Summer Recap- and plans.

Figure it has been about 3 months I should check in again.

I'm having such a hard time balancing my life right now.  Though after today it'll be a little easier.

So for some reason that escapes me at the moment I made a whole bunch of art related commitments around the end of July.  I think I must've forgotten that I just moved, am still unpacking at that school was starting so my time was going to be more stretched then it all ready was.

Most of the commitments were 'soft' commitments; as I was the only person involved in the transaction.


Social Media
I'm trying to build up my portfolio and be more active on social media, all while trying to get everything else done.  Of course- facebook, instagram and youtube are all making pretty big changes in the next couple of months- so I don't know how much longer having a social media presence is going go be a thing that freelancers should pursue.  This is why I've said for years now that people should build a social media presence but still have some sort of blog and a website that you maintain and update regularly.  I'm great at the advice and watching the markets- really bad at incorporating that advice myself.  With a lot of the changes I've been learning and reading about... I think I might have to rethink and relearn my approach to social media.  We'll see how it goes. More on this below.

SkillShare
I also have been working on a class for skillshare- this has been an ongoing process for years- I finally forced myself to actually write an outline and script and film the whole thing.  It is officially published!! So if you want to check it out use this link: https://skl.sh/2mXgqyq  Check out my class- and sign up for SkillShare if you haven't.

Inktober
I will be participating in Inktober this year.  I've spent the last 2 weeks gathering every 2019 list I can find.  As of this moment I haven't decided if I'm going to follow the Jake Parker official inktober list, one of the other lists OR just create my own.  I will decide in the next couple of days though- as October first is only 6 days away.

Gallery/BFA/RPG Terrain
This has to to have been the biggest source of guilt these last few months, and probably some of the other art commitment I made should not have been made because of this.  I HAVE been working on it- albeit in the background.  Part of the reason I've allowed myself to focus on other art things, including the SkillShare class is because I can sit down and work on them for 10 or 15 minutes at a time and if I get interrupted it isn't a big deal.  The big Terrain project though... I need like an hour at a time to work on it, minimum.  I have finally gotten to the point where I can in fact carve out that time- so there will be more updates on this.

Schedule and Plan for the next few months

social media:
YouTube: I'm going to be publishing a video at least every two weeks hopefully every week to my YouTube account.  For now I think they are just going to be sped up painting/drawing videos that are just of various little sketchbook and hopefully portfolio pieces.
Instagram: My current goal is to post 3 times a week- I'd like to post daily- but until I get the house unpacked and put away- that isn't happening.
Facebook: for now it'll probably continue to reflect my Instagram account.
Other:  I'm looking into other video hosts and social media platforms- but for now I'll continue to focus on the big 3.
Twitter:  I just... don't twitter... I go there to check things- but I find I just do not like the atmosphere of that platform.

projects:

SkillShare: I do have plans to do more skillshare classes- but not until next year.  I need to focus on some other things first.  Plus after listening to my class again (post publishing) I need to get a better mic and probably even re-record the audio for what I've published thus far...

Inktober:  This WILL be a daily thing in October.  That overly ambitious voice in my head wants me to record all of the drawings and put up little IGTV videos daily.  As much as I like the idea... I just don't think I have time for that.  I'll be happy just to get the drawings done and published.

Gallery: my goal is to put in at least 4 hours a day on this- I want to do more like 8, but I have to accept once again what I constantly have had to accept while going through school... I am a mom- and that means my time to work on this is less than that of an average student.
Now to clarify- I know I sound like I must be SO far away from being done- I feel like that to an extent- but the truth is I'm about 85% done with the digital part of the project (which includes creating all of the models and putting textures on them and exporting them out to workable paper model templates) So I'm not doing that badly.  I know it is going to be hard to build these in the real world- both in terms of cost of materials and time.  That is the part that has me a little panicked.  It'll all come together though.  This is absolutely my main focus from this point on.

Webtoons:  I had promised a few people that the comic 'The Sisterhood of the Seven Stars' would be up by now.  Most people don't even know about this one- only a select few who saw the concept art last March and were excited about it.  It's been pushed back for now- the script needs to be written- it isn't much more than an outline at the moment.  All the concept art needs to be redone.  SO I still intend to put this up- but it might be September of 2020- I don't know right now.

Writing in general:  I have started poking around in my old scripts and stories- I've decided I am going to start writing again- I miss it terribly.  However it is low priority right now.  I'll be happy if I can just get 20 minutes a day in on this one.

Blog: Starting today I'm going to be making weekly entries onto the blog- the plan is to upload something every Tuesday- I know that at the moment people don't really read any more so this probably doesn't matter as much as other things- but I am going to start doing it.  Also as soon as I can figure out a fast way to do it I'll do a Vlog as well.  It'll basically be me doing some sort of sped up drawing or other art while reading pretty much word for word my blog entry for the week.  So it would go up on Tuesday as well.  I don't think there is any problem doing it this way- some people just watch video some people only read- some people to a combo of both.


Anyway- this isn't the best written post; more than anything it is a stream of consciousness post more than anything.  Future posts should be better written.  At least that is the plan.

Thanks for reading!!
Alicia

Update on my life and brief update on projects

I'm struggling to write an introduction to this.  My thoughts are disorganized and chaotic.  I haven't had time to just sit and think let alone construct a coherent post.  So bear with me; this won't be my most eloquent entry... but hopefully it'll at least make some semblance of sense.  I'm going to basically bullet point my life hopefully you'll be able to follow it.

So this ended up being very long; so just skim through and read the topics that interest you; I even made the headers for each one stand out :D

A to Z blogging Challenge

I participated in this challenge this year... because I LOVE having to much to do in my life... I guess? The challenge itself has a day in May where you're supposed to blog about your experience, I obviously missed that.  I just didn't end up having time.
So the rules of the challenge are this: blog everyday except for Sundays in April.  The first day of the month the subject is the letter A, then B and so on through the whole alphabet.  People participate in this challenge and do everything from crafts to writing to even technical information and this year I found a blog about accounting.  You can post about any subject, as long as it relates somehow to the letter of the day.
My original plan for the day was to use it as a way to get better at fast digital paintings, I set a time limit and found a reference that had to do with the day and quickly painted it.  The hope was that I'd be able to improve my painting quality and speed.  This is something you do in figure drawing all the time, figured it'd work with digital painting.
This lasted until the letter E I believe... and then after that I had to switch what I was doing and I just posted old art that related to the letter.
What I learned: look at your whole life before participating in challenges like this.  I was just thinking 15-20 minutes a day; that wasn't a big commitment.  I was to busy to find those minutes though.
Next year: I really want to participate in the challenge again; because it is a good way to force myself to post every day.  I think though I might pick a subject now and work on the art throughout the year So I can just enjoy the challenge and have more time to look at other blogs.  I won't have the same crazy schedule in life so that should help a lot.

Graduation

This is a thing I did.  Well kinda.  I'm like 95% graduated. I walked, I did my best to look adorable, I smiled from ear to ear.  I got my diploma holder and all of that.  It was honestly a great experience.


I'd just gotten a new small camera and was playing with it in the hall before we marched in. So all of my little selfie pictures are blurry. Thankfully the pictures taken with my real camera and the professional ones look great. Unfortunately these are the only ones I have right now that I can share. 
It was almost overwhelming how happy I was that day.  I've been working for this degree for so very long, it felt like I was never ever going to get it.  But I did.  Well like said, at least 95%. 
It is still an awesome feeling to have walked.

BFA Project

This should be a post by itself... but the short version of it is this:  I haven't had my show yet, this is why I'm only 95% graduated... I have probably a month, maybe 2 months worth of finishing on this project that I need to do. 

This little outhouse has been my learning piece.  Each time I need to learn something new in blender I come back to this and work it out on this smaller piece before I do it on my bigger sets.  This one has been completed to the point where I printed it out and we (my youngest sister and I) have been figuring out how to build it.  We've learned a ton in this final phase and need to go back and adjust some thing on the digital model to make the paper model work better, but it is coming along. 
I could go on, but this blog post is already super long.

Moving

Yea, we moved.  Not only did we move we bought our first house!!!

isn't it cute?  This is a huge step for us, and we're so happy we were finally able to buy a home.  This move has made it so I've barely lifted a pencil, digital or otherwise.  Moving is such a huge job and we're not even remotely done moving in yet... 

My Studio

I've not really had one for years.  Where we lived before I had a wall in our bedroom, it is just the way life worked out; but I did my best to make the space work.

you can see my mattress in the lower left there.. kids had spilled some orange soda on it earlier that day.  Why did they have orange soda on my bed?  Yea, see if they'd ever answer that one.

Now I have a whole room to myself.  Not only that it is a big room.  This is pretty amazing for me as my studio/office has always shared space with something else, storage, laundry, living room, a baby room.  BUT NOW I have my own room!!! That I share with the girls, because they needed a place to do crafts, but still; it's pretty awesome.  It is also a mess and no where near set up.

I'm getting there, but honestly other rooms in the house have had to take priority (like the kitchen and the kids play spaces and all of the bedrooms... ok pretty much the whole house).  It's part of running a family; if the rest of the home is pleasant and functioning, then my private space stays private lol.

Other Things

These just don't fit well other places, but 2 other things that have contributed to my crazy schedule have been the trade show at my college I participated in: 

And a really cool commission project that I completed at the beginning of the year.  (below are 2 out of 30 illustrations I did)  more on this project later.

It should be obvious but the two drawings in the white frame are mine; not the amazing painting behind them.  This commission project was displayed at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.  Pretty awesome huh?  Ok; yea there where there at the museum, but they were a part of a wedding.  The project was so cool; they named their tables after famous women in history and wanted illustrations of the women to have around the room and at the tables.  They even made a little book with info about the women.  Honestly it was a super cool idea; looked like it was pulled off pretty well.  I wish I could've seen the wedding decor with my little pictures in person.  The photos I got were pretty awesome.

Oh yea I also took a business class about running a small business.

Family

Actually not going to post much here about this; because I don't like broadcasting publicly family stuff; but boy have we been busy with the kids school and stuff like that!!

My point:

The past couple of months, really the whole year have been PACKED.  So I've not been great at posting anything online.

What's next?

Good question I have several projects on the horizon; but for the next twoish months I'm going to be doing nothing but BFA stuff and unpacking. I hesitate to announce anything else on my list until those two things are done.  I'm going to *try* to at least post a drawing or a progress shot from my show and update this blog maybe once a week?  Maybe bimonthly it depends.


Anyway- that is the update.  Sorry it is so long!!

Alicia

Z is for Zombie

I wish I could remember what the prompt was for this image.  I have always liked how this came out- again it is old and feels unfinished; but I love the idea here. 

Alicia Hawks

Y is for Yearning

I love Lewis Carol's Alice in Wonderland, a major theme in that book is of yearning; so many of the characters wish for things they cannot get while at the same time they do very little to get the things the yearn for.  Alice is the only one who really moves through the story- and the things she yearns for at first are conflicted; she wants to explore and discover- but she also very much wants to go home through much of it.  This was a drawing I did while figuring out the character design.  I also had an art subscription box at the time and used it for the monthly challenge- you use only the supplies in the box and create some sort of art with it. 

Alicia Hawks

X is for eXtreme

I'm cheating for X... I feel like I always do... maybe if I do this next year I'll plan better lol. 

This was done several years ago, when I was VERY into fashion illustration... which is why she is so... toothpick like.  I've wanted to try extreme climbing like this (I feel like it was called boldering... but that doesn't seem to be a real word...)  In any case... I need to get to the point where I can do regular rock climbing before I try this. :D

Alicia Hawks

W is for wonderland

Black and white book illustration for Alice and Wonderland.  This one was done in 2015there are so many things I'd do differently if I were to do it today; but it is fun to look at these old drawings/paintings.

Alicia Hawks

V is for Valient Knight

This painting was done about... 4 years ago I want to say?? It was when I was very very new to acrylic painting, like most of my older work done for school it doesn't feel done- but I like the idea of it.  This was my son when he was about 5, he has always had a great imagination.  So here is my little Valient Knight.

Alicia Hawks

U is for umbrella

This is another assignment from school; it isn't finished- I hope to have time to revisit this concept some day.

Alicia Hawks

T is for TERROR

This is one of the few images that I painted in school that I'm actually proud of.  It also has a bit of a story, because it is part of a world I've been writing about since I was 12.  This is the Banshee of Sha'Dren, it is an extinct elven kingdom.  The Banshee was once the queen of a thriving kingdom, the day of her marriage to a prince of a neighboring kingdom she and her people were betrayed.  Dragon riders flew in from the south, and decimated her people.  She died, but her anguish and agony lived on- as her kingdom crumbled and was reclaimed by the wild her essence moved among the ruins, hunting for those that betrayed.

This is an abbreviated part of the story, but that is the explanation for the picture. 

Alicia Hawks

S is for self portrait

yea I got behind again...
I'm not going to stress about it though lol

Here is a self portrait I did about a year and a half ago.  I don't like doing self portraits; for a variety of reasons.  I just don't like looking at myself for that long... I don't feel like I'm unattractive... but still don't like doing them.  Anyway; this is my 'S'

Alicia Hawks

R is for Robot

This was another school assignment, I forget the specific parameters, but I created this little robot guy for it. 

Alicia Hawks

Q is for Queen

I did this book cover for an art assignment in a children's book class.  There are so very many things wrong with it; but I still like the concept- so I'm sharing it. 

I would love to illustrate the whole book with a diverse cast- because it'd be fun. I found this stunning image of a woman from Africa when I was working on this and the queen of hearts was heavily based off of her.  I couldn't help thinking 'why couldn't she be a beautiful regal looking African woman?"  So I went that direction instead of drawing the traditional crazy woman.  I think I'd want to rewrite most of the story if I were to illustrate it though lol

Alicia Hawks

P is for Playing Card

this was a fun assignment from school; create a unique playing card in an alphonse Mucha style.

This is what I came up with. 

kinda want to do a whole deck with characters like this :D

(guess I could've saved this for Q... oh well)

Alicia Hawks

O is for... oooooo...?

Yes I'm currently missing F, G, J, K, L, M and N...

Ok; so this challenge has gone about the way I thought it would.  Today I'm sharing a really old painting of a ghost girl in front of a castle.

I'll try to catch up on the letters I missed;  

clearly this wasn't a 30 minute speed painting...I posted the stuff below on facebook; it is totally applicable here. 

"Life update:

I'm not posting as much as I'd like to right now, I'm exceptionally busy right now. My husband and I actually did something for our anniversary this last weekend; which was awesome!! in 11 years we've only been able to get away twice for it (we also didn't get a honeymoon because of life) so that's contributed to not getting any posts up.

We're buying our first house; and that is more time consuming than I expect it to be. It really hasn't been bad- but still.

I'm of course graduating this semester; so I've been running around getting all the last minute stuff for that done. (like assembling my portfolio)

and of course as always I'm working on my BFA stuff. It is looking like I'll have my show this July... but I don't have that 100% confirmed yet; so I'll let you guys know when I know.

anyway; this is my short update :D"

 

Basically life is insane.  It'll be better about the time that the challenge ends- graduation is May 2&3.  

I might just post old stuff the rest of the challenge.  

Alicia

M is for Mother

I did this drawing a number of years ago; before I had my third kid; before I even knew I WANTED another kid... I had this image of holding a little baby- it was so strong that I had to draw it.  The baby in the drawing didn't look like either of my other kids when they were babies, but a year or two later I met the baby in the picture.  I very rarely have inspiration like that; so this is one of my favorite drawings.

Alicia Hawks

L is for Little dancer

I really don't have much to say about this one; but it was fun to draw.

Alicia Hawks

J and K... Just Keep going (catch up post)

This is a subject I think about a lot.  If I had more time I'd go into more detail about it; but for now I'm just going to do a quick blurb. 

I think it is REALLY important to keep copies of your old work around; be it art or something else.  It gives you an easy measure stick for your life, in 2 ways- 1 it let's you know where you've been, and how far you've come but 2 it also let's you know that wherever you are; you can always improve.

When I started college I'd always been a 'talented' artist; I have hundreds of drawings from as young as 18 months to prove it.  That talent though didn't mean I didn't have to work to improve my ability.  

I started my university path about 8 years ago, right after my first kid had been born.  I don't have easy pregnancies and with him I had carpel tunnel so bad that I lost most of the mechanical use of my hands.  At the time I was frustrated but wasn't worried- I was drawing as a hobby I wasn't pursuing it as a career.  You never know how much you love a thing until it is taken away I guess; I realized I didn't want to do web design professionally or even graphic design (at the time you could get away with lesser drawing skill in that field).  I realized after taking a few foundational art classes for my graphic/web design major that I wanted to Illustration.  And I was HORRIBLE at it. 

Thankfully I had professors that could see my passion for it- and they encouraged and helped me as I relearned how to use the finer motor functions of my hands.  These first 3 drawings are from my first year in Illustration- so about 8 years ago. 

This next Drawing is from 3 years ago

this one is from this past fall

this last one I basically drew on a bit of a whim 2 days ago

I'm to the point where I have enough skill and ability that I can draw pretty much whatever however I want.  It has been a long road, but it has been worth it.  I still have things I want to improve, but I know with time and effort I will improve them.
Alicia Hawks

I is for Ink drawing

I'm cheating a little bit here; these are old drawings that I did last fall for Inktober, which is a very silly thing where you draw a different ink drawing every day in October.  It was started by artist Jake Parker; it's pretty sweet. 

Anyway- here are some of my favorites that I drew. 

Just about all of these relate to an upcoming graphic novel that I'm working on.  I cannot give an exact date to when it will be available; but the target is sometime this fall.

Thanks for stopping by!
I'm hoping to do a new drawing for tomorrow; but the way this week has gone; I'm not sure that'll happen.  We'll see.

~Alicia

H is for... hardly any time :P

ok so... it has been crazy these last couple of days. Not crazy interesting; just crazy crazy. 

I actually had 'F' all ready to go on Saturday- and then never sat down to post it.  So I'm going to play catch up; and adjust my blogging challenge. 

My original challenge was to do a quick 30 minute speed paint- to improve my digital painting.  Which is something I certainly need work on.  (as I've pointed out like every day this challenge)  But because of my life being what it is I'm going to just adjust it to 30 minute 'art'.  Usually that'll mean a drawing; because I love drawing and want to do more of it. 

Here is my catch up:

F for fish.
I actually intended to paint this... but then I just started playing with digital charcoal brushes...

G is for Girl. 
This was a drawing I did the other day and was way frustrated by it; so I just sort of gave up after getting the lines down.










and H?  well I'm cheating on this one. I'm going to share some images from my project that it currently consuming 80% of my time.  would be 100% but I have 3 kids and I'm attempting to be at least an OK mom while I finish this up.

so H is for... outHouse....  yea.. anyway...
here ya go:

If you are a uber nerd.. or even just a small one; you might think this is cool  I'm creating 3d artwork to be used in table top RPGs such as Dungeons and Dragons.  They will be little paper models to add atmosphere to the game.  Some of them come apart in layers and you can actually play in the terrain as well.
It is a crazy project.  I cannot wait until it is done.

Alicia Hawks

G is for Goldilocks

This is a catch up post; and this is some old art that I'm sharing.

This was a mock cover for a non existent children's book.  We were assigned a classic fairy tale; and then had to put our own spin on it.  So this is what I did.

F is for figure drawing (artistic nudes)

this post does contain artistic nudes...

This is a bit of a photo dump; but here are a few of my figure drawings over the years.  They were all drawing at different times- so the level of skill is a little all over the place; but I've liked these enough to keep them around.