My deadline for sending all my new art to print in time for Oklacon/MFF is fast approaching, too fast. I'd so many images started and progressing to different levels, and now so many of them will not be finished. Below are three of the digital ones that were more finished...I doubt even one will be done in time to make it into my steampunk portolio. I've also two acrylic paintings that I'm working on. I have to prep all the files when I'm done and get them all in by end-of-day tomorrow, not to mention other personal obligations. If they don't get finished in time for being included in the portfolio, I probably will lose any steam (ha!) left to finish them at all. I hate leaving things half-done, but if the motivation isn't there...

Super frustrated right now...

I arranged an ACEO trade with somebody a year and a half ago, finished my half, and never received the other half.  I held on to it for that long, but when I moved a month ago, I threw away any trades etc that I had no use in keeping. I'm not going to store art for years under the chance that a trade as insignificant as an ACEO may actually be completed, especially not during a 1000 mile move. So NOW I get a message with link that they've completed the trade, and I can't seem to find any scans or photos of my half in my galleries or photobucket, so no proof of its existance (not sure if I showed it to them before, its been too long to remember!) and I'm quite sure it went out into the trash with the pile of "no sense keeping" art.

So now, because an ACEO trade took 18 months on their end, I'm going to have to do my half twice. I HATE doing ACEOs, I stopped doing them completely last summer. I know its partially my fault because I threw the damned thing away, but its hard not to feel like I'm being penalized for being on time.

Ugh. I hope I magically find it in a folder or box with other art stuff. I find it hard to believe though, as I found one of my other super-overdue trades, and I'm sure they'd have been together.

Thought I'd post a few WIPs. I've been working really hard to steer my art in the direction of what I'd like for it to look...most obviously, more colorful, and more interesting backgrounds. I've been trying very hard to move towards using only one layer for the background and starting off messy and simple, so I've left off the sketch layer for all three of these images, which includes the character(s) and other involved objects.

Image 1 is concept art for something I can't talk about, 2 and 3 are for a themed portfolio I hope to have available starting at Oklacon/MFF in the fall. The last one I'm super-excited about because it was inspired by a recent drive through the flint hills in Kansas, which was insanely green and beautiful! I really hope to catch what I saw, because no photos seem to do it justice.

When getting lunch today, my card was declined. I promptly checked my bank account to see that Continental, who was supposed to charge me $10.00, charged me $25,010.00. Holy crap.

So...Continental somehow accidentally charged me twenty five thousand dollars too much. And, somehow Mastercard didn't catch this as an unusual charge. And somehow after that, my bank didn't see it as odd either. It turns out, the card company does an update once a year at 4 AM, which still shouldn't have let this through, but Continental used an offline withdrawal(and forgive me, I don't fully understand so it may be wrong terminology), so it somehow got through. THEN, the notice came across to the bank as $10, even though it withdrew $25,010, so it was let through. String of coincidences.

At this point I'm ready to put it behind and just laugh at it and be grateful that I'm going to get to fly first class to my honeymoon. But really, $25,000 too much? Hurting my credit (which, from what I'm finding out, will stay on there, even if a note is put on it to excuse it, for seven years). Continental chose not to immediately reimburse me, and after my bank and their dispute form informed me that I needed to seek reimbursement before the seeking a dispute, they still chose to push me to do a dispute. This makes me very uncomfortable, as a reimbursement is an immediate solution to this immense problem, but they chose to go the route which may result in my dispute turning against my favor. I know how cashflow works in companies- I am being used as a loan, which is utterly unacceptable.

Today must be everybodyf*ckup day.

Haven't posted here in months...I think I'll start using it actively now though. Next time I'm sure to have more interesting things to say, but for now, I'll start with WIP shots of my Oklacon 2011 poster.

I bought an airbrush! Its exciting for me because its the first expensive art-purchase I've made. My prismacolors were a gift, as was the initial purchase of my paints.

I'm having a bit of trouble trying to figure out a few things, but for the most part, this is the most awesome thing EVER. Gradients for skies on acrylic paintings just went from 2 weekends to 20 minutes. And they look better too! I will likely be painting more frequently now that it works more like digital for me. As someone who started with digital, I like starting with gradients, which is a bitch to do without completely covering everything up in the process (like, the sketch)

Also...haven't tried it yet, but I think that the airbrush medium will work really well for doing fur(hairs) also. In the past, I have to water it down so much...and then when I do sometimes all I get is water, no paint.

Is there a way to lower your opacity with the airbrush, when doing gradients? I mean, can I mix in a medium for that along with the airbrush medium, and get the effect I want?

seriously, this thing is great.

I just redid my werewolf calendar sketch for this year...my original idea was a little too typical. Now I am looking for critique, criticms, and suggestions.

My caption for the image is about the bite/after the bite, which includes a werewolf's responsibility to guide a new werewolf. My thoughts are, before you teach a new werewolf anything else, you have to teach them WHERE to be a werewolf. Somewhere safe and isolated, so I wanted to indicate an often-visited place, with claw marks on trees and such. I've got the one in the foreground with her quickly-fading bite (I believe in super-healing in werewolves...but not instantaneous. I'd think this is within a few days of the bite and it'll be all gone within the week). She also has car keys around her neck. I hope to do big, tall, cumulonimbus clouds, to really make it feel like July...at least, that's what I think of when I think of summer here or at any beach.

Anyway- I like this idea better, though possibly less creative/obvious, because I could employ what little I know about composition, and I don't have to be afraid of it being overdone like my first sketch. Any critique, criticism, or suggestion is welcome- thats what I'm posting it for, and I've got very hard skin :) .

http://pics.livejournal.com/myenia/pic/00002rk2/

Wow, that didn't even take a week! You can see the full change of color between my last three posts. I don't think she's quite done, but she's beautiful!

She's turning GREEN! It has come on so fast, I'm afraid she'll be completely changed within the next 2 weeks. Its been so long...she's turning green about a year late. I'll do my best to update with photos. It even looks like her red marks are turning blue! I am so thrilled!

I have had her for almost two years, but she was finally old enough to get probed today and she had her first visit to the vet. I'm so excited that its a she! I told myself that if it was a male, I'd never get another, but maybe now someday I will get into breeding! I have been calling this poor snake "green tree python" in wait for the day that I knew what gender it was. The fact that she's also starting to get some green on her is AWESOME!

Anyone have any name ideas? I like goofy/nice names...people already have enough negative assumptions about snakes. My other two babies are named Petra and Big Nose. Just naming a boa constrictor something as silly as Big Nose is enough to get some kids willing to pet him. Please, nobody suggest "Verdi"...that too cheezy!