Lost: A Sense of Proportion

If I can replicate it now, that is. XD
( Cut to save flists )

From time to time, I tend to work on paintings that're kind of... a study in all the things I can't do. XD A lot of them wind up getting abandoned partway through, when I run out of patience, or get thoroughly fed up with my inability to master certain skills... or realize that I've done something technologically stupid which is going to prevent it from working out the way I wanted. 

But anyhow. I've been really wanting to get better at backgrounds, perspective, and fine detail work (among oh so many other things), so I've been plowing away at this painting over the last month or so, trying out different techniques, and now I'm actually fairly happy with it. And I thought I'd post it here. ^^
( Big pics under a cut, to avoid killing friends' pages. )

Dragon version of Coulson is done!

( Pics under here! )

Got the baby version of the Thor dragon done! LOL, Mjolnir looks kind of ridiculously big on his tail, but... I dunno, it seemed to work. 



(Big version's here.)

I think the next adult one done may be Coulson. Or maybe the polished version of Captain America. Or Fury. XD But I have some ideas for Coulson, so it'll probably be him. 

And a bit of an update on the Cap-puppy, because I can't resist the urge to post a picture. *g*

( Ramblings about Captain )

Art projects got a bit delayed between 1. Intensive puppy training. and 2. Weird problems with my tablet. Thought I was going to have to get a new one for a while there (Um, tablet, not puppy. XD), but between my brother's troubleshooting and reinstalling software a few times it seems to be up and running again. \o/

So, I've had a few partially finished ones in progress here, and just got this baby version of the Hawkeye one done tonight:



(Bigger version here.) 

I was thinking about doing this sometime after I did the adult Captain America dragon. Buuut... then I was having major anatomy problems with my Thor!dragon, and the babies are quick and easy, so I had to take a break and work on this one.

Baby Captain America dragon:



(Bigger version is here.)

And on an obviously totally unrelated note, have I mentioned that our new puppy's name is officially going to be Captain? 

I don't know, maybe there's no good explanation for this. But. Well.

Yesterday, I spent the morning in our church nursery, taking care of a bunch of darling toddlers and babies. Then, as nefhiriel mentioned, we went to our breeder's house to see the puppies, and finally found out which one she's almost certain is going to be ours. And, just - puppies. *flails* So we stayed until the puppies all finally wore themselves out and fell asleep. And then, on the way home, we stopped to see Avengers again, because Neffie and I really wanted to see it once more in theaters but it's not showing anywhere near us, but there was a theater close to the breeder, and they had $3 tickets. And then we had pizza for dinner.

And apparently the happiness-overload did things to my brain.

I've been working on my other Avenger!dragons, and I thought that Hawkeye would be the next one finished. But then instead: 

This is what happens when Loki says, "Yeah? Well I'm gonna turn myself into a dragon, and then you'll all be sorry!" Only then the whole "big, scary, intimidating" part of that whole plan... doesn't quite work out as anticipated. On the plus side, it's still pretty effective, as defense mechanisms go.



(Slightly larger version here.)

Really, though, in fairness, wouldn't your brain melt into a puddle of gooey, fluffy happiness if you knew this little face was going to be coming home with you in a couple of weeks? ;D

I may have mentioned once or twice my recurring frustration at being unable to manage decent fanart, because I Can. Not. draw people? And my tendency to deal with that frustration by... turning characters into dragons? 

Yeah. Have Dragon!Captain America and Dragon!Iron Man.



Kinda rough, and I ran out of paper space, but it was fuuuun. So fun I now want to do proper polished versions. And the rest of the team. And maybe Fury and Coulson too, because I'm a dork like that.  

So... life has been not-so-great lately. Particularly since I'm apparently in one of those injuring myself phases again. (Heh, including managing to burn every finger on my left hand the day before yesterday. :P) But! I'm all out of whining for the time being. How about some handmade jewelry instead? 

( Steampunk under the cut! )

Meh, I feel like I'm being terribly uncommunicative lately. Lots of big and little craziness!stuff that adds up, not so much to an actual total lack of time to do things as to  general distractedness and inability to focus on anything. So much writing I want to get done, both my own and in comments, and yet... *so much fail* 

But yeah, lots going on, even setting aside last-minute Christmas preparations! Among other things, the masons came to tear out the whole stone front of our fireplace, which has caused a fair amount of chaos...

And of far more interest, and the best possible chaos - I have a brand new great niece! Baby Elle arrived last night! *so excited* There were a fair amount of complications during the labor, which was the cause for some anxiety, but both momma and baby are safe and healthy now, if quite exhausted. And Elle is adorable. Not that I'm at all biased. ;D

And Lexie is, naturally, continuing to be an adorable little princess herself as well. She's missed her mother terribly, and so when she arrived she cuddled up next to Ashley and just repeated "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy..." over and over in the happiest tone of voice - not wanting anything, just so happy to be with her again. So. Cute. 

Just a couple pictures (yes, I shall resist the urge to spam y'all with them ^.^) -

( Baby! )

(Why yes, we did spend quite a bit of time at the hospital today. There aren't that many good, fun reasons to visit a hospital, but boy, when they're good they're really good. *g*)

So yeah, even when I've had time on my hands it seems like I've had the worst time actually getting anything done. Yes, in a couple days the holiday craziness with be settled and it'll likely be much easier, but still. *feels bad*

Heh, as so often seems to happen, though, when I'm having trouble focusing either because of sickness or busyness, the one thing I can easily do is art. And as Nef's got me started on a little art spree (literally as well as figuratively)... A few things I've done.
( Leetle art-ish stuffs. )