I have been drawing since I was old enough to hold a crayon, and over the years I have worked on turning little stick figures on the wall into the colorful pieces I proudly show on this website. For me, art is second nature...I have always loved to draw and as long as my eyes and hands still work, I always will. I create art for many reasons...to bring beauty to the world, to communicate an idea or a feeling, even just to meditate. When I am working on a picture, I am taken to a different place, a world of fantasy where nature is all around and elves and faeries aren't simply figments of the imagination but living breathing creatures. For just a few hours, the cares of this world are left behind and anything is possible.
     For the most part, I am self taught...I firmly believe that practice makes perfect. Art was something I was born to do so throughout my childhood it was just a matter of sharpening my skills and continuously developing my talent into something better. I always had plenty of encouragement from family, friends, and teachers...all of whom told me that someday I would "make it big" as an artist. Of course I learned from anything and anyone who would teach me...I took art classes in high school and in 2000 I began attending the Art Institute of Phoenix. Many of the things I learned there built upon what I already knew but I came away from it with many new and helpful tips and techniques, and I'm forever learning new things.
     I am hugely inspired to create by Nature. The power of the elements, the ever changing seasons, the simple beauty found in plants and animals - all of these are deeply important to me and my artwork always features some element of the natural world. I also love the world of Fantasy art - majestic dragons, playful mermaids, and magical unicorns are real in my mind and I see my art as a window into a world where they exist. The mythical world of Middle Earth is as real to me as another country I might someday visit, and I count J.R.R. Tolkien as my single greatest artistic influence. 
     There are, of course, other artists whose work I enjoy, but instead of listing them here I'll invite you to visit my links page and see them for yourself.
     You will notice that much of my art contains celtic knotwork and art nouveau, but the thing about my art that draws the eye is the color...I love rich, vibrant colors and all of my art is liberally splashed with it. I am often asked how long it takes me to complete a picture...whatever the answer (and it varies depending on the size and amount of detail in the picture), at least half of it consists of adding color. Typically I spend anywhere from 3 to 4 hours on one piece.
     I most often work with colored pencils and your average 8 and a half by 11 computer paper...I can't afford expensive supplies, nor do I need them. My box of colored pencils contains several different brands...Crayola, Foohey, and Prang mostly. For my larger works I use the posterboard you can buy at the store and just cut it to the correct dimensions. When inking, I prefer gel pens, as they are smoother and don't mind writing over pencil, unlike ballpoint pens. I sometimes use markers too but this is rare, since I can blend colors much easier with colored pencils.
     All of my art, whatever size, starts as a sketch. I sketch right on the paper because I hate tracing...when I get the pencil drawing how I want it I do a basic inking, without much detail. When this is dry, I erase the pencil and go in and add the details. After this, it's all about the color, and most of the time this isn't planned out...I just start coloring and see what happens. Of course, I do know something about color theory and I use that when I am coloring a piece. The whole process is pretty simple, especially when you've done it a hundred times, and naturally, seeing the finished product after an afternoon sitting at the art desk is very satisfying.

Legal Stuff: All artwork, unless otherwise noted, is copyright 2008 by Melissa Saunders. Please do not steal it!

~ The Artistic Process...A step by step look at how I create art ~

The very first part of creating artwork is deciding on a concept - what it is you want to draw. It could be a symbolic piece based on an emotion or just something you saw that inspired you. For this piece, I wanted to draw an Alcarin with a Parakeet. I chose a Lupine, or Wolf, Alcarin because this is the species I most often draw, and a parakeet because I have one for a pet. The idea behind this picture is to represent the connection the main character has with her bird companion. 
Sometimes it takes me several sketches to get the composition how I want it, but in the case of this drawing I got it right the first try. My initial sketch is very rough and I use light pencil strokes so that I can erase if I need to. (This is why many of the lines are hard to see here.) I start with basic shapes (circles and lines) to get the proportions correct, and then go in and fill in the details. Pay attention to anatomy - if you're going for a realistic look, this is crucial because if the structure isn't correct, the finished piece won't be as believable. At this point, it is good to have a reference for what you are drawing...go online or look at books to find pictures of the creatures or things you want to draw.
Since I wanted to focus on the connection between the character and her bird, I went with a portrait style layout, from the waist up. I gave the character a static pose so that I could focus more on the way she looks than the way she moves. Again, look at photos to get ideas for poses.
To give the picture a bit of an art nouveau flair, I placed her within a ring, with one wing folded behind her and one wing hanging out. To balance the image, I added a rectangular block in the background.
Once the pose is solid, I go in and add details such as fur texture, feathers, clothing, jewelry, and any other small accessories, such as the ribbons and strings of pearls wrapped around the ring. Once this is finished, its on to step 2! 

STEP 1

STEP 2

The next step is inking...I do this in two parts. For the first part I use a black gel pen. I like these pens because they give you a very smooth line. At this time I concentrate on the basic linework rather than the details. I decide which parts of the sketch I want to keep and which parts I want to get rid of. Its important to be very careful during this stage because once the ink is on the paper, there's no turning back and if you make a mistake you're stuck with it.
Also, depending on the type of pen you use to ink, be very careful not to smudge the ink. In fact, its a good idea to let it dry for about half an hour before erasing the pencil lines.
When this stage is complete, the picture will look a bit like something out of a coloring book.

STEP 3

The second part of inking is all about the details. You'll want to make sure all pencil lines are erased before you start this.
Using a ballpoint pen, I now go very slowly and add in the finer lines that make up the picture - this includes details on the jewelry, individual locks of fur or hair, lines on the feathers, and a hint of shading on the ribbons and on the clothing. An advantage of this step is that it allows you to create lines of different thicknesses, which in the end makes your picture more visually interesting.
Finally, any areas that are black, such as the nose and the paw pads, are filled in now as well.
Once the inking is complete, the picture is ready for color. I usually save a copy of this version, however, so that others can try their hand at coloring it as well, and also because I feel that a piece with good linework can stand well on its own before any color is even added.

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STEP 4

When adding color, I typically start with the main character, and the first part of the character I color is usually the skin...or in this case, the fur. I wanted her fur to match the colors and patterns of a Blue Parakeet, and this is where photo references become really handy. In my case, all I had to do was look at my own Parakeet and make observations about his markings. For instance, his body is blue while his head is not.
I chose a sky blue and colored only her body. The wings will be colored at a later point so for now I leave them white. The bird also gets a bit of color.

Below are some photos of my parakeet for comparison:

STEP 5

Before moving on to the next color, I want to add a bit of shading to the areas I have already filled in. But before I can add shadows, I have to first decide where my light source is.
Your light source could be the sun, a lamp, a torch or bonfire, or a magical glow from a staff or an orb. If the light source carries a strong color, this will affect the color of your character as well.
For this picture, I'm not including a strong light source, so the shadows will be spread rather evenly throughout and the color will not be affected. When shading, I treat each body part as a separate shape, and I think about where the light would be hitting it and where the shadows would occur. The darkest shadow will always be on the opposite side of where the light is hitting an object, but in this case, the light is all around so I place the shadows on both sides.
When shading, I start darkest at the edge and gradually lighten as I move towards the middle of the object. I also add some more fur texture here as well.
I've also decided to color the ribbons on the ring and in her hair blue to match her fur, and I add shading to them as well.

STEP 6

The next part I want to focus on is the character's head and hair.
A parakeet's head is mostly white, with thin bars of black extending from the forehead all the way to the back of the neck. It also has small black dots under its chin and purple cheek spots. I'm going to want to reflect these markings in my character's own fur.
When coloring fur or hair that's white, or anything for that matter, I shade with a very light grey. If I were to just leave the white parts white, the picture would look incomplete. So I add shadows to her fur, hair, and also on the ring (my scanner didn't pick this subtle detail up so well however). I then add the bars on her forehead and give just a hint of it in the rough fur on the back of her head. I then add the black chin dots and the purple spots on her cheeks.
I finish this step by adding these markings to the bird.

STEP 7

Aside from the wings, the main character is nearly finished. I now color her accessories and clothing.
For her jewelry, I decided to stick with the color theme of blue and white. The metal is silver and the jewels are a blue-purple, somewhat reminiscent of a peacock. The pearls are left white.
For her top, I went with purple to match the cheek spots, and the bottom half of the outfit stays white to match with white in the top. I gave the purple sections just a bit of detail with some curling lines.
Finally, I add color to her eyes. I could have gone with blue or purple here but decided to make her eyes yellow-orange, to contrast with all the blue in the picture. At this point, all that's left to color on her is the wings.

STEP 8

When it comes time to color the wings, accuracy is a big deal to me. Its very important that the characters wings match those of their bird companion, and so at this point a photo reference is absolutely necessary to get it right.
When I did this step, I first tried to get my own parakeet to model for me. However, he didn't appreciate me trying to lift his wing up so I gave up and went for an online reference instead.
Its surprisingly difficult to find a reference for the underside of a parakeet's wings, but I kept digging and finally found a piece done by another artist, and I'm including just a section of it here so that you can compare my finished wings with the reference. There are some differences - due mainly to the fact that my wings were off a bit in their structure (another reason why its important to have a reference!), but I tried to get them as close to real life as possible.

STEP 9

The final step for this picture was the background. I wanted to include scenery in the background and I wanted it to hint at the character's lifestyle. Since pearls were the dominant accessory for her, I concluded that she must live near or on the ocean, so I knew the scenery needed to include a beach or water.
The amount of jewelry she is wearing suggests royalty, so a palace was also a key element in the scene. I made the castle white to match with the white fur and feathers on the character. Since Alcarin dedicate their lives to birds, trees are important, so I've included these along with some birds flying around the castle.
With the background finished, this completes the picture.

This process is by no means the only way to create artwork...its just the way I like to do it. You will find, with practice and persistence, that you will develop your own methods and favorite techniques, and eventually, your own unique style. And remember, a good artist is always learning!