slshimerdla

I wanted to let everyone know that I've not fallen off the edge of the Earth. Not that it has one.

I'm still here, but I've been spending the last year as a stay-at-home mom after adopting the most adorable baby in January of 2018, making an international move back to the U.S. from Italy (my hubby is military and we were stationed there), and now unpacking. I DO have plans to get back into my artwork, and soon.

But lookit!!

This adorable creature has been worth putting my career on hold for. Every second.

In the meantime, if I don't answer your notes or comments, that's why. And I'll be back soon!!!

As her shirt says, "love ya!"

Mwah!

Commissions: Personal Commissions Closed, Professional Commissions OPEN - More Info Here

 Hey there, everyone! There's several people here on dA that expressed interest, so I wanted to announce that my husband's latest novel, Democracy, Inc. is now out! It's already getting some really awesome reviews. 4.6 out of 5 stars and 31 reviews in the week that it's been out!

You can grab a copy of it on Amazon here.

If you like dystopian, cyberpunk, or sci-fi novels, this book is totally for you. It's written in a YA style, but there's also 70-year-olds that are reading and enjoying it, comparing it to a lot of the early sci-fi that they grew up with.

He's created some awesome, witty characters and the world-building is amazing. Totally something I can see happening in our future.

You may remember the concept art that I did for it a while ago:



I also made the cover and this promo for the "Top 10 Reasons to Read Democracy, Inc.":



Check out the synopsis and such on Amazon here!

On my end of things, the last installment of the Calendar Gals series is going to be coming out decently late this time. Which sucks, because it probably won't be in time for 2018 calendars. However, we've been trying to adopt for the last year (and trying to have kids ourselves for almost 10 years), and just learned that we've been chosen by some birthparents in Utah! So things have been pretty crazy here, to say the least. I imagine that my painting time will decrease a bit, with much of it spent on my RPG commissions, but I'll still make time for some personal stuff here and there. We are SO EXCITED!!!

Commissions: Personal Commissions Closed, Professional Commissions OPEN - More Info Here

Here's Miss October's time-lapse video! 



Things have been good here for me, but also a bit crazy. Hopefully I'll have time to get Miss November done soon and get the calendar up for next year!

I hope that all of you are doing well! Thank you so much for supporting me by +watching me here on dA or otherwise! If you like these videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, as well!



Commissions: Personal Commissions Closed, Professional Commissions OPEN - More Info Here

Hey everyone! Hope that you are all well. 

I've been pretty busy lately with commissions that I'm working on for a company called Knights Errant Games on a game called Heroes' Tears. I can't release them just yet, but they've been fun and challenging so far!

So that's one reason that my submissions have slowed a bit lately. But rest assured that I'll release them here when I can - probably all in a torrent.

I've got a new video tutorial up, and it's a pretty long one this time. Covering several topics, all of which were relevant in my 'Holy Diver' illustration -- which is what it follows along with in the painting process.

I'm thinking seriously about making these longer ones (and possibly even longer and even more in depth, it will depend on the subjects covered) and putting them up on Patreon or Gumroad. I would continue to make short, free versions for YouTube, but also make longer, more in depth ones for Gumroad or Patreon.

However, it seems like everyone and their mother have a Patreon account, and I don't want to do it and just have it sit there. So I'm looking for some feedback.

Would people be interested in longer tutorials like this for a few bucks, to help cover the amount of time it takes to make them?

It just seems like such a great time to put out tutorials, since I'm going through and doing all these studies to become a better artist myself. I'm taking the information being given artists much greater than I, as I learn it, and passing it on to you guys. Then we're effectively all going through these studies together.

But I also know there's a lot of tutorials out there and accomplished people making them. So I've no idea if there's a demand for me to do so. Maybe I'll start on Gumroad and see where that takes me.

Brainstorm with me, I'd love to hear what you all think!

Getting ready to go on a Greek cruise for my 15th wedding anniversary next week. Can't wait... it'll be my first cruise.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Commissions: Personal Commissions Closed, Professional Commissions OPEN - More Info Here

Pinch me! I have some very exciting news and I'm still not sure I'm not dreaming.

'Can't Reach My Soul' has been nominated for an award for the Steampunk category in Ballistic Publishing's EXPOSÉ 12!



Which means it will be in the EXPOSÉ 12 art book. Which means I am ecstatic and can't feel my toes.

I have been a huge fan of the EXPOSÉ series of books (as well as all of the books put out by Ballistic Publishing) for as long as I've been a digital artist. I used to look at them and drool, wishing I could be good enough to be in it one day.

I always told myself that I will have made it to the place I want to be with my artwork when I make it into one of these books.

So I'm absolutely thrilled! 

I don't expect to win the category (there are some amazing other artists nominated in that category, let me tell you!), but just to get to be in the book is a good enough start for me. Ironically, even though I said that I'd be "where I want to be" with my work when I finally made it into the books, I'm still at a place where I feel like I have so much to learn. I suspect that'll always be the case, as an artist. We are fickle little beasts, and shall always be constantly evolving and learning.

Anyway, if you want to get an early bird discounted copy of EXPOSÉ 12, you can do so here: cgstarter.com/project/expose12

You can see all the nominations under the "Awards" tab at that link, as well, including my own!

Secondly...

Some of you may have found me via my other DA account, where I've been sharing brush sets with the artistic community online for over 10 years. I've been taking a break from some of my studies to redesign the website where I host those, ObsidianDawn.com. It's been in need of a revamp and redesign for several years, and the cart system was starting to act up occasionally. So that's what I've been working on diligently the past 2 weeks or so. 

I plan to get back to my studies and start releasing artwork again as soon as I'm done with it, which should hopefully only take another week or so. *crosses fingers*

I hope that everyone is doing well!

Commissions: Personal Commissions Closed, Professional Commissions OPEN - More Info Here