Sharing My Artwork

I'm an amateur artist that primarily enjoys drawing for the sake of drawing. When I'm done with a picture it usually gets stuffed in my covered portfolio.

I've gone through the expense of framing a few but that gets costly and difficult to afford. So, I thought I'd share these digital photos I took of my work before I tucked it away.

My 2 favorite mediums are pencil and pen and ink. I prefer a lot of detail and I think they are the best tools for achieving that. Love pencil - having the ability to erase. When I use pen and ink, I usually just jump in and begin. No sketching or planning. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

I've been feeling real home here on Hub pages lately. I can think of so many topics I'd like to write about but for this Hub I thought I'd just share my hobby. If you could leave a comment it would really be appreciated.

I think drawing people is the biggest challenge but also the most interesting.

Living in the southwest has exposed me to some beautiful Native American artwork. My hubby and I found an old book at a used book store that had some nice quality old photographs of Native Americans and that's what I based this picture on.

This was done with pencil. I really tried for realism with showing the sunlight as it highlighted certain areas of the face. I just found a hub by a talented color pencil wildlife artist who gives explicit instructions on how to draw feathers. Very informative and a lesson I plan on going back and studying.

I recently added the option to order a personalized pet portrait from my Etsy store. I've been hired by friends and friends of friends to do portraits in the past but had held off offering it up to people I don't know - but it encompasses two of my favorite things - drawing and animals. I decided to do my own two dogs which has been my plan for the future but never got around to it.

I am a fan of vampires and witches and related topics. At least in regard to art, movies, and TV shows.

I started this with vampires in mind - but ended up adding elfin ears - just cause I could. She has a sword in her hand and big ass spider to her right. I just made it up as I went along. I really can't say what she is now...it's one of the best things about drawing fantasy figures - their features are entirely up to you and your imagination. There's no rules.

I did it in pencil and added some red ink to the spider so it wouldn't get lost in the background.

Here are more of the darker art subjects - I love skulls. I find it interesting that a few of my close friends love skulls also. It makes me feel a little less strange about the attraction.

I sketched this design in pencil based on a cover of a incense holder I have. I bought the burner because I admired the design on the cover. I thought it would make a good tattoo design. The flames are pretty popular along with skulls.

Yes, as you can see I love fairies.

Realistic looking artwork is my favorite and I read self help art books to improve on technique. I didn't go to school for art but I do enjoy learning from books that practice the techniques I admire.

I'm more comfortable drawing females - I think they're more interesting subjects. Add some wings and elfin ears and you have a fairy.

Dragons - one of my favorite topics for drawing fantasy creatures.

I've had a thing for dragons for over thirty years now. What other creature besides the unicorn best represents fantasy? Even though unicorns are pretty distinct in their visual depiction, a dragon can be drawn with more discretion left up to the one doing the drawing.

Green dragons, red ones, horned, not horned, - dragons come in all shapes and sizes.

It's rare - but every once in awhile I draw a real subject - A topic not related to fantasy and whimsy. When I was a kid, my Mom would say - "why can't you do a nice landscape"?

She would never hang up any of my "regular pieces". So once in awhile - I'll do something normal. Here's my hanging plant with over sized moth along with a picture I did for a friend who is a fellow dog lover.

I finally decided to give it a go. I opened up an Etsy store a couple of weeks ago and I'm selling prints of my artwork. This way I can offer copies of my work for prices that are more affordable than buying an original. I found a great company online that produces a nice quality copy on professional grade paper. I was really happy with the test prints I ordered.

I love mermaids and mermaid art. I've done a couple in the past but this one that I finished recently came out the best. At first I didn't think it was going to work and then all of a sudden everything improved and I'm glad I didn't decide to toss it when I was only an hour or two into it. I have prints for sale on my Etsy store.

It's true what they say - just because you're artistic doesn't mean you can tattoo.

I learned from a professional artist who had previously attended art school in Paris and then went on to have a successful hand painting clothing business. She loved making a living with her art but after 20 years, she was burned out on the business. She was attracted to the tattoo business. She taught herself how to tattoo with a kit and a book, opened up her own shop in her garage, and is now a award winning tattoo artist. She's also a friend of mine and she taught me how to tattoo.

I don't really do any of this type of work anymore but here's some shots of my pieces. These were all done on family and friends.