A bunch of sketches, because I have nothing else to talk about.

I think I'm going to call her Ayden (Eye-din)

 This girl is the first "real" drawing I've done using my computer art program. I've always found it annoying in the past, because the brushes are programmed to act like they would in real life (meaning paint streaks and blurring when I forget to add layers), and I just want something simple that will lay down color. Is that too much to ask for?
I mean, there's probably a way to reset the brush options, but there's my computer inefficiency for you.

Ayden actually has an interesting story, though. I was researching Gaelic/Irish mythology, and stumbled upon changelings. According to legend, fairies would often switch their children with a human child, resulting in both children being considered changelings. In the myths, the fairy infants were typically ugly and obnoxious, but because I'm Dee and I do things like this, I made my fairy changeling character human-like.
(Ayden is Gaelic for "small fire." I like the meaning, and now I really want to write a story about her.)

I'd redo her face if I had the chance.

Elsa. I drew her for one of my friends, and if it had been for anyone else, I'd have completely redone it just because I didn't like how her face turned out. But since this friend is only four and happens to think I'm Elsa in disguise, I figured it would be okay.

First picture I've ever drawn from start to finish with my pen tablet.

I almost never sketch on the computer. Usually I just sketch the drawing on paper and then scan it into the art program, but yesterday I felt like using the pencil option. I don't think she turned out too badly, though. Stenciling the tie-dye design on her shirt was fun.

 

Macy!

My friend Elly, over at The Spilled Inkwell, had her sixteenth birthday on Wednesday, and I drew her main character Macy as her present. (Yeah, this is what artists do for their friends' birthdays. And plays. I went to see a friend of mine in a musical last year, and I drew a bouquet of flowers on the front of a card and wrote "Flowers on an artist's budget" inside it.)

I don't really have anything else to say... I'm going to my grandma's today, and will hopefully talk to her about setting up a bank account for me. So maybe by next week, the Faerytales and Fantasy Etsy store will be running. (Fingers crossed.)

Oh, and Josie nominated me for the Sunshine Award ages ago, but I'm still trying to round up enough bloggers willing for me to nominate them so I can post my answers. If you have a blog and would like to be nominated, do let me know!

In which Dee spends an hour making a 90 second video.

I'm a terrible blogger.

I'm trying to do better, really, I am. To try to make up for it, I'm posting a little tutorial-ish thing I put together. I drew it on SketchBook Mobile on my iPod, so if you're going to be following the tutorial yourself, go ahead and download that. You can use the Lite version, but if you really are interested in digital art, do yourself a favor and buy the full version. It's the best drawing app I've found.

Okay. So the first thing you're going to need is the outline of your picture. You can try to sketch on your iPod and get it that way, but I've never found it easy to do that. What I usually do instead is sketch on paper, ink, then scan the image and mess with the brightness until it's pure black and white.

 

This drawing is the one I used.

  

Import the image, into SketchBook, and then turn the opacity level down to about 25%.

 

The airbrush tool is what I used for shading.

The paintbrush is for laying down the initial layer of color.

 

This is the brush I used for the detail on her boots.

 

The layer order. Make sure they're all on top of each other in the right way, otherwise you'll have parts of the drawing covering up each other.

Layer order #2. If you're using SketchBook Lite, you'll only have three layers to work with. Use the merge layers option (that arrow over in the lower right hand corner) to smash layers together.

A few quick notes on my video:

1. I was indecisive over hat color. You can use whatever color you like best.

2. I forgot shading on the hat and scarf. Oops.

3. When parts of the drawing are randomly appearing and disappearing, I'm just hiding the layers. Not actually deleting the drawing.

Hopefully this wasn't too confusing. If you have any questions just ask in the comments! I'll be glad to answer them. :D