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General Art QuestionsHow long have you been drawing?Where did you learn to draw? Is art a hobby for you or a career? Can you teach me to draw? Will you critique my art, please? What do you draw besides anthropomorphic art? Who or what artistically inspires you? How much time do you spend on a picture? What materials do you use in your art? Why don't you draw yiff/hentai/porn? Will you draw free art for me? How come you did gift art for so-and-so, but you won't do it for me? Do you do art exchanges? Art Sales QuestionsDo you do paid commissions?How long can I expect a commission to take? Why do you charge so much for a commission? Do you do mood icons and web graphics? Do you sell prints, merchandise, and/or original artwork? Are you attending any conventions? General Art QuestionsHow long have you been drawing?I've been drawing my whole life. My first public exhibitions were on my grandmother's refrigerator. Very cliché, I know.
Where did you learn to draw?I took the mandatory art classes in grade school, and some elective ones throughout junior high and high school. I drew pictures for my friends in study hall. I constantly doodled. Up to this point, I was largely self-taught, although I did pick up a bit in art class. After high school, I majored in art at the local university. I learned a lot in college, especially from life drawing classes. I'm still learning about art and drawing to this very day.
Is art a hobby for you or a career?Hopefully a career (hence the four years spent studying it in college). I would like to illustrate children's books, or something else illustration related. Realistically, though, I don't think it's going to happen.
Can you teach me how to draw?Well, I can't *teach* you, per se, but I can give you some pointers on my Tutorials page.
Will you critique my art, please?Sure. I can also redline your work for you, if you're so inclined. Despite my degree, I'm not claiming to be an expert. I would, however, be happy to help you out as soon as I have time. If you can, please send me a link to the artwork instead of an attachment in order to save space in my mailbox.Just keep a few things in mind about critiques, though. I *will* tell you what's wrong with your artwork. A critique is *not* just a pat on the back and saying, "Keep up the good work!" A critique in the art world is an assessment of your artwork's strengths and weaknesses in order to help you grow as an artist. Yes, I know first hand that it can be painful to have your hard work picked apart, but once you overcome your ego and actually pay attention to the fact that the person critiquing your work is trying to help you and to what is being said, you'll find it's for your own good. I try to be sensitive and temper my "mean" comments with "nice" ones, but sometimes I forget. Please don't take offense!
What do you draw besides anthropomorphic art?I like surrealistic imagery, general fantasy, pop art, wildlife art and portraiture. Check out my Portfolio and Miscellaneous Art page for some examples of my non-anthropomorphic art.
Who or what artistically inspires you?Scads of things! I find inspiration while looking through magazines, watching TV, or just from life in general. I'm inspired by art movements like Art Nouveau and Pop art as well as by traditional animation. My friend Katie is always an inspiration, as are folks like Thornwolf, XianJaguar, Kylen Miles, Tracy Bailey... The list just goes on and on! I guess the short answer would be everything ;)
How much time do you spend on a picture?It varies. It depends on the size of the artwork, the medium I'm using, whether or not there's a background, and how inspired I'm feeling. A colored pencil drawing with a background is averaging me 10 -15 hours these days. Computer coloring runs 4 - 8 hours. A pencil sketch is usually around 2 hours. A watercolor painting can run up to 20 hours, depending.
What materials do you use in your art?Due to the restrictions of doing my artwork in a poorly ventilated apartment instead of in an actual studio, most of the art that I'm doing these days is done with pen, Tria markers, and Prismacolor pencils, or is computer colored with a combination of Paint Shop Pro 5 and Photoshop 5.5. I also have been known to work with pencil, watercolors, acrylic paints, pastels, and charcoal on occasion.
Why don't you draw yiff/hentai/porn?While I have no objections to drawing *tasteful* nudes (I did take three semesters of life drawing in college), I will not draw pornography. The artistic nude is, at least in my eyes, completely different from pornography. Artistic nudes express the beauty of the human form and life drawing helps artists learn anatomy and other skills; porn exists for the solely for the purpose of getting someone hot and bothered. The idea of someone using my art to get off upsets my artistic sensibilities as well as my personal morals. There are plenty of people that have no objections to drawing that sort of thing, so if you want it, please ask someone else about it - not me.
Will you draw free art for me?No. It greatly annoys me that people e-mail me and just expect me to draw them something for free just because I can draw and they can't. Getting something for nothing isn't the way the world works, sweetie.Contrary to popular belief, making art is actual work, even if it can be "fun." Artists don't just magically pull completed artwork out of their butts. Most artists take many years to learn all of their techniques and skills. Art takes time and effort as well as money to do and artists expect to be compensated. It's not that artists are greedy capitalist dogs out to keep the little people down, either - we need to make money to survive, just like everyone else does. You wouldn't ask your doctor to treat you for free or your mechanic to fix your car for free - why expect an artist to do the same? It's ridiculous, not to mention insulting! In the past when I did do requests, most people were very unappreciative. How would you like to do hours of work without any compensation, or even a simple "thank you"? I simply don't have the time to do free art for strangers who make demands of me out of the blue. I can't put my life on hold to draw a freebie for someone. It would take up valuable time where I could be working on commissions, my own art, or doing a number of other things. I do have a semblance of a life, you know. I'm not an art making machine. And no, I won't make an exception and do free art just for you. How come you did gift art for so-and-so, but you won't do it for me?Think about the term "gift art" for a moment. It's art that was done as a gift. Following me so far? I make gift art for fun, to make someone feel better, to commemorate a special occasion or just because I like a character and felt like drawing them. Giving someone a surprise is not an obligation. The person who I'm giving a pic to didn't demand that I draw anything for them or probably didn't even expect me to. My generosity should in no way be mistaken for me accepting a free request.
Do you do art exchanges?Yes, but I'm not accepting any new trades right now unless I initiate the trade. I've been very busy recently.An art exchange is an arrangement where I draw something for you in exchange for you drawing something for me. If we agree to do an art exchange, please take this seriously and uphold your end of the bargain. If you are interested in an art exchange, please e-mail me and we can hammer out the details. I will not refuse a trade on the basis of skill. If I turn down a trade, it is almost always due to a lack of time. Note that as an incentive to keep people from trying to get free art without giving anything back, I usually make the person who initiates the trade finish their end of the exchange first. Please keep in mind that any commissions I may have take precedence over all trades. Also, if we have not made an agreement to do a trade beforehand, don't send me gift art and expect me to reciprocate.
Art Sales QuestionsDo you do paid commissions?Usually, yes. I take up to three commissions at a time Details are up on my Commissions page, as is the current waiting list.
How long can I expect a commission to take?It all depends on several factors. It depends on how inspired I'm feeling artistically. Sometimes I get in a rut where I just can't draw anything decent or just don't feel like drawing at all. These ruts can often last a month or longer. Sometimes I'm just busy with the dreaded "real life," which will delay me working on your drawing. How long it takes also depends on how far down my waiting list you are. If there are two people whose commissions I have to finish before yours, it could be a few months. Even if you're at the very bottom of my waiting list, it should *never* take me longer than six months to finish your commission. If you've commissioned me and want to check on the status of your commission or are just curious as to the current wait time, check out the waiting list on the Commissions page. It lists the current status of each commission.
Why do you charge so much for a commission?There are a couple of reasons for this. First off, art supplies cost money. Most of them are not cheap. Secondly, commissions take me a good amount of time to finish. I usually have to do extensive research before I can even start working on a commission. Once I get started, the initial sketching usually takes around two hours, and inking takes at least three. Coloring can take me around 10 hours, depending on the complexity of the figure and the background. On average, around 15 hours of work goes into a commission. If I were to charge minimum wage per hour on a 15 hour drawing, it would cost around $75. Depending on how many hours it actually takes me to finish a commission, I may or may not make minimum wage on it. I think that is more than fair. In the past I allowed myself to be taken advantage of and worked for less than $3/hour in many cases. I am attempting to be fair to my customers while still getting paid fairly for my time and efforts.
Do you do mood icons and web graphics?Yes. Please see WebWench Webgraphics for pricing and details.
Do you sell prints, merchandise, and/or original artwork?For available prints, please see the Print Shop.Selected merchandise featuring my artwork is available in my CafePress shop. There are several originals for sale here. As for other original artwork, if you just happen to see something on my site that catches your eye, and you just have to have it, it is possible that I may be willing to sell it to you. This does not mean that I am by any means willing to part with every piece of art on this site. Please e-mail me if you are interested or have any questions. I also occasionally place old artwork up for sale on Furbid.
Are you attending any conventions?At this time, the answer is no. Unfortunately, I don't have the financial resources to fly cross country to go to a convention. I'd like to attend one, though.
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