Falling Leaves

Can't believe it's actually autumn although it seems like summer skipped straight into winter OTL

Been working on this sketch because I thought it would be nice to take a break from uni work. I didn't actually "know" that I was going to come up with this, but after looking at my old work I was inspired to carry on with my Season Fae series. This one is, undeniably, Autumn!

Artist © Liz Owen

Tools Used | Watercolour Pencils | Biro lines |

What I'm Currently Working On

Seeing as I'm planning on using this blog a lot more - as well as my Tumblr page - I may as well update y'all on this piece that I'm currently working on.

Hopefully I'll finish it by the end of this week as well as starting out on my editorial illustration for my uni project.

Brightest Star in the Sky

R.I.P Daddy, this is for you <3

So my dad passed away a couple of weeks ago. It’s still pretty hard for me to face it that he’s gone, because it was just so unexpected. The last time I saw him he was completely normal… And then this happens.

I wanted to create something which I can just pour my emotions to. My dad was the greatest man I knew, who always encouraged me in my work.

He was my star in my darkest of nights.

© Liz Owen.

Editorial Illustration: Lotta Nieminen

I'm back! For now, anyway.

I actually have a queue of posts that are waiting to be published here from my main tumblr blog. In truth, I was going to post this onto my tumblr but I just find it easier to do word-based posts on blogger. 

My post for today is about editorial illustration; at uni I get to make the choice between photography and illustration and - as you can see - I decided to go down the illustration route. I just prefer drawing to taking photos, even though it's a lot easier to take photos!

This post was actually going to consist of a list of illustrators that I was interested in, but because the illustrator below was so interesting I have now thought just to do a series of posts of inspirational illustrators - and maybe photographers - instead. This is actually going to be included in my uni work because I do need to include it in my research of different styles... I guess that this is hitting two birds with one stone!

Lotta Nieminen - http://www.lottanieminen.com/

Suez Environment

Dance of the Flames

This has to be one of my most experimentive pieces ever.

I realised that I never really stepped out of my comfort zone when it came to the body, so I decided to choose a dynamic kind of position so that I could learn more about anatomy. I referenced such pose from the lovely Jlior on dA, as her elegance inspired me.
I also experimented with different shading and colouring techniques, as I used various once for different elements; for example, for the skin I used a very minimalist amount of blur, relying on a low opacity hard brush to blend all of the colours instead. I really liked this technique and hope to use it again! 

Originally I was going to go for a different theme as I was listening to OBSESSION - SHINee, and their music really gave me the feeling of sadness, passion, and I kept having images of fire and explosions, and sometimes a bit of rain. Maybe next time I’ll add a bit of rain to this piece once I know how to paint rain. 

So tada! I hope to do more of these dance poses… Perhaps I could create a series?

References | Jlior on dA | My own photos |

© Liz Owen 

For the step-by-step process please click here to be redirected to my main blog 

Moving to Tumblr.

I've decided to move to tumblr because I really don't like using Blogger for my art... Even though I can view it from uni, it's just not the same D: It's harder to post inspirational pictures and what not on here which is really annoying. I love blogging, I really do, but tumblr is just so much better art wise~
I'm still going to keep this up here in case I want to come back to it, but for now I'm creating a new tumblr blog. My initial thought was to keep posting on here and keep a tumblr blog for inspiration but what's the point of seperating my art into two blogs when I can keep it on one?

So that's why I'm going to move to tumblr! It's just so much easier on there, and the layouts are much nicer to use.

Knowing me I will return to this site in a matter of hours, but oh well. 


[[EDIT]]
Looks like I did return after all.
I've decided to revamp this blog to make it look like my tumblr one (which you can view here), and this shall be my secondary art blog. I'll only post final pieces on here, and my work alone... And tumblr shall be my main art blog.
This is because I just love using tumblr, but unfortunately tumblr is blocked at uni so I can't really access it there~

To summarise:

Tumblr - main art blog where I'll post EVERYTHING; inspirational pieces, WIPs, written posts...
Blogger - final pieces (basically like a portfolio or something).

Inspirational Post - Week One

Hello!
Looks like I'm back in business... Kinda.
I've been so busy with uni and work lately that I haven't had the time to do any *proper* art work. All of my attention has been focused on the numerous projects I get that I haven't been able to just sit in front of a desk and draw whatever I wanted to. I've also been having a major art block as well, which doesn't really help things.

I'm hoping to post more on this blog just to keep me going because a) I love art and b) I kinda' miss it. A lot.
So I thought that I may as well start off by posting a weekly inspirational post! This includes tutorials and what not as well that I'm willing to try out ^^

This week I'm featuring this lovely lady: Janna. Her website is kuoma @ dA . She does amazing art pieces featuring fairies and I used to look at her site every day back in the day when I was caught up on fantasy art. When I looked at dA today and noticed that this was one of the popular pieces it brought back memories ^^ Her work reminds me that of Amy Brown, another artist who's amazing at fairy art.

Some of her art pieces:

And everytime I'm just staring at the same blank wall, again and again

I hate this feeling of helplessness that I always come across. Now matter how many days, weeks, months or years go by I always find myself hitting the same wall over and over again. I mean, how many times have I wrote about this problem here? Millions, perhaps. So many times that I'm surprised that people haven't given up on me.

I need to do art, I want to, and then when I get that feeling that makes me go, "Yeah I can do it!" I just fall back into the same lazy pattern that I've gotten accustomed to. Where I just can't be bothered to pick up a pencil, let alone look at a blank page. Why can't I just keep that enthusiastic part of myself running for more than just a day? What happened to the time where I just loved to draw and kept doing it day after day? I've always dreamed of doing art, of becoming a good artist one day, but something is holding me back...

Truth is, I really don't know what that "something" is.

Is it because of the lack of tutor? Guidance? Someone to help me each step of the way? Sure I did a hell of a lot more art when I was doing it for my GCSE's, and did many pictures when I was applying for uni. Or is it my lack of self-confidence? Skill? What the hell is holding me back? D: Whenever I listen to music or watch a film I find myself daydreaming, yet I never seem to put my ideas to paper even though they're still stuck in my head. Why? Why can't I just draw?

I wish that someone was there to help me with this, to point me in the right direction, and actually help me overcome this once and for all. I'm sick and tired of this feeling... But I don't want to force myself into it either like I did before. 

Wow I sound like such an idiot.

Commission: Under the Moon

Commissions info: Click here

Was commissioned by Miss Shaw to do her a traditional painting of a peaceful fairy sitting under the moon. She wanted the colours pink and purple to be dominant in the piece, so I went for harmonious colours to create that tranquil setting~ I really enjoyed doing this, as it had been ages since I've drawn a fairy.

Artist  © Liz Owen
Characters © Miss Shaw
Tools: Watercolour pencils, acrylic paint for the clouds and moon, and biro for the lines

Commission: Harry Halloween

I've only just realised that I haven't shown you my finished commission that I did for the lovely Ms Yvonne! Well, here it is: