Author Archives: thumper71

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About thumper71

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    I’m so excited! I had a little life crisis, but it’s no longer raining inside my house. The repairs took almost all of my holiday. Ih well…

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   This is Melissa Sarah Wee. She’s a bodybuilder, obviously, and a really sweet person. Since I’m doing #inktober and doing a drawing a day, I decided to post the steps of her drawing on her page. She is the subject after all…

….the response was overwhelming.

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      I’m getting a lot of requests for commissioned work. It’s weird to consider.  Until a month ago, I was telling myself it would be another month before I was ready to do this much work. Now I’m churning out more than I have in years!

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    I’m sorry if this seems like bragging it’s just that I’m really starting to feel like an artist. Like I could conceivably be paid for it.

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     I guess the lesson is if you have a huge passion for something,  do your best to not let it die. #lovetheprocess

Diss[connect]

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      It’s.#inktober! So for this month, I have to do a drawing in pen, marker or ink of some type everyday.

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     Of course,  I’m not going to post each and every one,  though you’ll probably end up seeing them all. Plus it never hurts to practice a bunch…

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      Its been tough though. First I injured a finger on my drawing hand.It became all swollen and discolored. The pain wasn’t too bad,  but I hated doing anything with it.

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         Then my roof fell in in my kitchen! Apparently it had been built wrong to start with and came down with a crash. I’m scrambling now to install a new one.

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     Despite all of the nonsense, I cranked out a picture a day without fail. More to the point I’m learning how to streamline my process.

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        So that’s it for now. I’m learning a lot about the business side of art as well. Hopefully I will be able to put it to use soon!

Brand Loyalty

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        It takes a lot of patience and effort to keep your life on track. Lately I’ve had to readjust some priorities, but the good news is that my art gained more consideration.

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      After visiting Artists Alley at Comic-Con,  I received a lot of support. I really didn’t expect it;  I had professional artists telling me I should be one of them! Vindication; don’t knock it until you receive it, am I right?

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        Anyway I’m supposed to be doing a calendar for next year. I’m pretty stoked.
     Wish me skill, not luck. I’m gonna need it!

Cooler

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   Good news everyone!  My client apparently would be “much happier” with the actual digital file. I get to work on it a little longer to fine tune things I wasn’t happy with.

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      Of course I intend to take advantage of this. But no sooner did I begin than work became hectic. I mean REALLY busy,  to the point of me having to be in three places at once.

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       Anyway, her face isn’t the challenge with this image; I’m okay with those.  It’s the overall look. I’m still not sure who this character is. I haven’t decided how to present her or what way to tie in her background.
       Help?

Internalize Your Love

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      Baltimore comic-con is coming up and I gave myself a commission for a new friend. I don’t get to goof off either;  I need to finish it by tomorrow!  So I’m trying to work on it as much as possible.

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      Of course I have no idea what kind of background I’m going to give it. I usually go to a person’s Facebook page to put those personal little touches on their art. So hopefully she appreciates it.

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      Plus, adding the grey background is necessary when the character has any white on them.  Otherwise you can end up leaving the area blank.

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      I’m nowhere near done! Shading, adding details and all while considering the background layout. Will I make it?…

Localized Love

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        A LOT of the time,  I draw without being conscious of it. It’s something I’ve always done. You’d get a better answer if you asked me when I started breathing.

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   This year I’ve started some major personal projects. I’m hoping to get one published, so everything about it matters. Still, I can’t make the part that just draws shut down.

    But I know how. All I have to do…is be happy.

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     When I’m happy,  I can’t draw. It means that I tap into negative energy to do so. I’m trying to learn to create without doing so, but it’s hard when the emotions have to be at the surface.

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     Of course, I can’t wait. So I feed the beast whenever it howls, and hope to work on my projects in between. It could be worse, right?

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Metal on Metal

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    So whenever I have to deal with the public (i.e. humans) I become a nervous wreck. It’s not that I lack confidence; they are mostly slow and unsure themselves. It makes for difficult interactions when you realize that the person is afraid of you.

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Ok, maybe a shave and haircut and smile would help...

     That makes it extra special when someone says yes! So I met a wonderful young lady who bravely agreed to let me photograph her for a drawing.

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     The entire thing was done during the train ride and presented to her. She was ecstatic!  Plus I received a lot of comments about it. A good day all around.
      Now I need to do a little portfolio padding. So I’m going to be doing more complete images, including backgrounds. Here we go!

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Happy customer!

Confused Yet

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     It’s been an interesting week so far.I’m responsible for hiring a guy to do a one day job. In the interim, I learned that all of the companies that I freelance with charge a LOT. But they don’t pay it. Hmmmm…
     I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. However, the search has hurt my attempt at finishing anything this week!  Commissions based on cosplay is a slow process. Bodybuilders actually pay better, which is funny because everyone in cosplay think they’re models and no one in bodybuilding does. So it ends up making me lopsided in my work. However, the cosplay set WILL let you take a photo or even pose them. Very helpful.

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Contemplating art over a beer. And Bar be Que

Two Dimensional Worlds

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   First the good news. Jezebelle and I are registered for a car show!  For those not in the know,  that’s the name of my Mustang. I also have a bodybuilding show to attend,  so hopefully I’ll get lots of commissions. Send me good vibes, ok?

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     Now for the rest of the story…to me, this is an incomplete picture. I’ve been trying to mix my prismacolor and markers together to make a more interesting look. Well yesterday I had someone accuse me of gluing a photo onto paper!

     This person claimed to be an artist and it really upset me,  because they did it publicly at the train station in D.C.. Others were there and I was about to say something when this senior lady named Bethany called her out. She told her how she’d watched me draw the eyes from over my shoulder and that a so called real artist should be able to see that. I was so relieved! Bethany,  wherever you are,  thank you!

Insulted by Kindness

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        It’s Friday! You can find comfort in knowing that I’ve been busy,  but not overworked this week. I’m trying to be better.

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        The best part of this month is that my son comes home from Afghanistan! I’m really happy and hope we still get along. You never come back the same person. I know.

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         The nerves at least are better.