I'm hoping to try my hand at digital art in the near future and I was just wondering whether anyone can recommend any good Photoshop tutorials for a complete beginner? I'd prefer to get recommendations rather than blindly trying to find something on Google.

Short and sweet. ^_^

 lutien and I were married on Saturday 24 July, with friends and family sharing our special day.

Photos will not follow. If I know you well enough to be in email contact or if we are friends on Facebook. that's a different matter. Otherwise it suffices to say that I was pretty, he was handsome and the weather was lovely.

People are in the process of arranging a group auction to donate money towards dealing with the aftermath of the earth quake in Haiti. Lots of awesome artists are offering stuff and the great thing about the auction is that the top three bidders all get a huge amount of art. I'm offering full colour bust commission for each of the winners.

You can find the details here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/.....7/#cid:9689528 Please bid once the auction opens and/or offer art for a good cause!

The auction is now open and you can find the details on how to bid here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1186342/

Thanks very much!

C ^_^

Warning, some shameless pimping ahead!

 panzergulo has asked me couple of times to beta read things for him and one of them was this winter's Anthrofiction Network short story contest. The theme was winter magic and when I was reading the brief, I actually got an inspiration for a story of my own.

So both myself and  panzergulo have submitted stories for the contest, which is now open for public judging. If you are interested it reading any of the stories, follow the link below. The judging is mean to be anonymous, so I shan't tell you which story is mine, but if you are at all familiar with mine or Panzergulo's writing styles, you shouldn't have much trouble spotting our contributions.

All that remains to be said is that Panzergulo's story is absolutely amazing and I'm confident it will do really well in the contest!

http://www.anthrofiction.net/short_.....testID=2009_q4

PS. Once the contest is finished, I will upload my story here.

Please follow the link below and sign the petition to reinstate federal protection for North American wolves please!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/take.....?z00m=19785216

Also would be great if you could spread the word.

Thanks!

C

Hello!

So we finally have internet connection and therefore I'm back! We moved to our new home about two weeks ago and we're still doing some unpacking. The house is mainly awesome and I love having a conservatory and a garden. I'm really looking forward to having an orange tree and a lemon tree delivered (and  lutien is obsessed with a palm tree he ordered...). Our internet connection was disconnected rather abruptly, which is why I disappeared without warning.

Immediately after we moved, I also fell ill with suspected swine flu. I didn't grow a curly tail or floppy ears, but I was really ill. It wasn't fun while it lasted, but a course of Tamiflu and lots of rest have made me all better now. I'm still a bit tired, though.

My holiday year is coming to an end and consequently I need to use up all my annual leave. That's why in just over a week's time I'm flying to Finland for two weeks. Expect erratic internet access again, as I definitely won't have internet access for some of the time. Lutien will join me for the second week, so that I can show more of Finland to him. It will be fun, I think! And of course I will get to see my family and friends, including Charha.

Apologies to anything who have left faves, comments or watches, I'll go through my inbox now and reply to you all! ^_^

Oh, and  coillscath tagged me to do a meme, and for once I thought it might be fun to give it a try. So here goes:

1) Post these rules
2) Post 8 true things about yourself
3) At the end you must tag 4 people and post their icons
4) Go to their page and send them a message saying you tagged them
5) NO TAG-BACKS

1. Every night I take a low dose of antidepressants to help manage my chronic pain.
2. Lutien and I have just bought a house together.
3. We have a Cardigan Welsh Corgi, but someday I hope to be able to adopt a rescued greyhound.
4. I have a 5-year-old niece, who is the sweetest child in the world.
5. I'm getting married next year.
6. I've known  charha for ten years and she continues to be a great friend and a true inspiration for my art.
7. I'm really OCD about sleeping.
8. I absolutely detest mushrooms.

Right, tags...  charha,  sphinxeye,  lutien and  panzergulo

Well, my exams are over and I get to enjoy the best sides of English summer (ie nice weather and the warmth), even thought I don't have time to take any holiday at the moment. We are still waiting to find out when the purchase of our new house will go through and we get to move. I'm pretty excited, especially about the garden. ^_^

Lutien is working all weekend, so I'm by myself and hence have lots of time to draw. So I thought that to channel my inspiration, I would open couple of commission slots, if people are interested. If for some reason there is a lot of interest, I'm happy to offer more slots or a waiting list, but I find that hard to believe.

So here is what I'm offering:

Detailed black and white drawing of your character/pet/other animal/anthro you would like for £10. Example is here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1729181/

Detailed coloured drawing of your character/pet/other animal or anthro on black paper for £15. Here is an example of this style: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2421151

If you want a full body portrait rather than a bust, or would like more than one character, let me know and I will work out a price for you. If you would like to have the original drawing, for an extra £10 (inc p&p worldwide) I will send it to you. Otherwise I will send you a high resolution scan of the picture, which you are free to upload to your profile etc, as long as you credit me for the art.

While I work, I will send you a wip to approve, although with the black paper I work from very rough sketches, which may only give you a vague idea of the end product. I'm happy to accept changes, critique and other comments within reason, and will do my utmost to ensure that you are happy with what you a getting.

I prefer to get half of the payment up front, and the rest when the picture is finished. And as ever, I won't draw porn.

So yeah, note me or comment below if you are interested, and I will give you a slot! ^_^

As the title says, I want to put out some feelers to see if anyone would be interested in commissioning me to do art for them. Prices depend very much on what you might want and on what kind of paper, and originals are also for sale. Some of them anyway.

Basically, I can do four different types of drawings:

"Cartoony" type, with simple shading and coloured with calligraphy inks:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1379184/

Realistic black and white drawings on white paper:

Without background: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1490816/

With background: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1598146/

Black paper drawings, either in colour or black and white:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1872721/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1870241/

Pencil sketch or full colour on vellum paper:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1883892/

So yeah, let me know if you are interested. ^_^

[Edit.] I should also mention that I won't draw porn.

So... I woke up yesterday morning and there it was: 1000 page views! What a wonderful way to start a Friday, and I've been really pleased ever since. I feel very special that so many people have taken the time to look at my page, view my art and leave comments or faves. So thank you so much for all of that! I will of course obey the FA tradition and draw a 'thanks for 1K' picture, which will hopefully follow sometime today.

I know I'm not the most sociable person, not because I don't want to talk to people, but because I make friends very slowly and generally take my time in getting to know people. But I have made some great friends here and I'm really happy about that. I'm of course always pleased to meet new people, if you just take your time with me. I also don't tend to post those meme journals, not because I don't find them interesting/amusing, but because I can't imagine people being interested enough in me to read them. That is not to say that I'm not eager to read other people's memes, I just don't think I'm particularly interesting. Weird and geeky yes, but not interesting.

Hmm, rambling over, time for some drawing! I also finally resolved to write the next installment of Cody and Veeran story, so that's demanding attention as well. And... I might be in the process of writing some Torchwood fanfiction. *blushes and hides*

Has anyone got a condition called hypermobility? I could really do with some advice. Pretty please.

Yesterday when my fiancé came to pick me up from work, he brought with him a padded envelope from America. In it were the two tagua pendants I had ordered from  foxfeather and which had finally arrived. I say finally, not because I’m implying that she took a long time to send them, which isn’t the case at all, but because I’ve been waiting for them impatiently ever since she sent me a note saying that they were on their way. Anyways, I ordered myself a caribou pendant, which I absolutely adore, and the other one is a birthday present for my goddaughter. That one is a rearing mustang with pink and red fairy wings, because my niece is totally into fairy horses at the moment. I know she is going to love that so much! Anyway, both pendants are superbly made and look brilliant in real life! If you are at all into animal totems and that sort of stuff, go commission something from  foxfeather, who deserves all the love you can give her! ^_^

On a different, but no less exciting note, I have received my first ever commission! My darling  sphinxeye and her husband have commissioned me to paint them four oil paintings! They want the four seasons to be depicted through different types of trees and I’m both excited and nervous about the project. I still can’t quite believe that they would want to have that many of my paintings on their walls.

Aside from my new tagua pendant and the commission, nothing much interesting is going on in my life at the moment. I’m really busy at work and try to squeeze in some drawing and writing to the evenings with varied success. I would finish by saying something profound and meaningful, but I can’t think of anything.

So, I'm back home now! Or rather very close to home, as we are house-sitting for my fiance's parents couple of miles from our flat. I'm really tired after all the travelling, but it's rather nice to be back home in England. Soon I'll be homesick to Finland again, though, but alas there isn't much I can do about that.

Anyways, I had a great holiday! I spent a week with my four-year-old niece and my sister, which was certainly interesting (and means that I won't have kids of my own any time soon). My niece gave me a flu, so I was ill for a while, but I didn't mind too much, because that meant I was able to really rest and relax, and I also had a chance to draw masses. Now I have lots of scanning and colouring to do, but I'll get started on that tomorrow when we go home. :)

Despite my fear of riding, I went to the stables thrice, and had two fantastic lessons, and one, which wasn't great at all. My confidence increased in leaps, especially as cantering went really well on two difficult horses. I'll upload a picture tomorrow to prove that I actually was on a horse! ^_^

Aside from meeting my family, the highlight of my holiday was definitely spending time with  charha! I had a lot more time with her than I have had in my previous visits, which made things relaxed and unhurried. I got lots of drawing done, and we roleplayed loads! Now my head is full of complicated characters with their complicated problems, and I'm dying to draw all of them. Pity none of them are all that furry... So once again I'm completely obsessed with my fantasy world, and that's all thanks to my dear Charha! :D

All in all, my holiday was superb and I'm starting work on Monday well-rested, but nervous! ^_^

Just to give people a heads up, on Friday I'm going home for three weeks. By home in this instance I mean Finland. I'm taking an early summer holiday, before I start on my new job in mid May. While there, I will only have access to the internet very sporadically, so be warned that I will probably be very slow to respond to comments and view new submissions. I'm really excited about going, though, as it's been almost a year since I last saw my sister and my niece, and I haven't seen some of my friends in ages! I'm looking forward to being with my family, and of course I will have ample time to pester  charha, too! And the food. I love the food! British food is nowhere near as bad as people say, but it just doesn't compare to Finnish grub. ^_^

There is a scary element to it all, though. My mother is making grand plans that we will spend as much time at a local stable as possible, as we used to have riding lessons together, when I still lived in Finland. I love the owners of the stables, the people there, and the horses, and yet the thought of getting on the saddle fills me with dread. Last summer, I went on a riding holiday to Hungary, and go thrown off a galloping horse, wrecking my back in the process. I finished physio a while ago, but certain things, like lying down, can still be absolute agony. I've also ridden since (hell, I had to ride back to the stables after my fall, as we were in the middle of nowhere), but it doesn't feel the same. In fact, even on horses that I've known for years I'm permanently afraid of falling. I'll canter and do everything the instructor tells me to do, but the enjoyment has been taken away from it, because I don't feel safe on a horse. So yeah, when it comes to horses, I'm happiest to see them on the pages of a book, or in my sketch pad. *sigh*

Right, I've been tagged to choose three songs from YouTube that move me. So here goes:

1. Kiss While Your Lips Are Still Red by Tuomas Holopainen, the genius behind Nightwish, because it's the most beautiful song I've ever heard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W9nAACkKas

2. To Where You Are by Josh Groban, because hope is a two-edged sword. (I hate the music video, but the song still makes me cry.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baWBHZ7Fo6c

3. Shadowman by K's Choice for too many reasons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d85AC7dD3LM

And I shall tag  charha,  lutien, and  sphinxeye. ^_^

On Saturday, Nightwish was playing in Birmingham, and Lutien and I drove two hours each way to see them. I've been a fan for over 8 years, and due to unfortuitous circumstances, I had never before seen them play live. Now, I have never been a particular fan of live performance tracks or even DVDs of live concerts, but being there, right there, completely changed my opinion. I got completely sucked into the euphoria of the crowd, and without really noticing it, sang/screamed my voice hoarse. I came out half-deaf, tired and feeling rather faint from the heat, and never felt better! My inner goth is also pleased, because I bought a really cool '7 Days To The Wolves' t-shirt, while I was there.

Oh, and a final note: just like many others, I was initially rather apprehensive about the change of singer, but having heard and seen Anette live, all I can say is 'Tarja who?'.

On Saturday, my fiancé took me to a local Italian restaurant called Graffiti. I love the place because they provide you with white paper table cloth and a set of crayons, and you can draw on the table between foods. The best art works are displayed on the walls to inspire people's inner artists. I naturally embraced this opportunity to doodle while eating, although I find it slightly sad how gratifying it was to have some random passers-by and the waiters complimenting me on my sketches. But I guess anyone likes their ego being stroked.

On a more mundane, but very important, note, I finally got a job. o/

At work, most of my time is spent identifying Roman coins. Now, the process is interesting in itself, but once you've got thought close to a hundred coins in one day, it starts to get a little tedious. On Friday afternoons in particular, I sometimes let my imagination fly, when I'm interpreting the images. So far I've had a coin with headless horseman, another with an ant, and third proving that Romans not only were aware of the existence of dinosaurs, but also liked them enough to depict them on their coins. Today, however, I found the best coin ever!

A little background first. In the third century AD Britain, the natives manufactured copies of the official currency, which were often rather poor quality, and frequently mixed elements for several different coins. The most common type of coin copied is the Antoninianus (or Radiate, named after the spiked crown the emperor wears in these coins), and so these copies are called Barbarous Radiates. Today's little coin of curiosity is a rarity in that it was a Barbarous silver copy of a bronze coin, something which the people working here don't see very often, if ever. In any case, the head side of the coin was typically Barbarous, but once I flipped the coin over, there was an anthropomorphic Amazon staring back at me! I got very excited about this, and made some quick theories about Romano-British Amazon worshipping practises. The figure shown was standing, holding a spear in her left hand, and looking to the right. She was definitely female, because of her prominent breasts, which is very rare thing to see on coins, although having thought about it for a moment longer, I realised she couldn't possibly be an Amazon. According to the legend, the Amazons removed their right breast to be able to better use bows . Even more striking than the breasts was the lion's head, with shaggy mane surrounding it. I rushed to share my discovery with my colleagues, who unfortunately shattered my theories by pointing out that the lion's head was just a very crudely carved human face with a radiate crown. Now I'm wallowing in my disappointment.

I think some of these days I should compile a book of all the unlikely things I've seen on coins. It might not go down well among the academic community, but it would no doubt amuse people.