New Sketch & Naming Contest!

I have a new sketch to share with you all tonight! I have decided to create a series of witches with fruits and outfits based off of those fruits. Fruits are so beautiful and delicious. I find their colors, textures and shapes very inspiring, so I can't wait to design outfits to reflect that. I also have many fall and Halloween themed witches, so I thought it might be fun to fill out my portfolio with paintings featuring witches in a whole different way.

For my first witch in the series, I decided to feature strawberries! I love their pinky-red color, bright green leaves and the texture of the seeds. They are also very yummy! This cute witch, dressed in all her strawberry themed garb, is perched atop a gorgeous strawberry. I will add a background when I create the lines in Photoshop. I plan on creating a stripe design with a scalloped/lace type effect on the top and bottom with some polka dots. I should start on those lines very soon. I hope you all like the first witch in the series!

I will also be having a naming contest for her! If you would like to participate, please post your name suggestion below. You can post as many names as you like and you can also post if you've won a contest of mine previously. I always choose the name that I feel suits the piece best regardless if you have won before or not. The person that suggests the name I pick will win a 5x7" print of the finished piece! Thanks so much to all who participates. I plan on announcing the winner as soon as I post the digital line version which should be fairly quickly. I'm going to have a lot of time over the holiday weekend to work on her, so make sure to get your names in!

Weekly Wrap-Up #19!

Hi everyone! It's been a few weeks since my last wrap up, so I have a lot of stuff that I need to catch you up on!

I've been having a lot of fun in my "off" time lately. My husband took us to this awesome dine-in theater for our date night a couple weeks ago. They had tables set up in the movie theater and you got to eat while you watched the movie! It was a lot of fun and definitely an experience trying to eat and order off a menu in the dark lol.

We watched Thor which was really, really good!! I knew nothing about the movie going into it, so that's always a lot of fun. I highly recommend seeing it if you're into comic books, fantasy or if you just like a good story. I love the way they combined science and magic and the way they fought in the movie was so cool! You just have to see it to fully appreciate it. The costumes and scenery were also top notch. I've actually seen it again since then and would probably go see it again! I saw it in 3D both times, so I would definitely recommend that as well.

My husband and I also started playing a game that we used to play all the time called EverQuest. It's the original EverQuest that came out in the late 90's. It's a massively, multiplayer online role playing game were you choose a class (like cleric, mage, rogue, etc...) and play with other people to conquer monsters and other bad guys! My husband and I actually met while playing this game almost...wow...8 years ago now. And we also met our best friend through the game as well and many other good friends that we continue to stay in contact with. So, it holds a lot of sentimental value to us.

The game was released in 1999 and has evolved since then into a totally different game. They're continually adding expansion packs and changing things, so playing the real game now is nothing like when we used to play it. But they opened this special type of server called a progression server. Basically it starts out as if the game first launched and they gradually release the expansions as they originally released them. So it's like starting the game all over again! We have been enjoying it greatly and it's a fun way to spend our free time together.

Ok enough jibber jabber...onto the art! I have a lot of stuff to tell you about art-wise. The most exciting thing is, I finished a brand new painting!! I also have Giselle prints and products ready for you to buy, there's a Rosalie blog giveaway to tell you about, Creative Design Outlet has a new tube pack of mine and Uniquely Different Bags has some brand new purses out featuring my artwork!

Mina - New Original Mermaid Painting

Here is my brand new painting, Mina!! She measures 8x10" and was painted in watercolor and ink. I was thrilled to finally be able to paint a piece inspired by tattoo art. I have long admired tattoo art and felt the need to paint something that shows that admiration and this is what I came up with!

I enjoyed adding all the different tattoo inspired elements like the banner, heart, anchor, roses and the swallow tattoo on her side. I tried to keep the colors somewhat traditional to further make the piece feel tattoo inspired.

The banner reads "Return to Me." While I had something in mind when I came up with those words, I will leave it up to you to decide what they mean to you. I'm sure depending on your situation it will mean something different to each of you, but hopefully you will find meaning in it some way!

The original of Mina has been sold and will be going to a wonderful home! But prints and products of Mina will soon be available. She will also be submitted to all the companies that I license with so that means stamps, purses, cross stitch charts, tubes and more will soon be available as well. 

 

Giselle Products are Now Available

Prints and products featuring my new painting Giselle, are now available on my website and in my Etsy store! Giselle is now available on ACEO, 5x7 and 8x10" prints, stickers, magnets, bookmarks, buttons, pocket mirrors and printable coloring pages!

To view Giselle prints and products on my website, click here.

To view Giselle prints and products in my Etsy store, click here.

 

Rosalie Blog Print Giveaway

I was recently contacted by vvb32 who runs a really fun blog. She asked if I would be interested in contributing a piece for a pirate blog giveaway. Of course I said yes! Who could say no to a pirate giveaway? Anywho, she will be giving away a 5x7" print of my pirate, Rosalie. All you have to do is visit my website, find your favorite item/print/image and post it on her blog in the comment section under my giveaway! That simple! You have from now until May 29th to enter.

To view the Rosalie giveaway, click here. 

 

New Tube Pack from Creative Design Outlet

Creative Design Outlet has released a new tube package featuring three of my newest images! This pack includes Constance, my 2nd Steampunk in my Portrait series, Giselle, my new Roman inspired mermaid and Heather, my gothic throne witch with all her winged kitty friends! You can buy them separately or as a pack at a reduced price. These are fantastic for making all sorts of custom web graphics! 

To view and purchase my new tube pack, click here.

 

New Purses from Uniquely Different Bags

Uniquely Different Bags is the company that makes all of my purses and they have some fantastic new purses available featuring my newest and most popular images! Be sure to visit my section in their Etsy shop to see all of the possible selections. Also, if there is a particular image of mine you would like on a purse, but don't see it listed, just contact their store or myself and they will make one custom for you!

To view and purchase my purses, click here.

 

Well, that's it for this week! In the coming week, I plan on starting a new piece. I'm toying around with a few ideas and just waiting for my muse to take hold and tell me which one I should work on next. I have been commissioned to paint a witch with frogs and I have a couple ideas about that one! I have also been thinking about starting a digital pinup series of my fantasy girls which would be a lot of fun. And the past couple days, there has been a beautiful moth hanging around outside my door, so I also feel inspired to paint a moth fairy. We'll see what I end up with! Maybe it will be one of those three and maybe it will be something completely different. Hope you all have a great week!

Weekly Wrap-Up #18!

Hi everyone! This past week was an interesting week because I had my wisdom teeth taken out. The dentist has been telling me to get them taken out since I was about 16 years old, but I've put it off until now because I've been terrified! There was really nothing to be afraid of though because it wasn't as bad as I made it out in my head. The worst part for me was the laughing gas they gave you before they put they put you fully asleep. It made me feel like I couldn't breathe. But once I woke up, everything was fine. I had some swelling, but not too much pain...mostly just discomfort. A week and a day has passed and I'm almost back to normal! I have some pain in my jaw when I open my mouth too far, but I'm back on normal food and so glad that they're out!

Now that those are out, I can concentrate on my art once again! Even though I had all that going on, I still have some exciting things to tell you all about. Firstly, I finished a brand new painting, I also created a new sketch for my next painting, Sweet Pea Stamps has released a new set of my rubber stamps and my artwork is now available on fabric transfers as well as fabric patches through Kat's Magical Patches!

New Mermaid Painting - Giselle

I finished up a new painting in the past couple of weeks! Her name is Giselle and she's a beautiful Roman-inspired mermaid. I really enjoyed working on this painting, because it had so many details in it. My favorite part is her hair. I love all the intricate braidwork and flowers in it. I also tried to perfect my hair technique and I think that it's where I want it to be! I found that adding straight black to the shadows really sets everything off and makes the highlights pop.

I also loved the way the columns turned out. I tried a new technique for making them look water stained. I started with tan colors, but then added a very dark purple with a lot of water to make them look like they have been stained over the years. These were also some of the biggest flowers I've painted in a long time. I work in 8x10" size for the most part, so flowers turn out to be teeny tiny. But I made these more of a focal point, so I was actually able to add specific flowers like calla lilies for example.

The original painting of Giselle has been sold and is going to a wonderful home! But, I will soon have prints and products available with her. And, I also still have the original sketch which I will be selling, so be on the lookout for that.

New Mermaid Sketch - Mina

I also created a new sketch this past week which I am SO excited about! I think this will turn out to be one of my favorite paintings that I've done. I've been inspired by tattoo art for a long time, so I finally decided to do a tattoo inspired piece. I loved creating the lighthouse, rope work, anchor, banner, heart, swallow and all the other tattoo... qualities to the piece. I placed the words "Return to Me" in the banner. I thought it was very fitting for the piece, but I'll leave it up to you to create your own story of what that means. =)

I already have a name picked out for this piece. This will be called Mina after the lovely Mina Pike. Mina recently suggested that I needed a Mina mermaid due to the all the flooding in her area lately. I think that the name Mina fits this piece beautifully! I will be working on this piece this coming week. I will definitely finish the linework and hopefully start painting. I will be posting my progress on my fanpage here.

New Rubber Stamp Set Available through Sweet Pea Stamps 

Sweet Pea Stamps has released a new set of my rubber stamps and they are on sale right now!! The new release includes some of my very newest pieces including Vienna, my Valentine's mermaid, Constance, my 2nd steampunk piece and Giselle my newest mermaid! It also includes one of my oldies but goodies, my witch tamer Chandra.

These stamps are originally $19.75, but are currently on sale for $15.50. They are available for preorder right now and will begin shipping May 1st. I have seen these stamps up close and personal and the quality is amazing!! All the details are put into the stamp down to the eyelashes. You will definitely not be disappointed with these! 


View and purchase my new stamp set here.

Kat's Magical Patches - Fabric Transfers and Fabric Patches Now Available

I recently signed a new licensing contract with Kat's Magical Patches which I'm so excited about! This company will create fabric transfers and fabric patches with my artwork on them for you to purchase. You can even sell your finished creations as long as you follow their angel policy on their website. They create the fabric transfers and fabric patches in many different shapes and sizes, so you're sure to find exactly what you would need for your project. Also be sure to join their fanpage on Facebook, because they give out lots of great prizes!


View and purchase my fabric transfers and fabric patches here.

Well, that's it for this week! Next week I hope to work on my new Mina painting. I hope you all have a fabulous week!