*** EDIT : Whoops. Heads up to let you know I mispelled the link to OMU ; ***

Alright, so I've decided on doing those coloring tutorials that I keep promising. There's still more to come because I haven't quite finished coloring the picture. I'll probably do an eye and hair tutorial. And then upload the finished picture.

I'll also give these tutorials to Eunice_P, who's hosting a whole bunch of tutorials at her Drunk Duck account [link] . It's a great place to get tutorials by many different people, ranging from anything from "anatomy" to "lightning" to "how to draw anime characters".

Also, kudos to Renmazuo for creating such a lovely picture to color [link] I snagged this image off of [link] in their "please color" section. But it's the most complex picture I've colored in a while (apart from my commissions and comic cover art), so I thought it'd be nice to make tutorials out of. I was actually going to just make one or two about basic coloring, but while I was at it I figured I'd throw in some stuff about how to color different elements.

The list of tutorials:
Photoshop layers basics : [link]
Coloring basics : [link]
Coloring anime faces : [link]
Coloring cloth : [link]
Coloring metal and jewels : [link]



If you have different ways of doing things, or use my tutorials as a guide to color your own pieces, I'd be delighted to hear from you! Drop me a line/comment/email and show me your stuff or disagree with me.

In other random news, I finally got to play Devil May Cry 3 (aka the game I'm so obsessed over that people actually think I own it. Ha! I don't even own a game system except the old school Nintendo. Yeah ... I need a life ;3). Anyway, it was tres cool, except for the fact the bosses are so hard to beat. But Dante is pretty to look at so who cares!


Cheers,
bluebug

1. I've been drawing since forever. I used to have a few friends who were artsy like me, but sadly they've since turned to other things. Sometimes I feel that I'm just clinging to art because it's something I'm comfortable with (ie. rather than trying new things). But I've come to realize that it's something that I need to do, rather than something I've chosen to do. In the end, my muse calls me, and I answer. That was waaay deeper sounding than I intended o_O;;

2. I used to draw unicorns and puppies and bunnies and teddy bears oh my! (I was ten at the time ... so don't worry, you can still talk to me without fear or horror). My friends have actually kept those drawings, and to my dismay, still gush over them.

3. My first inspiration for anime-type art was Sailor Moon.

4. I hate my sketches with a passion. That's why most of my stuff is inked and colored.

5. I still have trouble drawing legs and hands. -_-;

6. I like drawing bangs. Especially when they're angstily covering someone's eyes.

7. My favorite part of any art piece is coloring it in. Mostly because it means I'm almost done and can sit back enjoy what I've done ... for about a day before I see all the mistakes in it XD

8. I take my inspiration from movies, cartoons, media and other art I've seen.

9. Every time I draw someone human, I must resist the incredible urge to give them long pointy ears.

10. My art has been published! lol, I had to find a way to plug the anthology in here. On to [link] for more info ^_^

Thanks to KJ for the tag! Hopefully these people haven't been tagged before ... Modesty, Animetor Lily, Hawk, and my animethon buds poohpoohbear587, kittycat78, sarah-echidnahog

Over the weekend I participated in my very first Artist's Alley. Apart from a few things, I had a blast. I met a lot of ultra cool people, many in ultra cool outfits. It was pretty funny since a few people were dressed "as themselves" and I asked them who they were cosplaying ... only to get blank looks. Some people are just creative fashion ... people. One guy looked like Reno, complete with red hair, black shirt and sunglasses. He, of course, was dressed as himself. Then came along the two junior high school girls dressed very funkily. They looked rather insulted when I asked them who they were cosplaying

In the middle of the last day, some random girl dressed as some male gunslinger dressed all in white suddenly whipped out her gun and started yelling melodramatic threats to a giant guy dressed as Cloud (whose sword was 8 feet tall). Cloud was right in front of me, and as a dutifully little newbie I started snapping pics of the action. Too bad I was drawing at the time, so I actually threw down my pen and exchanged it for a camera. I hope the girl I was drawing at the time didn't mind -_-;

The day was completely filled with drawing after drawing, which was pretty gratifying. My artist's ego has been satiated ... for about a month. Though on Sunday morning, I thought I was going to get carpal tunnel because my wrist hurt like the Dickens. I was terribly worried since I'd only been drawing for 5 hours the day before, because I had to run back and forth from the con since one of my friends was having her wedding that day. Thankfully, despite drawing for 10 hours non stop on Sunday, my wrist survived.

For anyone who wants to take a gander at my con pictures, check out my forum:

[link]

Go to Hear ye, Hear ye --> ME + CON = MECON

In other news, I finally got my copies of the anthology!!!! *droooools* I'm posting pictures of the antho in the forum as well under the board "Anthology" --> "Dark Souls is finally OUT"

To order your own copy, go to [link] or [link]

Yay! Finally done. Phew. For the last couple of weeks I've basically been breathing, eating and sleeping and then working on the anthology. Sooo glad it's finally done.

Final count:
- 24 comic pages and 5 pages of extras
- 4 magic attacks
- 3 familiars and 1 baby bird
- 27 elfies

The Dark Souls anthology, related art and fanart by , , will be available for sale at RiverTown Comic Con [link] and JAFAX [link]

(These conventions are in Grand Rapids Michigan).

Apparently there's been a sudden uproar concerning the submission agreement at dA. Like the majority, I glanced over the TOS (terms of service) to make sure there wasn't anything glaringly wrong about it, then happily clicked the "I agree" button.

After checking out Raymei's journal [[link] I realized that there was more to this TOS than meets the eye. I figured I'd better look into it. I checked out the forum, and there were a number of ardent dAers who were quick to point out the folly of anyone who would consider leaving dA over the TOS. Their arguments weren't very convincing, consisting mostly of "Why would dA want to steal people's art? They'd get sued!" Unfortunately, if we all agree to a TOS that allows dA to effectively "steal" our art, then that legal document is binding and it protects dA from getting sued. In other words, if we agree to let dA make use of our art, then they can do whatever the heck they want.

That said, legalese is practically like another language, so I wanted to see if I could find an actual interpretation of the Submission agreement. I found one here:
[[link]

There's a table of contents, and you're free to read the whole thing, but what's at issue here is the section under "License to use Artist Materials".

The difficult part about this agreement is that the terms are quite broad. They not only allow dA to function, but they also allow dA to "abuse" their power. After all, dA does need our permission to publish our artwork on the site without having the pay us royalties. Without such an ability, dA would have to pay everyone each time a thumbnail popped up, or a favorite. However, the agreement is written so broadly that it seems to allow to publish any work, in any media, at any time. That's pretty disturbing.

In the end, it really rams home the point that anything you put up on the net can, in reality, be stolen. It makes it all the worse when organizations like Cafepress and dA make such action legal, and thus render artists powerless to protect their work.

All in all, this discovery has set off little warning bells in my head. Nevertheless, I don't plan on dA just yet. It's a nice little community. Still, I will think twice about what I upload here. Methinks there will be a sudden rash of fanart of videogames and movies from me.