#surrealrubyart

#inktober Day 8 with one of my favorite animals (which means nothing because I have a long list...😁): a Pygmy Marmoset! These little primates are so little and they chirp like birds😍. It was a bit daunting trying to make sure I captured that little face just right...I was super distracted by the reference😂❤️🐒 #inktober2017 #day8 #sketch #primates #pygmymarmoset #fullpage #addingcolor #brushpens #surrealruby #surrealrubyart

After last month’s challenge, I found myself completely at a loss for what to work on! I have some portrait commissions to get started on of course, but I really wanted to work on my own self-started body of work. As I noticed every day during the challenge, my biggest obstacle was always getting started. I would literally distract myself with other tasks before settling in front of the paper, and when I finally did, I’d freeze up. Every time! It hasn’t gone away, even as I itch to create every day! 🤔 Is it my anxiety? Is it just a common struggle all artists deal with and eventually free themselves of? I wonder what other people do with this feeling? #gettingstarted #anxiety #artistproblems #finallygotit #WIP #readytopaint #cockatiel #cantaloupe #watercolorpainting #surrealruby #surrealrubyart

So I’m trying to find time-saving approaches with these portraits (so any ideas would be more than welcome😁). I tried something totally new with this one in an attempt to save some time: I didn’t presketch the face with pencil beforehand 😬. I can say it really forces you to focus on placement and shapes rather than contours. It’s not perfect obviously, but it’s a good exercise and time-saver! 😃👍 #30faces30days #sktchy #watercolor #portrait #nopencil #nosketch #timesaver #zigcleancolor #surrealruby #surrealrubyart

Couldn’t finish her yesterday! I’ll catch up...somehow... 😬 I tried to consider the color palette more this time as well. Let me know what you think because color theory is challenging AF. I used my liquid watercolors this time. I wanted to get used to using them! They’re REALLY concentrated obviously and also very brilliant! It’s going ti take some mixing practice to tone these down...which is going to be so FUN, omg!! 😃 #30faces30days #sktchy #watercolor #portraits #artchallenge #dailychallenge #drphmartins #thoselipstho #surrealruby #surrealrubyart

Done with Nikki and Lola almost a week ahead of time! This is the last of my Christmas commissions for one of my friend’s client. They’re away for the holidays, but I hope they’ll love to get this when they come back! 😊 Commission work is a tricky thing for me. I enjoy making things for people that they’ve asked me for (and I’m especially grateful that they are open to paying me fairly for it), but I also enjoy making my own things and just putting them out there, seeing what works for my audience. A good balance between the two would be nice. 😁👍 #watercolor #portraits #petportrait #artcommission #cuties #furbabies #surrealruby #surrealrubyart

Not in the clear, yet! This is another Christmas gift commission for my friend Lisa to give to one of her clients! She won’t see them until around mid-January, so I have some time! 😅 The last time I went away from home this time of year was when I went to Hawaii for two weeks. Spent my 25th birthday whale-watching as I did this trip alone on some sort of Eat-Pray-Love thing (BEFORE movie came out 😏) #wip #watercolor #portraits #petportrait #commissionart #furbabies #surrealruby #surrealrubyart

Galaxy Cat, woo! I would love to say this was quick, but...😬 This partially came from watching Momo chase her tail😂 I thought, “What would a galaxy cat be chasing? Oh, duh! A star.” And then this doodle happened! 😃 I feel like nobody could possibly be bored looking out into space one way or another. It’s always fun looking for constellations 🌌 or the brightest star 🌟 in the sky on a given night. I remember spending one particular summer evening as a teen laying on our family’s sedan in the driveway and trying to actually count all the stars I could see in my periphery. Needless to say, it drove me nuts 😂 I lost count quite a few times before I thought, “Hey this isn’t relaxing.” That’s when I took a breath and just got lost in the view. 😊 That was much better. #nebula #galaxy #galaxycat #painting #chasingtail #notthatkind #chasingstars #watercolorpainting #practice #starsinthesky #space #thefinalfrontier #stargazing #nerdgirl #art #surrealruby #surrealrubyart

It’s a 2-in-1 #Inktober entry!! Woohoo! I know I missed yesterday, but I’m willing to forgive myself 😏. A chick for Day 4 and hedgie for Day 5...done!! #inktober2017 #betterlatethannever #twoinone #sketch #inking #inkingpractice #chick #babychicken #hedgehog #hedgie #babyhedgehog #pentelfudebrushpen #brushpens #Socute #cutecouple #surrealruby #surrealrubyart