She Who Dwells in the Forest

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Good lord *facepalm*
I admit this is better than my last attempt, but Jez! Humans are not my strong point, I think its clear to see.
This isn't meant to be a self-portrait, but I put myself onto the character none the less.

Unfinished Self-Portrait

By the time I got an -almost-decent flesh tone I lost interest in the whole image. Besides, its not what I'm actually after. I want to paint something with a bit more…well more, to it.
Why is there a Moeritherium in the background? Well, there was this article on how to find your totem animal, not a serious thing though, and I thought I'd give it ago (I can't remember the specifics as it was about two years ago) for the fun of it. Fell asleep and what did I get… a fricking Moeritherium (a prehistoric relative of the elephant) in a car park… THE HELL?! I know we can't pick and choose our totems, but still...pretty obscure ain't it? What the hell does that totem represent?

Elephant: (from this website)
“Ancient Power, Strength, Royalty
*An Elephant totem gives you ancient wisdom and power to draw upon. It embodies strength and power.
*Elephant people often have a very strong sex drive.
*Through the use of fragrances and incense, Elephant can guide you to new energies and power.
*Elephant people show great affection to their families, caring for the young and the elderly. *They also have an inborn knowledge of roots and plants.
*An Elephant will give you insight into the power of the three feminine energies: child, mother and old wise woman (or crone).
*The Hindu god Ganesh, god of overcoming obstacles, is associated with the Elephant

…so what would all that mean with a prehistoric/extinct element?
WAIT, I have a “very strong sex drive”?!? haha! Yeah right…perhaps that’s the extinct part.

Samillio

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This is a portrait of Samillio, a mouse from a story I’m writing, and he’s the soul brother of the main character, a wyvern. What? I was brought up on the Redwall books by Brian Jacques, so its only natural that mice are going to pop up in my own fiction! Haha!

Special Thanks:

*Brynn Metheney for her tips for painting translucent ears in ImagineFX magazine, Issue 75.

Samillio (Quick Sketch)

A quick sketch in preparation for a painting. This is a character from that story I'm writing, Samillio. (what? I was brought up with the literature of Brian Jacques, course I'm going to have mice pop up in my own!)
This sketch was just for me to plan his markings and colour scheme from a top-view, after all that's what will be on show most of the time.

Houndoom

My interpretation of my favourite pokemon, Houndoom.
If it reminds you a little of Giger’s Alien design then that’s no surprise as it was an inspiration. I didn’t just want Houndoom to be a Doberman with horns, but something really hellish and bad-ass. Slick black skin, a cruel snarl and a nasty tail is how I would want a real Houndoom to look.

Yeah, I know in the Pokemon games the horns point backwards, but I wanted mine forward in an aggressive bull-like aim. I also have a weakness for white shire-horse fluff on a creatures feet, so that was incorporated too, a nice contrast between the skin.
Also you can see that fire/lava is peaking out of the skin on the back…after all Houndoom is a fire/dark type.

Atlas of Jör and Map of Fëylonn

Looky! I've been map making! Something different, no?


EDIT: 14/March/2012:
Here is a bigger version of the Map of Fëylonn

I had an awful moment when I literally face palmed myself to death. In a previous post I mentioned this piece of fiction I was writing, I just asked myself the question "Why am I writing a sci-fi?"...seriously, Yasmin, why were you? To my knowledge, I have only read one sci-fi novel, Iain.M Bank's The Algebraist, and I did not enjoy it... at all. Don't get me wrong, Sci-fi films rock! But, for me, Sci-fi is better as a visual thing. I love fantasy books! I love fantasy everything! My whole days a literally spent thinking of fantasy worlds... why - for the love of god!- was I not writing one then!
* facepalm No: 5,000,000!*
So, back to square uno. Sigh!

Anyway, I’ve renamed the islands/lands and done a detailed map of the area the story takes place. I've used the Lord of the Rings/Middle Earth Map, The Map from Brian Jacques' Redwall, and the Map from Christopher Paolini's Eragon for reference.
The compass is made out of Quez heads (the species of the main character) with the human symbol in the middle (an orb engulfed in blue flame). Before you wonder, no I did not hand draw every tree, I drew a clump then turned them into a stamp brush.

Carnivine

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My interpretation of the pokemon Carnivine. Although the original design didn't have a neck I gave mine one, so it can lunge at prey with a snake-like quickness (in the picture its sort of coiled back into a corkscrew/passion fruit vine ready to spring). I also imagined that most of the time a Carnivine would be embedded, like normal plants, into the soil so that only its protective shell/husk was showing. It can then float to a new destination via methane and hydrogen produced internally.

You can also see that the eyes are like those of a deep water fish.