Negative vs. Positive.

If you actually listen, the world is a pretty good place. Push yourself to look up, to make friends, to enjoy life and smile. 

Getting straight to the point, since I was a little girl I've had anxiety issues. It's hit me pretty hard these past 2 years, and I'm trying my best to overcome it.  We suspect I might have OCD, and sadly while we can't afford therapy, I know that being negative will only make my anxiety worse.

If you have anxiety, depression or simply deal with negative thoughts; smile because it makes the whole world worthwhile. (cheesy? yes. True? incredibly!) and always remember that people DO care for you and love you. I can waste time by thinking everyone's out to get me, or spend it seeing the best in people. Sure it might hurt sometime, but it's much better than living life completely alone and self shut-out from hope joy. This is basically what inspired the picture below (click to enlarge photo).

Think about if it's worth it in the long-run. 

" Positive thinking isn't about expecting the best to happen every time but, 

accepting that whatever happens is the best for this moment "

Is your glass half full or half empty?

OCD - a chronic anxiety disorder focused on irrational fears and performing "compulsions" to try and--unsuccessfully--calm the anxiety. 

~~~~~

Helpful Resource:Want to know more about anxiety issues? Helpful link that first introduced me to what my problem could be.

youth.anxietybc.com/faq

In Media Res

Huuuge commission for halotroid09 on deviantart for his podcast series on youtube which explores Catholicism in modern media. Unfortunately, blogspot doesn't seem to allow the drawing to be shown in full quality,  so I'll link to my deviantart here.

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From left to right, Blessed Archbishop Fulton Sheen,
St. Therese Of Lisieux, and St. Francis Xavier

Believe it or not, this drawing actually helped me overcome some anxieties
 that have been barring me from making real progress in art.

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Things I thought I would never be able to do, but accomplished in this:
o Drawing resemblances to real people ✔
o Drawing the same character more than once (St. Therese) ✔
o Drawing on a huge canvas ✔
o Drawing several people in the same picture, on the same scale ✔
o Drawing larger scale pixels ✔
o Drawing men ✔
o Drawing old people! ✔
o Drawing hands in various poses ✔ (instead of hiding them ;D)

In all honesty, it blows my mind that I was able to accomplish all of that and check it off the list. Anxiety had always been a significant roadblock in my way of getting better at drawing. If something seemed to overwhelming, I simple wouldn't even bother trying. This really surprised me and showed me that anything is really possible if your overcome fears, I just need to at least try first ;)

Time taken: 40+ hours over a span of 2 weeks
Music Consumed: 2 deliciously full CDS of Bastille 
Program Used: Ratemydrawings.com , Javadraw (free! )
Layers used: 50+
I owe a big thanks to my family and all the people who have encouraged me.

I think this goes to show more than just myself that you just need to practice and enjoy what you do. Go out and try something new, not with the intention of being either "really bad, or really good". But just having fun trying it. Chances are you'll ace it with a little time and enjoyment.

Pixel art dump I!

I've been really getting back into pixelling since I joined a 3-round competition last year, and as of late I keep on spitting up batches of pixel art, so I thought I'd share bits and pieces of what I've been doing! (not to mention it HAS been awhile since my last post...) This will be a bit longer post than we're all used to, so sit down, relax and enjoy the scroll ;P.

The trick with pixels is to create a detailed piece in a small amount of space with a very careful palette. Many artists use a bigger brush for the main components, and then go in with a brush size of just 1 pixel and refine and draw out the details.

"Haru"
Time Taken: 12+ hours

A gift I drew for my friend Astanine on deviantart, of her adorable character Haru. I used one of Aerieyena's marvelous bases! (base = sort of like a blank mannequin to doll everything on. Since pixel art is so time consuming, many artists create poses (bases) for other people to use.)

"St. Therese of the Little Flower"

Time taken: 6+ hours

I chose St. Therese as my confirmation Saint for her great simplicity and cheerful mindset. I really wanted to reflect that in this drawing, so I used very bright colors in a very minimalistic style of pixel art. I've had the image of what I wanted to draw in my brain for months, and I don't think I've ever been to draw something in my brain as clearly as I did with this!
I added a zoom version to showcase the details :)

"Chocolate Candies"

Time taken: approx. 2 hours

This was created for a pixel challenge to create Valentines day Chocolates using select shapes. I'm not used to drawing pixels so large, so it was a challenge. I made the 1st one, but then decided I didn't think it had enough imagination to it, so I made the second one.
Created for Glam (Old Hollywood themed Pixel forum) If you have any interest in pixels, I highly recommend joining! 

"Glamorous Me"

Time Taken: approx 2 hours

Another goodie I created for Glam. I wanted my forum avatar to match the site's Old Hollywood Glamour theme, and decided to go with a fabulous frock from the roaring twenties (I think it was somewhat inspired by an episode of Doctor Who!)! My hair isn't really that short at all, but I let myself have fun and I love the results! No base used.

"Dorothy Of Oz"

Time Taken: Lord knows

This one is the oldest pixel I have listed, and I created this randomly to try testing out a a new pixel style as well as animation. I suck at animation, I mean honestly, truly I do. Half of the time it spent to do this was on trying to get the son of a peach's animation right (this blog may have taken the animation feature off, and for that I apologize). And although it took forever, this is one of my proudest pixel creations. As I worked on it, I created a story about Dorothy coming from Oz to Kansas. An interesting twist of the tale, who knows if I'll ever flesh it out though! 

No base used.

Pixel art was the very first digital art medium I had within my reach at about 6 years old because ms paint was and is free, easy, and virtually everyone has it. My pixel art has not only improved since I was little, but my love for it has stayed with me and grown throughout my artistic journey. Perhaps you'd like to see some of my earlier attempts at pixel art? Even though they're rough and crude, I give you the prize of my collection! :D : 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! My holiday was spent with my wonderful family and friends, and of course, with Jesus at midnight mass. I have learned so much this past year, strength, trust, and love. One thing that I hold dear to my heart is that "one cannot have joy without suffering." And I wholeheartedly hope that through whatever suffering you have been in, are currently in, or will go through, I hope that you will find this immeasurable joy. Joy comes directly as a product from suffering whilst accepting it as The Will of God. I simply couldn't believe any less.

With this picture of Baby Jesus, What I wanted to convey more than anything was a sense of peace, joy and trust in this Babe that loves each and everyone so much, so to start I gave it a very soft vibe, using one of my favorite brush settings and light colors. With his smile, I wanted to give him something adorable and innocent, but something that kind of looks at you and says "Everything's ok." Maybe that sounds silly, but I absolutely love how it came out, and whenever you feel down, think of this simple but joyful smile.
So without further adieu, I give you my picture of Our Lord, Baby Jesus.

I wish you nothing less than peace of mind, soul, and heart. May you be filled with the glorious joy of Our Good Father.

Drawing Study: Speed Landscape #2

Heyo! Been a bit of a jump since my last post.

Before I get to my actual drawing I'd like to point out that I've realized I actually have a fashion, haha! Ever since forever I never really had a personal style that was my own and expressed myself. Basically what I'm trying to say is I made a funny haiku about my quirky fashion sense and wanted to share it with you.

Big fluffy red scarf,
Crayons in my messy bun
Silly striped long socks!

I don't even know if this is a "proper" haiku or if it makes sense, but I promised myself I'd try my hand at poetry and other writing types. And yes, I'm currently wearing crayons in my hair, and I think I'll do the same for the park tomorrow.

Alright, now on to the actual drawing for today.
Art Study #4: Speed Landscape #2

The snow and the branches were such tedious work and after awhile it got pretty boring, but it was a fun drawing nonetheless. I love playing with all the blue colors, especially on the centre trees.

Time Spent: 1.5 Hours
Program Used: Ratemydrawings.com

ocmign soon

Drawing Study: Speed Landscape!

Art Study #3: This time, speed landscapes! Okokok I've always REALLY stumbled when it comes to landscapes. It'll be like "Ok...I'm gonna put a flower here. One rock here. a branch.... Aaaand it looks like a great big empty wasteland of crep."

SO, I found another wonderful tutorial on DA by the amazing _____ on speed painting landscapes, found here.
Oh and by me "speedpainting" I mean I did it 3x as long as normal people do it, but it was still fast for me! XD
Unfortunately, my program really only has one different useful brush texture, so I wasn't able to play around as much as the tutorial guy did. (I DREAM of someday owning Photoshop CS5, but it's really not possible for this broke girl right now, haha.)

And without further adeiu, here is my attempt at Landscape Speedpainting!

Click the image for a better, full size image! I love how painterly it came out looking!
Time Spent: 1 hour
Program Used: Ratemydrawings.com, an awesome FREE drawing website with 3 different online drawing programs.