Despite my best intentions, I didn’t manage to do much work.  Instead, I spent the better part of the evening napping and then struggling with some scan tests.

Apparently, the internets is rife with how to scan line art tutorials, but has almost nothing when it comes to completed colour work. I suspect that is because illustrators do a lot of their colouring in Photoshop or Illustrator. So scanning line work is probably more common.

Still, its a bit frustrating.  I don’t want my illustrations to look like ass when I try making prints. I’d like them to look like the original.  It might seem like a simple request, but it isn’t.  Most of the time, when I scan coloured illustrations in, my scanner lightens them – a lot. Black lines look like medium gray and a lot of the lighter colours get washed out. Grr.  And when I try to adjust them in Photoshop, I usually end up going too dark.

It’s a tenuous balance at best.

I did find a couple of suggestions at an art forum that mostly involves tweaking Photoshop settings.  But I guess the most important things I learned is that I should actually look at my original when tweaking and tweak the blacks with an on-screen reference.

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Hah! I coloured her last night! Wait. It would appear that I forgot to colour the flagpole. Oops. How embarassing!

Anyway, she cracks my shit up.  I am so in love with her.   To be truthful, I am in love with all of these pin-up-ie type sketches that I have been creating lately.  They are just so amusing to draw.  I don’t even care if no one else likes them or if someone prefers my “very serious” portrait work to these wacky drawings. The fact is that they bring me happiness and that’s all that matters!

Though, admittedly, I am not loving the scan of the original. It really looks like ass on my work computer. :(  Too dark. Too muddy.  The colours and blending look waaaaaaay better on the original. They aren’t this dark. You must take my word for it!    I really wish I didn’t struggle with scanning as much as I do.  It’s ok for black/white/grey, but the second I add colour, it goes to shit. Boo.

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I’m looking for a few fine folks to be models for my next project. Nothing crazy, nothing invasive, nothing nude. Basically just a headshot – it is a portrait project. It will be in a similar style as my self-portrait.  I’m looking to create my first series as well as expand my portfolio.  Interested?  Pretty please?

If you’d like to help a girl out, please leave a comment or contact me.  I’ll fill you in all of the specifics at that time.

I guess I was feeling a bit patriotic yesterday. Hah. I drew this little sketch while watching the Olympic Closing Ceremonies.  There are a few problems with her (her boots and legs for example), but I think I wanna try colouring her. Could be fun!

Beyond that, I’m trying to figure out what I want to do next for my really-real art. I really enjoyed doing the self-portrait in markers and I had thought to work on a series of self-portraits, but I’m not entirely sure I want to look at my face that much.   It might be interested to do it to other people’s faces though.  I’d just need someone to send me photos of their heads.

Any victims volunteers?

I sent my self-portrait to Brooklyn yesterday! Very excited.  I hope the show goes well and I can’t wait to get my digits on the book. Hee.  Now I just need to figure out what I want to do with myself.  I should probably start on the next self-portrait in the series I have been kicking around, but I am just not feeling it.  I also haven’t touched DAZ in about a week. And i haven’t been sketching during my lunch break at work.  It’s a bit of a void right now.  And I’m pretty grumpy about it.

On a completely unrelated note, make sure you watch the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics tomorrow night. My girl, SMc, is participating! She says that she isn’t a featured performer, but she’s the star of the show to me (and the only reason I will probably watch)! So watch! Enjoy! Cheer her on!

Title: Self-Portrait 2010
Size: 8½ x 11″
Medium: Prismacolor Marker on Aquabee Manga Artist Paper
Time: 6.25 hours
Status: Completed

I think I am done!  There are a couple things that I will need to tweak before I slap it into a frame and ship it to New York, but mostly, I am done!

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Title: Untitled
Size: 8½ x 11″
Medium: Prismacolor Marker on Aquabee Manga Artist Paper
Time: 5.0 hours
Status: Work In Progress

I finally snuck in some time to work on my self-portrait.  I am pretty pleased with how the mouth is shaping up.  Especially the teeth.  Though, I might look at softening some of the lip creases.  They feel a bit… harsh right now.  Too line-y!?  That said, with any luck, I should have this baby done by the weekend. Then it’s off to New York!

I also finally used some of my DAZ reference images.  I was just messing around on my lunch break. Overall, I think its going to be very, very helpful.

I might go back and do some more inking of this particular drawing during my lunch. Her hands and feet (as usual) need a lot of work.

In other news, I signed up for the intro class at Burlesquercise. It runs from March 10th to April 12th (I think!?) and I might have an opportunity to perform. In public.  Scary! It should be fun though!

I need to buy a boa.