Sugarplum Fairy

by on Mar.05, 2012, under Ballet, Digital Painting, Process Steps, Studio

I was recently commissioned by my dance instructor, Carla Escoda, from Ballet to the People. She won the Top Dance Blogs of 2011 Award, and had an interview featured over at Dance Advantage.net.


>>The initial sketch

She wanted something by one of her students to accompany the interview, and had me do a quick painting for her. After brainstorming for a minute, we knew just what the image should be!


>>Cleaned up drawing.

Late last holiday season my Intermediate class was learning her version of the Sugarplum Fairy dance. The Fairy was supposed to be worn out, run down, and giving the last bit of her energy/wisdom/love to the young Clara.


>>Flat values.

She had a particular image in her head of what this version of the Sugarplum Fairy should look like, and finally this painting was the opportunity for it to be seen by everyone!


>>Shading added and background more developed.

I started with a quick sketch to make sure she and I were on the same page. After a handful of revisions, we had arrived at a drawing that we both liked, and I was able to start laying down the flat values. I then added the shading, and then eventually the color and finishing touches.


>>Color added

I am very pleased with how it turned out, and it was another great chance to practice my digital painting. I think I’ll likely keep tweaking it and improving it as time goes on.


>>Spotlight added, and additional tweaks. Finished piece.

If you’d like to check out my ballet instructor’s interview and see my finished piece in action, please check it out at Dance Advantage!

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Arts n’ Crafts Day at the SF Public Library!

by on Feb.26, 2012, under Articles, Children's Book, News

I’m the treasurer of my grad school’s Children’s Book Group, and today we held an event at the main branch of the SF Public Library. It was an Arts n’ Crafts Day for the local kids, and they really seemed to love it! Kids had access to papers, markers, colored pencils, scissors, glue, glitter, and confetti. They drew all sorts of fun pieces of art, made snowflakes, constructed collages, and in general made a big, happy confetti and glitter mess. We students helped prompt them with things to draw, drew with them, and helped with glue and scissors.


Here’s me helping one of the kids glue lots of stars on his interstellar turtle picture.


What a fun way to spend a Saturday!

Photos by club member Logan Pearsall

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Ponies and Ponies and Ponies!

by on Feb.13, 2012, under Digital Painting, Markers, Studio

It’s no secret that I have loved My Little Pony since I was a kid. Colorful, pastel ponies with brushable hair? You might as well have just attached one to my birth certificate! I collected them as a child, then again as a high schooler, and now my happiness comes full circle with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Oh yeah, I’m a “Pegasister” alright! What’s not to love about this show?! And of course it gives me an excuse to DRAW PONIES. I’ve done a couple little doodles here and there that I thought I’d share officially. Some of these have popped up on my DeviantArt page before, but there’s new stuff too!



My ponysona, Stardust Rush.

Shawty Sprinkles

Pixel Stitch

Knickers

Balefire

A rather genteel fella I met on the Rainbow Dash Network named Scribus.

Hurky Colt

A sketch I did for Erin Palette for her Unknown Ponies RPG.

The official Unknown Ponies RPG logo! Huzzah!

Unknown Ponies is a fun new RPG based on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, written by the talented Erin Palette. She is Pony-Famous for having written the D&D stats for all the mane characters, and inspiring a great comic called Friendship is Dragons! She just finished writing the rules for and playtesting this great Pony RPG, and I did the logo and a piece of art for it. You should check it out if you like ponies! It’s pretty much an amazing game that I can’t wait to play, too!

I have several more ponysonas I’m working on, and more sketches as well. I’ll share them when I get some more. Oh no, you don’t like ponies? Deal. :)

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New Card Game: Pantheon

by on Jan.19, 2012, under Products, Shows

Disclaimer: These card mockups aren't the cards with my art on them, but instead that done by the fabulous Lindsay Archer!Exciting news! As most of you know, I work for a company called SignalFire Studios which is a start-up tabletop gaming company that publishes role playing and card games. Awhile back I did some card art for them for an upcoming game, and after several delays, it has finally been released! Here’s an excerpt from SignalFire Studios‘s website about it:

Pantheon is a card game for 2-5 players created by veteran game designer Timothy Brown (co-creator of the Dark Sun campaign setting), developed by Jamie Chambers with graphic design by Digger Hayes, featuring art by Lindsay Archer, Michael Bielaczyc, and Joie Brown.

In Pantheon you start with a fledgling ancient culture. Grow your population, build temples, advance your civilization, and wage war on your enemies! There are many paths to victory, but when the game ends only the strongest pantheon will triumph. It features gods from ancient Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Chinese, and Indian mythology.

How exciting, right? My art is up there with the fabulous, famous, and talented Lindsay Archer! All of the artists that worked on this game are amazingly talented, and it was an honor getting to work alongside them, even though my part was trivial in comparison.

The best part is that you can buy your own copy for only $5! Right now the game has been released as a Print & Play Edition, meaning you buy the digital files and print the deck in your home, or at your local Staples. It’s a really fun way to try out a great new game (that features my art) without having to break the bank! For those of you who would prefer to buy a physically printed deck, stay tuned… they will be available soon!

  • Check out the product page here: Pantheon from Signal Fire Studios
  • You can also purchase the game through DriveThruRPG.com here: Pantheon on Drivethrurpg.com
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    The Corgi Wedding

    by on Jan.17, 2012, under Children's Book, Classwork, Studio, Watercolor


    >>Click to see the full-size image

    It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to visit things in the Children’s Book side of my art. This last semester kept me absolutely 500% insanely busy with everything Concept Art– not that I’m complaining! I managed to create an entirely new portfolio in just 15 weeks, and that’s awesome. Unfortunately it didn’t give me time to work on fixing up my Kid’s Book stuff, so I’m just now getting to it.

    This piece is the last two pages of “The Korgi and the Kibble” that I mentioned earlier. Enjoy!

    Update: Fan Tony Harris wrote an adorably cute poem to go along with this painting. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!


    “Two corgis on their wedding day
    Barking mad, some might say,
    But I feel animals know quite a lot
    And wish, like us, they could tie the knot”

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