http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:alyandra&section=today deviantART RSS for by:alyandra en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:40:29 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/21382854/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/21382854/ Sat, 08 Nov 2008 04:43:27 PST
... SO! Here's where you guys come in!

Help me rename him. Hell, help me reMAKE him. He's not at all put together well. I mean, gray furred and brown mane/tail with purple eyes. wtf?! (See here: [link] )

The things that won't change about him are his age (19 at the beginning of the novel) and his species (equine) but pretty much everything else is open. I've already decided he's getting a hell of a hair cut. He's also getting something else cut (off), but that story will come later. >:3

"So, how do I do this?"
1: Download this: [link]
2: Color as wish!
3: Upload to your FA account, crediting the line art to me (please), and NOTE ME. I have been watching the hell out of the recents lately, but I miss some things.

You can do this as many times as you like. I'm not looking for "omg amazing coloring" here, flat colors will do. In fact, flat colors are preferred. Remember though, his appearance has to be easily repeatable, I'm also doing a comic with this.

Now, what YOU get in return: FREE ART. A single character, colored, with minimal background... just no heavy fetishes in the request, please. Also, special mention for your muchly appreciated help in the credits page I will be adding to the novel's site in the next update ([link] ) and a thanks when I (finally finish and) publish it, as well as I'll send you a copy of the book if you wish (assuming the winner is of age or has very open minded parents).

Thanks in advance!

Off FA artists: You may upload and credit on deviantArt and note me there (user: alyandra) or upload to your personal website, or a photosharing site and send me an email at damantru @ gmail . com.

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/21133740/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/21133740/ Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:18:02 PDT
FurAffinity: [link]
Side 7: [link]
Personal Gallery: [link]

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/20875378/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/20875378/ Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:30:14 PDT
"Isn't $20 a lot?"

Yeah, if you're one of those cheap bastards that expects everything for free. If I had the extra $20, I'd buy the sketch. Hell, that cost is including shipping (approx. $4). ... The cost I saw listed in the description was actually $17. So the artist is grossing $13.

I don't think $13 plus the cost of shipping is unreasonable for a sketch. Especially when the artist is one of those really good artists that charges way to little to begin with.

I know I undercharge. I'm trying to get people interested. The artist in question here already has a fair following. If anything, $13 is too LITTLE for the quality.

Just. Ugh. Grr. Stupid, cheap people.

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/18321398/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/18321398/ Wed, 14 May 2008 13:53:12 PDT
You just have to be patient since I'm kinda art blocked. (But it's free so you shouldn't be bitching anyway. )

My FA gallery is waiting on 1234 to show up, so you have two chances. ([link])

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/17616446/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/17616446/ Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:24:31 PDT
I want to keep my icon liek that, plzkthx.

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/16921035/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/16921035/ Sat, 16 Feb 2008 21:38:58 PST
]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/15673138/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/15673138/ Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:38:50 PST
]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/12863636/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/12863636/ Sun, 06 May 2007 13:35:09 PDT
She had two things to say:

My grandmother is going to Vanderbilt Memorial Hospital to have surgery on her neck. No one in Knoxville has the ability to do what needs to be done. That happens on the 8th.

And my older dog, Max, was not doing well. We talked for a while about him, and I told her not to make him hang onto life any longer than he wanted to, just because I MIGHT be visiting in a couple weeks.

She called me yesterday afternoon to let me know that she had taken him to the vet that morning. His kidneys were failing, so the decision was made then. He's now buried next to Bandit.

I'm not really what one would call a Christian. I'm not what one would call religious. But I have a few beliefs. And I believe that Max and Bandit are having a blast right now. Bandit passed away in March of '03, they'be been apart for a few years.

So, rest in peace, little furball. July 11, 1991 to May 5, 2007.

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/12261699/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/12261699/ Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:18:09 PDT
Yes, you would be buying originals. Price is $25, including shipping/

I might do prints later. It depends on how things go.

...

... How the hell do you move things to scraps? o_O

EDIT:
For some reason, the dragon isn't showing up in the gallery, and I do have the view mature art thing on. She's here, if you don't see her: [link]

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/12219798/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/12219798/ Sun, 18 Mar 2007 01:10:16 PDT
I have decided I'm going to do a series of furry femmes. Each piece will be colored in real media, and is drawn on a half sheet of 8.5x11 card stock. The first set will be twelve pieces, sold individually. Pricing will probably be in the $30 range, including shipping pretty much anywhere. These are smaller than what I would normally draw on, but they will have full backgrounds. Each piece will be signed and dated.

These will go on sale once they're finished. Details may change as I make each piece a final work, and things that seem to be missing now will be added in, but the in-progress scan (there will be one in-progress scan for each piece) will give the basic idea of what the final will be.

The species to be used? Random, whatever I feel like drawing, though I will try to make each one different.

If these do well, I will also offer prints of the original twelve, and probably do another set.

Edit: Three and four have been added... Four contains nipples, so has been marked as mature.

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/12089686/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/12089686/ Wed, 07 Mar 2007 05:05:28 PST >

Enjoy.

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/11916417/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/11916417/ Thu, 22 Feb 2007 03:08:03 PST
So, yeah.

Im leaving the spotlight things open. I've got two people to eventually do, I was just waiting on more people to respond. But, eh, if you won't, then I'll just do those two spotlights when I come back.

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/11678304/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/11678304/ Sun, 04 Feb 2007 00:32:21 PST
However, need sleep first. ._.

But yes, creativity!

..sleep.

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/11511980/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/11511980/ Sat, 20 Jan 2007 23:30:20 PST

Oh well. First piece of writing cr-- stuff here. Enjoy, I guess. I've gotta get out of this uncreative hole I've fallen into. ._.;

I'm still wanting at least a couple more replies on [link] . ... plz. *puppy eyes*

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/11210669/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/11210669/ Wed, 27 Dec 2006 11:35:33 PST [link]

I'd like to see a few more people comment though. D: That's the biggest thing I'm waiting on.

Anyway... hope you all had a good holiday.

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/11103632/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/11103632/ Mon, 18 Dec 2006 09:53:43 PST
FIRST OFF: The first 10 people who post in this journal will be featured. I will go through your gallery and choose three of your deviations I like most and post them in my journal for everyone to see!

The catch? You gotta put this in your journal as well if you posted.

Have at it! I'll put up the featured artists/writers and their art to be featured once I get a few responses.

SECOND: "6 Weird Habits/Things About Yourself"

Oh boy...

1: The most obvious: when I was a baby, I had a head injury. I was in my walker, and followed a mover out the front door (my mother told them not to use that door), and prompty fell some 10-12 inches. Sno's head, meet concrete porch. I now have a spot on my forehead of skin that has no pigmentation, and my hair is also un-pigmented. This area is where my hair parts naturally, so even if my hair is dyed, the color is noticably different.
2: If I am wearing headphones and not paying attention, I will chew on the cord. I have lost many headphones this way, and been shocked numerous times.
3: While in middle school, except for a few little things and what I had to do for the required art courses, I effectivly stopped drawing. When I started again (after moving between 8th and 9th grade), one of those artistic doors had opened and my art was improved.
4: I don't really define myself as a writer, but use the term when someone asks my interests since it's easier to say than "just someone that writes stories our of bordem."
5: When I'm thinking about something, or nervous, I will typically "draw" in the carpet, or anything plush. If I can't do that, I chew my hair.
6: I'm reluctant to change my computer. Upgrades included. Even though I know I NEED something better, I'm very attached to my almost 7 year old iMac (stupid as it can be).

And I tag... Whoever. I don't like tagging people. >>

Wait, what? You want art? Sorry. None to share. >> (Unless you want old crap to look at.) But, I've gotta draw some of my characters, at least to make icons for my LJ RP community. [link] if you're interested. < /shameless plug >

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/10723809/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/10723809/ Tue, 14 Nov 2006 14:01:57 PST
Never know, I might just make something for 1,000 hits.

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/10516784/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/10516784/ Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:21:34 PDT >

I've got some other things to metion, but I will later. >>

Edit... I hardcore need to update my devID. My hair hasn't been blue in a few months. >>

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/10373722/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/10373722/ Thu, 12 Oct 2006 20:07:28 PDT
From TN to PA. Before October started. >>

I've been online, just ignoring dA since... I have no art to add. >> Well, I do, but my scanner's not hooked up.

Plus, I've been writing more anyway.

Oh, and my computer's not hooked up. I have no desk. ;

Em, job hunting, have an interview next week... and that's it. Maybe I'll be back in another month. >>;

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/9504537/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/9504537/ Wed, 26 Jul 2006 19:10:51 PDT [link]

The short version: My dog, Max, has a very large bladder stone. He needs surgery, and it has been schedualed for August 1. It was never a question of if he would have it, but how the hell will we pay for it. The cost of the surgery is estimated at $350, and I need to raise part of it.

Prices and other crap you'll want to know.

I am only accepting PayPal. HOWEVER. Email me at snowhawk@avenstudios.net or catch me on AIM at WingWishedKiwi before you send money, as my PayPal email is not the same as the one I use for contact.

These will all be done in real media as my tablet of 6 years has died.

Prices
Single character, or multiple simple characters in color: $20
Inked and pencil shaded, single character or multiple simple characters: $15
Inked, single character or multiple simple characters: $10
Pencil only, no shading, single character or multiple simple characters(examples: 1 2): $5

Additional characters are $2. I'll mail you the orignals at no extra charge.

Simple characters are things like plushies or anything that doesn't require a lot of time spent on details. I'm going to limit the simple characters to no more than 4 at no charge.

Icons: $10 I don't have an example for the icons right now, but they will be drawn and colored in real media. Roughly 3 inch by 3 inch squares, then scanned and scaled down. I'll fit in the area what I can.

Everything will be drawn on cardstock, either white or colored, depending on the commissioner's choice. The colors are more "earthy" and I know there is a sandy yellow, dusky blue, and dusky green. I believe the other color is light brown. I will have scans of the colors for those that want to see them ahead of time.

The images will be colored with a Prismacolor marker base, then shading will be done with Prismacolor pencils. Inking will be done with Micron pens. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/8830379/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/8830379/ Sat, 20 May 2006 23:14:10 PDT

I have a week of subscriber time, expect art. Assuming I can draw. I was involved in a car accident Friday morning.

Oh yeah, my hair's not blue anymore. It's red. I need to fix my ID. But later.

---

I am not open for commissions. Or trades. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/8452033/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/8452033/ Wed, 12 Apr 2006 18:36:03 PDT
No further comment. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/8068361/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/8068361/ Sat, 04 Mar 2006 19:27:18 PST
One piece of art.

And, there's been a couple of updates on my website.

Terms of Use: [link]
Terms of Use; Species in Past Secrets: [link] ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7919906/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7919906/ Thu, 16 Feb 2006 19:58:50 PST
[link]

The best part is that when the story was first aired, he was like "That's not me!... That's not my truck!... I wasn't speeding that much!"

And even better? He's on the State Ethics comity.

Eh, maybe I'll add stuff in my scraps. Later. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7833095/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7833095/ Tue, 07 Feb 2006 21:16:07 PST
I got to see my fiancé this weekend, and we went to the Tennessee Aquarium on Sunday. yay. *<3s boi*

Took lots of pictures, some may wind up here, some may not. It depends on if I feel like it. For now, they're all here: [link] Well, the 158 of the 247 I took that were half way decent. I have not added descriptions for any of them. I might if I ever feel like sitting here for several hours and trying to rember what the hell everything is.

I'll have to go back when I get the new camera. >> I'll test it with my tank first, being as my fish aren't patient enough to hold still. ... My koi was, though. Hotohori loved having his picture taken. *missed that fish...* ._.

In art news, I need to get the commissions for Blaze done, but my hand needs to heal first. (Cat bite, infected. Yay.)

---

I am not open for commissions. Or trades. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7587976/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7587976/ Thu, 12 Jan 2006 22:04:15 PST
No, I am not open for commissions. Or trades. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7515503/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7515503/ Thu, 05 Jan 2006 08:14:56 PST
]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7460854/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7460854/ Fri, 30 Dec 2005 21:12:13 PST
Most things start with a mechanical pencil doodle in a hardback sketchbook. From here, they're either scrapped, inked, given cleaner pencil lines, or scanned in for digital work. On rare occasion, I work in real media.

Scrapping means I flip the page and forget about it.

My inking is I grab a pen (hopefully a Micron pen, though I've been known to use Bic pens or laundry pens I pilfered from an old job). Finalise my lines, erase the crappy pencils, and scan in. Now, I have various colored Microns, my favorite after the black being the brown. If I use one of the colored ones, I'll scan in full color. If it's black, I use the "Line Art" setting. This makes things a bitmap, but I tell Photoshop to convert it to greyscale or RBG if I plan on immedieatly coloring it.

... I never scan at less than 300 dpi. Ever. It could be a shitty little 5 second doodle, but it gets scanned at a full 300 dpi, saved, then scaled down (to 96 dpi for webviewing, and dimensions are scaled down accordingly) and saved in a second file.

Scanning like this means my bitmap file looks fine when it's converted and scaled down.

(... Assuming my scanner isn't being a fucker and not properly scanning things.)

For pencil work, I just clean it up as best I can, finalize lines in pencil, instead of ink, then scan in as greyscale. Smaller file, better scan. No need for full color if I don't need it. I got into that with my old scanner which did three passes for full color. Greyscale and black and white got one. ... It was old and slow for one pass, so guess what habit I got into.

After that, I'll either digitally ink it, or color as is, if I can get my lines dark enough.

Same goes for rough sketches that get scanned in for digital work. That's what a lot of my recent work as been, actually. Sno Rat, Koi Tribute, the one of Janus-wuff and Sno-Del, Entwined, and Bring Me To Life were all sketches when I scanned them in, just as some examples from this gallery.

My digital work is now scanned in on a Microtek 3500. It's hooked up to my mom's laptop, so I use Photoshop CS2 on there. While my iMac was down, I did my work on a older Compaq laptop Using version 5 of Photoshop, with a 12x12 Intuos (1) (serial), and a 4x5 Graphire (1) (USB). I sold the 12x12 to a friend, as I needed some extra money, so I borrowed the 9x12 Intuos3 my mother was borrowing from work. The smaller tablet was good for laying color down, the larger ones for detail work. Once my iMac got back up and working, I went back to just using the Graphire. The 9x12, to me, isn't as nice as the 12x12 was, so I plan on buying another 12x12 (USB) once I can afford it comfortably.

I currently have Photoshop 4.0 installed on here. PS 7 is actually sitting next to me, but I have no want to install it, as it strikes me as being more eye candy than work horse. o_O (For the record, I don't like CS either.) 7 will only return to this computer if I have need for fonts that won't load in Classic... Or that I can't use the Compaq for.

Anyway... real media. I have some symptoms of carpel tunnel syndrome and arthritis in my wrists, so it's rare I use it, and I'm slow when I do. However, my colored pencil work is with Prismacolors, and Prisma markers if I need large areas of a certian color. Most of what I work with in non-digital format is graphite pencil shading. (I need to buy a set of good pencils, but there's that slacker part again... >> ) I'm not much of an inker, though I experiment with it.

ramble ramble... train of thought just vanished.

oc_art100 progress: 004/100

Commissions:
Cori - (Ink of Lantair) digital sketch approved, transferring to cardstock
Blaze - (Sklandor- Pegasus taunting Unicorn) doodles

Terms of Use: [link] ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7305606/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7305606/ Tue, 13 Dec 2005 22:21:58 PST

[link]

(That's my art journal, btw...)

Those are terms of use for my art. It'll get posted in several places, and added to the footer of the journal entries here.

Art later. Sleep now.

oc_art100 progress: 004/100

Commissions:
Cori - (Ink of Lantair) sketch emailed
Blaze - (Sklandor- Pegasus taunting Unicorn) starting on tonight

Terms of Use: [link] ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7222652/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7222652/ Sun, 04 Dec 2005 17:32:45 PST
But, no. >>;

So, I'm going to try to. And I'm challenging myself with oc_art100: [link]

Progress I've made can be seen at any and all of the following:
[link] - Page on my Personal Journal
[link] - Page on my Art Journal
[link] - Section of my Personal Gallery

oc_art100 progress: 004/100

Commissions:
Cori - (Ink of Lantair) sketch emailed
Blaze - (Sklandor- Pegasus taunting Unicorn) starting on tonight ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7128179/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7128179/ Wed, 23 Nov 2005 23:58:11 PST
I've been having a hell of a time with Cori's. I can't get a feel for the character and it's really frustrating me.

Blaze... has been such a sweetie and we've made some compromises so I should be able to get her's done soon...

But the problems I'm having with Cori's is affecting all my art. I've seriously not drawn a damn thing since I finished Sno and Aug.

Sketches for the commissions don't count becasue I've shredded or erased pretty much all of those. (Not like I have my scanner back anyway. I lost the software and OOPS there's not a driver for the particular version of this OS and.. yeah. I'll work on that this weekend.)

Damnit.

Sorry, to Cori and Blaze, becasue I said I'd had something my Wed. and it's now Thursday and I've still got diddly squat.

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7075553/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7075553/ Thu, 17 Nov 2005 20:33:22 PST
---

Being a long term Mac user, I tend to take for granted the fact that things like © and ™ are so damn easy (2 keys).

However... If you're putting a copyright on something it's best to do it right, or not bother.

Image © (year) (Your Name)

Image, art, picture, whatever best describes the piece.

Yes, use the actual symbol. It's option-g on a Mac and some 5 key combo on a PC... or just pull up the character map. (Or, copy and paste it into a text document and pull that up to copy and paste as needed.)

As for name... Use your actual name, or an alias you're well known by... or combine them. "Me" isn't acceptable.

So, when I copyright something it looks like: "Image © 2005 Ashley "Snowhawk" Venable."

...Yes, I've often forgotten the year.

However, a copyright is NOT required as it is automatic upon creation. Wanna pay to have something copyrighted? Go right ahead. It's more protection.

Now... Characters and species... Thing that don't get a copyright. These are your intellectual property.

Say I draw something for ~Sanitysloss like... oh... hell I owe her a unicorn and a pegasus. Now, her story world has a specific species of unicorn and pegasus, so those particular critters are her intellectual property. Unicorns and pegasi are not © Blaze. (Sex is, however, © Sno. < /inside joke > So, I would say "Sklandor unicorns/pegasi are the intellectual property of Cathin Yang."

Or, if someone draws one of the characters I have, "(character) is the intellectual property of Ashley "Snowhawk" Venable."

...Yeah. Shutting up now. I'm sure I've casued enough trouble for one night.

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7068257/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7068257/ Wed, 16 Nov 2005 22:19:41 PST
But I think I should sleep first.


And thanks to Jon for the paid time!

...bed. now woman.

Play around more on dA tomor--- later today.

]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7066320/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7066320/ Wed, 16 Nov 2005 17:57:59 PST
So, if you visit my site [link] and see that the index page still says "LOL YOU MUST HAVE ACCOUNT TO VIEW ART!!1", ignore it.

I need to do some art, but, damnit, I'm frustrated with the commissions I'm supposed to be working on. If these aren't the last ever, they're the last for a long time. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7057964/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/7057964/ Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:08:02 PST
Anyway, planning on pulling down another section of my website until I can arrange it more. That would be the section for the novel site. Not that anyone reads it anymore, and not like I'm not almost a onth late on posting the last few chapters. (I have a good excuse though: my computer was dead.)

Rat's staring at me and I don't have another train of thought to follow... ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6966708/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6966708/ Sat, 05 Nov 2005 22:04:56 PST
Will have stuff for my NaNoMangO to post soon, helpfully. Arts. Aren't you all just... so excited to know that.

I really should eat something. And take this DVD out. >>

---

NaNoMangO : [link]

Get a Free iPod! : [link] ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6949000/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6949000/ Thu, 03 Nov 2005 21:08:36 PST
As in, the HD went "... *CRUNCH*" and it just... DIED. (This was after a former friend/boyfriend posed as someone else and took advantage of me being trusting, which casued the loss of all the data on the drive. I was in the process of recovering from that when the drive died...)

"Son of a bitch," went the Sno.

I'm poor. So I finally swalloed my pride and asked my dad for help getting a new drive a couple weeks ago. Well, the drive has been sitting here for about a week, and since the little laptop is out for repairs and the only working computer in the house is my mom's new laptop, which she has to use for school, that means I have to wait until she gets done before I can get online.

Well, I got my courage up, pulled up a "How to" on Macworld, and got the new drive in. No where near as nerve wracking as I thought it would be.

Now, I'm getting the iMac back into working shape. :3

But yay. I'm happy about this. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6877877/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6877877/ Wed, 26 Oct 2005 22:50:54 PDT
Second part of my bitching will have to wait. (I know you're just so sad.)

But~ I am going to post this little bit, orignally posted in the ArtPlz forums and some version of this will ALSO eventually go on the page between my main web page and my gallery:

"As for why I started drawing... I don't remember. I was a small child. The writing really started after... em... Batman Returns was released. I was doing fan fiction before I knew what it was. Then it became Power Rangers and Sonic and Star Wars. Then Escape Velocity came to my knowledge and it was a "Wow. Open-ended game where my character is the main character." No someone else's character and I was just playing them. The writing was, until that point, heavily inspired by things, then I set the writings in the world of the game. I did some Gundam Wing fan fiction, but the EV related stuff stayed with me. Then I took a break... Then those characters went into their own world when I decided I wanted to try something orignal.

The little bit of artwork I do look at is either random things that come up on the Side 7 RSS feed, or my friends' art. On _very_ rare occasion do I look through art or photographs for refrence. Mostly, I'll go make use of my full length mirror.

And for the record: One of the species I've put in my stories, (the Delphin, equi-morphs) were orignally inspired to their current look by Meg Giles way back in... em, 98, I believe (I was visiting my dad. He had internet at his house). Before that (95-ish), it was me just deciding to put equines on 2 legs becasue of a flag I had hanging on my door of a unicorn's head and shoulders. I didn't really start getting online so much until 99, which was when we got the internet. "

This is from my journal, and wil also fit on the pre-gallery page:
"I have no problems with people refrenceing my art. I have no problems if you don't CITE me as a refrence. It'd be nice if you did, but I'm not gonna bust out "OMGCOPIRITELAWSUITE!!" if you don't. There are certian things you cannot copyright. (Some artists would do well to remember this...)

Face it, life is inspiration. Inspiration comes from everything, from TV shows we watch to art we look at and people we meet. I'm not saying one shouldn't ever credit a source when it's used, you certianly should. But as far as stalking an artist or two just WAITING for them to post something that looks similar to something you or a friend have drawn... well, grow up and get over it. Similarities happen.

The things I do have a problem with, in order from least to most annoyance are:
- Flat out tracing and not citing me in anyway, saying the art was created by you. Coloring my line art, or recoloring falls here too.
- Blatently reposting my images.
- Making money off my art."

History: The first anthro I ever drew was an equine. The next would be a lizard with a red feather crest, then a canine-type, circa 1995-ish and on up... Orignally, every Delphin drawn had a staff to help with balance. Also, none were mythics. "My" character was a full alicorn until about 1998. At that point, she lost her horn and wings in Delphin form, but when I would write her in full equine form, she had them.

The first Delphin was named "Delphine." This name came from a book of baby names my mother had picked up before I was born. I dropped the "e" and had a species name. I had no clue until several years later that it was the German word for dolphin. Oops.

The Lupino were actually named first, as they were the first written into a story of mine.

Anyway, other species you may see named are the Lupino, the Feln, and the Avizon. Lupino are canine types, Feln are felines, Avizon are reptillian with feather crests and tufts. I don't draw many of these. These are species I have in my novel's world. I don't ever claim or have delusions of having been the first to draw these types of anthros, I just gave them the names and I am detailing out various things of the species in this world as I write the novel and explore said world further. Some of these notes were lost in a hard drive crash with out being posted or backed up. Damn.

... That was much longer than anticipated. >> (And I get to finish some arts this weekend and I got the new hard drive for my computer! yay!)

Edit: Oh yeah... The names of the species. They are always capatalized and are their own plural forms, save for when "Del" is used in place of "Delphin" as it is not it's plural form.

And the name of the novel is Past Secrets. It's posted on my website. Five years and still writing. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6844319/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6844319/ Sun, 23 Oct 2005 10:28:46 PDT
Watermarking.

This is the process of imbedding an image into a document, ususally to state where the image came from (like in the paper I have from the University of Tennessee), and to prevent copying or forgery. US currency has watermarking.

A watermark, by it's nature, should be subtle and not detract from the document or image. It's purpose is to keep someone from running letter head through the Xerox and forging documents, or making acceptable duplications of the document (ie, currency). These are viewable but putting a light source behind it.

Now, in the digital age, we often see digital watermarks. Many artsts tend to forget that a watermark should be unintrusive. They are distracting across an image, as oppsed to a stratecically placed signature. If you're selling a piece, then a digital watermark on a poor resolution file is a way to keep someone from taking said image and printing it off.

(FYI: Everything I post is between 96 and 72 dpi. This is not print quality, but I do have print quality files saved of most everything.)

But, when it comes to putting a distracting watermark across an image (or repeating said watermark), you're more apt ro turn your viewing audience away, especially if you already have your copyright information ON the image. (Copyright will be the subject of the next section.) You're also just tempting the "smarter" theives that know how to use the rubber stamp tool in Photoshop. If it's on a color image, that's more difficult, but on a black and white image... it would be fairly easy.

Basically, unless you're selling an image (in which the file should be lower resolution and thusly smaller) or running an archive of photography and don't want people claiming the images are theirs, you don't need an obnixious copyright. By the fact of being obnoxious, I refrain from calling it a watermark.

How would one make a "good" watermark? You could do what someone like *Nambroth does, which is have a really unobtrousive image and copyright info in the corner. Personally, I type in my copyright info, in a small but readable font and stick it on the bottom edge with somewhere between 20 and 50% opacity. If I'm really concerned about the image being taken (lol, right), I'll put it over part of the character. If I remember to watermark it. Now, not including the watermark doesn't mean that the image is not my property. I'll go into this in the next part.

But, hey, that's just my opinon. For now, I'm just gonna head off and get my rats some bedding and me some medicine. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6735235/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6735235/ Mon, 10 Oct 2005 23:24:13 PDT
"God, Sno, stfu!"

Right right.

More art incoming, including colored version of Sno and Aug. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6708573/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6708573/ Fri, 07 Oct 2005 23:16:51 PDT < Don't ask me if I'm "touching myself". I'll block your ass so fast it's not even funny.

...

THEN I'm likey to give your screen name to my bored friends and be like "Hey, go harass this idiot next time you're bored."

Ugh.

---

In better news, I have a headace and am about to go art. This bodes well. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6691452/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6691452/ Wed, 05 Oct 2005 23:42:47 PDT
So now there are 2 tablet pens w/ stands on my desk.

The 4x5 is great for laying my flat colors down, and the larger tablet is wonderful for the finishing work.

But yay, it works!

More art to come. I've got 2 in the queue and a couple needing to get out of my head. But for now, bed. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6677046/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6677046/ Tue, 04 Oct 2005 10:47:43 PDT
I am very sad. So much art done with it... ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6660013/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6660013/ Sun, 02 Oct 2005 13:33:49 PDT ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6646858/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6646858/ Fri, 30 Sep 2005 23:07:19 PDT
Yes, I can use real media. I just don't very often. I'll bring a bit of that in next update. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6620211/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6620211/ Tue, 27 Sep 2005 19:45:11 PDT
My collection is somewhere around 300. It's no wonder I'm poor. ]]> ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6599633/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6599633/ Sun, 25 Sep 2005 14:43:21 PDT ~alyandra http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6585438/ http://alyandra.deviantart.com/journal/6585438/ Fri, 23 Sep 2005 21:20:56 PDT ~alyandra