Portfolio: a pinch of salt

[sweetpinkpixie]

❝ a little flavor, a little creative release


Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to my my little corner of Gladrags where I share some of my creative corner of SnitchSeeker where I will be sharing drawings, digital artwork, completed coloring pages, and essentially whatever happens to be tickling my 'artistic' fancy in the moment. I've had several graphic request shops over the years and currently have a joint portfolio with the lovely Ern (Cassirin) as well as a grab bag challenge. This is not a request thread, but you are more than welcome to drop a suggestion or a wishful thinking ~vibe~ I do take formal requests via PM for various things (namely graphics & manips), so feel free to contact me in private should you so desire.


❝ i n d e x
Seektober 2020*lost to the cyberattack
Seektober 2021*lost to the cyberattack
Seektober 2022
Seektober 2023

manips
..entirely (2020)
..it's complicated (2019)
..N = R x fp x ne x fl x fi x fc x L (2011)
..TDK (2015)
..Thor & Loki (2015)
..s h i f t (2019)
..training day (2020)

graphics
..Barbara Finch (2020)
..Branxton Brothers (2022)
..Cathal Myles (2021)
..Class of 2102 (2020)
..Darius Lacroix (2021)
..Dementria Floros (2020)
..Eiji Rasting through the years (2019-2020)
..Gabrielle Parker-Emerson (2021)
..lil' Trent, big world (2020)
..lil' Trent 2.0 (2021)
..minimalist (2021)
..Krzysztof Zamojski (2020)
..Mark H. Gunter(2020)
..polyjuiced! (2011)
..siggy rotation (2015-2020)
..siggy rotation 2.0(2020)
..April & May Signature Dump(2021)
..Yumeki Kawatani(2022)
..Goblet of Graphics: Spring(2023)
..siggy rotation v 3.0 (2023)
..Becoming Anna(2023-2024)


hand drawn creations
..Fantasia (2011)
..Flamsteed twins (2021)
..Grantham out. (2021)
..in the sky (2020)
..life is like a mountain (2020)
..meet my BACKSWING (2021)
..sakura (2020)
..strawberry mermaid (2020)
..thumbs down (2020)
..thumbs up (2020)
..underwater (2020)

..Sketchtember "Night" (2021)
..Sketchtember "Wine" (2021)
..Sketchtember "Queen" (2021)
..Sketchtember "Green" (2021)
..Sketchtember "Fog" (2021)
..Sketchtember "Books" (2021)
..Sketchtember "Clown" (2021)
..Sketchtember "Prince" (2021)
..Sketchtember "Cocktail" (2021)
..Sketchtember "Now" (2021)

..MerMay "egg" (2022)
..MerMay "bubble" (2022)
..MerMay "swamp" (2022)
..MerMay "coral" (2022)

digital art
..lumos (2020)

Header image was created using this coloring page by deviantart member PoccnnIndustries & colored by myself using Adobe Photoshop Elements 9

[sweetpinkpixie]

❝ N = R x fp x ne x fl x fi x fc x L


{ click on the below thumbnails to be taken to their full size }


inspiration Hogwarts RPG homework assignment (Astronomy) [★]
materials various clip arts from the Internet & some version of Adobe Photoshop

I figured a good place to start with all this would be all the way back to when I first started properly dinking around in Photoshop with one of my first manipulations (manip) I made for SS back in Term 28 (I joined site at Term 26). Perhaps even THE first one...and yikes The premise of the assignment (see the pink star above) was to create our own planets and alien species. My character at the time was obsessed with baking, so naturally this meant her project would reflect this. On the left you see the planet...which is some pretty interesting attempts at modifying colors (looks like I only used overlay and soft light options for those layers *pets past me and gives a gold star for trying*). On the left are the aliens I manipped together using some black and white clip art for the bodies and some cute food ones for the heads. I colored these in Photoshop (ACK NO SHADING ) proooobably using the paint bucket and then called it a day

[FearlessLeader19]

Your graphics/artwork are always so enjoyable. You are really soooo talented

My fave of the images up there is the one with the aliens So Kurumi xD

[Cassirin]

Ooh, yay, Kath! I'm so excited that you're doing this and I can't wait to see what else you post.

[Felixir]

oooOOOOH KATH, I am so glad you have a thread for all your ~creations~ and I can't wait to see what else you post

also, just by the way, now I'm hungry. either for baked goods or something with a pinch of salt. I might have to eat the 6'6" cupcake alien.

[sweetpinkpixie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Your graphics/artwork are always so enjoyable. You are really soooo talented

My fave of the images up there is the one with the aliens So Kurumi xD

You are entirely too kind it is but also very very weird. I wish I still had the written portion of this assignment saved somewhere. I remember it being...something else or perhaps I just thought I was being funny and it was really just a mess. Charries do weird things to the brain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Ooh, yay, Kath! I'm so excited that you're doing this and I can't wait to see what else you post.

EEEEEEEEEEEERN

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

oooOOOOH KATH, I am so glad you have a thread for all your ~creations~ and I can't wait to see what else you post

also, just by the way, now I'm hungry. either for baked goods or something with a pinch of salt. I might have to eat the 6'6" cupcake alien.

You may see a familiar thing or two pop up in here eventually

I mean...I am sure that one cupcake alien could feed you for a while

going to code up another something something here in just a second

[sweetpinkpixie]

❝ training day


{ click on the below thumbnail to be taken to the full size }


inspiration SSRPG characters Evangeline Shacklebolt Toussaint & Zinnia Shacklebolt
materials Adobe Photoshop Elements 9

As a follow up to a first manip, I thought it would be a good follow up to share something I created recently (like...literally days ago). A bit back I had the itch to create a character using Ariana Miyamoto as a face claim. Sarah (sarahlooo) offered me a place on her Shacklebolt family tree and the rest is history! Evangeline and Zinnia are cousins who act like sisters. Evangeline is an auror at the Ministry and Zinnia is a chaser for the Kenmare Kestrels and every so often they'll hit the gym together for some conditioning - since their professions demand it!

This manip has quiiiiiiiiiiiite a few adjusting layers to it (8, to be exact) and layer masks were used on an image of Jourdan Dunn to fit her into the image I took from Ariana Miyamoto's instagram.

[Cassirin]

This is a really impressive manip. I know I've already gushed about it to you, but I love it.

[sweetpinkpixie]

❝ sakura


{ click on the below thumbnail to be taken to the full size }


inspiration this video by YouTuber Jazza & the kanji for cherry blossom, 桜
materials Ohuhu alcohol markers, Ohuhu marker pads, & copic black 0.3 inking pen

I am a total n00b with these markers (and really anything other than your standard colored pencils and crayons ), but they came recommended to me by fellow SSers Tegan (Tegz), Lulu (Star-Lord), and MJ (emjay) and I have been looking for more offline creative outlets to help decompress. I'll share my swatching of these markers later because that was a really fun process So THIS is my first attempt at an illustration using alcohol markers and there are some obvious oopsies in the shading but live and learn!

As to the subject itself, those familiar with Japanese anime and manga may easily recognize this character as Kinomoto Sakura from the Series Cardcaptor Sakura (this is her Clear Card version aesthetic and inspired by this image). The Japanese word for cherry blossom is 'sakura' so of course I always think of this character too whenever I hear the word (CLAMP was a HUGE part of my middle school years, okay?), so when I thought about what kanji to use for this project and settled on 'sakura'...I just knew I needed to use her for the design. This site breaks down the various parts of the kanji rather nicely, but I'll go over these in brief to explain the choices I made.

First, on the left, is the kanji for tree (木) which is the radical for this particular character and what I used as the base for her staff. The next are those three "ticks" you see used for lines in her hair. I did not know this BUT...in the olden days of yore those three lines used to be the characters for shell written twice (貝貝) and it was simplified over the years to just be those three strokes. While it can mean shell, but two in a row signifies a necklace - which is what the petals are around the center of the flower Finally is the character for woman (女) which I've used as the base for her torso. I think next time I won't go over the strokes in such a harsh black color, but try to pick one that blends better with the over all image.

"So in the end, the kanji for sakura looks the way it does because of “tree necklace woman,” or, to put things a bit more eloquently, because the cherry blossom is a plant whose five petals seem to be forming a beautiful necklace around the center of the flower."

[Felixir]

eeeeee, *comes back here to gush at the pretties*

that manip is so good, kath, u worked some magic there. I do so love your manips ;-; aND I love seeing how those markers are working out for you. the design and the concept for that piece are so cool. the whole thing is great and vibrant and well done and I don't think I'd have guessed how new you were to using those markers if I didn't, yk, already know.

once again I am inspired to do the art now bc of u, and it's so convenient. honestly, the audacity.

*eagerly awaits more bc i am the greed*

[TeafortheSoul]

I obviously love that manip for #reasons but I'm here to comment on your first foray into alcohol markers! SO EXCITED!!! I looooove how this kanji concept is working already too. I thought it was fun when Jazza did it and you first mentioned that it inspired you, but I'm especially excited to see how you apply it in your journey with new art materials!

[Cassirin]

Wow, the colors of those markers are so vibrant and pretty! This concept of using the kanji to springboard into an illustration is really cool. Are you just looking for kanji that suggest themselves to your imagination or do you want requests from the crowd?

[sweetpinkpixie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

This is a really impressive manip. I know I've already gushed about it to you, but I love it.

I missed this the first go around. I'M SORRY but thank you Ern *snuggles*

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

eeeeee, *comes back here to gush at the pretties*

that manip is so good, kath, u worked some magic there. I do so love your manips ;-; aND I love seeing how those markers are working out for you. the design and the concept for that piece are so cool. the whole thing is great and vibrant and well done and I don't think I'd have guessed how new you were to using those markers if I didn't, yk, already know.

once again I am inspired to do the art now bc of u, and it's so convenient. honestly, the audacity.

*eagerly awaits more bc i am the greed*

FEEEEEEEEEEEEELIX ugh I love these markers so much. Obviously there is a small learning curve to them and that kind of just comes from playing around with them but gosh they are amazeballs

DO ALL THE ART #meme

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

I obviously love that manip for #reasons but I'm here to comment on your first foray into alcohol markers! SO EXCITED!!! I looooove how this kanji concept is working already too. I thought it was fun when Jazza did it and you first mentioned that it inspired you, but I'm especially excited to see how you apply it in your journey with new art materials!

thank YOU so much for the constant stream of recommendations and mutual appreciation of Jazza and the YouTube art community's general creative challenges

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Wow, the colors of those markers are so vibrant and pretty! This concept of using the kanji to springboard into an illustration is really cool. Are you just looking for kanji that suggest themselves to your imagination or do you want requests from the crowd?

Kanji themselves tell little stories and are based off actual visuals so they are just so perfect for this sort of thing. I am willing to hear out suggestions so gimme gimme

[emjay]

Ok that manip is gorgeous. I really love the coloring on it. And wow, really nice job on your marker work! The blending in her dress is lovely. Do you love those alcohol markers? I don't use mine all that much, but I've been meaning to pull them out more.

[sweetpinkpixie]

❝ thumbs down


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inspiration Create This Book by YouTuber Moriah Elizabeth, my boys' current favorite fruit, and something I find beautiful (butterflies)
materials Ohuhu alcohol markers, printer paper, & copic black 0.3 & 0.05 inking pen

I know. I KNOW. I'm a little obsessed with these markers I can't help it...THEY ARE MAGICAL!

Anyway. Story time, as always. I've been subscribed to Moriah Elizabath for some time now and when she released her second version of Create This Book fellow SSer (and the first SSer I met in real life!) Rose/Roselyn bought it for me and sent it all the way to Japan. We were going to work through the book together but real life got in the way of that and I am only just now properly cracking open the binding and giving it a proper go as the world goes into lockdown. No time like the present to begin new pursuits, right?

So for this concept what I wanted to do was take things I think are pretty and use colors that I do not like. I knew I wanted to do something with a butterfly the moment I read the prompt and I ended up asking my boys (ages 7 and 3) what was something they liked. They happened to be eating strawberries at the time so...there you go

I definitely learned how to blend colors much better after my last full scale drawing (aka no streaky streaks) and the blender marker was a real life saver here (see those lines on the half strawberry for reference).

[sweetpinkpixie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjay

Ok that manip is gorgeous. I really love the coloring on it. And wow, really nice job on your marker work! The blending in her dress is lovely. Do you love those alcohol markers? I don't use mine all that much, but I've been meaning to pull them out more.

aaaaaah thank you MJ ;_____; I keep meaning to make one of her and Henry in quidditch robes too. It's been on my to-do list forever

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. Gosh I bet you work miracles with those *_______*

[ArianaBlack]

ooooooh, kath these are all beautiful ;__; the strawberry/butterfly piece in particular HOLY COW. I have no idea how markers work, but like if I didn't read the blurb I would have never guessed that it was done with marker because the colors are just so smooth and blendy and niiiiiiiiiice

[hermionesclone]

Hoooooooooly crap, Kath, these are BEAUTIFUL! I'm loving the inspiration and the background to each of these and ugh *__* And those markers come out so beautiful!

Also, I love your blending skill with these markers, especially with the thumbs down one

[Cassirin]

Why do you hate brown? WHY DO YOU HATE BROWN? I love what you're doing with the markers, and it's super cool to see you growing in your understanding of how they work right in front of us.

[BanaBatGirl]

Those markers make you look like you're painting, seriously. I didn't get it till I saw this on Insta, but NOW I am like

Love it!

[sweetpinkpixie]

❝ polyjuiced!







inspiration This Potions lesson
materials some version of Adobe Photoshop

I came across these siggies the other day and it really pumped up the nostalgia factor. Back in term 28 in the Hogwarts SSRPG, Potions classes revolved around Polyjuice and for the final assignment of the term students paired themselves off and polyjuiced into one another. My character, Kurumi, was paired with her enemy and rival at the time, Sierra Greingoth (Anna Banana). Drama was had all around the school as everyone got into shenanigans and during the period that our characters were polyjuiced as one another, Anna and myself wore one of these siggies.

For me, this was my first time experimenting with layer opacity in any real way (this is what I used to create the fade effect of the girls morphing into one another) as well as my first attempt at mixing font faces.

[Anna Banana]

Oh, the memories! I just love this siggy! Loved it back then and love it now! I miss Kurumi and Sierra!

[Cassirin]

This is super cool, Kath! I'm not sure that even now I could do this, and imagine that you were able to do this in early days.

[sweetpinkpixie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

ooooooh, kath these are all beautiful ;__; the strawberry/butterfly piece in particular HOLY COW. I have no idea how markers work, but like if I didn't read the blurb I would have never guessed that it was done with marker because the colors are just so smooth and blendy and niiiiiiiiiice

OMG ARIANA. Alchohol markers are amazing *____* I'd never even heard of the concept until watching some YouTubers and then fellow SSers suggested I get myself some and...there is just no going back now

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

Hoooooooooly crap, Kath, these are BEAUTIFUL! I'm loving the inspiration and the background to each of these and ugh *__* And those markers come out so beautiful!

Also, I love your blending skill with these markers, especially with the thumbs down one

thank you, Kita!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Why do you hate brown? WHY DO YOU HATE BROWN? I love what you're doing with the markers, and it's super cool to see you growing in your understanding of how they work right in front of us.

POTATO BROWN listen...it was hard to pick colors I didn't like from the set because they really are all so nice but I tend to, in general, be less drawn to earthy colors.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

Those markers make you look like you're painting, seriously. I didn't get it till I saw this on Insta, but NOW I am like

Love it!

Aren't they amazing? They give me a sort of confidence boost because of how vibrant they are and when you get a nice blend it's just...MAGICAL

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Oh, the memories! I just love this siggy! Loved it back then and love it now! I miss Kurumi and Sierra!

At least you get his son in the RP now? though he is nothing like his mama he does have more similarities than he is willing to acknowledge but shhhh

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

This is super cool, Kath! I'm not sure that even now I could do this, and imagine that you were able to do this in early days.

It's actually a relatively easy process, Ern! I can make a tutorial sometime

[sweetpinkpixie]

❝ it's complicated



inspiration Hogwarts SSRPG characters Eiji Rasting (myself), Missa Renaldi (Samia), & Trinetta Gladin (Lissy Longbottom)
materials Adobe Photoshop Elements 9

I made this back in September 2019 and it never really saw the light of day save for private shares between Sammy and Lissy, but the whole thing started when Sammy sent me the original picture of Missa's FC (Stella Hudgens) and my eye instantly went to the other two people in the picture and I mused about how easy it would be to manip it. I was...mostly right but a fair bit incorrect in my assumption This trio have been a complicated mess of teenager pretty much their entire time at Hogwarts together and this manip was going to be a Polaroid from a RP we theorized about...but then Hogwarts angst and drama happened and it never came into fruition. As, you know, the RP do.

What made this manip so hard was remarkably not color matching the different tones from the pictures I used, but in giving Eiji and Nettie's heads the grainy downgrade to match the quality of the original. I think what I ended up doing was a Gaussian blur layer set to lighten on each of their heads and then duplicated the base head layer and then rendered a grain texture to that and set that to a soft light over the original head...and then played with transparency levels for each until I got something that blended in best.