Video Tutorial for "The Gryphon"

Hey, guys! A lot of you over the years have asked me how I do what I do, what materials I use, and if I could possibly make a tutorial showing my process. Well, the wait is over, my friends!  

This video features me working on another illustration for the up-and-coming cocktail card project (more info on that coming VERY soon, I promise!)   This card is for a cocktail called "The Gryphon", submitted by none other than 2 the Ranting Gryphon himself, and the card as a result features him in all his angry ranty glory.  The video shows the entire process, from pencil sketch to finished colors, and has a voice over by me explaining things as I go.

Of course, I couldn't possibly explain EVERYTHING in one 10 minute video, so if you have any questions about something I did here or about any other tips and techniques you may be interested in seeing, let me know in the comments! I'd like to do more videos like this in the future, and your questions will help me to make them more informative, thus helping you. :)

-Lizzy B.

Rapid Arting #2 : "Horney Dragon"

Hey guys!

After doing the speed-video for the Grumpy Cat box, I've been meaning to do another one like that for a while.  Well, I finally remembered today to set up my camera and record me working on some of the illustrations for my cocktail recipe project (details coming VERY soon).  I've got a few others in the pipeline, but for now, here's the first one that will be matched with a recipe for a drink called "The Horney Dragon".  Enjoy!

The original piece will also very likely be one of the many drawings I put up for sale in the Anthrocon art show.  However, I may be convinced to sell it sooner if an interested party were to send me a suitable offer... *wink wink* ;)

-Lizzy B.

Strip Search - Fan Challenge #1

I am hopelessly addicted to Penny Arcade's "Strip Search" show. If you haven't seen the show... first, go here. Second, it's a non-suck reality show where web cartoonists compete for a $15,000 cash prize AND a year working from the Penny Arcade offices. One of the main hooks of the show is the elimination round, where 2 artists (selected by that day's competition winner) are tasked with drawing a comic strip based on 2 ideas selected at random in 90 minutes.  I've loved the idea of this challenge, and have wanted to take a crack at it since watching the first elimination.

Well, earlier tonight the first 5 eliminated "strippers" (yes, that's what they call themselves) held a "Elimination Home Edition" live broadcast on YouTube. I saw this and thought, well HECK, I'mma gonna play along all over that!  

The two words selected were "Secret" and "Sasquatch". 

click to view the larger version, yo.

I actually finished this 13 minutes early, mostly because I overestimated how long it would take and probably should have taken my time a bit more with the inking.  Personally I think it looks terrible. Hopefully y'all think it's actually funny, cuz if this were a REAL competition I'd probably be sent home*.  Anyway, you be the judge!

I'll definitely be trying this more.  It was WAY fun, and damn good practice.  Hopefully it'll look better next time. :)

-Lizzy B.

*Ideally with Jerry drinking my comic, as he did with Amy's. That's the winning way to lose.

Three Furries, Two Badges (plus a Job Rant)

Oh man, guys. I feel like I gotta be real with you. I don't wanna sound like a whiner, but man.... oh MAN....

I've got a new job at a local hospital, in their Electronic Medical Records department.  Sounds really important and official, right? Well, let me assure you that it's not nearly as interesting as it sounds. I basically sit in front of a computer, scanning pages from medical charts and sorting the files into folders.  For 8 hours. Now, It's not really that difficult, being I've dealt with computers for the majority of my life and know my way around, inside & out of a scanner. And the people I work with are all really nice and it's great to not be stuck all alone all day every day. However, the job itself is soul-suckingly boring and I hate it.  

The unfortunate thing right now is that I don't have a choice.  I needed some kind of steady income, as my commission income is unpredictable month-to-month, and forces me to spend all of my time doing one-off pieces for others and no time to get back to working on my own projects (like COMICS).  The catch is, now I come home so mentally drained that the last thing I want to do, after sitting for 8 hours in front of a computer doing work, is to come home and do MORE work, even if it is "fun" work.  

I miss drawing. I miss making comics. I miss having FUN doing this. I'm hoping that this is just me getting used to having a steady job after being self-employed for over 2 years.  If not, well... this IS just a temp thing. So we shall see. ;^_^ Let's hope I can get a new plan well in motion by then! 

In other more BETTER news.... Here's some things I did!  Hooray, things!

This first badge was done as a half-commission, half-favor.  One of my fans, who goes by "BrightTail", needed to raise money to help his cat with some health issues, and asked me if he could have an "auction" for a badge commission from me, with all the proceeds going to his kitty. I don't do things like this that often, but BT has been great to me in the past, and is one of my more vocal, chatty followers on twitter, so I decided to help him out.  Blackfoot was the highest bidder, and the above badge is his reward! It will print out to 4" x 6", and was done entirely in photoshop.

This next badge is easily the most complicated one I've ever done.  I've done badges with characters who have multiple heads or limbs, and a few simple ones with 2 versions of the same character (usually a male & female), but this is the first one I've done with 2 fully detailed characters.  The commissioner was fairly specific about how he wanted it, particularly when it came to D'Nae's body type, but it ended up being one of my better badges, if not my best. ^_^  If the buyer doesn't LOVE it, I admit I may cry a little. Ha! This one was also done digitally, and will print just about 6" square.

In case you are curious, at the moment I am NOT taking new work!  I want to make sure I finish everything I currently have before I accept new work.  I have no idea how long that will be, especially given my work situation explained above, but if/when I take new work, I will post about it here.  So if you're interested, save your pennies and keep an eye on this space!  

-Lizzy B.

WIP : Duel-Character Badge

Been working on probably the most complex badge I've ever done for "Aaeden", involving 2 of his characters.  I haven't ever done any badge with 2 distinct characters before; I've done simple badges with male & female versions of the same character, couples badge sets, and badges with a character holding a plush of a second character, but nothing quite like this.  A nice challenge!

Being it's a WIP, things may change between now and the final, in specific I'm waiting for an OK on the flat colors before I finish up with shading and highlights.  But I thought I'd share what I had so far as I'm pretty proud of it!

-Lizzy B.