Witchylana

Big Changes Ahead

2012-02-03T14:32:00.000+13:00

2012 is going to be an interesting year.
As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I left the Day Job, and am about to re-enter study.

But, for the last month and a half, we've been in Limbo. We sent our stuff ahead of us, and have been spending time with my husbands family in Hamilton before heading down to Timaru.

We were going to take both down of our cats, but our older one, Connery, has improved so much (he was extremely skittish and shy and scared of everything - we think it my have been the stress of living on a main road in Auckland) while we've been here that he will be staying with the In Laws. We feel that it would be unfair on him to move again and he loves it here (also, my Father In Law is besotted with Connery - his "black and white"). George however, will be making the trip with us. He is not going to enjoy it.

We had intended to be in Timaru already, actually - but our car has had other ideas. First it failed a WOF, and needed to get it's shocks replaced, then it started having issues. It was handling like a bucking horse.

After a new air filter, fuel filter, oil change, checking the spark plugs, and replacing the bloody carburetter, it turns out all the sodding thing needed was more transmission oil. Stupid car.

So, that's all sorted now. Our ferry tickets are booked and we're off in a couple of days.

I'm going to study business management (starting on the 20th), and take this doll making thing seriously, damnit.

The Husband is going to look for a job, and househusband in the meantime - and the Sprog is enrolled at a new school. We'll be imposing on my long-suffering mother until we can find a place of our own.

George will do important cat things I expect.

Do you want an Alienware?

2012-01-20T09:24:00.002+13:00

Yes, yes you do.

Sparkling Reviews is giving away a freaking Alienware laptop!
Srsly, go there and enter.
Look at this pretty:

DO IT.

2011 round-up

2011-12-22T19:17:00.000+13:00

Well, this is my 100th post!

And boy, has it taken a while, or what?
My first post was on the 9th of April, 2007.

That's 1725 days

To commemorate this auspicious occasion I have stolen this list o' questions from Hannah Moskowitz who is a young author whose blog I found when I was looking for tips for managing the NaNoWriMo entry that I never got around to even starting this year.

Sorry in advance, this is really long, I'll still love you even if you don't read it all...

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
I left a job without having another job lined up. I've never been unemployed - even when I was on maternity leave for the Sprog I had freelancing illustration jobs on the go.

In the current economic climate that makes me a bit irresponsible, right? But I have a long term plan, and I couldn't put it into action without leaving my job.

2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make New Years' resolutions any more. Too many of them were along the lines of "I will lose X amount of weight/fit into X-sized dress".
Outside of the fact that I used to use resolutions as an excuse to beat myself up mentally; If there is something in my life that needs to change, why should I need to wait for a certain day to change it? Just do it.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
A couple of guys at the Day-Job became fathers (one for the second time).

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank gods.

5. What countries did you visit?
I flew back down to the South Island for my Mum's birthday, but that doesn't count as a different country :)

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
A garden, and maybe a dog. (I want a German Shepard, the Husband and Sprog want a Labrador. I think I'm going to lose)

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The 16th of December was my last day at the Day-Job, which I'd been at since '96 as a student then as a staff member. That's my entire adult life.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
It's not official yet, and may not be until the new year, and I can't really talk about it. BUT IT'S COOL.

9. What was your biggest failure?
NaNoWriMo. I didn't even START.
I have a rough outline, and some characters sorted (no names - because I'm terrible at that), but just didn't start.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Does the return of panic attacks count? Because, NOT FUN. My depression was really difficult to manage this year too.
Also I pinched a nerve high up in my neck a few weeks ago, and it's been causing truly awful headaches.
Boo.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Exciting, right?

A bottle of Vitex (chasteberry) tablets. It's supposed to help even out hormone levels, and as I was All Over The Place emotionally - figured it couldn't hurt. It took about a month to start feeling more steady (and the first couple of weeks on it: to say I had mood swings would be a massive understatement) Also, interestingly, I lost interest in chocolate. I mean, I'll still eat it if you put it in front of me, 'cos it's delicious - I just won't go out of my way to get some.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
The Husband, specifically on the occasion of an inebriated man trying to get into our house at 8am on a Saturday.
Full-on Papa Bear - it was awesome.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent. Food. Power. Just keeping up with living.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Foxes. srsly.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?

This is such an earworm.

17. Compared to this time last year, you are:
Happier?
Yes.

Richer?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
No.

Thinner?
Meh.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
I really needed to spend more time making dolls, I was able to carve out a bit more time for it than I had last year, but still was very unsatisfied with the amount of attention I could give to it.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Stressing.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Christmas was spent with the Husband's family.

22. Did you fall in love in 2011?
A little more every day...

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Game of Thrones.

Poor Ned. :(

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't think my "list" has grown.
(It's quite a short list really)

26. What was the best book you read?
I don't know that it was the *best* book I've ever read, but it was certainly the one I had been looking forward to the most.

SIX YEARS I've been waiting for this book. I started reading this series in '98 or so when I found a paperback A Game of Thrones in a $5 book bin.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I can't think of one, but the Sprog's is Lady Gaga. So guess what Santa got her, and then guess what we had to listen to FIFTEEN times on Christmas morning.

Thanks Santa.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?

The third act was a bit boring (ironic, because that was where all the big action bits happened), but leading up to it, and the short bit at the end were fantastic.
The Husband "Wouldn't rate it" (whatever that means), but he didn't like Superman Returns either, so his opinion does not count.

31. What did you do on your birthday. And how old were you?
I had dinner cooked for me, and the Sprog pretended that our living room was a fancy restaurant. I am the grand old age of 33.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
One of these.
But APPARENTLY it's more responsible to pay for electricity and catfood.
Shesh.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Um, comfortable?

34. What kept you sane?
Sculpting, which I didn't really get enough time to do this year.
And tumblr (Be warned - I'm super geeky over there), I've only had an account there since June and I've done 602 posts. My gods, I'm 14 again.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Either I have a thing for the "square" superheroes, or I'm into men wearing this shade of blue...

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
We had a General Election this year, and the centre-right party got in.
Boo.

37. Whom did you miss?
This might sound odd, but, I missed me. It's related to question 10, I guess.

And for the hell of it, lets end on a sneak-peek of something I'm working on:

He still needs HEAPS of work (I'm contemplating redoing his back for the third time; his shoulders are looking a bit weird; and, yet again, I've left arms/legs/hands/feet for last), but will eventually be jointed-up then hopefully I'll be able to get him 3D printed through Shapeways.

Volpe

2011-11-20T19:10:00.001+13:00

"So instead of calling me 'Dragon' in your tongue, you'll call me 'Dragon' in some other tongue?"

Yes, I know.

Calling a fox based doll by a word that means fox in another language is very lazy naming.

But I don't care, I like the way it sounds.

Volpe is in my Etsy store right now.

Giveaway winner....

2011-11-20T18:36:00.001+13:00

Was Doris!

Every day, she said....

2011-10-23T11:20:00.001+13:00

Here's the thing I was going to post last night.
But didn't.

It's one of those nauseating look-how-clever-my-kid-is posts.

We watched Tom Burton's Alice in Wonderland a couple of week ago, and immediately after, the Sprog got into my watercolour pencils and produced this.
She said she likes the Red Queen, because they both have "abnormally large heads".

She also painted the Hatter, but I don't have a scan of that yet.

Two out of Three ain't bad

2011-10-21T22:04:00.000+13:00

Sooo, I missed a couple of days (4 in total) and have been avoiding the blog...
A bit silly, right?

I'm going to look on the bright side - I got two solid weeks of daily blogging done before fizzing out.
I found that writng a rough outline of each post in advance, and setting reminders to complete/post was working really well initially, but I got slack about writing new drafts, so burned through my list too quickly. I've blocked out a bit of time for me tomorrow, which I'm going to use to draft-up a bunch of posts.

I intend to jump back in with both feet tomorrow, and finish up Blogtoberfest with at least 27/31 posts.
(I might even post a few extra times -and see if I can't get caught up...)

Uh oh...

2011-10-17T23:26:00.001+13:00

Eep - I missed a day!
I ended up spending most of yesterday organising drawings and craft stuff and culling broken/ugly old sculpts - I completely forgot about blogging.
I did, however, half-fill the wheelie bin with teeny scraps of paper (why I feel the need to keep every.scrap.ever. I don't know).

Spring cleaning is one of those jobs that really should be done more often than once a year I suppose.
I did unearth my box of paperscraps and when I got home from work did a bit of cutting and pasting. (I really should have been finishing the organising, but whatevs).

I now have glitter mod-podge under my nails.

Repaint Tutorial

2011-10-15T23:49:00.002+13:00

It's quarter to midnight, so I'm kinda phoning it in tonight, but thought I 'd share a nice wee repainting tutorial I found on Flickr:

Click on the picture to go to the tutorial.

Monster High Dolls

2011-10-14T23:57:00.000+13:00

The Sprog is seriously into these - and boy, do I want one.

In fact, my mother found a broken Frankie (and bought it for $5) for me. But the kid wasted no time in nicking the doll off me once I'd replaced the elastic.

Little Horror.

Artist Interview - Rhiannon Stone

2011-10-13T21:10:00.000+13:00

Rhiannon Stone is a mixed-media artist, photography enthusiast, blogger and all-round Awesome Person.

Her blog is Pierced Beauty where she writes about her journey to becoming an artist and the assorted things that make life beautiful.

I asked her some hard hitting questions!

If you woke up tomorrow as an animal, what would you be?
A leopard. They are just such amazing and elegant animals plus I love all kinds of cats. Big cats, wild cats, domestic cats. That and I love everything leopard print (which I'm sure Alana can confirm!)

Describe your Art:
This is a hard one. I don't feel like I have found my 'style' yet so its hard to describe but I think I would say my art as honest and full of emotion.

I create art that has feeling, and is relatable. I love using words (which is why art journaling is a perfect fit for me) and creating something beautiful. I love using colour, despite tending to wear black most of the time.

What are your favourite materials to Art* with?
I have two big passions; art journaling & painting as well as photography.

For art journaling and painting my favourite materials would be gesso, watercolours, acrylics, bubble wrap, sponges, indian ink, sakura gelly rollers and all sorts of collected images. Most are from free promotional magazines you can pick up at coffee shops, or sewing patterns from Opp shops (about $0.50 each!). I love collecting clothes tags, receipts, lace, pretty packaging and old books.

For my photography, I'm currently saving for a new camera (Canon 600D + 18-135mm lens) but in the meantime my partner is nice enough to let me use his camera (Canon 550D + 18-135mm lens). I love being able to play around with the photos in Photoshop afterwards to create new effects or looks.
There are a lot of wonderful bloggers/artists out there that share Photoshop actions they have created which is quite fun to try (check out Alex Beadon & Carrie from WishWishWish as a starting point)

Where do you get inspiration from?
I am a sucker for websites like Pinterest and I spend hours looking through my favourite set of blogs. I do make a point to focus on what is around me everyday (instead of what is on a screen in front of me) as well though. A small flower growing through a cracked footpath, a particularly colourful sunset, even just spending the day with friends. Look for every day things in your life that you love. It doesn't have to be something huge, it can be as small as the pattern on your coffee.

Do you sell your art/do commissions? (and if yes, where and what's the process?)
At this stage I don't do commissions (although it is something I would like to do eventually). I am however working on resurrecting my Etsy shop and hope to be open within the next 2 months. If you would like to be kept up to date with all the happenings head to my Facebook page or blog for the latest updates.

Where do you hang-out online?
I am all over the interwebs! Primarily over on my blog (www.rhiannonstone.blogspot.com) but you can find me at all these other places:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/piercedbeautydesigns
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/rhiannon_e_stone
Pinterest: pinterest.com/piercedbeauty
Tumblr: pierced-beauty.tumblr.com
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/piercedbeauty

Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring artsy people?
Keep learning and keep trying new things. I still consider myself to be relatively new to the art scene so I am continuously looking for new techniques and ideas. If I ever get stuck for motivation I find a tutorial for a new technique and give it a go. The absolute biggest thing to remember though is that absolutely no one starts out amazing. I have done a lot of art journal pages that I don't like but from that I learn things that I do like.

*Yes - I'm using "art" as a verb.

My vinyl girls

2011-10-12T19:29:00.000+13:00

Part of the reason that I make dolls is that I love, but can't afford to buy lots of, them.
I do however have a motley crew of Barbies, other fashion dolls, and assorted bits/bobs.

I love the interchangeable head system on the
new Fashionista Barbies

Going bald...

When the My Scene Barbies first were released, I got one of each. I love the cartooniness of their features, and the fact that their heads are a bit bigger. When the Sprog was about 3 these dolls got assimilated into her dolls, and they are now looking decidedly worse for wear.
Oh well. :)

wig

Lexi - a Moxie Teenz doll - I'd been pressing my nose against a window with these dolls for almost a year before I got one for my birthday. I love her. I think she looks better without the wig.

sans wig

Holly Hobbie!

She has a hilarious smile.

And my Jan Mclean Dolls - a cheapie Lollipop Girl and the gorgeous Amelia, who was. not. cheap.
Amelia was the spark that sent me away from cloth dolls, and back to polymerclay and resin.

The "Zuko" Bishie BJD

2011-10-11T20:05:00.001+13:00

I'm not really too far along with him - the Kitsune doll had arrested my attention.

One of his knees is a bit burnt!

His knees need more work, and I think I'm going to re-work his hip joints.

I've noticed that I have a tendency to leave the arms/legs for last (or just not do them at all). Most of my unfinished dolls are waiting for limbs.

Might be that the next doll I start will have to get its arms and legs done first.

Oh! More Dragons!

2011-10-10T22:41:00.002+13:00

GIVEAWAY TIME! MyMemories software package.

2011-10-09T21:13:00.000+13:00

It seems that have once a blog has more than ten followers (HI! Love you guys!), it is customary for strangers to approach you to shill their stuff on your site. :D

I usually turn stuff like this down, probably because most of the people who ask appear to have not read this blog and their product is way off topic (in so far as I have a "topic" to be "on"). Actually, the same day that the following company got in touch with me I had just sent a curt reply email to someone else telling them that I would not be reviewing their dodgey sounding downloading software.

OK, disclaimer time.

I have been provided with a copy of the MyMemories software for review purposes.

The opinions expressed here are mine (and the Sprog's - their website claimed the the software is simple enough for kids to use, and that's the kind of claim I need to put to the test).

I used to do a lot of paper scrapbooking, and I work with industry standard imaging software (cough~Photoshop~cough) on pretty much a daily basis. I teach people how to work with said imaging software at the Day-Job. I'm also a wee bit picky.

For the most part, this software is very easy to use. It comes preloaded with basic "kits" and the MyMemories site has dozens of free backgrounds, embellishments and whatnots. Honestly, it was a bit overwhelming. I, of course, spent a couple of hours trawling through and downloading stuff. The priced stuff is very reasonable, most of it being under $6 or so.

When you add kits to your cart, you are given the option of downloading an *.exe file, or a zipped folder (containing *.pngs that can be used in other software). I haven't checked the licenses of all the stuff I downloaded, but the ones I have checked have a provision allowing use on personal blogs - so if you are after some new design fodder for your blog banners I highly recommend having a nosey around.
To use the kits, you download and install the *.exe file (it installs into the right place), open the MyMemories program, and you're away.
The kits are filed into themes (some minor deduction work might be needed at this point - I downloaded one kit that I could have sworn was "Vintage" that got filed into "Love").

The embellishment files are very clean - there's no iffiness in the alpha masking - so you don't get weird artifacting when overlaying images (translation: there's no jagged white line around digital flowers etc. when you add them to the page), which makes it simple to get a clean, professional looking product.
I love the drop shadow option for elements - it is based on a Y, X pixel offset which can be tweaked with the arrows keys.

There are a couple of things that I think that the software would benefit from:

when resizing elements you grab a grey bounding box guide and pull it - but you don't see the result until after you've let go of the mouse. It would be nice if there was an interactive update - but as I said earlier, I'm used to working with hefty imaging software, so I'm a bit spoilt.
Some sort of Layer box/indication of what elements you have added - preferably something that you could select elements in, as sometimes elements on lower layers became difficult to grab.

But these are relatively small quibbles, and frankly this software is absolutely wonderful for it's price. And as you can see, the claim that kids can use it is absolutely true:

Is that what I sound like? Really?

They have given me a "Share the Memories" code that provides a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value!)

Enter STMMMS92447 in the "Enter Coupon/Promo Code" box at checkout.

I also have a copy of the software to giveaway!
Just pop over to www.mymemories.com and come back here and leave a comment telling me which Kit is your favourite, and I'll do a random drawing.

You have until Midnight, Oct 31st.
Tell your friends. :)

Another Sketch Dump!

2011-10-08T19:27:00.001+13:00

What's this? More dragons?

Clownfish mermaid.
Why I drew boobs, I don't know.
Fish ain't mammals.

A harpy.
You'll notice that I left the breasts off this one.
Birds don't got boobs either.

Wampire!

Annnnd, another dragon

Cutie Creepies

2011-10-07T18:59:00.001+13:00

It's Friday, and I'm tired and not using the word-type things so well, so here are some random doodles from my sketchbook...

My Fox Tattoo

2011-10-06T18:34:00.000+13:00

So, last week the Husband, the Sprog, and I went down to my hometown of Timaru for my Mum's birthday.
(It was an Important Birthday).

The Birthday Girl and her Grand-~~imps~~-kids

While down there, I took the opportunity to get a new tattoo.

ow!ow!ow!ow!ow!

As I mentioned a few posts back, my Dad is a tattooist - and he was more than happy to do it for me.

I was OK for the most part, but when he went over the Ulnar Styloid (the pokey-out bone on the outside of the wrist) I almost fainted/puked. It was weird - came on super fast, and lasted about 5 minutes (Dad went and had a smoke while waiting for me to come right). Other than that, it didn't really hurt.

The design

Just line work for now...

The head of Mulligan the Dragon

2011-10-05T18:33:00.000+13:00

Remember this guy?

He's finished!

And he's on Etsy.

After taking suggestion both here and on Facebook, his name is was Mulligan. ("Was" because, well have your head mounted on a wall is kinda not good for your life expectancy)

Here are some glamour shots:

And, for fun, here is the sketch that he's based off:

The evolution of dragons...

2011-10-04T22:16:00.000+13:00

I do like drawing dragons :D

I've been drawing them since I was a kid.

Oh - this is embarrassing. From 1994-ish.

Spiky Dragon, circa 1995.

'96 or so.

These are the earliest drawings of mine that I still have.

2001? or '02. 'Round then anyway.

Now, a bunch from last year:

One of my fabric designs at Spoonflower.com

An exemplar for a digital painting class I taught last year.

Currently, my dragons have been rather crocodilish looking.

Elves too. I like elves.

Kitsune Doll Progress

2011-10-03T19:43:00.000+13:00

So, I've had a think about how best to approach this blogging every day business, and in order to make it as easy as possible, I have made myself a "menu" of things to post about.
I'm using a plug-in called Todoist on my Chrome browser, and have made a list of subjects.

I'm digging the to do list. I never used to see the point in them, because "Of course I'll remember!" (aaaand then I forget what I'm supposed to be remembering, but I'd remember that there was something I was supposed to be doing...). My Husband teases me about my bad memory constantly.
I'll show him!

ahem, sorry.

So, topic number three is a quick update on the Fox spirit themed doll I posted about, before I got distracted by tattoos.

I was intending to give her large pointed ears, but she refused to wear them. I tried for a vulpine look to her features, so she has a long nose and a pointed chin.

I'm really happy with her body, the torso joint is probably the most successful one I've made!

I have her proto-arms and hands on my TV tray, and am going to chip away at them tonight.

Much ADO about stuff.

2011-10-02T22:40:00.000+13:00

Recently ADO - Art Dolls Only advertised for new members. (Go on - poke around their blog - it's awesome!)
Their membership is closed to new members for most of the year, and I managed to finagle a place during the latest (very short) open period.
I'm extremely excited to be part of this group of amazing artists. And I expect it to be very good for me.

You see - despite doing arty things for my hobbies and sanity projects, (and my Day-Job), for pretty much my entire life - I don't always feel like I have a right to call myself an artist. Sometimes I feel like a big fraud.

Now, I know that this is my Depression/Anxiety talking. I know that.

I'm a skilled draughtsperson, and I have a good eye for colour, composition and whatnot. I sculpt well, and I can sew, and knit, and I can paint and I've taught life-drawing classes and ALL KINDS OF STUFF. I'm good enough at some of these things that I am paid to show other people how to do them.

But still, there's a voice in my head that whispers "Fraud". Sometimes it yells.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. The Day-Job involves teaching aspiring artists, and the single biggest problem that the students I work with have to overcome isn't how to draw well. Drawing is easy.
It's believing that the work you are producing is worth showing people. That your worth as a person isn't tied up with how people receive the things you make. It's why students who have done almost all the required work miss deadlines. Or don't show their Tutor. Or don't submit stuff for group critiques.

It's why I have a drawer full of incomplete dolls, and why it takes me ages to work up the courage to list finished ones for sale. (My Etsy store sat empty for almost two years after I opened it.) It's why I go weeks without updating this blog (and avoiding it because I feel guilty about not updating only makes things worse).
Why, if I get a nice comment about my dolls I crash emotionally - I often end up in tears later in the day.

I know not to do this - that is restrictive and not good for me. I advise students about how to deal with and stop this behaviour all the time.
But still...

Now, the above isn't a whiny "lavish attention on and love meeeee", I'm just getting so sick of letting my stupid malfunctioning brain chemicals get the upper-hand on my behaviour. Joining ADO is something that I think will help force me to face these issues far more definitively.
It's all been a bit heavy - sorry.

So, um yeah.
~OH NO! what's that over there?!?~
^ That's what we in the business call a smoooooth deflection.

Here's a colourful dragon sketch I did on Monday:

I used every colour of watercolour-pencil I have!

And some paperdolls that I made in February. (See what I mean? My gods, FEBRUARY. Why have I not shown them?)

Steampunky! Sassy! Stroppy!

Gosh, I do go on.

I'll have to try to be a bit more concise and up-lifting tomorrow. :D

Blogtoberfest

2011-10-01T22:02:00.000+13:00

So, in an effort to help alleviate my guilty feelings at neglecting this wee blog - I have joined this year's Blogtoberfest, hosted by {tinniegirl}.

The challenge is simple - to post daily for the month of October. Thankfully, I actually have some stuff to talk about this month - so this may work out perfectly!

Also, here is a crappy, overexposed, out-of-focus photo of my new tattoo:

I'm totally counting this as an official Blogtober post :D

Foxes

2011-09-14T19:08:00.000+12:00

I've been struck by a foxy bug recently - and it seems I'm seeing them everywhere I go online at the moment.

O HAI DERE!

I decided that the fact I see a fox online almost everyday without searching for them meant that I should make a fox-themed doll, so I've done some concepts for, and have started sculpting, a doll who is going to be a Kitsune - a fox spirit.

Multiple tails on the coat? What was I thinking?!?

Playing around with Kitsune and Masquerade mask forms.

"If I stand like this, no-one will notice how crappily my feet are drawn."

Initial Sketch of doll with joints and junk.

But then, while researching for my doll, I came across this image of a tattoo by artist Zach Spurlock:

So freaking cool

Now, I've been contemplating getting a half-sleeve tattoo for a while now, but had been stuck on the content. I knew I wanted a traditional Irezumi style design (my father is a tattooist - and this is the style of his half-sleeves) and thought I'd get a horse (I was born in the year of the horse) or a dragon (because, Dragon).

And the idea of getting a nine-tailed fox has stuck. Every time I sit down with the intention to do some concept sketches for my tattoo, I end up drawing foxes.

urgh - those back legs!

Screw it - I'll just draw clouds or something ;D

The red pencil sketch is my favourite so far.

I'm going to nerd it up a bit - I'm an Animation Tutor as the Day Job, so the fox's tails will be enacting an animation technique called the Wave Principle. I might put an antique key in it's mouth or around it's neck (because Key poses, geddit?).

One reason why a fox tattoo is appropriate for an animator...

And The Fox and The Hound is one of the first movies I remember seeing as a kid, so yeah. I toyed around with the idea of just getting a tattoo of Todd, but no, I'd rather get the traditional style rather than a cartoony one.

Dragon photos

2011-07-21T21:26:00.001+12:00

Well, he's not terribly photogenic, but he is adorable...

And he needs a name - Leave suggestions in the comments!

And here's a grainy photo of the progress on the Bishie:

(Ignore those feet - they're really rough) The legs and hands are still 'raw' clay. I'm thinking that maybe his thighs are too muscular - but will wait until I've done his arms before deciding on them.
He'll be roughly 28cm tall - ever so slightly shorter than Barbie.