end of november

Tomorrow, or at least this weekend.. We're going to go get a Christmas Tree! A real one!
It will be my first non-artificial Christmas.. How lovely :) Also going to be picking up lights and decorations and such... Got to get the chinchillas more hay too, they're out.. poor babies.
Ah, and maybe I can get some nice chunks of wood to carve.. that'll help relieve some stress.. I don't know what happened to the other two pieces I had.. they must still be in Oregon somewhere..


--and now, Artist's Rantings ..mainly about money.. you can relate...

Forewarning.. Don't take this too seriously, I adore art, it's what I do. and doing pictures for people makes me happy.

I'm... . just pissed with the economy and such..

that and I have nowhere else in the world to rant about such things. I don't want to spend all my time complaining to people, so typing it out feels better..
--
So, I've known for awhile that I'm really not making that much when it comes to my art. But today, I sat and calculated it out.. .

This year, I've had a little bit of money come into my account for commissions.
After subtracting all the costs of prints made, shipping, slight amount for gas (to get prints) tax, and fees... I've only "made" roughly 30% of it! .. and I've spent a good chunk of that on art supplies.. just not direct commissions...

So, I've had offers from 3 local art galleries to show my art.. From what I know, I can lease out a few pieces to them, and they'll sell prints, and give me a percentage.. probably 20 or 30 % of what they'd sell them for, plus the initial leasing fee I'd charge.. I was against doing this when I was first asked a few months ago, but over time, I've come to the conclusion that it would be better than just collecting dust, right?

Now what I need to do is get my act together..
Gather up my favourite pieces.. go spend a (very) small fortune getting a set of prints of my pictures made, (about 1-2 bucks for an 8x10) I've got alot of them, thats for sure..

Then I'll head out to Michael's I s'pose, buy some nice matting and cardstock, and a giant art binder, probably one of those over sized scrapbooks? I've got a huge one full of wedding photos, I think it would work.... and make myself a portfolio..

I wish there was a "How to establish yourself as an artist For Dummies!" book.. That would be so lovely..

I need to work with Joe and get the website's print-buying shop up..

I'm very hesitant to sell prints directly, because of the fact that the technicians at both of the Sam's Clubs' nearest to us are generally morons and ''break" the printer constantly.. I don't have a reliable, fast way of getting prints at the drop of a hat..

I really do want to get a professional photo printer with a printing girth of 60" but we're talking thousands of dollars, plus quality paper and ink ect. Ah, to be able to do my own canvas prints.. Wouldn't that be something!

We plan on getting one eventually, but I'm thinking it's not going to be while in the military.

So, for my own brain organization, theres my to-do list..

Merry Weekend to you all, and to all a some good cheer. something or other..

just a w.i.p. shot

a work in progress screenshot of something that I sketched out and am now painting in Painter.

Much much more difficult than photoshop.. It's taking a while to get used to..

You actually have to paint, mix, and take opacity and amount of oil/wetness of your media into account, just about like real life.. its REALLY weird.. but I like it..


ps you can click it to see a bigger view..


well, its almost 11.. got to go and pick up Joe from work..

maybe I'll take morty with me.. but he did get carsick last time.. I'll just let him chill in his kennel.. he's really taking well to it! He's gotten to the point where he'll just go and lay down or play in it on his own.. (which I calmly reward and praise him for.. a 'good boy! and a nibble always helps)

I can't wait to go and get some decorations.. as soon as we get a free day, off to the stores we go! I wonder what kindof stuff Target has this year.. they've always got interesting ornaments..

shaking in my socks

I'm nervous.. An online friend of mine is commissioning me to do a portrait of herself and her boyfriend. In acrylic. On 9 sheets of canvas..

*keels over*


this isn't the layout its' going to be in, but you can see why I'm a little intimidated.




here's the actual layout we determined to be the best.



So yea.. wish me luck!

I'm mainly concerned because I've got a really good concept painting on my pc, but I'm not entirely sure how to go about painting it in real life.. *sigh*


anyway, that's all for today..
just trying to keep busy, not think about how much I miss my family right now. .
you know how it goes..

Dad mentioned that he and mom and Chuck might come out for Christmas when I talked to him on thanksgiving..

haven't heard anything since that though.. so, we'll just wait and see..


ciao
-Kat

an affair to remember

So, my dear hubby managed to get me a copy of Painter 9, and I have this bizarre feeling of guilt, as if I'm cheating on photoshop.. -sighs-

In other news, we had Thanksgiving today with our friends Yesi and Anthony.. ^_^ they have work tomorrow, so we decided to do it a day early..

Joe and I bought a ton of food yesterday, and then hauled about half of our kitchen supplies (and Mortimer) to their house and I cooked us all dinner :)
It was super fantastically delicious.. I've never really cooked turkey and whatnot before, and wow, it was darn near perfect. The very first time I've actually liked roast turkey in my life. what a difference seasoning *and not turning it into jerky* will make..

We all watched Donnie Darkko while we were waiting for the bird to finish cooking, what a trippy movie!

While eating, we put on The Princess Bride in the other room, and we all started quoting lines from the movie at random... we're an odd bunch ^^

after cleaning up the kitchen, we then munched on pie and played wii sports for a couple hours..

I kicked some butt in wii boxing.. *woot* i pwn you Anthony!

But by far my favorite is bowling.. we've decided that we should go find a real bowling alley somewhere and play together.. (the alley on base is $12 a game, plus $5 shoe rental!! CRAZY I tell you) I really need to get myself a new ball and shoes..

Myball is back home with mom and dad, but at 17 lbs it is just a bit too heavy.. the thumb hole is too far from the finger holes, too. Last time I played with it, I partially dislocated my middle finger and thumb.. Ouch!

My shoes were too small too.. they're only size 10 and I'm an 11. at least. Joe seems to want to get his own ball too, though he's not really the most serious player.. I hope now that we've got someone to play with he'll be more enthusiastic.

He hates bowling with just me.. says I'm too serious and make him feel bad because I'm better at it than him.. Awwww poor baby.. So one of these days we'll go bowling ball hunting

Morty was extremely well behaved, and loooved their big fenced backyard, which has the plushiest grass I've ever seen.. it really is comparable to a green mattress.

Oh yea, and the other day, we went to the colonel's house for a little party, I was chatting with his wife Lana about Morty, and with her permission, I asked if I could run home and grab him.
We had a little introduction with their doggy in neutral territory, and after some sniffing and wagging of tails, seemed to give him permission to follow her onto the back deck.. He and their big old mutt Sydney got along so well.. it was fun watching them play together :) Morty had such a blast!

Its really sad to be so far away from family at this time of year.. -_- no kids running around, no snow, *giggles* no family quarrels or far too noisy card games..

So, I sit here, thinking about how I should go about decorating our little house.. where we put our lights when we moved here.. ect..

listening to the Sega genesis' Sonic soundtracks.. i really want to play sonic 3 right now.. Tails is awesome

and heartlessly cheating on dear photoshop with my newfound love. I tell you this program is amazing. . watercoloring is soooo much fun.. *geeks out*


toodles

oh one more thing. turns out the santa track project is pretty much just going to the folks at beale.. being sent out as a newsletter thingy, and will allow people to sign up for tours of the santa tracking headquarters. It will most likely get printed on t-shirts and sold at the event..

Media is micron pens, watercolors, photoshop to darken and touch up, added moon.

a little bit of coolness

So, guess what guys?? I get to do new graphics for the Beale Division Norad Santa Tracking Website, as they're doing it this year. Neato Magnifico

Most cool, huh!

In other news, we got our pup a nice big airline style kennel today.. finally..

Ah yes, and Mortimer became the new Simba for a little while today!



if nobody gets that, I shall cry.

November's Pile of Art

So, I would like to show ya'all what I'm working on..some of it I just got finished with, and the urge to show someone and ask what they think is very strong..


not a commission..merely for my own grueling learning experience..
oh my lord the proudness of this piece.. it oozes out of me.. this picture has probably over 400 hours of work.. Been working on this for months on and off.. Oh, its also HUGE in real life.. cant' wait to get a print of this..



older commission, just got re-touched and sent. chinchilla and jet fighter


not a commission, but a contest-prize.. a portrait of my sweet online friend Michi and her love!




Cozmik, yo! This one's a secret birthday present, so I'll hide it.. not that any parties of whom it's for even know about this blog, but hey.. can't be too careful
**don't click if you are a friend of tiffany** http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v690/kjsbrk/5001.jpg

just a bit of cuteness of one of my clients and her boyfriend..


Random People..



A Phantom Poodle.. cause I think they're cool.. wanted to make it look like a snapshot


A stylized poodle named Prince.. trying for a watercolor look with photoshop..


A fallen angel.. trying new coloring methods, and just having fun drawing different perspectives..

wolfy project

So, haven't been up to a lot lately.. Mailed off a picture, working on a commissions, not a really big one, (well i guess literally it is.. poster sized ya know.. ) but it's nice to have something to work on. I get burned out sometimes.. can't think of anything to draw.. writer's block some would call it.
though, I am currently working on a weird anthropomorphic picture.. I've never really done a true anthro piece; thought I'd give it a try..
here, this is her head.. I'm doing it in photoshop, but its beginning to look like ballpoint pen..interesting how that happens..
I really like how it's coming out though ^^

utterly confusing

hello again, folks..

I have a quick question...

how the heck do you get your dog to stop eating dirt?

Mortimer runs out into the backyard, pees, and then looks for dirt to sink his teeth into..

I can't figure it out.. I yell at him, drag him away, give him something good to chew on, but as soon as possible, he goes right back to it..

he's especially fond of dirt that has been stirred up by moles.. oh, and potted plants, too.




Oh, I also made up a neater composition of my commission prices..

Remember to fill out the order form to get started.

This is what your order will look like when I receive it.

photoshoot with the corgi gang

Well, as I still can't find my camera's usb cord, I was prompted by boredom to sift through cd's I'd burned of my trip to Oregon..

Here are my favourite pictures from Carolyn's backyard.. :) I really wish I'd gotten more.. but ah well. . . starting off, Digger sitting on my lap! Also in here are a couple shots of Phoebe and Hux

town & country and other stuff

'Cause I forgot to stick this in the last journal, Here's a great example of the Town and Country clip photo taken by stock artist/ dog groomer http://crystalspics.deviantart.com/

By the way, commissions are open, if anyone would like me to do a picture for them! I really need some help buying a good pair of clippers to trim my little beastie...

November commission info

Yesterday, I managed to get Morty to hold still and let me trim his face.. *cracks up* but noo, I have really loud, hot, shaky and scary clippers and he decided to jerk away suddenly and I SHAVED the area inbetween his eyes.. poor little thing.. luckily his hair grows out really fast, so he'll look ok by next week.. I'll have to get a photo later..

ooh, and I made the most yummy chicken noodle soup and pumkin bread yesterday!

the soup had carrots, cabbage, zucchini, celery, red bell pepper, potato, garlic clove, red onion, broccoli, peas, fresh parsley, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, salt, pepper, paprika, chicken breast, wide no yolks egg noodles.. and I think a couple other things?

crap.. my usb cord for my camera has disappeared.. I'll have to upload a pic later..

Moved miss mika back into our bedroom.. Morty is doing well with his housetraining, he's able to hold it all night now (though boy is he happy to be let out first thing in the morning! He flies out the door)

Stuff about the furball

Hey, folks!

Ok, some stuff about Mr.Mortimer. . He's 3 mos, and is starting to get his new teeth.. Very
..umm.. what would the word be.. chompy? lately.

He weighs about 18 lbs currently (was 16 lbs at 12 1/2 weeks, but I know he's gotten a tiny bit bigger since. His dad is 61 lbs and mom's 50 lbs. Very pretty, nice dogs, too!
He was one of the smaller pups of the litter, (more the size of the girls then the boys) and it has
been estimated that he'll grow to about 54 or 56 lbs.

(a brother of his is a giant and going to reach min. of 85 lbs apparently!)

what else would be useful.. When we got him, he was on iams puppy smart, but we've
switched him over to Purina puppy chow for now.. but .. I would like to feed a homemade diet, (like raw diet, only I might cook the meat knowing how extremely sensitive I am to germs.. we'll have to see) but what I'm trying to get at is that I don't really know where to start..

When he grows out of his puppy hair, I want to keep him in the ''town and country'' clip. Tis' my
favourtite. I really need to get some new clippers.. I'd like to get the speed feed wireless
rechargeable kit made by Laube. They look really nice, and I've talked to and seen a few people use these. nice and quiet and they don't get hot!
They come with 5 blades and 4 combs, 2 rechargeable batteries and dual batt. charger to put it
in.

-morty with a new chew toy-

would you believe it

We got a puppy dog!!

For the past year, it's been up in the air with us whether to get a standard poodle, or a corgi. We'd decided to wait on getting a corgi until we have older kids, and a nice farm for him to run around on..

Plus, after visiting with Carolyn, all the way home I was having rather bad asthma symptoms.. couldn't breathe well and my air passages were closing constantly.. Really sad becuase I adore corgis.. :(

So, after a couple weeks of hard thinking, debating, and wringing of hands, we called up some poodle breeders, and went to visit a couple..

Though I was looking to get a white or parti-color, I absolutley fell in love with a little black male, just a total sweetie.. We clicked instantly, and that was that!

Here are some photos of our new baby, Mortimer

before haircut pics

after haircut pics

I've always wanted a standard poodle, but I was convinced that Joe wouldn't want one.. I was pleasantly surprised that he was all for it! (he doesn't like the minis and toys)

I know that poodles are alot of work, but I really enjoy the grooming process, and Morty dosen't seem to mind either for that matter. he fell asleep while I was clipping his feet.. *aww*


Just thought I'd post that ^_^

In other news, it's been a really rough week.. I've had a few people flaming the crap out of me and calling me a lier, ect ect.. all sorts of other fun stuff.. all because of some technical glitches and lack of mailing addresses.. gotta love the internet, right? *sarcasm*