I could only find a digital download of the soundtrack for purchase. At first I was disappointed, but then I realized this was PERFECT - I would purchase the music and make my own personalized CD and CD case as her birthday present.

For the CD case I used a sheet of high quality watercolor paper which I measured, folded, and cut to size. The movie has lots of watercolor textures in it so I decided to take the ink and watercolor route with my artwork.

This photo was taken after I had started the inking process. It still needs more inking before I start painting -my friend loves dogs so although the dog isn't the star of the movie, he got a star spot on the front of this CD case!

More inking and I've started painting

More inking and more painting - plus I've unfolded the paper so you can see the start of my painting on the inside cover as well

A view of the inking and and painting on the inside cover - this is the main character who is a selkie, a little girl who turns into a seal

After I've finished inking and painting - the CD case flat and unglued

After spraying the artwork to protect it, adding a ribbon, and gluing everything flat (I got to pull out my old bookbinding tools, it was fun!) - here's the finished CD case!!

Back of finished CD case with song list

Inside CD case with CD in clear plastic pocket (which holds it in place really well)

Inside CD case with CD removed - along the rounded top of the rocks I have written some of the words from the first verse of the movie's main song

I am really happy with how the CD case turned out - I had a lot of fun painting and inking and I think the end result is beautiful and unique, which is exactly what I wanted in a gift for my friend.

~m.d.

Then and now

I'm a perfectionist. I don't look at old art pieces as finished and done - I look at them like open-ended projects. As I feel like my skills improve, I go back and improve what I've created.

I originally drew/colored an Invader Zim piece for a friend right before the first convention I did (Aki-Con) back in 2012. Recently (a few months ago) I sat down and reworked it, using the original line art and pencil textures but adding some new colors, lines, and textures and changing it into something I felt looked more finished.

Here's an animation that first shows the original piece, then transitions into the final piece:

 It's been a productive past few years, I think ;-)

 ~m.d.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It is 2015, and as is traditional with the turning of the year new goals have been set. I have made goals in all areas of my life (I like goal setting, I keep them realistic and create plans to help me achieve them so more often than not I get them done) and I thought I'd share my art goals for 2015 here!

2015 will mark the third year of selling at Sakura-Con for my sister and I. This year we're actually going to have a WHOLE TABLE to ourselves (in years past, we've split the table with other artists) and I want to have a lot of art to take up that space. Here are the pieces I want to have completed by the middle of March (so I can place product orders, the Con is in April):

• Sword Art Online piece = Jan.
• Death Note - L & Light piece = Feb.
• Action black & white drawing for Attack on Titan = Jan.
  
• Howls' Moving Castle piece = Feb.
• Labyrinth piece = March

I may also binge watch another anime just to throw more variety into the mix :-)

If I feel inspired I'd also like to do another generic piece that people who may not want anime fan art would enjoy - something cute. Maybe I'll enlarge one of the cute watercolor animals I drew a while ago and create a whole poster dedicated to it. Something like that.

In other words - I'm going to be very busy with art during the first part of the year. Especially because I"m sure there will be unexpected inspirations as well - for example, I've been listening lately to a podcast called "Welcome to Night Vale" and I came up with an idea I want to draw inspired by that show (since it's a free podcast, I won't be selling prints of anything I draw related to that show out of respect to its creators). HOORAY ART!

I am planning on this being my last convention (something I've said before, I know hahaha, but this time I am committed to the decision). I've enjoyed my time selling at conventions, but fanart isn't the end-point of where I feel I want my art to go. I've seen my technique improve, my confidence in my creations grow - and to be sure, my time doing conventions has been absolutely amazing! I don't regret the decision I made to sell at conventions and I've treasured the experience and growth I've seen in my art over these last few years. But I don't want to get stuck in a creative rut, doing the same thing indefinitely. I want to find new ways to challenge myself and grow as an artist - and make opportunities for me to be completely original in what I create.

So my plan after April is to give myself a month off, then to work from a book I have filled with creative ideas to write up a montly to-do list for creating original art for the rest of the year. I'll post my schedule along with my creations on here to share (you could work from the same list and create along with me if you like!). I want to take some time trying new things, experimenting without any pressure. I also want to use the rest of the year to research art shows and events in the area that I can make plans to create work and participate in for 2016.

Even besides that, I have other art projects planned this year. My mother has requested a specific painting she'd like me to create for her, so I will plan on doing that. Then my sister in law recently moved into a new house and has told me that she'd like me to create an abstract painting for her to hang on one of the walls.

I will not stop creating fanart if I feel inspired by something - I just won't focus on it as I have been doing these last couple of years.

I'll be keeping quite busy with art this year - a happy artist is a working artist ♥ At least, this is the plan. . . life is unexpected, so we'll see where the year takes me and my art!

My Art 2014

A meme is going around DeviantArt that artists are using to showcase the year's creations (the blank version can be found here if you feel inspired to follow suit!). I modified the meme a bit since I didn't actually create a piece of art for every month of the year (I was a lot closer than I thought I was though!) - and here is my year in art:

The Month - The Title of the Piece

January - The Making of a Princess (Jellyfish)

February - Death Frisbee

February (x2) - Join Us!

March - Running with a River Spirit

April - No art, but my sister and I went to Sakura Con and sold my art! :-)
May - Took a break from drawing and did some photography instead

June - No art

July - I Refuse to Die Here

September - I Love Strawberries

September (x2) - (old piece redone) Withheld Memory

October - Ouran High School Host Club

November - (old piece redone) I Made Waffles!
December - Into the Unknown

I have big plans for next year, too. . .

SEE YOU IN 2015!!

~m.d.

Over the Garden Wall

First, a little mood music (theme song for the series this piece is a tribute to): 

Have you pressed play? Good. Let's move on to the art!

I recently watched the mini-series called "Over the Garden Wall." And I loved it. If Dante's Divine Comedy was combined with a Brothers Grimm fairy tale with a touch of today's cartoon sensibilities, you'd get this show. It's innocent, weird, dark and thoughtful in some places and very silly and touching in others. Overall, the effect is incredible story-telling that sweeps you up into the adventure of two lost brothers and a forest full of secrets. It's the best animated story I've experienced for a long, long time - watching it reminded me of being a child again, suspending the need for plot logic (since when I was  young I didn't really get that anyways) in exchange for atmosphere and commitment made to the process of storytelling. You see, the viewer of "Over the Garden Wall" isn't given the full context of the story until towards the end of the series - but when it is delivered it packs a punch and make the series even more excellent.

This piece was inspired by one of my favorite moments in the show. Even if you haven't seen the show, I hope the piece suggests how interesting and quirky the story is:

Like many of my pieces, this piece started out very different from how it ended up. But I'm really happy with the end result I achieved, even if the road to get here was a little winding ;-)

~m.d.

Jen & Richard - warm up photo session

A wonderful friend of mine, Jen, has asked me to take her wedding photos. Of course I said I would love to be a part of her special day! Before photographing people at their wedding I like to take them out and get comfortable with how they do in front of a camera (so I have an idea how to help them look their best). So a few weeks ago I met Jen and her fiance Richard and we took a chilly stroll on the boardwalk together.

I was lucky - they both made it easy for me.

Here's a few more of my favorite shots from our walk:

 

We were interrupted (politely)by another couple who have a tradition of hugging each time they reach the end of the boardwalk together. It was adorable!

I can't wait until their wedding rolls around ♥

~ m.d.

Ouran High School Host Club - Group Painting

My very favorite anime is one called Ouran High School Host Club - no other anime I've seen can compare to the perfect balance of silliness and storytelling that leaves you with a smile on your face.

I love ALL the characters on the show (part of what makes the show so great is how each character is explored and developed) and have wanted to do a group drawing of everyone for a while now. ESPECIALLY because official OHSHC artwork is usually bright pink and filled with roses or over-the top silly. . . not really to my taste.

For this blog post, I decided I should start with the finished piece and then jump to the progression photos - so here's the finished piece I created! It is a watercolor and ink painting that has been digitally retouched with a digital background added (original size 11x15:):

Now, let's go back and watch it come together.

After my recent success working with watercolor postcards, I decided to splurge and buy myself some large, high-quality watercolor paper. I've been out of watercolor paper for a while and the stuff I used to use was low quality and would curl (the watercolor postcards have been so nice because they're the high quality paper and I'd never previously used watercolor on paper that nice, it really makes a difference!!). I bought the pad with the specific idea of this piece in mind - I knew I wanted to start on it right away.

The first stage was penciling out the outlines I would later be inking over. I worked from several different reference screenshots from the anime, so I focused on different faces at different times.

faces start as lose circles or shapes to block out the space, then I go back and develop the face further with actual features

developing the faces and beginning to develop the shape of the bodies now as well

Because there are more characters in this piece than I've ever had in a single piece I've done before, I was surprised at how long the pencil work took me (I worked almost nightly for at least an hour, took about a week). I had to be pretty patient as it came together, so I was very relaxed about my drawing schedule and would watch random shows on Netflix as I worked.

almost done with my outlines!

After I finished my pencil work, I picked up my graphic pen (which I hadn't used on a piece before) and started tracing over my pencil lines.

I decided I wanted to add an inviting hand to the character in the foreground and ended up not finishing the pencil work on the last two characters on the far left until after I had done some inking

finished inking, including going back and thickening lines to create a sense of depth

Spent a couple evenings laying in watercolor paint - and some highlights in gouache:

The traditional art finished, I took a photo and in Photoshop made some corrections -for example, some of the heads in the drawing were actually disproportionate to the bodies, so I fixed that (probably the most obvious fix). Then digitally added a background and all finished!:

. . . in case you forgot, here it is all finished!

I went with a cooler color scheme as opposed to my usually warm palette, so this piece stands out color-wise from other work I've done (which is kinda fun).

All in all, I'm really happy with how it turned out :-)

~m.d.