-fucking died- LOLOLOL




The original XD I miss those characters ;; they had more personality imo

I decided to use the last of my silicone and make a second soap mold. Sometime mid-January I'd like to pour some more soaps. I ran a poll on Deviantart for a 6th scent to add to the line-up, and Lavender won. When I make soaps again, this will be the final scent/color lineup:

Black Raspberry Vanilla (Black Soaps)
Brown Sugar & Fig (Bronze Soaps)
Eucalyptus & Spearmint(Emerald Green Soaps)
Fresh Vanilla(White Shea Butter Soaps)
Juicy Cranberry (Red Soaps)
Lavender (Pastel Purple Shea Butter Soap)

The new mold that I made to go with the dragon was a kitsune. I kept it simple and round... with the exception of the ears. They stick out. I tried making fox ears that layed against the head, but it just didn't look right. I worry that this may have been a mistake, because I don't think that it will be very nice to use as soap with ears sticking out. I also worry that though I made them fairly thick, that when cast as soap they may be rather breakable. Could be a problem for demolding and shipping :-/

Another issue that I ran into was that I used all the rest of the silicone that I had left. It was *just* enough to cast this second mold. The bottom of the mold is very thin along the bottom, with the deepest part of the mold being a mere 1/16-1/8 inch thick. This won't effect the soap itself, but I fear that the mold may not be very durable. If it lasts through 15 castings I'll be surprised. (I made over 100 dragons on the first dragon mold. It's still holding together, but it was a very thick mold.) Until I get my soap supplies I won't know the final weight on the kitsune, though I did try and keep it of a similar volume to the dragon. The dragon casts a soap that's 4.3-4.5oz.

Between the fragile mold and concern about the ears, this may end up being a very very limited edition soap. When I finally get my soap supplies, I'm going to cast a single kitsune, see how it demolds, then try and break off its ears. Depending on how easily they snap, I'll decide whether or not it's something that can actually be sold or not. I have no doubt I'll be able to snap them off, but it is going to depend on how much effort it takes. If it takes a bit of effort, then they'll probably ship just fine :-)



---------------------------------------

Apologies on the lack of art posted to this journal of late. Most of what I've been doing the past few months has been exclusively book related. I'd prefer that much of the book be a surprise. :-) Once I finish, I hope to resume normal sketch posts and the like. For now, everyone gets to deal with mah craft binge instead! :-)

I did draw a bunneh oekaki on the NDA oekaki boards. Click to view animation. :-)

Tags: craft binge, dragon, kitsune, mold, soap
Current Mood: worried

A 5 min sketch.

Augh I want to draw him/or her so bad. BUT SINCE IM HERE. Check out these badass mofoers

andoledius ILU~~~

errorful This guy is kickass for some clever simple designs

pollums omg!

guosugar OMG!!

berkolounger  I adore them all. Are so kickass seriously go watch them. And read some fucking awesome comics

binsybaby she is the cutest thing ever go check her out. If I was to meet her in person i would pinch her cheeks and go " SHOOO KWUUUTEEE" and then so many darling restricting orders.

jdillon She has been a huge inspiration to me to get out of my lulsy anime route and get back to what I originally loved doing

jennadelle I dont need words to express how kickass this girl really is. She satiates all my deep down fucking awesome monster concept lusts.

hiimdaisy peachifruit  Amazingly adorable. I love her simple but not in your face cute designs. Huuu *w*

questionstar I've even got a chance to chat with her on aim. I love her she is such a great gal.

wredwrat I adore her work always have. REALLY GO LOOK

Also I uploaded some figure drawings from a Russian figure drawing school.
FINE ART. MMMM
I'm almost done editing elemental magic. SO MANY PAGES AUGHGLGHG.

BUT   HERE   IS   A   PREVIEW  I have shown before but whatever have it again.

Current Mood: busy

Hoopla a commission! Just Flats and Inks and speaking of Inks- I updated artspeakeasy With a few inking tips. Now to get one more commission whacked out of the way for today. Pose came from www.limbermen.com



Doodles of Rosary, Vandal and Gloves based on a one liner Nubba told me on the phone. SEE I CREDIT YOU FOR YOUR JOKES.

Edit: Patapon is fun
Here Celesse I made you one since your the only person I know who actually played this game

Current Mood: predatory
Current Music: Ratatat-Wildcat- APPROPRIATE

HI I AM COOL GUY AND I SCANNED THREE CLAIRE WENDLING BOOKS
http://community.livejournal.com/art_exhibition/4767.html#cutid1

Elemental Magic is next BUT FOR TOMMORROW. It's been in my computer since Comicon ( I got the book for Nubba to help with his animation classes- But took pictures of the whole book for myself so I can improve on special effects for comics/illustration) but I been lazy to edit it.

Also picking up this book today off amazon- http://parkablogs.com/content/book-review-imaginative-realism-how-paint-what-doesnt-exist
It was recommended to me by this guy ♥ Who convinced me with Loom to go to Watts Atelier next summer once I settle in moving to California

Also I'm being commissioned for some more Character Sheets. Neat!

Also when we move  I want to find a place where I can either do kick boxing or some form of martial art. Too get me out and keep me fit. Maybe even belly dancing.

Loomdun 
    yah
Ikage 
    thats....inking like for comics?
Loomdun 
    inking for inking pretty much yah
Ikage 
    /:0?!
Loomdun 
    you'll learn how to ink with multiple tools, and jeff watts himself is teaching it
Ikage 
    thats confusing, arent you guys like a fine art/illustration school?
Loomdun 
    jeff likes to take comic book artist and learn how they handle specific things and incoprate it into his fine art to
Ikage 
    OUHHH no owonder Bacon was talking about how you guys take pages from such things like Comics the Marvel Way
    thats so awesome!
Loomdun 
    lol
Ikage 
    I am so mad I am missing this omg
Loomdun 
    the inking class is like once a year if even at that apparently
    theres also a how to paint with oils and use it for illustration class
    called the Reilly method figure and portrait
    court joins is teaching a drawing facial features and expressions class
    er jones
Loomdun 
    (this guy)
    http://www.courtjones.com/
Ikage 
    holy shit.
    And your classes are like only 375 for 10 weeks
Loomdun 
    yup lol
Ikage 
    I am so sad I am in Virginia right now

:0!
FUCK YEAUGH

This is probably the classes your teacher was talking about to sign up for next year Nubbutt

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: Pirates of the Caribean

SO MUCH TOO DO STILL. Well not really just Air Mattress + Cleaning.

Fuck he is so adorkable. Every time he comes and picks me up there is always a flower in his hand for me Roses or Tiger lilies. And artbooks, that boy ALWAYS buys me an artbook to take back home. Shadowline, (Iain Mc Caig!! ♥)  Sex and Science ( hahah this was awesome considering how low brow it was but the top notch animators that were in it ), Claire Wendlings Daisies ( I have almost allllllllll her books she is one of my top favorite artists ever), and so many golden others. And he just doesn't know what to do with himself so he's just a general mess of stumbling smiles.

Aughglgghgl my cute little animator wife ♥

I still want to make the Rosary walkcycle my icon, but he's like really bashful about putting his kickass animations up. He's actually pretty damn good. I've never seen his work cleaner then when he's animating. But he does it all traditional. When I was a guest at one of his animation classes I was able to do it too! I got to say traditional animation is more fun then on the computer. ALOT more room for mistakes but I had fun drawing a yawning minotaur. I was so sad when class was up because I wanted to finish his foot clomping while he was yawning.

Also I might get some more DVD's for Christmas off Massive Black there are two I'm eyeing but I will patiently wait for a sale.

Also since I'm usually trying to be the educational type with every LJ post-

"The secret to capturing the essence of what you are looking at can be found in your high school yearbook.

Fred Fixler would have us look at our high school yearbooks and find that page that has everyone in our grade standing together in one big group shot.

"Can you find yourself?" he would ask. Yes, we could.

"Can you find your friends?" Yeah.

What's the point? Well, in those photos your head is almost the size of a pea - if not smaller! And yet, without seeing eyelashes, nostrils, pupils in the eyes, or any other details, you recognize people you haven't seen in years! Yet, most of us sit in front of a model drawing the most unimportant details and miss the simple overall shapes that form the essence of who we are observing.

Details are not the answer.

Thanks, Fred."

With life drawing one book told me when your doing gesture study your studying how the masses move unique to them.  It's how your able to identify someone from very far away. And how that's essential to capturing the soul of that person. Just like how everyone has a unique way of shadows forming on our face due to our underlying form having light casted on it.

Also unique silhouetting too, due to how everyones bodies are kind of different. There just alot to attribute to this.

Also I want to write a dude about having 9 lives. Like he moved around and tried settling around in different places until he decided it wasn't him and on the 9th life he decided this was the one.  But then conflict occurs when his other lives come to haunt him. There is probably a book out on this already. IDK I came up with the ideal chatting with my sister on the way to the store.

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Lupin the III

FINAL FANTASY 14 BETA IS OPEN FOR APPLICANTS...ATM Pc only :<

http://entry.ffxiv.com/

Thanks to everyone who participated in the flavor choosing for the lip balm. I won't be able to order any supplies until after the holidays, but I figured I'd get a head start on some label preparation. 4 of 9 labels for lip balm tubes. :-) Firebird Flare is obviously still a work in progress. These are going to be printed at a very tiny 1.7" x 2".



Other flavors will include:
Basilisk Blood
Fenrir's Folly
Gryphon's Glee
Pegasus Pinion
Serpent Spell (sea serpent)

Since the soaps went over so well and I had so much fun making them, I thought it might be fun to experiment with other bath and beauty products. I've been looking into chapstick/lip balm making. One of the fun things about lip balm is that it's not only possible to add a fragrance (like soap and lotion) but flavor as well! To this end I'm curious which supplies I should be purchasing if I decide to make some lip balm in the new year.

Chapstick / Lip Balm Flavor Poll.
If you have the time/inclination, please stop by and vote in the poll. It would be much appreciated! It's possible to check as many as you want, but if possible, please narrow it down to the ones you would like most. The purpose of this poll is to help me narrow it down to the 5-10 most desired flavors so I will know which flavor oils to purchase if/when I make my lip balm. :-)

(All of the lip balm will contain the same basic ingrediants for the lip balm base itself before flavor oils are added, including fruit oils and beeswax!)

Tags: poll

Etsy Update
I updated the etsy shop with several items, including dragon soap, glass pendants, and plastic cel phone charms. I've had such fun making these! There's something that's just plain nice about the act of making things with your hands. I also played with some watercolor paintings while I was on my crafting binge, though sadly the results were kinda muddy. It's something to look into in the future!

If you are interested in any of these things and place an order with the etsy shop soon, chances are still fairly good that it will arrive in time for Christmas (within the US).

Soaps
I didn't think I'd be able to, but I was able to manage to get a small quantity of dragon soap ready before the new year! If you missed out on the first batch, there's now a total of 20 soaps available. Brown Sugar & Fig, Fresh Vanilla, Cranberry, and Eucalyptus & Spearmint soaps are now in stock. (No lavender or black raspberry vanilla this time around :-( When I get some more time next year I will try my hand at soap making again!)


Glass Pendants
All of these glass pendants have already found homes from my DA journal post yesterday, but they're still kinda pretty to see.


Plastic Phone Charms
These phone charms have artwork on one side, and a solid colored back on the other. (Back color of the plastic matches the border around the artwork) They are glazed on both sides and is very shiny! The lariat has a touch of glitter thread woven in.

Tags: etsy, necklaces, phone charms, shameless self promotion, soap
Current Mood: chipper