Happiness and Sunshine

So, playing around with styles.
And cats.
And potential starter comic ideas.
This might or might not actually be a life goal of mine now.

Of Birthdays

Last week my was my mom's birthday! I made her a cake!

I've never really decorated a cake before!

Yay!

Here's how it turned out looking. I promise it tasted better than it looked...

So, the stuff on top is just a basic cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla concoction. For the drippy bit I heated it up a touch (though the new microwave is a nutcase and heated it a bit more than I wanted/expected/holycrapthisisburningmyfingertipsoff)
The red part is just raspberry jam I thinned with some lemon juice and melted a bit before pouring it on and spreading it out.
It's filled with more of the white frosting and some more of the jam mixture.

The chocolate frosting is, once again, powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter, (but with cocoa, unlike the white part) and vanilla, approximately in that proportional order, too, actually. Oh yeah, there was a dash of milk in there somewhere to thin it down a bit. I'd never really (successfully)  made frosting before and the internet was down so I couldn't look it up, so I have a particular friend (you know who you are <3 ) to thank for my limited knowledge on the subject.

I think last time I tried making frosting with you, it actually ended up as cookies, didn't it?

The cake itself is just a basic cake mix (though I got the extra rich chocolate kind, so not quite as basic as it could be.) I was worried about it supporting the shape and keeping together on top of a filling (Oh, I should have got a pic of the inside. Oh well.) So, I figured that if I kept out one egg (egg is a rising agent and I wanted the cake to be a bit denser, not so fluffy, so it would theoretically be stronger.) I also cut back on the water slightly and made the difference up with extra oil to make the cake stay a bit moister.

It seems to have worked all right :)

Just don't ask about the calorie count. That would defeat the purpose of cake.



Oh, yeah, also, if you haven't figured it out, I did actually make it in safe, just far from on time. My biggest grievance is that I was stuck in an airport on the other end of the flight from the thunderstorm. I love thunderstorms. I wanted to see it : /

Tubing!

Yesterday some friends and I went up the canyon to ride inner tubes down the river.
I have to say, I feel a little miffed. The worst I got was a scraped elbow from falling as I fought the current to get out of the river. After some of the 'battle wounds' everyone else was getting, I was hoping I'd have something showy to post a picture of... but all I managed to do was scrape up my elbow on a rock as I was trying to get out of the water.
Honestly, they picked a terrible place to pull us out. A nice wide spot in the river, yes, but the banks were so grown over we couldn't see the vans waiting for us until we were practically past. The river pinched off directly after this deep slow part, and mot of us were stuck fighting the current back up to the pick up, on loose rock and hauling our tubes behind us. They threw me a rope, but that just made me want to move faster, and I ended up slipping and falling under the water with my tube over top of me. I got a good face full of water...
and you know what? That river tasted better than my tap water XD


And today I'm flying.
Well... I will be. Eventually. My flight's been delayed two hours and counting.
I'm missing all the fun weather in Jersey. So sad...

EDIT: Still in the airport, distracting myself with stumbleupon. Fun stuff.
I just had a major herp-a-derp moment...
These lovely ladies, who run a much more beautiful and effective food blog than I, posted a little tidbit on cleaning up photos in Photoshop. I am in awe at their awesomeness and at the fact that I've never explored the program enough to figure this out for myself.
In about twenty seconds I took this poor photo that you all saw a few weeks ago:

and did this to it:


It might not seem like a big deal you anyone else, but it's practically revolutionary to me :)

I feel kinda silly now. I'll go finish my geek-out in private...


EDIT AGAIN...
They let us get on the plane!
And then told us that it would be at least another hour and some before we took off and told us we could get back off the plane and wander around for a bit if we wanted.
Now I'm back on the plane. Maybe we'll get to go soon? I want to be airborne!

Diversions :)

So, while letting a layer on the current project dry, I picked up a scrap piece of illustration board that's been sitting on my desk for months now and started doodling.
Part of the reason I settled on this blog name is because of how much I love doodling trees. Only part, I assure you.
But this made me particularly happy today :)

A bit of encouragement...

Art is a hard field to break into. Not only is it highly competitive, filled with unbelievably talented people, picky employers and clients, critics of all sorts (unfortunately this includes a great many bandwagon people who are negative and harsh not because it helps anyone, or because they actually have any grounds for what they say, but because they believe if you have to be a critic you have to harshly criticize) and a negative stigma, but artists tend to be the most self-critical of all. Without a lot of support and external motivation, most prospective artists end up tearing themselves down emotionally long before they have a chance to grow.
I found this comic a while ago, and it really catches the gist of what artistic hopefuls face emotionally every day. And, if they're truly blessed, they have friends or family or both who can pick them up after a rough day, brush them off, and say (i apologize for this, but the quote is perfect): "To hell with [them] then"

 Mother's Day Comic 

Also, between finishing up projects here, getting ready for the upcoming semester, and getting ready for a trip, I'm not likely to be able to post any of my own art for a bit. See you all on the other side!

These always turn into something different...

All I was going to do was a quick speed-paint of a face, and some really nice graphic white silhouette hair. Something like this:

...more or less. First off, I was really silly and decided I didn't want to find reference for the face. So that took a while, and next time I look at it I'll probably see a million errors. Oh well.

Secondly, though, as soon as I'd finished drawing that hair... I thought 'Oh, I wonder what it would look like with color!'

Darnit. And I was going to just watch a movie and go to bed. Oops.

Here are my top two options. I'd really appreciate some input, which you guys like best, either way. 

1

2

Oh, also today, I saw MIB:3 and was pleasantly surprised. It was pretty fun, if a bit predictable. Definitely worth a two-dollar ticket. Why in the world don't they have dollar theatres everywhere? I love this place.

Ponies! (ohdearthere'snosavingmenow)

Actually, I haven't watched much of the show. What I have done is watch several terrific artists who do.
As I mentioned in my last post, one of the artists I particularly admire, Cheeko, did a rendition of all the Avengers as Ponies from MLP:FIM. She's graciously given me permission to post my colors and line-work online. She even said she liked the purple in Hulk's mane and tail :D
Here's my finished Thor and Hulk.

Loki, you're next XD

Also, any of you who like art, do art, or like MLP, I would love some input on the lines and colors! I'm really trying to improve here and this style is particularly difficult for me. Anything you see that I could improve on would help!