wander_realtai

So, while I've been focusing on digital paintings that depict different sorts of Fae, elemental beings, and other magickal creatures, I thought I'd post a few sketches and works in progress that I've accumulated over a period of time.  Some of these were from my "Free Sketch Days" that I used to hold over at my shadows_gallery blog; others are just ideas I've had and projects I've started over time.  I want to do my next painting as a crowdfunded piece.  Which one do you guys think I should focus on next?



I'll post again later with further details when I decide (based on everyone's input) which one to pursue.

So, I decided this week that I was determined to get myself healthy and physically fit again.  It has been a very long time since I could be considered actually fit-- yeah, I did a lot of hiking and such while I was in California, and had some good upper body strength from lifting heavy bags of laundry (I beat a guy at arm wrestling last year.  It was brilliant), but it's been ages since I've been truly fit and trim enough to look good.

So, I've put myself on a diet and exercise program.  I'm using a web site (myfitnesspal.com) to help me track my calories/fat and exercise, which has been ridiculously useful, both for my food intake and for motivation.  (Oddly, I've found that I sometimes have difficulty reaching up to the daily calorie goal it set for me, especially when I exercise)  I've been increasing my intake of fruits and veggies especially, and cutting back on sweets (though I'll still allow myself the occasional treat.  It's about moderation, not deprivation).

Scale says I've lost 5 lbs. this week, though I'm not sure if that's accurate since I was basing my starting weight on the scale in the doctor's office.  But either way, I think I've probably lost some.  I also just feel better overall-- still have some worrying soreness in some places, but I have more energy.  Right now, it's kind of hard to tell the difference between muscle soreness from working out and the other aches and pains I've been having.  My back actually hurts less, though.  Stomach is still having the same pain, however, so I'm not going to try any abdominal exercises until the doc works out what's going on there.

I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon.

I don't think they're going to do anything other than assessment, but if they do happen to pull out that filter, I may be making some doped-up posts somewhere on the internet.  Just an FYI.  :P

I'm going to bring up my concerns.  I've never been to this doctor before (he's on the medical assistance program), so I hope he takes me seriously.  I dealt with several "medical professionals" who didn't listen to me when I said I needed an ultrasound or some sort of scan of my lower abdominal area last year when it turned out I did have something very wrong, and I'm not keen to do so again.

Also nervous about the filter removal.  I was stupid (trying to be smart and inform myself to *ease* my fears) and Googled it, to discover( (Cut for freaky medical stuff.) )

Today's artwork, fate willing, will be at Ellen Million's Sketchfest.

I am really, really hoping that I don't get commandeered for other things today, because I desperately miss prompt-based sketch days!  I have some things to take care of this morning-- I'm still helping to caretake for my grandmother, who has at this point lost all ability to do anything for herself.  We have to get her up, sponge bathe her, dress her, and make sure she uses the toilet, give her medication and breakfast.  But then, if fate smiles on me (for once) and I don't get stuck either rushing around town or sitting with her all day (I've found it's just not possible to put focus on art while gramma-sitting-- I have to sit in the room with her, and I don't have the space for the graphics tablet and all.), I'll be paging through the prompts on there and making some sketches.  Saturdays tend to be a bit hectic for me.  I'm going to try to work around that.

Feel free to go leave some prompts there!  There are a number of excellent artists creating art on that site, even if I get stuck doing other things today and can't get to it.  (I really, really wanna do this though!  Saturdays are weird for me...)   Be sure to read her description/guidelines before prompting.  If you have a prompt you want me to work on, drop it over there (not here!), let me know, and I'll do my best to get to it while Sketchfest is open (I'm Amyla over there).

I've finally changed my theme and my banner.  I'm trying to figure out how to change that midnight blue background color, but none of the code I've used so far works.  Ah, well.  I suppose the blue is okay; it doesn't exactly clash.  I was just tired of it.

I'm going to write up some new commission info soon, maybe sometime today.  I'm also going to work on the "Ocean Lord" painting that I never finished.  This one:



Though I will probably redo the figure.  He's turning out too purple, and the anatomy's a bit off, especially on that left arm.  Background's done though, so that's a plus!

Hope everyone is well today!

And, here it is.  You can buy a print here.

The Trickster plays mind games, bends the line of demarcation between reality and fantasy, truth and lie, layers upon layers of facts within fictions, reflects one into the other and back again.

I gotta play catchup with Live Journal again soon.  I'm doing a *bit* better at keeping up, at least!  Somewhat.  Maybe.

Here's an update of "Trickster."  It's not done yet obviously, but the background is pretty much complete.  Need to finish the figures.

This weekend gave me the blahs and the do-nothings.  I'm lazy.

Oh, and also, I added a bunch of prints to my Society6 shop, so if you guys know of anyone who wants to buy my art and stuff, you can point them there.  :)

Tomorrow is a new week.  Gonna hit the ground running.  Figuratively speaking anyway.
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The whole image so far.  Yeah, it's going pretty slowly, but most of the work is going to be in the background at this point, I think.  The figures still need some more color depth and highlighting, and obviously hair and (for the puckish gentlemen to the back) clothing.  And his wings, obviously! But it's coming along.  Photobucket-size linked to thumbnail.
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Gonna work some more on that today, and probably some on "Of Knowledge and Power" if I don't get so mesmerized by this that I don't want to work on anything else.

I'm going to add a few pieces to my online portfolio once I get them complete, and then send a link to Llewellyn publishers.  For those who don't know, Llewellyn is probably the biggest publishing company for pagan literature.  I figure my work would be suited to some genres of book cover art.  Couldn't hurt to try anyway.  I'm going to be compiling a list of smaller publishers who might have need of some good cover art at lower cost as well.

I haven't taken any good photos in awhile, so I decided to snap a shot with my web cam and play with it a bit in Gimp last night.  I've always loved all those old tinted sepia photos, so I did some color correction and hue adjustment, with a touch of paintover to give it that look.  But yeah, this is me, albeit a bit more "glamorous" than normal and sans glasses, in case anyone was wondering what I look like.  LOL

Okay.  *sighs*  I tried to use wix.com as a hosting service, but I couldn't get it to upload my images, so webs.com it is.

I... am not loving the design of the site, but I think it'll serve its purpose.

SHADOWSCULPTOR.WEBS.COM

Come chat in the forum or sign the guestbook!

P.S., if you have any links you think I should add to the Links page, comment here and I'll consider it.