Cat Farris: Art For Hire

Last night, I sat down and counted how many drawings I was behind on my 365 blog. Then I drew that many squares onto paper, and put a sketch in each one. If I say I’m going to do something, then I’m going to do it, dammit. So here they are, sketches 070-089. I just hope I don’t fall this far behind again.

I’m calling this “20 Portraits of The Artist As Someone Other Than Herself.” Which is somewhat incorrect. The first one is me as I am, just to give frame of reference. There are many things I hate about myself on a day to day basis. I find it difficult to be happy with who I am, and I kind of like the idea of trying on something else for a while. In this case, it’s hair. Not that I don’t like my hair, but I do get tired of it sometimes. I always wish I was more gutsy so I could experiment more. After all, it grows back, right?

Hey folks! My watercolor piece is now up for bids on E-Bay! You can bid on it, along with pieces from my other studiomates here.
It will be up for 7 days, so head on over!

This is my contribution to Periscope Studio’s Japan Week art auction. It was done on 500 Series Bristol, with watercolors and ink. The inscription down the side reads: “From my heart, for the sake of Japan. 2011″
Anyone who knows me knows that I love Japan. I spent a year living in a small town called Tomiya, an hour north of Sendai, in Miyagi Prefecture. You can imagine my dismay when a friend of mine directed me towards NHK World News on the night of March 10th.
I have since learned my hometown was spared much of the destruction the rest of the prefecture has experienced, but many places I am familiar with were not. This piece is set in the coastal town of Matushima. I took many trips out there while I lived in Japan. It is on register as the third most beautiful place in Japan, a sprawling coastal city surrounded by tiny islands covered in pine trees. They have temples, shrines, and multi-million dollar fireworks displays in the summer time.
After taking a direct hit from the tsunami that followed the March 11th earthquake, Matsushima is little more than a wasteland. I can’t even begin to imagine how everyone here is going to pick up the pieces and start over again, but I know that they will. If there is one thing the Japanese are good at, it’s putting things back to right as fast as possible.
For my piece, I wanted to reflect on a happier time for Matsushima in the past, and wish for a happier time to exist in the future. These two girls are dressed in their summer kimono, “yukata,” and posing in front of Godaido Shrine. I hope that it isn’t too long before people can experience something like this in Matsushima again, and I hope that the money made from this piece will help make that happen.

This piece is up for auction on Periscope Studio’s E-Bay page. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Peace Winds, a Japanese charity that is working alongside Mercy Corps. While you’re there, have a look at the work my colleagues have done, too! So many great pieces for a very worthy cause!

For the sake of shameless self-promotion(and in the hopes of drumming up early interest), here is a sneak peak at my contribution to Periscope’s Japan Aid week. I still have a long way to go, but I can’t wait to finish this piece.

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Another latecomer for the Periscope Sketch challenge.
Can you tell what I’ve been playing recently? I have never pegged myself as a horror-genre gamer, but I was always secretly jealous of the people I knew who would play Silent Hill games in the dark, with surround sound. I felt like they were having a creepy experience that might be potentially delicious in it’s adrenaline-soaked terror. Does that sentence even make sense?
Either way, after playing Bioshock, I got a taste for scary games, and my most recent pursuit was Dead Space. I’m glad Ron let me play it, because this game was probably the most terrifying game I have played in my life. Ever.
Despite having a little trouble getting to sleep some nights, the intense fear I felt while sharing some time with Isaac Clarke was half the fun of the game. Who doesn’t want to spend their Saturday night alone, in the dark, screaming at their tv screen while pressing R1 as fast as humanly possible?X3

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Also, working away on some Dead Space fan art. It’s kind of a challenge to chibi-ize a character like Isaac Clarke, because it leaves a lot less space for detail in his armor. I’ hoping I can keep it as accurate as possible while still having it read properly.
If I continue to have enough free time this week, I’m going to try and finish this up for Periscope’s sketch challenge. This week is Tentacles…. I think….X3

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Still trying to catch up here! Hopefully soon.

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Remember this piece?

Well, it’s up for sale on the Periscope Etsy! You can see a better photo there. This was done on bristol board, with watercolor and ink. I did this while at Emerald City Comic Con 2011, for no one in particular. It just popped into my head. So perhaps you could argue that I drew it just for you.;)

HERE!

I finally finished! My Janelle Monae piece for the the Periscope Sketch Challenge!

I love Janelle. She is one of the most talented people working in music today, and her stuff often inspires me to work harder and reach for better things in my art.

Also, I’m claiming this as…

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Ok, I am still behind, but these make me LESS behind on my 365 blog!
I am still day dreaming about that story idea, and hence I am doing character sketches. The more I sketch and think about this idea, the more excited I get about making it real, and the more I get flustered that the story is still so vague. Anyone have any writing tips they’d like to share with me?X3

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