The Grey, WIP: 7/9/2023

Progress is so slow. It's a bit rough around the edges, but I'll fix that next time. I couldn't decide if I wanted to put her hair over the mask or leave it under. I'm thinking of under. Bits of the hood will go over though. I'm trying for hyper realism and probably falling just short of it as always.

I had a couple of hours I think and all I managed to do was finish the mask, color her neck and her eyes. Start her hair. I wasn't ready to stop, but people started to yell at me.

in hindsight i rly should update my mUSE LIST AND BIOS SO I'M NOT ALWAYS LIKE "HEY IK I DON'T HAVE A BIO LINKED BUT I CAN SEND U A TUMBLR LINK / JUST RAMBLE ON MAIN"

Women in the gym

I am 19 years old and I have been going to the gym consistently for 6 months now. I have gotten into body building but have thought about competing (not physique competing but actual weight lifting competing) I have found that some of my friends have talked about trans people in sports and no shame to them but they don't workout or don't weight lift like I do (like benching or squatting with a barbell) . I never realized just HOW much men are stronger than women, until you walk into a gym and realize how slow your progreess will be compared to men and how much they can outlift you is baffeling. I am not upset by this, it's just biology and I am proud of the progress I made but the thought of a man just competing against me would make me so mad, since I know how much work I put in and it would have never had a chance to win. My brother benches almost 2 plates and he's only been working out for 2 months. I've been benching for 6 and I am just shy of a plate. And this was just about weightlifting alone, no change rooms included. I tried to tell my friends how it would be really unfair but they really didn't really understand. Now I couldn't imagine contact sports... that must be really rough if they were to allow transwomen to compete.

What im working on atm, environments are tricky

Happy Monday! I just read your WIP list (wow, WIP-lash!) and if you want to mark one more complete, I’ll say again, for the record, that I thought A Case of the Honeymoons landed fine. ❤️🦦🚴🏻‍♀️🐾🦑 -ccb

Okay I hear you but consider this... by now you should know that I am a stubborn ho and am going to write that last chapter because I have plans. Plans to bring them full circle. 🤪 Damn it.

as of today I'm officially a filthy intern

work in progreess concepts for a retelling of Hansel & Gretel. In my retelling the brother and sister are a pair of ghost cats and the witch is a toddler who is (playfully) tormenting them. 

The Grey, WIP: 7/7/23

Well, I wish I had realized yesterday that by painting the base coats of the wings and then just fading out the references over the top of them, I could have saved myself some time and trouble. Now all I have to do is erase around the white wing and it'll be mostly done...save for some highlights I might want to put in.

This was a single image, then a doubled one because my graphics program has a tendency to merge all layers prematurely once in a while. A glitch that I'm not at happy about. I was just able to remove the bulk of the reference picture today. Look so much better without it there.

I was going to do a half gold and half silver halo, but with all that black and white, there's need for more splashes of color. So, the halo will be solid gold and have red jewels set into it. The flames will also add some color as well as the lady's skin. A nice brown. Her hair will be black.

References for the bits I need to see are still there, just invisible at the moment. Except for the frame design. I'm doing my best to eliminate anything I copied from online as fast as possible. Except for the wings of course. I need those.

I will lighten the hue of the cloak; I usually start dark and work lighter then darker again in spots as I go along. I even have brushes that will do fabric textures. I think I might try that. In spite of the need for more color, I still insist that the cloak be grey. Maybe I can add some patterning or something. I'll think about it.

Anyway, I never meant this drawing to look like a playing card. In fact, the main elements of the drawing just showed up randomly in my head when I wasn't really thinking of anything particular. But I liked what I saw, so I'm drawing it.

Yes, I know I'm cheating a lot. This is because sometimes I have trouble translating what's in my mind onto canvas. I can draw the human figure but haven't had a lot of practice at it. Nor do I have a lot of practice drawing clothing. It was just easier to find what I needed online to help me out this time. I don't know who all the artists are who put out all these free resources for me to use. Though angelic figures are common, I can say with confidence that this idea is uniquely mine. Just for the fun of it I did a general search image for a moment and found lots of angels, but nothing exactly like mine. So, there's that.

I can and to draw freehand. I'd do it more often than I have been lately if I had more time. My time off is sporadic at best/worst. Given the choice, I'd spend more time doing everything in my head. Taking a few hours a day just to draw. I can do a solid three hour session of drawing before my brain gets tired and I have to take a break. I rarely get that time lately.

Ugh. This is devolving into a bitch session. I won't do that here. Anyway, when this is completed, people who are into games like Dungeons and Dragons or similar games may use this character as part of your game. Just ask me first because I want to know about it. Give me credit for the design. No, you may not sell it. I need the profits far worse than you do.

I came to think of The Grey as a kind of judge for contests and legal issues...and maybe other things. She knows there's more than one facet to every story, there isn't just pure evil and pure good. There's always those shades of grey. And she's an excellent and fair judge. A living personification of justice and a powerful force for the good side. My mind had to work on this for a while as I drew her "card." Because originally, she had no story, no meaning. I'm still inviting people to have an open interpretation of her character however.

I can also see this as a big poster over someone's bed simply because it looks cool. It would be a nice decoration, especially if it turns out as nice as I want it to.

I'd appreciate it if no one used my idea until it was completed. I might make some changes along the way that I won't know about until I get there. Not that I think anyone will really. Every offer of free resources I put out gets ignored. I don't know why.

I will also post this on Redbubble when it's done and send a link. I can't seem to completely let my optimism go even though I'm aware that no one wants to buy my artwork. I don't know why.

The Grey, WIP

Managed I tiny bit of work on it yesterday. Fixed the title on top, now everything is more in balance when I was thinking that the figure needed to be higher up. I can't move her until she's finished because all her bits are on different levels on my layering tool.

I managed to catch a couple of mistakes early, which is important. Digital art is very flexible, but there are key points where it becomes too late to make corrections. At such times, it's either scrap the drawing and start over or live with the mistake.

I had thought to make raised designs on the frame, but later thought that would distract too much from the main subject, so flat design it is.

I know I'm leaning heavily on online references, but sometimes it's hard for me to visualize on my own the concept I have in mind and in this drawing, it's helped me to better figure out all the elements I wanted to add to it. I don't always do this, I can and do draw freehand. I even make it a point to draw freehand because it's good practice.

I hope to complete this idea soon. For something so randomly showing up in my mind as it sat mostly idle, it's really cool. I hope that other people will like it too. Seriously, I wasn't thinking of anything. No idea where my brain got the image.

Looks like a game playing card, though that wasn't my intention. But I'm happy to run with that. As I worked on this drawing, I came up with her job, which is to find the truth and understand it in full. With her knowing that there's rarely if ever a black or white truth. There's always more than once facet to a story and always shades of grey. In fact, as I put the references together to try out my idea before I fully committed to it, the title "The Grey' practically shouted at me. And she's a judge and a force for good always.

This type of inspiration happens to me only rarely. Works from my mind that just show up as a fully formed idea or almost fully formed one. Practically shouting at me how it should be and what it should be called. Most of the time I have to at least consciously think it through a little bit before I put together on my canvas. So, I'm relishing this rare thing that's happening and hopefully I'll be able to complete it before too long.

Would this work in a D&D game? Or maybe something like it? That white circle thing behind the left wing on my right, is temporary. I need it to see the line work. Once I've got the base coat of color in, I can remove it.

Okay, so I cheated a lot as far as the drawing. But, I sometimes have difficulties drawing what's in my head, so getting references helps a lot. This image just showed up in my head and I was lucky to get all the help I needed to put it together.

Originally just a random picture that showed up in my mind with no meaning, my imagination got to work and The Grey is a judge of truth and is very aware of the fact there are few if any strict black and whites. There are shades of grey and at least two sides to every story.

I think she'd make a good board game character. Something involving dice and cards like D&D. The design of the drawing looks like a card to me anyway. It wasn't intentional, but I'm going with it.

I'm hoping I can actually finish it, because there are people in my life that don't care if I have any time for myself. Drawing is not just fun, but a need. I need it to keep me sane in this shitty life of mine. It's not the worst that can happen to anyone, but I hate it. I hate it with a passion and wish dearly that I could fix it.

Anyway, I'll post the finished drawing here and other places online. If you want to put this protagonist character into a game, go ahead, just ask me first and give me credit for the design. I'd be surprised if any will use her, because everyone ignores my offers to share my works and photos. But if you do, please wait until the finished work is posted! This thing is a mess and I'm the only one who has any idea of the final design details...which won't be all black, white and shades of grey. There'll be some splashes of color and that frame is going to be in solid gold relief. That mask will remain as is, but part of the hood will be covering it. Skin tones for exposed areas, I'm thinking brown, like Mexican or Native American. Black hair. The robe will be grey. The flame on the right will be a black light color and the one on the right a white flame...or a blueish one closely resembling the one already referenced here. The wing in the white field will be black and the wing in the black field will be white. There's a half gold and half silver halo. I can see that clearly in my mind with no trouble. The one I got sketched there is too thin and there's some simple line designs I want to put on the halo. I can draw that with no references myself.

I can draw with only visual reference to look at or just images in my mind and do it totally freehand just fine. It's just easier this way. I do draw things freehand most of the time...half of the time lately. But, I have made a mental note to push myself into doing more purely freehand artwork so I can continue to improve in every way I can in my drawing.

(I often look though my posts to proof them and frequently wince. I see my grammar. Well, I was in a hurry and I'm too lazy at the moment to fix it now. Shit, I can write volumes without meaning too. Oh well.)

Three Cats, WIP

Finally done with the backdrop! Getting started on Alma, who is the cat in the front. Only managed a nose and one eye today. Hopefully I'll be able to do a lot more tomorrow. I'm trying for hyper real. Chances are good that I'll pull it off. The backdrop is pure fantasy. I didn't like the original in the photo, so I changed things around some. The cats, I'll draw exactly as I see them.

Three Cats...still a work in progress

Though I'm happy to have made some progress, I didn't get enough time to finish the top most leaf. I'd love to have two hours of progress every time, possibly even three. But no, it's not going to happen. I had half an hour and I was lucky to get even that much. Feels like I'll never get this done at this rate.

Three Cats, a little more progress

Lots of layering, some trial and error, lots of corrections....I get there eventually. I was lucky to be able to draw tonight. Not something that can happen as of lately. I used to draw every night. Nice way to catch up on two days of not being able to work on this.

Three Cats, the work continues

I still have some work to do on Alma's face. I missed some stripes above her right eye and her right ear needs to be darkened. The lighter stripes on top of her head need darkening too. Other than that, her head is mostly done. Her colors were a real challenge to match! I won't be able to draw her every detail exactly, but I'm doing my very best. Lots of staring at my phone, look at my screen, draw, stare at the phone where there's a photo reference...and so on. This is about two and a half hours' worth of shading. I consider this good progress for one day's worth of work.

Three Cats, still a WIP

Well...I managed to draw only one eye and the inside part of Alma's ears. They look odd, but that's okay, most of what's there is going to be covered up with hair. Hopefully tomorrow I can start drawing Alma's fur.