On art, and travel, and babies and Anthro-Seal-Cyborgs... no really
So I finally had my month off from travel, and while finances have certainly been worse for not having a con (and to be fair having a LOT of other stupid expenses last month coming from becoming an official Colorado resident) the art is going so much better. Funny how not doing constant con prep and being overly exhausted/worried has had an extremely positive effect on my art. I'm looking at it and feeling much more confident in myself, in my work, and in my chosen profession. I ended up taking far longer than I would have hoped on my 'Pirates Meeting' piece below, but I really think the results were worth it. I really REALLY wanted to make sure that the client got his monies worth, that I did myself proud, and that it kept true to what was showing up in my head. And I am pretty damn pleased.
The Pirates Meeting by ~LauraGarabedian on deviantART
The next piece up that I was pretty proud of was this caracal mage. Doing Glowly in watercolor =hard. As in breaking my face a few times hard. But the results seemed really worth it. I was reminded of that thing that my art teachers always told me and somehow when I'm exhausted I always forget. You start with the BIG brushes and work down.... Oh yeah... It helps... no really.
Caracal Mage by ~LauraGarabedian on deviantART
So yeah. I am really freaking pleased with those pieces... one more I'll show you guys later after I upload it tomorrow that I was also thrilled with. The other thing that has had me super pleased with these has been getting to work relatively large. Until these pieces I hadn't had many large commissions recently (and by large I mean anything at least 9x12 - which is a decent - though really not large - for watercolors) So that was a blast too. The first piece is 12x16 and the second is 9x12. On my current queue are (thankfully) a few more large pieces. I am freaking loving them, a 16x20 cave scene, a 20x30 dalek, and a 10x30 (ish - size is still in flux) asian dragon.
Anyhoo, I AM travelling again this weekend, road tripping up to Kansas City for the SpectrumLIVE convention. Not vending, but going, networking, and hopefully learning a lot. I am really looking forward to this convention. Panels on WorldBuilding, panels on getting started in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy world... getting my portfolio reviewed by Disney, Blizzard, and WoC... might break my brain... but in any case I am super stoked.
Whats been going on in my personal life though? Still seeing the same amazing guy... kind of think this one is a keeper... he is one of those people who can always make me smile. Takes care of me and recognizes the small things when I'm not feeling up to snuff. We went and visited some friends who just (like a week ago) had a baby, so I held the tiny little thing and kind of felt grateful that as cute as he is (he slept the ENTIRE time I held him) I have not changed my mind. Still don't want one. I am gonna kind of freak out if I ever get an urge to have a kid... in all of my life I have NEVER wanted one... I very rarely even hold them. Tim actually even brought it up later, saying I held out for a while he didn't think I liked kids that much and to be fair I probably held him for an hour or two... but he was asleep, you don't move them when they sleep. At least when I hold sleeping baby goats/kittens/puppies/chickens/etc I never moved them if I could avoid it... I figure its the same with babies, if they are happy and sleeping its no skin off my back to hold the sleeping thing. And they are kind of cute in an odd squishy human way... I just don't want one.. Catch and release, its all about catch and release. Not too terribly much else going on - I'm playing an oddly anthro seal/anemone cyborg in a Rifts game, so thats been a blast... she can go all face huggery with tons of arms and claws and sharp seally teeth when she gets scared... which makes me giggle like a little girl... And really thats about it.
I'll try and show you all some more art before I head off to Spectrum.
The Pirates Meeting by ~LauraGarabedian on deviantART
The next piece up that I was pretty proud of was this caracal mage. Doing Glowly in watercolor =hard. As in breaking my face a few times hard. But the results seemed really worth it. I was reminded of that thing that my art teachers always told me and somehow when I'm exhausted I always forget. You start with the BIG brushes and work down.... Oh yeah... It helps... no really.
Caracal Mage by ~LauraGarabedian on deviantART
So yeah. I am really freaking pleased with those pieces... one more I'll show you guys later after I upload it tomorrow that I was also thrilled with. The other thing that has had me super pleased with these has been getting to work relatively large. Until these pieces I hadn't had many large commissions recently (and by large I mean anything at least 9x12 - which is a decent - though really not large - for watercolors) So that was a blast too. The first piece is 12x16 and the second is 9x12. On my current queue are (thankfully) a few more large pieces. I am freaking loving them, a 16x20 cave scene, a 20x30 dalek, and a 10x30 (ish - size is still in flux) asian dragon.
Anyhoo, I AM travelling again this weekend, road tripping up to Kansas City for the SpectrumLIVE convention. Not vending, but going, networking, and hopefully learning a lot. I am really looking forward to this convention. Panels on WorldBuilding, panels on getting started in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy world... getting my portfolio reviewed by Disney, Blizzard, and WoC... might break my brain... but in any case I am super stoked.
Whats been going on in my personal life though? Still seeing the same amazing guy... kind of think this one is a keeper... he is one of those people who can always make me smile. Takes care of me and recognizes the small things when I'm not feeling up to snuff. We went and visited some friends who just (like a week ago) had a baby, so I held the tiny little thing and kind of felt grateful that as cute as he is (he slept the ENTIRE time I held him) I have not changed my mind. Still don't want one. I am gonna kind of freak out if I ever get an urge to have a kid... in all of my life I have NEVER wanted one... I very rarely even hold them. Tim actually even brought it up later, saying I held out for a while he didn't think I liked kids that much and to be fair I probably held him for an hour or two... but he was asleep, you don't move them when they sleep. At least when I hold sleeping baby goats/kittens/puppies/chickens/etc I never moved them if I could avoid it... I figure its the same with babies, if they are happy and sleeping its no skin off my back to hold the sleeping thing. And they are kind of cute in an odd squishy human way... I just don't want one.. Catch and release, its all about catch and release. Not too terribly much else going on - I'm playing an oddly anthro seal/anemone cyborg in a Rifts game, so thats been a blast... she can go all face huggery with tons of arms and claws and sharp seally teeth when she gets scared... which makes me giggle like a little girl... And really thats about it.
I'll try and show you all some more art before I head off to Spectrum.