I've always been interested in the development of artists over the years, and I love to see how other people's art and characters have changed and evolved. I find it fascinating, and I'm honored that so many people have shared their older works.
The following pictures are of my avatar/guardian/sentinel beast; she's a personal symbol. I've been drawing her for decades; you could say I "discovered" her when I was very little. She's not changed that much physically over the years (the basic anatomy remains the same), but I DO hope I've improved a bit at drawing her.
She is a shakti/Sekhmet/destroyer-type figure, but is not inherently evil. She is a combination of many creatures: lion, tiger, eagle, dragon, smilodon, wolf, shark, fox... among others. Over time the various different aspects of her anatomy have become more streamlined and refined, and as time goes by she's been looking a bit less like a number of different animals all merged together, and more like a unique creature unto herself.
Okay - enough seriousness - on to the artwork!
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1984
This REALLY old drawing, scribbled in pencil, lacks the horns she's usually pictured with, but her tiger-like face is pretty obvious. As in most later versions, she has a gold mane but black body and facial fur.
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1985
Pencil and rollerball pen. Here she's got her draconic horns, as well as the slit pupils of a dragon or reptile, rather than the oval or rounded pupils of a big cat. You can see her canine-like pointed ears here.
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1986
More pencil and pen work. I attempted some shading to make her look black. I never was good at going dark. Such tiny horns, too!
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1988
Pencil. This was one of those pictures I was really proud of at the time, and it set some standards for future drawings of her. The horns are more "modern"-looking, and the sabre-fangs very obvious.
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1991
I really got into using markers, paint-pens and colorless blenders; I used them for many years (I never formally learned how to paint). This is a detail from an "expressive self-portrait" for an illustration class (no, I didn't really think I was that thing - it's expressive, not realistic). It was a fun assignment, but I think I scared some people...
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1992
More marker and paint-pen work. I had to withdraw from college at this point (financial reasons) but kept drawing because, well, I HAD to. I did this in an hour or so - it's 9" x 12".
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1994
Blue ballpoint pen. Back in school (in a less expensive college) I had a lot of classes that were relaxed enough to draw in. I did this in Geology - and still got an A.
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1995
Gouache. At my new college (now majoring in visual communications) I did more tiny detailed goache paintings than ever before, and during a little free time I painted this, an experiment in color and light.
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2001
Pencil. I'd been so busy with art trades and stuff for other people, and Life In General (and my husband and pets and family and job and...) that I hadn't had much time to draw for "me". I finally had to sit down and take an Art Break, and she's what developed. The eyes are more like a big cat's eyes; they seem sort of wide and staring, but they reflect how I felt at the time.
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2004
Pencil. The center is detailed, and the rest gets more scribbly radiating outward, on purpose. I do like to draw and see smooth, finished art, but I don't always want or need to do smooth, detailed pieces. There are times when I want to draw rough and scribbly, both because it helps set a mood, and because it's fun and relaxing to move the pencil around like that.
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2006
RSVP Pen. From my Pen Sketchbook project; here she looks quite shaggy.
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