Earthquake

There was a small-ish tremor from an earthquake, today, where I live--the first one I've ever felt. (It was very mild, with no damage.) It was an interesting experience, though, considering how rare that is in my region. Apparently this one originated from a 5.9 magnitude quake in Virginia. I hope that the damage isn't too severe for those closer to the epicenter.

If you felt the quake, the USGS has a brief questionnaire you can fill out, to help them gather more data.

Art Theft on "Art4Love.com"

Just some news to pass on, today. A number of deviantART users have found that art4love.com has been selling their work as prints without their permission. I'm not sure how many artists the site has been ripping off, but in my personal experience, I've noticed that a lot of art thieves tend to be very prolific.

Keep in mind that the site seems a bit wonky. You'll probably have to replace "art4love.com" in any URLs with "http://67.90.44.118"

So, my first recommendation is that everyone who has a deviantART account (or possibly any other art community) check out the site and look for their work. If you find anything of yours, take a screencap with date and time. Print it, if possible, with a date. This could be important later, if you need to go to court.

My second recommendation is that while doing so, you keep an eye out for any familiar pieces. If you see a piece that you recognize, it's best to contact the artist with a link and let them know. Screencaps with dates are a good idea here, too.

This news post on deviantART sums up a number of good ways to take action on this issue.

Lastly, if your work has been ripped off by this site--or any other site--remember that you have rights as an artist. Check up on copyright laws and how to write a "Cease & Desist" letter.

8-04 Sketch

For something a little different, this week, I came up with a sketch prompt for myself. Today's been packed, so I've only finished Part 1, so far. I'll finish the rest of it over the weekend, though.

For anyone following this blog, feel free to follow along and do this prompt yourself (and share your sketches, too, if you do) or suggest prompts for the future.

1. Pick the animal that you find most difficult to draw, and sketch it.
2. Now, pick the animal that is easiest for you to draw. Sketch this one the same as you did for the first animal.
3. Pick a random animal that you find interesting. Sketch it, as you did with the others.
4. ???
5. Profit! Combine all three animals into a chimera-type creature. Try to blend the features of all three into something that looks like it could exist in nature.

Step 1 - Horse

• I'd recommend drawing from life, where possible. Of course, there aren't any horses near where I live, so I used this photo as reference. Try to keep your drawing fairly realistic. Heavily stylized looks exaggerate or cut out visual information, and thus won't help you improve on drawing the real thing.
• Don't re-use existing sketches. Make a new drawing for each step.
• For a little extra challenge, don't erase (or if working digitally, undo) any of your lines. Just put 'em down, and try to live with it.