Training in Restraint or Uncomfortable

As an artist you sometimes have to get out of your comfort zone. And sometimes you have to drag your creative mind kicking and screaming out of its comfort zone. For me and my reluctant mind it was inking. I ink with pen all the time. I even ink with japanese nibs. But doing anything with the dreaded brush scares the crap out of me.

My hand is very unsteady. I never remember where to vary my lines. I have to restrain my urge to press down with the tip. Where is the light coming from? Did I put my shadows on both sides of the figure? *panic attack* Where's my paper bag?

But then I was inspired by the art of alice-bobbaji on DeviantART and her incredible ink and watercolor work.

Incredible artist that I would fly to France to learn from.

You will accomplish anything if you don't at least give it a try. So I whipped out my trusty brush pen and did. (A brush pen, I feel, is a perfectly acceptable compromise between a paintbrush and an ink pen.)

 I will be trying more.

Capcom Fights!

I am notoriously late to the party. Many parties. I am many times physically late (but I'm getting better!) but most of the time I'm late learning about really neat events. Why did no one tell me about Udon's Capcom Fighting tribute?! And that they're open for submissions?! Now I'll have to spend the first part of January coming up with a fabulous piece to blow the judges socks off. :P Not a bad way to start off the year, IMO.

And you always have to warm up before a fight, so here goes.

Ehh....

Not everyone's on their A game all the time.

I think I should be diagnosed with artistic ADD. I'm supposed to be working on another comic, but my mind flips to this.

A runaway princess who doesn't want to become queen. I sketched her mother but hated the face. Now.... back to real work.

Inspiration

A lot of aspiring artists say they can't produce anything until inspiration strikes. I call bull. Inspiration is as illusive as the last tear off of a unicorn's eyelash. It's a fly by night lover who may or may not visit your bed today even though you'll wait until the wee hours of the morning for them to come home. In short, it can't be trusted.

But my art is crap when I'm uninspired, you cry out. Well, so what? In this creative life you're going to produce far more crap than gold. Get used to it. And most importantly, get to creating. If you start now, inspiration or not, you'll be even closer to making true gold.

New year. New me. New blog.

I know many people start out every year saying, "New year; new me," and forget the dramatic changes they wanted to achieve the next month. I've never been one for making new year's resolutions, however, this year is going to be a different one. I can feel the change coming and I am going to embrace it with open arms.

For those who don't know me, I'm Sarah Macklin. I'm a writer, artist, and crafter from good ol' South Carolina. This particular blog is my dedication to all of my artistic pursuits. With my writing beginning to bare fruit I've been neglecting this side of my being. In 2014 this is going to change. None of my talents will be ignored this year.

And with that in mind, have some art!

Avatar state! Yip Yip!