Talking to  foxfeather and she reminded me of this little gem I havent seen in years.

http://www.eroticfalconry.com/

How can you not fall in love with personals such as this one:

Name: Mr. Hasty

Lovestyle: Rapid

Likes: Swooping, listening to Rush, eyelids

Dislikes: People of color, foreskins

Looking for: Gummi bears

edit: ok guys, obviously it's a joke. It's a silly website with badly photoshop'd birds.

Tired of that other journal! Here is filler and fluff.

I have been drawing so much and my hand hurts! It's been great! I have a million things I need to print out and paint and ship, but I keep procrastinating by sitting on my ass and drawing more. Good thing it has been raining cats and dogs the last couple weeks, keeps me inside and not accidentally wandering into the brewery.

Also, I am happy, if a tad pacey in the brain! I hope this doesn't change.

I am so tired of being in bed, but I'm too sick and swim headed to get up. So I am stuck watching stuff on Netflix and reading books on my glorious, beautiful Kindle, which reminded me...

One of the books you can get for free from Amazon is White Fang. I was prattling on about how awesome this when my friend said to me, "What's White Fang?"

I was shocked. And then I gave him hell for not knowing. I asked around at FC and it seems to be a trend. I thought most people within the fandom, especially those who love wolves and such, would know about the story, at least have heard about it.

So, how many of you have heard of White Fang, and how many of you have read it?

And as an aside do you any of you have recommended reading for my Kindle from the free ebook section?

I just came in from the snow, my jeans frozen stiff over two layers of warm jammies, my neck entangled in a damp nest of scarves and camera cord. I made myself some earl grey tea from the Czech Republic with sugar (although I prefer agave nectar) and soy milk. I'm much warmer now. My fingers are nimble again, nimbl eenough to type without too many typos. Hmm! Maybe not.

The last three days have been somethin', I tell you what. There have been excessive birds in the last few days, but that makes me pretty happy. Saturday I saw a fine presentation from Neil Rettig, an Emmy award winning National Geographic cinematographer who flies a harpy eagle. He brought his eagle, a male named Cal, to the presentaion and talked about harpies and answered many questions. I was too shy to ask any myself but perhaps sometime in the future, he isn't too far from one of haunts.

Unfortunately my camera isn't stellar, and I'm not great with a camera, so most of my photos are hash. Here are some that came out all right.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/harpeh.jpg I caught someone else's flash.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/harpyYEAH.jpg Gorgeous bird!
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/herg.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/slurp.jpg

Sunday I walked some property my friends will own soon, if all goes well. Eighty acres of gorgeous land, some of it full of cornfields, the rest full of trees and rocky bluffs and a trout stream. It's infested with birds: turkeys, kingfishers, bald eagles, hawks, crows, and the usual assortment of other passerines. There is beaver sign near the stream, and lots of delicious deers running around too. The snow was just crusty enough to fool you into thinking you weren't going to break through and then flump, knee deep. Rocky the beauceron puppy had a good time romping around but towards the end of the walk even he was tired.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/stream.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/barn.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/snowpuppy.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/bluffs.jpg

And today was full of more snow trudging in even deeper snow while trying to flush rabbits. We were hawking (falconry with a hawk)! I think five buns were flushed but only one was caught and then slipped away. It was good exercise for both the hawk and the humans, even if it wasn't a successful catch. Oh well, the hawk still gets to eat.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/baileyface.jpg This is Bailey.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/food4me.jpg He is a juvenile red tail hawk.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/trax.jpg He's kinda dumb.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/atcha.jpg But cool to watch anyway.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/lope.jpg We saw a fox out in the field, runnin around and peeing on stuff, giving us a wary glance ever few strides. My zoom isn't great.

And now I have to work on stuff with deadlines and why is there a convention in a few days and then after that more deadlines and...well, I will be relaxing a bit in the redwoods with the wolfmutts again, like every year. After that I have even more stuff I would like to do, it just depends on stuff and things. Oi!

This journal is excessive. Good job if you made it this far! :>

I really like birds. I like to learn about new ones. Can you guys help inspire me by showing me birds >>>>>I don't know about?<<<< I know a fair amount about birds, but not nearly as much as some and I would like to discover new species!

Hint: If it was on the Life of Birds, I know about it. If it's a corvid, bird of paradise, or hummingbird, I probably know about it. there is no guarantee.

I will be sketching/painting the ones new to me if you guys suggest them, so toss me THE MOST OBSCURE birds species out there. :>

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1927711/ <<~~~~~~~!!!!

For 25 dollars you too can have really cool, pretty  foxfeather art. She works fast and these can be done in time for the holidays for a stocking stuffers of original art. See unlike me, she can use watercolors and these funds will help her get more delicious colours.

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1927711/

Watercolors piss me off. They are unpredictable and there are too many factors that an artist has to consider with painting with them. Paper type, brush type, water, wetness on the paper, wetness of the paint, the different qualities of the paint and how they mix with other paints GOD who made this stuff up? It's nonsense and these watercolor books are full of lies and magic.

Take some of these reds for example. Alizarin crimson, permanent red, and cadmium red. The last two look really similar to one another, but they have different properties when mixing and used in washes, and alizarin is a whole nother animal completely. What business is this?!?! Some colours drop to the paper, some don't mix well with others due to opacity reasons, others are staining and will never lift or MAYBE they will!! *fizzzz*

But.

Honestly!

I have enjoyed learning this stuff and putting it into practice. I still suck with the medium but I am so much better than I was before. I found a book that has a look I really like, Texture Techniques for Winning Watercolors by Ray Hendershot. It's far too advanced for me right now but I love his gritty look, beautiful trees and HEY bricks! I think I can paint some bricks now.

For some odd reason I love to paint on copy paper. x____X

My two weeks of vacation are over. My tablet has been hooked back up for the first time in almost 3 weeks. I filled up somewhere around 50 pages of sketches and several pieces of watercolor paper. I drew bearded barbets, a new rhino hornbill character, blue crowned mot mots, some owls, some furries, and random stuff. I read books on art, books on birds, and some sort of raunchy werewolf story that I couldn't finish.

Now it's back to work on all your commissions. :3

I have to pimp out my darling friend  novawuff because she never gets the money her art work is really worth so please, take a look at her wonderful work, give her a watch, and if at all possible, a bid cause holee COW look at her art!

I mean look at it it's pretty.

http://www.furbid.ws/cgi-bin/auctio.....item=232357672

For some reason I have been awake for at least 32 hours.

My first week "off" is drawing to a close, most of it spent sleeping or doing that Thanksgiving thing, which was easily one of the best I've had. Free range local bug and grass eating turkey? http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1629405/snoods.jpg yes please! Plus fancy posh butter and potatoes cooked in turkey juices and local apple and cranberry wine, AND elderberry wine made by  graywolf. Big thanks to  foxfeather who cooked and to her husband  mbala and our mutual BFF  thornwolf for sharing good times at the table.

This is the first time in at least a year, if not more that I have not had an impending deadline and it feels great. All work will begin again on the 6th, magazine and fandom commissions alike. Until then, I am luxuriating in the freedom to draw what I want, which right now are birds!!! Specifically bearded barbets just for the pure joy of sketching them, and hopefully some inky and watercolour pieces will be finished.

I am trying very hard to teach myself watercolour. There is a specific look I am going for that so far is way beyond my grasp. Dozens of pages are filled with splotches and squiggles as each pigment is tested, mixed, washed, lifted, and so on. I am heartened. I can see definite improvements as I flip through the pages. I've been referring to The Watercolor Artist's Guide to Exceptional Color by Jan Hart and How to make Watercolor Paint Itself by Nita Engle. Both books make me furious yet are also a huge help with understanding the charming and annoying aspects of the medium.

My paints of choice are the Daniel Smith line. They make me happy because the colours are so juicy, even when I suck so much. At least the hundreds of failures are glowy.

Hi Ya'll!

MFF is coming up frighteningly fast, way too fast for my comfort. In case you hadn't heard, I'm one of the Guests of Honor. Most of my time has been tied up doing art for the con or working for the magazine, which is why my gallery has been so dead lately. I can't show most of what I've been doing for a while.

Now if you attend the con, you will get some goodies with my stuff on it, especially if you are a sponsor. Then you get even more goodies with happy animal art.

I plan on having at least two colored pencil pieces for the art show, hopefully more. We'll see! I work so friggin slow.

At the con I am hosting three!!! panels.

The Art of Wings, with co-host Nambroth. We are gonna talk about bird wings and how we draw them realistically, with lots of SCIENCE and art and some stupid banter between Nam and myself. It's what we do.

Canine Anatomy and Gesture: This one is gonna be an experiment for sure. We are gonna have a live dogs for some gesture studies. I will break down the large forms and point out some anatomy stuff I have learned that helps me draw wolves, foxes, and coyotes.

Digital Colour and Light in Corel Painter X: This one will be me show some tips and tricks I have learned in Painter, as well as stuff on lighting and contrast, and creating various textures.

So if you have time please feel free to come by my panels! I'm doing them to hopefully help folks out.

Back to my pencil and paper!

I have loved this woman's art since I first joined the internets, and I was (overly?)excited to see she is on FA. Take a look at her stuff, and give her a watch.

>>>>>>>>>>  Ironfeathers <<<<<<<

/fangrrrl

And trifle, cobbler, crumble, buckle, and more!!

I'm making fruit desserts, mostly of the peach variety cause MAN it's peach season. Does anyone have tried n'true and well loved fruit dessert recipes?

Mmm, stone fruit slump.

Before I forget to mention it, I'll be there!

I will just have my usual stuff, a few sketchbook commissions/badge slots available, and selling prints, including "3 wolf moon" and a few originals at my table. Nothin' special, so come on by and say hello.

In other news my tablet is out of commission until further notice, it broke, trying to fix!

Cheers!

I have no idea how many of these prints to make, so here is your chance to make sure you get one, if you want one! I've never done pre-orders before! :O

Because I never make anything a standard size, the dimensions of the prints are rough, off by a half inch or so. Just so you know! I order from Monocerus Media and the prints are beautiful.

8.5" by 11" are $15+3 for shipping within the US.

11" by 14" are $40+4 for shipping within the US.

Remember that I am donating 30% of all the print sales to the Redwood Wolfdog Pack.

I can also hold on to your prints and give them to you at RMFC, if you or a friend are going.

My paypal is vantid@gmail.com.

Aroo all!

I got the con crud after AC, but I am over it now and back to work, Finished a couple things this past week or so, trying to finish 2 more small pieces and dip into that infamous backlog. If you are on that list, feel free to ping me at any time for a status update, I will gladly provide one. I hope to do some streaming soon, but it will be boring:>

Oh! I am wondering, since i still have my old macbook I might be able to set up some real media streaming. My new mac's webcam is pretty decent, better than the other, and I can use the old machine to type in the chat if I need to. Downside is, it would be the most boring stream ever...colored pencil guys! It's so slow.

Anyway, does anyone have photo references of animal eyes that I can slavishly copy for some colored pencil practice? Any animal eyes will do, especially if they full of noble, lugubrious light. The final eye studies won't ever be for sale or prints made, but I may upload them. Thanks in advance to anyone who helps me out!

edit: Any photos have to be your own photos! I am basically asking permission to copy and publish online your work (the photos).

SO Anthrocon was great! I am glad I raised my prices as I didn't get that much work. I didn't get a single sketchbook commission, though I did a few loose page sketches and some badges.

Thanks to all of ya'll who came by! I am sorry if I as distracted or out of it, I got 10 hours of sleep total for 6 days. I didn't sleep at all Saturday night. :D

Now, for the 3 wolf moon piece, which you can see here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4060971/

It's still for sale, my asking price at this point is SOLD, which includes shipping and insurance. It's a little less than 11 by 14, double matted and with a foam core back and. I am donating %20 of the proceeds to the Redwood Pack wolf dog rescue.

I am also going to make a print run soon, probably in a couple weeks. Small prints of 11 inches on the long side with a half inch white border are $15, and large 11 by 14 (ish!) prints are 40. Those prices do not include shipping. I am donating %30 of all print sales to the pack as well! I hope I can sell a lot of these cause so far my ventures into animal charity have flopped. X3 If you would like a print, let me know here or in a note and I will send you a message when they are available.

ZOOM back to work.

• Where are you staying?
Westin

• What day are you getting there?
Thursday night laaate

• Who will you be with?
Staying with  nambroth,  eldarath, and  windfalcon_art.

• Where will you be?
Dealers table>>>> C10<<<<, next to Nambroth.

• What is your gender?
gurl

• How old are you?
27

• Can I talk to you?
This seems like such a silly question for a convention meme. Yes! I will try to be chipper but by Sunday I am usually low on energy.

• Can I touch you?
No.

• Are you friendly?
I try my best to be friendly. Again Sunday is hard, and if you tell me I charge too much money I will give you >:| face, but otherwise I really do want to hear how your con is going!

• Can I hang out with you?
Um, well, no. Usually I work after the dealer's room closes, and then I run away and hide.

• Are you taken?
I am unavailable.

• Do you do trades?
No. ;___;

• Will you take commissions?
As many as I can, I hope! Also prints and card decks. People can just look if they want, too. That shit's free.

• How can I find you?
Dealers room. I'll be there all day. Please com say hi.

• Can I buy you drinks?
Of course.

• Can I buy you food?
Do people actually ask this? Sure.

• Can I give you money?
Yes. Commerce, tips, and donations are accepted.

A few months ago a commenter got me thinking about colored pencils books. I hadn't done a search for them in almost ten years. It didn't occur to me since i was happily doing my own thing with them. I read them books a decade ago and they hardly ever had animals, what else could I possibly learn?

Every time a thought like that occurs, it's time to go looking. An artist should never be satisfied with, stuck, like that. Techniques for pots and pans can be applied to feathers and fur.

So off to Amazon I went! "Colored Pencil books". Search. And at the very top sits the title The Colored Pencil Painting Bible: Techniques for Achieving Luminous Color and Ultrarealistic Effects by Alyona Nickelsen. That's quite a mouthful! But hey the reviews have it ranked with damn near five our of five stars. I read the customer reviews, checked out the demonstration videos, and found the artist's website: http://www.brushandpencil.com/

There is a lot of good stuff on the website itself for freeeeeee if you'd like to check it out. I wanted more, so I bought the book direct from the artist. It came signed with some CDs and paper samples. COOL.

I've been browsing and experimenting with some various techniques ever since. Her writing is concise, easy to understand, and very informative. I was overjoyed to see how a lot of her techniques are similar to mine but taken much further. I've been using Turpenoid for 10 years now, and she too uses a solvent, odorless mineral spirits, to dissolve the wax binder and push pigment around. My pigment pushing is a lot rougher than her treatment, so I tried out some of her gentler tapping with a cotton swab instead of scrubbing with a brush. Neat results! I sometimes use powdered pencil, but it was inefficient. She solves that problem in an ingenious way.

I've been struggling with mixing color for a long time now. Like all mediums, each color, or pigment, has it's own properties that react in different ways with other pigments and solvents. I sometimes try to document what the different pigment properties do so I can make better art. Mrs. Nickelsen discusses some of this and more. She provides instructions to create beautiful glowing colors with careful layering and subtle solvent washes. She even uses the colorless blender, which I stopped using much when I turned to Turpenoid. I'm using it again these days.

One of the few things I don't like about this book is the "magic step" between steps. That is, there is a step 1, then step 2, and then BAM the art is done. Often I'm left going wait…wait what? Someone did some sort of magic to turn this grainy mess to a smooth, crisp image. However, if you read the text carefully and flip back and forth between steps you AND think about the lessons in the book, you can make out what has happened. Maybe. It's not easy.

For that reason I do not recommend this book to novices. If you have an ok grasp on colored pencil colors and layer effects, I highly recommend this book. The novice may have some trouble, and I recommend checking out the website first.

Overall, I am very happy I made this purchase. She makes good on her promise for luminous color and the oodles of practical advice for everything else is invaluable.

Once again, the website is http://www.brushandpencil.com/

Back to coloring wolf fur for me, cheers yawl!

Since I posted about the cons I won't be attending, how about the one I am!

I am excited to go to Pittsburgh again. Last year was my first AC and it was fun. I got a smaller table this year and I will be pandering various types of stuff.

Small prints are 15.
Large prints are 40.
All are uber giclee prints that I really should be selling for more, but I am retarded.

Art show: I am gonna try like heck to have some large and small pieces. I am working on one piece with some wolves and beer that will be my main show piece and will probably put up for 600 to 800 dollars. I will have some prints of it at my table.

Commission! Badge prices are the same, 15 for pencil, 25 for inked, and 100 and up for the nice colored pencil badges that are post con delivery only.

Okami style commissions are 60, dollars for the full non anthro characters done with ink, watercolor, and colored pencil. If you want me to use my watercolor paper, they are 65. The paper is larger and takes the watercolor better. Badges in this style are 30.

Sketchbook prices have changed. They are now 30 dollars for non anthro, and 45 for anthro. I figure this way I won't get as many takers and I can spend more time on any work I do get. If I don't get any work, that is fine too! Inks are 60. Any color work is 200 plus and is for post con delivery only.

ALL prices may vary depending on the character. All badges are bust only. Full sketch pages may not be full body. Sometimes I show from the hip up, but it's rare.

I will also have endangered ark decks for 28 and kennel club decks for 50.

Cheers!

Life has taken its usual topsy turvy twists and turns, and, unless something AMAZING happens, I am skipping out on Califur and Rainfurrest.

AC, Rocky Mountain Furcon, and of course MFF are still on. :D

My friend  foxfeather has just finished a new yin yang design for border collies! I know several folks here love border collies, so I thought I'd give those that do a heads up for some unique shirt designs.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3866002/

THE SHIRT! http://foxloft.com/store/shirt?shir.....&color=tex

She has several breeds, including the ever popular husky, (http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1420194/ !!) on her website.
http://foxloft.com/artwork/yinyang

Streaming sketching soon!

I am placing a print order soon. I don't know what folks want, so if there is a print you are interested in, tell me! It would help me out a lot.

I always like today. I am celebrating it alone for the first time, so I think a nice walk outside is in order.

I got one a while back, but I was too shy to post about it so uh. Um. Well you know what to do.

http://www.formspring.me/vantid

Man I am so excited, I finally got the Colour Theory and Light class that I was kicking myself for missing last summer. I'm only a few minutes into the class that's over four hours long and I've already learned stuff. <3!

I know not everyone has money, but I thought I'd post to let any of you who might be interested know about this sale, with classes 30% to 60% off! HOT DAMN.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sh.....d.php?t=182441 for the info and http://www.conceptartstore.com/ to shop.

I also recently acquired a new book on colored pencils that has given me bright and shiny anime eyes. I'll post a review of the book later once I've had a chance to put the techniques to the test.

I am still working on the fur tutorial, its almost done and then I send it off to Balaa, who has graciously agreed to put it together for me because I am abysmal with graphic design. And the hand drawing sketcher session is still in my mind. I've just got to finish up some work and feel a bit more social.

Cheers!