A Ten Year Timeline

Well, that's...quite a change, isn't it?

I haven't just been drawing since 1998. I've been drawing since I was two years old (and someday I'll tell that little story, too), but I've only really held onto a few things that I could scan in. Starting, neatly enough, ten years ago. Well, it made for a catchy title!

1998-2001

When I was thirteen years old, me and my sketchbook were joined at the hip (No, really! I toted it about on my hip and always used one of those wire ring bound ones that got caught on my jumper every five minutes). Every day I bundled it up with my schoolbook and took it to class along with two pencil cases just so I could spend the first five minutes before the teacher arrived sketching or colouring my latest baby. (I also carried around an extra two notebooks for writing stories in. Biceps of steel for those high school years, let me tell you!) I wish I had more left over from that time. Unfortunately I was just as much a perfectionist back then and tended to rip out any pages that I no longer liked after a couple of years.

Incidently, the redhead second from the left is the first appearance of Phurie, who as you might guess, was the inspiration for my DA username. This was back when I thought that spelling a cool word slightly differently made it awesome, but the name has grown on me even though I'm out of that phase! Queen Amidala there is a scan-of-a-print of my first "serious" digital art attempt in MS Paint. My earlier efforts involved cartoon cavemen and spaceships all made out of the shape tool, and the less said about those the better really.

2002-2003

Last year of high school (hence most of what you see here is Advanced Higher Art coursework and varied media) and the first few months of university. I have Photoshop now, and we have not one but TWO attempts at painting Phurie again! Although at this point I was still sketching first, then scanning in and using PS to colour, or add shiny backgrounds to coloured pencil.

2004

Second year university. And oh god, look who discovered that Photoshop had FILTERS! I think I would have been much better off if my university lecturers hadn't had us work with those, to be perfectly honest. However, I get better towards the end, and I do have my first tablet somewhere around this time. I was rather slow to use it, though. Yes, I had a tablet in my possession and I kept using my familar mouse. Shush.

2005

A whole lot of fanart here. University is burning up most of my originality and yet nothing I did for coursework is really worth putting here. It was mostly 3D modelling and terribly animation and film attempts. However, I did manage my first ever tutorial AND had my first accusation of porn - both for the same painting! I'm so proud of you, Chi'ela! I finally complete several 100% Photoshop pieces (Queen Sarah being the first). Also, I've left the filters behind at the end of this year. Thank god!

2006

More fanart, but a few original bits as well. I'm working on a lot of things here - texture and fabirc, mainly, and trying out a few different styles. Super-tight realism to quick and loose. Compare my painting of Phurie and Xepheria here to the original version from 2002. Woah.

2007

Final year of university, almost ALL original work here for my final project, and six of the best paintings I've ever produced in such a short span of time. I got all of these done, excluding His Majesty, within two or three months. Sleep? What's that? There are lots of things I'd go back and change here if I had the inclination - you can tell which parts are rushed, and I need to work on pumping more atmosphere into my work.

2008

Well, if you're only going to do one painting a year, better make it a sexy, wet, naked man! For a long time I was burned out, and then certain folk pushed just the right buttons. Eil Ton really clicked for me right from start to finish, and I'm insanely proud of him. He had exactly the look and the feel I wanted him to have. Plus I also managed to have a detailed figure and keep the background fairly loose and simple.

Technically, he wasn't the only painting I worked on in 2008. But he's the only one I finished, so I shall leave him in pride of place and just give you a preview of a few of the others I started, and hope to have finished for next year. I plan to do a lot more original artwork, hopefully get more active in this awesome community and other like it.

Thank you SO much to everyone who has watched, commented, and helped me get to over 11,000 pageviews this year. I know I don't always have time to reply, but I appreciate each and every one of you. Happy New Year, everybody!