Happy March Pup

Happy Sunday!

Every day is a good day to appreciate doggos :) Don't you agree? Especially those with big goofy smiles!? So, today I sketched this handsome fella, a sweet german shepherd!

A good start for what I hope to be a very productive work-week. Hope you have a good one too! See you again soon :)

Spring & a Fennec Fox

Happy Saturday all!

As we close out this month, I wanted to share an extra blogpost with you.

This weekend, I encourage you to take a few minutes just to appreciate those good things around you. February came and went like a blur, and I am sure I am not the only one to feel that way! So as we welcome March, I hope that we all can be a little more present, and fully enjoy those little things that make life brighter. :)



To start this endeavor, here are some pretty flowers, a cute fennec fox, and some lovely creations by the wonderful artists of Carnaval de Nice (Click to go to the video)!

I was very lucky to be able to attend a Carnival celebration; the "Flower Battle" parade, or properly:  "Bataille de Fleurs" :) Performing artists including musicians and dancers dawn beautiful (and fanciful) costumes to entertain and throw flowers at the audience! :D We came home with a nice bouquet! Click on a photo on the left to go to a short video :)

A Happy Diversion

This post's title could not be more fitting!

Since this time last week, I have felt in a bit of an "artist's-block" (as you know how frustrating writer's block is....), which needed to be solved with a change of pace, and working through LOTS of unfruitful sketches.

So I allowed myself to doodle and sketch and do any random art-thing that could get me out of my rut. In doing so, I am glad to have made a couple cute sketches for Valentine's Day cards (pictured below), and I let myself have the time to explore a new resource for bringing my 3D art into games (will talk more about that later!).

Pictured below:  "Batty" About you! & Lovebirds

Thanks again for reading, and see you again next week! :)

Brush Rabbit!

This little bunny completes my Oregon Wildlife trio! This is a Brush Rabbit, a species that I would commonly see at home in Oregon. Drawing him truly has satisfied a bit of my longing for the west-coast, for now!

This drawing was created in Photoshop on my Cintiq, mimicking pencil. Additionally, if you would like a print for yourself or a friend, you can pick him up on my online shop! 

It's Mer-May!

It’s Mer-May!!! 🐚 Kicking off the month with a little clownfish mermaid :) If you haven't heard of Mermay before, it's a fun art-challenge to create mermaids all of May! Let's see how many I can contribute this year!

Princess Pigeon

Today a friend shared with me a comic by @ChuckDrawsThings titled "self-worth", and it inspired me to draw this princess pigeon! Of all the "wildlife" of Nice, France, I must say I have seen more pigeons here in a month than I have ever seen before! They have been my constant companions out on the street :)

I also encourage you to go see the comic that inspired this lady-bird! You can see it on ChuckDrawsThings' Facebook page by clicking: here 

Learning on the Tram

Kiddos on the tram have been unknowingly helping me learn French, and to train my ears for correct pronunciation :) Yesterday a little one, staring out the window repeated “monsieur, madame, monsieur, madame....” until his mom told him to shhh! 😌

This is the first time in a good while that I have just let myself doodle with ink....oh how I didn't realize how much I've missed the feeling! We hope to be settled into our new home soon so I can really turn my focus back to my personal work (& this blog!)  :)   Take care & see you back here again soon!

A Handful of Owls

🦉A handful of teeny-tiny owls makes this rainy morning a lovely one :)

I just finished individually sculpting a new batch of owls! These guys are made of polymer clay, with a small metal eye screw for putting on a chain as a necklace, or a ribbon as an adorable ornament!

I have been so busy gaining and honing new art-skills, and prepping for my next holiday art & craft bazaar! I have also recently debuted a website for my small art-gifts shop, Under Sea & Stars at underseaandstars.com! Please check it out! :D

Well, blog soon! I must get to painting these little guys.

Original Instagram post:  https://www.instagram.com/p/BbhmZBInOED/?taken-by=underseaandstars

Baby Zebras: Art-Wednesday

I so enjoy adding personality and attitude to my animal characters; and these tiny zebras are no exception! I take my time painting their stripes and faces; got to get them just right).

They will be availabe for purchase next week at UnderSeaAndStars Studio, on Etsy!

Little Zebras:  Sculpted in polymer clay, baked in my home oven, painted with acrylic and very soon to be finished with a smooth gloss glaze.

A tiny herd of new zebras hang-drying their new painted coats :)

   

(Click to enlarge)

(Left):  My favorite completed paint-test zebra acts as a guide for the creation of his herd.

(Right):  Each tiny zebra is unique! Every bit is meticulously designed and hand-painted.

Thanks for reading, and catch you next week!

-Brianna

Miss Bear Print on Etsy! Art-Wednesday

Miss Bear is now on my Etsy shop, UnderSeaAndStars! Below you can find photos of Miss Bear's 5x7" print, and a preview of my Etsy listing! 

You can view it for real here:  UnderSeaAndStars Miss Bear Print 

Thanks for reading & see you next week!

  

All images © 2016 - Brianna Elizabeth Leahy

Emerald Flora Dress: Art-Wednesday

I had artist's block the other day, and it lead me to try something a little different! I chose three images from my "inspiration bank" of random photos/artwork/architecture and fashion that I find personally inspiring. From those three, I made my own mash-up of the images and my personal style.

Hope you enjoy!

Finished Illustration:  Girl in Green Dress

(Click an image to view larger)

Left:  An initial sketch.  Right:  Value study & pattern exploration

All images © 2016 - Brianna Elizabeth Leahy

Some Sass: Art-Thursday

Some sass for this week :) A combo of a brush pen sketch from the corner of my sketchbook, and some digital color from my iPhone, the Picsart app.

Foxy Pendant: Art-Wednesday

This little fox is made of clay, and I created her specially for my little sister as a good luck charm (and pick-me-up) for her last finals of college! Worked perfectly! :)

Sculpted in polymer clay, painted with acrylic paint, and finished with a waxed cord. I didn't measure her before giving her away, but she is about the size of the pad of my thumb!

My Completed Little Fox Charm

My sister @briannaleahyart is an actual doll & made me this fox pendant to help me get through these last few weeks of classes. ✨🐺💖 #fox #art #SOCUTE #handmade

A photo posted by Amanda Marie (@irisofamanda) on May 18, 2016 at 12:39pm PDT

Back View:  Signature Initials & '16 

A look into the process; blocked shapes sculpt before refining & baking.

Mer-May: Art-Wednesday

I enjoy participating in art-tags on Instagram, so when I found out about "MerMay" (drawing lots of mermaids for the length of May), I was excited to join in! So before the month was over, I did slip in a couple more mermaid drawings. Enjoy!

Pictured Below:
Emerald Mermaid Pencil Sketch, Emerald Mermaid in Copic Marker & Brush Pen, and Amethyst Mermaid Digital Sketch.

     

Zebra & Horse Pendants: Art-Wednesday

This week I dreamt up a new pendant idea for my upcoming Etsy Shop (which I have changed the Shop name to UnderSea&Stars)! I wanted to create a Sahara friend for my existing elephant pendants, and also horses & unicorns. I am planning on using the same basic silhouette for all three, and embellish them with accents and paint to distinguish between them.

Below you can see my initial concept digital painting, clay sculpts, and two paint-tests I have done so far. I really like how the naturalistic paint test went for the zebra best so far, but will finish with the red one in the near future!

These guys will be available at my Etsy Shop's Grand Opening (excited to choose a date soon)!

Initial Color Zebra Digital Concept Sketch

Sculpts start with my self-made mold, which creates horse-ish blobs.
I then trim the clay and hand-sculpt, getting the right proportions & crisp edges. 

Completed paint-test for Natural Zebra Pendant

Paint-test in progress for Colorful Zebra Pendant

Pug! Art-Wednesday

I think we could all use a silly pug! So when a friend suggested I draw one, I was very happy to create this pudgy, smiling pup. This picture is a combination of a photo of my brush pen sketch and digital color with my iPhone using the PicsArt app. Enjoy!

Miss Bear Portrait: Project Process Art-Wednesday

Meet the sweet Miss Bear! A digital illustration completely done in photoshop, I thought it would be interesting to some of you to see a more in-depth look at my digital process! So below her portrait, you will find my three main stages that I use in my drawings. Thank you for looking!

1) To start, I do a number of warm up sketches in the size of thumbnails until I find one that match my vision. They are usually very rough and messy. Eventually I work up to a drawing I am happy with:

 

2) I refine my design on a separate layer above my sketch, getting clear edges and planning colors:

3) On another layer, sandwiched between the existing two, I start painting! On the right, you can see my color palette for the bear. I continue with this process until the whole canvas is painted. I add another layer on top for subtle warm and cool tones. The very last step before I am done is an extra pass to clean up edges!

Thank you for reading!

Inspired by Africa: Art-Wednesday

This week I was just in an African animal drawing mood! So I had fun creating these ladies for my daily art challenge. I am especially happy with the lioness! Both drawings were created in Photoshop on my Cintiq.

(Top) Complete Lioness Illustration! (Bottom Left): Work in progress/initial sketch, (Bottom Right): Lady Giraffe Sketch

Portrait of Vladimir, Companion of the Year! Art-Wednesday

I had the pleasure of being commissioned to create a custom portrait Vladimir, a very special clinic cat! March 5th, he was inaugurated into the Animal Hall of Fame as Companion of the Year through the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association! 

Vladimir began life as a stray, became a barn cat, and then grew to become the "Greeter" at "All Creatures Great & Small Veterinary Clinic", a post he has happily kept for the past seven and a half years! A truly lovely & sweet gentleman!

I created the following digital painting for his award ceremony & the human team of "All Creatures Great & Small Veterinary Clinic".

Below is the finished illustration, followed by a couple in-progress photos.

(Above):  Finished portrait of Vladimir the Companion of the Year 2016!

(Below):  Work in progress screenshots from my Wacom Cintiq Companion

Click to enlarge!

(Left):  A sketch start.  (Right):  Getting closer, with detail work

                       

Baby Badger: Art-Wednesday

In preparation of making my Etsy Shop, BadgerBriArt more official, I have been working on the look for my logo and banner. I sketched these while looking at badgers and their body structure a little more closely, and just had to paint this little baby guy too!

Sketches in colored pencil in my sketchbook, and the baby was started in the same sketchbook and finished in photoshop.