Art | AmandaMuses

Daily365, 2015 edition

05/01/2015 — Leave a comment

Over the last few years, I’ve undertaken a daily project to give myself an excuse to generate more sketches/artwork. In 2010 and 2011 I focused on self-portraits. By 2013 I’d grown tired of portraits of myself and worked on portraits of D’Art the cat. Last year I shifted to hand-drawn sketches, but started late and found it hard to stay on top of the drawings (at this moment, the project is unfinished, but I plan to wrap it up and post the drawings as I move along ).

This year, I’ve decided to go back to self-portraits—the familiar subject makes the project easier to manage. As usual, the daily pieces will be posted in the Daily365 section of the site.

How about you guys? Anyone else taking on a daily project this year? Do tell.

In Art Daily 2015, Daily365

Triad

01/05/2014 — Leave a comment

Rather like the implied light source of the orange in this. Also always like the triad of blue, orange and red together.

In Art Art, blue, digital, illustration, orange, red

Ahead

10/03/2014 — Leave a comment

This weekend in America we moved clocks ahead an hour. This generally means the following Monday is full of zombies disoriented and exhausted by what shouldn’t be a big deal but for some reason our bodies just can’t deal with it.

Anyway, it’s a new week and at least around here, a sunny-ish one to boot. This illustration feels warm and full and reminds me of positive things. It also has a certain dark twist or tension that I generally like and end up infusing into my work often whether I mean to or not. What do you think? What does this piece remind you of or feel like to you?

In Art Art, digital, illustration, leaves, red

Night Sky

05/03/2014 — Leave a comment

Without meaning to, this ended up looking like the night sky, I think. What do you think? What does this look like to you?

In Art Art, blue, digital, illustration, sky

Daylight

03/03/2014 — Leave a comment

Last week, the latest round of Spark ended (and once again I participated).* As in the past, that also means that I have a new crop of unpublished iterations to share with you here.

The written inspiration piece I was assigned this go-round was more complex than some I’ve gotten in the past and dealt with loss. But it ended hopefully, and so the earliest iterations had a brighter daytime palette and look that isn’t always typical of my layered illustration style. What do you think? Where do these take you?

*If you’re not sure what I’m talking about when I mention Spark, you can see past entries in which I mentioned Spark here or learn more about it here.

In Art Art, digital, illustration, Spark

Hokum

12/01/2014 — Leave a comment

Busy, busy. Another little piece of something I was working on earlier. Hope everyone’s weekend is off to a good start.

In Art Art

A little leftover

09/01/2014 — Leave a comment

Just a little something leftover from a piece I was working on this evening. I rather like where this seems to be going—feels very inky and reminds me of wisteria.

In Art Art

Holiday break

01/01/2014 — Leave a comment

Just a quick post to say ‘Happy New Year.’

As you may have guessed this is a sibling a few of the illustrations posted earlier in December (1, 2, 3) which were iterations for the last round of Spark in 2013. This one felt festive with it’s bright, complementary colors.

Hope everyone’s year is off to a pleasant start.

In Art Art, digital, illustration, red

Almost

30/12/2013 — Leave a comment

It’s almost the new year. I’m more excited than a kid on Christmas eve waiting to open their presents.

In Art Art, blue, digital, illustration

Eye

26/12/2013 — Leave a comment

What do you see in this illustration? I had a professor in college who would often start critiques of work with the question “where does this take you?” I find myself asking people the same thing when viewing or discussing art.

To me, an eye and maybe some barbed wire emerges from this piece, but it doesn’t have as much visual depth as I’d like. The colors are rather pleasant though, I suppose. What do you think? Where does this take you?

In Art Art, digital, illustration

Holiday

25/12/2013 — Leave a comment

Happy Holidays, all! And for those who celebrate, have yourselves a merry little Christmas. xo

In Art Art, blue, digital, illustration, trees

Festivus

23/12/2013 — Leave a comment

It’s Festivus! And look, another blog post—it’s a Festivus miracle (Ok, not really..but FESTIVUS)!

As you might’ve guess this is related to two of the other illustrations (1 and 2) posted earlier this month.

Happy Festivus, everyone!

In Art Art, illustration

Getting Colder

21/12/2013 — Leave a comment

Here’s another iteration related to the discarded draft I posted earlier in December.

Both were iterations for the latest round of Spark, the collaborative art and writing project to which I have alluded before. After a few weeks away from this version, I’m not sure that I like it that much anymore. What do you guys think?

In Art Art, illustration, Spark

Freezing rain

09/12/2013 — Leave a comment

It’s been another bonkers week and as is becoming a habit of late, my focus has not be on blogging, unfortunately. So it goes.

On the upside, things seem to be settling down. And today it snowed for hours (the first snow of the year) which makes this northerner happy. We’ll see what next week holds in store. In the meantime, here’s a little something I’ve been working on the last few days. Had considered it a “discarded draft,” but will admit it looks kind of interesting. What do you guys think of the piece?

In Art Art, life, sketches, textures

Bare

20/11/2013 — Leave a comment

The last few days I’ve been fighting back a cold and also trying to wrangle what seemed like acres of leaves. I will admit to coming up short, the leaves always win (though at least I’m feeling mostly better). And as the month zooms by and the wind picks up, the tress are starting to look pretty bare. How are things with you guys?

In Art Art, digital, illustration, leaves, trees

Glow

15/11/2013 — Leave a comment

Rather like how this image almost seems to glow. Or is that just me (Am I nuts? Hope not.)? Anyway, even though I tend towards darker palettes, I like how this turned out— the glow of the softer colors helps add lightness and depth to what could’ve turned into a rather gloomy piece. What do you think?

Update: Like this illustration? Now it’s available as a matted archival print here in my Etsy shop.

In Art Art, digital, etsy, illustration, print

Unearthed

11/11/2013 — Leave a comment

During the recent cleaning ( and purging ) of my main hard drive, I’ve unearthed discarded folders of old work drafts and unpublished photos that have kept me busy for the last few days. This weekend was spent concentrating on photos, so today I’m focusing on illustrations to give my eyes and brain a break. And after going to a few art openings this weekend, the wheels in my head have been turning to spin new ideas into more work.

Here’s one piece I keep coming back to today:

It didn’t start the day off looking like this, beginning as a discarded draft from 2011 for a piece of an ongoing a group art project, Spark and evolving this morning into what you see above. It’s a little hard, even for me the creator, to believe the above is built with some of the same basic layers and rudiments as the original “final piece” from 2011. And to be honest, I think I like this piece better than the Spark 14 final from 2011. Granted, the piece for the Spark project was intended to visualize the text of a specific poem, but it feels somewhat static in its composition and a little flat. The piece above seems to have greater depth of both color and composition. What do you guys think? Where does this piece “take you”?

In Art Art, digital, illustration, Spark

Digging

04/11/2013 — Leave a comment

This weekend, I spent quite a bit of time tidying hard drives and folders of old work. It feels great to have a more orderly library of files and was fun to find old pieces I’d forgotten about. Here’s a discarded draft of an illustration that I found and liked:

Curious what this piece turned into as a final product? Check it out here.

What’d you guys do this weekend?

In Art, old work digital, Spark

Lately

18/09/2013 — Leave a comment

Last week was, to say the least, intense. And it probably seems as though I’ve lapsed into another brief (unintentional) quiet spell. While that was not a conscious decision, things happen and so it goes. This week is shaping up to be similarly busy, but in a much better way (hopefully).

While this piece still does not feel “done,” here is another discarded iteration that I rather like.

What do you think? Any ideas where it’s going? This is another “sibling” of the last two iterations I’ve shared recently here and here. Can you see the relationships?

In Art, Life, Sketches life, sketches

More Progress

07/09/2013 — Leave a comment

Somehow this week flew by and while I got a lot accomplished and checked a lot of the boxes off of my list, there’s always more to do. Including that odd piece I started last weekend after an intense week of non-creative things. Today it’s gorgeous and sunny (and warm), but I’d really rather have a cool grey day so sitting quietly inside with a bunch of art files didn’t seem out of place.

While I’m still not entirely sure when this piece will be declared “done” (is anything ever done?), I keep coming back to this iteration. There’s a lot missing from it (in my mind at least, since I know where it’s supposed to be “going”) but there’s just something about it…

What do you think? Any guesses where it’s going? Also, this is a sibling of the last iteration… Really.

In Art, Sketches Art

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