May 2012: Part I – Earth Fare Cafe Gallery!

I have only temporary abandoned my blog!

How unfortunate that I had to abandon it at all…But the good news is, this only happened because I have been so busy. My last entry mentioned an upcoming gallery, my first ever. I knew it would be a great deal of work, but even that was an underestimation! I prepared more than 20 pieces of art, including mounting, matting, and framing, to be hung in the Earth Fare Cafe from September 25th 2011 to January 22nd 2012! This also included three separate Meet the Cafe Artist events during which I showcased various projects I was working on, brought in sketches and drawings I had done over the years, and even sold quite a few of the fine art prints I had made of the pieces on display. It was fun, fabulous, and completely exhausting. When January 22 finally rolled around and I held my last Meet & Greet, I sold off almost half of the framed art I had on display! I now have an even deeper respect for the gallery artists who do this sort of thing for a living. Granted, I’m sure many of them can afford to have someone else do the matting and framing of their art, but there is still so much more to do. From designing the fliers and promotional materials to give away at my events to promoting and running the events themselves, there was never a moment when I didn’t have something I could be working on.

Photo taken for my November Meet & Greet for the Huntsville Times online blog, AL.com

I raffled off one of my Alphabet of sAm books to one lucky fan when my gallery ended in January. The Twisted Wonderland piece next to me was one of several that I sold frame and all!

This is the end! January 22nd, 2012, my final Meet & Greet!

Unfortunately I don’t have much to show for gallery photos. The ones I did take did not turn out that great, and I also forgot an entire wall. Live and learn!

I’m hoping to get more art up at Earth Fare at the end of the year. In the mean time I am looking for venues in between projects. It was such a wonderful experience and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the kind and supportive people who came out to see me, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t desperately need a break at the end.

Well, that’s enough for today. I have more updates coming, hopefully another post at the end of this week or next week.
Until next time, thanks for looking!

sAm♥

September 2011

Well, it has officially been a year since I started my new art blog. I haven’t made nearly as many posts as I would have liked, however, this is only because I have been so busy with creative work! I do have quite a few updates to post about my new and current projects, but first I have to finish the projects at hand. Namely, I am currently preparing for my first art gallery! The Realm of sAm will be taking over the Huntsville, AL Earth Fare Cafe and Art Gallery on September 25th! I am both excited and nervous. There are paintings to finish, art to print and frame, mats to be cut, and business cards to be printed! So much to do! But as always, I know my hard work will pay off and seeing it all finished and looking great will be my reward.

As always, thank you for looking, and stay tuned for more updates to come!

sAm♥

Concept Art – Prince of Shadows & Bringer of Storms

When I’m not working on a drawing or project of some sort, I always have my writing to fall back on. And when I want to write but have a bad case of Writer’s Block, I turn back to my drawing. Sometimes it is just enough to get things moving again, other times it at least helps me to visualize my characters a little better. Nearly 13 years ago I began a story and I am determined to finish it. The story has of course change much since then, and I suppose you could say it has even grown up with me. Below I have posted three pieces of concept art that show not only a little window into my world, but also an interesting evolution of my skill over the past two years. I am proud of each one for different reasons even if I can already see their flaws. With every line I put down on paper I get a little better.

Daughter of Avragorn (click for larger image) © Samantha Johnson 2008 - 2010

This is Isüvare. I can’t tell you a whole lot about her since it might spoil the story. She is a princess, an heir to a kingdom that is far from wealthy, and she is about to embark on an epic and dangerous journey. I was wasn’t entirely happy with the sketch itself, but I decided to mess around with it in Photoshop as an experiment. Using digital paint and a variety of incredible brushes (and that oh so fantastic “undo” button!), I came up with this nice little concept art style illustration. I think the strong point on this piece is her eyes. She is young, just a day away from her thirteenth birthday, yet there is an age and sadness in her eyes that reflects the horrors she has already seen. War is no place for a child.

Keeper of Immortal Hearts (click for larger image) © Samantha Johnson 2009 - 2010

A small, gray-eyed girl with fiery red hair and a warrior’s heart, Ruby is something to behold. Her uneven haircut was the result of an ill-fated attempt to “desex” herself. I don’t think she resents being a woman, but she has certainly had to overcome a lot more because of it. So she dresses in men’s clothes, and fights without fear or uncertainty. Upon her breast lies a stone that carries the heart and memory of the elvish woman it once belonged to, and when it burns bright even the most wicked of foes will quake to see it glow. The soul of Nah-Aghwen is reborn.

This actually started as a sketch on some notepaper. I haven’t drawn a whole lot of action or dramatic poses so I was pretty happy with how this one turned out. Again, I was happiest the most with the intensity of her expression. Already you can see some serious improvements in detail and line work over Daughter of Avragorn. I completed this piece nearly one year later.

And last but far from least…

Prince of Shadows & Bringer of Storms (click for larger image) © Samantha Johnson 2010

“For the love of her innocence, a forsaken prince spared the life of a young girl and swore an oath to protect her from the ruthless banner he grudgingly served. He could not have known the repercussions to come for this single act of compassion, but in time he would understand what it was that she inspired in him.”

Drawing male characters has never been a particular strong point of mine, so I am really happy with how this turned out. Of the three concept illustrations’ this one also has the most detail. It also probably took me the longest to finish. The first two (and especially the first) were more sketches, where this turned into a rendered drawing which added a great bit of depth and texture.

Prince of Shadows and Bringer of Storms Original Sketch (click for larger image) © Samantha Johnson 2010

In order to properly convey Caledrorne as a character I had to get the mood just right. From body language to the intensity of his stare it all had to work. Of course, I did have some help. Below is a sketch my fiance and co-artist, Jeff Confer, did several years ago when we were just beginning art school. We had discussed numerous times the type of armor and clothing this character should wear. It should be functional and realistic, but most especially, it should reflect his dark and brooding personality. We had both decided on a mixture of elements that would create a timeless “Medieval” look. We purposely mixed together Medieval and Renaissance period armor and weaponry and even pulled in a bit of eastern influence. The end result isn’t something entirely new, but definitely different enough to stand out. Of course, I couldn’t have known then that in about 7 years the Assassin’s Creed games would pull heavily from the same pool of thought, but hey, solid design ideas will be found and repeated because they are just exactly that, solid. I’m sure we weren’t the first ones to think of it either.

Caledrorne Concept Sketch © Jeff Confer/Samantha Johnson 2002 - 2010

I’ve always loved this piece with its quick loose scribbles and smudgy shadows. He really did capture something, and who would have thought that years later while I was sifting through a portfolio of old drawings this little sketch would fall out and hit me like a brick to my creative switch.

Caledrorne Concept Profile Sketch © Samantha Johnson 2010

So here is the culprit that started it all. I’ll admit, I was having a tough time. As I mentioned above, guys are not a strong point for me. But refusing to draw something out of the fear that it might not be that great is a cowardly thought, so I drew and drew and drew…and crumpled and threw out and crumpled and threw out and ripped up and tossed… It is truly a frustrating feeling when I can see something so clearly in my head, but cannot get it on to paper without something getting lost or misconstrued in translation. But you can’t ever give up, so I didn’t. I finally got a profile that I liked and gave it life with a little bit of shading. Of course, I do profiles a lot because they are easy, so I made a little deal with myself. If I could draw him in something other than a profile, I would let myself show it off. I started on the next drawing half way down a page and all the way to the left because I expected to fill the entire page with faces. Ah, but art is never what you expect. After I sketched the face and realized it looked good, I threw down a rough skeleton and roughed up a bust drawing. This too looked pretty decent, so I decided to push it a little further, and then little further, and then a little further until I realized I really should have started at the center of the page, and that is why he is missing feet.

After two years I can see just how far I have come. Each piece is like a stepping stone. I accomplish something, but there is always room to grow. I may redraw some things later, or I may not. All I know is that as I keep drawing and keep pushing myself, my limitations recede and what I can draw becomes more in tune with what I can see.

I will finish this story, I will keep drawing, and if you let me, I will share my world with you.

As always, thank you for looking.

sAm♥

*Note: The original characters, names, and story excerpt in this blog are under copyright. Please do not use, copy, or redistribute.

“For the love of her innocence, a forsaken prince spared the life of a young girl and swore an oath to protect her from the ruthless banner he grudgingly served. He could not have known the repercussions to come for this single act of compassion, but in time he would understand what it was that she inspired in him.”

November News! More Art, more projects?

How is it the middle of November already?

Sheesh, time flies when you are busy!

Well, shortly after posting several of my t-shirt designs on a t-shirt/graphic design forum called Emptees I was contacted by Iron Fist, an international clothing company out of San Diego, CA. My design work had piqued their interest and I soon found myself hard at work on a new project for them! Unfortunately I have to wait to post it, which is a bummer, but also completely understandable. I’m really excited to be working with them as we have some more projects lined up. I will be sure to post links to their apparel with my designs as soon as they become available. In the mean time you can check out Iron Fist‘s wild line of clothing.

This also meant that I had to put my Spirit of Autumn design on hold momentarily. In between projects I am hoping to get a chance to finish her. I still have ideas to create similar designs for all four seasons.

In other news, I DO have some more art to show. It’s been a long time since I had a chance to make holiday greeting cards, so here is this year’s little burst of yuletide creativity.

Midwinter Has Come (click image to view larger)

Even in the dead of Winter, when the blithesome colors
of Spring, Summer, and Autumn have fled from the icy chill of the wind and snow,
and only shades of gray and brown dare to linger,
there is beauty.

Ink & Watercolor

Though the cards will feature only a print of my art, everything else will be cut and folded by hand. I am hoping to make enough extras so that I can put them up on my Etsy account. I’ll definitely post photos of the finished products and the links where you can find them. And for anyone who has need of a rather remarkable parchment paper, check out Mohawk’s Skytone Parchment (Magna Carta)! It comes in a variety of lovely colors, my favorites of course being New White (ivory) and Natural (slightly aged), and the finish is rather soft yet it performs wonderfully on an ink-jet printer. You can find it on Glodan, my absolute favorite paper store!

 

That’s all for now. As always, thanks for looking!

sAm♥

Spirit of Autumn – Work In Progress

I promised more Autumn work didn’t I? New project for threadless Tees! I’m going to be adding a few more things but here is the line work thus far.

Click the image for a larger view.

I’ll probably redo the whole thing in Illustrator, which will be more work, but I love having that awesome amount of control over thick and thin line work. I also did a quick mock-up in Photoshop to get an idea of color. I’m limited to 8 colors for screen printing purposes and I have to figure out just how to pull it off, but at least this is a start.

Click the image for a larger view.

Who knows, I may even drop the color all together and stick with just the lines since they look rather nice by themselves. Eh, we’ll see.

I’d like to add a few more leaves to scatter down at the bottom and up at the top so they continue over the shoulder and create a little design on the back.

That’s all for now. As always, thanks for looking!

sAm♥

Things to Come…

Well now, it’s been a while. For those of you reading this who aren’t in the know, that last sentence may seem a little silly since this is the first post of a brand spanking new blog. I suppose it is and it isn’t. I started an art blog several years ago on MySpace. Yeah, you can guess exactly how that panned out, I’m here now after all. Between the constant blitz of awful bands requesting my friendship, the onslaught of porn bots filling up my inbox, and last but far from least, the occasional creepy message I would get from much older men, I decided it was time to pack up my things and move elsewhere. I doubt I had much of a following there anyway except for friends and immediate family, and most of them moved to Facebook. Honestly, it was the bands that finally did me in. Enough with the ramble! Let’s get some art up!

It’s September, the first month moving into my favorite season…

Autumn’s Kiss – Click for a Larger Image, (perfect for your desktop background *hint hint*)

My Art Nouveau Goddess, not my newest but in honor of the changing foliage I had to post her again. It’s a shame that I have not done more fall themed art! Ah, but there will be much more to come. This is only the beginning.

As always, thank you just for looking.

sAm ♥