Reference VS. Outta My Head

I posted the following on DeviantArt and am waiting for the potential backlash. I don't have many watchers over there, so I doubt it'll create a stink. But it IS a legitimate concern I have. Let me know what you think:

"In the extensive browsing I've done here on dA, I noticed how far I have to go to reach my full artistic potential. Some pretty amazing stuff on here! But then I realized that the major disconnect in my art and "theirs" is the extensive use (legal or otherwise) of reference material for the completion of many of these works. As I work mostly out of my head, but don't disdain use of reference, I found my work doesn't compare to many for this really basic reason. Most of my art is doodled when I don't have access to reference, or when I want to preserve a stylistic approach that reference would affect.

I have noticed repaints over copyrighted photography or artwork, blatant redraws of anime/manga pages, and impressively-drawn/finished digital art that may or may not have used "reference material" in the completion process. Reference material is to be looked at for inspiration, not to be ripped directly from the source material. Now, I know such a staunch position on use of reference can't be all that popular in this community. I doubt many people who misuse reference will respond to this message unless they are angrily defending their process or angrily denying their process. So in that case, please don't bother commenting. I mean no personal disrespect. Your methods, while they may garner much attention and praise, simply are not my methods.

I could discuss at length how the beloved Masters used mirrors and other tricks to exactly copy the portraits of their subjects onto the canvas, and that these methods were considered acceptable for accuracy's sake. It wasn't the resulting "copied" drawings that made the Masters... Masters. It was the finishing of the work. But when photography came into existence, the need for accurate recording of an individual's face by an artist dissipated. Art was freed to be more organic and less "perfect." (That's just the Master's degree talkin'. Teachin' art is a habit and one-time profession.)

Now, apparently the "change three things" rule exonerates copiers from the copyright laws. And, more apparently, as long as an artist doesn't make money from that art, it's okay. (The originator of the character or concept COULD sue you for damages, especially if your work is wildly popular.) You're not going to see someone paint a near-exact work of the Mona Lisa and expect someone to believe they originated the concept. Also, I do not count useful "Master's Copies" among blatant copyright infringement. They have their place in a student artist's skills development. Sharing techniques, skills and procedures is an age-old method of creating improved artistic techniques, skills and procedures. And deviantArt is very generous in this respect. So even THAT isn't the issue.

I think, at the core of what bothers me, is that some artists soak up praise for their work and don't readily admit that they used or abused the reference process. Why? Because they wouldn't get as much praise for it. I'm not good at keeping up pretenses. If I use reference for more than it's basic intention, I'll let you know. And if you've read this far and would like to answer my questions, I welcome your opinions...

Now, I know we're all "deviants" here, but at what point does use of reference lose it's respectful position in artistic society? Do you agree that money-making is the fine line between okay and not okay? Or is over-use of reference without commentary a breach of trust to viewers, who think some artists are awesome without basis?

Curious as to what all...2 or 3 of you will think! :)"

Cuddles,
Tamara

BJD Mash-Up, Plus Novel Progress!

My first Myth-Babies BJD now (sorta) has arms and legs, a torso joint (also sorta) and a more refined lower body. It's nice seeing her thrown together like this.

Myth-Babies BJD #1!

I assembled her to test her proportions. So far, her neck is too long and so are her legs. I made the legs and arms a little too long so I could embed the ball joints before I bake them, so they'll be cut down before I call them finished.

I plan on refining her face a lot more before that is baked again. I have a lot of lumpies to sand down and a lot of aesthetic tweaking to do all over, but I'll do all that after I get the mechanics of the ball joints and stringing worked out.

I used a mix of Original Sculpey and Sculpey III. I made an armature of aluminum foil covered in plastic wrap for her head and body, used a straw for her neck and limbs. I'm using :iconbatchix:'s ball joints from Shapeways, modifying them for both double joints and ball joints.

Next up, setting the double joints into the unbaked clay, baking them and making hands and feet.

Hope you like it! :)

Cuddles,

Tamara

P.S. I have realized the potential for this sculpt to be used as several different novel characters, not just  Centaria-inspired Myth-Babies. I would simply sculpt a new head and tweak some other parts. Also, I have since decided to redo the joints I had already made. I found an excellent tutorial on how to make them better. Off I go...

P.P.S. NOVEL STUFF! 

1. Some progress on Volume 2 of the Pathos series, Silver Empress. I made an ugly Frankenstein's monster that I shall call Volume 2 Rough Draft X Outline. I just went through the draft and inserted outline plot points, new notes and reminders into the text, inside brackets with all caps. This helps me to focus the flow of the book when I go on a tangent, and then rewrite for clarity. Of course, one of my rewrite notes is " [GAG ME WITH A PITCHFORK!]". Apparently, I didn't like the gushy, romantic section at all!

2. The Pathos of Rowan Jun eBook just went "premium" on Smashwords. So it's coming soon to Apple, Barnes & Noble (to join the paperback, there), Sony, Kobo and more!

Volume 2 Cover Progress

I think I've mentioned that my favorite part of self-publishing is total creative control. The Pathos of Rowan Jun was a real challenge. I had to draft, revise, edit, proofread, format, illustrate, make the cover, write blurbs, and everything else for the book, plus make adjustments for a total of three versions (Paperback, Kindle, Smashwords). And that's not even mentioning the marketing process, which I'm still fine-tuning.

I posted progression artwork for The Pathos of Rowan Jun here, so I figured it would be a good idea to do the same for Silver Empress. It's interesting to see how the concept grew from scribble to final concept. (I'll work this final concept into the finished cover. It's nowhere near ready yet!)

The Scribble:

Art informing writing content... Cluttered composition. Changed my mind at this time about releasing a short story collection. Instead, the two background characters will get their own short story book, and Silver and Briescha (foreground) headline volume 2. Smoother design possibilities, smoother story flow.

From the time when Silver Empress was going to be a short story collection.  Not anymore!

The Re-Scribble:

The decision to narrow the focus of the book to this MAJOR plot swivel made my cover characters obvious. Fiddled in Manga Studio with existing sketches and my trusty tablet to produce a new composition. Focused on the faces and worked out some loose angles and things. Very rough design...

Silver, left. Briescha, right. Foreground: Scribble hand  and sword! :)

The Final Drawing and Base Colors:

I realize that I forgot to save a JPEG of just the basic finished black and white drawing. Oh, well. Here's the finished drawing with some base colors, a texture on Briescha's skin, and no background. Silver is all base-gray and solid black at this point. She'll have mirrored skin, God-willing, when I get finished with her. (Still not happy with her mouth shape...) I've overlaid another texture on Briescha's skin to soften the shadows, but there's sooo much left to do...

Final V2 line art with base colors, some shading

As always, the images contained in this blog post are copyright Tamara Henson, Tamara Henson Studios and may not be used without my express written consent.  I welcome any feedback and constructive criticism you can provide on this design, either via comments below or direct messaging on FB or dA. 

Cuddles,

Tamara

Green Eyes and Freckles

Almost two months ago, my favorite author in all history died of a stroke. And I'd not heard a peep about it until today. What a horrible fan I am! 

"I have green eyes, silver hair and freckles--the rest changes without notice." 

--Anne McCaffrey

Anne McCaffrey is, in my mind and heart, the only person who will ever breathe life into Pern. (That could open a long conversation about the fact that Todd took over her writing and that surely more Pern novels will be forthcoming. But my vehement opinion remains the same. Anyone can write about Pern, officially or otherwise. But only one woman made Pern a living, breathing world.) 

With her, I soared with dragons long before Eragon's Paolini was a twinkle in his daddy's eye. I found Dragonsong before I ever read about Moorcock's Dragon Emperor Elric of Melnibone (perhaps, I hazard a guess, the original dragon rider), who predated the Pern series. These authors, these characters, were/are like family to the weird, lonely kid named Tamara. I laughed and cried along with them. And even when those characters moved on, or perished, or changed, they still lived. So this is what they mean by resonance. What an amazing contribution Ms. McCaffrey has made!

(Read her eldest son's touching eulogy here: http://www.pernhome.com/aim/)

My favorite reader will tell you that my stories are "no Dragonriders of Pern." And she's right. I'd never aim for the Throne. I can only strive upward, doing my best with the inspiration of decades of reading from the best. Anne McCaffrey's legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of her loving readers. And I hope it is tribute enough that this scatterbrained reader was creating stories in her own worlds, even as Ms. McCaffrey went ahead to the next. 

I hope Heaven has Story Time, because boy, are they in for a treat!

Love,

Tamara

NOVEL: In-Progress Cover

In my "let it rest" period before doing a third draft of the novel, I've started the cover art. I still have a lot of work to do on Rowan's portrait before I'm finished, but this is a good in-progress shot! I thank my friends for all the feedback they graciously provided. I'm no digital draftsman, but it's not as bad as it could be. :)

For a sketch-to-current picture progression, and to follow more frequent Tamara Henson Studios updates, see my THS Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tamara-Henson-Studios/151917568249729

Cuddles,

Tamara

Phase Two Countdown: 30!

NOVEL: I had written 28,598 words on my novel as of my last post. Now, I've got 30,728 words. That's 2,130 words just today. Took me a while, but I'm finally at a stopping point for the day.

COMICS: Two pages completely penciled, minus lettering, which will be digital. Two more pages that are in the 6X9 detailed "thumbnail" stage, ready to be scanned, blown up, and transferred to industry standard 10X15 paper for full penciling and inking.


PROGRESS: Very therapeutic to just sit and draw, letting that right brain function to link pieces together. It's been so long since I've had the chance. And I'm doing a relatively new art style! I still have the swimmy art-head from focusing on it so long. It's hard to believe it's almost 1am!


MEMORIES: I wish I could find the little comic strips and full-pagers I made in grade school. I had some comic about a mermaid and her pet Lock Ness monster. Very cartoony and stylized. I drew it on notebook paper and quit because I couldn't draw them both accurately over and over.


And on all the subject separators in my notebooks, I used to draw little worlds with cutaway ceilings and walls, like a mermaid world with mazes of grottos that served as beauty parlors, jobs, stores, restaurants and homes. Then I'd draw the mini mermaids going about their daily business. Or I'd draw fairies living in a tree community, with flowers and leaves and holes in the wood as homes. They were more like maps than art, crossections of worlds. I coulda lived in those places.


That is how imagination works. It's transportative. And what's weird is that I haven't really changed a bit in that respect. I still create worlds in which I would want to live. Sometimes they're maps. Sometimes they're words. Sometimes they're drawings or notes scribbled on scraps of paper. It's wonderful and dynamic. When I was little, I just assumed that everyone created worlds. Am I right?