Blue Jaye

So, as promised here is some more work that I've done recently!  This piece was commissioned from a guy that found me while I was at Baltimore Comic-Con.  He later got in touch with me and told me about this character that he had been working on for awhile.  You can check out the his work on DeviantArt.  Here though is the piece he commissioned from me:

I think he turned out pretty good!  The feathers took me foreeeeeevvvvvverrrr.  It will be awhile before I can look at feathers the same way again.

 

Listen to what the Mom says...

Hey Everybody!!!  It's been waaaaay too long since I've updated my blog, but I'm putting forth more effort! ^.^  With that in mind...

The more time I spend with my mom as an adult the more I realize that the things she says can be...well...crazy.  But in a good way!  Like make your friends crack up good.  So I've decided that when those occasional (actually quite often) things slip out...I'm drawing a comic of it.

BEHOLD, the first installment of My Mom Said WUT???

  

Love you MOM!!!!

 

Baltimore Happiness

I made it there alive!!!!  And check out the new hair color btw...I flippin' lurv it.

Brace yourselves this is a massive post...ready?

Alright...where to begin?  I LOVE Baltimore.  Not just the convention they held, but the city was truly great too.  It's always difficult going to large cities for conventions and trying to figure out what to do in the evening when the floor closes.  So many times we end up back in the hotel after finding the closest place to eat, and we always seem to fall asleep around... 9:00 or 10:00 (not fun)  Baltimore had plenty of things for us to entertain ourselves with-in walking distance: great restaurants, live music, aquarium, singing fudgery, AND dragon paddle-boats!!!!  You read right...singing fudgery and dragons.  It was already amazing that I finally had my own table at a convention, but the fact that the city was great, was just icing on the cake...or fudge.

  So, who wants to see some pictures!? 

Moi, working at trying to look busy while people stand there and judge my work. :)

Boom baby!!  My very first commission at Baltimore Comic-Con.  All the commissions I did at the convention where in this same style...there's no way I could shell out drawings like my portraits in a short amount of time.  For those who don't know, this is Rogue from Marvel's X-Men.  The guy I did this for was really pleased with the outcome, including the text that I put above her.  His words were, "Classic."

Some views of my table!  Robert Downey Jr. was a hit with the ladies of course...but more guys bought prints of him than anyone. ^-^

And of course I was not alone at my table.  The OrccaCast and Fangirl Confessional where there promoting.  This is Jen and I with our game faces on...we scared a few away with this.

Danny and Jason loitering..."Get away you crazy kids!!!  You're scaring the costumers!!"

A view down the aisle I was in, which was only a fraction of the whole artist alley.

Here's another adorable commission I did...this one was for Jen, ha!  Sketch card of Big Barda from DC Comics.  I really love her helmet, and you can't tell that I used a gold paint pen to highlight it.  Oh well, go knock on Jen's door to see it in person, it's shiny!!! 

Here's something different!  Some guy came by my table and specifically wanted me to contribute to this collaboration.  If you can't tell it's all of the same character, just different interpretations.  For the life of me I can't remember her name...anywho, mines at the top in the middle.

   Here's a close up of mine...meow.

This one is another collaboration.  My friend Jen has been getting commissions from this girl ever since her first convention...she's very loyal!  Peng, as she goes by, did the pencils and Jen commissioned me to ink and color it.  I did it with Prisma color pencils.  And again, for those who are not comic nerds like us, it's Mystique from the X-Men comics.  I've got another one I'm working on that Peng penciled, so be on the look out for that one!  You can check our Peng's awesome work at http://peng-peng.deviantart.com/

Close up!

I did a lot more commissions than these...but I failed to whip out the camera and take pictures of those.  Live and learn!  Here are the newest sketch cards that I took with me to sell though!

 Kick Ass sketch cards wha!!!!?????

The Joker, Power Girl, and Kitty Pryde.  I gave the original Power Girl to Amanda Conner :-O "What!?  You crazy!!!"  Ya, I was freaking out about it until she seemed genuinely surprised and happy that I gave it to her.  Amanda Conner was the main pencil artist for the Power Girl comics #'s 1-12.  She's amazing and I want to be her when I grow up. :)    

 Awww Sookie....True Blood sketch cards!

 Last but not least, the mighty THOR!!!!!  Once again, you can't see how I've highlighted him with a silver paint pen.  I still have the original if anyone wants it!!!  huh? huh?

Throughout the whole convention I needed something to bide my time in-between commissions.  I dug out an old project that I started a YEAR ago... *shakes head*  Good thing is, this geared me up to finally try to finish it.  Although it's not there yet......

 BUFFY!!!!!  

Sigh...still quite a bit to go, so don't go judging yet.

Yes, I warned you this would be a big post!  Aren't you glad I waited to post everything though?  Some things I learned for next time: I need to invest in a banner with my name and art on it.  I looked so pitiful in-between two guys with massive banners screaming at people to come to their table.  More merch equals more money!  And finally, Master Chief fighting Boba Fett sells like hotcakes.

Overall, I could have been busy and made more money, but I was a newbie this year and I think I did pretty well.  I made some new friends and clients and I think I caught the bug.  The bug to do more tables at conventions!!!  I've taken the plunge to get my art out there and it's already started to pay off...literally.  Hey, look at that, I'm a paid artist ma!!! 

 

Baltimore Comic-Con

I'm officially back from stage managing KCTC's Summerfest's production of RENT.  It's taken almost a week for me to recover from the intensity that is stage managing our in the middle of a giant field!  But everything turned out well in the end, and my allergies didn't kill me...yet...


Anywho!  As I may have mentioned before, I'll be attending Baltimore Comic-Con this next month (Aug. 27th-29th), and I'll be at my own booth in artist alley!!!!  

TAH DAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

YES that's right...ever since I started going to cons I've longed to be in the artist alley.  For those of you out there who don't know what I'm talking about, I'll try to sum it up for you: Artist Alley is the area, in the back, of any comic book convention where artists are set up at individual tables.  They have all there art of display, and you can buy prints, commissions, or just talk em up.  Most of the time it's a mixture of known and unknown artists.  If you're like me and you can't get enough art...it...is...AWESOME.  So, I'm flippin' out about being there.  I won't be by myself at my booth.  I'll have my dear friends from Orccacast there, sans Micheal (who will be preparing for DragonCon).  If you don't know, they are a podcast that consists of all things nerdy.  They will be recording a show there, so if you're attending you should swing by to say hi...you'll be on the air!  Check them out! www.orccacast.blogspot.com
Hopefully the podcast that I'm a part of, Fangirl Confessional, will also be there...once again sans Kerry (going to DragonCon...sigh).  We are also a very nerdtastic podcast, but from the girls point of view.  You can check us out at  http://fangirlconfessional.podomatic.com/.  We'll also be on Stitcher Radio soon.
Check out Baltimore's site here: http://comicon.com/baltimore/
I'll have more information soon...like hopefully my booth number. :)

Trading Card Madness...and a Clown

This past weekend  I had the pleasure of being one of the featured artists at A+ Comics for the comic book creators independence day.  This was the first time that I've had the chance to publicly display my art and try to sell prints and sketches.  I'll admit, I was wicked nervous having never done anything like this before...felt a little vulnerable sitting around people like Robert Kirkman and Mark Kidwell who are established creators.  I know what you're thinking, "Why was Tressa there, she doesn't have a comic book of her own?"  Well, the shop got wind that my friend Jason and I are creating a web comic and that's why I was there.  We haven't started posting the comic yet but I really think it's something that people will enjoy...don't worry I'll keep you updated on it.
Anywho, basically what I did was sell copies of some sketch cards that I came up with and I also did 5 dollar ink sketches for those who wanted a character of their own.  Here are the sketch cards that I had to begin with:

Cute, right?  The Buffy was my favorite, which I ended up give the original to a my new friend Kerry!  I loved how they all turned out, so expect more in the future!  If you want one of your own my commission prices are 15 for ink or a portrait style and 25 for color.  One that I did for Kerry's boyfriend, Micheal, was this little critter:

 It's Dexstarr!!!!!

The other brand spanking new thing I have to share is my latest pencil portrait...for those who don't care much for clowns, brace yourself....

For those who may not know this is from the opening scene of "The Dark Knight" where the Joker (seen here up above) successfully robs a bank.  Wouldn't you hand the money over if that came walking in?  The original is up for sale if anyone is interested, please let me know!

Last but not least I have become a part of a podcast!!! :)  My friend Jen, who you all know from Confessions of a Fan Girl http://fangirl92183.blogspot.com/ has created a like minded podcast for what us chicks like to discuss.  It's Jen, Kerry and I and it's all things nerdy in the world!!!  Please check us out and become a follower...we are getting better and better each broadcast!! http://fangirlconfessional.podomatic.com

Well, that's it for right now...I'm diving deeper and deeper into the show that I'm stage managing so these next few weeks are going to be crazy and fun at the same time!

You're Munny

So...to recap from the last entry:  I bought some Kidrobot Munny vinyl D.I.Y. toys in hopes that I might have found another outlet for my art.  Here are the results of my experiments! 

First up is the one called Rooz (I think it's supposed to look like a kangaroo).  I created this little guy while watching "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus".  Watching that trippy movie, not knowing what I'm doing and painting this made for a deadly combination.  I'm not really sure what this is...boredom incarnate seems like...

O

That's right, there's a bird on his stomach tweeting out some tunes....

Up next is the true test of what I can do with these.  This time I decided to create Death from Neil Gaiman's graphic novels Sandman.  I used Super Sculpey for her hair, which became a headache after I pulled it out of the oven.  If I looked at it wrong it would break, so this means I had to break out the old Alene's glue.  I think I had to reattach least 5 strands of hair.  I will defiantly rethink about sculpting hair next time.

   

I think she turned out pretty cute...sassy look about her.  I'm the most pleased with how the paint turned out on her body.

Here's another angle:

So, what do you all think?  If you were to buy one from me, what kind of characters would you be looking for?

Munny Fun

This past weekend I went to Louisville with some friends and while I was there I picked up a Kidrobot Munny toy.  They are blank soft vinyl toy that are meant to be a D.I.Y. type of project.  I've seen other artists use these before, but I've never thought about it myself til I encountered a store in Louisville that sells all different kinds of them....some shaped like bears, cats, dogs, and the one I got that kinda looks like a kangaroo.  After looking around on line on what exactly I need to do to make this work I'm really excited about creating my own!  Here's an example that I found: 

Admiral "It's a trap!" Ackbar

Wish me luck, and I'll keep you updated on the process!  As for now, I'm off to gather supplies for the little critter. :)