Wash it away

This is for Neil Gaiman's contest, A Calendar of Tales. This challenge was for November, the prompt was "What would you burn in November", and someone answered "My medical records, if only it would all go away." The ensuing story inspired me to create this, like washing it all away by fire. I hope you like it; it's my first 'real' illustration (meaning, not fanart and not for profit) in nearly two years. How time flies...

Octo-hawk

I've been doing a lot of loose concept stuff lately, but here's something much cleaner so I can post again! I was inspired by body piercing: this woman laced fabric through the piercings in her thighs like this...it blew my mind! I also was inspired by electro-swing. Go figure.

Safina

Another character from the circus brothel that I drew over lunch! Still trying to figure out her look.

Denizens

These are just some character designs to populate the circus brothel story.

DevilPaus!

This kid and his story have been stuck in my head for about a week now, so I had to paint him. He was inspired by a combination of owls, butterflies, the tooth fairy, and Clopin from the Hunchback. The latter two, not directly, but it was in my head somewhere. I haven't painted like this for quite a while, and it was a ton of fun to get back into it. More to come! 

Paradise Circus

Hi everyone! I've been developing this concept involving a brothel-like circus, mainly for concept art production (but it might also be a comic.) Here are the first preliminary designs for the story!

 

There will be more to come!

Them pants in pink

I colored her! What do you all think?

Dessert Time!

These are some designs I did for Otakon that I forgot to post! Crepes, Tiramisu, Keylime, Churro, Ice Cream, and Baklava ladies!

High waisted pants!

I met a woman by the name of Lavonia Parks, at a gallery opening here in Atlanta, who was wearing the most wonderful high waisted pants! I can never wear high-waisted pants myself, because my torso is waaay too short, and they would probably go all the way up to my collarbone. But I can at least draw these pants, and women who wear them, so here we go!

Hope you like!

Power of the Pen

It's amazing how much less work I've been producing since getting a job a year ago. It's quite sad actually. But I don't think I always give myself enough credit. I've always gauged my successes in art by how many completely finished, colored illustrations I have. But I still have been drawing quite a lot. I've inked a bunch of things, and I never posted them because I never seem to see the value in them. I found some inked illustrations today and realized that I need to give them more attention.

Sketching and inking has always been my favorite part of the art process for me. That, and seeing a finished, colored illustration. But for some reason, I can never seem to get colors right. There have been very few illustrations where I've been truly happy with the end result. I think it's simply because I love doing lineart so much, that once a piece has been colored, it takes the attention away from the part I have the most enjoyment in. I need to find a balance between line and color, or even better: a marriage between the two.

This is a struggle that I have been facing for years. Any advice anyone wants to give me would be extremely helpful.

But for now, have some inked drawings I found laying around in my Bristol pad!

Ursula, one that I abandoned coloring on

 Snow, from Norovirus

The inks of Midna, from one of my previous posts!

These are all huge, so if anyone wants to take a crack at coloring the lineart, feel free to use it as a test (not as actual profitable work, of course! Don't make money off me plz) Show me the result, maybe it will help me, who knows!?