Amethyst Princess of Gemworld Props and Backgrounds

Amethyst Princess of Gemworld ©DC Comics and Warner Bros Television Animation

Amethyst Princess of Gemworld ©DC Comics and Warner Bros Television Animation

Well, since the shorts have aired twice now on DC Nation, and I've gotten permission from the director, I decided to post some of the stuff I enjoyed drawing the most from the Amethyst Princess of Gemworld shorts.  I did most of the props and a couple bg's when the BG person needed a hand.   

You'll no doubt notice the original models posted next to all the props.  They were designed and drawn by the director Brianne Drouhard (potatofarmgirl).  Once the prop had been approved and cleaned up I would duplicate the item and place a scaled down version next to one of the characters that way when the prop was sent to the studio the animators would know approximately how large the prop was in relation to the character.

Which were the most fun?  Props or backgrounds?  Both were fun.  Fortunately my training on South Park made me more of a jack of all trades, but if I had to pick three. . . Topaz's battle axe, the potion bottle that looks like a baby bottle and the Game Coding for Noob's book.  It may be outdated, but any time I can put noob on something it makes me laugh.  Which was the least fun?  Believe it or not I had to repurpose an old prop of a notepad and pencil but the notepad needed to have game coding notes on it.  At first it was real coding but legal was concerned that the code might be copy written.  So I went back and threw some basic HTML coding in with the game coding and legal was STILL concerned!  It went back and forth between the Director and myself and the Legal department over 5 times.  In the end, the coding looks like nothing but gibberish, which is kinda sad, because we were trying to do a little easter egg for game designers by hiding stuff.  Oh, and did I mention that also, in the end, it was only on the page for 0.5 seconds and so tiny that you couldn't see ANY of the writing?  But I sincerely don't mind because it's not every day you get to work on a magical, butt-kicking princess show, with weapons, a talking skeleton and a flying unicorn.  I totally did it for the Skeleton. ;)

Enjoy!

Amethyst Princess of Gemworld ©DC Comics and Warner Bros Television Animation

Amethyst Princess of Gemworld ©DC Comics and Warner Bros Television Animation

Amethyst Princess of Gemworld ©DC Comics and Warner Bros Television Animation

Amethyst Princess of Gemworld ©DC Comics and Warner Bros Television Animation

Amethyst Princess of Gemworld ©DC Comics and Warner Bros Television Animation

Amethyst Princess of Gemworld ©DC Comics and Warner Bros Television Animation

Amethyst Princess of Gemworld ©DC Comics and Warner Bros Television Animation

Amethyst Princess of Gemworld ©DC Comics and Warner Bros Television Animation

Amethyst Princess of Gemworld ©DC Comics and Warner Bros Television Animation

Macross World Convention 2013 and Deculture: A Tribute to Macross

**UPDATE**

Just got the Flyer in for the show at the Convention.   You may continue. ;)

Over the last week I've been working on completing painting number 4 out of the 6 paintings I have to have completed by November 1st.  Sadly, the painting affiliated with the above poster for Macross World Convention 2013's art show "Deculture: A Tribute to Macross" is another "contractually obligated to not show before a certain date" painting.  Which I BARELY caught in the fine print at the last minute cause I was so tired.

Just before my birthday I was contacted by the organizers of the Macross World Convention.  They are having their first ever gallery/art exhibit entitled "Deculture: A Tribute to Macross" and they asked me if I'd participate.  I was hesitant at first because I don't know very much about Macross and it felt strange doing tribute/fan art for something I've never really seen.  I was honest with them and told the truth, but when they wrote back and said that they just loved my style and would be curious to see what I came up with in.  Then they were nice enough to give me a crash course in the world of Macross.  How could I say no when they were so nice about things?

You'll have to wait until October 6th to see the new painting, but, I can tell you I titled it "Tech or Treat" and it'll probably give someone a cavity.  Gouache, as usual, for the medium and pretty small.  As I get more information I'll try to do a follow up post with more specific info.

NOW I finally get a much needed week off (just in-time to watch season premiers on CBS) between painting number 4 and painting number 5. . . and then I'll get a whole 2 and a half weeks to complete painting number 5!  Believe me, I could use it.  What's the next show?  Why thank you for asking.  Up next in mid-october is "Story Time" a group show organized by Oscar Rosales of Bleenkies fame at Monkeyhouse Toys in Silverlake, CA.  Just check out the flyer for more info.

Autumn Serenade

Well, the ELEU Autumn Harvest/Dia de Los Muertos piece is thankfully finished.  I'm now officially half way thru the 6 paintings I have to have done before my hiatus ends in November.  As much as I love that I'm getting to spend my break painting, I have to admit I'm getting a bit tired physically.  I have to paint at night like I would if I was still working.  The house goes into such a state of disarray when I'm working that I have to spend my entire hiatus getting things back in order. . . which as I'm sure everyone knows, is a full time job it's self.

Anyway.  This piece was a lot of fun.  As I stated in the last post where I introduced it, color comps were a pain in the butt, but in the end that extra three days it took to finish them was worth it.  Details of the show's official opening reception are still vague but I'll post details here and on Facebook once I know more.  What I can tell you is this:  the painting, which I've entitled "Autumn Serenade" will be on display at ELEU Salon in Burbank, CA from Friday, September 13th, 2013 thru November 2013 and will be $275.  If interested, contact ELEU Salon for more information.

As I'm sure my followers have noticed, I like to make my paintings a bit personal.  This one is no different.  Fun personal things hidden/represented in this painting are not that hidden really.  The little boy and girl are representing my husband and I.  We will be celebrating our first anniversary on Halloween so Autumn is very special to us.  Specific references are:  The mariachi is left handed.  That is probably only something musicians would catch and think I made a mistake on.  It's not a mistake.  I redrew the entire composition when I realized I made him a right handed player.  Not only does it help the flow of the piece, it wouldn't be my husband if he was a right handed player (yes there is a difference and left handed guitars are very hard to find).  Second, I totally made the scarecrow girl a grunge girl on purpose and she's totally wearing a Pearl Jam t-shirt.  I always wanted one of those "Alive" t-shirts.  The little Jeremy stick figure is totally awesome.  There aren't too many hidden things in this one actually.

Everything else is there for story purposes or just because it felt right.  There is a church yard in the Background as that's where the little mariachi boy came from.  If you get out a magnifying glass you can actually see decorative bunting strung just behind the cemetery entrance.  The crows were fun and although they look more like robins or sparrows than crows I really like the design and will probably do a few mini paintings of them cause they're just cute.

Up next?  I have one week to complete a Macross/Robotech themed piece.  I've got the concept and after taking today off to try to catch up on sleep, I'll be sketching and hopefully color comping that one before the end of the day on Friday the 13th!

Can't believe it's halfway thru September already!!

An Autumn Harvest Painting WIP and the Wedding Thank You Card

Well, as promised, I saved my blog followers from the obnoxious "Wedding Thank You Card" in progress work (If you're curious, you can check them out on Instagram or the Fan Page).  And I'm still going to save you because I'm going to start this post with the Autumn fun!

This weekend is the due date for paintings for a new art show at ELEU Salon here in Burbank, CA.  The theme is the Autumn Harvest or Day of the Dead.  I'm cutting it close but I thought I'm keeping my fingers crossed I finish this painting in time.  I got a little ambitious.  This painting is going to measure about 7 inches wide and 13 inches tall.  With only 3 days to finish, I'm on crack, but I'm going to try.  Above is the Color Comp and it's been quite a pain in my rear.  It's taken  a good 4 days get thru the struggle of the color comp.  I really wanted to use "autumn colors", the deep Jewel tones commonly associated with the season:  burgundies, rusts, golds, browns and plums.  Unfortunately it didn't go so well.  So although this comp is closer to what I had in mind, it's still not quite there. . . but it's got potential.  More importantly. . . it'd due Saturday and I don't have time to dink around anymore.

Just because I thought it might be fun to see, I've also thrown in the initial thumbnail and sketch for the piece.  I have some strange addiction to drawing vertically. . .

And finally, the damn Wedding Thank You card.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I've sent it to the printer and hope to have it back in a few days.  My goal is to have them out before the end of the month. . . that way it will have only taken 11 months to get them out and not 12.  :P

As I'm sure you've probably noticed, I like to stick my cats in just about everything, but for once it makes sense.  My whole "family" is grateful for the gifts we've received from our loved one's and friends, so of course I'm going to include our "kids" in the card.  There are two Disney references in the Card.  Can you find them?