Last year I was contacted by Simon & Schuster to do new covers for their upcoming boxed set of The Dark Is Rising Sequence By Susan Cooper! I am incredibly honored to have worked on them, they are such wonderful books. The boxed set will be available 6/11/13.

I made this tutorial back in 2010 as a pitch for a project that never took off. I finally decided I should just bundle it up as a PDF and upload it for anyone who wants to see it. It's old and the image quality isn't super great, but it covers my process from idea creation, composition, adding color, all the way to the final draft, and there might be something useful in there for some of you.  

Download the tutorial here!

To my absolute surprise, I was nominated this year for two Chesley Awards. Even more to my surprise, I actually won one of them! I still can't believe it. My Planetary Alignment piece (pictured below) won in the 2010 Best Unpublished Color category. I am completely blown away. I can't tell you how honored and humbled I am to even be mentioned in the same sentence as the other nominees and winners. My deepest thanks to everyone who has supported me over the years, to ASFA for including me among the nominees, and for everyone who voted on my entry. I promise I'll work even harder and keep doing my best to contribute to the science fiction and fantasy community with my work.

Just a quick notice, for anyone going to WorldCon this week, I'll be attending on Thursday for Art Night, if you want to come by and say hi. I'll also have several pieces up in the art show, if you're interested in seeing some nice high-quality canvas prints.

Just a few quick updates. Limited edition lithographs of a piece of concept art I did for the upcoming game Alice: Madness Returns are finally up for sale here:


Also, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has a new line of RPG perfumes that I illustrated; check it out!

There are only a few days left on the kicktstarter for The Brass Age: A Steampunk Affair, so I just wanted to send out a quick update in case there was anyone else who wanted to donate.

The Brass Age: A Steampunk Affair is a gallery show in SoCal that I will be participating in (my first time being in a gallery!), but it's non-profit and they need a little funding for supplies and such. If you donate, you can get neat prizes like prints from myself and other participating artists.

If you're in SoCal on March 12th, please come by and say hi!



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Also, I've been slowly going through and adding more dA prints, so check that out if there's a print you've been interested in.   

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This is a bit of a late update, but I did the covers for several novels by the very talented Andrea K Höst! She is a wonderful writer. Please pick up a copy of one of her books.







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I'm going to be obnoxious and post about this one more time. X)

There's one more day to vote for my "Octopie" design on Threadless! If you like the design and haven't voted yet, please vote so we have a better chance of getting it printed.

Thanks so much!

Vote Here!

Update 5/22/10:

Thanks to your help, I've won the "Life In Motion" contest on Art.com! [link] Thank you so much, everyone!

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Also, I keep forgetting to mention it here, but I have a twitter account here: [link] in case anyone is interested in that sort of thing.

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The lovely and talented Amber Nelson has released chapter book of poetry that I provided the front and back cover artwork for. Please support her wonderful work and buy a copy (only $5!) at her store here: [link] You can also read a review of the chapterbook here.


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Also, don't forget about  ~Bill-Pulkovski 's art book  Through the Looking Glass, to which I contributed my two Alice paintings:  

There's lots of other beautiful artwork as well, so pick up a copy!

EDIT: Closed!

Okay, I was away from the computer most of the morning running errands, and I had no idea the bidding would go up so high! Thank you to everyone who made a bid, helped spread the word about this auction, or showed support! You're all wonderful.

and have both made generous bids very close to the deadline, and dA isn't very clear on who posted first, so I'm going to honor both bids and do both of their commissions. That's $1000, all going straight to disaster relief! Thanks again for everyone's support! You're all amazing.


*****


My friend is holding a commission auction as well! Be sure to check hers out. -> [link]

has an auction up at [link] , too!

is offering commissions for charity here! [link]

If anyone else is running charity auctions, let me know and I can list them here, too.

Edit2:
I've got another auction up on Livejournal, too: [link]

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In light of the devastating earthquake in Haiti yesterday, I'm holding a commission charity auction to earn money to donate to the Red Cross' efforts to aid the earthquake victims. I rarely take personal commissions anymore, so if you were wanting to have something done by me, now would be the chance.

Bidding starts now, and will close this Saturday (the 16th of January) at noon PST. Post your bids in the comment section of this thread. The highest bidder by the end of the auction gets a full color commission of his or her choice. 100% of the money will go immediately to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Thanks!

Hey guys

I haven't been selling prints through deviantArt lately because they charge customers way too much and rip off the artists, and that's not cool. I finally have a new quality print shop set up on a different site, though! So, if you are looking to buy some of my stuff, you can do so here:

Thumbtack Press

Thanks!

Julie

There's an interview with me up at Dark Wolf's Fantasy Reviews, if anyone is interested in reading it.  There are a lot of other great reviews and interviews there at Mihai's blog, so check those out if you have the time.

**EDIT: Sold!

I've had this boxed set of Yoshitaka Amano FF art books on my shelf for ages. It's lovely, but I never use it or look through it and it's just been gathering dust. Turns out it's a rare limited edition, so I thought I'd try to find it a new, more appreciative owner rather than leave it all alone and unused.

"The Sky" is a huge, beautiful three book collection featuring every single drawing Yoshitaka Amano did for the Final Fantasy Series (up until FFX). There's also a biography with photos, a cute flipbook and some postcards. It is in almost new condition. The outer cover has probably faded a bit with age, but the books inside are in perfect condition. Here is some info on the book.

This retailed for about $300 back in 2001 when it was released. I know I can get more for it on ebay since it is out of print and sells for at least $350-400 now, but I wanted to check with you guys first and see if anyone wanted to buy it at it's original retail price of $300 rather than at some potentially inflated price on ebay. Shipping is included in that price. If no one wants it after a few days, I'll put it up on ebay.

Here's what it looks like. Click for a slightly larger version.


If you're interested, send me a note.

*****EDIT: And it's sold! Thanks guys!

Hey, guys! I have just a few quick things to mention.

First, thank you for 300,000 hits! You guys are great! I need to get some new stuff uploaded soon for you, it's been a while since my last actual update.

2nd, if you missed Cormorant play at Paganfest back in May, they've got another great show coming up in Petaluma, CA on the 26th.  They'll be playing with Slough Feg, Giant Squid, Helms Alee and La Fin Du Monde. Check it out, it's going to be awesome. You can get more info on Cormorant's Myspace page.  

3rd, I have a twitter page at [link] if anyone is interested in that sort of thing. I had one last year but I deleted it for reasons I no longer remember. X) I don't post that often and I'm not particularly interesting, but there it is nonetheless.

Hey guys!

I haven't done these in forever so I don't know how well these would go over, but I've got a little bit of a lull in my schedule and thought I'd see if anyone would be interested in some $50 portraits, since I really like drawing faces. I'm still a little busy, so I can take 2 or 3 of them right now; if I can finish them fast enough and if there is enough interest, I might be able to take a few more later in the month.

$50 gets you a single portrait (shoulders and up), similar to one of these:

(It doesn't have to be a fantasy portrait; these just happen to be the most current examples I have on dA).

Payment is paypal only, and is due upon completion. Send me a note if you are interested.

EDIT: All right, I've got 3, so I'm closed for now. Again, if I can finish these quickly and if I still have a little time in my schedule, I'll take a few more later in the month. Thanks so much!

I did the cover last summer for this book written by , and it is now availble, if you want to check it out.

Here is a summary of the book:
"A noble girl, a dark assassin, and a soul-stealing necklace... what more could go wrong? Sora always dreamed of adventure, but not like this. After being kidnapped by an assassin, she finds herself dumped into a dangerous world of thieves, mercenaries, and magic. A vengeful sorcerer is hot on the assassin's heels, and thanks to her Cat's Eye necklace, it falls into Sora's hands to save the assassin's life. Unfortunately, her necklace has as much an appetite for souls as it does for magic, and it is becoming even more of a danger than the sorcerer that hunts them.

Now she must travel with an unlikely band of outlaws to discover the mysteries of the Cat's Eye, the secrets of her past, and how to destroy a man whose power is more than legendary."

You can find more information here: [link]

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I know things have been kind of slow here lately; I hope to have some new art for you soon!

I might as well plug this now, since it's due to be released in a few days.

There's a big book of excellent short stories all based on pirates, nautical legends, and the mysteries of the deep that features my artwork (cover art and all 42 interior illustrations!). So if you want to check it out or pick up a copy, click here. There's a lot of art in it. A lot.

Here's the blurb from the publisher's website:
Sails and Sorcery


"Mermaids. Pirates. Flying ships. Creatures from the deep. Magic beyond your wildest dreams. The sea is a dangerous and wonderful realm. It calls to many, promising riches, adventure, or freedom. But just as there are beautiful and remarkable treasures to be found upon and below the waves, do not underestimate the dangers hidden within its depths. So polish your cutlass and prepare your spells for what awaits. Embark upon a journey across leagues of unimaginable adventure. Ride the waves to mystery and magic. Featuring 28 stories and 42 illustrations, including tales by New York Times best-seller Elaine Cunningham, Paul S. Kemp, Patrick Thomas, and James M. Ward with an all-new story featuring Halcyon Blithe."

Cover art:



Here is the full, wrap around cover art without the text, if anyone's curious:
[link]

That is all

Hi!

I figured I should get the whiny post off the main page and do something productive. Like ask art questions! I get asked these things a lot, so I thought I'd see what other people might have to say.


Why are you interested in art? Why do you make art?  How long have you been interested in art? Is it a hobby for you, or a career path? What is it about art (or other creative disciplines) that really catches your interest and inspires you? Please tell!


For me, I've always been drawn to the creative fields. When I was younger, I loved playing the piano, but I was never talented enough to write my own music. I tried writing stories and was very serious about that for a while, but I was pretty bad at it and had problems fleshing out my ideas. Art and painting has provided me with a way to express myself, a way to create something finished and solid, and a way to (almost/eventually) support myself financially in a way that doesn't leave me feeling dull and dead inside (I don't handle retail/office work well). Even when my life seemed to be taking me in other directions, I always have had art as at least a hobby, either to just be geeky and have fun, or to use as an outlet for my imagination that other areas of life sadly had little use for. The world can be so mundane at times. Art makes me feel like I'm at least trying to see past that wall of ordinaryness, and that I have something, however small, to offer to the world.

How about you?

I don't know how to say this without sounding like a total bitch, so I'm just going to go and say it....

I'm glad people were able to find some usefulness in those old tutorials I made eight years ago, but I have a gallery of new stuff for you to look at, too. You don't have to keep bringing up the tutorials here. They're old and they're bad and there are much better tutorials out on the internet now. I've been working really hard to improve over the years and do new things. Please look at my work for what it is now, not what it was then. This DA gallery is about my new work, not about the stuff I did in my awkward teenage anime phase. So please, if you had read them way back when, that's fine, but you don't have to keep bringing it up, because I'm really not proud of having made them, and when that's all you talk about it makes me feel like what I'm doing now isn't noteworthy and doesn't matter. (Not that what I do now is super-great, but it's a far cry from where I was eight years ago).


(if you don't know what I'm talking about, trust me, you're better off. )

Hey, everyone

Firstly, thank you so much to everyone who has dropped by! I started up this gallery figuring it would just stay tucked in a corner somewhere, and I've been really surprised and pleased at the turnout so far. Much love <3 <3 <3 I'll do my best to keep this place updated.

That said, I want to apologize ahead of time for not responding to everyone. I suck. I am a chronic lurker, even in my own gallery (the shame!), and I just want everyone to know that even if I'm stupid and fail to reply, I read each and every comment and smile and am all happy and everything.

I find it kind of funny how many people have commented that I seemed to have disappeared from the net for a while and was hard to find. I didn't realize I had been lurking so much! XD  

Been avoiding setting up a Deviant Art gallery for a while; not sure why. But I kept seeing people's art that I wanted to comment on, and I couldn't because I wasn't a member. Well, now I am. Guess I should go add some art! Unfortunately, almost all the stuff I've been doing recently is commissioned work that I can't show online yet, but I'll see what I can do.

This place has ridiculous emoticons. o_o