Anime Weekend Atlanta

I have survived AWA, and I'm glad there are no more conventions on the horizon for a while.  It was by far most exhausting convention I've been to this year, though I'm not entirely sure why.

I'm close to finishing my recent freelance project, and it looks like I have another one lined up!  In a meantime I had some time to work on personal art, and decided to give this image a try.

I feel the way I aproached the image is Omar Rayyan inspired.  When I showed him my portfolio during Gen Con his major complaint was that all my recent work was digital.  His art compelled me to give watercolors another try, and this is the result.

Sketches and Gen Con

I want to work on art so badly, but I had a bunch of things to take care of this week, and I haven't been able to since I came back from Gen Con. I made some sketches during the convention, and I really want to make finished pieces out of them, they look like they would be so much fun to work on! (the silly grumpy man with a feather including)

I also wanted to write about Gen Con, but I feel that anything I'd write would come out incredibly cheesy and wouldn't do it any justice. I will say though that socially and networking wise that was the best convention I've ever been to. I loved the sense of community between artists, and I felt honored to be a part of it. I can't wait to see everybody again next year. The great thing was is that I got to talk to a lot of artists that I'd normally be too intimidated to talk to, and found that they are incredibly approachable, helpful and friendly. (Art directors including- even if they don't use my art for anything, I certainly hope I'll get to talk and drink with them again) I told you, that anything I could write about the convention will come out incredibly cheesy :) I am inspired though, ready to work and full of hope for the future opportunities. If you want to get a better view of Gen Con (especially as an artist who's considering to attend it) I recommend you read Caroline's blog She's got a lot of really helpful tips.

Finally here are those sketches I mentioned

Last minute rush

We are leaving for Gen Con tomorrow afternoon, but there's still much left to do.  I got my business cards in mail, and I think they turned out great!  I also managed to finish "Cradle" but I'm afraid that I don't have enough time left to finish "Sophie and Bob"

Speaking of Cradle, this image has caused me more trouble than any before.  I think the main problem was that I couldn't settle on the color scheme.  I have 9 different versions with different colors saved out (some more different than others)

(These are obviously just 3 of those attempts)  I settled on the last one, and you can see the finished image in the portfolio section)  I should bring my art supplies to the convention.  I think I'll have a lot of downtime, and I could use that time to work on more art (especially since there were some pieces I wanted to finish before Dragon Con)

At least I'm busy, right :)?

Convention Preparation

My husband had two week break from work, so I've  been away.  Now we are  back, and working full steam on art!   We have recently re-designed our business cards and we're expecting them in the mail within next few days.   I felt it was a bit of a waste on my side, because I have few hundred of the old ones left - unfortunately with my maiden name on them. 

Gen con is coming up, and I'm trying to complete few more pieces for the convention.  Dragon Con is a whole other story- I think that if I don't do well in sales this year, I'll skip out on it next time.  It is much more preparation intense than any other convention I have ever been to, and I'm not entirely sure whether it's worth it in the end.  (though I think I have a better idea what to do this time than I have in the past)

Finally here's some art I'm working on.  The first is a preview of a collaboration piece that I have started few years ago with Pete.  We decided we didn't like the colors, so I turned it to gray scale and I'm re-coloring it.  (this is just a cropped piece of the image)

I also decided to paint over a watercolor piece of mine.  I liked the initial idea, but I was never entirely satisfied with the result, so I decided to give it another try. 

And a little progress on Sophie :)

I am so bad at blogging!

The idea was to update this more often with information and art that I would like to share, but unfortunately it hasn't been the case yet. I either have to step it up, or delete this section of the website altogether.

I will be attending 3 conventions in the next couple months. First Gen Con in Indianapolis, August 13-16, then Dragon Con in Atlanta Sept 3- 7th and then Anime Weekend Atlanta Sept 18-20. If you'll be at any of these conventions, I hope that I'll be able to meet you.  My husband Pete, will accompany me at all of these trips, and we hope to talk record some conversations with artists for our podcast.  (especially during Gen Con since our cohosts Jeff and Caroline will be there as well) 

Art-wise, I recently completed what may be my best piece up to date. Unfortunately I can't post it online yet, because it is for a project that right now is still a secret. I should be able to show it off in a month or 2 however, and I'll definitely have it with me at the conventions I mentioned.

Finally, here's a little something that I've been working on recently. There's a bunch I need to fix in this image, but I do like the direction where it's going.