Naked Pixels

Recommended Reading: "The Fairy Artist's Figure Drawing Bible"

In July of last year (It feels a little odd still to call 2009 "last year".) I wrote about The Fantasy Artist's Figure Drawing Bible by Matt Dixon. This is a similar book, also published by Barron's... The Fairy Artist's Figure Drawing Bible by Linda Ravenscroft. It gives a lot of the same basic information about color and technique, as well as choosing your tools to work with, and is laid out in almost the same way. Instead of focusing on common races, creatures, and archetypes from general fantasy settings, however, this book focuses completely on drawing fairies.

(Note: For consistency, I will do my best to use "fairy" in this post. Should a "faerie" sneak in, though, that's not entirely a mistake... it's the way I normally spell the word.)

Like The Fantasy Artist's Figure Drawing Bible, this book is most useful to me as a reference book. I also think the two go well together. There are many artists who specialize in drawing fairies and close-up peeks into their world. Fairies are often very much a part of general fantasy settings, however, and the other book doesn't focus on them at all. This book can help you add fairies to your pieces that are already populated with ogres, dwarves, dragons, and wizards.

The section in the book on wings really got me thinking about how different wings on fairies can make or break a piece. An autumn piece done in reds and oranges, with falling leaves and plenty of acorns, isn't really where I'd picture butterfly-style wings. Styling the wings after those of a Monarch butterfly helps, but a fairy with wings inspired by leaves may actually look like more of a part of that world, rather than just being "at home" in that world.

Most of the fairies in the book are the popular happy, cheerful, flowery fairies. But hardcore folklore enthusiasts know of the Unseelie Court, as well, and the book does offer tips on drawing some of the fey who can be thought of as "going bump in the night". (Something to think about for drawing faeries when Halloween comes around again.)

My favorite thing about the book may be all the tips for drawing clothing. It's not that difficult for me to think of fairies wearing dresses made of leaves, or hats made of acorns or mushrooms, but I'm not sure I'd come up with some of the other ideas in the book on my own. I like pieces that have fairies almost, but not quite, blending into the world around them... making the eye search for them for just a second before seeing them. A lot of the clothing advice in this book would make drawing something like that a lot easier for me.

Whether you're learning to draw fairies as something other than simply tiny humans, or you just need an easy reference book to keep the details from becoming to generic and repetitive, I really do think The Fairy Artist's Figure Drawing Bible is worth taking a look at. Now that I've been pleased with two of these books, I'm going to be looking for others.

2010: Not What I Expected

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! We certainly did! Even though Christmas hasn't been the same without my grandparents these last few years, my sister's kids are turning Christmas into something that is different than it used to be, but no less wonderful. Something about the holiday would be terribly incomplete without them.

My husband and I had a talk after Christmas about how to tackle some long-term goals in the new year. One of the things I'm not verry happy about, but that isn't as bad as it first sounds, is that I need to cut back on my art for a while. This is not what we had planned, and to have gotten well into doing things the way we had planned, then having to stop and say, "No, this isn't going to work," is really frustrating. Almost heartbreaking, really.

Our plans had been based on the fact that, in the past, his physical concerns have been less severe in the fall and winter months. There's a lot to be done around here, and fall and winter was going to be our time to do it! Instead, I spent the entire month of December feeling pretty ill, and his physical limitations have not allowed him to take on the things we thought he'd be able to. There is now enough work to be done that I have to choose between my art and my home.

As I said... it's really not as bad as that makes it sound. It's not like I'm going to quit drawing completely. I'm just going to quit holding myself to a schedule for it for a while. I'll still keep doing the "at least one blog post a week" thing, and any posts that happen on a Wednesday will still be "Webcomic Wednesday" posts. This may even be what I need to help me get back to what I originally set out to do with this blog... talking about how and why the art is done, not just the fact that it's ready to be sold. I haven't been happy about how far I've drifted away from that over the months.

This is why I'm reluctant to announce plans for things. Not everyone's life can fit into a regularly scheduled workday, and part of why I'm able to do this is that I get the flexibility I need. But I don't feel so great about it when it means having to say I'm not going to have to put off for a while longer something that I've got people looking forward to. I can only hope that some of my readers are gamers. That would mean you're used to not knowing when something new will come out, being told it might come out on a certain date, being promised it will be out one month later than that, and then finding out it won't be ready for another year. Yes... I'm working on "game release date" time here.

I'm disappointed, yes, but not sorry. I see how many people feel they can't choose home and family over their work, and they hate themselves for it. I get to choose home and simply scale back work... not having to give it up completely, and not a permanent scale-back. It's not what I expected, but it's the right thing for us for now.

Now let's see where the rest of the year takes us.

Closed for Christmas!

Thank you all so much for continuing to be patient with the less frequent posts, lack of new designs, and general "Yeah... I'll get to that" way things have been going as I try to get through to the end of this year. And thank you for shopping in my Zazzle store! The month of November was the first month that I had a sales total that qualified me for a volume bonus on my commission! I simply don't have the words to tell you all how happy it makes me to see that people really do like my work, and to be making some money from that even as I'm overwhelmed by so much of what's going on in daily life around here. The daily stuff may get me down and prevent me from always having a smile on my face, but the response to my art has put a smile in my heart.

I've stuck to my promise to post at least once a week until things are ready for me to go back to a more regular schedule with the art and this blog. Next week is an exception. I'm taking the week off for Christmas! I'm in the middle of that push to have things ready in time, and Christmas Eve will bring time with my husband, parents, sister, and neice and nephew. And staying updated as NORAD tracks Santa! Posts will resume after next week has come and gone.

I wish each of you the very best Christamas ever... at least until next year!

What Color is Your Christmas?

There was a bit of excitement in my area one day last week when it looked like we could get some snow! A few hours of snow, resulting in maybe a half inch on the ground, sure to be melted away by the next day is still a cause for celebration around here. Snow just doesn't happen very often along the Gulf Coast. That got me thinking about the idea of having a "White Christmas". We never do.

Christmas is really warmer colors in my mind. Golden stuffing, and golden brown ham with brilliant yellow pineapple slices and ruby-red cherries on top. Red wrapping paper, with sparkling gold ribbons and bows. Red stockings waiting for Santa to fill them. The red of Santa's clothes, and Rudolph's nose! Rich brown reindeer pulling a red sleigh. It does get cold enough for people who have fireplaces to build fires. So when I think of the winter, I do think of red, orange, and yellow flames dancing in a fireplace. (Our lack of snow is mostly due to weather conditions other than the temperature. It's a myth that it doesn't get cold enough here.)

Of course, Christmas is accented by many other colors. Green trees, with lights and ornaments of every color! And the fruit salad on the table is almost like a bowl of Christmas lights, with all the different colors of fruit. Besides the red and gold presents, there are presents wrapped in many other colors, with ribbons and bows in blue, green, purple, and white. But it seems that my Christmas i mostly red and gold. And, in spite of being a winter holiday, it brings many memories and feelings of warmth for me. (Or maybe that's because it's a winter holiday... a nice contrast for balance.)

What color is your Christmas?

Webcomic Wednesday: A Few of My Favorites

To help put you more in the mind of Wednesdays being webcomic days here, I have a short list of some of my favorite webcomics to share. I actually read a lot more than this, but I have most of them bookmarked and have to go back from time to time and read through the archives. There are a lot of great webcomics on the internet, and I could never keep up with all of them!

Digger by Ursula Vernon: This is an on-going story, rather than stand-alone strips, and a difficult one to describe. The tag line pretty much covers it: "A wombat. A dead god. A very peculiar epic." My favorite character all along has been Shadowchild, and I hope we see more of him soon!

Looking for Group by Ryan Sohmer (writer) and Lar deSouza (artist): A favorite among many World of Warcraft fans, and for obvious reasons if you're familiar with WoW. Still, the story stands on it's own. There's no reason you'd have to be a WoW fan to enjoy the comic, although being a fan of the fantasy genre would certainly help. I dare anyone to say they aren't tempted to hug Richard now and again!

Complex Actions by Talthos (writer) and Silkspinner (artist): This one is definitely for gamers! It really is more about gamers than the games, though, and not in a way that makes gamers look much different from anyone else. The way a gamer starts seeing game elements everywhere after a while isn't all that different from when I was sewing and started thinking, "I wonder what quilt that could go in," every time I looked at a piece of fabric. That includes bedsheets and people's clothes. And the frustration over waiting for a game's release can be very similar to waiting for the release of a book or movie. These are regular people... who play video games. And the comic is both well-written and beautifully drawn.

And finally...

xkcd by Randall Munroe: Stick figures are awesome! Honestly, I can't imagine xkcd being drawn any other way by this point. This is very much a math and science geek comic. The alt-text on each one really completes things. I first read xkcd when my husband sent me this one:

(Just in case you ever wondered how geeks say, "I love you.")

Webcomic Wednesday

Now that I'm getting closer to being able to say, "The webcomic is up!" I can at least start by giving you all a little more information about it, and establishing "Webcomic Wednesday" here.

Some of you have read my short story/parody The Call of Sockthulhu. (Some of you have even seen the real Sockthulhu!) The work I'm doing for a limited series webcomic is adapting that story to comic format. If you haven't read it and want to spoil the story for yourself, it's here, through my deviantART gallery. If you'd rather wait and read it as it comes out in the comic... well, I can't blame you for that.

The comic will begin on a Wednesday, and will be updated on Wednesdays. Instead of having a comic specific blog there and this blog here, I'm making Wednesday here the day for webcomic blog posts. "Graphic Content by Rosa Amarilla" is about all of my art, not just the Zazzle store, so I'll do this best by keeping one blog for all of it.

If I get much more excited about this project, I don't know how I'll hold the pen steady!

Cyber Monday Geek Shopping! Teacher gift's, too!

There will be real posts with more meaningful content later this week! It almost happened today, but then I remembered everyone is sitting at home shopping. To help you with that, I've got two things for you... a sale code for free shipping on Zazzle, and I'm featuring today some of my designs that would be great for any geeks on your list this year! Some of them would also make great gifts for teachers. A math mug for a math teacher, perhaps?

This free shipping code from Zazzle is only good for Cyber Monday! Put in FREESHIP2DAY at check-out for free shipping on all orders! And don't forget that you can always check the coupons page to see what discounts Zazzle is offering.

Okay, geek gifts time! Some of these have picked up in sales recently, and it made me realize quite a few people may be buying for their favorite geeks, or possibly their favorite teachers. (Then again, they could just be buying for themselves. So tempting while holiday shopping!) If you don't have a geek to buy for... well, everyone should have at least one geek around... go find one! But until you find your geek, there are still plenty of other designs you can check out in my store.

You Don't Understand Math Mug by rosaamarilla
Make personalised mugs on Zazzle

This is also available on a shirt. The mug, though, makes a great gift for a teacher!

Scrodinger's Cat "Wanted" Poster by rosaamarilla
More posters at zazzle

There are several products with this design on them in my Math & Science line, and all of them have become more popular through the month of November. Makes a nice gift for a science teacher (especially a physics teacher), or your favorite science geek.

He Who Controls The Spice Magnet by rosaamarilla
fridge magnets online by zazzle

This one is for a sci-fi geek. There's a whole line of these for your favorite Dune fan. Because controlling the Universe has to start somewhere!

Happy shopping, everyone! I say doing it at home is the way to go... you stay comfortable, and you still get to enjoy the smiling faces and hugs when they unwrap the gifts.

Binders for Photo Albums or Scrapbooks

After the Zazzle/Avery binders recipe binder contest, a new contest was announced. I wanted to enter this one, butjust wasn't able to find the time. I did take a look at the entries, though, and there are some really nice photo album/scrapbook binders!

I think the ones I like most, as far as theme of the design goes, may be the "family history" type binders.

averyphotobindercontest2009 8 Person Family Tree by jamierushad
Create a 3 ring binder online at zazzle.com

Family Genealogy Photo Album by spacedust
See other Averyphotobindercontest2009 Binders

I especially like the one with the family tree. That would make a great photo album, or binder for family history materials.

I also really love this one for making a baby book!

When I Was Little Photo Album averyphotobindercont by littlegoose
See other custom printed binders online at zazzle

Does anyone actually keep baby books for their kids anymore? That would make an adorable cover for one.

Great contest entries! Even though I didn't get in on the contest, I intend to create some photo album designs for binders. Not in the super-near future, though. (Still recovering from a very busy week last week.) So go ahead and buy one of these... I'll be jealous of your cute new photo album. ;-)

Look what people are buying!

That is very much an exclaimation of delight! I know I've said this before, but I have seen a lot more sales from my Zazzle store since they made some changes, including browsing changes, back in September.

I'm still nowhere near pro-seller status, but I've paid attention to what quite a few of the pro-sellers do, and that amount of work would be a bit more than I can handle now. The main thing is that I'm working no harder at it now than I have for most of this year, yet my sales suddenly shot up. That makes me feel good. It gives me a little boost in how I feel about my work, since it would seem just not enough people were seeing it before... not that it wasn't good enough. And feeling better about my work encourages me to try new things with it in the future.

So what are people buying? Amazingly, someone finally bought the shirt no one seemed to understand. In fact, two someones did! And, while there have been orders for different things here and there, two designs have seemed to be rather popular in the past month.

"WANTED: Schrodinger's Cat" Mug by rosaamarilla
Browse other Schrodinger's cat Mugs

The mug has been popular... but the WANTED poster has been bought on a few other things, too! That makes me especially happy. That cat got me interested in physics.

Antique Love Letter Post Card by rosaamarilla
Browse more Antique Postcards

There are matching stamps for that one.

I'm very happy about it every time I get the "Your products have been purchased" email. That didn't even wear off when I got it five days in a row this month! And I keep seeing it pop up every few days in my inbox. It makes me happy because someone likes my work. I would do this even if no one liked it. It wouldn't be a priority on my daily "to do" list, and I wouldn't put it on Zazzle or much of anywhere else that people would see it, but my computer would just be full of things I'd make. It's still nice to know someone else likes it, though. :) Thanks for making my month a little brighter, folks!

What is the mysterious "Other Project"?

The Other Project... hinted at, danced around, but never explained. I've brought it up so many times it must have started approaching "never gonna happen" status in some minds. (More than once, mine.) I even recently blamed some of my slacking off on Zazzle designs and blog posts on this Other Project.

Do you want to know what it is?

Do you?

I could tell you to come back Monday to find out. But, while I'd giggle about that all weekend, I don't really want to drive away people who like my work and potential customers. And, as the foundation for this has been laid, art is being done, and it won't be too much longer before you can all actually see the Other Project, I'm pretty damned excited about being able to finally say what it is!

The Other Project is a webcomic!

This is something I've been wanting to do for quite some time, but it didn't look like I would have the time for it. Only so many hours in a day, you know. I miss writing the way I used to, but there's a good chance I'll never get that back. The communication skills just don't work the same way in my brain anymore. I started looking at the idea of comics and graphic novels as ways to tell a story without having to communicate every word clearly to the audience. Certainly, it needs to be clear to me, but then I can convey much of it through the art rather than text. I'd rather do this as a webcomic, putting it out there myself, than going through the traditional process.

There was still the concern about time for doing this, and I kept mentally pushing it to the "someday" category of things to do. In the past couple of months, though, since the browsing changes that Zazzle implemented, I've seen quite an increase in orders from my store, and some of those orders have been designs that have been there over a year and were never purchased before. I don't feel like I have to push the store as hard as before to be able to make sales.

Doing a webcomic will also bring more stability to my work schedule. I know when I'll update it, and that means I know when the next one needs to be ready by. Working from an already written script means I won't be sitting up the night before the update mentally kicking myself for not having any ideas yet. Part of what I've been doing to prepare is getting a head start on this so that falling behind means it's the comic two weeks into the future that I'm running a little late on, not the one that's supposed to go up the next day.

I'm starting with a limited series comic to test the waters. If, for some reason, the whole process doesn't work as well for me as I expect it to, I only need to finish that limited series, and then I can quit without it meaning abandoning the project in the middle of it. If it does work as well as I think it will, then I've already got plans for an on-going story done as a webcomic.

Either way, I will still be doing things on Zazzle. New designs will be less frequent, but the store will be there and will be added to. And if the webcomic really is something I can continue doing, I'm sure there will be shirts, posters, and the like at some point. I would sell those through Zazzle, as well.

Rather than looking at this as changing what I do, I see it as growing from what I've been doing. I'm taking what I've learned from doing random pieces as the ideas hit me and giving it some direction, channeling it into something that follows a more clear path. I like to think my work is growing up. :)

Keeps your eyes open for an announcement for the webcomic!