So This is 2017!

Happy 2017!!  If you are still keeping up with the very hit and miss postings of this blog, BLESS YOU!!  xD  Unfortunately, my life is just too busy and my thoughts usually too scattered to make blogging a more regular event. I view this blog as a sort of mini journal to post thoughts about art related things that are usually running through my head... a journal for all the world to see. Makes sense, right? Isn't that basically what FaceBook is??  .....    xD

How was everyone's Christmas?  We had a good one here!! The month of December was crazy busy for us, being involved in so many church related Christmas activities! 'Tis the season!!!  I also crocheted gifts for everyone in my family this year, and that took more time then I thought...and I started back in September!!!   O_o   The end results were well worth all the time... But I literally crocheted right up into Christmas morning to get projects finished. So there was very little drawing going on in December, and that made me sad. I didn't draw our cards this year and didn't have any commissions except for two small ones, but that was OK!!  I needed the extra time to crochet.  The picture above is all the art related gifts that I received for Christmas!!!   I have finally been able to break into them, and the pencils are definitely what I've used the most so far. For being dollar store pencils, they are awesome and have a wonderful variety of color and blend very nicely!!  I used them  on this Arietty piece I did today for "Miyazaki Monday"...  and I am loving the results!!

As far as any artistic goals for the new year... I don't know. I feel like I should set some, but I've set them in past years, and they just sort of dwindle out by the time March rolls around and our lives get really busy. As for now, I just want to commit to be more faithful about getting Miyazaki Mondays done... I debated picking another similar project, but the Miyazaki style is fun, and there are a lot of characters I haven't been able to draw yet that I would like to. I would love to fill up my sketchbook with these drawings, so I'll keep at it another year.    =-)    I plan to keep doing "Wednesday Wednesdays" for awhile too, because I have quite a few ideas for her and they are fun to draw and people seem to like them too. I feel like screenshot copying is cheating in a way, but I would like to do some more Sailor Moon screenshot drawings, since I have several saved to draw from!!  It is good practice in figure drawing and coloring, even if some people might say it's just cheating to draw from something else like that...  ;-)

I plan to keep on drawing fifties ideas, too. To be honest, I doubt that anything ever comes from it. Even though I want it more than anything, I know in my heart of hearts that I will never be able to make it as a manga artist. There's just so much that I don't know how to accomplish in the field, and I don't have the money or time to sink into the supplies like computer programs, screen tones, publishing, and being able to commit ten hours or more a day to only draw. If I could, that would be awesome, but I know it will never happen. Most self published manga are really poorly done and never pick up a following because they are poorly done. I know that I don't have what it takes to really make it in the selling field. Some days it hurts to think that, but I think it's good to not lie to myself about it anymore. I've come to take each sale I do get as a blessing. Most people I know also don't know what manga is, or they have a mindset about manga that is hard to get over. It might not seem like it's worth it, but I draw mostly for myself, because I love it and feel that it's what I should be doing, whether people like it or not. Most people have suggested to me that I should do a children's book. The thought is there, and from time to time, I do get ideas , but in my mind they usually end up looking like a manga page... I enjoy the pictures in children's books, but I also think that if your heart really isn't in that, you aren't going to create something that children can enjoy, and so that's what holds me back from going down that road... I don't really feel that my heart is in it. And so. If your heart isn't in it, don't do it!!!

So, here's to 2017....  looking forward to the art that does happen!!!!

-Stasia-Chan'17

Manga Tutorial Books Review: Part 1

Hey guys!!! I posted on instagram and my facebook page a few days ago that I was planning to do a review on some manga tutorial books that I've never had the opportunity to go through before. I recently went on a rampage through my local library's catalog, and requested almost every book on "manga drawing" that the search turned up. Most of them, I have never read or heard of before! I've been looking for some new challenges and tutorials for upcoming art classes I'll be teaching, and I thought looking through some fresh books might help. Also, I believe you can never learn enough about what you have a real interest and passion in doing!!! =-)

Today, We'll be reviewing three books that I just finished looking through.... Actually, I have a HUGE stack of similar books on my desk, but I can only get through so many at a time... So I'm not sure how many blog posts there could end up being on this subject!!!  ^^;  


Here are the three books we'll be going over:

1: DRAWING MANGA: ANIMALS, CHIBIS, AND OTHER ADORABLE CHARACTERS

I've seen this book on the shelf at another local library I sometimes visit. I never looked through it until this time though. While it says "chibis... and other adorable creatures" on the cover, pretty much, this book focuses on drawing cute animals. It gives you the basics to draw realistic looking animals, then shows you how to turn them into chibis.  It also shows some drawings of  mythological Japanese creatures, though it doesn't really show you the basics of how to draw these animals. If you're enthusiastic about drawing cute animals, it's a good book to look into. Personally, I just didn't find it very helpful at this time, but it doesn't mean I won't look at it another time to do some referencing. =-)





2:  SHOUJO MANGA TECHNIQUES: WRITING STORIES

THIS. BOOK. I wish I'd known about it a while back!!!  This book skips over all the basics of drawing manga art, and lays out the basics of WRITING a manga story. The book is laid out like a manga comic as you read it, which is a really cute way to give a tutorial. This book is part of a two or three book series ( I could only find the first and second books, this one above, in my library's catalog) that is completely focused on how to create shoujo style manga. This book has already been helpful to me, because while I enjoy scribbling out fan fiction every once in a blue moon, I have never really been sure of how to lay out a story for a manga format... which is part of the reason I haven't even tried!! ^^;    I definitely recommend trying to find this book, whether through the library, amazon, or ebay (it's an older book, late 90's -early 2000's, and not in print anymore from the looks of it!!!).  Especially if you're like me and don't know the first thing about how to put together a story for a manga or comic!!






3:  HOW TO DRAW MANGA: PEN AND TONE TECHNIQUES

I was more excited about this book until after I sat down today and read it... eh.   -_-;

This is another series of tutorial books (I have several more sitting on my desk), and all of them talk about a different subject or genre in manga art. I think this would be a good series to update... It was published in Japan in 1996 and translated in English in 2000. The translation is HORRIBLY done. There were complete speech bubbles (it's laid out in a manga format again) that did not make any sense at all. Also, all of the drawing tools laid out in this book are drawing supplies that you can pretty much only get in Japan... or order them from Japan for ridiculous shipping rates. I feel like most of this book dealt with talking about these hard-to-get supplies rather than the techniques of using a pen. The only real techniques they show you are different ways to cross hatch when you draw. The last part of the book deals with how to use screen tones, which is something that I think is neat, but again, it's really hard to find screen tones over here... you'd have to order them. So right now, this book felt confusing and not very helpful. Like I said, I think the series needs to be updated and the translation needs a lot of fixing.





.... And so! Those are my thoughts about these three tutorial books. I'll be going through some more books (especially since I can't find my desk at the moment) and I'll post some more reviews soon!! If you've gone through any of these books, I'd love to hear your thoughts on them too!!   ^^



-Stasia-Chan '16

Happy Wednesday!

.......


Hello!!!  Hope you're having a great week so far. Things have been insanely busy lately, but I thought I'd try to do a quick post about what's going on art wise!


Last week we were just beyond crazy busy, and there was NO time for art. I was majorly bummed about it too, because art is such an outlet for me. But this week has been so much better!!! I've been feeling a little down lately, and so I've been drawing these little daily doodle sort of things to cheer myself up. It's been a long time since I've had so much fun drawing and using whatever colors and expressions I want, and it's been a BLAST!!!!   Wednesday up there is one example of these little doodles....   c-=


I've been trying to cut back on how much I use my copics, because I just haven't had the money to replace most of my colors or buy the refills. I'm currently on the fence about the refills. I liked them at first, but lately it seems like my markers are really drying up the color after they've been refilled. I can't figure it out, because I'm using quite a bit when I refill. I might just have to replace some of these problem markers and see how they work out when they're still fairly new? Anyway, I hope people won't think I'm complaining about money or something.... It's just a fact of life that copics are expensive, and I don't know many people that can consistently buy markers or refills on a constant basis!!!  -_-;   This is part of my reasoning for setting up a shop on etsy!!!

Speaking of etsy, it's coming along! I still haven't opened a store, but I hope to next week!! I've been working on things to list here and there the last few days, and I have a notebook with the inventory I have to list so far! Exciting!

Today, I caught up FINALLY on a couple Miyazaki Monday pieces! I colored both of these with colored pencil. I think I had the most fun with the "Spiller" piece, because I just sort of kept scribbling brown and green tones to keep it earthy.  ^^    I entered a watercolor of Totoro based off a Miyazaki concept piece in our local fair, and I won second place, which is very exciting for me!!!  ^^

Until next time.... Have a nice day!!  ^^

-Stasia-Chan '16

Social Media Hiatus and the Future!

Hello, and happy labor day!!  We enjoyed a day here at home. Since my husband didn't work today, I had a list of some chores that needed a man's touch here at home, and we ran a few errands around town that we didn't get to on Saturday. I thought I would grab a few minutes to write about my month without social media!!

I logged out of everything on the last day of July... Instagram, Facebook, even Pinterest. And to be honest, I didn't miss any of it like I thought it would. Being completely social media free was easier than I thought it would be. The only times I ever really wanted to post was when I was busily sketching and coming out with some stuff that I really liked, I missed sharing those things. Other than that, I enjoyed my month without the drama and depressing posts. Because, yes, while we can filter some of what we are seeing on these networks, you're never going to be able to block it all out completely. And, it's all too easy to fall into the trap yourself of playing the victim on social media. I know, because I'm guilty of it at times. If you've had a bad day, what's your first thought? Post about it and maybe someone will comfort you. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it plays into the circle of drama and depressing posts that float around continuously. I found out that I sincerely enjoyed my time off of it. I have discovered this year that I seem to have a real problem with social anxiety, and social media has not helped the problem. I also enjoyed the time to get back to other things that I enjoy!! It's so easy to fall into the habit of when you have a few minutes, picking up your phone or tablet to check your notifications, and then you find yourself scrolling, and next thing you know, you've been sitting there way longer that you should have, and then you're complaining about the things that you didn't get done when it's your own fault!!  

Now, having said all that... and maybe it sounds like I'm being very candid.. I'm the kind of person that is horrible at face to face conversing, but when you put me behind a piece of paper or a computer, words just seem to pour out.. I do not disapprove of social media. I think there is a lot of good that is accomplished with it. But social media isn't right for everyone, and some people need to keep a tighter rein on how much they're using it. I've discovered that I am one of those people. Now, don't panic, I plan on keeping my social media accounts! But, I plan to cut back on how much I'm using those outlets. If I don't post much, that's why... Because I don't want it to be the first thing I run to all the time just to get some likes or favorites. I will still be posting, they may just be sporadic posts split up between a few days or a weeks time. I think this is going to be what's best for me in the long run, and I think it's going to help my art too. Less time on social media will (hopefully... between homeschooling and theater and other things!) mean more time to focus on art!!

I went into the month with TONS of plans... as usual, I set way too many goals for myself. I'm the kind of person that puts too much personal pressure on myself, and then when I don't get all those goals accomplished, I feel frustrated with myself!!  xD   So, I had a lot of good intentions... they just didn't all see the light....  xD    I kept up with the daily drawing challenge for a good part of the month, but it was hard. The month was also crazy busy! And I had several that I sketched, didn't feel crazy about, filed them on my desk to go back to later, and never got back to them... But!  I got a few really nice Clintasha pieces out of the deal, and I'm happier about putting in the time and passion into those, because they were ones that I really wanted to do and wanted to see them through! I may be selling a few of those originals... But I'll talk more about all that in a few weeks once I have everything ironed out on the selling end and go through what I have to get rid of! 

I did manage to keep up with the Miyazaki Mondays!! With the exception of the one due today, I have them all inked. As usual, my problem always seems to be in FINISHING a project from sketch to colors... It's hard to find the time to complete a project. I need to start working on things in bits and pieces. I think they would get colored faster that way!!

I managed to work on quite a bit of watercoloring, but it takes so. much. time. I feel like I've learned a lot about the technique of watercoloring this year, and it's especially been handy as I'm working to replace copic markers, but it takes more time than I usually have to work with them!!  

Probably my favorite thing I worked on for the month of August were these various poses and clothing sketches from the 1950's. It was just FUN to sit down and sketch whatever came to mind!! This is the only page that got colored, but I have three more pages of more of these sketches. Probably going to color those with pencils. My copics and I are not getting along at the moment.... xD 

Anyway, that was mostly my month being free from social media! I also did a lot of crocheting this month and learned a few new stitches, and I've been crocheting things to sell for American Girl dolls. All in all, I enjoyed my hiatus, and I'll still continue to post, though not as frequently. The good news is, this blog will never know the difference, as it never seems to be updated on a frequent basis!!! xD  


-Stasia-Chan '16

"A Fairy Tale Christmas Carol " Poster.. from Start to Finish

Hey guys!!  I thought I would post all the progress shots I took from working on my latest poster art for our community theater!! This poster is for the upcoming Christmas show, "A Fairy Tale Christmas Carol", and I'm also going to be running the light board for this show!!

I was asked to draw up some concept art before I sketched out the poster design, and as I did with the "Charlotte's Web" poster, I talked with the director first and made sure I had clear ideas as to what she wanted to see. 

Above are some of the concepts I came up with, with an idea for the poster art on the bottom. I sent this rough sketch to the director, and she approved and set a deadline, and I've been piecing it together since last weekend. 

 I decided to try doing the colors with watercolors, because the director asked for a subtle color scheme, and also didn't want too much of a "Christmas" theme in the poster. I felt that watercolors would show up better once scanned and pull off subtle better than pencils or markers would. 

First things first, had to sketch it all out, then start inking! I love inking, and I took some time to do this part one afternoon with a cup of coffee and our portable DVD player on my desk too... xD 

The inked version!!

No matter what medium I use, I always start with skin tones first. After that, I laid down a light red for the base of the mouth coloring.

I think my favorite part of the poster is this... the three little pigs hunkered down as they pop out of the book.    =-) 

Close to being done!! I had laid down a lot of base colors in one afternoon. I recently purchased a smaller sketchbook from Canson, and the paper quality is incredible for water colors. As long as you give it time to dry so that it doesn't warp, it's magnificent!! 

And this is what the final version looks like... I had something holding the page down as it drys completely. Yay!!!   


Here are a few other creations from this week... 

I finished up a custom order of "Finding Dory" notecards, and ran off a print that the customer also ordered for framing. 

I have a set of "Disney Princess" notecards started, and I managed to color Merida and Pocahontas... but I'm just sharing Merida today, because her hair just makes me smile. It's so loud and crazy looking.   =-) 

And a Howl that I sketched while catching up Miyazaki Mondays... I also have a Sosuke (from Ponyo) and Arietty pieces inked, but I haven't had time to color them as of yet. I colored Howl with pencils and did a wash of watercolor in the background and then tried to splatter a bit of purple watercolor over the whole thing. But I'm pretty new to that method, and was afraid of going crazy and ruining the picture, LOL....   =)

So! That's what has been accomplished this week. I had hoped to do more, but my afternoons have sort of gotten away from me... That's OK! With my upcoming "disconnect" month in August, I should hopefully have a lot of time to focus on some major art accomplishments!!!  

Until September, I'll be doing lots of this....  

Have a great August!!!   =-)

-Stasia-Chan '16 

August Drawing Challenge

As previously announced, I plan to take a total hiatus from the internet and social media for the month of August. I've been making a list of some of the goals I hope to accomplish during this time away from the distractions, and I have quite a few in mind!!  One thing I had decided on right from the get -go, was that I wanted to do a drawing challenge for the month of August. 

Have you ever done a monthly drawing challenge? I have done them randomly before, and I have loved doing the last two years of "Inktober"... I have a special little sketch book I set aside just to be used in October for this challenge!!!  I have also done some daily drawing challenges from time to time, but when life gets busy, well... the drawings stop. That's why I've been doing "Miyazaki Mondays"... it's still challenging me to draw, but on a weekly basis and not a daily basis (and at this moment I'm currently three weeks behind on these). 

Anyways, I decided it would be fun to try an OTP (One True Pairing) challenge for the month of August. I was looking through some of my oldies of Clintasha and thought, "I miss drawing them!!!". So I searched for an OTP drawing challenge, and came up with two that I liked different challenges, and sort of mashed those together, and added a couple of my own ideas to replace ones that I didn't like (for example, death... who wants to draw death?? That isn't a fun challenge!!!).  And so, I present to you, my 31 day drawing challenges....


AUGUST OTP DRAWING CHALLENGE (CLINTASHA)

1. A Selfie Together
 2. Sharing a Milkshake
3. Balloon Hats
 4. Cosplaying
5.Under an Umbrella
 6. 1950's Version (I did not make that one up!!)
7. Wedding Day
 8. Building a Cabinet
9. Ballroom Dancing
 10. Lazy
11. Medieval Times 
 12. Movie Date
13. Clothes Swap
 14. First Kiss
15. Stargazing 
 16. Morning Ritual
17. Something Sweet
 18. Shopping
19. Coloring
 20.Couples Date
21. Ugly Sweaters
 22. At Work
23. Sunday Cruisin'
 24. Ice Skating
25. Water Fight
 26. Holding Hands
27. Reading
 28. Housework
29. Taking a Walk
 30. Dinosaurs
31. Whatever You Want!


.... It looks a little intimidating now, but I have ideas for a few of them. When I was doing the daily Clintasha drawing challenges before, I was doing lots of Chibis, but I may swap back and forth between chibi size and normal sizes.. I haven't decided yet, and you'll have to wait until September to see!!  ;-) 


Today I was busy cleaning my mom's rabbitry, and I had a few minutes this afternoon to rough sketch the three Miyazaki Monday's that I'm behind on... I'm hoping to get up early tomorrow to work on a theater poster I'm due to give by August 1st... Afternoon art time has not been working out too well lately, and I guess I need a change up in that "me time" anyways. I'm just not a morning person!!

Anyways, the first week of August will be hard for me personally, because August 4th is the 2 year mark since my great grandma passed away very unexpectedly. We were very close, and she died the day before her birthday. I miss her every day, but this month will really be hard, remembering all the birthdays we celebrated with her while she was here. Also last year, on August 5th, my spoiled rotten pet rabbit, Mufasa, died unexpectedly. Even though I have three other bunnies in my life now, Mufasa was special, because he was the first and loved the longest. That first week of August we have our church VBS going on, so it will be busy and maybe help keep my mind occupied off of how sad I feel. Not that it's a bad thing to feel sad and remember these things, but you can let sadness take you down into a dark place, and I don't want that to happen. 

I have a whole list of things I hope to accomplish in the month of August, including, believe it or not, starting on CHRISTMAS CARDS!!! I also plan to do some Christmas crocheting, LOTS of reading (more than I do already), organizing the materials for Lucy's starting Kindergarten in September (we have decided to homeschool), some new stuff for doll photo shoots ( I should blog about that soon), and of course, LOTS of art. Hopefully I'm not setting my hopes too high about things only to become upset when they don't get accomplished, but I'm really looking forward to this coming month and all the things that I have planned!!!  

-Stasia Chan '16

The Truth Is...

Doesn't that title sound spectacularly dramatic???

I wanted to do a post letting people know that I've decided to take a complete internet hiatus for the month of August. It's probably going to be a bit hard at first ( I love instagram and pinterest at the end of  a long day!!), but I have been cutting down on my social media time recently, and I'm looking forward to living without the distractions.

Honestly, it's something that I really need to do. For a variety of reasons, but one of those reasons is for my art. I haven't really let on in my posts and such (not that comes right to my mind), but I have been majorly discouraged with my art lately. For awhile, actually. A slump is something you can find your way back out of, but discouragement is a hard one to grapple out off.

Part of the reasons for being discouraged are, I have majorly lost sight of what it I most love about art: Art is my outlet. I have a hard time socially. I'm shy and have a hard time letting myself really get to know people. Art lets me compensate for those times when I feel really lonely or bummed about friends that don't really talk anymore (actually, a lot of my friends have let me know that they don't care for my art style, manga/anime, but that's another story..). This year, I keep finding myself worried about NOT making it as an artist, and that's never why I started drawing in the first place. I started drawing because I was inspired to, and I loved the process. I didn't pick up a pencil thinking that I would become a household name or make enough money to let my husband quit his job (wouldn't that be nice, though!). And because I've lost sight of that, my art has felt so forced. I have produced a few things that I've been really proud of, but most of it has been because I felt I HAVE to, not because I wanted to.

I have also taken the summer off from some things, like theater, so that I could use the time to focus on creating concept art for the fifties project I want to do. And I'm proud of a lot of the things that I have drawn for those concepts. I'm just very frustrated because I'm not sure what to DO with it all now. I see artists that have their stuff put on things to sell, like stickers, and stationary, etc., and I don't have the money to get into that process. When I try to sell things, I end up losing money because it doesn't sell, or I have to undersell a project just to sell it... and again, it's not about money, but it can be very discouraging. Especially when you've become addicted to Copic markers... which I have slowly started buying refills for, but it's still been a pricey process, and when there's nothing coming in to go back into the art, it slows the process up.

So, I've decided to take a month off. To regroup. To fall in love with art again, and continue on from there. I have some Miyazaki Monday's I want to get all caught up with, and I also wrote out a 31 day drawing challenge to do for the month of August (I'll post the challenges here before my hiatus starts!). I'm excited about it, and hope that I can find my artistic "get up and go" again in the process!!!


-Stasia-Chan  '16