Coffee art

Okay, blogger is finally cooperating with me, so I just uploaded the video I wanted to. I also added the link so that you guys can see this neat video of someone creating some real coffee art in case the player doesn't work. Here is the link I found the video at. I hope you guys enjoy it. :) Next time you get your favorite cup of coffee, don't forget about the wonderful 'art' that goes into making it. :)

It's a bit windy...

It's been a bit windy today and last night, and since there were reports of so many tornados yesterday, I thought I would post something to go along with the weather. This was just a quick sketch, but it seemed more than fitting for today, since the wind blew our stuff every which way on our porch this morning, and even uprooted one of the 20 foot or higher pine trees that surround our house! Thankfully it didn't hurt anything and was so thin and gangly it probably wouldn't have hurt anything even if it had landed on something. :)

Something a little different

I got a watercolor video over the weekend and was dying to watch it, so I did and I absolutely loved what the artist did with watercolors! So, I thought I would try my hand at some of the techniques she used, although because I'm using very cheap, cheap, cheap watercolors at the moment (since I haven't been to any nearby craft stores recently), the outcome is not as good as hers. But still, I thought I would post some of what I came up with anyway to let you see what I've been up to. :)In this picture I used some varying techniques, just to see how they would turn out. As you can see, it's not great, but I think it would make a great background for a picture, so maybe when I finally get my paint programs installed on my computer for my tablet, I'll be able to put these to good use. :)

Quote of the Week

"Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face."

~ Victor Hugo

Cupcake

Here's a cupcake I drew with my wacom tablet. Doesn't it look scrumptious? ;9

This artist paints alot of cupcakes and desserts and they look so adorable!

Kiss, Kiss!

Wouldn't you be running if you had a frog about to kiss you? :)

New years blog resolutions

It's time to ring in the new year. And what better way is there to do that then to have a list of resolutions? The only problem is, I'm bad at following resolutions. I don't know if it's my procrastinating nature or what, but I thought that maybe if I apply my resolutions to my blog instead, it will help me achieve them, as well as helping to get me more organized and more creative with my art. So, here are my goals this year for my blog:

1.) Don't over post. I seem to have a tendency to post three or four pictures on one post, which really isn't a great thing for me to do, as it means I usually have nothing to post later on days when I'm not feeling too creative. So, I need to limit my posts to one or two pictures at most, depending on what I'm posting of course.

2.) Update and organize my blog. Although it may not look very messy, my blog really isn't very organized. I'd like to group my links into their appropriate groups, as well as have them alphebetized, which I don't think mine are at the moment. I'm also behind on my quotes of the week as well as my regular posts.

3.) Post more regularly. With the holidays and new year, it's been so busy that I haven't had time to create anything, much less post anything. So, this year I plan to create more and post more often, even if it's just an interesting sketch or if I've just gotten a new box of pencils. :)

4.) Create something as often as I can. I would say that I will try to create something every day, but I know that's just not possible for me. I'm creative, but I'm not always that creative. I don't always have ideas and sometimes the ideas I have are not very good ones, so they don't always pan out into anything, so I am not going to try to force myself to make something when I don't fell like it. Then art won't be fun anymore. :)

5.) Try to create something art related each week with my neices and nephews. On my other blog, I've tried to create something as often as I can with the kids in my life, but that's not always easy to do, especially when they're young and have dramatically varying interests. But, with the new year, I would like to create more with them and let them see how fun it is to be an artist. I just wish I had had someone in my life who would have done something like that with me.

6.) Just have fun! I think this is the most important goal of all. I really want to be an artist, but I don't want art to become a chore or something I no longer like to do. So, while I continue to try and get my art out into the world, I need to remember to keep it fun. Even if it does become a real job for me, creating art can still be fun. :)

So, has anyone else gotten their list of resolutions written out? Got anything interesting planned on achieving this year? Just leave a comment or link below and let us all know what you've got planned this year! :D

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Sorry I haven't posted anything recently, but once the new year is over, I should be back on here more often. :)

Tablet Graffiti

I drew these last night on my graffiti wall on Facebook, and I said I would share them with you guys to show you how much better my drawings look when I use a program that allows you to vary your colors and lets you have shadows and light.

This first one is the first picture I drew on my graffiti wall with my tablet.

It's certainly not perfect, but I am very pleased with how well I did the skin tones. They look more realistic then the ones I've done before.

This is the second picture I did, still working on my skin tones. This picture was harder to get the colors just right because I made it further away and could hardly see what I was doing on the teeny tiny screen I have. But I still think it turned out well. What do you guys think?

This third picture is one I did of "me". Or how I imagine me I guess. I'm holding my tablet and pen if you can't tell. :) I just did a basic black and white, just to see what it would look like. I really like how it turned out though. Basically it looks the same as a few I've done recently on real paper with a pen.

This last picture was more of an experiment with blending backgrounds. I just wanted to see how well I could blend my background while still having some light shine through. Sort of like a fog effect or something. Plus, I like drawing robots for some reason. :) Overall, he turned out better than I thought he would. I gave him better blended cheek color than any of the others I drew.

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with how these turned out. I can't wait to try it out again, I just need to think of some other things to draw first. :) (I told you I was in a creative rut!) If I get anymore ideas, I'll try to draw them and post them, so you can see how well I progress. :)

Some of the first

Can we have a drum roll please? I'm about to reveal to you some of my first drawings / sketches with my Bamboo tablet, so please, hold all laughter, snickering, and snide remarks until the end of the show. ;)

First, we have, what I think I meant to be, a couple of worms. More specifically, a boy worm and a girl worm who kind of sorta really like each other. :)

This next picture is supposed to be a devil/goblin sort of monster. The pitchfork is really all that's devilish about him, but I guess he could still be something of a devil without it. Either way, I don't think it matters. I was basically trying out the tablet to see how well I could draw scales and textures. I haven't installed my new paint programs yet, so hopefully it will look better when I do. And last but not least is one that I did in color. Something very simple, yet colorful. :)

Like I said, these are just the first few pictures I've done with my tablet so far. Hopefully they'll get better. Alot better. :) I drew a few pictures on my graffiti wall on facebook and will hopefully get to publish some of those tomorrow, since they look a lot better than these. :)

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. As for me, I'm kind of glad the holidays are almost over. I'm just so exhausted! It will be nice to get back in the groove of things so I won't have to worry about my schedule and wrapping presents and making sure my neice and nephews didn't spill the beans and blurt out to everyone what their presents from me were. :) Plus I've been in somewhat of a creative rut this past week or so, so maybe once I have time to think about something besides presents, I'll have a better creative flow.

*Fingers crossed* ;)

Merry Christmas!

Okay, I know I didn't finish the twelve days/drawings for Christmas, but I have been so busy buying Christmas presents and wrapping them and everything that I simply haven't had the time. Plus, I got an early Christmas present that I just had to try out. Do you want to know what it is? A Bamboo Fun Wacom tablet! I can't believe I have one now. A wonderful friend of mine got it for me and gave it to me early and I was absolutely shocked. I've never used a tablet before, so I've been trying it out and I love it! Below I've posted some pictures of it, and hopefully once Christmas is over and I have time to set it up right and fool around with it, I'll be able to post some pictures I create from it.

Here's the box.

And here's what was inside.

I hope you have a merry Christmas and get everything you all want, too. ;D

On the 6th day of Christmas...

"On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...six geese a laying!"

We made a snow globe...um, I mean snow tube?

Looky, looky! We made 'snowglobes'! :D Me and my neice that is. :) You can check out what we made here, on my other blog. If you're looking for a fun project to do with the kids or something that will keep them occupied for a bit while you're wrapping their gifts, this will definately do the trick. :) Plus, you can make so many things besides what we made. The possibilities truly are endless. :)

Here's a sneak peek at the one that I made.

On the 7th day of Christmas...

I'm sorry, but on this seventh day of Christmas, my true love can not give to me .... seven swans a swimming. Simply because I have no pictures of mine to post of any swans or anything else that goes with this day! :S

However, I do know that I'm getting 6 geese a laying tomorrow....but sssshhhhh! It's supposed to be a surprise! :D

My own Homemade Sketchbook

Okay, my other sketchbook that I had gotten from Barnes & Noble, I believe, has run out. So, while surfing the web this weekend, I came across a fairly easy set of instructions to make one of my own from my own paper and things. You can see the instructions I used here. This was a fun project to make, especially if you need quick and thoughtful ideas for Christmas presents, or if youjust need something for the kids to do while you're working. Anyway, here's what my second book came out as. (The first one was...well, just horrible.) Once you get the hang of it, it's really not so bad. :)

Update: You can view my other sketchbook attempts here:
Attempt #2
Books, Books, Endlessly Books