Happy Valentine's Day!

Here is my Valentine's Day mailer for this year!

Whether you celebrate Valentine's Day or Single's Awareness day you should go out and dance!

I hope you all enjoy today!
Made in Photoshop CS4. For anyone who is familiar with ballroom dancing, this is supposed to be a new yorker. : )

So I am an "Avatard"

As of late I have been very interested in the cultures, concepts, and clothing in the TV series Avatar the Last Airbender. As a result I felt compelled to create a character to resemble myself in that setting. For those of you who know the series, this would take place after the series, and if you don't want spoilers I suggest you stop reading here.

I shall share the utter nerdy-ness that overtook me as I created an entire character and background for said character.

Her name is Azaya and she is a 22 year old Waterbender, like her father. However, her mother and older brother are Firebenders. She grew up in the Fire Nation- specifically Shu Jing, the home of Piandao. Currently she lives in the Earth Kingdom as she prefers their food (not spicy) and occupational opportunities. Her best friend, Zorra (yea Zelda rip off!) is a Waterbender from the Northern Water Tribe, where she visits every now and then. (As I said, this takes place after the war is over and peace between the nations is being attempted.)

Her abilities include Waterbending, Healing, and Dual Swordsmanship. She wishes she could Firebend as well (especially to incorporate into her dancing)...actually she'd love to be able to bend all of the elements but alas, she is not the Avatar...c'est la vie.

Her professions include: Dancer, Painter, Teacher, Actor, Herbalist, Singer, Healer (gee, remind you of somebody's ideal lifestyle?)

She really enjoys the fire nation's style in clothing, and thus mostly wears it, though she pays tribute to her tribe with a few accents and her water tribe vile- a trinket on her dao sword, in which she keeps water from the North Pole so she can always have a piece of it wherever she goes. She is also relatively new member of the White Lotus Society and carries a white lotus gambit on her other dao sword.

Also, despite long finger nails representing royalty in the Fire Nation...she keeps hers long because she enjoys imitating (and mocking) people with vast amounts of money- she is slightly bitter that she has none and has no fear of showing it.

Enjoy!

Winter...A Bit Late!

Well, it's a bit late to upload this, but here is my winter card for this year! However, without any snow and cold weather this does not feel so appropriate, and it most definitely does not feel like winter! Where is the snow?

Anyway, enjoy!

It's Autumn!

Hurray! It is officially autumn, and to celebrate I made an autumn postcard!


For those who enjoy autumn as I do, hopefully you can relate to taking a walk in the crisp autumn air as the wind blows the beautifully vibrant leaves. All of the warm colors, scarves, and hats perfectly compliment the chilly air so that you feel alive but still warm and cozy- the perfect combination. This is possibly my favorite season and I hope to share my love of it with all of you!

This is also done completely in Photoshop CS4 with my lovely tablet.
A re-visited project should be posted soon, however my dance classes start this week so my illustration time might be slightly more limited. Until then......

Happy Autumn!!!

Rooster's Adventure on Amazon!

Rooster's Adventure is officially available for purchase on Amazon.com under the books section!

http://www.amazon.com/Roosters-Adventure-Liz-Bell/dp/1466338431/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1316829958&sr=8-10

If you enjoy this book and wish to support me or my art, please spread the word!

Despite being out of work with the other children's book illustrations, I have managed to keep myself busy with my autumn postcard, which is still a work in progress, as well as re-doing a piece I found from four years ago, which I will post soon! Currently I am still tweaking the line art.

How I have found time to wrap myself in art while I have my teaching job, my other job, babysitting, and dancing, I am not sure...but I am happy that I have! I hope it does not disappear when my dance classes start three times a week.

Until next time!!

Book Updates!

I have both good and bad news...I will get the bad new over with first.

The illustration project for the new children's book is being postponed, so it is up to me to do my own art. However, that shouldn't be too difficult, especially with holiday card season fast approaching!

And now for the good news! My first children's book, Rooster's Adventure, should be available to purchase through Amazon and CreateSpace eStore within the next two weeks! Currently it is also available on Lulu.com.
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/roosters-adventure/16954698?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1

However, Amazon/CreateSpace frankly does a better job with the printing and quality. It is also available to a much wider audience- most people know about Amazon, whereas few people are aware of Lulu.com. So if you know anyone who you think would enjoy this book, please spread the word! If things go well with this book, I intend to publish my second children's book, Puppy's Problem, also through Amazon/CreateSpace.

Lastly, I am inspired so much by fall that I hope to do another autumnal card, possibly evolving into a series of cards. I will also start brainstorming for my winter cards, both of which will be for sale should anyone want to buy a print.

Best wishes to all of you! And thanks for reading!

'Till next time!
~Liz

Exploration!

After a long break I finally felt the strong urge to draw pull me back to my computer, where hours flew past without my even noticing. It was amazing, and felt so good to illustrate simply because I wanted to again. This is the product of locking myself in my room for hours on end when I have the desire to just keep working on art. It is an original character of mine that I have not drawn in a few years. Done completely in Photoshop CS4 with a tablet.


Whenever I illustrate my original characters they tend to come out in a much more detailed, cell-shaded style that strays quite far from my children's book or editorial style...so this time I decided to make an attempt to combine them- depict my character in my children's book style...and I would say it strongly resembles it, yet there are quite a number of ways that it varies as well. However, I am happy with the result!

And before anyone asks, yes he is a goth. His name is Zairin. He was conjured in my mind during an interesting period in my life, but he really is quite nice at heart. Previously I did not see myself illustrating tween/teen novels, but I could see this in some of those novels I see on the shelves today.

Any thoughts? Please share them! I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Until next time!