Chibi Sean - Black Bear

A lot of, "Wow, finally!" with this drawing!  For one, this was the first piece I completed this year, in the very first week of January, and yet I'm only posting it now, in the last week of February XD  For two, and much more impressive, this is the second in a series of chibis that I started way the heck back in 2008!  It's been practically a decade between my first entry and my second entry (⊙_⊙)  Hopefully, I'll be able to complete more before another ten years goes by!

I sketched the rough lines on paper, drawing the bear, staff, and Sean separately.
I then combined the sketches in Photoshop.

I'm actually quite sure I will have more to add to this series before the end of 2018.  I've decided to follow up the "birthday person's favorite animal ACEO" theme that I did in December 2017 with a new theme for the entire year: fantasy chibi birthday person!  The most basic idea for this series of chibis was thought up by my friend Trent ("draw your friends as chibis") and I decided back then to draw everyone as a sort of fantasy RPG-type character riding on the chibi animal that I felt fit them.  So the first chibi I did, way back in 2008, featured Trent riding a black horse.  I truly intended to make more, even thought of a couple more friends' outfits and animal mounts, but at the time, the first chibi had been one of the hardest projects I'd ever done (and I think that's why the drawing still holds up quite well today).  I think I burned myself out and that's why it took me so long to come back to this project.

Final lines completed in Photoshop. It was my first use of Lazy Nezumi Pro.
I left the areas under the visors intentionally light or blank.

So here we have my husband, Sean, whose birthday is the first one of the year on my list.  He really likes tabletop gaming and one of his favorites is Shadowrun, a sort of cyberpunk magical world based in Seattle, WA (or at least, that's how his explanations make it seem to me).  Using that as the basis for what kind of fantasy character he should be, I designed all the armor and the background to match.  I decided on a black bear as his mount because Sean is like a big, cuddly bear in real life.  I considered other bears--brown bear, polar bear--but the black bear's general reputation (or really, its lack thereof--grizzlies are known as ferocious, polar bears make people think of the environment) fit Sean the best.

Photoshop and Lazy Nezumi Pro, 6x8", Completed January 2018
Available for purchase as a print or art merchandise here!

I really surprised myself with how quickly I was able to complete this piece.  I didn't time myself when I created the first chibi in the series but I'm sure I didn't get it done as quickly as this one.  I finished with enough time to print, dry, trim, and frame it before Sean's birthday!  It's probably for the best that it took me so long to try making more fantasy chibis; there's no way I'll burn out now with my current level of skill and experience (^^)  Here's hoping the rest of the chibis I intend to draw for birthday people this year are just as quick and easy so that busy birthday months aren't tough to manage!

Birthdays December 2017 - Have a Goat

Ink and marker on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

The last piece of art I finished in 2017 was also the third and final birthday present ACEO I created in December, this time for Aryssa Hutchins!  I followed the same theme as with the previous two and drew what I thought to be the recipient's favorite animal.  Even though this drawing was for my first little sister, I had a really hard time deciding what her favorite animal must be 😲 I finally settled on a goat and was happy and relieved when she confirmed that I made the right choice XD
 

Although I only created three birthday present arts in December 2017, when you combine it with all the Christmas presents that I also made that month, this piece was the 17th ACEO I completed!  Then adding on the Tomodachi Fest commission and Christmas card illustration, I finished 19 pieces altogether.  I don't know if I've ever created so many pieces in such a short time--they were all done within a three-week span.  If I keep making lots of art presents around the end of the year, I imagine this won't be the last time XD  Hopefully I can plan ahead and make it a bit less hectic in future!

2017 Christmas Presents - Reece Cat

Ink and marker on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

And here we finally have it, the last cat in the "You as a Cat!" series of ACEOs I made last December as Christmas presents for my closest friends and family.  This one features yet another good friend from high school (and grade school), Reece!  Honestly, now that I've posted and talked about all the pieces I drew in this series...this cat might be my favorite of the lot.  The wide eyes and gaping mouth make such a fun, excited, even surprised expression (it's the most animated face of all the cats I drew) and I'm extremely pleased with how all the colors work together, they remind me of a rainy spring day in Seattle.  Nostalgic.
  

I think there's a very good chance that the reason I love this final drawing so much is that it is the culmination of all the planning, experimentation, and practice that went into making the previous 13 cats.  I chose this extreme pose based on Reece's personality, but would I have been able to pull it off as well if this had not been the last ACEO I completed?  Maybe not, but since I KNEW it was the last piece on my list, that could have given me a boost, too!  After all, this was the fifth drawing I did on the last day I worked on this project.  The drawing had the potential to suffer due to my exhaustion, but instead it came out one of the best entries in the series!

It took me all the way to February to share all these Christmas presents.  I definitely intend to do more art presents this year (in fact, I have already done a birthday present in January!) so I hope you'll look forward to them throughout 2018 (^^)

2017 Christmas Presents - Jeremy Cat

Ink and marker on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

We're down to the second-to-last "You as a Cat!" ACEO Christmas present that I created in December 2017.  This one is based on another close high school buddy, Jeremy.  I had a pretty hard time finding a relatively recent, well-lit, and complete reference image of Jeremy, but I finally settled for a somewhat older photo that showed his hair blowing epically in the wind.  I tried to replicate that effect with the cat's fur :3

Available printed on cool art merch here!
 

Making art as Christmas presents is always a tougher challenge than I expect it to be (no matter how many years I do it!). Sometimes throughout the year, I feel lonely and friendless, but when I put together my recipient list, I realize I actually have quite a few good, close, cherished friends and family!  Five, ten, or fifteen close relations doesn't seem so big a number until you sit down to make five, ten, or fifteen individual art pieces before Christmas hits!  This year, I may start my present-making at the beginning of November to give myself a good head-start and plenty of breathing room...

2017 Christmas Presents - Katrina Cat

Ink, marker, and colored pencil on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

This is definitely the most different and difficult breed of cat that I attempted to depict in this series of ACEOs. The fur is so short that I had to draw every curve and wrinkle that is normally hidden by longer, thicker fur on other cats. I chose a curly-coated, red Devon Rex to represent my friend Katrina because the breed's appearance is a good translation of her human one: thin build with curly, strawberry blonde hair. I really love the coiled whiskers on this cat! So cute I wish I could pet them for real!

Available for purchase in my deviantART shop!

If you're keeping up with my posts in real time, you'll know this is the twelfth cat I drew altogether, and the third on my busiest and last day of working on the project. I think I was getting tired by this point and I remember taking a break after this cat, before starting again to complete the final ones on my list. When you look at them, ACEOs don't seem like they should take very long to make because they're so small, but it's still a good 2-4 hours of constant work per item to get a result like this!

2017 Christmas Presents - Krystal Cat

Ink and marker on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

This is one of my top favorite ACEO cats I did for this series.  It was the eleventh "You as a Cat!" present I drew and the second I drew on my busiest (and final) day of the project.  It's based on one of my best friends, Krystal.  She has lovely long black hair and Asian features so an Oriental Longhair was the perfect match.  The reference image I found was so epic and gorgeous, I can only hope its beauty came through in my version of the cat X3

Available for purchase on mugs, cards, and other merchandise!

It's interesting to me how I found on certain cats in this series that I wanted to use colored pencils to give that final detailed touch but on other cats, I didn't find it necessary and relied only on the marker and white ink to do the job.  It didn't coincide with any fur color or length or anything.  The overall effect just sometimes needed that bit of extra and it was impossible to tell until I got to the very end of each piece.

2017 Christmas Presents - Scotsman Cat

Ink, marker, and colored pencil on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

The tenth "You as a Cat!" Christmas present I completed was for my good friend and bearer of many nicknames (kinda like Gandalf) whom I call Scotsman.  I gotta say this is one of my top favorite entries in this art series.  It just came out so nice, the happy expression and lively eyes, the long fluffy fur, they look great on their own but also really remind me of my friend!  It's always fun when Scotsman is around (^^)

Available printed on cool stuff like mugs and mousepads!

Aside from being the tenth ACEO I completed for this series, this is also the first of five that I completed all in the same day.  It was finally crunch time--December 22nd--and I had to either get them all done or skip some of the people on my list.  I'm happy to report that I didn't skip anyone and I managed to complete every ACEO that I initially planned on before Christmas!  It's a good thing I had so much practice making all the others that came before XD

2017 Christmas Presents - Nat Cat

Ink, marker, and colored pencil on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

The next Christmas ACEO I have to share is the second friend-cat of the lot.  It features my handsome high school friend, Nat!  I literally searched "handsome cat" to find a good reference photo for this X3  I didn't mention that to anyone so I was especially pleased when Nat's comment about it was "IM THE MOST HANDSOME CAT!!!"  It couldn't have been more perfect!

Available printed on greeting cards, mugs, and more!
 

This is the third cat I drew for this series which had brown eyes and black fur.  I'm pleased that all three cats have their own unique vibe and don't come across as too similar (at least I hope that's so!).  By this point, after making nine ACEOs with the same theme, the process and details started to get both fluid (good because it took less time to make each one) and fuzzy (bad because I kept worrying I would forget something important).  My confidence was both high and low at the same time!  (And I still had several more to go...)

Birthdays December 2017 - Have a Bat

Ink, marker, and colored pencil on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

In the midst of all the Christmas cats and the Christmas card that I was drawing, I also had two more birthdays to create presents for. This drawing is for the second birthday of the month, one of my best friends in Boise, Krystal. Following the theme I started earlier in the month, I drew what I believe to be her favorite animal (or one of her favorites), a bat! Personally, I really love the huge, cuddly flying foxes, so that's what I used for a reference. The image I chose looked really happy, so it was great for a birthday present.

Available for purchase on cool art merch like greeting cards and magnets!

The reason I decided a bat was very likely to be one of Krystal's favorite animals (I'm still not sure if I was right!) is because one of her most common screennames is "batnkat". She also occasionally posts about bats so, hopefully, even if they're not actually her favorite, she still likes them enough that she appreciated receiving a bat ACEO for her birthday XD

2017 Christmas Presents - Sarah Cat

Ink and marker on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

For anyone who hasn't been following along, in 2017 I made a series of ACEOs as presents for Christmas. Each one features the giftee drawn as a cat. I started by drawing my family, seven cats total, and then I moved onto friends. So here we have the first friend cat I drew, which is based on one of my best friends whom I have known for over fifteen years, Sarah! When I was looking up reference images of her, she seemed to have long hair just as often as short, so I decided to pick a cat that reflected that. The cat reference I found depicted a longhair Manx--short tail, long fur. This is the second cat I drew with brown eyes, but since they have so much light shining into them, it doesn't look as unnatural as some of the other brown-eyed cats in this series...

Available printed on cool art merch here!

After finishing a few cats in this series, I started to get more and more concerned about their reception as gifts. I kept doubting whether people would appreciate them, or wondering if the recipients would be confused or, worse, disappointed. I knew it was that silly inner critic talking and I kept overcoming the negative thoughts and pushing forward every day, making more and more cats so that everyone on my gift list would get one by Christmas. This is one of the biggest projects I've ever done, in terms of number of individual pieces. I think that novelty pushed me out of my comfort zone which then triggered the doubt. I worked hard on this series and I'm happy with the results. I hope the people who each received one of these cats are happy, too :3

2017 Christmas Presents - Little Brother Cat

Ink, marker, and colored pencil on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

With this "You as a Cat!" Christmas present, I finished all my drawings of family. This one depicts my younger brother, who is actually between my two sisters in age, but I drew this and Aryssa's present during the same art session, so my drawing them out of order isn't completely nonsensical XD I picked the reference photo for this cat based on its pose. It matched really well with the photo of my brother that I used as reference. With this cat begins the unnatural eyes; since I wanted to make the eyes match the human, I ended up drawing several cats with dark brown, almost black eyes. It kind of bugs me 'cause a dark-eyed cat just doesn't look right XD

Available for purchase on cool art merch here!

This piece ended up one of the darkest, color-wise, of the lot. Since I was pulling the background colors from those which I had used on the cat, I didn't have very bright options here. I don't think it's a problem that this is dark or anything, though. Just gives it a much different atmosphere than most of the other drawings in this series.

2017 Christmas Presents - Little Sister Cat

Ink, marker, and colored pencil on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

The next You-as-a-Cat! present I made was for my younger sister, Aryssa. By this point, I was really starting to get the formula for creating these cats down.  I think this is one of the brightest, most vibrant pieces in this series (probably because my sister has light colored hair and blue eyes).  It just feels...refreshing X3

Available on cool art merchandise here~

As you can see, this was another piece where I just completely forgot to add the whiskers.  I did all the other highlighting details, but for some reason it just slipped my mind to add in one of the most iconic cat features XD  I'm glad I realized it later and fixed it before these got opened on Christmas!

2017 Christmas Presents - Baby Sister Cat

Ink, marker, and colored pencil on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

For the fifth entry in this series of Christmas presents, I drew my youngest sister as a cat! For reference, I used a photo I had taken of her at Thanksgiving wherein she made almost this exact same face XD She made the face again when I took a photo of her holding up this ACEO and it proved to be an excellent match. Of all the cats I drew for this series, I think the eyes on this one are my favorite. The color and the shine just came out so nice, they look almost real.

Available printed on cool art merch here! 

By drawing all of my closest family and friends in succession, immediately one after another, I came to realize that I have a LOT of relations with hazel eyes!  I counted all the cat eye colors in this entire set and found I have five with hazel eyes, five with brown, and four with blue.  Pretty evenly matched!  Of course, that also means I don't know anyone with true green eyes...

2017 Christmas Presents - Hubby Cat

Ink, marker, and colored pencil on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

The fourth "You as a Cat!" Christmas present I completed last December was for my husband, Sean!  I looked really hard for reference photos of a cat that wasn't just fluffy but was fluffy in such a way that it appeared to have a beard.   This is because, earlier in 2017, Sean grew out his beard really huge and even wanted it bigger, but he had to keep it in check to stay professional for work XD  I gave this ACEO cat the red color that makes up a lot of my husband's beard color.

Available on cool art merch like mugs and mousepads!

Starting with this ACEO, I began losing focus and forgetting to complete small details.  I took the photo of this and a few other cat drawings and wrapped them for gifting before realizing that I forgot to add the cats' main whiskers!  Luckily, the way I wrapped them was  simple so it wasn't too much trouble to get them back out and fix them.  I'm dang glad I had decided to take a photo of each ACEO as it was completed or I wouldn't have known which cats needed whiskers and I would have had to open ALL of them to figure it out!

2017 Christmas Presents - Papa Cat

Ink and marker on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

With the third entry into my Christmas present series, I completed all of my gifts to parents!  This one was for my husband's father, whom I refer to as Papa-chan in writing (to match Mama-chan!).  I had to call in reinforcements when it came to determining eye color because his glasses in photos made it really difficult to determine!  Got a special glasses-less close-up photo and written description in the end, so hopefully I got it right XD This cat is another one of my favorites of the bunch.  The light grey tabby pattern just matches perfectly with Papa-chan's grizzled hair.

This drawing can be purchased on cool printed stuff here!

Of the cats in this series so far, this was the first one on which I didn't see a need to incorporate colored pencils.  Since the cat is just shades of grey anyway, I was able to get the color and texture I wanted just by layering ink, marker, and more ink.

2017 Christmas Presents - Daddy Cat

Ink, marker, and colored pencil on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

The second Christmas present I completed last month was for my dad. He's always grumpy about something or other so I found a cat that looked the same XD I chose a cat with folded ears to represent my dad's bald head and the fur color is a reflection of his hair color, as well. I can't remember for sure, but I may have exaggerated the grump in the cat's face, lol. My dad took the perfect photo of him holding his ACEO in front of his face while pulling the biggest frown and it made my drawing look just like him!

This piece is available for purchase on cool merchandise here!
 

I'm really satisfied with this particular drawing, it's one of the best of the lot I think. The colors I used look great together, unified, and the anatomy turned out near perfect.  This drawing made me realize I didn't need to use such a wide variety of colors for the background, instead I started choosing from the colors that I had already used for the cat.

2017 Christmas Presents - Mama Cat

Ink, marker, and colored pencil on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

This was another year wherein I decided to create art as gifts for Christmas. As with some previous years, I chose an overarching theme that every present would share: for 2017 it was "You as a Cat!" I had a relatively large gift list so I also went with little ACEOs for the format to ensure I could actually get everything done on time (^^; I'm proud to say I did! The first present I made was for my husband's mom, whom I dubbed "Mama-chan" long before Sean and I were married. I actually used a photo I took at Thanksgiving just weeks earlier for the human reference image. I chose a cat reference photo that seemed to have the same sort of expression. I made it a light-colored red cat to imitate Mama-chan's hair color. The idea with all of these cats was to make a more realistic cat version of each person, rather than a cartoony image where the cat has a human haircut and wears glasses and such. So, while this cat has a tabby pattern, hopefully it's obvious that Mama-chan does not XD

Available for purchase on cool stuff like mousepads and coasters!

Since I was in a rush to complete my full list of ACEO gifts, I didn't take any progress photos, but I did take one photo after each piece was finished which shows the art along with every marker and colored pencil that went into its creation :3 Shows really well how much detail and effort goes into even a tiny trading card-sized artwork at Studio Mikarts!

Birthdays December 2017 - Have a Shark

Ink and marker on smooth Bristol, 2.5x3.5", Completed December 2017

For birthdays in December last year, I decided to draw ACEOs featuring the giftees' favorite (or what I thought to be their favorite) animals. The first was for my good friend Sarah and, obviously, I drew a shark! I don't know if she has a specific favorite species, so I just searched the web for shark reference images and finally found one that adorably looked like it was smiling X3

Available to purchase on cool stuff like mousepads and mugs!

I didn't think to take any progress photos because I was in a rush to get this done, d'oh...

New Art - Companions

My first new art piece of 2015!  This painting was actually several years in the making, initially requested in 2010 or '11 (I honestly can't remember now), practice sketches done within the next year or two, pencil lines completed in 2013 or '14, and now the final steps of painting and inking are complete.  This blog entry will focus on those last steps which were undertaken in 2015.

Companions by AnimeGirlMika on DeviantArt

The backstory to this painting is pretty simple: for his birthday, my beau asked me to paint him and myself as Doctor Who companions.  At that time, I was already getting into 10th Doctor (David Tennant) Doctor Who on my own because my local PBS station was playing episodes every week. My beau furthered my interest by introducing me to the 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston).  I've since watched every Eccleston episode and more than half of the Tennant episodes, but my beau remains the more fervent Doctor Who fan of the two of us (he's seen almost everything, I think, even the original episodes!).  Because of that, I felt pressure from myself to make this painting as good as possible.  Coupled with other time-consuming responsibilities, that pressure caused a lot of delay.  Whenever someone asks me for gift art, I have a harder time creating because I don't want to 'mess it up' (even when I'm reassured that they'll love whatever I come up with).  Sometimes this means I never finish the piece at all.  Lucky for this request, for the past few months I've been feeling really confident when I create--truly embracing any 'mistakes'--even when the result is meant to be a gift.  This is the biggest reason I was finally able to complete this piece.
 

I've been really enjoying making "splotchy" watercolor, recently.

I feel like I have a photo somewhere of the graphite linework for this piece but it's too much trouble to dig through 2+ years of photos to find it now, ha ha.  I still have the original drawing, which I traced onto the paper pictured above, but I neglected to photograph it before starting in with paint.  All this means is that none of the work prior to what I did in 2015 will be pictured here.  In the photo above, I'd completed the first application of watercolor paint (starting with watercolor marker as a base in dark areas).  I focused simply on getting the main colors down on the figures, including only basic, rough shading.
 

Google image search + Photoshop and my printer = TARDIS!

This next step, though simple, was actually a breakthrough for me.  One of the biggest challenges I faced while composing this piece was how to make it look like Doctor Who.  My first idea was to draw us inside the TARDIS and/or with the Doctor himself.  I quickly gave up on the Doctor (how to choose which iteration?! I hate choosing favorites, though I do have them...) and when trying to draw the inside of the TARDIS, I kept getting frustrated because the place is so complex.  I found it difficult to find an angle that matched our poses and looked recognizable without crowding the composition.  Not to mention that the inside of the TARDIS changes almost as often as the Doctor himself.  It wasn't until this year that I had the amazingly simple idea of tracing a police box in the background.  Such a relief to finally solve that puzzle!  Not to mention feeling a bit foolish for not thinking of it earlier.
 

I'm in love with using sponges in my watercolor works.

The next steps I took involved more watercolor.  I used watercolor markers to paint the TARDIS.  By drawing with the markers first, then spreading the pigment around with brush and water, I was able to give the box some texture.  While going over the blue watercolor marker, I also pulled some of the color onto the figures of my beau and me in order to tie the fore- and backgrounds together.  I even painted the white parts of the TARDIS a little bit, just to make sure everything looked worked. 

The background was simple but took a long time to complete due to drying times (above, you may notice the page was still very wet when the photo was taken).  I started by wetting the entire background and dropping paint onto it.  I then swirled the page gently, to spread the color organically, and let it dry completely.  I repeated this process a couple more times, sometimes guiding the paint into small areas with a brush, and finished by daubing even more paint all over the background with a sponge.  All of this was to create something reminiscent of the purple-blue-black spacey backgrounds so often a part of Doctor Who imagery.
 

Stencils are awesome!

At this point, I began to add things that never would have happened if this piece hadn't been put off for so long.  The first is the use of stencils to create texture.  I simply took one of my organic-patterned stencils and painted over it, just to add visual interest to the background.  This is something I only started doing in 2014 and wasn't part of my technique back when this piece was first requested. 

Next, something that wouldn't have happened if I had completed this painting even a month earlier: the addition of Gallifreyan-like text.  To do it, I entered a Google image search to see what Gallifreyan is supposed to look like (rather than just making it up and hoping it was recognizable) and used an image result I liked as inspiration.  I just used one of my watercolor markers and a couple circle templates (the one pictured above is actually meant for quilting but it works awesomely for my purposes).  As I worked creating my own Gallifreyan message, I actually began feeling like, if I really studied, I could someday understand the language, ha ha.  By drawing it myself, rather than simply looking at those crazy-complicated scripts, certain patterns and rules began to appear.  That being said, I didn't try to write anything in particular here, ha ha.  If anything, I hope it reads "happy birthday" and not something rude, ha ha ha.

The reason I thought to add the text in the first place is my beau mentioned a couple weeks ago that a pageful of circles I had drawn for an art exercise looked "like Gallifreyan".  A few days later, I realized it could be a great way to add more Doctor Who to the entire piece.
 

Gel ink on the TARDIS, black ink to bring out the lineart.

Finishing with white ink to add dimension.

The next step I took creating this piece is usually my last: inking.  I went over the TARDIS lines with glittery gel pen and inked its black parts with a dip pen.  I continued with the black ink on the foreground, going over almost all of the graphite lineart (I left some of it uninked; certain areas look better with only the subtle graphite lines) and adding hatching to enhance shadows or wrinkles.  I did the same thing with white ink after that, adding highlights to areas that were meant to shine (hair, eyes, shoes).

This was another step that took a long while due to drying times.  I would ink a small area, then wait for it to fully dry before continuing onto the next area.  The process was tedious but it helped prevent any smudges (though it didn't help drips!  Luckily, the single, substantial drip I faced was dealt with so well--if I do say so myself--that it's impossible to tell where it happened or how bad it was).
 

Metallic paint, mm-hmm, who doesn't love metallic paint~?

As I said above, inking is usually my last step in a piece like this, but I was inspired by the paint I had received in the most recent Pigment+Palette box: metallic silver acrylic.  I wasn't able to use it in the way I originally intended (spattering over the page with a brush; it just didn't wanna! It foamed in the brush instead of flicking down onto the page, even when watered down or used on a toothbrush) so I went back to my sponge and stencils instead.  My vision of the completed piece was forced to change with the circumstances but I was still satisfied with the result.
 

This birthday request has finally been fulfilled!

After the acrylic dried (goodness, I really love the way metallic media changes with the light; it's something digital art just can't replicate) it was finally time for the finishing touches.  I used several different ink pens to clean up little details throughout the piece.  More than anything, I went over the silver paint in certain areas to make it look like the lineart was showing through.  I had actually banked on the acrylic being translucent, so the final detailing ended up as an unexpectedly large task, though it was, of course, worth the effort.
 

Happy birthday!  Time for adventure!

I don't know if I'll ever get better at completing request art in a timely manner--that voice in my head which pressures me to make it perfect is the same voice which helps me improve my skills in general--but for now it feels great to have finished this one.  I'm proud and pleased to report that my beau already has the piece framed and mounted on a wall at home~

New Art - Tea Ducks

For Christmas this year, two of my friends and I agreed to do an arts/crafts gift exchange.  For my part, I decided to create a triptych painting that highlights the biggest thing that brought us together throughout 2014: The Rubber Ducky Tea Society.  Every few months this year, we three met up for tea and always brought and used our tea ducks (a cute loose leaf tea infuser shaped like a rubber ducky which floats in your cup as your tea steeps).  These tea parties were fun and laid-back and brought the three of us together like nothing else ever did before.  This blog will show you how I went about commemorating those feelings and memories in paint.

Tea Ducks (Full) by AnimeGirlMika on DeviantArt 

I decided to make my triptych on watercolor postcards.  I even considered mailing the painted postcards directly instead of wrapping them like a normal gift but the risk of damage in transit is virtually 100% through the USPS (especially during the holidays; one Christmas card I received this year looked like the envelope had been filleted.  I was surprised it even made it to me, since my address was almost illegible) so I quickly decided against that idea.
 

Step one: watercolor postcards, mechanical pencil, and erasers.

Step two: watercolor paint.  The cards are taped together on the back.

The holidays this year were insanely busy for me, so I didn't have time to do any sketching before starting this project.  My composition was purely instinctual.  I started with one duck and added another and another until the pages were filled.  As I worked, I made sure that some ducks overlapped into the next postcard, so it would be clear that all three pieces were meant to fit together.  Once the pages started to fill out, I also decided to ensure there were two ducks per card.  The tiny duck in the middle right of the full piece is the last one I drew.
 

Recently my watercolors have felt more satisfying when I paint more roughly (as opposed to precisely and smoothly) and then add ink for definition.  So my strokes on these cards are big and blotchy and very organic (especially in areas like the background where I used wet-on-wet techniques).  The paintings don't look anything like complete even when the painting part is technically done.  What brings it all together is the ink.
 

Watercolor totally done.  Now for inking!

After using several pens and a watercolor marker, the triptych is complete!

I have to thank ArtSnacks again for the awesome tools I used to finish up this project.  I used the Twin Tip pen set that came in my 2014 Studio Collection (the scroll tip is just the coolest!) to outline the ducks, the metallic brush pen they sent in the November 2014 box to emphasize the bubbles, and the watercolor marker that arrived in the September 2014 box to add interest to the background.  The only non-ArtSnacks pen I used on this piece is my trusty, go-to Sakura Gelly Roll gel pen in white.  After finishing these paintings, all that remained was to decide which card would go to whom.
 

Tea Ducks (Denise) by AnimeGirlMika on DeviantArt 

When these cards are all together, they seem equally great.  But when viewed individually, they don't necessarily look as good as one another.  I asked my beau to look at them and tell me which two looked the best alone.  His opinion matched mine: the top card was the weakest (mostly due to composition) so I kept that one for myself.  Of the three, I actually like the background on this one best.
 

Tea Ducks (Krystal) by AnimeGirlMika on DeviantArt

The middle card I had already hoped would turn out strong because I wanted to give it to the friend I've known the longest, Krystal.  She was the one who really brought our trio together; if not for her, I don't think we would all have become mutual friends.  The middle card is a symbol of her position as the connecting bridge between us.  Out of all the cards, I think this one is the cutest (it has both the largest and the smallest ducks!).
 

Tea Ducks (Katrina) by AnimeGirlMika on DeviantArt

The bottom card is actually my overall favorite of the bunch.  The background looks pretty good because I was finally figuring out what I wanted to do (some of this painting process was quite experimental) and the composition is definitely the strongest of all three.  Plus, it looks like the ducks are swimming!  I gave this one to the newer of my two friends, Katrina. 

I love doing art gifts for Christmas but, because I had so much to do this holiday season, I thought I wouldn't be able to do any at all this year.  I'm really glad The Rubber Ducky Tea Society decided to have an artsy gift exchange.  It allowed me to create some art for people I care about without adding a huge burden to my already heavy holiday to-do list.  More fun, less stress! 

Did any of you create or receive art/craft gifts this year?  What do you think of homemade presents like these?  Is there something you wish you'd receive from an artistic friend or something crafty you want to try out next time a gift-giving occasion comes up?