Newlyweds Anniversary Portrait

I had the pleasure of doing this commission for a wonderful customer. She wanted her wedding portrait to be in black & white on tan-toned paper. She suggested charcoal as the medium which, to be honest, made me a little nervous at first because I haven't used charcoal in years! I practiced for a bit until I was comfortable again. Charcoal is actually an awesome medium for creating value, tone, and blending. The only downside is that it smudges easily but my college professor taught me that spraying some fixative throughout the process helps keep the charcoal from flaking off or smudging too much. Perhaps I say this every time I finish a commission but this piece is definitely a favorite!

Commissions Officially Closed for 2015

I would like to take the time to thank everyone who has commissioned me this year. I really enjoyed branching out of my comfort zone and creating artwork with all types of mediums and styles. You all have made the first year of my shop a wonderful experience! THANK YOU ALL! <3

The holidays are fast approaching, as well as final exams, and deadlines for projects and other assignments for school. I will not have sufficient time to complete new commissions for December, so I have decided to close shop for the year. Fortunately, I will re-open in 2016 (exact date TBA). As for the people who purchased commissions in November, do not worry! They will be completed before Christmas! :)

Happy Holidays!

-Joyce

Strawberry Parfait Watercolor

Once a month I try to go to a watercolor class to improve myself in that medium. The theme for this month was "Desserts" so I chose a strawberry parfait as reference from a photo that I found on Google Images. I've been to this class about six times, and this is the FIRST piece that I'm actually happy with. I'm slowly improving and it's exciting to see that! :)

Timothy's Rainbow Tail Phoenix

A friend of mine commissioned me to draw a Phoenix. I used tan-toned paper with Prismacolor colored pencils. Traditionally, Phoenix tails look similar to a Peacock's so I added that in there. The crest was inspired by the Cockatiel.

Baby Jesus

Earlier this year I was commissioned to recreate a client's favorite picture of Baby Jesus. The only version of this picture that she had was a blurry cellphone pic that I had to use as a reference. I don't normally draw in this style but trying something new was fun.

Asura's Wrath

Here's a commission I did earlier this summer of Asura from Asura's Wrath. It's an 18" x 24" acrylic painting that is based off of an existing poster from the games. This was a great exercise becuase I haven't used acrylic in quite sometime and it gave me a break from drawing.

Andreja {{Nicolle's Dreams}} Art Contest

Decided to try my hand at drawing Andreja's doll, Jess (holding her kitty, Namine!). Andreja is so talented and dedicated to her work. Her BJD tutorials have been so helpful in teaching me how to do face-ups on my own dolls.

I am so very thankful to her for giving her fans the opportunity to participate in her art contest. Through this competition, I have been introduced to some other amazing artists as well!

Celine's Grandmother

I was commissioned by my best friend, Celine, to draw a portrait of her late grandmother as a gift for her mom. I think this was the first time I've ever made two people cry from a drawing (tears of joy, of course!). I'm the type of person who starts crying if I see other people cry so this was certainly an interesting experience, lol. It was a pleasure to draw your grandmother, Celine. I'm sure she's proud of both you and your mom for all you have accomplished. <3

Tanner

Here's one of the commissions I worked on for the month of May. He was a lot of fun to draw. I especially love his eyes!

Business Cards

The Business Cards I ordered from VistaPrint arrived the other day. They look pretty neat and are a good representation of my work. I will be passing them out to everyone I know and include them in future orders. :)

Sample Prints Have Arrived!

My prints came in yesterday!

I actually wasn't sure what to expect when I ordered them but I'm super impressed with the print quality! I am not sure what looks better, the originals or the prints lol. They are beautiful!

Please click on the Store link above if you're interested. They are going for $20.00 each.

Each print is on 8x10" Somerset Velvet Giclee paper and has a similar high-quality texture as watercolor paper.

For now I only have 1 copy of each, but can certainly stock up on more if requested (^__^).

Sample Prints

I'm excited to say that I ordered some sample fine art prints last night of these four pieces. They will be on somerset velvet paper and should have a watercolor appearance to them. Hopefully they'll arrive sometime next week. If they look good, I will sell them to whoever is interested.

Pancho the Pomeranian Mix

A few years ago I drew my best friend's dog as a birthday present. This is Pancho, a pomeranian mix. Looking back at him now, the fur could definitely use some work. I didn't know much about Photoshop at the time, so I'm interested to see what Pancho would look like if I attempted to draw him again.

Inflatable Dancing Cow

Okay, so this doesn't have anything to do with my art work but I absolutely LOVE this inflatable dancing cow. No joke, instead of being productive I spent 2 hours watching different videos of this person.

Koi Geisha

This piece just so happens to be my blog banner and background! (^__^)
It's one of my favorites and would actually be the design I'd choose if I ever decided to get a tattoo (I don't have any though).
She started as a college project back in 2010 that took me 2 years to finish -TWO YEARS, GUYS! - done entirely with Copic markers and Prismacolor colored pencils. Growing up, I was heavily influenced by Japanese artwork and culture. I started off drawing anime but that later evolved into a more realistic style.

Baby Nicole

Last Christmas, an old friend of mine commissioned me to draw a portrait of her baby girl, Nicole. I'm very proud of this piece because it definitely shows improvement compared to the older portraits I've done.

This was done using graphite pencils on regular drawing paper.

Totoro's Garden

I promised some artwork, so here's one!

A silhouette painting of Totoro and his guardian friends next to Satsuki and Mei's garden.

I painted this to match the decor in my half bathroom. I went a little crazy with the interior decorating as soon as I moved into the new house.

WHOA! I made a blog!

I created this blog to share my artwork with others. For the longest time, I never went public with any of my artwork. It wasn't even until recently that I opened up my Instagram to the world. I used to be afraid of people stealing my hard work and claiming them as their own. To be honest, I'm actually still afraid of that, lol. However, someone who I respect and admire has told me multiple times that it would be a waste of talent if I didn't do something with my art. 

So here it is, my first introductory Post. On the right side of the page you'll see a few fun links that I'm involved in. I'm still trying to get familiar with this blog, but at least I added an "About Me" page! :D

I hope to fill up this blog regularly and interact more with others.

Thanks for reading!

<3 Joyce