Merri's New Ref // Plans....

Plans first, since the new ref is highly NSFW.

I'm going to give this thing a revamp if it kills me.  Just read a very nice guide on how to make a not-ugly-blog and it's kind of pointing a big finger at me saying "just redo it already!"

Problem is, I can't really decide what theme to go with next.  I'd like to keep it a little dark, but, I don't know.  I also would like to keep the purple in place, but I want it to be tasteful, not *too* searing, and readable.  Is this readable?

The header HAS to go, thinking I may take some of the photo paper I use sometimes and make a header out of that.  

In other news I finally wrote up the specs for the zine I want to do, it's still open participation, still encouraging queer contributors/content, still haunted-themed.  I just need to make sure the other person helping put it together agrees with the guidelines, and I'll post it.  I'm still looking for a cover.  May do the whole photo paper thing again, paint a ghost on...I'm not sure.  I'll think on that for a while.  May also ask a friend who paints cool ghosts who was planning to contribute if she'd like to make or otherwise provide a piece for a cover.

We shall see!

I still want to do all the things I've been doing or well...trying to do.  that is, the inspirational sunday, feature friday.  I want to start doing some fashion posts too.  I realized recently that just because my high school scared me away from my body and made me think I was awkward and therefore unsuitable for being a photography model for *anything* or doing any hobby acting...doesn't mean it's at all true.  I'd like to start getting into photographing outfits I coordinate again, as I did this for a little while to cheer myself up last fall on a fairly regular basis.  I put a lot into myself and my appearance and shouldn't cut myself short.  May also post the occasional thing about living with an autistic spectrum disorder/condition as I've had to make some choices about my diet lately in order to cope better with my symptoms.  Not enough people, I've seen, come out of the woodwork casually and speak about having autism like it's not some sort of awful curse unless it's an autistic-specific blog, website, etc. and that's kind of sad.  I could provide my own insight as people like me are probably out there wishing more artists and cool people were opening up about coping and day-to-day life.

Now onto Merri's new ref.

Warning: Nudity and adult content under the cut!

9/8/12: A few sketches

It's been a while.  I scanned a few sketches, a werewolf concept and an adult picture of Merri I'm rather pleased with.

Concept for the were form for Merri's new dom (and later boyfriend--Carlos is still his future spouse) Luke who is a pretty cool guy.  More on him later, whenever I next draw him.

I like skinny werewolves better than muscly ones personally but the muscled ones are cool too.  Werewolves are really hard for me to draw.  I used to draw them all the time in middle school, so it's been, I dunno, eight or ten years since I've drawn one?

Warning: Adult content under the cut.

5/23/12: Badges, Zines, Etc.

 Have been talking to my friend likelaurels about zine stuff, since I've had little luck finding places suitable to take my art, but moreso having difficulty finding places willing to accept my writing.  Usually it's a question of length.  However if I did my own project length wouldn't matter as much.  We  haven't decided if anything will come of this yet but I hope so and will keep you all posted, writing is as important to me as my illustrative work if not more important.  Also her art is fabulous.  Really, really fabulous.
And now badges. :)

Brightfire's badge!  I'm rooming with her, so excited!  We're doing a trade.  My half got a little scanner-bleached where the neon was (the lettering) and I kind of forgot to make her look like a girl since I was looking at a feral ref...

Anyway, I still like it.  I think it's cute.

This is a standard badge, they're $15 each.  If you go to the commissions page and look down, you can see the themes I offer along with general/unspecific, like this.  Paypal is adkstudioss@gmail.com, if you'd like one email me there :)

Badges for Burgerbaby and her boyfriend!  ALSO roomies!  They're guinea pigs for my Halloween Party themed derp badges (which can also be cosplay, etc. theme).  They're $12 each or two for $20.  This is a couple badge set so they'd be $20.  they hold hands <3 

And some other zine-related news below, as well as an additional piece.

Warning: Adult content involving S/M under the cut!

Fluttershy ACEO, Bailey pin-up, Cute puppy, and MANY sketches/WIPs...

 Fluttershy ACEO!  Will add Twilight later, I have to tweak something and she'll be done.  Omg, this series is almost done ;-;

Headshot sketch requests from Tuesday's streams.  

Fortinbras!  Typical pomeranian specimen.  Super cute.  Belongs to Andy & Liam.  Scan tried to remove his nose, apparently.

Thank-you sketch for Boe, he's sending me a book. :) 

Really gross and stupid sketch of Liam racing down...a hill....to kill Sam with a knife?  With his other dog Hamlet derpily by his side...or is that nobly.  Sam isn't phased since you can't kill the dead.  She just wanted to take her repulsive stinking reanimated deer carcass for a stroll.  Jeeze, people.  :/

(based off of something in shadowed lives...this doesn't actually happen in the comic...so...yeah.)

She can decorate herself and her deer by sticking in decorative needles and pins.  Yum!....Also she has a bloody nose so that's the line on her face :P Will also sew on flower designs, ribbons, fabric scraps, pearls and beads, etc. to her deer friend.  (inspired by some heavily decorated taxidermy I saw on tumblr.)

Group dance picture.  Was going well until I did Carlos' face.  ;-; gonna print it out and try again....*sigh*

I needed a ref for a fist and forgot to look it up.  Hence the missing hand.

WARNING: Nudity and adult content under the cut!

4/21/12: ACEOs and art nouveau badges!

Kinda overdue raffle prize for Burgerbaby, first I was waiting on refs and then just, waiting for an idea :P Did this last night, VERY happy with it!  I rarely get the opportunity to draw chubby characters (which makes me so sad) and I love drawing height difference couples, so this was fun!  And I loved just embellishing the linework and leaving it be to speak for itself.  The ACEO I had actually colored a few months ago, I felt it would be perfect.  

FenrirsChild was awesome enough to be a guinea pig for my art nouveau themed standard badges!  She suggested the moon crescent and I added the phases with paint.  The way I work with my pencils on parchment varies depending on what effect I want.  I was playing with opacity since I think of art nouveau as having a very vivid/thick coloring style with a lot of softer details, relying on shading instead of excessive linework (very different from my style).  I normally have trouble getting opaque pencils to look okay on parchment but I think this looks pretty good.  :) I hope these catch on, I'd love to make more of them in the future.

As a side note, my MLP doll project is all caught up, only the gala gowns (may come at a later date, depends) and the elements of harmony are left.  I'm fixing a few outfits that had fit poorly but that's done too, now!  So close and I can finally scan and share them with everypony everyone!

Warning: adult art under the cut

Badge, sketch, and adult ACEO

<3 My BFF and co-owner of nearly all the characters has a birthday coming up and got to be a guinea pig for my 20s photography badges.  This was so fun to make, all my favorite things at once pretty much!  I hope others commission me for them JUST so I can draw more of them, they're so fun.  $15 each, they're standard badges.

A sketch I've had kicking around for a while.  Trying to make more dynamic images, draw more humans, and human/anthro interaction.  Also I wanted to show their relationships through movement and positioning. I think I did a good job.  Transferred and began inking, it'll get purple sketch lines added since I really love how they look.

Kept forgetting to scan/post, it's in my portfolio pile.  A few animals I sketched at the museum.  I love taxidermy specimens...they stay still for you.  the fawn is my favorite.  His/her spots were SO vivid, but the shading I did made it hard to add them.  I originally was going to paint them on later.

Made two months ago (close to when the above was made).  A lot I'm not thrilled with but overallI like it.  I may finish it.  And yes, I do see Baphomet as my preferred way to visualize the universe/nature in a single form of chaos and balance.  Philosophically I'm similar to a LaVeyan Satanist but not exact.  And while I haven't done much yet I have a lot of interest in sigil work and other kinds of magick.  I never thought I'd find faith but hey, look.

This is not meant to be "satanic" or "offensive" imagery. 

Warning: adult content under the cut!

3/6/12: Badge Trades // Sketchbook Page // Gift

For Kaili!  Used photo paper, totally killed a pen, will have to experiment with tip types to find what works best....

Inked half of a badge trade with Vore.  Mm, zombies. 

Warning: Nudity under the cut!

2/21/12: Tear Your Little World Apart // ACEOs

ACEOs first since they aren't partial nude pin-ups.....

Going along with my other ACEO pin-ups, all risque but not adult.  I love Tess, she's so squishy and curvy and cute.  Although her lip may be a little big, but who cares, it's cute.

Only problem I have with this is the darkness of her ears and hands.  Otherwise I think it came out well.

Done to Supervixen by Garbage. :)

A portrait of my cat Harley as a goddess kitty.  I drew this because she likes to sit on my lap while I play Okami--it's her favorite time to cuddle with me, that is, when she's not under the blanket while I'm reading comics.  Anyway, she looks a lot like the cat god and the statues of her(?) throughout the game.  Also, she has very striking markings--opposite half moons.  Some people have told us they look like curling demon horns, but one of my friends pointed out the similarity to the triple goddess symbol.  So thanks to all of that, I drew this.  I don't often attempt backgrounds that actually look like anything and I think the water is way too green-blue for that sunset...but I still like it for what it is.  I added iridescent medium (on the card above too) to make a slightly bluish matte effect on the background, separating Harley from it.  It also made the colors mix a little better.  Also the eyes are kind of too dark.  Blech.  May fix that.

And finally, the piece I'm most proud of right now:

WARNING: Nudity and (slightly) adult content under the cut!

2/17/11-2/19/11: Tear Your Little World Apart

I'm trying to draw 100 things influenced by songs.  I've had the project's specifications going for a little while and have maybe 5 drawings done or close to completion.  I've mostly been doing refs the past year, so...yeah.  Slowed things down.  Basically, I'm trying to draw properly again by doing this and a lot of practice sketching in a proper sketchbook.....

This started because I drew Carlos looking hot while listening to Garbage.  I now have two Garbage images in the works, I guess--that Tess ACEO from the last post, and this.


WARNING: Nudity and mild adult content under the cut!

2/15/11: Three ACEOs; One's for V-Day! // Ref & Pin-up WIPs

DON'T FORGET THE RAFFLES: furaffinity.net/journal/3167400/

First, a trade with Brett!

I had a lot of fun drawing this character for him.  Except for the Not-Dog and a few miscellaneous sketches I don't get to draw monstery critters!  I REALLY love how it came out, I had been saving that ACEO for something special since I had colored it a while ago.

It's iridescent IRL so it's super shiny.

TESS!

Meant to go along with the ACEOs I've been doing of my girl characters being sexy.  This one is a little more clean than the others, I guess, since she's the most covered and the material's opaque :P  Gonna do an orange-yellow background.  Make her look all fiery and hot (punny).

WARNING: Nudity and adult content under the cut!

1/22/11: Trade//Ref//Adult Trade//ACEO

As it says.  Trades, ref, ACEO.

I'm not going to shade my MLPs anymore.  I only did it once.  Here.  I don't like how it looks.  Still, pleased with how it came out in terms of pose...gonna cut it out and rescan.  Trade half with Opossumsrubnoses. 

Lindsay finished.  I used graphite instead of iridescent stuff on the background...Pretty happy with how it looks.  A lot of people draw her with brown patches instead of grey, but the actual breed can have either.  I prefer her with the grey, but it's shown here to be a sort of grey-brown.  Her new ref will come soon, I hope. 

Other trade and ref under the cut. Nudity AND adult content.

2011 In Review. // ATC, MLP, and Ferrets!

Art summary for 2011!  I think this year I really improved on humans the most, but also anatomy....I hope...

Also, references for Emma's ferrets, Amanda (left) and Rosalie (right).  Rosalie's usually just called Rosie.

Also, Merriweather MLP.  His design just follows his donkey sona.  Drawing the guys was more fun than I expected....

Carlos butt ACEO  Because I love drawing her.  I also love iridescent/pearlescent mediums.

Martha sketches. I can't remember if I posed these, but they're up now....Her ref's about half done, maybe more.

 And finally, colored version of a sketch commission for my friend Clockworkgh0st, decided to dress it up for Christmas...not done yet, I don't have my paper with me so I couldn't finish it how I wanted to.  Also unhappy with the ribbon.  But otherwise, glad I inked and colored it, it was a good challenge. 

11/19/11

Two commission sketches, adult art update, reference sheet in the works, a few art cards.

2, 3, 4.  Now part of a theme for Shadowed Lives ACEOs illustrating the different characters.  Colors correspond to their energies, personalities, and connections with other characters and forces in the story.

Sketch for an ink commission for Magnus on FA.  Since I've been watching too much Metalocalypse, this seemed like a good idea, lol.

WARNING:

NUDITY AND ADULT ART UNDER THE CUT.  

(in that order.  most graphic at bottom, nudity-only at top)

6/22/11

Sketches from the 20th and 21st, adoptables (finished AND WIPs), some more general WIPs including a tattoo concept, a finished pinup of Emilie, and a racy sketch of Bailey being racy.  He does that.

6/20/ + 6/21

The 20th was pretty weak.  I had eaten nothing all day and then at around 10:40 (after my last post, actually) I ate a revoltingly unhealthy dinner while watching Avatar: The Last Airbender.  Really bad Dan and Liam abound.  I used a magazine cover for the pose ref but I was so not there.  I was already pretty sleep-deprived.
Also the scan cut off funny and the contrast was weird; my scanner is misbehaving.

21st was great, though. I slept earlier, ate properly hahaha, and what's more is the sketches came out well.  Liam and Emma.  Emma's nose isn't narrow enough (her whole face is a little wider than it should be, I think) but the shape of everything is right. Also a pose from another, more interesting magazine picture.

I'm not sure if it's a crow or a raven but I'm kinda going more for a raven, they lend themselves to something this scruffy and sketchy in line style....Tattoo design idea.  It would be under my collarbone on my left side.  I can't really explain why I like them so much.  I know they're symbols of knowledge in Norse myth, and I've always thought of them in terms of my personality because of their reputations for being such smart birds.  They're also handsome animals, and they're sometimes shown in conjunction with dreams and as a sort of afterlife connection.  I also always wear a raven pendant.  The idea of ravens make me feel kind of protected.

A badge commission I got from Kamilya a while back that I finally got around to coloring.  Obv. a WIP....:)

A picture of Dan.  The hands fit what he's going to be doing, bashing a window in.  A forward as to a sweeping motion.

I kinda drew silly things all over the paper since it's not actually part of the image.  He's taking out the not-dog, and also Him from the Powerpuff Girls...my current favorite cartoon character ;-;  Doodles of a character--Jack's ex and friend--are also on here. And a sheep cupcake.  I baked a bunch and more with a friend in April.  Also a boyfriend for the ex and friend of Jack's, a piebald deer. Elijah has no place in my storyline and I want a deer.  He won't be so pierced up though.  

 FINISHED CHARACTERS!  IF someone claimed one, they'd get to name them, decide their age, a few likes and dislikes, and their style.  That info would be typed and pasted on.  I also finish the little clothes people in the corners.  The original character sheet is then mailed to you.  They're notecard sized.  I chose to do 50 themes.   These guys are Fairy (the okapi-musk deer mix is based off of fairy-kei), Sweet (asian blue quail-corgi mix), and Punk (elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum, whose natural markings were difficult to draw XP).  My favorite guy is the punk guy, I think.  His tattoos are all based off of street art imagery, too, and the chest piece is "bullet with butterfly wings" I guess.  Yup.  Rastafarian or Nervous may have been a better prompt for him.   I might change that.

Warning: nudity and adult content under the cut.
There's ample warning before the adult content, and everything else is just nude.

4/6/11

I am SICK as a DOG.  Which is fitting if my fursona's a coydog.  Hahaha.

So while I'm home with the same exact damn sinus infection I had a few weeks ago (I apparently needed a second dose of the antibiotics but no one thought I did at the time, way to go guys) I've been working on reference sheets (all I do anymore, am I right?) but I also have an exciting announcement as well as some finished work that I am really happy with.
As per usual refs are under the cut.

First-off, I finally finished part of my trade with Twinklestah!
It's her fab fox girl Tika-Tiri doing some maaaagical stuff with a few bones and feathers.  My canine anatomy -sucks- and I'm the first to admit there's something off with her neck, but I'm still pleased with how this ended up.  I like the coloring and I bought this funky paper-tape border stuff that I used on here (it sort of tore, sorry about that Dx) and I really love it.  The background, I edited with little thread-marks...so it's patchwork, for the Patchwork Plane, where her characters live.

Then it's the final version of Dance In The Dark, for that challenge I'm giving myself to live a little within my art and just sort of do things.  It scanned -horribly- but I don't really have a camera handy so...yeah.
I'm really happy with it.

Now it's just a million ref WIPs and a finished thing of Carlos.
Some nudity under the cut.

Carlos.
This is just a change for her current ref, which needed updating.  I just sort of totally BS'd her first ref and the anatomy was crap.  I took a lot of time on this one and I think it portrays her body type, coloring, and markings MUCH better.  I'm really pleased with her ears, the softness of the grey facial "freckles" and how I colored the iridescent scales on her arms and legs.
Her tail is different now, way thinner, but that's about it.  Small chest, slender, rather androgynous...her basic body shape hasn't changed -that- much.  Pre-op trans, afraid of surgery and hospitals and unwilling to commit to a sex reassignment operation for many reasons.
I was aiming to get her personality in the pose.  She's a little childish, loves dressing up and feeling girly, and likes being the center of attention.

Rachel.
This is the original ref idea, but I liked her face pointing up better so I traced and redid that.  She's stretching her arms behind her back and kind of.  stretching in general.
I wanted to--again--get her in the pose so I was trying for something casual, sexy, and teasing.  Rachel isn't exactly a sleaze but is obsessed with her own body image.  She is a successfully recovered anorexic, and used to use her body as power over men she dated, but usually wound up being used.  Old habits die hard--there's a part of her that still wants to attract men she doesn't necessarily want to date.  A deep-down desire to be an exhibitionist except she knows she'd regret it and hate it heartily (lol, she's been scouted for porn but always laughs in the peoples' faces and declines).  Also she's WAY into body art, but I didn't include her tattoos on the anthro ref.  The human one--she's usually a human--will come later.

The idea behind the design is her self-criticism.  She knows, in a vague way, that she's attractive or capable of being attractive at least, but really doesn't see herself as such through her own eyes.  She likes chinese crested dogs and has one named Winnie, who is her little bby, and opossums are vermin that dig through the trash--she sees herself as trashy due to who she used to be and the people she used to date, some of which were really dangerous men that hurt her.  So she threw them together to make something of two animals many people see as ugly.  It's really sad I guess.

ALSO LIAM UP THERE
his pose is unassuming otherwise it would be REALLY stupid and silly so I thought I'd save us.  I'm not sure if the proportions or anatomy are right but I like his face.  He's fun to draw.

(dan's ref used this whole let's be posing like our personalities thing, he was standing looking awkward instead of loud and obnoxious, because deep down inside he is a sad little boy)

More of Tess.  She's a shameless OMG BOOBS character, I'll admit, and her pose doesn't really mean anything except HEY GUYS I'M A SUGAR GLIDER.
She's modest and doesn't really like her breasts much, they're too big and therefore make it hard for her to wear certain cut tops and dresses and whatnot while still looking modest.  I always feel really bad for certain girls at my school who -insist- on wearing tops I'd look fine in that due to their chest size they appear to spill out of.  Sucks.  One of the reasons Tess likes Lance/Emilie so much is that he's not constantly eyeing her chest.  She's got a cute color scheme aww.  Reminds me of toast.

Also more Emilie. XP  I'm working on the background.

veeeery pleased with this!

AND NOW THE EXCITING NEWS

after like two years of almost no use I am finally using Bailey again.  I was watching Velvet Goldmine over the weekend and was all the sudden LOVING him again.  It was magical.
So this is him.  I actually checked my anatomy for once.
EXCEPT I'm changing the legs, screwed up the hand horribly and tried to replace a finger somewheres else and ended up making a mess, and I really do NOT like the shading inside his ears and one is too short.  So that will all be fixed.
So I'm editing the scan.
BUT ANYWAY OMG I MISSED HIM