Introducing Niamh

Niamh is not a new character - she was first "conceived" around 1996 as the shape-shifting Assassin for the Gods (then called "Nemesys") and then later reinvented in 2005 with a somewhat more extraordinary background. She had now been reinvented AGAIN in 2013 with the same extraordinary background but with a few macabre twists.

I am writing her story for an anthology on "Reflections" that the Christchurch Writers' Guild will be releasing early next year (probably) and that I am compiling/editing.

Niamh isn't totally human, as you may have guessed - she was created with the life force of an owl, but she is intelligent, observant, silent of foot and somewhat aloof in her thoughts. She does not give love, nor take love, easily. Her story beyond her childhood (which I am writing now) is not fully developed, but I envisage her as being a sort of immortal being charged either with assassinating, or saving, specific individuals that will have a strong influence on the shape of the future. In line with a dream last night, I think she may be preparing for the encroaching apocalypse - an unknown threat that will obliterate a large percentage of the human population. She, along with other chosen immortal individuals (not all of them shape-shifted animals), are known as the Brethren of the Phoenix and it is their task to prepare the survivors to rise from the ashes of humanity.

This may, actually, tie in somewhat with my Furritasia stories - which would be a really exciting prospect.

Gary Oldman

You can thank my husband for this one.

I joined a swap - "one actor, three movies" was the theme. So I got thinking... Who to draw? Johnny Depp? Nah, too obvious - others have already drawn him; Jude Law? Nah, his roles are all kind of similar. Audrey Tatou? Nah, same problem - no really stand out, outlandish characters.

So I asked my husband: "can you think of one actor that's played a wide range of roles?"

And he said "yes, that guy... I can never remember his name... but he was in the Fifth Element..." *pause, looks thoughtful* "...Gary Oldman, that's the one."

And I went "aha" and ran off and did some research.

Anyhow, here are four pictures of him:

So we've got: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1990); Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992); The Fifth Element (1997); Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2007)

I believe I am getting a bit better at drawing humans.

And Gary Oldman is awesome. I might make another 3 images yet. Spivey, Commisioner Gordon, young Dracula. Wanna draw Lord Shen too, but they're supposed to be human roles...

Humans, take two

Recently I hosted a "Reading Group" swap for which I decided to draw portraits of various characters. Alas, some of my efforts were a little disappointing:
http://lemurkat.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/humans.html
Especially when compared with the wonderful stuff the other participants came up with.

So, I decided at the last minute to draw different cards.

For "Name of the Wind" I chose to draw Auri. Now, there is no real description of her in the books, save that she is somewhat fey, has wispy hair and tattered clothes and lives in the hidden places under the university, coming out at night to have picnics on the rooftops with Kvothe. No hair or eye colour that I know of.

So, I basically followed my instincts here:

I'm sending Meran both cards (this and the Kvothe one I posted earlier)

And then I decided to draw Captain Hook again for the "Peter Pan" card:

And the other Hook goes in my "reject" pile.

And here's another I drew earlier of Jonas and Gabriel from "The Giver".
Bicycles are hard to draw!

Humans....

I'm not great at drawing people - my abilities with them are very hit and miss. Therefore, I have decided that the only way to improve is to practise...

... and practise....

Starting with my Reading Group cards.

Here's the ones I have done already:

Kvothe from "Name of the Wind"
Captain Hook from "Peter Pan"

I shall continue to draw one or two humans a week for the rest of the year and we shall see if my abilities have improved any by the end of it. I'm going to start with portrait style pieces such as these (in ATC size), but once I'm caught up on trades, I might just work on random doodles in one of my new small sketchbooks.

Art Dump

It's been a while since I updated - but that does not necessarily mean I've been slack with the artistry. Although, admittedly, I have a bit! This is not so much a "daily art blog" as a "every few day's art blog". Anyhow, in between baking muffins for my co-workers, spending time with my husband and the extended family and working, I have achieved a bit of art. Most of it for the Pick-a-theme that finishes now in the middle of January - yay for extensions!

This one called for two Goddesses - the Goddess of the Moon and the Goddess of Fortune:

A tree:


And the theme Gypsy/Bohemian. since the last was for Icekat, who has a number of feline furry characters anyhow, Idid not think she'd mind if I drew Titus, with a wig on, in a gypsy costume.
Okay, so he maybe does look a wee bit too girly.


And lastly - a guitar:

February Pick-a-theme

I think this shall be the last Pick-a-theme I engage in. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I keep ending up producing what I feel is lacklustre art. I am just not passionate enough about many of the themes to do what I would consider a "good job".

For those of you wondering what a "pick-a-theme" is - basically each group consists of 5 people who all nominate what theme they are collecting. These can be vague (ie: "birds") or very specific (ie: "old fashioned beehives"). I rather enjoy trying to add my own little quirk to the theme, and interpret it my own way. They're fun - you get cards that are well suited for your collection, and sometimes have to face a challenge, but also you may be stuck with some rather tricksy-to-interpret themes.

Colourful Cat
Following up from my "finch kitties" of last year, this fellow is a cat coloured like a bullfinch.









Scarlet Macaw











Fantasy Armour
Whilst googling for this theme, I found an awesome dog costume. But I decided it would look better on a kitsune fox (which the recepient also likes)





Rooster











Whimsical Tree
This cute palm tree was referenced by a photo I took on the Tauranga harbour front.









Child at Play
Children are not something I am very good at drawing, and try as hard as I could, I could not get her looking young enough. So here we have a pre-teen Malagasy girl showing her younger siblings how to fly one of their handmade, recycled kites (made from plastic bags).







Old Fashioned Beehive
Well, it's colourful and whimsical, anyway. Can you find the 4-leaf clover?










Louisianna Swamp Land
Albino swamp 'gator.

Steam Punk and Starry Night

For the Summer Pick-a-theme I decided to do a poll in my Facebook to determine which picture I would draw next. The options were:
A; Still Life with Glass
B; Steampunk Guy
C; Tropical Fish
D; Dionysos (the Greek God)
E; Guy with horns

B came out the Unanimous winner. So I did it first. The rest will come - with time!
This was photoreferenced from this fellow here but doesn't really look like him. With obligatory vehicle and smog!

I've done my own take on Van Gogh's "Starry Night" I think four times now - over Hungary, over Aztec Ruins, over Slovakia - it was high time I did it over something in my own country! Gives me more excuse to try drawing architecture too. Good practise, even if the proportions are slightly off. The Chalice was tricksy!

Cultural Brides

It's been a while and I'm sorry. You see, I have discovered Postcrossing and it is highly addictive. I have already signed up and sent postcards to Germany, Russia, Finland and the United Kingdom and now I have one left to send to Malayasia. Possibly tomorrow. And I've found someone to post to in Hungary (she gets a handmade one as I haven't conquered Hungary yet).

Anyhow, I joined the "bride" swap - for ATCs, not brides, alas. Or perhaps that's a good thing! I don't usually darw people, least of all brides, but the deadline was a week before my wedding so I thought it would make a nifty wedding surprise.

Then I got to thinking... What to draw?

Obviously ordinary women in wedding dresses was not quite quirky and offbeat enough for me. But I didn't really feel like drawing animals in gowns. That seemed a bit too... expected of me.

So instead, I typed "asian brides" into google.

You can guess what mean of the results were. But I also found some pictures, of actual traditional bridal outfits (although it heklped when I added "Traditional" to the keywords).

And here's what came out of my pencils:

Sri Lanka, Indian
China, Korea

The Chinese bride has since has a nose job so now she looks a bit better.

Oh and I also drew a geisha to go to Malta:

I'm still not great at drawing people, but they do make a nifty challenge and a bit of a different addition to my artistic galleries.

I've been rather sluggish on the art of late. A lack of motivation and drive, perhaps. Luckily I do not have many commitments hanging over my head at present and can afford to take a little bit of an art break.

But here are the offerings of the last art working weekend:


Tudor Panda for Mithrill. This one took me several goes and I'm still not happy with it. Dress and posture was photoreferenced.


Native American. Initially for Kre but she wants a butterfly so I might draw her a puriri moth instead, which means this guy is up for trade. I guess my desire to draw hands has shown in the similar poses reflected in both pieces.

I attended a craft show on sunday and that was quite interesting, although I'm more arts than craft. I kinda suck at handcrafts. Anyhow, did give me some ideas for my wedding invites. So I should really get onto those.

A Mixed "Bag" of Art

Baby Sloth taking a roll in the leaves (for Mithrril)


Little unicorn with rainbow, for Kre.


Great Grey Owl for Kre.



Red-haired Scotsman (inspired and vaguely supposed to be Jamie Fraser) for Mithrril.

More Totems and a Demon in Disguise

It's Mr Anthony Crowley, the demon from "Good Omens" and his trusty Bentley. Look - I drew a human! And he looks pretty decent too.

THE TURTLE
You work best by thinking things over and moving with caution. You do not rush into things but this helps you to make the right decisions.















THE KOI FISH
You are capable of adapting to any situation and thriving on it. Indeed, you grow to meet your challenges and reach your goals. You are also affectionate and friendly, and others revel in your company.

An Eclectic Selection

Another piece for the "people" page of my portfolio book. This is a Papua fellow - a human bird of paradise, you might say. I found his picture in a booklet of trip itineries.



I've done a lot of crows, ravens and black birds. Not because I particularly like them, but because everyone else does. I don't mind them - they're smart, impressive and make a good alarm clock (when on holiday, we only have a few rooks in New Zealand, nothing more dramatic). However, due to various spiritual reasons, everyone seems to love ravens and crows.

So, here is my first decent drawing of one. The first that actually looks like a crow and isn't cute, cuddly and well, wrong. He has a pillbuh in his beak, because he's for a PAT where the choice was "crows or insects" so I went with both.

In my searching I did find someone who had developed a vending machine for crows - when they insert coins into it, they get a reward. It was part of a scheme to make crows useful in areas where they're reviled as pests. The idea was, they'd pick up lost coinage. I wonder how long it would take them to work our how to break into the boxes?


And lastly... I loved the "what's my style" swap and started a couple of threads (one on each forum) for an ongoing "what's my style" challenge. So in this case I have taken on the art of Eraserqueen.

She doesn't usually draw animals, except for me ^^ But I've decided to draw Katta, cos well, that's what I do. In her style, of course. So I've got the bold colours, the somewhat exaggerated features, the swirls. The flowers and trees are directly inspired by her art, I hope she likes it.

A Little Blah...

Feeling a bit down. Don't know why. Probably just tired.

Anyhow, here's some art:

Finishing up the trade with Sorjei on deviantart we have:

Tsuki the Fennec fox

Victorian Lolita

#251. Celebi the time Traveller pokemon

And a Kayak chicken for Kayakchickee. I hope she doesn't mind!


I'm thinking it might be time to take a break from the art and embark on a new project. Maybe it's time I got my novel finished. I've almost finised up all my trades, after all.

Or perhaps I should get this pesky wedding business sorted...

Another two pieces completed today:

A Chinese Fisherman for my "portraits" page. I felt the urge to draw someone old and wrinkly and remembered this segment from "Wild China" where comorants were used to assist in fishing. They have rings around their neck so they cannot swallow their catches.

Roadrunner and Coyote - semi realistic. For DADAlogy

Now for some brainstorming - to complete my book I need:

1-2 x portraits
1x crypto critters (for HmmNbird?)
1x landscapes (Hawaii for landscapes swap)
2x folklore - whimsical mermaid and ???
2-3 x fantasy novels - "13 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear", maybe "Perdido Street Station" or "Mortal Engines" (Steampunk for DADAlogy??), and ??? Need to think of a GREAT fantasy novel.
1 x literary fiction - "Oryx and Crake"
1 x Emotionally Weird (personified emotions) - "purple" for PAT? Purple = wisdom, grief?
1 x Cultural Cats (The Cat from .... *insert country here*) - not really necessary, but would be nice
1 x New Zealand wildlife (non urgent as can find something in archives if necessary)

Suggestions and requests for the above graciously accepted!

Need to draw:
June PAT - Hippo, Mermaid (See above), potted plant, cute male gnome
May PAT - purple (see above), CATS, Hot Air Balloon
Summer PAT- insect, dragons, Bast, weird sea creatures and skeletons, Icecat, Muppets, Siren, Crows/insect
Also, two cards for Artree.