Praise

HALSEY - Musician and artist Halsey reposted a piece of art I created for her on Instagram. The piece was a cartoon version of herself created with copic markers and watercolor paints.

Anime Paintings | Art Round Up #3

Today's art round up features some work I did over the past year. If you follow me on any social media you've probably already seen some of these in some form or fashion, however I recently had access to a copy machine and was able to scan them so they're much easier to see now! Woohoo!

The first three paintings are of some of my favorite anime/manga characters. We have Kaneki Ken from Tokyo Ghoul, Hisoka from Hunter x Hunter, and Ban from The Seven Deadly Sins. I don't typically paint often, I usually use copic markers and watercolors, but I figured that I should try something new every now and then just to shake things up. I'm pretty happy with the results... aside from a couple of issues I have with Hisoka (the 2nd painting), who was by far the most difficult to paint.

The fourth art piece is actually a collaboration I did with my friend, Seth Broussard, who came up with the initial concept for this fire bird creature. He did the original sketches (not included here, sorry Seth!), picked the colors, and gave me an overall feeling for the piece. I took everything he told me and turned it into the work above. It was actually my very first time ever drawing a fantasy creature and one of the few times I've ever drawn a bird! He was happy with the way it turned out and that's the best result I could have ever hoped for. :)

Which one is your favorite? Do you have any suggestions for future art pieces?

xx Anna

Baby's First Tattoo

First noteworthy thing I did in 2016 was something I've been wanting to do for a long time: I got a tattoo! Read more after the photo if you're interested in my thoughts about it or maybe check out my post on getting my nose pierced if that's more your style.

CHOOSING A TATTOO - The first thing you're going to want to do is figure out what kind of tattoo you want. Do you want something big? Something small? Something black or something colorful? Do you want something delicate or something tribal? One of the best things you can do for your tattoo artist is have a pretty good idea of what you want going in, especially if you're trying to get a walk-in tattoo. Otherwise, schedule a consult so that you can sit down and have a solid discussion with the artist about what you want your tattoo to look like. Bring reference photos but consider allowing the artist to create their own version of your tattoo if they want. They are an artist after all!

FINDING A TATTOO ARTIST/SHOP - I got my tattoo at Man O War Tattoo in Fairhope, Alabama by a super rad dude named Frank. Most tattoo parlors have a website that you can look at that lists all their basic info. Estimated pricing (you won't know the actual cost of your tattoo unless you speak to the artist and have a consult), whether or not they prefer appointments, if they require deposits and how much they will cost, etc. Tattoo shops with websites will typically list the artists they have employed and usually have photos of each artist's previous work, sort of like a portfolio, available to view as well. I also looked up reviews online of each shop I was interested in and I asked people I know who already have tattoos what shops they preferred (that's how I found Man O War, thanks Zachy Poo).

PAIN - A lot of people want to know if getting a tattoo hurt. The answer is yes. Tattoo ink is inserted into your skin via a tattoo machine which typically has a cluster of needles attached to the end of it. That said, I found that for most of my tattoo it was more just discomfort than actual pain. However, there is a section of my tattoo that sits right above my elbow, close to the bone, and that hurt. A lot. Typically, tattoos above bone are more painful than other places. The rest of the tattoo sort of felt like someone scratching your skin for a long period of time and certainly wasn't unbearable.

AFTERCARE - Always, always, always follow the aftercare instructions provided to you by the tattoo shop. It is so important to take care of your tattoo. It's essentially an open wound and takes time to heal. The aftercare is no harder than applying ointment (and then after a certain amount of time, lotion) to your tattoo every 4 to 6 hours and not picking at it. If you ignore these instructions you are risking damage to your new, expensive, painful tattoo and you are also opening yourself up to infection. Just follow the instructions. Please.

FINAL THOUGHTS - I love my tattoo. I don't regret it now and I don't see myself regretting it in the future. If you want a tattoo and you're committed to having a tattoo, the pain and the cash are worth it. I'm happy with how it turned out and I'm happy with the service I received from Frank and Man O War.

xx Anna

Dried Paint

He has sunset eyes and always drives with the windows down.

He doesn’t take no for an answer but he doesn’t ask for much. He flexes his toes when he plays video games, rocks back and forth and tenses every time he strikes. He laughs short; a little bubble of humor, but it is a beautiful sound ringing in my ears long after he’s gone. He is quiet but when he speaks his words are thoughtful, thoughtless, and his bass buzzes in my chest: thump thump thump. He touches the deepest part of my soul, barely reaching, he knows me inside and out and he says that he loves me.

He has sunset eyes and always drives with the windows down.

Merry Christmas, Darling

Hey!

I just wanted to drop by and say that I hope you're having a very merry Christmas wherever you are. I know that this time of year can be stressful with all the different things we have to do and prepare for but I've been feeling overwhelmingly thankful for everything in my life. Like, even though sometimes it sucks and nothing seems to be going right... I have food to eat and clothes to wear and a roof over my head, a warm (or cool when it's 80 degrees outside like it is right now) place to sleep at night. I have people who care about me, even one or two that love me, and two doggies that make me laugh on a daily basis. They're little things that we take for granted.

Remember that you're blessed this Christmas and remind someone you love that you're thinking about them today.

And if you can't be with someone you love, if they're far away or you're out of touch, say a little prayer for them and that should be enough. <3

xx Anna

Bling Bling Nose Ring

Some of you may have noticed that earlier this year in September I got my nose pierced. I had been considering the piercing for quite some time, going back and forth between whether or not it would look good on me (and whether or not it would get me kicked out of my parents' house). Ultimately I decided that I didn't care and that since I wanted it, I was going to get it. It was spur of the moment decision to finally get it done so I hopped in my car 30 minutes before I was set to leave for North Carolina for the 5 Seconds of Summer concert and got it pierced all by myself.



PICKING A PIERCER - The first thing you're going to want to do when you decide you want any kind of piercing is find a place to get it pierced. Most tattoo parlors employ piercers so that's where I started looking. You will want to do plenty of research on the parlors in your area and find one that has good health ratings, keeps things sanitary, etc. I found that reading reviews was the number one easiest way to decide whether the parlor was the one for me. I decided to go to The Bellrose Tattoo in Daphne, AL. I was not necessarily anxious about getting my nose pierced but I will say that if I had been, the staff and the piercer himself would have put me at ease immediately. They were all very chill, friendly, and the prices were fair.

JEWELRY - I decided to get a mid size stud with a white crystal in it. Pretty basic but that's what I thought would be the easiest to deal with as a first piercing. I believe I was pierced with an 18g needle but I wear mostly 20g now which is smaller. I just prefer it that way. I read online that it is easier to get pierced with a stud at first and then transition to a hoop later on if that's what you want. A hoop will move more and therefore irritate the piercing, putting you at higher risk to develop infections and keloids.

PAIN - Now I had watched tons of videos on piercings and tattoos before firmly deciding that I would be ok with the pain. It was like a hard pinch, definitely unpleasant, and it hurt. But it only hurt for about half of a second before it felt like nothing. It was sore the next day but only when it was being cleaned and messed with.

AFTER CARE - I was instructed to use Dial soap on the end of q-tip to clean the piercing twice a day. However, after watching many different videos online and looking at some forums I decided that I'd rather use sterile saline solution. I had no problems doing this. Be careful not to over clean the area because that can cause keloids! Once in the morning and once in the evening should be enough. Around 2 months after my appointment, I developed a slight infection. Nothing too scary, just some tenderness around the piercing area and a little bit of discharge. I used Tea Tree oil once a day to fix this and it worked really well. The infection went away after a couple of days.

FINAL THOUGHTS - All in all, I'm so glad I got my piercing. I think it's fun and it's what I wanted and that's all that matters. Sure, you will find plenty of people who disapprove of body jewelry (but are totally ok with earrings?) and will have plenty of negative things to say about it. The pain is very little and the after care is simple. If you hate the way it looks on you, you can always take the piercing out!

EVERYONE IS A WINNER.

xx Anna

Lineart | Art Round Up #2

Hey! Long time, no see! Here are a couple of artworks I've made since my last art round up. Most of these were made for my attempt at Inktober, a social media based drawing challenge that encourages you to make one ink drawing a day in order to hone your inking skills. While I failed spectacularly at completing Inktober, a couple of drawings that I'm really fond of came out of my "valiant" efforts to succeed.

Featured above are all original character designs. I didn't use a reference for anything so you'll have to excuse some of the awkward body proportions and nonsensical weaponry. I am particularly fond of the sassy #15 guy up there. I drew it while I was annoyed and I was able to convey that pretty well in his expression. That's what's so cool about art. :)

Which one is your favorite?

xx Anna