Got a color version in the works.. but with my boyfriend down here for Christmas, there's no way I'd finish it anytime soon :)

Hope everyone is having a great Holiday! May your season be bright.

This image was done as a teaser -- to get people both pumped and inspired for the upcoming Sutra Contest. Enjoying playin' with her... Can't wait to color her myself. I mean really. Gold n' a shock of violet hair? Oh yea. Some might remember Sutra (her color debute) from the "Koi Kimono" image I did sometime ago. (and that print is for sale!)

Sutra(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005
Do not reuse/redistribute

This was mainly a doodle. On a commercial for Soul Caliber 3 I had seen one of the characters in a glance have an off the shoulder kimono with triangle trim. I thought that was nifty. I took elements of that for inspiration and blended it into my own character, Sutra.

I've honestly not been in a coloring mood. Lot of flaws in this, but it was a nice experiment/fun thing to draw. Mmm. Eye candy. Image is done in mechanical pencil.

Time: 10 minutes for initial sketch. 25 minutes for the pencils/line weight.


Sutra(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005
Do not reuse/redistribute.

Big amount of experimentation on my part. Getting into a new type of coloring as well as not inking my image and working from straight pencils.

At MFF03 Jim Groat finally snagged me to do a sketch trade with him. He's been trying to snag me for his portfolio for Red Shetland for a while. We did our trades n' yet he left me inspired to create a warrior type. Ever since Breyer Fest with Jasanni, I've had plans to make a Fresian mare with leurism (unnatural).. Jim gave me the inspiration to further Emma.

Eh. Lot of flaws. It was a doodle I did in class.
I should do a surprise image for Jim soon :)


Emma(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

Evana and Domi-Chan (both of DA) have been really kind to me. They've been trying to teach me cellshading! Huzzah. New technique. However it's driving me nutty.

One of my first attempts at cellshading. By no means is it good nuff yet to make happy, but it's decent. :> I liked how the tails came out.

The image was done up for the Inuyasha Mush Profile page. (Sutra uber-cutified and used as a mascot/Guest Helper on the game)

Sutra(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

This was completely BSed as far as my usual work goes. I did the ink/sketch back in August, and it's been rotting half colored on my computer for a month or two.

Decided to draw a Spotted Saddle Horse due to the one Jasanni (of DA) and I saw at the KY Horse Park. Was a champion stallion and the coolest horse -ever- c_C; The horse could pole dance.

Never the less, decided to make my own Spotted Saddle Horse...

Kuna(c)Melissa O'Brien
Please do not reuse/redistribute.

The character itself is semi-new. It's a joint effort between Jenna (Katanawolf) and myself. We created twin characters: Karma and Sutra. I had Sutra. They're both kitsunes and same hybrid of a Golden Island Fox / Marble Fox. Sutra took more characteristics from the Golden, and Karma is more of the Marble.

A big experiment to me and done for practice. I tried to play more with coloring techniques. The sketch was done in class sometime last week. I used a lot of free clipart / stock photo for small embelishments/help. (Found in kimono, words, and the corner symbols)

The symbols read: Kama Fox Metal

Sutra(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

Image for a contest.

My Little Pony Convention that'll be held in San Fransico 2006.

The white portions are transparent (but didn't feel like battling my PSD file to get it to save in a good enough quality as of yet. Hopefully I'll win a place.

Last year I won 3rd place in the contest. The theme was 'Heaven on Earth' hence her symbol being a heart shaped earth with wings and halo. The contest stated it had (image) to incorporate the bridge, and the character be a pegasus.

Dwelian of DA named her for me.

Meridian(c)Melissa O'Brien 2006

I had promised Tyler I'd not upload the other concept images. However, since this was a 10 minute doodle, I felt it alright to upload this.

I'm a Lunar fan thanks to my boyfriend, Tyler. A friend and I are makin' "Mary Sue" fan characters. Mine has a little black dragon companion named Lunix. I based her roughly on the Black dragon in the game, and toned her down. The original concepts had fiery wings.

However, I decided to try my hand at anime style. I failed miserably. My lines can't get thin/delicately enough and this simple coloring style makes me weep. However, this was a nice run at how she'll be n' fun -PRACTICE-

Anyway.
Lunix and image(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005
Lunar(c)Itself.

This image has been sitting on my Hard Drive incomplete for 2 months while I was on vacation at my boyfriends. Just finished it today.

This image (along with a few others) will be made into my first series of prints.

The female in the image is named Lily (Ty named her) and is red for a reason. A mutation in the larger cats is called Erythristism. It means excessive reddening of the pelt. Only a leopard has been seen. I used a lot of jade themes and moved more into oriental touches here and there.

Her lamp holds a single glowing fish. The corset has embossed patterns of the chinese crest and beta fish on it. Lotus in the hair.

Lily(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

An old character of mine I reamped for purpose of working on anatomy/coloring. Drawn in a rut about a month ago. (friends on LJ saw this long while back)

Silver Innocence I had drawn way back when. Well I adapted her physically (non anthro) to be more bird like. Means larger sternum (breast area)to accomodate the muscles needed for wings.

The colorin' on the wings -sucks- C_c; I'm gonna grab Evana or someone for tips. But like the wing lineart. Blah. A 20 minute doodle.



ATTENTION

Do not reuse or redistribute.

Silver Innocences(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

When I was younger, I had a character named Kyla on Artic Thunder Muck (back when I was 14-17 or so...) She was a black husky.

This is just a quick sketch/doodle I did. I wanted originally to do simple coloring techniques, but haven't learned that yet. I like more complexity in my images. Anyway, just reampin' an old character and spicing her up. If I find the old images of her, I'll upload them as well.

Kyla(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

As people know, I don't do commissions (on Furbid at the least) that often. So this is your chance if you wanted to get art from me -- not only art but watercolor in badge form, this is your chance.

The only people that will be able to get these pins will be those that are close friends and if they had an outstanding badge-commission from me. I thought these would be fun. Thdey're both art which can be put into a photo stand, and wearable at cons.

They're durable laminated in 10 mil' lamination and watercolored. They are mounted on a pin-back. Feel free to drop me any questions.

Link to Auction: http://www.furbid.ws/cgi-bin/auction.pl?commission_gen&1117322342

Happy Bidding.

Art Images(c)Myself.
Characters(c)Themselves.

Between Liz, Mel, and myself, we all have a lycanmorphic X-men themed character. What better way to show our unity than in a crappy little doodle? :D Yea.

time: 10 minutes for pencils / 1 hr for coloring.

Sky and Hawk are examples of snap dragons.. (werewolf species I made). Larger jaws, more teeth, and pupiless eyes. Kayo is to what her respected player made her. Yay. Puppies who can chew your face off :3 Tattooes last minute idea.

Hawksblood(c)Aureath of DA
Kayo(c)http://Athemasremedy of DA
Skyfire and image(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

I have got to say I'm utterly and completely fortunate to be able to go to places like Anthro Con and meet people like Deerock-Gorilla (of DA) At AC I've met a plethora of wonderful people - a tradition I hope to continue.

Deerock had commissioned me last year at AC to do a sketch of his character Bai Ming. I had, and recently he contacted me to ask if could color it. Of course yes... but I had not expected to see such a prowess in his coloring abilites. I mean..damn. Makes me have a new goal to work for in digital painting. :D Deerock granted me permission to upload it here as well. My sketch/linework coupled with his colorin'. Go look at his stuff. I demand it.

Thanks hon, again!

Linework(c)Melissa O'Brien
Image/Coloring/Bai Ming(c)Deerock-Gorilla

My brain is pudding. I had the stupid idea of... Gee. What would Frisket look as ... POKEMON! ... Yea. I blame finals right now.

I decided to dig into different shapes other than canines (despite Houndoom being one of my ultimate favs) -- I did Frisket up as Pikachu, Dragonair, Vaporeon, Ninetales, and Mightyena (who's like a gray Frisket-hyena anyway :} )

So yea. I dare people to take the challenge. What pokemone would -your- character be?

Pokemon(c)Nintendo
Frisket and image(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

Meh. Jus' practice. I wanted to play with anatomy and just play with color. The BG is crappy-quick... I dislike the colorin' on the yellow.

For those who -do- color n' stuff.. Man is it frustratin' or what to color black? @_x; Let alone gold too. Meh. I like how the swimsuit came out. :} The lotus bugs me a little.

A good just little anatomy doodle of Hecate --shows off her unique body form (opposed to other chars of mine) Smaller bust and larger hips. There are anatomy problems with this..and I see that now that I'm done. Meh.

Hecate (c)Melissa O'Brien 2005


Time Taken: 2 hrs.

Ever doodle something just so you can color? Well I did.Wow. Look at the flaws on this one O_o; Yea. Anatomy is really skewed on this, but it was done in attempts to give me something to color and unwind.

It's my old doberman character, Hecate. I have no clue why I put her in a bra. But. Yea. It's purple .O_o; Cathedral star necklace with ruby center.. I liked how the subtle muscle on her belly was done... But damn is the anatomy on this skewed.

I'll redraw her properly later.

Hecate(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

Wow. Talk about -OLD- These gals were one of the first I uploaded to VCL. My characters Dark Celeste and Silver Innocence. A pair of ying-yang twin/siblings of sorts. (Not shown, but Silver has feathered wings, and Dark has Dragon-wings.)

Ref to old: http://us-p.vclart.net/vcl/Artists/Frisket17/Ancient_Pictures/Sisters.jpg

Scary, isn't it? Well it was a doodle to try and dig out my old characters again. Doodle took 45 minutes total (penciling/coloring)

Dark Celeste and Silver Innocence(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

There were so many flaws with this image, but I felt that I should at least finish it in hopes of gaining more knowledge how to use filters on PS wisely (and if to use them at all..) and what brushes do what with what techniques. While not completely successful, am pleased with how Enetrix's face came out. Think she looks uber fluffy. She isn't howling. Dholes can't howl.. so she's yawning or simply mewing/screaming/calling in some form or another to pack mates (they form temp' packs of up to 40 dholes C.c; )

I was going to draw over laying canopy of trees above her, however I couldn't (nor had the patience) to figure out a good way to do so with trees. Trees are another thing I'm gonna hafta tackle :P

Enetrix(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

When I initially embarked on coloring this, I had not intended to do a background - let alone one as complex/time consuming as this one turned out to be. My eyes feel like they want to bleed. This was a practice (in regards to the Background and Coloring techniques.) The figure, however, is actually a remake of an old character I had. Enetrix.

Original Entrix done in 2002: http://us.vclart.net/vcl/Artists/Frisket17/EneTrixPremo.jpg

A Dhole is an endangered Asian wild dog. They're unchanged for several million years. The neat thing? These guys don't bark. Instead they scream, mewl, cluck like a chicken, and whistle. Cute little guys. So this is Enetrix in some Asian-type forest...

Enetrix(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

Well I've a love of the My Little Ponies -- Katanawolf of DA had decided to make a pony blanket. She used pink polar fleece and a MLP print fleece. Just in time seeing how my electric blanket broke. Again.

Eitherway, this is just one of many thank yous I owe Katana :} Drew her babysitting a puppy Frisket with her 'blanky'. o.O; The BG was rushed.... Craptacular. I rock at the craptacular. =.=;

Anyway...

Katana(c)Herself
Frisket(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

Do not reuse/redistribute.

Stilted Fox vs Stilted Fox.

A maned wolf is often called a "Stilted Fox", however, they are -not- foxes with long limbs. Did this as a tongue and cheek. A lot of people are instantly creating Maned Wolf characters without doing research on them... (Or better yet, basing it on existing characters) You've got to realize that a maned wolf is -NOT- a simple fox colored animal with long legs.

They are not tiny either. They range between 3-4 feet at the shoulder. (meaning they can look you in the eye). They are not hyenas. They have NOTHING to do with Africa. They're Brazilian/South American.

Arcadia and unnamed little stilted fox(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

Time: About 2 hrs to complete. (includes inking, penciling, and coloring.)

Arcadia on patrol of her territory borders.

The pencil and inks were like.. .20 minutes tops. I actually finished most of the image in about an hour. I then was on the phone with my boyfriend and tinkered with the BG. -- so .. in an hour and half, I got this. Go figure.

There's a lot of flaws, I know. Lot of things I don't like about the image, but it was a good way to play with backgrounds. Really love the mountains :3 But yea. Jus' a simple doodle of Arcadia, my Maned Wolf character.

Arcadia(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

Years ago, before I even had Frisket, this was my maned character (Actually had several characters before Frisket) She was one I had created back in 2000/2001...

Old Image:
http://us.vclart.net/vcl/Artists/Frisket17/Proacolor1.gif

I had been talkin' with Maned Husky of DA about this. I showed her some old fan art n' old art of Arcadia and it inspired me to dig her out again. So I drew her. Ha. I had a maned wolf character -before- it was cool. Yea. go me ;)

Arcadia was played on the Muck Guardian of the Sirist (GotS) and was the guardian of Light. :) Ah. Memories.

Arcadia(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

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On Animal Planet they featured police dogs. -- not really the Narc dogs, but rather those police dogs that had multiple talents.

I saw one dog on there that really inspired me. I'm thinking his name was Stormy. He was a black German Shepard mix with brown over his eyes and an unusual white-highlight patching his coat. He was my inspiration -- I gave Kite a traditional GS cape marking.

Anyway. Inspiration behind Kite.

Kite (c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

Well I've decided I wanted to make a gryphon character. Tired of people ripping on other poeple's designs like poor Likeshine or Syris... This is to make a point if you LOOK at nature, you'll find your biggest inspiration.

These markings aren't made up. They can be found on the Green Pheasant. ( http://www.friendsofsherwoodisland.org/Photos/Hand/Land/AJH-green%20pheasant.jpg ) Originally I was going to use a Chinese Golden Pheasant but I think I'll do another one later. But because I was going to do a CGP I named this one China. I'm not sure yet what lower half I'll put for her. Probably a canine of a sort.

China was a 3 minute pencil sketch with about 15 minutes of quick coloring. Was a way for me able to practice more techniques. :)

China(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

I really hate having to clutter my images up with 'This is mine.' type text, but in the course of the year, I've had one too many people just not respect the fact my artwork is mine.

Eitherway, This was done for Maned-Husky of DA. She's been such a sweetheart to me.. Hell. Randomly finding me n' giving me not only a DA Subscription, but also surprising me with a MIB 1980's baby Quackers (mlp) She's always had a big heart, and this is just some small token I hope to repay her with.

Her maned wolf/husky character, Kaimelar who sports an icy blue corset. The BG will be redone once I get the CD from Cerrado ( Art Nouveau one) But for now, this is it.

Kaimelar(c)Rebecca "Solicit" Russell
Image(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

Once more I'm on a mission. Bwhaha. A 100% tablet done. This time, the brown was based off Jesha (of HT and DA)'s Sevareth. Jesha was the one who wrote/designed/created up Xhuryth for my impression Harper Tales. Only fair I do this for her.

Love ya Jesha :D

Like day opposed to night..easier for me to color. N' really likin' how I'm doing these rocks XD Ha. But yea. Really like this one. Think his muzzle/nose came out really well. One last color to do (Bronze).


Sevareth(c)Jesha
Image(c)Melissa O'Brien
Pern series(c)Anne McCaffrey

Still practicing. While sunrises/sunsets are very easy to do.. I tried to challenge myself more and do a night scene with a blue dragon... that has the bordercollie-type mask/belly/throat markings. c_c;

This is for Liz Carlson, aka Aureath of DA. She's my best friend of about 9 years. Impressed on the same game as me. Her blue, Esryth. But yea. Jus' more practice on myside. Once again this was done 100% on the tablet.

The outline looked better than the finished product, I think :/ But oh well. Chalk it up to learning. Another profile image.

Esryth(c)Liz Carlson
Image(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005

Another practice drawing/digital painting.
100% done on the tablet. Drawn and colored.

This dragon, another color in the Pern series I'm workin' on, is based on my own Dragon found on Harper Tales. I've had her since I was Junior in Highschool (I'm now a Senior in College)

Xhuryth has freckling down her back, and tried to make it semi-silver/lime. I picked another setting/rising of the sun because I love playing with light. Much more dramatic. Moutains were easy to make O.o;

Xhuryth(c)Melissa O'Brien 2005
Pern dragons/series(c)Anne McCaffrey