?

Hey everyone. I'm back from the dead! Yes, I've been crazy busy (ain't we all?!) but the truth is, I've also been a bit conflicted about keeping up this blog. I started it as a place to post art, but it's strayed a bit with more random posts and graphic design stuff-and I think that's okay, but I do think that I've kind of been addressing two different purposes with this blog, and I'm not sure if I want to keep doing that. I do love this little blog and I think I want to keep posting on it, but I've been thinking of moving the art-related content to a different blog that will be more focused on sketches, and letting this blog continue sliding in its "less art-related" trajectory . . . I'll be starting college next year as a pre-animation major at a school with a great (very competitive!) animation program, and I'd like to have an "art" blog established before I start school to help me keep up with my art progress and to have something to share with other people I'll meet. So I will continue posting art in any case (it just might not be on this blog!) But if I continued posting here in more of a "normal blog" style, would you still be interested in reading that? Eh. I don't even know if I'd have anything to say . . . And I do have some work on here that I'm proud of, along with the stuff I'm not so proud of anymore, so I really would feel sad leaving it behind. Maybe I'll repost some of the drawings I still like on the new art blog? ???? And goodness mercy me, what on earth would I name it? (the most important question, right?) I also want to put together a separate portfolio type website for some of my graphic design work . . . but that's a topic for another post.

(Picture I took on my walk the other day so this post isn't just me talking ;) I love how the ice mirrors the shape of the oak leaves.)

Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what I should do with this little corner of the internet. Pitch it entirely and start over? Keep it up but switch posting to a new, more "strictly art-related" blog? Try to keep two blogs going while keeping their focuses in different places? I've even been thinking about moving to Wordpress or Tumblr (at least for an art blog?) a bit.

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye . . . until my next post!

an early Christmas gift for you

My school's chapter of NAHS (National Art Honor Society) always has a table at a yearly local art fair, and this year one of the things we sold was an "adult coloring book" (in quotation marks because it makes me laugh a little bit hearing people say that phrase-like they're trying to reassure themselves that it's okay for an adult to use a coloring book because it's an ADULT coloring book.) Apparently they have become really popular over the last year-Johanna Basford is the artist responsible for getting the trend going, and she's done some really beautiful work on them! Anyway, since we've already sold our books, I thought it would be okay to post my designs from the book (another girl from my design class made five other pages for the book we sold as well).

I don't know if anyone who reads this blog is into ("adult" ;)) coloring pages, but I figured they'll get more use here than languishing in the recesses of my flash drive. So if you'd like to try them out, or you have to do some babysitting of kids who might be interested in coloring something more intricate than your usual coloring book, you can download high quality PDFs of any of the pages from the Google Drive folder here. A little early Christmas present from me to you, I suppose:) If you do use any of them, I'd love to see a picture! :) Send them to me at somethingsplendidstudios@gmail.com or tag me on social media or whatever floats your boat! (If there is any interest, I might feature some of them on the blog.

I looked at a lot of old ironwork for this one-lots of gates and gratings and whatnot. I love the delicate curving shapes and all the curlicues and swirls.

Based on European and Scandinavian folk art! 

This one was inspired by Celtic designs. Creating the Gordian knot in Illustrator was a bit painful, but I'm quite pleased with the way this it turned out.

Mainly based off Art Nouveau-style shapes and curves. Again, I took some inspiration from the curves of ironwork-there are so many beautiful gates and doorways made in that era just begging to be made into a coloring book design :)

And this one comes mostly from Indian mandala designs. Look up Indian chalk mandalas-they will blow your mind. So intricate and lovely-and because they're made of chalk, they're incredibly temporary.

Enjoy, and merry early Christmas! :)

color!

I colored this digitally in Photoshop because I ended up really liking it . . . and now it's my new profile picture :)

#inktober day 31: return of inkPOEber + anna talks about poetry (POEtry haha) + THANK YOU

Wow. I can't believe it's the end of Inktober! And what better way to end it than with some Edgar Allan Poe? (Throwback to last Inktober when I wore out this pun in a shameful fashion . . . and here I am, dragging it out again. whoops?)

Poe is one of my favorite authors from the Romantic period, even though all his work tends to be a bit depressing. I try to follow it up with something nice and cheerful like The Importance of Being Ernest or Much Ado About Nothing or anything by Ogden Nash or Roald Dahl, to keep myself from drifting about for the rest of the day in a mood of sentimental melancholy. Never, under any circumstances, let yourself sit down and read T.S. Eliot and Edgar Allan Poe and Hamlet at the same time, unless you have the time to spare to sit and gaze out the window pondering how terribly sad it is to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune while pining away after the bright eyes of your lost love in an unreal city on the beach of the tumid river under an evening spread out against the sky like a patient etherized upon a table. It'll take a very strong does of John Donne to jolt you out of that. ("Death, Be Not Proud" always tugs at my heartstrings. You don't have to read any of the other stuff I linked to, but go read that. It will cheer you up. Promise.)

(Also, today was the last day of Poe Party, so some Poe stuff seemed to be in order. :) )

I couldn't decide which of the pictures I took was better, so I have burdened you with both of them. You tell me which one is better. ;)

And now that I 've talked about poetry for a far longer time than I intended to: I just wanted to say thank you all so much for reading this blog during this crazy month, and all the time! I know it might be kind of annoying to have these posts keep popping up EVERY DAY, so I really truly appreciate everyone reading and commenting on them. One of the nicest things about this blog was finding that there are so many lovely people out there who are interested in classic literature and art and period dramas and philosophy and theology and all sorts of interesting things, and who are willing to even read my little blogging efforts and look at my pictures and to leave the nicest, most encouraging and most thoughtful comments. As usual, Anne Shirley said it best: "Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world." So if you're reading this, thank you so much for being a kindred spirit! :)

#inktober day 30: 40s

Almost there! Just one day left now.

Thank you so much for sticking with me through this journey.

#inktober day 29: the bravest jedi of them all

My youngest brother broke his arm last week. He's been doing well and is dealing with it all with a great attitude, but it's just plain hard sometimes to be an active little boy when your arm is out of commission! So it cheered him up considerably when my mom reminded him that his cast will fit right in with his Jedi costume :)

#inktober day 28: eliza

I don't even know.

This is so bad but I have to do something aaaaa

IS INKTOBER OVER YET

#inktober day 27: alas

#inktober day 26: horses, changing interests, and loving things

One of my good friends moved across the country last year. She's an amazing horseback rider, and I was thinking about her when I drew this :)

Now, something you should know about me is that I have always been a very devoted Lover of Various Things from a young age, and one of the things I loved was horses. I checked out Black Stallion and Marguerite Henry books (or any other horse book) and devoured them in stacks, I collected little plastic horses, I wrote pages of stories about horses, I did school projects about horses, and I wanted my very own horse with all of my soul. Some kids had imaginary friends, but I had an imaginary herd of horses. It was a Thing. :)

To some extent, I guess I still have that love for horses! I don't think about it every day like I did then, but it's still a part of me. There will always be a very special place in my heart for "horse books", and I am still awed by the beauty and power of horses. I will still get emotional when I read Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West or Black Beauty or King of the Wind, and I kind of hope I always will.

So even though that interest has become less a part of my life than it used to be, it's still part of who I am. I used to be afraid that getting new interests and having some things I used to be completely immersed in fade into the background would mean changing the person I am permanently. But everything I've ever loved and put energy and time and passion into has changed me, and I'm better for it. And of course, the things that are truly important-my faith, family, etc., will always be a part of my life, no matter what other things change.

Essentially, I believe it's much better to be interested in everything and not have the time to pursue it all than to lack interest in everything and struggle to find anything you value enough to be passionate about. If you're going to love something, why do it by halves? :) And the more you develop the ability to discover all the fascinating things in the world around you, the more things you'll find to love and the happier you'll be.

Have a good day, friends.

#inktober day 25: sometimes . . .

I've been working a lot on some pages for a coloring book that my design class is going to sell at this holiday art fair our town has in December, so that kind of leaked into my Inktober for today.

I saw this quote on Pinterest the other day, and I've been thinking about it ever since. It reminds me of something my English teacher last year used to do. She would have us look at our work and make two lists: strengths and goals. I think that's a much better way to look at it when things don't turn out as you planned. Look for ways to change and improve rather than calling it a failure and a waste of time. An experience is only a waste of time if you make the decision not to learn anything from it.

Here's a little preview of one of my coloring book designs :) I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and I might share some of the other pages with you guys once I've finished them.

#inktober day 24: "show me the key"

I've been loving the Secret Garden musical recently. It doesn't follow the book exactly, but it captures the spirit of it while still being original. And the harmonies will give you CHILLS. I haven't had the time to sit down and listen to the whole thing yet, but I've been listening to a few particular songs on repeat-I really love "Lily's Eyes", "Race You to the Top of the Morning", "Come to My Garden/Lift Me Up", "How Could I Ever Know", and "Hold On" (although I actually like the Motab version of that a bit better). Also, I really like "Winter's on the Wing" and "Show Me the Key". I could basically talk about it forever-but I don't have the time just now. So here's a quick sketch of Mary :)

Here's another one I really like: "I Heard Someone Crying". Lily's high notes are just perfection, and I love the harmonies. The best part starts at 2:03 when they're all singing over each other <3 <3 <3

#inktober day 23: archer

#inktober day 22: baseball

I don't draw guys as much-I need to work on that.

#inktober day 21: silly goose

#inktober day 20: woof

I just really like dogs okay

#inktober day 19: the grass is always greener . . .

I love this quote:)

I messed with the colors a bit digitally for this one, just for fun.

The original ink version!

Which one do you like better?

#inktober day 18: ANGRY EYES

"Prepare to meet . . . MR ANGRY EYES!" (Yes, that was a Toy Story quote)

Don't be grumpy (like this picture).

This has been a message from Something Splendid Studios. :)

#inktober day 17: "light! give me light!"

"Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near the harbour was. 'Light! give me light!' was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour." -Helen Keller

I've been reading Helen Keller's autobiography recently, and I'm absolutely amazed by her courage, endurance, and faith. Just . . . WOW. Here's another quote I really love: "Sometimes, it is true, a sense of isolation enfolds me like a cold mist as I sit alone and wait at life's shut gate. Beyond there is light, and music, and sweet companionship; but I may not enter. Fate, silent, pitiless, bars the way. Fain would I question his imperious decree; for my heart is still undisciplined and passionate, but my tongue will not utter the bitter, futile words that rise to my lips, and they fall back into my heart like unshed tears. Silence sits immense upon my soul. Then comes hope with a smile and whispers, 'There is joy in self-forgetfulness.' So I try to make the light in others' eyes my sun, the music in others' ears my symphony, the smile on others' lips my happiness."

#inktober day 16: unreal city

I saw some city sketches I really liked the other day, and I wanted to try my hand at it. :) 

Unreal City
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn, 
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not though death had undone so many.
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet, 
Flowed up the hill and down King William Street
To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours
With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine.
. . .
Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song,
Sweet Thames, run softly, for I speak not loud or long.
. . .
What is the city over the mountains
Cracks and reforms and bursts in violet air
Jerusalem Athens Alexandria
Vienna London
Unreal

T. S. Eliot

(We've been studying "The Waste Land" in my English class and I've fallen into the deep dark hole of Eliot obsession once again. So yep:) )

#inktober day 15: "nothing! no ideas! useless! empty! brain!"

Ugh. I need to give myself more time to work on these things because today I had the hardest time coming up with anything. I have fifty jillion ideas that I abandoned because they weren't what I wanted :/

Big Hero 6 said it best: 

(pardon the melodrama and be assured, I'm actually okay. it's just that it's very late and I am very tired. things will look better in the morning :) )