A thought on Art Suplies...

I received a new batch of art supplies today and it made me thing about all the money that artist spend in supplies just to try new things. I'm going to try and make my own board to paint on. I can get the absorbent surface with the texture that I want, and make it in more sizes then i can get, sounds like a great idea, right? Well well see... the first back is drying right this moment. I did however think back to all the times i have dumped oodles of money into a protect, only to discover how much i hate doing that particular technique, or even just trying to find the "right" supplies.
I switched from marker to watercolor about 3 years ago now, and it was a nightmare. I hate to try all the surfaces you can paint on, and all the different kinds of paint to find one with a texture and brightness that I liked. Anyone how looked into watercolor knows its cheaper then oil or even some acrylics, but still! And you can just buy one color...no, the least you can buy is 5-6, 12 being better, and some of those sets cast up to $200 for 12 colors...that I might hate right out of the tube! Luckly i have had some good advice on watercolor and found some fairly cheap. I do think i might replace the brand that I am using for a different brand though that i find a hair more smooth. Since i use it SO heavy I like the smother paints. I should just go back to acrylic, but watercolor has some really great technique and layering effects that i just love.
Anyway, I'm about to try a different media over this watercolor, and if it works how they say it will, it might just make several of my supplies obsolete in my arsenal. Im really excited about it!

Filming my speed painting is going fairly well. I have almost 8 hrs on tape and will be spending the day on it tomorrow, I might be able to almost finish this piece! Its a hassle to have to stop and start every 20 min or so, but i think in the end it'll be worth it. I doubt ill do this EVERY painting like i was thinking I might, but at least every few...
Ill update with a picture tomorrow. The details on this piece are really nice!

Frost Dragon 001

I started the painting of my frost dragon tonight. I always hated this stage. It currently looks like a 4 year old got ahold of my work and ran with it. I did manage to record the process though, so it should make for a really cool video...I hope! I was really happy with the pencil, so logically the painting should go well, right? :P This is another of my newer pieces that's a full detail painting instead of the framed dragons that I have done in the past. Its a little nerve racking to push myself this hard, but I know it'll pay off in the end. And if I wasn't pushing myself, I would never grow as an artist, and I think for most artists that is the main goal.
I was going to try and finish a bit more tonight, starting on the tree, but I want to see how the video goes before I get ahead of myself. The plan is to finish this one this week and start the next one by next week to have them as prints for my next batch of shows. Ill be debuting a bunch of both serious dragons as well as new Little Wings Dragons, and I'm honestly excited to see which ones people enjoy more. I am retiring several old images to make lots of room for the new ones. Its always interesting to watch as my style changes what people like and what they don't. On top of that images that did really well 2 years ago are starting to not get the attention that they used to compared to the newer ones...
I think that goes with the growth that comes with pushing yourself as an artist, but its a trip to watch :D
Enjoy,
Carla Morrow

Silly Internet

First blog here, there are a few on myspace, but they are awfully old...not MUCH of a blogger, so well see how this goes :D
Im Carla Morrow, and I am a fantasy artist. I have been trailing and selling my work now for 4 years. My main site is www.acrylicdragon.com where i have 2 distinct styles of work. The "regular dragons" and the Babies. If you get a chance, please check them out :D
ok, so I wanted my first post NOT to be a rant, but after I just spent 4 hours setting up accounts, merging profiles and getting everything updated, Im a bit spent...let me explain

The internet is a wonderful thing, don't get me wrong here, but oui! There are SO many ways to keep in touch with people, and as a growing business, ya gotta keep up. So, just tonight I have added this blog, updated and merged not 2 but 3 google profile accounts, started a flickr (because photobucket wouldnt work with my goole profile that I JUST updated and merged, updated my yahoo account (because it wont merge with my google profile) and plugged twitter and youtube into everything. The Plus side is that I think Im about done with all that! WooHOo
So NOW what? well...I have 2 weeks before Im off to a next batch of shows, and provided there's not a new social network that comes out between now and then, Im going to paint :D
Whats that? PAINT?!?! Yes, finally!

I have the pencils ready for 2 new dragon paintings. A "frost" dragon and a underwater scene. Im really excited abotu both paintings. The underwater one i have had in my head for about 4 years now, and the frost one for well over a year. Ill be adding pic of both the pencils tomorrow, and keep an eye out, because once i find my dratted plug and play web cam ill set up for a speed painting. Ill be video taping the entire painting progress for youtube and my website. I think itll really be alot of fun!