From My Thoughts to Your Thoughts

Just finished this speed paint for a lovely lady who goes by Elissinia. This was actually a companion piece to the one below.

Both were incredibly fun to work on. I had to really curb my time spent on either.. And I had actually worked on these about a month or two apart, so I found it a little bit difficult trying to make sure I kept the consistency. I typically have a difficult time doing companion pieces purposely already, but I think I pulled it off.

Christmas has just passed. and I almost forgot to post the Christmas cards I worked on! You can see them on my tumblr.

I actually didn't feel all that in the modd for Christmas this year, which was strange for me because I'm usually alll about getting into the holiday spirits regardless how big or small it is. But I just wasn't feeling it. I spent most of the morning lying in bed not wanting to get up and get out, or even see Tom's parents. I just thought about my own family a lot. How much I missed them and all and how things just weren't ever going to be the same again. I'm surprised at how difficult its been for me to accept change, especially since it's changes that I had made myself. I've had to take so much time thinking and what feels almost like recalibrating my brain to my life and surroundings around me. I think I got caught up in a lot of things I just didn't care about before. I don't go out for the long walks that I use to, I spend a lot of time indoors. BUt I just can't afford to go out anywhere. Not just because of money but time as well.

I sometimes feel that perhaps I am indeed worrying too much, and others I feel I just am not worrying enough or that I'm trying to avoid responsibility and adult hood. These last few weeks were awful. Everyday felt like a struggle just to get out of bed, despite my finally reaching some of my goals for this year. I've come a long way. I've learned so much in such a short span of time. For whatever reason, all my achievements have been glazed over and forgotten by new goals and some sort of journey to "do better faster". I'm not sure if it's being overwhelmed, or being lethargic, trying to keep up with the pace I've set out for myself. We've all seen the various videos and gifs of that one guy who puts the treadmill on too fast and stumbles right on his ass. Part of me doesn't know if I should get up and run away with whatever dignity I have left, or try and get back on. Perhaps eventually I'll be able to master the way of the treadmill, learn to dance a long side it and become friends with it, rather than think of it as a battle against it....

I hope these links work years later so that I may remember the moment I explained my emotions with a set of treadmill gifs.

Anyway. I've not got much time but I have been feeling much better today. I've been thinking about things differently. Learning to tame my cycle of life and emotions and so on. Trying to further understand myself in an attempt to reach a peace that I once had...I think that's what I'm trying to do anyway.

Life is strange like. I've also started doing a Vulcan meditation thing that came up in Star Trek Voyager. Tuvok mentions it in one episode, and it seemed ingenious. To my surprise, it's helped. I'll have to dig a bit deeper and understand why something so simple has helped so drastictally, but I think I'll be able to with a bit more time. 

Also, I've made a wallpaper for the two pictures

You can get them here :

Izar and Alter.

Suffice to say, Christmas was far better than I anticipated and I still have so very much to learn.

Mice

I have slowly been working on ANDRO✰ again (I might have said already) and tonight I felt like drawing a little thing of Luke. I really like him as a character, with his honesty and sincerity. The main reason I included him in ANDRO✰ as a character is because he is a derivative from the same story in which Andro's character derives from. I thought it would be funny to have both of them in a story completely out of context in which they originally belonged. At first I wasn't sure how it was going to work, as I don't normally have anthropomorphic characters. I wasn't sure how I was going to make him actually -physically- work with the other characters as they were more nimble and be easier to manipulate. I decided to take the challenge though, and now that I've added him, he seems almost like a necessity. 

I think his clear continence and and friendly (almost naive) approach makes a good contrast to Andro's brash and sometimes grating behaviour. Well, I hope so anyway.

I'm should have an update ready by January. There's been quite a lot of work for me to do lately, which I am grateful for. At the same time I feel stressed, not sure if I'm doing the work quick enough. I don't like keeping my commissioners waiting, and I feel slightly overwhelmed.. In a way that I'm trying to make sure I'm saying the right things all the time, and that I'm not being to hasty with people or slacking on my work.

Sometimes I feel like I'm really going in the right direction. I've made so much progress this year, but I know there's still a lot of work and hardships ahead. Perhaps one day I'll look back to this time and reminisce about how hard I was working for a time when I had it so easy....fingers crossed.

C418 - Mice on Venus

It's so late. I'm tired. I should be in bed...I also need to start re-reading these before I post. I think my writing has been pretty jumbled lately. Probably due to the lack of a clear mind.

Robo

Christmas is like...two weeks away. I got most of my Christmas shopping done, but still have a lot of work that needs doing before then. So really...I should be working now rather than writing this so I will keep it short.

A few weeks back (maybe a month or so?) I was talking about making Robo Adoptables. 

The idea of adoptables in itself is already pretty convoluted, and my original plan seem to make it even more confusing than before. Essentially adoptables were character designs that you could buy to use as you wanted for personal use (so not to make money off the design or anything). I thought it would be a fun idea because i really love sci-fi things, even if I don't draw them very often, and I wanted to introduce people into designing their own...in a way. I thought perhaps, if I were to create something like a robo -for- my clients , they would then go on to draw said character, either further design them, or come up with more on their own.

So when people buy a custom robo from me, they would get a variety of "parts" in which they could swap around if they likes. I wanted to do it as a sort of blue print, but when I started on one for myself, it just didn't translate very well and basically felt a bit empty. So the very top one is a test run on how I would like to present the works to my client. Thanks to Norree who has kindly been my guinea pig, and will be helping me with how things will go.

I've got two other outfits to design for that particular one, and then I will be opening up officially for these kinds of commissions. I'd like for this to really grow into something more, but there is a lot of planning that needs to be done before hand. Baby steps....

Alright I have a million bazillion things to do so I better go like, NOW.

Christmas Is Coming

So I managed to get a preview done of how I will do the Christmas commissions. I'm hoping they go down well but I will admit I'm a bit worried. I always am when I open for commissions. I always get the feeling that they won't go down so well or that people will tire of me. But this is my only source of income now so I really need to push....or perhaps I need to learn how to pull. 

Here's a copy/paste of the info on how the commissions work : 

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I have decided to do Christmas themed commissions this year as well , using the 12 Days of Christmas!

How it Works:

You give me the character you would like drawn, and I will put them in one of the scenarios of the 12 days (eg as a maid o’ milkin, or you know, drummer boy).

As you can see here, Andro is appreciating a lovely partridge given to him whilst standing next to a pear tree.

There are only 11 slots available.

Each commission comes with a printable 5.5 square inch PSD file, so that you may make cards and send them on their merry way.

They should all be finished before Christmas.

Wouldn’t it be lovely to send your best buddy a card with -their- favourite character on it? You bet your ass it would.

How to contact Me:

You can either on tumblr, note me on dA , or email me at c.bedfordart@gmail.com. I reply to every message, so if for whatever reason I do not respond in 24 hours, please use one of the other methods to contact me.

Oh man, I just need to say, Happy Thanksgiving to all you out there across the great pond. And get ready for Christmas.

Have some glamorous Christmas shopping music : 

Soil&’PIMP’ Sessions - My Foolish Heart

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I sometimes think perhaps I try to put too many ribbons and bows aroung my presentation but I really enjoy dressing things up. I think maybe I could get better, and be less over the top, but that's something that comes with practice.

Anyway I hope someone buys one! Time for some sleep.....

Pressure

Another speed paint commission from a dear good friend I call Panda. This is her character Salcate, and he's a type of god thing that is fire and destruction personified.  He's normally supposed to have tattoo's (which you can see a version of this with them on my tumblr), but I have this thing about skin. I just like painting it bare I guess.  I think I just prefer things very simple these days.

Working on my preview for my Christmas themed commissions. Doing the 12 days of Christmas (not sure if I mentioned already). I'm not sure if I'll get all 12 slots filled up, but hopefully someone will want them right? Only one way to find out! I'll post about them up here as well I suppose when I get everything all sorted out.

I've been trying to focus on getting tasks completed, but it's always easier said than done. I guess it's because I'm still having this mentality of "I'm almost at the end! I'll be finished soon!", and in reality I need to have a steady stream of work coming in. So I shouldn't be seeing an end to it, or a "I'll be finished soon!".

I think it's the timing. I need to have better estimates and accuracy with when my work will be done. I need to actually focus on my tasks at hand, and not taking twice as long because I keep distracting myself with other things.

On that note, I'll go do those other things that need doing.

OH!! and I should also add that you can buy prints of this at my storenvery :

cbedford.storenvy.com!

Rising

As I said before I'm going to try and post more often. Not that I want to post everyday or anything. But I figured if I post today, I hopefully won't leave it for another 5 bajillion years. I love the word bajillion by the way. Though Chrome is trying to correct it to "bazillion" but I prefer bajillion.

I started this painting a few weeks back, but I thought I'd just touch it up and finish it otherwise It'll never be done and just sit on my hard drive forever and eventually be too ugly for me to release it into the light of day.

I played Metal Gear Rising : Revengence not too long ago. It was amazing. I played through the entire story once over in 12 hours, no breaks, save for dinner. I will admit that what kept me hooked was the constant screen time Raiden's precious booty had, but at the same time it was just generally fun to play. I really enjoyed the character designs (particularly Raiden's heels). The story it self was fairly engaging, and though I haven't played the other Metal Gears yet, I didn't at all feel lost , so it's incredibly friendly in it's approach to new people within the franchise. I think this is probably due to the fact that this is Raiden's own separate story which has little connection -I believe- with the rest of Metal Gear. It wasn't shy of small bits of humour, and some of the dialogue injected some real world events which I suppose surprised me, but I hear this has always been the case for the MG series.

I don't get hooked on many games, but this is certainly one of the ones that I have. This may because of it's striking similarities to Bayonetta (Platinum Studio helped with the end polishing of the game and mechanics) in both style and game play. A bit flash and over the top, while somehow getting booties on the screen.

My personal favourite aspect to the game is that Raiden is simultaneously the protagonist while being cast in a fairly sexual light. In fact, he's one of the very -very- few male characters in the gaming world that have an overt sexual appeal, and was created especially for that apparently because of some fan mail the creator Kojima received from a young lady, saying they didn't want to play as an old man. Thank you, Kojima....

...Hm. Other than that...not much else. I need to bake my pumpkin pie. And I keep saying this but never do it.

Back to work though, have lots of commissions and shit to catch up on.

And Ye Heart Wanders

Okay so it's been quite a long time since I've last uploaded here, but I've really been trying to bust my ass with my art...career...thing. I'm not sure if I can call it a career just yet, as I'm still a baby in the nest.

I mostly post on my Tumblr these days, but I don't really write about life or anything up there, so it's just really another way for me to share art and sketches and things. Part of me feels like having a blog, website and tumblr,da,ca,whateverother art things is a bit redundant, but then I also remember some people prefer keeping tabs in different ways.

This cheese I'm having for lunch seems rather strong....

Things are generally going good though! I am getting a much more regular stream of commissions and seem to be slimming down my turn around time (key word slim). Over all I feel I've learned a great deal within this year and if I keep doing the things responsible adults do, I should be doing even better the next.

I still need to spend more time trying to push my art out in front of faces in the real world, but something about having to explain myself and my work still seems difficult. For whatever reason I feel people won't take me very seriously, particularly because of the content of my work. Or maybe because I'm not taking myself more seriously? I can't be sure. Need to reflect on that more.

There's not much else I can say. If I tried catching up on what happened between my last post and now I think I'd be here for hours. Probably better to read my tumblr for what's happened since then.

I always try to remind myself that keeping a personal blog is semi important as I'm allowed to talk to myself without having to put it out in front of people who are otherwise uninterested...

Oh and I have started baking more often. Trying to. I want to start cooking things properly, I think there's something to be had in the preparation of one's food. It's such an essential part of our lives, and I think more time should be made to appreciate what we put into our bodies....

I'll return again with more work, and try to update more regularly. The top image was a speed paint I've done with a more recent friend I've met online.

Anywho. I'm off , and I'll -try- to be back.

And a track, as always :

Mid-Air! - Midnight Sun

Storenvy

Okay so I haven't been keeping up with my blog as I had hoped I could, but I've been fairly busy. I had opened up for commission (which is closed for now but I'll be opening back up relatively soon), and managed to get a few orders. I still think I'm underselling myself just a bit but, with time I think I'll get the price right.

I've finished a few other pictures, which I'll probably upload individually now that I've remembered my blog exists. I've really been trying to cramp ever minute of the day with painting. I've also kept my promise of giving D worthwhile walks. While I was still working in town I'd often wake up late, and really only able to give D a ten minute walk (if that much) in the morning and a 15 minute one in the evening with tom. Didn't really seem fair to her....ANYWAY

I wanted to mention that I've now opened up a store front at shopenvy.com

You can check it out here : www.cbedford.storenvy.com

I decided to switch over from etsy for a few reasons, and I think it's just more functional. I also like having a bit more control over it's appearance. Now I already have a Society6 account, however using shop envy allows the profits come to me (rather than getting like $2 per sale). I like that I can have all the items on S6, so I think I'll leave that one up as well....

Other than that it literally has been painting like, everyday. I've been trying to keep up with Andro on the weekends, while working on commissions durring the week but even that doesn't seem to follow through sometimes (people asking to see me and Tom over the weekend and what not). I've literally got like, 3 pages left to ink before I can unleash the 21 page update, but time! Even this weekend , just after I have my lunch in a few minutes I'm going to have to go do some cleaning, then go to toms parents house this evening, see his granny tomorrow, then see his parents again Monday evening (it's his mother's and granny's birthday).

However I will post this current commission I'm working on. Preview of it anyway.

A full digital commission from someone who goes by Cuteleesie (who is an absolute sweetheart). I have a bit more done since this last preview but couldn't be bothered to update the livestream preview thing that often. I have been livestreaming a lot (nearly ever day of the week) but I think I should probably cut down. Even though it stops me from reading gaf for like, 2 hours, I end up spending 2 hours chatting with people. Which I love to do, don't get me wrong, but there comes a time and a place.

OH and I have a collab I will be doing with another awesome artist named Sethard. Absolutely amazing and I can't wait. Not one bit. We're doing a sort of SNK Joe, vrs Capcom Guy picture that's a sort of homeage to Leyendecker's Saturday Evening Post paintings....does that make sense?. Check him out because he's just brilliant.

Alright I need to run away. Lunch is ready and all that. And..yeah I'll post those other pictures as soon as I can!

Dusting off the Book Shelf

Okay so I have finished this picture ages and ages ago ( around October last year. Feels like decades almost) and thought I better post it up here. I spent about 4 weeks on that one at the time and I think it's worked out alright! I'm not having so many mixed feelings about it as I typically do with older works, but it really sealed the deal that patience and actual hard work on a piece does really pay off in the end. I'm currently working on another right now, and has been sort of 4 weeks running already. I'm not so sure about this one, if it will have the same kind of completed feel as this one as it's a much softer and more subtle picture. Part of me feels like I've upped my game but another part of me looks at the new work and just... Feel like it's maybe a bit too plain. Part of me wonders though if that's just because I want some "wow" factor in it or not. I always have that feeling of "less is more" and I'm just not so sure that always translates so well with an audience. Especially being that my last picture was all wam-blam with colours popping out of its ears. Anyway! This piece posted here is now available at my society6 shop now!



So check it out!

In other news, now that I have more time for myself once again I'm going to have another go at reading these lovely things :



I keep looking at them and I know I should read them. I've started off with the Divine Comedy, which I already wrote about previously as I started reading it when I received it for my birthday.

Not too much else going on. I bought a screen calibrator this way I can know how my prints are going to come out. The whole thing is pretty convoluted and complicated, but I think I've managed to understand it now. I've got a few other things on the matter I want to read and get familiar with yet. I will actually be writing a little tid bit about what I know and explaining it pretty cut and dry for some others who were asking about it all. Anyway, I'm going to run off. I have a headache the size of...something.

Not sure if I mentioned about Flying Lotus before, but here's a lovely track :

Flying Lotus - Phantasm (ft. Laura Darlington)

Have a lovely one.

Society6 Shop now Open!

SO. I am still alive (somehow) and as I said before I felt the need to revive my blog. And now I have plenty of time to do just that as I've recently quit my job. To cut a long story short, my boss tried to guilt trip me into staying, but I knew what I needed to do. Which was not stay there and try to at least go and full on focus on my art while I still have the chance.

After a week of being out of there I've finished my last commission (that I've taken sometime in the summer of last year) and managed to open my Society6 account. So I've got plenty of goodies up there for grabs so have a look! :

www.society6.com/CBedford

I only just opened it yesterday and have since just added the two products. Though mind you a lot of editing went on to get the other products in order. I wish they had guides for the products because the only way you can tell how it's come out is after you've uploaded the image and squint at the little sample image. Anyway, the things I made!

So I'm fairly happy with the out come. And it was particularly easy with this print as the image is nicely contained.

It's actually a commission for a lovely little lady called Natasza who was so very patient the entire time while waiting for me to finish.

I'd love to actually write more but my head is starting to feel all headachey. I have to go down to Boscanova cafe on tuesday. I had to kind of convince the dude to look at my work as they stopped hanging up local art he said. But he was really cool about it all so. Yeah! Hopefully that goes down well!

Oh and if anyone happens to already have an account with society6 then please, by all means hit the promote button for me please! I'd be so happy if you did. In the mean time, I'm going to go crash. I havn't had a day of sitting around doing nothing since I quit work so. I think I'll go do that now.

OH and Mid-Air! has did this little gem.

Mid-Air! - Sleigh Bells - Run the Heart (the beat in our feet remix)

Halcyon

Laura Mvula - She

I felt like drawing something for myself kind of...and I think this came out alright. Normally I'm really horrible with the amount of time it takes me to do anything, but this one seemed to come out quite easily.

He's a character for my ANDRO✰ comic. It's quite a while before they have any relevance actually, but I'm so far ahead in my mind with the story that I can't help but put some of it to paper.

I'll be taking ANDRO✰ off hold and start updating soon again. I just want to finish up chapter 2 before I start posting again (so it'll be like a 10+ page update). Then after that there will be a bit of side story ( I guess I can call it that?).

It's been a looong while since I've updated my blog, I know, but I don't want to abandon it. I think this is the only place where I can kind of...freely write down my thoughts on everything and every piece I work on without over crowding the picture itself. I feel like keeping this updated...well it kind of keeps me grounded a bit maybe...

It's strange because it seems like so much has happened, even though my last update was what? Oh god , like 4 months ago. That is quite a while I suppose...Anyway. I...well I do have so much I want to say, but I'm not sure how much I -should- say. Life has been tricky, and I feel that the more my life progresses in the right direction, that the life of those around me seems to kind of..take a swerve into some crazy one. Particularly my younger sister...I feel like I've failed her. Big time.

Like...I feel if I didn't leave, everything would be so different...And that she wouldn't be stuck how she is... I guess the picture is kind of a representation of ..well just someone who can make things better. That can fix everything...I was definitely thinking about my sister non stop while drawing this. I was a sobbing mess really... Had to kind of tilt my head back so I didn't like, get the paper wet haha. It was even more difficult when Tom came home and like..I hate crying in front of him.

But yeah...I just want things to work and for everyone to be happy and just make the -right- choices that would be better for them. I wish she would listen to me when I talked to her, but it's her life at the end of the day, right?

I have a load of other pictures to upload, and things but , I'll do that soon. I won't wait 4 months that is certain.

...Yeah. Time to make some tuna potato...In the mean time you can listen to this :

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Black Boy