I know a lot of us out there on the internet are very interested in the look and feel and the mentality of steampunk. There is just something about cogs and gears and machinery that has a function but looks like art itself. I have a few friends out there that I would consider steampunk artists (just take a look at my flickr friends and twitter friends and you will find them, it is obvious who they are) and while am often amazed at what they make I can not call myself a steampunk artist. Though, the other night, after just getting home from a long business trip as my husband was modding a nerf gun and parts were laid out across the rug I found myself picking up the gears and things from an open lock and using them for inspiration. I am pretty pleased with the outcome.

“Done with colored pencils and black marker.
I had some fun overlapping the colors and playing with contrast.”

Yes I know Jon says that first, but he isn’t in this drawing.

After reading this blog post: http://grrm.livejournal.com/146489.html I decided that I liked the image GRRM posted so much (As Arya is one of my all time favorite characters ever and this image just shows how I see her in my mind) that I decided to use that as my inspiration for today’s study.

I had trouble with the eyes but I am very pleased with the how the body proportions came out.

This is a hint of what is coming, I hope.

A sketch to work on to a painting. One of my biggest challenges is foliage, plants and nature for some reason just never look right from me. It’s not that is it bad per say, but it is just blah. Looks like bad art from a motel. Not even Bob Ross would approve. So I am working with flower studies now. This one I hope to get some nice contrast from (if you look through my flickr you might find the photo I took of this daisy so help you see where I got my inspiration from)

So I am challenging myself to break out of the box and paint this flower (these flowers). I feel that the only way I can grow as an artist is to do what is challenging. I feel that is the way to live life. If everything is easy, then it is plain old boring. I don’t want boring, I want excitement, even with my creations.

So as it is 3am and the clock is ticking later and later I am resisting every urge I have to go down to the basement and start putting paint to canvas. It feels weird to half my creating, but me working till mid morning isn’t going to help much. I should go to bed, sleep, wake up, make my work calls and then get down in the basement.

On a side note, the last painting I did, the one I did over three weeks ago still isn’t dry. I don’t get it, I used the same paint as the one I did that dried in a week. I didn’t use linseed oil or anything on this one, so why is it taking so long to dry? It irks me because it is small enough I can carry it on the plan and I would like to do this and hand deliver it to the person I painted it for as she will be in Florida when I am. So dry you painting, dry! :)

Rory would be so proud.
(Who’s Rory you ask? I am shocked you do not know already! check out @RorysaysRAWR on twitter)

This concept came to me one night and I was slightly scared to try it out because what if I couldn’t get what I had in my head onto paper. I kicked myself in the butt because if I never tried it then I never would get what was in my head onto paper.

So this was the result, not sure if it matches my vision because I think my vision evolved with this as I drew. I had a lot of fun drawing all those little scales, might be hard to see here but that is what might have taken me the longest.

All though one might say this is Nina Kimberly slash ( http://www.ninakimberly.com )….. ummm no, she likes Tyrnon, she just doesn’t like him THAT way :)
(Not that this is meant to be anything but a Dragon hoarding his treasure)

Yeah I should spread this all out, but I’m not :P

I got these new woodless colored pencils and went to town with them. I just got the basic colors because I wasn’t sure how I would like them, but when in the store picking them up they just “felt good” in my hand, so I had to have the,. I have been using them some and it turns out I really like them.