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?

Two New Etsy Listings!

Hey there, folks!

You're probably all shocked to be reading this right now. "What? Not only have you started posting every Friday, we're also getting random Monday posts?!"
Yes. Yes you are.

I've been brainstorming ways to "promote" my store ever since I opened it. (Seriously, I think about it 24/7. My job is my new obsession.) An idea I had that I quite like is having a "sale" every month. I might be trying out a new product or style, or I might just feel like having chibi sales. It'll depend on my mood.

This month, I've decided to focus on my magnetic dolls. I love making those. They're super cute, and super fun to draw, color, and play with. Plus, you're never too old for dolls.

Regular paper dolls are on sale for $5 off, plus you get a free metal tin. And shipping is still free. All month. Click here to see the listing.

I'm also trying out chibi magnetic dolls. I sketched out the base for them recently, and now the "test drive" listing is up. Check that out here.

So that takes care of one new listing and one new sale. What about the second listing?
Well, I've added a new chibi listing as well. It's for a quick, inexpensive chibi sketch. Because chibi, guys. For only $3, I will draw your character or yourself or Tom Hiddleston or whoever you want. Here is the link for that.

So yep, that's my news. I'd love for you to purchase something from my store! If you can't, advertising is also always appreciated. ;) Have a superfantabulous day, guys.

New Year, New Blog Schedule.

Yes, I've finally decided to try making a New Year's Resolution. I've never liked making them, usually because I forget what the resolution is at all within two weeks. But for 2016, I've decided to focus my new year on blogging more regularly.

I'm going to be posting at least once a week, every Friday. (Unless there's an extreme emergency. Like no wifi.) Fridays are my day off, so I won't have "I'm too busy to blog" as an excuse.

I'm also going to try posting more about the same characters, describing a little more about them, etc. So if you have any questions about certain characters, ideas you want me to draw with them, or whatever, comment and let me know! I'd love to hear from you.

....And this week's art dump is full of characters that aren't mine. Off to great start, aren't I?

Nickolette, my fabulous soldier tough girl. <3

Vina, small but fierce.

Reece, the homeless albino violinist.

Nova, who is fabulous with her bright red hair.

Zephyr, the sassy darling with a mechanical arm and leg. And a ponytail.

And last but certainly not least, Mirari, who's pretty much the main character.

All of the above are my friend Nixie's characters. I drew them for her Christmas present--I printed them out on my lovely Grafix film (which is basically the same as Shrinky Dinks) and then made the little tiny chibis into a charm bracelet/keychain. It turned out really cute, but I forgot to snap a picture of the finished thing. I'll have to ask her for one.

Christmas was pretty awesome, by the way. Apparently I proclaimed my love of Marvel and Captain America loudly enough, as I ended up with a Marvel sweatshirt that's the softest thing in the world, a Captain America bracelet that came in an awesome Marvel tin, a backpack shaped like Cap's shield, and the most amazing Captain America hoodie EVER. I saw a picture that Josie posted on her blog a while ago of her Cap hoodie, and I've wanted one ever since.
AND I GOT IT. SO HAPPY.



I'm working on a study of facial proportions and the difference between male and female faces, because I've been hating my style lately and I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong. It's turning out all right, better than I thought it would, so maybe I'll post it as a tutorial next week. We'll see.