Autumnfire Studios

Thinking Woman

2010-08-14T22:59:00.001-07:00

I wanted to draw some more people, so I drew up this woman. She stands, thinking to herself as she looks off page somewhere. Inspired by the series I am reading by Robert Jordan "Wheel of Time". It is fun but I still need much more practice though.

A Girl

2010-08-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

This is a little inspired by Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series. I don't draw people enough, so I thought I would get some practice in. Not any specific character or clothes. Just some influence

Kitty Face

2010-08-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

Here's looking at you, internet user

Cute Kitten

2010-08-10T13:02:00.000-07:00

Had some time to do some drawing. My creativity seems to have been hijacked by this little guy growing inside my belly. I did manage to get some done. Below is a cute picture of Culdicott. He is one of my baby cats. Well, he's not a baby anymore. He is nearly 7 months old, but in this picture he is 5 weeks.

Update on Poster

2010-07-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a lot of time or energy for art of late, what with this growing baby in my belly. But I have managed to make some progress on my dragon poster. You may or may not be able to see what I have been detailing with the small resolution but I assure you that there has been much updating. After this stage of laying out highlights and shadows I shall be moving on to reflections on the scales and rocks.

Incoming Heat Wave

2010-07-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

Not much art going on right now. It is too hot to be motivated for anything. Apologies on that. Hopefully my house will cool down. It is 27 degrees in my house right now. That is some hot weather

The Snake Dragon

2010-06-25T22:49:00.000-07:00

Through my stressful week last week, I have been working on this concept a few minutes at a time. I finally picked it up and finished it today. Yay. Meet the Snake dragon.

Things Have Been Slow

2010-06-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

A stressful week can wreak quite a bit of havoc on your creative outlets. I have not done much artwork of late. I seem to me more focused on the stresses of everyday life. I hope to get some stuff soon, but in the mean time you will all have to sit tight for now.

Of French Toast and Dragons

2010-06-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

So I made french toast for the first time today. My Husband was very happy with the end result, as was I. I am quite full at this time. I also had my 3rd Prenatal doctor's appointment on Monday. Our baby is doing well by the sounds of it. I have my first ultrasound in about 3 weeks. It is very exciting for me

A bit of not so good news. Well, I believe I mentioned that we own 5 cats. It all started out with two, than one went into heat and escaped the house in the dead of winter. 2 weeks later I received a call from someone who had found her. Then 2 months later 3 kittens arrived. Well, we still have the original 2 cats along with the 3 kittens. We need to get rid of 2 of them. 5 cats is just to much. All the way to the SPCA we drove but they were at cat capacity. So now I am searching for a home for the two we want to get rid of.

Now on to the art. I have been working feverishly on my Dragon Poster. It is looking quite good. In the mean time I sketched up this dragon. I figured it was about time I got some practice on in dragon faces from the front. I feel it turned out fairly well.

Much Detailing Happening

2010-06-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

I have no new sketches to show today. Just a bit of an update. I have been doing scale after scale detail on my Photoshop Dragon poster. That has been a time consuming task for me. On the other side of things, for my oil painting it has been much the same. Detailing sunflowers. I have been adding the shadows to the petals. I will post a photo of this painting when I am done. I have been working on it for more than 2 years. That should say something.. hopefully that it doesn't suck.

A New Sketch

2010-06-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

As par usual, I was watching my husband play a video game when I sketched this up. Just a hissing dragon. I was going for a more realistic shaded look, reminiscent of D&D style dragons.

Hiss! Hiss!

Snapshot of My Current Poster

2010-06-10T17:52:00.001-07:00

Well, I thought I should share a snapshot of the current poster I am working on. It is 3/4th done at the moment; all I have left is lots of detailing and some other small bits to make it come alive. The wings have me a little scared, I am not quite sure which direction I would like to paint them yet.

This is done in Adobe Photoshop. I have a tablet that lets me paint like a brush, so it is convenient, and not as messy as my oil paintings. I should be finished it within the next few days. I have been working on this for 2 months now.

Some Recent Artwork and Concepts

2010-06-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

I have recently been enjoying drawing dragons. This means I have drawn quite a few sketches, along with working on a full size digital dragon poster which I will be sharing here when I am finished. I have been working on it for 2 months and it should be done soon. Scales certainly eat up time when you have hundreds to shade. It will all be worth it in the end.

In the mean time, when I am not cramping my hand with innumerable scale strokes, I have been exercising it with some sketches to keep the creative juices flowing. I have a few of them posted below for you to check out.

This first one I just drew up last night. It is a dragon fairy. I was going for a bit of a cute position with this, along with detail. It's hard to go for a unique looking dragon when so many people enjoy drawing them, which is why I like to keep my creativity going.

While I was creating this piece, I had the joy of watching and listening to my husband working/getting frustrated on some of his website projects. This makes it difficult to draw because he often shakes the desk that we both share and I end up having to do some erasing that I shouldn't have to do. Ah the joys of relationships.

My cats rather enjoy jumping up in my way as well. It's hard to avoid when you have 5 cats who all enjoy your company. They also love to jump up and stand on my keyboard when I am playing Left 4 Dead 2... those zombies love the fleeting moments I have to take my hand of the mouse to chase a cat away.

But enough of that and back to the art. I have a couple more pieces here to share with you. The next one here I drew while watching my husband play Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. This is a common trait you will notice when I post sketches. These are the times when I actually get away from my computer! It is quite sad that I spend nearly all day in front of this glowing rectangle box.

This is a serpent dragon I decided to draw up. I was going for something a little different with is neck frill. I took the inspiration from the Dilophosaurus, as seen in Jurassic Park. This dragon kind of looks like he might spit in your face soon, except it would probably be volcanic spit instead of poison. I am not a big fan of the wings personally. I need to take to practicing more wing art. I will improve! I swear!

I will have plenty of time to draw over the next few months. I am currently pregnant and can not really do as much as I used to. I used to attend a kickboxing class 3 times a week and go swimming the alternating days. I don't have to kickboxing options anymore so I use those days to get some more practice in.

If you have any ideas of what you would like me to draw feel free to leave in in the comments. I am always up for suggestions and challenges.

The next piece of dragon I have here is a Chinese style dragon, his head turned out way to big for my liking, but I like the way I drew his body. So I will share him with you.

He has a huge head! Better to devour buildings with I suppose! Though Asian dragons are supposedly good natured, not like the evil blood-craving dragons of the west.

I do like the way his body turned out. It is very serpent-like and distance proportionate. The scales are not gradiated properly in my opinion, they get light far to soon, and not gradual enough. I like flowing bits, so I rather fancy the way his hair is about.

I drew this the same night as the Serpent snake. In fact this one came first. I noticed the large head and kept that in the front of my mind to avoid the same from happening to the next one, which worked well. That is one serious complication I have with my pieces, is making the heads to big. I am ensuring that I get out of that habit.

Now in the name of practicing wings, this pen sketch below I did while waiting for my husband to finish up with a client. It is drawn roughly on some paper that I shoved in my purse, but I liked the way it turned out. This wouldn't be an art blog if I didn't bare it all for you!

Just a fun sketch with pen! I love working with pen. I feel I should draw more with it. My lack of planning in my art sometimes makes it difficult. I should keep a pen on hand during all excursions out so I can get some practice in while I wait around.

Last but not least for this post, I have a concept that I drew up some time ago. This is the Devil Dog I drew up. He is a bit of a mixture between cat, bat, and dog. I was pleased with how he turned out. I enjoy drawing monsters, and there is nothing that forces you to be creative like drawing a monster.

I should have some more up to see soon! If you would like to get a good look at more of my art, you can visit my website at http://www.autumnfirestudios.com. I also have a flickr photostream at the bottom of this blog page that will let you see some of my art!