pic uploads

Digital sketch based on the ipod adds.. Watercolour sketch ...

my Mums Birthday card this year ...

Digital Sketching Is Cool!!

A rater late Valintines day image for everyone you likes it =) Pastels etc on coloured card (Traditional style)And a completely digital sketch, done just for fun, altough she seems to have ended up more 'busty' than I had intended.
More laters Peeps.

Ann AkA dragon.

Job hunting really is'nt any fun...

I have been looking for a better job for the last 2 or more months (actively that is, looking in general for the last 12 months!). Its been unplesant, for a basic job I keep being told I am over educated and because of that am not asked for interview, then for the ones my qualifications are relivant I regularily get interviewed and have wonderful feedback but always am passed over for not having enough experience. Its begining to drive me mad. My current job is what you could call a dead end job, no possible ways to increase pay or get promoted, yet the ones where I could progress as long as I am happy to start at the bottom (which for the right job I am happy to start at the bottom) tell me I am overqualified. Its a good job that my view on all of it is Try, Try and Try again. My freelancing is going well and I am getting more commissions as time passes, Its a slow process but I feel its more than worth it. So to anyone else who is job hunting for whatever reason, The best of luck with it! and keep going you will find what you want eventually.

Ann AkA Dragon.

Sketch Dump for January 14th 2007

A better late than never Santa. He may make it onto the 2007 Christmas cards, if I don't have other brainwaves by then. He is watercolor and ink on white card.


This one was my sisters birthday present, or at least part of her present. Its Pastels on coloured card, based on a photograph in the National Geographic.
Meet Maggie Gorgon, a medusa for the 21st centuary, (possibly for the 22nd?) the whole turning people to stone is so last centuary. She may make other apperances soon, it depends on how the script progresses. Anyway as always Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Ann.

AKA Dragon.

Housesitting

So a new year and new temptations... the local art store has some fantastic new supplies and its a real effort not to go and spend all my money in there, however i have new responsibilities as i have just arranged to buy a car. Eeeks what have I done! This is a little out of the blue fror anyone who knows me as i havent gotten my licence yet (been halfheartedly working on it for about a year) so hopefully this will be my Inspiration for passing that damn test once and for all. I hope anyway. So due to weather conditions being Awful here in Belfast my car has been delayed a little. I hope to collect it sometime this week. Cool or what! but slightly scary moneywise.
So here I am on a saturday just mooching and playing with my computer, Mums away in dublin and I'm house and dog sitting sadly the gales have thrown off the Sky reception so I can't watch loads of cartoons. (probibly a good thing) I just spent about 2 hours colouring an image and then the PC crashed so really its a sign to save progress more often.

boxing day

Happy Boxing Day! the day traditionally used to recover from eating vast quantitys over Christmas day =)

well a late Merry Christmas anyway, and looking forward to the New Year, I hope everyone has A good one =)

Todays image is a doodle from work i coloured this evening as practice. Comments are always welcome. =)

Catch you later Aligators. =)

More Ipods

=) after playing with my ipod my mum has decided the are 'the bees knees' so I have pounced on the oppertunity to get a double present for her (christmas and her birthday in Jan) and have purchaced an Ipod Nano (Red) for her. she seems delighted with it and has been piling up CDs for me to put on it for her =) classical music etc... so what if i tunes is irratating, the pods themselves are cool.

Scribbles.

So I,ve been experimenting with my new Graphics tablet =) and I actually really like this scribbly colouring =P I think I'll play with it some more .

The Great Relax.

My first long weekend without anything major planned =) and it was great! although admittedly I didn't just sit around doing nothing, We Blitzed the house so we shouldn't have to do that again for a while. I arranged for a dog behaviourist to visit (later today actually) just to check if its something I'm doing wrong that's making Rosie bark so much, I've rebuild over 1/2 of my website and it should be online again by this evening =) long time no see or what! Additionally I have sorted out my room so that I can use the laptop in here in comfort (just testing the new layout this minute =P ) And lastly we finally put up the shelves we bought a few weeks ago. Its nice I feel like I really accomplished something this weekend.
So I didn't actually paint this this month, but I've not posted it yet and comments are always welcome. =) Its a sketch/watercolour of my dogs as I see them. Sam the white one is a bit of a scaredy cat but dos'nt like anyone to know, and Rosie (brown and fluffy) is the nosyest dog we have ever had, I swear she would jump off a clif just to see what was at the bottom. She has a bit of a barking problem that I'm hoping to sort out sooner rather than later.

Over and Out for now.

Ann aka Dragon.

So my dog seems to be jealous of my laptop...

I don't know if thats common in Jack Russle types, But she definately has issues with something other than her taking up knee room. She keeps giving me baleful looks from the end of the bed.

So Im hoping to post some sketches from the Challenge this weekend, I'm going to scan them in tommorow and as long as they havent got something seriously wrong with them I'll post then afterwards.

In other News we raised £50 in a coffee morning for children in need today. which was a lot more than i expected as there are only 10 people in the office =D

Catch you laters Aligators!

Ann Aka Dragon.

Opinions Welcome!

Im posting this image with the hopes of feedback before I refine it, I have admittedly gotten a little carried away when colouring what is really a very rough sketch. I'm thinking I should expand the image to the left possibly doubling the width to make it more of a landscape shape, and add in the rest of the poker players and also the prize pile in the middle. A concept I like is to add all of the zodiac characters, although that could get cluttered. =/ anyway any suggestions are welcome and will be concidered during the later stages of the image. My personal Favourite is the Dragon, although the sheep has an interesting expression.

Catch you laters Aligators.

Ann AkA The Celtic Dragon.

A Challenge?

I found this challenge in a few different places, but the one that
inspired me to have a go was on 'The Drawing Board' forums, see
link 'HERE'

This may take me some time as I have a few other commitments at
the moment as well, but I'd like to give it a go, just dont be
suprised if they end up being mostly sketched rather than finished
images.

I have copied the rules and list from that forum post to here:

The Rules:
1. Make 100 pics each pic having a theme listed below. Each pic
should have ONE and only ONE theme to it, for it to count.
2. No time limit so have fun.
3. The main picture should be drawn but not limited to. For all
fair purposes, people are allowed to use their paint programs and
photo shop to create the pic.
3a. Pics should be of own artistic ability. You may not edit
photos, or break any other rules set out in the dA etiquette
policy. Your pics can be anything from sketches and doodles to
great master pieces. Just have fun with it.
4. The list below is to be placed somewhere in your journal for
others to see that: A) You are in the challenge B) What you have completed.
5. Make sure to update this list and check off what is done and
make a link to the pic.
6. In the comments for your art work note if it is part of the
list and what ONE theme it is.

THE LIST:
1. Introduction

2. Love

3. Light

4. Dark

5. Seeking Solace

6. Break Away

7. Heaven

8. Innocence

9. Drive

10. Breathe Again

11. Memory

12. Insanity

13. Misfortune

14. Smile

15. Silence

16. Questioning

17. Blood

18. Rainbow

19. Gray

20. Fortitude

21. Vacation

22. Mother Nature

23. Cat

24. No Time

25. Trouble Lurking

26. Tears

27. Foreign

28. Sorrow

29. Happiness

30. Under the Rain

31. Flowers

32. Night

33. Expectations

34. Stars

35. Hold My Hand

36. Precious Treasure

37. Eyes

38. Abandoned

39. Dreams

40. Rated

41. Teamwork

42. Standing Still

43. Dying

44. Two Roads

45. Illusion

46. Family

47. Creation

48. Childhood

49. Stripes

50. Breaking the Rules

51. Sport

52. Deep in Thought

53. Keeping a Secret

54. Tower

55. Waiting

56. Danger Ahead

57. Sacrifice

58. Kick in the Head

59. No Way Out

60. Rejection

61. Fairy Tale

62. Magic

63. Do Not Disturb

64. Multitasking

65. Horror

66. Traps

67. Playing the Melody

68. Hero

69. Annoyance 70. 67%

71. Obsession

72. Mischief Managed

73. I Can't

74. Are You Challenging Me?

75. Mirror

76. Broken Pieces

77. Test

78. Drink

79. Starvation

80. Words

81. Pen and Paper

82. Can You Hear Me?
83. Heal
84. Out Cold
85. Spiral
86. Seeing Red
87. Food
88. Pain
89. Through the Fire
90. Triangle
91. Drowning
92. All That I Have
93. Give Up
94. Last Hope
95. Advertisement
96. In the Storm
97. Safety First
98. Puzzle
99. Solitude
100. Relaxation

How early is too early?

Halloween is just around the corner and to my horror I have found that many of the shops have already got their christmas grottos up and running, Personally I feel its a bit early for it. I suppose sales are sales. =/

What do you think?

A few more links for interest. =)
http://darklieness.blogspot.com/
http://chewblog.blogspot.com/

Working On Everything at once =)

This is a possible layout for a painting I am planning, If anyone has any comments about the layout specifically please let me know. Each character is going to have a themed costume so i dont want the image too overcrowded, yet i dont really want to paint an empty room either =/ suggestions welcome.

Well I have been Awol for a while now, My PC problems have been 1/2 resolved, not 100% yet but getting there =) and I'm getting a new router from BT we phoned up to ask about something else entirely and I mentioned I was thinking about going back to an older provider I had used (mostly so I could take over the bill from my Mum) and they gave us a great deal to stay and threw in the router etc as well. so I am going to pay the SKY bill instead =) the upgrade stuff should be arriving in the next week or so.

In addition I have been off work with the worst Cold/throat infection I have had in years it was one of those sneaky ones that turned up at 6am on monday with no warning, I hadnt even seen anyone with a cold. I'm hoping to go back tomorro as it left my workmates kinda shortstaffed. Prior to this I have been looking at joining the Association of Illustrators as an Associate Member (meaning I have training but only a small number of clients so far, if I get more work I can upgrade to full meber status) And also after speaking with Shell Livewire ( a help resource for starting up your own business) I am hoping to get myself organised to actually trade as an Illustrator/Cartoonist officially (namely telling the correct people so I don't get fined)

I was hoping to go to a confrence about the Childrens book industry mid november but currently while I can afford the flights to London I havent organised somewhere to stay yet, I'll Blog more on that if I am definately going =)

Catch you laters Aligators.
Ann.

P.S some interesting Links:
http://www.chewingpencils.com/
http://roystonrobertson.blogspot.com/
http://www-hack.blogspot.com/
http://www.illustrationclass.com/

A Halloween Theme for October =) A few friends will recognise this from last years cards.

Personification of the PC.

Over the last few weeks, or really for the last few months, some of my less computer minded friends have been querying a habit I have of assigning a personality to my computer and other tecnical equipment. I have to admit I have no idea why I do it, but it seems natural to me to see a personality in these machienes. For example the PC at work seems sluggish and slightly petulant, it dislikes music and approves of word. It may be these traits are easily explained by the hardware and software installed, I just prefer to think in personality terms, it makes it easier for me to see how the PC could catch a virus.

Anyway, A few links of note,

BLOGS
www.anapproach.blogspot.com - a great art blog, well worth a look.
www.samuel-michlap.blogspot.com - Art blog.

WWW
www.audible.co.uk - for those ineterested in audiobooks.
www.illustrationfriday.com - a weekly theme to sketch, everyone welcome.

Ill be back with more laters =)
A.

Allo Again. PC has still died the death.

long time no post =)
Sadly My home computer is still dead to the world it has resisted all attempts to resurect it. I have to say that this is not through a lack of trying to fix it and grateful thanks go to a friend who has been helping me on this as I still would'nt have any idea what was wrong in the first place if he had'nt helped me.
I have regretfully come to the decision that I need a new tower as my PC was bought in 2001 it has become difficult to get replacment parts ( I have been informed that the industry standards have changed.) There is the possibility of e-bay but I have no desire to risk money when the PC may still not work at the end of it. My software engineer of a cousin has reccomended buying a new Tower (only the tower as my monitor is still fab) this has yelded suprising results as in order to replace all the broken parts with the equivelents (to be able to run heavy graphics) it would cost me about £500 ish whereas if I get a base only deal from somewhere like PC world its only going to cost me about £300 and I can upgrtade that to be what i want for about another £100.... still less than the repairs were going to cost. Wierd.
On another note I have lots of work to post but until I solve the PC dilema its not going to get here anytime soon... well maybe this weekend I will get something organised...

Any recomendations for the PC dilema?

The Poor PC saga...

Well as I mentioned in my last post my PC wouldnt turn on. so after replacing the case we have now discovered that it motherboard is dodo like, or should I say extinct. no scorch marks on it, just Dodo'd so a friend has been soursing a replacement for me, needless to say other than when in work I shall be offline, I can check my e-mail via my Mobile Phone (a neat trick I only just found out about =) ) and Shall return as soon as I can as my poor website is also in stasis for now, just when I promised it a new look. =/

Anyway catch you laters Aligators.

Ann.

Ah well...

Have just discovered that 2 simalar posts actually have been posted. I'm going to leave them both up, when I tried to post on the 29th I got loadsa errors and thought it hadnt worked. Hence Attempt 3.

3rd Try Lucky I hope.

Hoping I get to post this today =)

I am currently working on the site update, however my plans have been slightly stalled due to home computer problems. =/ this post has been added from my work PC. I got home yesterday to discover that the PC would not turn on. I have checked all the obvious ones like see if its plugged in etc, and have narrowed it down to loose wires in the on off switch in the tower. hopefully this will be easy enough to fix, I just have to get to the shop when it is actually open.

to the left is a taster of what the site will look like. =) although the font may still change as I'm not 100% happy with this one. while I was getting the stock photos for this banner type image I also took a few photos of my workstation/studio. Since I have been following the rather cool Blog : http://www.on-my-desk.blogspot.com/ where artists, designers and creatives of all types have been posting their studio photos. Its facinating to me

to see what everyone else has been getting up to.

so here we go, my studio =) I use my light box for everything from Animating to

watercolours to fabric painting, and anything else I get interested in aswell. Under the desk is mostly storage of older work any my degree stuff (including a few thousand frames from the final film project =P ) My prefered paints are watercolours, I use a mix of pan and tubed varietys. As you can see I have nearly covered the walls wilt both my own work and some which i find inspirational (actually only my own are visable for some reason)

I have a limited view as my neighbours hedge is impressive although its a great light source for checking colours. To the Left of the desk I Have another one set up with all my PC related Parafinalia, scanners etc. You can see under the art desk the scanner printer.

Anyway thats all for now and I'll be back once I get the On/Off switch working again at home. =P