Post Lost and Redone, or Some More Crap You Probably Don't Care to See

I lost a post! I could have sworn I made a post showing the end result of the Native Steampunk California and some pics of the new Native Steampunk picture I was creating, but maybe I’ve dreamt of posting it and thought it’d had happened, that happens to me sometimes.
Anyway here’s a final picture of the Native Steampunk California:

Pretty ain’t it? Well maybe not, since the picture has been on Deviantart for a while and no one has favorited it yet, buttheads.

Anyway, I’ve already started on a new Native Steampunk, again from the Northwest California/Southwest Coastal area. I was somehow cognizant enough to make jpgs of the outline and raw outline when I first started, and here they are:

The blue outline does have some of it erased because I accidentally started painting on it at some point.
Anyway, you probably want to see what it looks now and what it looked like when I first started the project, so here are more pics:

The picture is turning out a little bit more dark and gloomier than I originally intended, but that's okay because this place is always foggy and gloomy though I still find it a nice and pretty place to be. End note: Even now the picture looks a lot different since I fixed the eyes so they're not so far apart and fixed the hat so it looks like where it's supposed to be on her head.

Next time though I will tell you the real reason why I wanted to write today but didn’t because of the lost post. Laters.

Finally an Update

Pfff I can't believe it's been a couple of months since I've posted anything. That's why you should never say you don't have an artist's block, because then you'll have an artist's block the size of Mount Everest, and shit around for a couple of months. Didn't help that I wasn't in an environment that was too conducive but there you go. Anyway, I have done stuff! I've made a necklace (which I don't have a picture of but it turned out pretty nice) and I've worked on the California Native Steampunk, which I do have a picture of so enjoy!
So yeah this is definitely one of my most involved projects, and definitely the most worked on in the Steampunk Native series. It's crazy because a) I don't like drawing backgrounds b) I don't like drawing patterns or c) all of the above. Then I decided to redraw some things because I want it to look 'nice' like the armillary sphere thing that's sitting next to the person in the picture. There's also some more things I might add in, like shown in this pic:
Like, I might add some things on the binoculars/opera glasses, and add a compass or astrolabe in the hand of the person, haven't decided yet. Then there's also some other things I might do, like an ocean scene in the window, or work on the curtain, making me work on this damn picture for another 6 months *sob*.
So that's what I'm working on. Toodles.

Moccasins and WIP Beading

Alright, so while Native Steampunk California has gone a little by the wayside (a little, I was working on it last night) I've been working a lot on a couple different projects so that I can have regalia prepared for one of my tribe's big powwow, the Nesika Illahee powwow in August. The first thing I worked on were moccasins made out of white buckskin:
Aren't they pretty? I can practically make a print out of this picture because of the angles. They're made in a style that's supposed to be traditional for my tribe and other tribes of the northern California and Oregon, with a piece of leather coming up to make a high-top boot form. It has antler buttons and abalone shell beads to cover up some goof-ups on the sewing for the laces. And here's a crappy WIP picture back when I was still sewing and before I sewed on the top:
Because it's relevant and all that.

Next for me to do was to work on several beaded projects which includes a hairpiece (which will be a hair clip for now since I definitely don't have time to make a beaded crown), two beaded hair extender pieces, something to hold eagle plumes with (once I get one) and a necklace (which I probably won't do myself thankfully). So lots of beading, and let me tell you, it takes a hell lot of time to bead anything, whether it's just to make an outline or filling out a small part. Plus it's my first time so it's taking extra long. My half-sister's mom, the person teaching me to bead, has been beading for over 30 years and is pretty fast and can probably do at least one a night. Alright, so here's another crappy WIP picture to show when I was outlining the whole thing for my hairpiece:Haven't made anymore progress since I was working on a hair extender piece:Notice all the nice tiny holes on it, showing I have no damn clue about where the needle is supposed to go, flaunting the fact that I don't sew either. It's okay though, I'm getting better about where the needle is supposed to go, and the little holes get covered by beading anyway.
And finally:That's with the flower and leaf part beaded, which leaves just the negative space to be filled. And it took way to long to do already. Once I get the whole thing beaded, I'll make a photocopy of it and bead on top of it to make a matching piece. Hopefully the next thing I bead though won't have so many rookie mistakes, such as visible strings and uneven surface.

So that's it for now, since I haven't made enough progress on the Native Steampunk California piece to show a WIP of that one.

WIP Native Steampunk California

You know the drill non-existent readers, it's another WIP update. To avoid confusion, I'll call the one I'm working on Native Steampunk California, since the design of the whole thing is based on California regalia and basketry, and numbers suck. So, Native Steampunk California it is!
Anyway, as I said in my last WIP post, I painted the window edge for hours, but had to redo the whole thing over again (sad), but it's looking pretty good even though it doesn't look like it did the first time I painted the window edge (double sad). Here it is:I changed the window scene from being day to night since I figured that daylight would give the scene an entirely different look than what it is right now. Hopefully I can figure how to do a reflective thing in the windows to make them more window-y. Guess I'll have to check for tutorials (helloooo deviantArt). The clouds are pretty interesting, the look more like clouds in a smaller picture though. When you look at them more closely the look more like a bunch of random brush strokes. But maybe that won't be as noticeable once I add in window-looking stuff.

Another note, I'm working on my own regalia to wear to powwows. Right now I've been sewing a pair of moccasins, and let me tell you, it's such a pain in the ass trying to sew when it comes to leather because it's so damn thick it's hard to push the needle through one piece of hide, much less three that I have to do for moccasins. I'll post pics of my progress when I'm not feeling lazy about it and when I don't have nosy nieces to worry about. So look forward to that.

WIP Native Steampunk 4 or 5? Don't remember

Not sure if this picture will technically be the 4th or 5th in the Native Steampunk series. It'll probably be the 4th one I put on deviantArt, but in terms of how many Native Steampunks I've started it would be the 9th one. That's why you should never just do a number series, it gets too damn confusing.
Anyway, another not-important note about me besides my aversion to drawing backgrounds is that I also hate drawing patterns. I figure I hate doing repetitive stuff, but on the other hand I can grind shells and paper-mache, two repetitive tasks, from here to hell. So I don't know why I hate drawing patterns as much as I do. Of course on this project, I'm doing a whole shitload of patterns in the background....
ffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu....ck.
Thank whatever for photoshop, because I can basically take this pattern:
And plop it anywhere as much times as I want. It is still a pain in the ass, my dear non-existent readers, because I don't want a whole bunch of floating patterns that look shitty in the picture. I want the patterns incorporated damnit. So that means a lot of adjusting, painting, blah blah way too much work. Of course, the reason I have to add in patterns is because Victorians and Natives had a penchant for patterns. And the red pattern above is based on basket designs from California and Oregon Natives, as I'm trying to make the fashion the person is wearing based on Californian Native regalia. So, here's the progress so far:

Last note: After I made the jpg that you see in this blog post, I continued working on and on the left side of the first window, and it got to the point where it looked fucking fantastic. The painting was detailed, the lighting seemed right, and the whole thing looked tight and I was about ready to work on the other parts of the picture. Then what do I discovered after several hours of work? I painted on the wrong damn document (fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck). Yeah, I painted on the jpg instead of the photoshop document that I was supposed to. So I had to do the left side of the first window again, which of course doesn't look the way I painted it originally (sad face). Bob Ross's whole "there are no mistakes, just happy accidents" shit doesn't even apply here (may he rest in peace), because the first time looked great but painted on the wrong document and didn't know how to transfer all the work to the photoshop document. Go me.

WIP New Native Steampunk

Alright, been a few weeks since I last posted, but for now I'm putting my last Native Steampunk on hold and started another one. Since I don't have a scanner, usually I start off with a preliminary messy sketch of the outlines (which I erased, but I'll try to remember to save it and show it next time) and then I have a a more detailed sketch.

Now, one thing I have to say is that I'm really bad when it comes to backgrounds. I tend to do portraits or figurative work, so I end up concentrating on the person that I'm drawing and leave the background as an afterthought, and it shows. This time though, I really tried to incorporate the person in a scene, and painting the scene first instead of painting the person first, and it's making a big difference. It adds a lot of narrative that's been lacking in a lot of my other pictures, and makes the whole work more interesting. I think if I go back to the other Native Steampunk I was making, I might try to incorporate a scene around the person as well.
Since I haven't been posting much of my progress (bad me) I've already done a lot of work in terms of painting. One of the most difficult parts of the picture so far has been the astrolabe, especially since I don't know much about astrolabes.