The future

Recently I have been feeling the pressure to really find a definite route I want to take my art and I have decided after degree to purse a career in a tattooing, I considered this before I started this degree I was even offered an apprenticeship and I let the opportunity pass me by because I wasn't confident enough in my artwork.

Now I have had time to think about it I have something unique to offer when it comes to style and I want to try and practice specifically doing work which will computationally lend itself to tattoo's. As far as tattoo styles I like I am a fan of "new school tattoos".

Image from checkoutmyink

Image from oquevemporai.wordpress.com

Image from flickr

Tattoo by Autumn Tierney

Image from geeksaresexy

by Mina at Hawk and Sparrows in Malmö, Sweden.

Image from poundedink.com

by Kelly Dotty

I like new school tattoo's due the the vibrancy of the colours and how bold an beautiful they are. And I feel it really fits with the style I have established.

It maybe seen as a trend in tattooing but I am also really fond of the look of watercolour style tattoo's.

Image from huffingtonpost

Image from 1337tattoos.com

By Gene Coffey

Image from www.cuded.com

I love the fluidity of the linework (if applicable) in watercolour tattoo's, and again I love the vibrancy of the colours they use. The line's in watercolour tattoo's are varied some lines are think and bold, others look like brush and ink and some are swift and wispy.

Artist showcase Kidura

Kidura is a artist from the UK, whom I bought art from at Japan Day in 2014. She is strongly influenced by anime and manga and mostly draws fan art. I recently won a art giveaway she hosted and she is in the process of drawing me this piece.

The character is called Howl and he is from Howl's Moving Castle which is a book by Diana Wynne Jones which was later made into a movie by Studio Ghibli. I love both the book and the film even though the film follows a different path than the book.

I love how Kidura use's watercolour and her work most diffidently inspired me when I was doing my personal project. Her style is typical of someone inspired by anime and manga but it is the detail that she puts into her work that inspires me the most.

This was the piece I purchased from her in 2014.

This is a piece of Pokemon fan art, Pokemon is something which has always inspired me since I was a child and this scene is from a Pokemon game which was very influential in terms of me finding my threads of interest which lead to my art style today.

See more of Kidura's work here .facebook.com/kidura

PDP Interview #3 with Jenni Illustrations

Interview with Jenni Illustrations

Jenni is an artist from Australia, I aspire to be as successful as she is. She sell's her work on clothes, posters, playing cards, stickers and the list goes on. I chose to interview her because she is very much inspired by the same things I am and despite the common interests our styles are very different.

Q1. I can see a definite anime/manga influence in your artwork is there anything else that inspires how you work? I think seeing other artist with the same style influence me. Anything cute and colourful/bright. Living and having kawaii things also influence me and my work.

Q2. What advice would you give someone who wants to sell their work at conventions/events? Having motivation and passion for your work is something you need. Loving your work and making other people love your work is another. Also knowing what people really like is something to think about. eg, whats your target audience? what will they be attracted to

Q3. If you could experiment with any medium you want what medium would you choose? I like pen work and watercolour. I always draw digitally but there's times I just want to get away from the computer and free myself with some traditional mediums. 

Q4. Do you prefer having lots of little projects on the go or one big project? I like either really. sometimes mostly my little projects is really related to my big project. eg: my original character in diff drawings(small project) while big projects is like having them on clothes, products, animation.

Q5. Do you ever have problems with motivation, if so how do you keep yourself motivated? I do a lot of the time. (I'm sure no one can tell) haha. I get a lot of inspiration from looking at things. everyday life around me, music I listen to ( every day, all day till night I listen to music) keeps me sane lol Having you guys ( my followers and friends) who enjoys my drawings keeps me motivated. who cares about my work. who wants to share my work/talk about me all over the world is one thing I really appreciate keeps me going =]

Find more of her work here

facebook.com/Jenni.Illustrations

Difficulty getting interviews

I have lost count of the amount of artists I have tried to contact just to name a few who have not replied Erik Jones, Glenn Arthur and Camilla D'errico who said she would answer my questions and never got back then I contacted an artist I have bought artwork form before called Destiny Blue  and this is what I got back.

Any responses other than answering my questions was pointing me towards a previously done Q&A or an FAQ.

Also a lot of artists I wanted to contact didn't have a contact email that I could find and on there facebook pages had taken off the option to inbox them. I am starting to feel very apprehensive about if I will get my final interview and if they interviews I have done will be seen as being suitable. I have tried my best in interview people who's work inspires me but they seem quite hard to get a hold of. 

PDP interview #2 Liara K Crane

Interview with Liara K Crane

I was recommended Liara K Crane's work by a friend of mine after looking at her artwork I saw she was doing things that I really want to do, like selling my artwork online and working on comics.

Q1.What inspires your work; do you actively pursue standing out from the crowed with your art style?

A1. I would say that my work is chiefly inspired by my desire to tell stories. I have a catalogue of future personal projects and original characters whose stories I hope to finally share. Narrative is very important to me. What I try to do with my art is prove wrong the teachers I had for 99% of my academic life. All through my childhood I had art teachers saying ‘it’s nice but anime is unoriginal and you won’t get anywhere unless you change your style.’ It wasn’t until I studied art in japan that I truly saw how different my style was, and how it was far more a marriage between the West and the East. Q2. Do you sell your work at any events or are you mostly online based?

A2. At the moment I am exclusively online however now that my finances are looking a little brighter I am putting time and money into developing stock to sell at future conventions. Q3. Any legal procedures you need to know before you start selling your work?

A3. As an illustrator I think the most important thing you need to know in regards to the law is copyright (and as a fan-artist you need to realise the fire you are playing with if selling your work.) Q4. What do you prefer long ambitious projects or lots of short projects?

A4. I like either short projects or longer projects made from shorter parts. I could never paint photo realism as a career or paint anything too large and ambitious because it would just take too damn long and I confess I’ve a limited attention span (especially as my favourite part of the whole creative process is the drawing!) I am looking forward to doing some comic work in the future. Q5. If you were to give someone who was thinking about selling their artwork one piece of advice you wish you had known when you started what would it be?

A5. As briefly mentioned earlier, it’s good to know where you stand in regards to intellectual copyright, as well as the terms and conditions of selling at places like conventions and etsy.


Check out her work here
www.facebook.com/LiaraKCraneIllustration

Food for thought

It's an amazing feeling when you sell a piece of artwork.

Think about it that person could be spending that money on mass produced prints from Ikea.

But they see what you have done and not only thought "hey I like this" they thought " I want to own this".

A piece of art is more than just a piece of paper with something scribbled on it, or a canvas with a bit of paint thrown on it. It's an accumulation of a persons skills and experience at that point in time.

It has come from someones head and has been dictated by their personal tastes and their personality.

In my view when you invest in a piece of my artwork you are investing in me as a person, and that is a very liberating feeling.

My Artwork and Inspiration

Here are some framed paintings/drawings of Pokemon characters I did recently in the style of Okami, Okami is a video game based on a range of Japanese folklore.

Here are some art and screenshots from the games Okami and Okamiden

I love the art style of these games, which is based of traditional Japanese ink paintings 

I also did this commission for a girl who contacted me through Facebook this will be being shipped out to her as soon as she gets her next pay check.