The Lair - FAQ

Why Dragoness?¤ ¤ ¤
I have long felt a love and affinity for dragons. They are great spirits of power and beauty. Not matter how these magnificent creatures are portrayed, they always seem to command respect. Their symbolism of strength and wisdom has always touched me deeply. I count myself a fledgling among their number, in spirit if not in body.

Why do I do my art? ¤ ¤ ¤
I have always felt myself to be a person of vision, and, as is pretty normal for artists, I feel the need to express myself. My hobby of gaming makes this all the more prominent. In gaming all we have is our imaginations to tell us what we, and our fellow characters look like. I have always enjoyed character design, and have always had very strong mental images of the characters I play with. So, in an attempt to show the world what is only in my mind, I make these characters come to life on paper.

How did I get started? ¤ ¤ ¤
Also like many artists, I have been drawing for a very long time. I come from a creative family, and have been taking art classes since junior high. The more I accomplished the more I found wanted to learn. I continued taking art classes until it finally dawned on me that maybe I could make something out of this 'art thing'.

How do I learn to draw like you? ¤ ¤ ¤
Well, this isn't something easily answered. I've been drawing for a great many years with several years of schooling in various mediums. But I can tell you a few things. First, choose something that inspires and motivates you. Second, learn from the artist's you respect, look at how they tackle artistic problems. Third, practice, practice, practice! Find books and take classes that will help you learn the specific things you want to learn. That's it in a nutshell really.

How do you create your images? ¤ ¤ ¤
Well, the majority of the color work is sketched and inked by hand, then scanned at high resolutions, and colored using Adobe Photoshop 5.0. My system is a PIII 866 with 512 megs of RAM. I use a Cal Comp Creation Station Pro 12x12 graphics tablet. For marker work, I have about 50 Tria markers in a range of different colors, grays, and two blenders that I use. For my pencil work, several of the images were sketched first using a non-photo blue or carmine red Col-erase pencil, then tightened up using a 0.5mm mechanical pencil, or ink them with Staedtler Pigment liners. Then I scan it in color and use Photoshop's Hue/Saturation adjustment to remove all the cyan or red/magenta.

Why haven't you replied to my e-mail? ¤ ¤ ¤
::sighs:: I apologize for this, but I get such a large volume of mail, I can't get around to replying to it all. I try, but there always seems to be some that slip through the cracks. It's not that I'm an unsociable miser, or that I found something wrong with your message, I just didn't have the time. I will keep trying in the future, but please have patience with me. ^_^ Also note that if you asked a question covered here, then it's not likely I replied to it. I still get a lot of emails regarding the topics covered here, and it's a little frustrating that I maintain this FAQ but some people still don't bother to read it. ::sighs again::

Why don't you draw more anime fan art? ¤ ¤ ¤
Well for starters, I've never really been like everyone else. But don't get me wrong, it's certainly not because I'm not into anime! On the contrary, I love anime, and would probably do TONS of fan art of my favorite characters... If it weren't for the fact that I have all these characters of my own that I tend to like more. Heh. What can I say, I just like making my own characters and drawing them!! ^.^

What's with other people's characters being in the Original artwork section? ¤ ¤ ¤
Well, this is because all these characters have one thing in common, I did the character design. They are all characters that are played by friends of mine in the various role playing games I'm involved in, and each of those pictures is the first, and in most cases the only, graphical representation there is of the character. So they created the character concept, but I designed their specific look according to whatever specifications they could give me. It didn't seem right to place them in any other section, since all the other artwork on the site is merely my interpretation of someone else's character design and artwork.

Can I save your images to my hard drive? ¤ ¤ ¤
Yes. Be my guest. This would be my definition of "personal collecting." I do this all the time when I surf the web. I merely ask that you don't distribute the artwork in large quantities, or display it on the web. In other words, you can burn it to a CD for safe keeping, but if you make 50 copies of it and give them to all your friends, then that's pretty uncool.

Can I send you gift art? ¤ ¤ ¤
Yes! Please do, I love receiving gifts. Any finished artwork that other people send me of any of the characters on this site has a right to a place in my Guest Gallery. And by “finished” I just mean filled out and cleaned up a bit, even if it’s just a sketch. If you want to make me some gift art specifically of one of my characters, just make sure to check whose original concept it is before choosing a character to draw. Not all characters on this site are wholly mine, even in the original section. Some of them are my friend's characters, although we all would still appreciate it if you wanted to draw them. ^_^ All guest gallery entries have a space for a title and a link to a webpage or e-mail address, so go ahead and include those if you'd like. Happy arting!

Can I send you a picture of my character and have it put up in the Guest Gallery? ¤ ¤ ¤
Unfortunately, no. As much as I'd like to be able to put all kinds of artwork in my Guest Gallery, I have to limit it to characters found on this. This is mainly because I have a limited amount of web space and can't feature everyone's art. I've know other webmasters and mistresses that have allowed it and been taken advantage of, people ended up using their site as their own personal gallery. So I'm sorry, but no. I will certainly accept gift art of other people’s characters, but I won't put it up in the guest gallery. If you wish to do an image of your character and mine together, then that's fine! Be my guest! The small exception to this rule is if people do gift art of my favorite anime or comic book characters, but you have to know who they are first! ^_~

Is it okay if I color some of your line art? ¤ ¤ ¤
Sure. I'm fine if you want to experiment with coloring on my line art, I simply ask that you don't upload and display it unless you let me know first, (or if you're just looking for critiques, like on Julie's How to Draw Anime Forum. That's fine.). But be sure to give proper credit, both to me and to yourself!! If you want to do a coloring job on some of my line art and send it to me as gift, be my guest. Anyone who sticks to the color scheme of the character (eyes/hair/skin tone at least) can have their work featured in my Collaborations section, even though we really didn’t collaborate ahead of time! ^_^

Do you take requests? ¤ ¤ ¤
I work full time, and my life tends to be rather hectic on top of that, so I try not to take on too many projects at once (and then do it anyway half the time). I've gotten many requests in the past, but have never really had time for them. Unfortunately because of my hectic schedule, I can't take any requests. I may do some work for friends or for people as gifts, but that's usually all I have time for. Sorry to dissapoint.

Do you do commissions? ¤ ¤ ¤
Yes, but in a limited fashion. Since my free time is very limited and I have gotten a great number of requests to take commissions, I have decided to start taking commissions via Ebay. What this means is that I will put up an auction on the chance to commission me with very specific details, and anyone who wants to gets a shot at it. This does mean that less people will be able to commission me, but I have limited time to start with so that has less of an impact. But on the up side it means that the person getting the commission gets better quality work. For more details on how this will work and to see if I have any ongoing auctions, go to the Commissions page. To be notified ahead of time when I will putting up actions, join the mailing list. Kudos go to my friend Drakka, for giving me the idea. ^_~

Will you do an Art Exchange with me? ¤ ¤ ¤
I usually enjoy art exchanges a lot, but it can be difficult to find time to do them. If you're interested in doing an art exchange with me, e-mail me first and to make sure that I have time to do it soon. If I don't answer your e-mail right away, don’t take it the wrong way, it's likely that I'm just incredibly busy and haven't had the time. When it comes to art exchanges, usually it's me who initiates contact. ^_^ If you just send me artwork without arranging an exchange first, I'll assume it’s a gift and place it in my Guest Gallery.

Will you do artwork for my manga, video game, web page, ect? ¤ ¤ ¤
This is a tough one. Generally I am too busy with my own projects to take on a lot of new ones, especially ones of that size. If you are willing to pay me as a professional, then I will certainly consider it; depending on how busy I am and how serious your offer is. ^_^

Can I use your art to represent my RPG character? ¤ ¤ ¤
I get asked this a lot, and it really depends on what you want to use it for. If it’s just to show your friends so they have an idea what your character looks like, then sure, have at it! If you want to put it up on a webpage or somewhere else that a decent number of people will see it, then it’s a little different. For the most part I’m okay with this, as long as you follow my rules for artwork use, and take care not to claim the character as your own. (It’s one thing to say, “This is what my character looks like.” And a whole other thing to say "This is my character.”)

Can I use your art to make my forum sig or avatar? ¤ ¤ ¤
I have no problem with people using my artwork for sigs and such as long as they comply with two simple conditions:

A) Please alter the image as little as possible. Cropping and resizing is fine. Flopping/mirroring is okay, though I’d prefer if you avoided it. You can try to remove the background, though again I’d rather you didn’t if possible, and be warned the results might not be pretty. Changing skin/eye/hair color, adding or removing features like tails, ears, jewelry, or other such alterations are a No-No! (Note: This IS a very good way to piss me off!)

B) Please credit me and link my site somewhere visible near the art. I don’t think this is too much to ask, since in the process of cropping the image to make it into a sig or avatar, you end up removing my signature, copyright info, and URL. Not too bad a trade off I think; you get to use a nice piece of art for your sig, avatar, etc. and I get a little exposure in the process.

I do reserve the right to revoke this permission should the artwork be used in a manner that I feel is unlawful, degrading, inflammatory, or pornographic.

Can I use one of your characters in my story/fanfic? ¤ ¤ ¤
As above, this depends on what specifically you want to do. If you want to write fan fiction about my characters, in the world they live in, doing your best to keep them in character, then sure, be my guest! I'd like to read it! But if you just need a character to stick in your own story and don’t feel like designing your own, then I'm sorry, but I’ll have to say no. Likely your story will be better if you create all the characters yourself!

Can I use your artwork as wallpaper or for a Winamp or ICQ skin?? ¤ ¤ ¤
Sure, be my guest. ^_^ I don't mind when people want to use my art for decorative purposes. In fact, if you do make a skin out of my artwork, please let me know! I'd be happy to see it and host it here for people to use. Please give me credit for it, and please ask me before distributing, (this includes putting it on your own or someone else's website). Thanks!!! ^_~

Can I place your fan art in my image gallery? ¤ ¤ ¤
Normally I'm completely fine with this, but please, you must ask first!!! There have been occasions where people have taken fan art and placed it in an image gallery without my permission. Every time this happens I demand that the image be removed. I'm sorry but I will not condone the use of images without the artist's permission. However, if you e-mail me with the link to the web site that you want to place the image, then in all likelihood I will say yes, unless the content of the site is questionable in nature in some fashion.

Can I use your art on my web page, for my manga, or for my video game, ect.? ¤ ¤ ¤
This depends on which pics you want to use, and for what purpose. Fan art I don't usually mind, but my original work I am very protective of. In most cases I will say yes but please contact me first with the information listed below and I’ll let you know. Thank you!