Website!

Tonight I'll be swapping out this blog with a website! I'll leave a link of my blog on the website for those interested.

I chose Weebly to do this because it's wonderfully laid out in the editing process and easy to place things within my pages. It also lays my website out for mobile access. So check them out if you're thinking of building your own. They have a free option but you can't use your own domain name. It still has lots to offer for free, though! I found this review very helpful in my decision making: Weebly Review by websitebuilderexpert.com

Well, I'm off to switch things! Ciao!

BEEN BUSY!

So, due to making banners and icons for Marauder Ex, an indie game developer contacted me to so some artwork for his game "Eternal Dragon"! It's a 16-bit culturally rich turn-based RPG with 18 playable characters. There's crafting of weapons and armor so you're not restricted to buying the best in the shops (this includes crafting of items as well), a plethora of sidequests, open environments and much more. Just check out Game-Zone Recreation's "Eternal Dragon" for yourself. Their website has a 10 + hour demo!

Eternal Dragon Website

Eternal Dragon Facebook

Speaking of websites, I've thought about making my own. Something a little bit more pleasing on the eye than this blog. This commission has definitely made me think about trying to amp up my tiny career here. I'll let you know!

Here's the first two of the four the developer commissioned me for:

                         A Marketplace in Diheru, "Eternal Dragon" Game-Zone Recreation LLC

                                Overlooking Multia, "Eternal Dragon" Game-Zone Recreation LLC

Both pieces were done digitally with Gimp 2.8 (Multia was a mix between Gimp for PC and Infinite Painter for android). I'm actually becoming really comfortable with digital art! All I have is a 6-7 year old Bamboo Fun CTE-450 graphics tablet with only 512 pressure, but it works great until I can get the money for something better. There's a bit of tweaking once you install wacom's drivers before painting in Gimp, though. I kept getting this terrible "brush lag" when I turned on the pressure sensitivity. I don't have money to fork over nearly 500 for the latest Corel, or the money to purchase a laptop that uses something other than XP or Ubuntu. SO! I googled away and found this extremely helpful forum on GIMPusers. I had to disable color management AND uncheck some things in the View menu of the taskbar before my pen would work as I expected it to. 

In the future I do plan to sink some money into better equipment and software but it'll be after quite a few commissions. 

Here's another piece I did today after fixing the pressure sensitivity in Gimp:

 "The Sentinels". Morbid and weird? Check and check. I have this up for sale as a poster and an 8x10 print. In my Etsy and Storenvy shops.

I'll be researching website builders tonight. Wooo! Fun. Well, goodnight and hopefully my golden Sentinels won't keep you awake! Try this song out if I haven't damaged your psyche enough:

Crafty Star Lady

I mentioned in the last post that I did a fair amount of sewing and I forgot to post a picture of one of them.

Super hero quilt! The boy loved it.

Another thing art wise that I've picked up doing is making digital art for banners and icons. One Let's Play youtuber, marauderex, commissioned me for these and has asked for more. Check out his channels here and here. He also writes articles for a gaming site call OperationRainfall.

The figure I drew just for the fun of it. It's a fantasy type portrait of him. I'm going to do more banners and icons for him soon.

As for other things, I've done something to my hair!

I like to keep my hair short simply because my skin hates it. Meh, eczema. And I think I look awesome with it! Purple tips are soon to happen.

That's all for now. Kiddo neeeeeeeeeds me, as he put it. Ciao, and check out my buddy marauderex if you're into gaming.

Avert Yon Gaze, Ye Makers of Merry Mocking

Don't look below what I have to say if you have a delicate psyche such as myself. I was doing a project you guys might remember called "In the Pain"? I never finished it. Maybe the thought behind it was not visceral enough for me for the project's namesake. And do you remember when I mentioned making art for Narcolepsy? Well, tonight I have. And I wept a little as I drew my helpless creation, part inspired by the original "In the Pain" intended visual, only put to use in a more frightful fashion, and partly inspired also by my own experiences.

People say things, most of the time not really understanding their impact. We all do it. And I'm not particularly mad about this thought that just pops out of some of my loved ones mouths. They don't see it. They don't know. They don't feel it crawling along, dragging you around by your constantly heavy eyelids. They don't see the darkness slithering in, pressing down, reminding you that you have no real control. And I can go on with this, and on, and on, but that in itself is awfully tiresome. But the thing I've heard constantly from friend, from family, from stranger is " I wish I could sleep like that!"

Do you, really?

She:

"Please, WAKE ME UP!" A silent scream between the realms of dream and awake. She cannot move, although she feels and hears the movement. To her horror, her nightmares solidify. To her partner on the other side of the bed, if he were to wake at this point all he would see are her eyes boring into the ceiling, or they may even be closed. He wouldn't know unless he caught the sight of a tear trickling through her hair, or the small whimper she might be able to manage.

Sometimes when it's particularly awful, she breaks free of the paralysis but is weak and still sees the nightmare, causing her to scream and spasm, until she's rigid again, only this time it's the Cataplexy. Stone once again, she gives up only to dare sleep again in hopes she won't wake the same way. If she's fortunate, her lover is there, to hold her, to soothe her until the monsters fade, then if she feels up to it, he moves her limbs to try to hasten movement and warmth back into her body so she can go about her day. 

It's a wonder she hasn't completely lost her mind yet.

There are even nights that she doesn't sleep. Nightmares and strange epic dreams consume all of her sleep time anyway, no 90 minutes of dreamless rest for this one before she's off again being a male space pirate battling robots in an underground tunnel rigged to explode, but damn it! The sacrifice has to be made!!! As fun as THAT sounds, mostly it leads to anxiety.

Not quite touching base on all of it, but as shown in the above drawing, this is real. There are no sweet dreams for me. There's no real rest, no matter how much I exhaust myself. I'm always scared to sleep and have been since I was young. 

Once again, I'm not mad. I'm just demonstrating that I do not really sleep that well. So don't wish it on yourselves, my dear people, to be Narcoleptic. 

As grim as I may sound, and as sardonic my smile can be, I'm still pretty happy.

Cernunnos! Or Billy.

Now available in my shops: "Billy"! I lufs him!

Coming off the holiday haze (and 3 major sewing projects), I was itching to use my pastel pencil again. This one was fast, I could just see this dude so clearly. So wild and smirky! Even slightly androgynous! I just want to WRITE about him endlessly now! Of course, now that I look him all over, I see bits of David Bowie when he was in the "Labyrinth", Alucard from the anime/manga "Hellsing", the ram horns typical of a Pan type god, a deer, and a goat. And he's wreathed in pine needles for the season! That's as close to holiday art as you're going to get from me. I thought about sprinkling pastel dust and slightly smearing it for snow, but I didn't want to chance messing any bit of him up.

I made a new copyright/logo as you can see on his left horn. Strangely proud of that.

I was listening to this song whilst drawing, over and over:



And this one:



"Never knew daylight could be so violent..." I imagine Billy, untamed, unpredictable, his smirk turning into a vicious smile full of bloodlust for the hunt. AH! Does he have an animal's incisors? (Chills)

Welp, I have more stuffins artwise to do, so I'll post again soon.

Happy Holidays!

Sorry I've been so long in posting. As I mentioned in the last post, the holidays keep me busy! I've been sewing curtains and a blanket, next are some capes for a couple of Zeke's friends, and some stuffed monsters for the others. Whew.
Pictures of the curtains:

You can't tell he's into superheroes, can you? Maybe a little? Ha.

Well soon I will be drawing again once I work the kinks out of my shoulders. Ciao, and thanks for stopping by! Oh and Happy Holidays!

Whoa, Nelly!

It's a myth that Narcoleptics sleep ALL the time. We simply don't get the restorative 90 minutes of solid sleep time in between dreams like other do. Sometimes dreams happen while awake! Last night I was unable to sleep a wink. Not because I wasn't tired. Ooooh, boy, was I tired. Just couldn't get my mind to stop racing, or my eyes to close. I took my meds in hopes that this major sleep deprivation doesn't impair me too harshly today. However, I keep getting these fun little waves of silliness in between zombie states. BEHOLD!

I may get wild later after I down a pot of coffee and draw this cool idea my husband came up with the other night. Now as long as I don't get the wiggins (hallucinations and cataplexy) I should be cool. Here's to hoping! (raises coffee mug)