Meg's First Cake! Works in Progress :D

Today, I made my very first cake! How exciting :D

I made it to the basic recipe of a Victoria sponge, but for the decoration I made it up myself so I'm so so happy with how it came out! Tomorrow is when it will be tasted properly (We've had the offcuts and it was very nice but havent tried the proper finished cake yet!) so I can only hope it tastes as nice as it looks :D

There are obviously some rough patches - this is a first attempt so far from perfect! but gosh, so fun! Very tiring though, it took me an hour to prep and cook this, and TWO WHOLE HOURS to decorate it! So tired right now haha!.

Enjoy!

You can see the final thing here: http://imaeko.blogspot.com/2010/09/megs-first-cake-finished-thing.html

Cake is in the oven! :D

Cakes out of the oven! Looking VERY delicious and edible (and I can vouch for it smelling divine too!), but a little on the uneven side!

So I evened it out with the bread knife... :-)

I prepper some buttercream (1 part margerine to 2 parts icing sugar) which tasted very nice when I tried it! ;-)

I sliced the cake in two to prepare it for filling.

Here's the filling! Lightly heated some jam to make it spread better, and put one filling on each layer.

Here's how I prepared the lilies. Cut a heart shape for the petal (its the top of the heart that you "seal" up), and a small ball for the centre. I coloured the ball with yellow food colouring (brushed on and smushed in by my own fair hand. It got a bit sticky so I had to add extra dustings of icing sugar :D )

The finished decorations! I added food colouring to the bow in the same way as the lilies. The lilies look very pretty but I know I can do a much neater job!

Time to sandwich together the two halves of the cake!

Here I rolled out ready to roll fondant icing and laid it over the cake, smoothing it fown the sides and triming the excess (this is where I require most practice out of everything methinks! Its hard!!)

And, apart from adding the decorations on top (final pictures posted seperately here: http://imaeko.blogspot.com/2010/09/megs-first-cake-finished-thing.html) thats it!

Letter Doodles

21 August 2010

So when I write letters I usually doodle allll over them! Nothing fancy but its about as close to sketching as I get so, thought I would share! Enjoy!

21 August 2010

21 August 2010

13 May 2010

13 May 2010

Intimate

I dunno - is this good enough to upload to my DeviantART??

This was a beautiful thing I saw whilst on holiday in Filey in July 2010! I literally turned around and looked down and on a tiny sprig of a bush, there were these two.. I bent close got out my macro mode and snapped furiously away! This was the best of the bunch. I dont know specifically what these are - they were each about an inch and a half long stretched out I would estimate? Any ideas?

Portrait Commission WIP 5

Gosh this is turning out deliciously ^_^ I love drawing such beautiful people haha! Enjoy WIP no. 5!

Field of Lilies Redo WIP 8

I haven't had a chance to work on this since July but here is a WIP I never got around to sharing. Please enjoy :)

I miss this painting, I hope I can resume it soon...!

Portrait Commission WIP 4

Work in progress of a portrait commission. Its really starting to come together here :) I have done more of the hair and also added all the depth into the face. It really "pops" now :)

Portrait Commission WIP 3

Just a quick WIP update of a piece I have been continuing to work on this week. Enjoy!

Sunrise on August 11th

I didnt sleep much last week and caught a beautiful sunrise on the morning of August 11th. This is 4:54 am and the sun is just beginning to peep over the horizon. The sky was so beautiful and clear it was lovely to see. Just thought I would share this as its not very professional or anything, but still very pretty :-)

Little Piece of Heaven

Something I drew for my mum - a really big bookmark. Drawin in copic markers and lined with a brush tip copic multiliner. It took a few hours. I really hope she likes it~

I sought but did not find..

See the little person with their lantern? That is me. I am looking for something very precious to me and I cannot find it. I wish that by wishing I could wish it here. Night hinders me. In the vast darkness I am blind. Where under the great big sky are you? :(

Tribal Tattoo Concept 4 / Final

So you havent seen anything of this since April, because I haven't done anything on this since April! Let me explain :)

This is a tribal inspired tattoo design for my bf's birthday - the reason I've suddenly gotten off my ass and reproduced the entire thing in pretty much 24 hours (I'm actually pretty impressed with myself to be honest) is because my boyfriend has decided that he wants this for his birthday which is next month - i.e. my present to him will be to draw it and to get it put on him. So.. here's pretty much the final concept. He's really happy with it which makes me feel pretty chuffed! :D I of course had to consult with him a lot on this as he's pretty picky. But from start to finish this particular concept was described as no less than "amazing", or "perfect". Sweet. :D

Perhaps there will be tweaks, especially since I'm not quite sure if it will map perfectly around the body like I've shown (I am estimating afterall as he wouldnt let me draw it physically ON him unfortunately!). But for now, welcome to the final concept. This is the biggest tattoo design I've ever done. I'm really proud of it!

Portrait Commission WIP 1 & WIP 2

Sorry for the lack of updates in the past few weeks! Life has kind of swept me off my feet and I havent really had time to draw! I do have a further WIP to upload for the Field of Lilies piece but until I get around to that, please enjoy some early works in progress of a portrait commission I'm working on :)

Below, is also the reference photo I'm using for comparison. I still have a long way to go but the foundations I have so far are going well I feel :-)

On a further note, its so HARD to try and get a decent photograph.. either the lighting in England, or my camera, is terrible lol. I had to edit the heck out of these to try and get the contrast right and its still nowhere near... technology fail!

Field of Lilies Redo WIP 7

Worked more on the legs and left arm, made the skin redder in saturation and also have started refining the face. I'm not using any soft of reference for the face here, just painting as I feel like it. So hopefully it will turn out looking ok! :)

Field of Lilies Redo WIP6

WIP6 - its good to get back to this! It's been a week since I've been able to paint as I've been on holiday. Oh Photoshop, oh Wacom, I have MISSED you so :D Worked on the left arm and hand in this advancement :)

Field of Lilies Redo WIP5

Todays lunchtime contributions are to the hand/arm, stomach and neck area :)

Field of Lilies Redo WIP4

An hour or so more painting on this. Very very quick rough brush stroke shading across the skin which I will obviously refine. I usually start with the face but for some reason I've started with the hand here. Although I have done significant work on some of the fingers as you can see, I think I will go back to them at some stage to add more shadows. Theyre still a bit flat looking. Do you like the veins though? I'm so PROUD of them :D

Field of Lilies Redo - WIP2 & WIP3

2 more WIPs.... :) I finished both of these stages at work this lunchtime. Its so handy being able to take my drawing things to work... :D

Field of Lilies Redo - WIP1

Right after my grandma died on 24th December 2008 I started drawing something in memory of her. I never finished it.. it was a traditional work of a girl lying in a field of lilies. It was a really nice concept.. and I decided to try and redo it, this time hopefully all the way to fruition. The concept has slightly changed but is basically the same. I just hope I can pull it off. The tricky part will definitely be the background :S Wish me luck. This is most of the sketch of the girl, its taken an hour or two so far already, I'm really trying hard on this one. I need to do a serious painting again!

Lunchtime Doodle 1

Installed my tablet etc on my work PC so I can doodle on my lunch. This is the result of 30 mins painting and by god its crap! I REALLY. need to learn how to draw men rofl. I just thought I'd see what I could do.. turns out.. not much! *laughs*

Hmm. Gonna have to find some good man-stock to reference! :)

Animal Photos

Taken at Chester Zoo, April 2010. I'm surprised my 5MP camera managed so well actually, got loads of... pictures however this was one of very few decent ones. The butterfly house was AMAZING, I could have stayed in there quite happily all day if it wasnt so humid! I'm not normally a fan of lizards, but these two are BEAUTIFUL. Wow ♥ I adore the colours in this.. :D

Concept Sketch Developed

Does what it says on the tin! Sketched this quickly and painted it for about... hmm.. under an hour but I cant pinpoint further than that. It was pretty fun to do but I realise its a bit naff :P I very much enjoyed the face and dont mind how that turned out but I'm not too bothered about the rest. This iwas more of a relaxing paint-what-I-like-to-paint (i.e. pretty women) rather than anything serious :) I'm really loving sketching and doodling so much lately, its awesome, and I definitely need to keep it up! :D

Clothing Concept - Wedding Dress

So I went to the most amazing wedding yesterday. I honestly believe that I will never ever be at such a stunning wedding ever again - not even my own. It was held in a cathedral, which in itself was breathtaking (need I say more, I'm sure you have all been to a cathedral and they are undeniably impressive in architecture and design - oh how I wish they built buildings like that these days...), but the brides dress... wow. I can honestly barely remember it, I saw it for such a short time but it was the most beautiful creation I have ever seen, I just had to try and draw it. I'm sure this isnt very accurate though.. I hope I can get ahold of some photos to be jawdropped at lol. Never seen such a lovely looking bride :)

The bottom of the dress was, I think, netting. All over it were shiny little things (I think they were gem type things), and right at the front there was a large focal piece made of many combined.

Stunning. If only I could have done it justice with my comparative scribble but, eh, it was fun to draw all the same!

I hope to make more outfit designs using the base I created for this - its an area I've always wanted to explore yet.. never done! Enjoy :D

Concept Sketch

Another concept sketch / black and white doodle. I don't know why she's all veiled and hiding behind curtains but it just popped into my head so I scribbled it down :) Took about 20 mins in Photoshop.

Concept Sketch

20 minute concept sketch. Saw a delicious fabric tutorial in IFX this month and just had had had to try it out SOMEHOW. I thought I would quickly sketch up a small thumbnail to catch some sort of concept including the pretty fabric but who knows if this will ever get painted. Hopefully so - it would be a good learning process to paint from a thumbnail for a change. It was actually pretty fun doing the black and white thumbnail, will definitely do so again when I have time! :D

The bottom image is with a dash of colour on top - she sort of turned into a mischeivous elven red riding hood to be honest!

Princess

This is the final piece for this concept: *click to see concept*

I had a ton of fun making this, and I adore the amethysts. Pretty pretty! :D I hope this makes the lass who commissioned this feel like a princess at her dance ^_^

Enjoy!

Anatomy & Speedpainting Practice

Anatomy and speed painting practice - this was REALLY fun to do and so very informative too! I never realised backs were SO complicated to draw! :O Well I wont make that mistake again haha :)

Reference used, took about an hour and a half, and then 20 minutes general cleaning up / fiddling about :)

20 Minute Concept

Enjoy! Click for the full version - This is just a random pose / anatomy sketch I did, I decided I would write little notes on how I did it. 20 minutes it probably about the quickest I've finished something like this, so that's pretty cool in my eyes! Usually I get totally lost and absorbed in the minute details and cant sketch ANYTHING quickly! I do realise this isnt perfect though being such a rushed thing, but, thats fine by me :) Practice makes perfect!

The thinking behind this was a rogue / thief character, running away - perhaps she got caught stealing! She roams around with a bird of prey - a peregrine or a red kite, I haven't decided hence why I didn't try draw that - which she is just about to release so she can run faster without fear of hurting it. Maybe I will draw this up one day! I quite like the concept :D

Phoenix Bowmen Logo - Version 2

I ended up having to redesign the trophy image (see my last post) simply for suitability for etching onto the trophies. I think I actually prefer this version though, it looks much lighter than the other one :D

Phoenix Bowmen Logo

This is the logo for my archery club, which I formally drew up for use on this years club championship trophies. It will be laser etched into them. Cant wait to see them! :-D

Elves & Dragons Group Avatar Contest

An entry for an icon contest over on DA for a group I'm part of. This was fun to draw :) I really like how the dragon came out so I had to post bigger versions! Enjoy!

The finished icon is a GIF file over at my DA account:http://imaeko.deviantart.com/art/Dragons-and-Elves-Icon-Contest-167777124

Masquerade

This is my drawing for World Drawing Day 2010! If its still June 5th in your timezone, you should totally get sketching and participate! Originally I thought I wouldnt have time for anything more than a sketch, but after only a mere 3 hours, this popped out! :D


Its supposed to be an elf taking the opportunity of a masquerade to blend into the human crowd hoping that her slitted eyes and pointy ears will just look like part of her disguise!

The anatomy isnt spot on (and I didnt use any refs or anything), but I still like it - I was really just going for something different, and it definitely made a lovely change! I also wanted to try something a bit more difficult, and outside the box of what I usually paint, and I'm glad I did! I tried really hard on the dress (after doing a similar style in this picture and I think the effect came out much better this time!), and also on the mask. I'm pretty pleased with how that came out. Yay sparkles and yay detail and yay for using interesting lighting for a change!

Book Cover Sketch

I'm not sure why I forgot to post this up, I did this a little while back!

This is a bookcover sketch commission for a close friend. I very much hope to be able to paint this up one day for her, it was lovely to work on! The main character is based, looks wise, on her mostly so it was also nice to draw my friend :P

Enjoy!

Anniversary

Its my parents 25th wedding anniversary tomorrow; I have finished this in the nick of time.... phew!! This was REALLY hard. I drew this using a completely different technique and colouring method.

It was nice to experiment but.. not sure if I will be trying it again!! I'm happy with how dad turned out but theres just something not right about mum. I am DEFINITELY going to have to come back to this piece in the next few days before I get this printed and framed for them, to see if I can make her look more like my mum...

Jewellery Set Concept

Collab with Rhi - Final Piece

Final piece - I'm really happy with it! The lovely Rhi provided the lineart - karikimi.deviantart.com - and I had a TON of fun colouring! In the region of 4 hours work here :)

Collab WIP

I'm doing collab with my good friend Rhi - I've actually had this lying around for absolutely months, unable to think of a colourscheme. Tonight I sat down and scanned it in and made myself colour it digitally, as I was clearly going nowhere traditionally! I'm really happy with it so far - I've spent about 2 hours on it - I only wish I had more time to spent on it now!!

Character Sheet Commission

Character sheet commission for a really lovely commissioner over on DeviantART. Great character concept to work with, I had fun on this guy! Drawing gold lining is funnnn haha :D

Enjoy!

Doodles

A doodle I forgot to post from a couple weeks back. I actually really like this! :O Anatomy not fantastic but for a few minute doodle I think its pretty kick ass all the same haha. I really like the pose in this :D