Another year is coming to a close. I can't believe it. Each year I am surprised at how quickly the time passes, but this year seems to have outdone itself at the pace it moved by. I tend to reflect a lot this time of year, thinking about all that has happened and how much I have learned. One thing that will always be a highlight for me in 2011 is the trip to the US and the new friends I made there. It seems to have lit a spark in me that is making me want to work all the more and refine my technique.
But at the top of my 2011 list is without a doubt all the friends I have made, all the amazing outpouring of love and support I received and continue to receive.....I will never be able to fully express what those close to me mean to me, but to all those that send me lovely emails and notes, follow my progress and enjoy the ride with me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Here's to a great 2012. May it come with great adventure and lots of love for all of us.

xxx

Ok, with two new sketchbooks off to printers next week, I am finally free to start work on my illustrated novel. Thanks to some conversations with an artist friend of mine Anna, she was able to give me some more insightful choices on how best to tackle this rather large story that could take the rest of my life to illustrate if done in comic book form. So, what I have decided is to do the first book as a prose, it will have single illustrations to tie in the feel of each page, like an illustrated novel, but it will be broken up like a comic book. So 26 pages of text and illustrations. Then, depending on how well it is received, I will decide how to follow it, whether keep the format the same, or switch to comic style. I am actually excited about this as it allows me to really do some lush paintings of this world I have created, something that would have been rather tough to do in comic strip form.
The layouts begin Monday.....nervous and excited!
Wish me luck!

I have started working on the second sketchbook "FREEZE! This is a Pin Up." It is so exciting to do another as it allows me to see my own progression and also has reinvigorated my love for all things pin up. This one will be limited to 100 and most likely will be put away until I start my con circuit in the US next year by which time the third sketchbook and first part of my long graphic novel will also be done. What a busy 6 months this is going to be, but also I anticipate it will be loads of fun.

Back from my quicky tour of the U.S. and in anticipation of the release of my creator-owned graphic novel, Tempest's Reign, I have opened up my commission list again.

Please note me here on DA, or drop me an e-mail at cvalentina.art@gmail.com for details.

Sincerely
Conny

For those of you in the US and Canada that were asking me about a sketchbook, can you contact jjstaples here on deviant art, he is my rep and will get one out to you at a much cheaper shipping cost than if you were having to get one from me.

Back from the US and my very first con, Heroes Con. What a blast! Thank to all the people that came by to say hello, to those that bought art and the sketchbook, and hope I get to do it all again next year!
It was a blast. Still can't wipe the smile off my face!

Thanks to the help from Jeremy Staples, I can officially say the sketchbook has been put to bed and is off to the printers. I can't wait to see it! What a stressful few weeks but J man kept me from having a mini stroke by doing all the hard work, so much love going your way my friend, than you SO much.
There will only be 75 copies, this is my way of testing the waters to see how well it is received. But I am really proud of it, and it is filled with some of my favourite recent images. It will debut and Heroes Con in June!
WOO HOO!!!

So I figured that if I announce it I will be forced to make sure I get it finished in time for Heroes con! This is so exciting for me! My first sketch book. It has been a LOOOOONG time coming, and while I have loads of work to choose from, I figured I should keep it themed for the occasion, so I am madly getting the cover done as I type this and still have 3 new images to work on before I can officially start laying it out and doing all the technical stuff. Thankfully I have my good friend Jeremy calming me down along the way and telling me it will be no big deal (which looks to be true thanks to his very generous help!) so with a little luck from above, should have it all done in time for first weekend of June.
It will be full colour, it will have some of my favourite pieces and it will have some little surprises.
The only question now is, how many to print?

As a few of my close friends already know, I have had to deal with some health issues over the years and as a consequence it has effected how I work in the studio. Oil paints were an absolute no no and now it looks like acrylics will be shelved for the rest of this year also.
Lungs are misbehaving so I am trying to be good and not aggravate them too much.
However, the one good thing about life is that when it forces us to change anything in our routine, it can open up opportunities for something new. So you will notice that my work as of late has been all about markers, inks and pencil on paper rather than paint on canvas. I am loving the different feel to the work, it is quicker and allows me to create a lot more, which also mean less boredom!
I am sketching a lot which is always fun, and should start updating my DA page more often!

Hard to believe another year has passed and we are already well into 2011. I must admit I am filled with optimism with this coming year. I haven't felt that way in a long time, but 2010 ended wonderfully and my energy and inspiration sparked with it.
I look forward to so many things this year. New art, new friends, and my first con. New romance would be nice too, but hey, I am not greedy
To 2011. May it be all that you hope it to be!

Today has been an odd sort of day. It is a day that most artists have I am sure, when the 'thoughtful' critiques of others, particularly those without the ability to scratch out a cat drawing, feel the need to enlighten us on all we are doing wrong. Now don't get me wrong, been there done that, if you are an artist, writer, musician, etc, you have to be prepared to take more hits in the face than not, but for the most part, I take it on the chin, especially from those who I admire and look up to.
But how many times can we take the put downs from those that have no idea what it means to be an artist before we scream enough? What ever happened to 'if you have nothing good to say, don't say anything at all?
I look after my elderly grandmother full time, there are days that it takes so much of my energy, I can't see straight. I live with my own perminant illness that takes the rest of what I have, and my only real love and escape is my art. So to have that muddied by those who simply don't like me seems cruel and unnecessary.
Is this where we are now? Unable to share what we love without those who don't like what we do feeling the need to embarrass us in public?
Sigh.

Just got back from a week in Sydney and it was just what the doctor ordered to get re inspired. I was able to view some amazing Victorian paintings that are touring in the NSW Art Gallery and it made me realize how much I have missed painting more traditional style work like I did years ago. For some reason I have been lost in the pin up world and then the comic pinups took over, but now I realize how much I miss my canvas.
Definitely a much tougher sell, visual arts, but it tends to feed the soul a great deal, so I may start that up again.
Here's hoping I can get a rhythm going, and perhaps bypass the need to do pin ups for a while.

I am in the mood to paint well known characters lately. Now that Lady Death and Red Sonja are under my belt, I am trying to work out who should be third off the pin up assembly line.....