Jewelry and the TARDIS.

I did a ton of jewelry making this weekend and wrapped things up with a sketch of the TARDIS, but it literally only occurred to me as I was typing this blog post that I should make a TARDIS pair of earrings or charm bracelet or something.
Guess how I'm going to be spending the afternoon now.

See? TARDIS.

 It's supposed to be more of a technical drawing, so I'm not finished with it yet. Dimensions and such.

I love the combination of brown and turquoise.

Also birds and silhouettes. I think I would do this one differently if I could remake it... maybe I will.

 I will just pause here to say that I made myself packaging for this jewelry, so that I can sell it on Etsy and actually have it look nice. I am embarrassingly proud of how it turned out.
It looks so professional. I feel like a real business person now.

I really love this necklace. I spent way too long working on it.

Another shot to see the design better.

My sister said she wants a pair of these, but solid yellow. 

These might be my favorite.

And all it took was shrink film, sharpies, a hole puncher, and some jewelry findings. Plus a lot of time.

I have so many ideas for more. Patriotic themed star earrings, little citrus slice earrings, a charm bracelet with flying bird silhouettes...


That's all for this mini update. Hope you guys had a great Memorial Day weekend!
~Dee

Grady, Deli, and Etsy.

Coughs are terrible. Especially the ones that stick around for six weeks, undeterred by rounds of antibiotics, lots of tea, and even allergy medications.

I'm convinced I'm going to be coughing for the rest of my life.

 You guys remember Sammy and Bree, the couple I was ranting/fangirling over a few posts ago? Yeah? Yeah. Well, I failed to mention that Bree has an older brother. His name is Grady, he sometimes pretends to be a hipster, and he's ultra protective over his little sister.
I'm not even sure how it happened, but somehow I started imagining him in all of these scenarios where he's hanging out with Sammy and Bree in the midst of their dates, and...

Date Chaperoning (With Grady)

I have so many more ideas for these you have no idea. They're going to be the death of me.



The other day, I was talking to Mom on the way home from a church function and casually mentioned wanting a speaker for my iPod. Like, for my birthday or something. She was like, "cool," and then we dropped the conversation.
The very next day, a lady from church gave us a bag of clothing for the kids to go through (none of it really fit me), and guess what was in the bottom?
An iHome speaker.

It's such a little thing, but it kind of reminded me how cool God is to orchestrate that sort of thing, just so I could have something to play music from in my room. He's pretty awesome.

So anyway, I've been blaring Rend Collective and I Am They and drawing all day. It's been fun, despite the cough.

She looks like Delilah (from the PJO fanfic?), but her hair's different...

I listed a bunch of stuff on Etsy the other day, so allow me to continue the advertising streak I've got going:

Doodle of a friend's character, now the cover of a fashion illustration listing.

Cat button earrings... ($8)

...And bat button earrings. (also $8)

My sister did my make-up yesterday, just for fun, and gave me a ton of eyeliner. I've only worn eyeliner like three times in my life, but I actually liked how it looked yesterday? IDK, maybe I'll start wearing make-up now...
~Dee

Mostly drawings but also Etsy advertising.

I've discovered that I really like blogging. My every waking moment lately has been filled with, "I should blog today..."

I usually don't because I procrastinate on everything, and also sometimes blogging is hard because I have nothing to blog about.

But I can throw artwork at you and pretend that it's something to blog about, right?

She was fun to draw.

 One of my customers on Etsy ordered a bunch of stickers, but they got lost in the mail somehow. I'm not selling those anymore (because it turns out it's illegal to make money off of other people's characters without their permission, and I don't want to get shut down), but to make it up to the customer, I did a drawing for her. All she asked for was a cute girl in a hoodie, so I was happy to oblige.

Sometimes I draw dresses and I just don't even know why.

 You remember how last post I mentioned that I have a low tolerance for dresses?
Evidently that's only for wearing them, as I just keep sketching dress designs. Some of them are really cute, and some of them are like... Well, like the picture I just posted.

I don't know.

And my little Star Wars character popped up as a chibi <3

She's too precious. I think she's Nautolan, or at least partly so... Mostly because I adore all the head-tailed species. I have this weird fascination for drawing creatures with stuff coming from their heads that is not hair. Now that I think about it, that's probably why I draw my sister's Medusa character all the time...

Anyway, I need a name for my Sith cutie (because I've decided that she is in fact a Sith or perhaps just a neutral bounty hunter type with a stolen lightsaber; not completely sure), and then I need to do a full-color drawing of her... Hm. I will work on that.



I was going to sign off, but before I do, I'm just going to throw some Etsy advertising out into the blogosphere.

I pulled out the watercolor paints awhile ago, and I think I actually have the hang of them now. Watercolors have always frustrated me, mostly because I can't be in complete control of where the paint is going like I want to be. It's more messy and unpredictable than I'm used to. This bothered me for the longest time.
Until I discovered tubes of watercolor paints in our old art drawer. They're slightly thicker than acrylic paints, so you just add enough water to get them to the consistency you want. I can go full watery paint and do swirly backgrounds, while also having the option of laying on thicker paint for fine details.
It was amazing.

I'm just so happy with how these turned out.

Anyway, I listed the resulting six bookmarks on Etsy. They're only $5 each, so like, if you're a reader or if you know one... *hinthint*


That's all for today. I've got to finish up some last-minute school stuff (preparing for home school evaluations, and then I am FREE and officially allowed to graduate high school), so I'm going to go work on that.
~Dee

Greetings, Internet.

You know what's really hard?
Living forty minutes away from the nearest theater and not having a car.
Civil War has been out for almost a week and I have no way to go see it. I am desolate.


A lot of artists I know draw mermaids. Like, a lot. And they draw them really well. So yesterday I was like, "You know what, I'm going to figure this mermaid thing out."
Thus, Bianka with a fish tail.

Cutie. <3

It kind of looks like she has fangs or sharp teeth or something, but in reality, she's just missing a few and I'm horrible at drawing little half-toothless kids.

Have I ever mentioned that I really love Star Wars?

Random kawaii girl.

Okay quick backstory.

My friend Nixie has this character named Sammy. He's a sweetie, and quite possibly one of my favorite characters of all time. I'm always coming up with headcanons involving him and sketching him and talking about him...

With his personality and interests in mind, you'd think that he'd end up with a girlfriend something like the picture I just posted--someone cute and fun-loving and giggly. So when we decided that Sammy was actually for real in an official relationship, was his significant other a kawaii anime girl? An adorable, precious, bubbly little thing?

Oh heavens no. He ended up with the human grumpy cat.

And she stole his sweater.

Despite the (extreme) differences between Sammy and Bree, I still ship them really hard? They're my precious darlings. <3

SxB inspired doodle. My little Converse Couple.

Anyway. Moving along.

Prom is apparently a thing, and everyone I know has gone or is going to this thing in recent weeks. Because I am a very single, anti-social homeschooler with no life and low tolerance for dresses, I have never done the prom thing. Someone managed to catch me in a good mood and brought up the subject, however, and I reluctantly sketched out something that I might wear if I had to.

Obviously I didn't wear it and didn't go, but it was kind of fun to draw.

Black and rainbow. Yep.

I have a question for you bloggers out there. 

Do you ever feel like you're talking to yourself when you blog? Like, when I hit publish, am I just posting a musing for no one to read but myself? Is there anyone in that great void called the Internet, or am I alone with my ramblings?

*taps on the computer screen* Anyone home?

~Dee

Artistic attempts, stupid coughs, and new Etsy listings.

Gasp in shock. Stare in wide-eyed amazement. Behold the miracle that is Dee posting for the second time in one week.
Apparently it's all or nothing when I blog. I'm either going to post multiple times a week, or I'm going to forget I have a blog at all for like three months. No in between.


Anyway, I'm currently stuck at home because of this cough I've had for a few weeks. I went to the doctor's for it on... Tuesday, I think? So now I get to be on a round of antibiotics (yay). It's a pretty nasty cough--the kind that just forces all the air out of your lungs and you forget how to breathe for a moment, and then suddenly remember and gasp the oxygen in with a sound so loud everyone in the room looks at you. But I'm just grateful that it's not whooping cough, because apparently a family at our church had that...


I have been putting my isolation time to good use, however.

Is it weird to prefer one earring over the other?

 I just really, really adore the fishbone for some reason? The way the pink thread makes little x's over the spine is, imho, really cute. I also love the colors together--the pale pink and the off-white, and the brass button at the bottom...
I rarely like how any of my projects turn out this much. It's strange.
It's strange that I made them at all, actually, because I don't have my ears pierced.

These are totally Halloween themed but I'm past caring.

No one in my family thinks these are as cute as I think they are. Either pair. Which is pretty sad, because three of my sisters and my mom have pierced ears, but none of them will try the earrings on... They're kind of all like, "???" while I stroke them and call them my precious.
Bats and fishbones, guys.
Come on.


I'm considering listing these on Etsy, along with a button keychain I made but forgot to snap pictures of, but I just don't know if they'll sell... Oh well. Never hurts to try, right?
(Except for the twenty cent listing fee of course but who cares about that.)


What I did list on Etsy, however, is that magnetic paper doll set I posted pictures of recently.

This one. Remember the cuties?

My shop has been really slow lately (I might just have high expectations after a great sale month in April, but I'm getting next to no views every day). I'm kind of hoping adding more listings will help revive it.

I'm going to go poke at listing the earrings and keychain. Until next time, you ridiculously patient blog-readers.

~Dee

Blogging on Mondays.

I've never really hated Mondays like most people seem to. It probably has something to do with being homeschooled.

My little siblings have been obsessed with this online game recently. It's called Jumpstart, and it's for preschoolers. Does that stop my sixteen year old sister from wasting her life on it? Does the fact that this entire website is designed to be played by children under the age of five in any way cause my twelve-year-old sister to pause before logging in and greeting her avatar as if it were a living human? Does it stop me from drawing every character they create?

No. No, it does not.

And this would be said twelve-year-old sister's avatar. She's just really, really cute, okay?

 Honestly, the saddest thing about this game is that I've considered going on it, just to design my character. I'm thinking a skater girl with a beanie and combat boots...
What have I become.


Okay. So. Before I explain this next drawing, I'm going to talk about a commission I got back in... March? Yeah, March. This really fabulous human named Liz contacted me via Etsy and asked if I did custom comics. Besides the Magic!Sharpie fail from last summer, I'd never done comics before, and I told her as much. But I also added that if she was okay with a beginner trying her hand at it, I'd be happy to give it a go.

She gave me the green light, and now I'm fully obsessed with this cutie named Avery and her crazy huge imagination. I've drawn two short comics about her, as well as the Wattpad cover for her story.

You can read the story here on Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/66755913-imagination-gone-wild

And then the comic's over here on Elizabeth's website: http://elizabethduivenvoorde.com/imagination-gone-wild-comic

So anyway, the reason I explained all of that is to say that I then needed a photo for Liz to put on her website along with my artist info. I decided to sketch a self-portrait, and this happened.

Guess who.

Idk if it even looks like me, but the basics are there. Bracelets halfway to my elbow, Flyte charm necklace, Cap t-shirt... Looks good.
I still haven't finished coloring it though... Procrastination for the win.




So you remember ages and ages ago, I was pretty much addicted to making paper dolls?

Yeah I still am.

Cat girls because I can.

They're just too cute guys.

I also have two sets of Fairies lying around, plus a ton of the old dolls as well.
The problem with these is that they're /so much fun to make/ and I just want to draw like all of my characters. But I'm running out of people to give them to. All of the little girls at my church already have a set, and I don't think my siblings need any more...

I am working on a set to give my grandmother's coworker, though, and she's actually paying me for this one. It's pretty cool. I guess she sponsors a girl with Compassion or something, and she wants to send her a set. You can only mail flat packages, though, so I'm having to be creative with the storage of these--I can't send a tin to keep them in. Mom had the idea to get a piece of scrap metal and cover it with something to prevent injuries from sharp edges, but I'm still working on finishing that up. Will post pictures once I've figured it out.


I'm going to sign off--this blog post is already long enough; I talked too much--and get some productive things done today. Until next time, which will hopefully be soon.
~Dee

Oh, dear.

I forgot something, didn't I?
Oops.
I'd been doing so well though... Oh well. I'll make it up to you with extra posts this week. *nod*

My excuse is that I've been busy writing this week. Writing very happily. 5,000 words yesterday alone.

I've also been making keychains and stickers, because why not.

Percy Jackson characters. Rachel, Nico, Percy, Annabeth. Aren't they precious.

 Got my keyrings from Amazon recently, and now I'm just witing for a trip to Michael's or somewhere to grab some little charms. (Owl for Annabeth, a trident if I can find one for Percy, maybe a skull for Nico, and I wonder if they'd have a hairbrush charm for Rachel...)

All the stickers.

 I'm still trying to figure out a good way to make these things. I don't like how the printer keeps messing up the colors on them, and whenever there's a large patch of dark color, it leaves little white lines across it. Very annoying.

Anyway, I stuck a Nico on my laptop right next to my keyboard, and now he watches me with his judging expression while I'm writing. It's rather distracting.

Marcia. <3

She's such a darling.

I've got a couple of other sketches, but I forgot to scan them, and now I'm lazy and just want to get back to writing. I'll post them later on this week.

Have a lovely Superbowl Sunday (which we all know just equals food and friends).
~Dee

Character Description Contest Winners!

*announcer voice* Hello there, folks! This Dee Aethelwyne speaking--er, typing, and I've got some Character Description Contest winners to show you!

...what's that, you say? You have no idea what this "Character Description Contest" I'm talking about is? Well, that's understandable. I never posted about it on here, after all. The short story is that I decided to hold a contest in which writers wrote a short description of one of their characters and then entered it for a chance to win a character sketch from yours truly. The contest was held on the two writing forums I am blessed to be a part of.

The winners were chosen based on the quality of their description. The entries that painted a picture in my head and made me want to draw that character moved on to the finalist round. I then chose the top three from those finalists and drew the characters. The winners were not notified; I sketched each drawing based completely on the description. (And so each drawing is final, unless you want to commission me to do something else with it.)


Now that that's out of the way, let's check out some winning descriptions! Drumroll, please...


Finalists:
Finalists are ordered alphabetically, not by place or quality of entry.
Artemis
H. R. Harding
Megstiel
Martha4Jesus
PickJesus4Ever
Shyly Dekks


Congrats, you six! You all wrote excellent descriptions of your characters, combining precise, unexpected details with a great overall atmosphere that gave me a clear picture of the character you were describing. Well done.

Please remember that if you're not on this list, it doesn't mean you wrote a bad description! I received many entries that intrigued me in the story or in the character's personality, but didn't describe enough physical details to give me a picture of the character. And that's not necessarily a bad thing! Some readers and writers prefer to let the reader develop their own mental image of the character rather than describing them in detail. It all depends on your own personal style.


Moving on to the top three...


Third Place: H. R. Harding
The Entry: 

Her hair was blonde, like the colour of sunlight peeking in through curtains in the early morning. It fell down over her shoulders in loose curls, pulled back from her round face. She had a high forehead and high cheekbones, giving her face a very regal air. Her nose, too, rather wide, but narrowing out and turning up slightly, added to her queenly appearance.

Her mink brown eyes were bright, framed by long eyelashes and arched eyebrows. The corners creased when she smiled, showing straight white teeth. The smile covered her whole face, her cheeks turning rosy and a dimple showing on her left cheek when she laughed. Her face had a tiny sprinkling of ‘sun dust’- my grandmother’s words for freckles.

She was tall, not quite as tall as me though, and thin. She wore a long coat to guard against the cold, but the white of her shirt  showed out at the collar.

She was the loveliest girl I'd ever seen.

Judge's Comments: This entry shows a very crisp, clear picture of the lovely girl in it. I also enjoyed the bit of personality from the narrator. The overall atmosphere left a very regal picture of the character described.

Artist's Comments: I did my best to keep the regality of the girl in the description, using clean, solid lines and making the sketch as refined as possible.

Character credit: H. R. Harding (Art is by me, obviously.)

Second Place: Artemis

The Entry:

Lauren was a five foot high, energetic mess of hay and freshly trimmed llama fur. She burst from the barn and sprinted into the house. "They're here!" She called excitedly as she threw off her boots, which landed in the garage with a thud. Her feet now clad in wool stockings, she slid through the hallway to find a brush in her mess of a room. Her brown almond eyes shone bright with excitement at meeting the new comers. She tore out the brambles and tangles in her thick chestnut hair, then looked herself over and laughed. Her laugh sounded how one might imagine a squirrel might sound if it could laugh. Her rough, tanned skin helped to disguise the fact that she had dirt covering her nearly head to toe. The faded green t-shirt was one of her favorites, and well worn so that the design was barely visible. The cargo pants were practical, as they had many pockets, one of which she realized still had a fluffy, black kitten in it. She grinned and pulled it out, setting it on her shoulder after nuzzling it. After deciding her hair was a lost cause, she shrugged, then donned her signature cap, which was even more worn than her shirt. One would never be able to tell it had once been black, it had pins sticking out of it that she'd collected, feathers and strange little bobbles that held memories for her. The cap shaped scraps of fabric had holes everywhere and some so large you sometimes wondered why she bothered to wear it at all. Spotting a stray thread, she pulled her knife from her pocket and clipped it, quickly and smoothly sliding the knife back where it belonged. "Well... we ain't getting much better than this." She said to the kitten, then went to meet the clients, hoping they wouldn't believe her to be years younger than she actually was, like so many other had in the past.

Judge's comments: I liked the feel of this character--fun, spunky, and energetic. The individual details are the real beauty of this entry, with their enjoyable, honest depiction of Lauren.

Artist's Comments: I wanted the drawing to flow with the entry's quick, energetic feel, so I left lots of the preliminary sketch lines in the finished picture. I also did my best to include as many of the details from the description as possible, such as her pin-covered hat or the kitten in her pocket.

Character credit: Artemis. (yes I have the kitten batting at the loose thread. because I can.)

First Place: Martha4Jesus
The Entry:

The color of her hair reminded me of tarnished copper, like an old or dirty penny. It fell in thick, tousled waves down her back and over her shoulders. Her eyes sparked fire, a feat I found impressive coming from such soft, deep brown orbs, like the eyes of a young deer. From her height, one wouldn’t think her more than a child, but her pretty figure and the forwardness of her attitude dashed any such thought like that to pieces.  

Her face was sprinkled with freckles—just a smattering of them crossing over her small nose from her cheeks. Her eyebrows were angled in a dangerous slant, though the hint of a smirk played on her partially chapped lips. Her small feet were bare and tanned, as if they had never worn shoes. Which, judging from her dress, probably wasn’t that inaccurate of an assumption. 

All this flitted through my mind in less than a second, and the only clear word that came to mind when I saw her was: fun. She looked fun.

Judge's Comments: I'm absolutely in love with this description. The character is described so enjoyably. I felt the fun rolling off of her before the main character even pointed it out. The unexpected details, such as chapped lips or dangerously slanted eyebrows, really helped to put a clear picture in my mind.

Artist's Comments: At first I wanted to draw a chibi of this character, because what's more fun than a chibi? But I decided instead to just have fun with the drawing and used a cute, very unrealistic proportion style that I'm quite happy with.

Character credit: Martha4Jesus (bare feet are hard, man.)

Congrats to the top three, the finalists, and everyone who entered! You all did a great job, and I can't wait to see how you do in the next contest I hold!




------

BUT WAIT! There's more:
Didn't make the top three? You can still get your character drawn, and for a discounted price! This weekend only, I'm running a special sale on my Etsy store. Everything is 20% off--even the things that are already on sale, like my magnetic paper dolls (which will go back to normal price after this weekend as well). Just enter the coupon code "WKNDSALE" during checkout, and you'll get 20% off your entire purchase. The sale is open now, and lasts until 11:59 P.M. ET on Sunday.
You can check out my store website here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FaerytalesandFantasy?ref=hdr_shop_menu
/end advertising Dee

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Book Review - Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

(See, I told you I'd actually post these. I'm so on top of things this year.)


Challenge 1 - Read a fairytale retelling.
 

The cover art is gorgeous, isn't it?

Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. They had been best friends since they were six, spending hot Minneapolis summers and cold Minneapolis winters together, dreaming of Hogwarts and Oz, superheroes and baseball. Now that they were eleven, it was weird for a boy and a girl to be best friends. But they couldn't help it - Hazel and Jack fit, in that way you only read about in books. And they didn't fit anywhere else.

And then, one day, it was over. Jack just stopped talking to Hazel. And while her mom tried to tell her that this sometimes happens to boys and girls at this age, Hazel had read enough stories to know that it's never that simple. And it turns out, she was right. Jack's heart had been frozen, and he was taken into the woods by a woman dressed in white to live in a palace made of ice. Now, it's up to Hazel to venture into the woods after him. Hazel finds, however, that these woods are nothing like what she's read about, and the Jack that Hazel went in to save isn't the same Jack that will emerge. Or even the same Hazel.

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind.

Breadcrumbs was a surprise read for me. My little sister got it from the library and I found it on her shelf. The cover art was pretty, so I read it. I'm so glad I did.

I related to the story and to the characters quite a bit--more than I expected from a middle grade novel. I think that's partly because it isn't really a middle grade story. The writing style might be difficult for a fifth grader to get through, but I loved every word of it. It sounded like it was written by someone like Hazel--someone who'd read more books at the age of ten then most adults ever would. The book is full of quotable lines, and if it had been my copy, I would have highlighted like crazy.

The plot is a bit slow. The book is split into two parts: part one covering Hazel and Jack's "normal" life, part two moving into Hazel's quest into the woods. Because it takes so long to get into the woods, I feel like there should have been a third part--or at least an extra chapter!--as the ending was a bit rushed.

 Another thing I really enjoyed about the story was the way Ms. Ursu handled some tougher topics, such as Hazel's parents' divorce. It wasn't a "book about divorce," yet it portrayed the situation very accurately and delicately. 


Overall, I'd give the story four out of five stars. If you're looking for a fantasy with lovable, relatable characters, I would recommend it.



(I'm so fab at book reviews aren't I. We'll see how long I can keep up the formality before I find a book that has me completely fangirling and/or ranting over it.)

Chibis, charms, and, um... photography?

 So yesterday, I drew a chibi Miku. And I liked how it turned out. Like, /really/ liked it. I still like it and it's been 24 hours. So obviously I drew Luka as well, and now I'm working on Gumi, Len, and Rin.

The precious.

You remember how I was talking about the charm bracelet I made for my friend Nixie for Christmas? Well, using the same stuff I made for her charms, I made some keychain charms this afternoon.

Luka, Katniss, Mira, and Miku. There was going to be a third Katniss, but I accidentally cut her foot off. Oops.

With beads. I had too much fun with these.

My original idea was to list these on Etsy, but I'm not sure I'm 100% happy with the quality of this batch, so these are just my giveaway charms. (Most of them are spoken for already.) I'll make another batch in the next few days and make nicer ones.
I've got some key rings and little bead charms and such coming on Monday from Amazon, so the ones I list will hopefully look really good.



This is an old picture, but I found it on my mum's iPad today while I was getting photos of the keychains. I took it at my grandparents in Minnesota, back during Thanksgiving when we went out to visit them.

Yep I'm totally a photographer man.

I had some fun with a few filters on an app Mum has, and that's the finished result. So yep.


Also.
I keep forgetting to tell you guys, but I'm doing a reading challenge this year (it's only 16 books long, so I'll probably have it done by May). My friend Tia put it together, and we're doing it with a bunch of other people on the writing forum we're on.

Here's the list of challenges:

1. Read a fairytale retelling.

2. Read a book with something shiny on the cover.

3. Read a book with a character name in the title.

4. Read a book that someone in your family loves.

5. Go to the library, pick a shelf, and count to your age in books. Read that book.

6. Read a book that's over 500 pages.

7. Read a book that's been in your TBR (to-be-read) for awhile.

8. Read a classic.

9. Read a sequel.

10. Read a book without reading the synopsis.

11. Read a book you can finish in a day.

12. Read a book that takes place in the future.

13. Read a romance. (OR [if you don't feel comfortable reading romance] Read an OYANer's novel [preferably get your hands on one that's published])

14. Read a book by an author you've never read before.

15. Read a book based on a movie (not the other way around)

16. Read a book set in this century (post-2000).

 I've got two challenges finished so far. I think I'm going to review them on here as I go to make it a little more challenging. Those won't count as my weekly Friday posts, of course, so who knows how often I'll actually get around to writing those.

Off on an adventure...er, vacation.

Heading out tomorrow morning for a trip to visit out-of-state family, so I'm posting on Thursday rather than Friday. I know, it's terrible, I'm sorry. But at least I'm posting.

Cisla chibi. Yes.

Mira darling.

Elsa doodle.

And a matching Anna doodle, of course.

And here we have a very poor quality photo of a birthday card doodle.

 I haven't been drawing a whole lot this week, honestly. My hand dislikes me for some reason. (I have been working on a few commissions as well, so that's where my time has gone. That and Marvel.)

I've got archery practice in 20 minutes, and I want to put some more time in my Marcia project (I haven't worked on it at all this week, or I'd post an update), so I'll sign off and leave you guys with this tiny post.

A long post in which I say nothing.

  My sister and I were supposed to go to a concert with some friends today, but then the weather happened and now it's too icy to drive in. So I've got plenty of time to blog--or at least, an hour or so until the two kids we were going to the concert with show up for a "fun day with friends." (Why do I always end up blogging the day people come over? It's supposed to be my day off. Sheesh, people.)

...Okay, wait. I'm going to complain for just one teensy-tiny second.
You know how I picked Friday to blog, because that's "my day off" and so it'll be easier for me to keep up? And you also know how the universe just loves to throw off all of my great, well-thought out plans?
Yeah. So we had a family meeting, and "sleep-in day-off" is now Sunday. (I voted for keeping it Friday, but was outvoted. Extremely outvoted.) I think I'd be cool with that, except that Sunday is my "get up early and be productive" day. It's always been. My internal alarm clock gets me up at 6:30 AM sharp every Sunday. And now it's my one day to sleep in.
Why, universe. Why.

Amity doodle. She looks like she's going to punch someone in the face. Maybe it's the universe.

Our scanner is weird. It likes to lighten up everything. That took a while to get used to, but now I've learned to use it to my own advantage. Light sketch lines + dark outlines = no eraser necessary. It's lovely.

Bianka darling.

That's actually an older sketch. I had to double check that I hadn't posted it yet, because it's one I really like as well. I rarely like my pencil sketches. And when I do, I'm terrified to color them because I'm convinced that I'm going to end up ruining them.

Cislaaaaa

 Remember those Percy Jackson fanfiction characters from a few posts ago (*cough*October*cough*)?

 Here they are again.

Isla's the girl, and Cody is the boy (duh). Cody's my sister's character--not the one I forgot to draw in the last post; that was Ember, who is a girl--and I kindasortareallyshipthem. 

They're just cute, okay? Isla's always so busy setting up other couples, and it's really because she believes she's going to be single her whole life because no guy will ever actually like her, and she tries to make herself feel better by getting other cute couples together. And then Cody...

Well, Cody's an idiot. But she's been trying to find him a girlfriend for like five years and I just think it would be adorable if the two of them ended up together.

/end fangirly Dee-ness

...and then there's Hans.

 Yeah. Um. Digital art practice?

No, actually, the story behind this one is: I sketched out that pose as a possible commission design, but she wasn't such a fan so I changed it and used the pose for my own purposes. Yep.

Another digital thing.

 Just to make sure everyone /really/ gets that I love fashion design, I drew that up there. Because outfits. And flow-y fabric. And sparkles.

Pretty dresses are just fun to draw. I think I'll be doing more outfit designs like that one up there, because it was really, really enjoyable to draw. Maybe I'll even start doing outfit design commissions on Etsy...

Marcia digital work-in-progress.

This is taking me forever to finish. I've been working on it for days, and that's how far I've gotten.

Although, in fairness, I haven't actually spent that much time on it. Just an hour a day or so, whenever I can sneak it in. So I've probably only put like 3 hours of work into it so far.

But yeah, I'm really getting back into digital art. Practicing up a bit so I can start some digital art commissions.


Wrapping things up with some Copic headshots...

Abbie...

...and Annie.

 No, they're not related. I didn't even realize how similar their names were until now.

In other news, I officially have foot problems.

I sprained my ankle pretty badly a few years back, and I guess I started compensating for the pain by walking on the inside of my feet. I never stopped doing that, though, and now I'm suffering the consequences. Like, literally suffering. I can't stand for longer than twenty minutes before my feet start hurting horribly. (They hurt just about all the time these days, but it's worse after standing for extended periods of time.)

So I've got an appointment with a foot-doctor (I forget the fancy word for that at the moment) coming up soon, and Dad says I might have to get braces for my ankles, since they're so weak. I'm currently wearing these inserts in my shoes that support my arch better and supposedly will make things better, but so far they've just been hurting my feet.

There's a bright spot in this, though--I now have an excuse to sit down a lot. Which means more drawing time. *evil cackle*

I've got a little more time before friends show up, so now I'm going to skip off (figuratively speaking) and do some digital art. I want to do an outfit design--steampunk circus ringmaster, anyone?