OC3 2018 Poster

THERE IT IS! :)  I had the great job of designing the poster for Oldham County Comic Con for 2018!  The reading kiddo is based on a kiddo that I know (though when he was this size he was much more interested in climbing everything than reading).

I will also have a table at OC3 in February.  It might well be the only comics convention that I have a table at for 2018; I'm still debating SPACE.  I've talked about this in person to some comics friends over the last couple months but not online - I'll be taking a vacation from the breakneck art schedule of convention tables for a year to try and finish up a couple long-term projects that have languished for most of 2017 because I burned myself out for many months doing 6 shows almost in a row this past spring.  With the additional health and stress issues that have resulted from that, I don't want to push myself more anytime soon.  Not that I don't like painting Pokemon, but it really has become a hindrance.

During 2018, I will continue to be on social media and can always be reached that way or via email. :)  I hope to come back refreshed and with an amiable vengeance (and hopefully a new book or two) in 2019!

Kid-Friendly Comics

I made the "Kid-Friendly Comics" sign for this year's SPACE!  Was thinking of a couple kids I know who enjoy reading while I was drawing. :)

HAPPY 2016!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Thank you to everyone I have met and spoken to at conventions, online and other events in 2015 - here's to continuing in 2016! May it be full of creation and good discoveries.

A lot is coming up quickly... my husband Matthew Sparks will release two independent comics in the first half of the year, and hopefully in the next couple months we will be moving to a new home that better serves our love of creating comics and illustrations. It's going to be... INTERESTING, if nothing else. HERE WE GOOOOO ~

Every nice elf should have a nice squirrel pet, I think. :D (created in Manga Studio and Photoshop)

Simeck Entertainment- character concepts

Character concepts for an animated TV show pitch for Simeck Entertainment!  She may or may not be totally evil.

Inktober 2014

Well, this is pretty self-explanatory. :)

Sketch Card Kickstarter Rewards

Yesterday I drew a few sketch cards as rewards for the Transitions Anthology Kickstarter! Some general kid shenanigans with Rona and Will.

I'd love to find out who receives these- thank you so much for supporting us!!

Elf

Amazing, me drawing an elf.  :)  

Ink and watercolor - I put this drawing in a frame on my convention tables, with commission prices in the top right section.  

If a dress like this existed, I would wear it most willingly. 

anywayican

The first week I bought Walk the Moon's Tightrope EP, the song "anywayican" got quite well stuck in my head. I got bored during a break at work, and made a quick doodle on a post-it note. Colored it this evening:

Hooray for dancing blue alien chicks! OR, how about this version:

Do we prefer more common colors? ....Eh. No preference here. :)
The original doodle!

Goodbye American Elf

Sigh.  Today's "Fanart Friday" isn't altogether cheerful - more bittersweet.  American Elf has been a part of my comics-reading life for 5 or 6 years now, and a great inspiration.  James Kochalka, if you happen to come around, Here's a message for you:

For fun, here's the sketch of James (also on Instagram):

Fun fact - the funky circle was made by drawing around a funny bowl I got for 50 cents at a thrift shop.  Useful thing.

Annnnd 2013 NOW

Many notable things happened in 2012, but there were many things I wanted to get done that I did not.  I hope that I'll be able to finish more things up and begin others in 2013! 

HERE'S A HAPPY NEW YEAR CARD AND SKETCH FOR YOU:

LET'S MAKE 2013 GOOD!!!!

Fanart Friday - KEVIN

If you follow me on twitter, you might know I wanted to try doing fanart drawings on Fridays to be sure I'm drawing regularly, inspired by my husband's daily drawings that he posts almost every day.  (he makes me jealous.)  I made a list of things I'd like to draw at the outset, but today I found out about Kevin Ray's birthday earlier this week. SUBJECT FOUND. :)

Photo of ink sketch:

colored photo:

YAY. that was really fun.  But it made me realize how terribly out of practice I am with drawing.

This blog's been long due for an update, and there are a couple things I've been wanting to post, but I guess I'm still learning how to juggle taking care of house and keeping things tidy and making the husband eat vegetables.  Thank you so much for being patient with me, if there's anyone still reading. :)

-the Winged Elf Girl

Storms

Spent some time in the basement of the office yesterday, with the tornado warnings. Saw a bit of the damage on TV today... So horrible. If you want to help some of the people affected, here are a couple ways to do so.

Drew this while I was stuck down in the basement - characters for a hopefully upcoming story, three siblings. Added a splash of color today. They look a bit too old, but hey; first time they've been put to paper (outside of the script).



Also, working on the program for the Savannah International Animation Festival!!! And hopefully I'll get to go, too. :D

The Grasshopper Band

A fictional band that totally exists!!!



Watercolor, 12x18.
Lovely lady on the right is Carter Calvert, whose babysitting money I will use to pay for my wedding dress. <3 THANK YOU!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

There's some awesome indie Christmas music up on Noisetrade for free right now, if you'd like a respite from the stuff on the radio that loops every hour. I hope everyone has an awesome Christmas and New Year - SEE YOU IN 2012!!!!!!

The self-portraits!

I finally drew something on the first page of my new sketchbook. (been drawing on the inner pages because I'm a wimp.)


Also, Sketches for the save-the-date invitations. (With Matt's notes, ha.) :D

ELF!

Here, a curvy elf lady for you! I like this curvy elf lady. I might have to draw her some more. curves are fun. ^___^

But Sir! What happened to your face?!

And now, some more concepts and illustrations! Here are some faces for some of the secondary characters:


Because the job was so rushed, I actually didn't get to use all the characters that I'd designed. Ah well, se la vie. Here are some more illustration planning/thumbnails:



I was really inspired by the work of Mark Schultz around the time I was doing these - he had come to SCAD this past spring quarter as an artist-in-residence, and I got to know him a bit - such a kind, amazing person! and HIS ILLUSTRATIONS. O LAWD HIS ILLUSTRATIONS.

The play of light and dark to control mood in a single, unmoving is a lot more difficult than it might seem. in animation, you can utilize the motion to get more out of each scene; in Comics you can play out the action and lighting over many panels to create the effect. I think one of my problems here might have been how much I was trying to cram into each illustration, because I knew that I didn't have time to do a lot of smaller illustrations. Pros and cons, pros and cons.

As Tiiiime Goes Byyyy....

....I lose track of it. And I suck! But enough of that! My life is crazy, and so is everyone else's. Let's see some concept art!!

I took on a job a month or two ago to make some illustrations for an independent fantasy novel. It was a super-rush job, so I often had to go with only the first or second version of an idea that I came up with - a challenge, and I wouldn't say I like all of the results, but it was quite fun! Let's start with some characters:


It was a nice change to be able to just work with the face and body type of a character. I'd gotten rather used to character designing for animation, with full turnarounds and detail and prop designs and such. Just going with the flow was lovely.

Here are some page thumbnails:



I drew with whatever color struck my fancy at first, but later I used the different colors as a good way to differentiate my different drafts and ideas, even when I was sometimes drawing on top of myself.

And for a treat, here is one of the finished illustrations:

My clients are working on making the book available on E-Readers right now. I'll let you know more information once there's more to tell! :D

OH, see.

Lest anyone think I've died, A POST. A lot has happened since May 20! A sort of brief sum-up (which will probably explain my lack of time for updates lately):

Since May 20, I have become an alumnus of the Savannah College of Art and Design. Though I have left many friends behind, I am still working on a lot of their projects; currently that includes background paintings for Nate Swinehart's film Rain Dance and concept art for Gary Blackburn's film Elyn and the Pirates of Sunderland. I have moved from Savannah back to Ohio, and have yet to get all the stuff from my apartment in Savannah into my old bedroom. I have also driven to Vermont and back, Oklahoma and back, and Indianapolis and back (twice for that one). I have acquired a job in the marketing department of a good company, and so I spend most of my days pretending to be a graphic designer and learning more about farming and mining equipment than I ever thought I would. This job also happens to be an hour away from my current home, keeping me away from my REAL work for eleven hours out of the day. But I'm still drawing whenever I can - obviously, mostly concerning the two projects mentioned above, but I'm still working on my own comic book series Band Quest! Just a couple days ago I completed the script for book 1; it will be about 71 pages long. And the script for book 2 is currently about 60% done.

And now I should really get to painting, so I'll leave you with these:

Item 1: character concept for what will hopefully be a future animation project directed by me.
Item 2: doodles on post-it notes. CLASSY. Oh look, there's that character again. I really hope this project pulls through; she's so darn cute.
Item 3: one of my concept sketches for The Pirates of Sunderland film. I've only just started, and this is the best sketch so far; there will be many more (and better ones) in the future.
K bye. :D