The Art

Calydor

2010-03-14T14:59:00.000+01:00

Raw emotion

2009-12-04T21:31:00.003+01:00

Art has been low on my list of priorities lately. Music became a release for me right now though - Placebos take on Running up that hill stirred something in me, and surprsingly, i felt like drawing, just for me. So here it is, a speedpaint. It's called BOOM.

Listend to

and

Anatomy challenge - hugging a horse

2009-10-06T19:46:00.003+02:00

I've been intrigued my the relationship between horse and centaur for years, but I've never gotten around to relay exporing it through art, or not successfully anyway. It is someting I'd like to investigate a bit.
In this sketch I was looking for a friendly hug between horse and centaur, and it prooved to be quite difficult to pull off in regards to the size. I finally found a relationship in scale that seems to suit them - the horse is bigger than the centaur - it feels logical for some reason, allthough it is hard to explain. Or well, it was the only way I could get her to hug his face the way I wanted her too, haha!
Trying to get the arms enfolding him is a different story though, I'll have to do some more research on it, and maybe even take some reference photos to get the hands right. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Muse

2009-10-06T19:41:00.003+02:00

I've taken a break from dA - more or less, as you may have noticed if you follow me there. I still go there to look at art and do some ninjafaving, but I have to say, it feels really good to have taken some sort of vacation form that place. And It's taken several weeks for me to even regain some kind of desire to paint. Personally I have trouble painting when I feel angsty and upset, so all the drama around there seems ot have been acting as an inhibitor on my muse. It's also about expectation - both from myself, my peers and my followers. It feels good to be more free.
I've just started putting my pen to the paper, so to speak.

Big artworks are not something I'm pursuing at this moment, so know new wips on big artworks. I am however, trying to to some more drawings, scribbles. Some is soon coming up on teh blog, so keep an eye out, and please bring comments! :)

Reprise

2009-09-06T14:16:00.006+02:00

I've had some new WIPs going ad wow, things just took a deadstop today. I think they are horrible and don't know what the hell to do with them other then throw them away. My computer is not working optimal, and things in general are not in favor of artmaking right now.

I started cleaning around my files though, and tossed a whole lot of WIPs that have only been sitting there for a long time without going anywhere.

While I was cleaning I found and old artwork I uploaded to dA ages ago - it came down pretty quickly again, as I recieved massive critique on the quality of it. I felt that with so much wrong with the piece, I could not have it up and let it represent my work. At the time I had a hard time seeing the point of a lot of the critique, so I left it alone in one of my folders.
Now I brought it out to look at it and I can really see how poorly contructed the whole piece is, and how I've tried to cover it up with effects. I really like the idea and the motif though, so I've decided to give it another chance, but starting over all together instead.

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Here you can see the original artwork. It's lacking a lot of definition as far as texture and details go in pretty much every area. The composition is so-so. It's bottom-left heavy, but the angles suggest upper-right corner which I still feel balances it out somewhat. In combination with the higher cliff on the right, it gains a somewhat skewed harmony.

Negative space can both make or break your artwork - in this piece I wanted to use negative space for interest, but as you can see, it is risky.

Other critique I recieved was about inconsistency - people felt the texture on the cliffs did not match the texture of the rocks on the pool. Personally I didn't think that was all that important at the time, but enough people reacted on for me to consider another possibility. You will see my solution in the new sketch.

The pegasus in general is severly off angle in several places - its important to try and think about the horse body when you draw strange positions. The position may not be possible in real life, but you should still try to make it LOOK possible. Some people will always disagree with your interpretation of what's realistic etc. Knowing what is possible, and seeing something that seems possible, are very different things. In art, one is far more important than the other. People who are too fixated on what can and cannot be done in real life versus imagery have missed out on something very importantw hen it come sot the essance of art.

Here is the new version (below) I've just started composing. One of the most important changes I've made is the scale - the pegasus is a lot smaller, and it really fits the general idea a lot better in my oppinion.

For the rocks in the water I tried ot use my head a bit better - they are pieces of cliff that have broken off and fallen down into the pool. In order not to make the same mistake as I did on the former piece - where I did the cliffwalls first and added the rocks much alter, I will try to do them together, so the texture stays fresh in my mind, and connects properly.

Another thing for me to think about in this piece is depth - are the cliff walls directly facing eachother, or is there some distance between them? Those thing will have to be decided early on to help me establish how the light will effect each cliffside wall.

Commisions

2009-08-31T09:58:00.003+02:00

I take custom orders for artwork - I'm specialized in equines (horses) and fantasy, but I do take orders depicting various pets and people as well. If you have any questions, please refer to mia.m.bengtssonATgmail.com

______________________

Terms of Agreement

Payment is made through PayPal or Bank Transfer

Payment is made at clients discretion, though not later than the image is 50% complete. I will let you know. If you do not pay, I will do what I want with the artwork and all rights fall to me.

Delivery time may vary depending on personal schedule. If you want a specific timeframe for your commision, be sure to be clear about this in the early stages of negotiation.

Print of image is not included

High resolution jpeg ready for print included

I reserve the right to sell prints of commissioned artwork as well as use commissioned artwork in my online portfolios and galleries and in commercial purposes for myself (ie on possible personal website for graphics and such), for all time unless otherwise specified.

I can supply a variety of prints of custom size of my artwork privately (not through the dA printshop), including CANVAS prints. Inquire for price information

Pricelist
_{all prices are in Swedish currency - SEK. Translate to your own currency at www.xe.com}

Example 1300:- Advanced background, highly detailed equine - no extra for winged as long as it is only one character.
Example 900:- Semi-worked background, detailed equine.
Example 700:- Equine, highly detailed, no background.
Example 300:- Line Art

Additional characters also cost extra:
250:- for regular character
500:- for winged character

Price examples

Example Advanced background, highly detailed equine + 1 unicorn = 1550:-
Example Advanced background, highly detailed equine + 1 pegasus = 1800:-

No new wips but coming along

2009-08-31T09:21:00.004+02:00

I'm home sick at the moment, and maybe I'll have energy enough to do some art - I have a few others on the way, besides the centaur piece which is resting for the moment. That is my typical way of doing things I focus on a painting for a while, then I take break from it and do something else with another piece. ^^

I'm considering a new way of doing commisions - I call it Mystery Commisions - you can read about it in my dA journal.

No new wips posted at this time, cos they are a bit secret! ^^

Centaurs - rocks and light

2009-07-22T14:32:00.004+02:00

More refinment to the background, also started adding some things in the foreground - the rocks in the water for example, allthougth still very basic. Right now there is no water but what you see is the riverbed. I'll be doing more texture work on that later. I save the actual body of water for when the image is almost done, as it will reflect some of its surroundings. It would not be smart to do a lot of detailed work with the water now, just to realize that I have to redo it later because I changed something else! So think ahead people!
I tend to add the general idea of something in advance though - I need to get the whole picture infront of me to be able to know what to do next... For example I have made a field of light - it will be removed later when I actually start working on the light for real - but for now it is a good guide!

It will be a challeneg to get the rocks to look flat I'm noticing. The idea is that they work as a natural bridge becuase of beeing flat. It would be hard for acentaur to cross a river on rocks if they werent! Any deas on how I can get that flat feeling?

Centaurs - background work

2009-07-19T19:35:00.003+02:00

Extended the canvas a bit to the left. Some refinement done in the top left corner.

Centaurs - coloring

2009-07-18T13:43:00.004+02:00

Started background coloring. Right now there are three layers, one for the background, one for the landmassgrasses, and one for the reeds - everything is very elementary at this point. There is a lot of refinment to be done. At this point I'm basicly working compositionally - working out where everything is and how it works, and setting the light.
As you can see the image is tipping a bit to the right now, I will have to get that sorted somehow. (If you search out angles in the image, you will see a lot of movement/diagonals towards the right top corner - it should be balanced by opposite angles. I will probably work with the massive tree in the top left - it's leaning helps move the image balance too much, so straightening it out and maybe adding some more angle sin the corner will help straighten thebalance of the image.

clickable image

Centaurs - more progress

2009-07-18T12:59:00.004+02:00

Still working on the anatomy issues with this, I've gotten a lot of good advice. I'm pretty happy with how it's currently looking, so I think this is it! I'm gonna start by doing basic background work though, so if anyone feels they have something more to contribute, please leave comment about it!

clickable image

Centaurs 3

2009-07-17T20:17:00.004+02:00

Allright, taking some critique to heart - I realize the background may be a bit decieving now and make distances look bigge rthan they aremeant to be - I've tried to clearfy that a bit now with some more detailing brushstrokes.

Also, changed females left arm a bit.

As you can see, I've also redline myself a bit - now you can see how I'm thinking.

Centaur Update

2009-07-17T19:09:00.006+02:00

Revised my sketch a bit, used R as a model for the male, think I got a better pose for him. Still want feedback though!
Looking at it now I'm wondering if the suggested distance is too far for them to be holding hands with his arm thusly retracted?

clickable image

Speaking of centaurs

2009-07-17T16:21:00.001+02:00

On the topic of centaurs - found this ancient sketch in my Progress folder!

Could use some serious feedback - my human anatomy is defintely not up to par, and though I'm fairly satisfied with the female, the male looks but-ugly right now! I'm thinking my old boyfran will have to pose for some photos for him for one, but I'd appreciate all and any feedback regarding the entire image!

clickable image

darkfolio

2009-07-17T14:18:00.000+02:00

dA launched its new portfolio feature. I've been playing with is and it looks pretty nice so far. I still want a completely personal website with my own domain, but this is nice feature thus far.
Still contemplating what I should name 'myself' as far as a personal website goes. It is actually a bit like naming yourself, don't you think?
When/if I decide to go more seriously into a freelancing business, this will be the name I'll be known as. My old website was called Licentia Poetica for example, my swedish blogg Lucida Drömmar (Lucid Dreams) and my english blog Muse by Mia. Not really fitting for my would be website though, but I feel kinda akward naming it Studio blabla. becuase it's so common amongst illustrators...

http://musebymia.darkfolio.com/

Using my art

2009-07-17T12:55:00.000+02:00

Do you want to use my art for something? Read this to find out what my rules are!

Artwork may be displayed online in illustration purpose and art compilations and for NON-PROFIT sites only. You may not sign away the rights to my artwork! Make sure you have read your sites term of use properly!

All and every single artwork used should be credited followingly: © Mia Bengtsson www.losmios.deviantart.com

Artwork may not be cropped or edited in any fashion without prior permission. (resizing to a smaller size is alright as long as it does not compromize the quality of the artwork - basicly use common sense. Any editing that ruins the purpos eo fteh image is frowned upon)

Artwork may not be used as any kind of graphics, including but not limited to; avatars, banners, sigs. This also mean syou should not add text etc to the image.

If you post my artwork at sites like Photobucket or Facebook you MUST give proper credit, as listed above. Doing otherwise will be interpreted as misuse/theft.

I reserve the right to at any time decline any kind of usage of any of my images for reasons I do not have to explain.

PLEASE do no repost my wallpapers at any kind of site. And if you decide to do it anyway, please do not remove my tiny signature!

For bloggers (and others to whom it may concern) - please respect these wishes. If you want to just show an image becuase you think it is pretty (please give credit though), that's ok, but do not add graphics (text or symbols) to it, resize it too much or make it into an adoptable character.

Having trouble understanding something? Send me an e-mail.

Don't know English that well? Send me a an e-mail.

Want to know more about using art online? Read this!

Centaur

2009-07-17T12:39:00.000+02:00

Been feelin' like centaurs. It's been a while since I drew some. A few years actually. You can tell though it's been a while since I drew human bodies, especially the chest feels off.