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How to Finish

I drew this poster for Jon Acuff and his FINISH book tour. Big thanks to Jon for this collaboration, his book has some great ideas about how to complete creative and life goals.

#comics #life advice #life adventures #creative journey

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The arts at their finest <3

typewriter!

#orchestra #funny #best of the arts

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Time for a Tune-up

Greetings and welcome to the new world, Journeyers! So, the first design of the year was my banner! I’m finally beginning to understand all the awesomeness of tumblr themes. I’m still tweaking my new icon and I might try for a patterned background, so anticipate continued construction, while we find our new look for the immediate future!

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#32 If you don’t hear from me before...

Good bye, good luck, good riddance 2020, hello dear journeyers, Knowing myself as I do, I suspect this will be the last time I post before new years. I’m not calling this project as over, because, honestly I don’t have to or want to. But I do have one last design for this year.

Anne of Cleves from the musical Six! And looking back at my first work, I honestly can’t believe I made this. Or the journey it was to get this far. Digital artists, I continue to be in awe of you and your work ethic. I couldn’t believe how many people managed to consistently present work despite the madness of this year. To my very dear Navigator, I say sincerely, I could not have done this without you. Thank you for every kind word, suggestion, and patient encouragement. To my fantastic followers, thank you for sticking around <3 I’ll see you next year! 

#32 #my art journey #six the musical #six the musical fanart #six anna of cleves #queen of the castle #six get down #bye 2020

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Coming into a fandom late

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#31 AKA Remember Remember that week in November

Hello my dear Journeyers,

Dear gods what a week it was! I didn’t sleep for hardly a week and the whole world felt decidedly on edge. And then there was that sigh of relief. Like a majority of the world had breathed out all at once from four years on edge. Hopefully we can move toward peace, though that seems as much a journey as anything at the moment. Onward to art! Hermione Granger. The brains of the operation and the first time I would take a small wager on color accuracy. Not a huge one, yet, but I was very pleased with it. It is worth noting this is not an attempt at Emma Watson, and there are a couple of little Easter eggs for diehards. :)   Be well, dear journeyers. Find moments that give you peace.

#31 #my art journey #hermione granger #hermione #harry potter #harry potter fan art #hermione granger fanart

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#30 aka Sometimes it just rains

Hello Journeyers,

As a blanket rule I try to avoid politics on this journal, but sometimes life just leaks in. So as a human being with a conscience and awareness of the impact on others, I have some... shall we say mild anxiety for the past week? I think more than anything sometimes the opportunity for change is more frightening than consistent fear. You get used to that, but it hurts far more when you had hope.  In a strange way, that’s where this piece came from. It is one of the ironies of life that the world tends to continue as it had before, regardless. Someone I knew said this year, “Birds don’t know about Covid or elections... birds are still existing as before...”And there is some truth in that. It can make things worse when you feel lonely, but it also offers hope to see that not everything has changed. The world will still spin tomorrow. 

With all that mixture of hope and anxiety, yes, it landed on Beetlejuice the musical. Go figure. And no, not a particularly happy piece but sometimes that’s just the way it is.  Things we learned.  Black is not a kind color. Seriously, it’s not. It likes to seem like it’s going to show how you intended and then immediately change its mind. Use it, but be wary of the sneaky thing.  I like making stone work now. It’s fun! Sure it’s for a cemetery, but I rather liked it.  Skies are fun now.  Grass is also the secondary root of evil. It’s sneaky like the color black. We soldier on. Find ways to enjoy yourselves today dear friends, and be kind to each other. The world always needs a little kindness. 

#30 #my art journey #beetlejuice the musical #lydia deetz #beetlejuice fanart #beetlejuice the musical fanart

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#29 aka the more you learn...

Hello Fellow Journeyers!

Today we’re going to talk about regret, or rather social anxiety. I think it’s almost standard now, and isolation has made it worse for those of us who struggle with things like talking on the phone, but also miss hearing people beyond texting. One of the things I regularly struggle with is hesitation. But I’ve found, at least for my personal experience, the best things in life usually happen just beyond the edge of comfort. It’s how I’ve gained one of my dearest friends, it’s how I started this journal. And it’s almost a snowball effect, once I tried taking one step out of my comfort zone, it became easier on most days. Now there’s a rational argument against my anxiety that good things can happen when you try something new. Emotional case law, if you will. It’s certainly not full proof, but I’ve found more peace with the mistakes made, than I ever have with regret or wondering what might have happened had I been willing to try. And in an odd round about way, that actually brings us to this design. Enola Holmes! Loved the movie, love the message. My first effort in emotional exaggeration and building study... and err car study as well. A lot of studies going on. XD And like Enola, although we might have had a set back, I’m not finished yet :) Enjoy your journey,

#29 #my art journey #enola holmes #enola #lord tewksbury #i'm not finished yet

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Friendly mental health care boost <3

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sad but true: it doesn’t matter if people die as a result, opening a sports-themed bar & grill is too important

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#28 Those were more guidelines...

than actual rules.  Heya Journeyers, 

I’m emerging from an inner storm to try to get back into this. The truth is, this was done months ago, but I couldn’t seem to let it go. Why? I don’t really know, but to be honest, I’m still not wholly satisfied. But I set the terms at the beginning and this actually counts as 6 pieces! (Now we’re talking! Only 18 to go!)  Back to Good Omens, although there’s an Enola Holmes piece to come :) I’ll see about ironing that out this coming week.  I present a silly little mini-comic. Just a Bite :) 

#28 #my art journey #GoodOmens #good omens #good omens fanart #mini comic #ineffable spouses #ineffable wives #crowley and zira #i love these dorky beings

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Hey Weren’t you the one...

Yeah, yeah I was... And I am. Hiya Journeyers, So today we’re going to talk about mental illness, physical illness, and all the other maelstroms, storms, dragons that we encounter in open water.  Part of being a perfectionist means fighting the worst villain of them all. Yourself. And with the chaos of 2020 and my health, I fell off a little bit. I never stopped drawing, per se, I just couldn’t face finishing anything. Nothing was good enough. Nothing was ready.  Ready is another dangerous concept. There’s a difference between being prepared and making sure everything is ready. Opportunity rarely comes when you feel ready, and part of life is realizing what you can manage and what you can’t. And I couldn’t manage this for a while.  So I can’t, no, I won’t promise that everything will be consistent and steady again, because I don’t feel steady yet. But I am willing to face it again. And there are designs I’m looking forward to sharing :) And hopefully a few of you will be excited to see them.  Be Well, Calypso

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#27 aka Weren’t you just here?

Hello again dear journeyers! And the answer is yes! In the spirit of the awkward interaction of saying goodbye and discovering you are walking in the same direction, I was, in fact, just here.  But there’s no accounting for creativity and I could schedule out, but to be honest, if successful schedules were the main idea, I’d be much further along. 

Valkyrie. I love this character, she was so dynamic and this was an adventure in something entirely new, foreshortening. Which I didn’t know until I started looking for the right pose. Also, the power of white highlights. I still have a lot to learn about... well, everything really. But by surrendering on that last piece and just letting it go, I was able to move on to something new. Which was a blast, and much much better results.  I guess my advice is, it’s ok to dig in and keep fighting, but it’s also important to learn how to let something go so you can find something better.  The hard part is knowing the time for each. 

Calypso

#27 #my art journey #thor #thor ragnarok #thor valkyrie #valkyrie fanart #thor fanart #marvel thor #marvel valkyrie #marvel fanart

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#26 aka Don’t Fight the Tide

Hello Journeyers, 

So due to situations beyond my control i have not been sleeping very much lately. Also, I have not been posting as frequently because I have reached a point where my perfectionism is starting to act up.  You remember, that thing I came here to avoid? Ah well, it was nice while it lasted. So between sleep deprivation and chronic nitpicking, creativity has been much much slower.  But, that wasn’t really the point, was it? The point was that any little success was succeeding, any level of skill was better than where I started. I’m going to try to get back on schedule, err... perhaps a little bit quicker schedule because, yes this is, ironically, the 26th post. The halfway mark. 

So in the spirit of silver linings, I present  teen loki.

Things I loved about making this. Texture. I played a lot with brushes for this one and it was a blast. I learned how to make night clouds, which totally will feature in some Ineffable Art. Effects. I love them. It was my first time using brush stabilizer, and I love how much cleaner it made my lines, especially around the armor. Fellow Noobies, I know it acts weird, learn to love brush stabilizer. Scribble your structure without it, and use it after that.  Things that didn’t go so well: Facial structure. I actually really liked this design without color, a lot, but something about the way it colored didn’t work out as well. And hair was just inhumanly difficult for no apparent reason.  And lastly, the hardest part was actually relinquishing this. It reminds me of something a mentor once said, the hardest thing you will ever do is take the first step. I guess I still need to remind myself of that. Love and Learn,  Calypso

#26 #my art journey #halfway there #art philosophy #loki #teen loki #gender fluid loki #marvel fanart #marvel loki

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#25 Short Version...

Not Dead!

Hello fellow Journeyers, despite all appearances, I am still around and actually still busily working on things. Rather than give long-winded insincere apologies to the internet void, I shall offer a sneak peek (ish) of my latest work in the Good Omens Fandom. 

This actually was a happy accident while I was using some layers as a guide for another design. I looked up and realized, I liked it. Hope you will too. :)

Take the time to appreciate the blunders with soft landings, sometimes the accidents are far more fun than the planned results <3 Enjoy the Journey :) Calypso

#my art journey #25 #good omens #good omens fanart #ineffable idiots #ineffable spouses #crowly x aziraphale #crowley #aziraphale #gender bend

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#24 Silver linings and Artist’s Block?

Hiya Journeyers! It’s been... two weeks? Ish? So! I’ve actually been working on a mini Good-Omens comic, which came along swimmingly up until the last two frames.  Am I irked? Oh completely. And after spending a few days cursing and another few days in sullen resistance,  I surrendered that maybe it needed time and I turned to other things. I recognize this is the equivalent of writer’s block, the plague of all creators, so after a few more days of other hobbies. I return to you finally with something. Even more shocking, I return having completed an actual design set. 

It seemed rather fitting to come back from meditation and lessons in balance to a great representation of that principle. All four element colors (I went with the Air Nomad yellow for Air) and honestly, I’m just pleased the air ball looks like something other than a giant greyish white blob. We take the silver linings in this camp and hopefully, I’ll have a comic for you lovely people next week.  There’s a sentence I never thought I’d write...  Love and Peace, Calypso

#24 #my art journey #my art #avatar the last airbender #atla #atla fanart #fanart #avatar aang #avatar rewatch

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#23... We interrupt your previously scheduled Good Omens content...

Hiya Journeyers!

So! In case I haven’t mentioned it recently, Krita is awesome because of a million reasons, but today we’re giving the reference attachment its due recognition. Because this is awesome! It was my first time working with a reference on page, specifically a screenshot from the Wushu Games. I loved how much it helped with placement and allowed me to create more movement, which is awesome for any design, but especially necessary for this one. 

Zuko! Ah Zuko, you are the redemption story we all needed and never deserved...  I might have gotten a little overexcited with the fire,  just a bit. LOL So there’s one more for this set, which I will probably complete... but Ineffability will likely interrupt previously scheduled avatar content. We’re all mad here :) But all the best people are. Live and Love, Calypso

#23 #my art journey #avatar the last airbender #atla #zuko #atla fanart #fire nation #firebender #zuko avatar #zuko art #avatar rewatch