tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45824357610371466582024-03-05T03:51:36.965-08:00K. LeCrone's BlogCreative Musings, Art, and WritingK. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-70503626623670007192018-06-06T19:23:00.000-07:002018-06-06T19:25:56.977-07:00New Website<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sqZF8GRfREg/WxiWprXe_CI/AAAAAAAAF6s/-8WxASkrMREPavsulijrTLCAidzDrctZgCLcBGAs/s1600/WEBSITE.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="781" data-original-width="590" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sqZF8GRfREg/WxiWprXe_CI/AAAAAAAAF6s/-8WxASkrMREPavsulijrTLCAidzDrctZgCLcBGAs/s640/WEBSITE.PNG" width="482" /></a></div>
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<span data-offset-key="bokpt-0-0">I've overhauled my website to be more current and more user and mobile-friendly. There are still things I want to do to improve it further, but I feel this is a solid starting point to work from. :) I hope you enjoy it!
-> </span><a class="_4X_-components-SimpleRichTextEditor-components-LinkSpan--linkSpan" href="https://kimberlylecrone.com/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d9bdb; cursor: pointer;"><span data-offset-key="bokpt-1-0" style="font-weight: bold;">https://kimberlylecrone.com/</span></a><span data-offset-key="bokpt-2-0" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="8lrkb-0-0">I'm working to migrate all of my blogs from Blogger/Blogspot onto the new site, but the previous ones will remain here for posterity. New ones will be posted to kimberlylecrone.com.</span></div>
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K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-17730818838735981682018-05-27T21:59:00.000-07:002018-05-27T22:03:33.741-07:00New Redbubble Storefront!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I've opted to open a <a href="https://www.redbubble.com/people/klecrone" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">New Redbubble Storefront</a>, and currently have five of my designs available on a range of over 50 products! In the coming months I'm hoping to format and upload a number of my favorite designs there!</div>
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If there is anything you're especially keen on seeing, or if you're not seeing a design/color you're keen on, just let me know! <3</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QoS4DxDAJ-o/WwuLRewoliI/AAAAAAAAF0I/4Y5hWenCvksvV_V_i2eGKhGb5gDtVikkgCLcBGAs/s1600/BtN4OxW9Os5mfHAXf4cAbuEBykqXWGGdJdiBq07L4p23Us0EqDgR1338AjsCH49n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QoS4DxDAJ-o/WwuLRewoliI/AAAAAAAAF0I/4Y5hWenCvksvV_V_i2eGKhGb5gDtVikkgCLcBGAs/s400/BtN4OxW9Os5mfHAXf4cAbuEBykqXWGGdJdiBq07L4p23Us0EqDgR1338AjsCH49n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Online storefronts like this don't offer a lot of profit to independent artists like me, but it's a neat way to publish art on products you wouldn't see otherwise! If you buy anything, let me know! I'd love to see it!</div>
K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-91988387527337117742017-12-31T17:39:00.003-08:002017-12-31T17:49:56.403-08:00My 2017 Year in Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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2017 was one hell of a year, and with the new year just around the corner, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on this year that will go down in infamy for me.</div>
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12 Glimpses of My 2017</h3>
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During 2017, I created easily over 100 pieces of original art in a variety of mediums! Here are twelve of my most memorable moments:<br />
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<a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2017/02/gemstone-lions-in-all-colors.html" target="_blank">Gemstone Lions</a>: One of my first major projects of 2017 was to get up-to-speed with molding and casting again, and I started off by molding an existing magnet I'd sculpted, never expecting in a million years that people would enjoy it so much! I casted and painted dozens of different lions, and love thinking of all the places they traveled to!</div>
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<a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/april-wrap-up-10619083" target="_blank">Fire and Ice Phoenix Skulls</a>: I did a number of molding and casting projects this year, including dragon claws, fractal romanites, obelisks, jewelry, and more, but my phoenix skulls remain some of my favorites. I had a lot of fun creating teasers and accessories for them, and they helped me to level-up my product photos.</div>
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<a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2017/06/a-time-of-busy-busy.html" target="_blank">Walnut Spiral Stone</a>: I combined my interest in exotic woods and art in various ways this year, including creating some resin and wood inlaid pieces like this walnut spiral stone. I'm definitely planning on following-through with similar exploits in 2018 once I'm physically capable!</div>
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<a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2016/08/art-and-stories-interwoven.html" target="_blank">Hummingbird and Kitty Memorial Sculpture</a>: There is so much time and emotion poured into this sculpture, and I learned so much from it. It was a gift to my mom to celebrate the life and love of her dear kitty Auggie, and I challenged myself with it for sure, much to my own detriment. I'm generally pleased with how it turned out, but the methods and materials I used made me fight uphill both ways, so I ended up getting a lot of project fatigue working on it because I couldn't do much on it per session because of materials working against me. I learned a lot, though, and I'd like to do more with air-cure materials at some point. My only regret is that because of the timing of my injury and move, I never got good photos of this piece, but I hope to at some point since I probably poured more time into this project than any other art project in 2017.</div>
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Dragonfly Mangrove Mandala: I did a number of paintings on stained wood panels this year, and this commission was one of my favorites! It was a fun take on the "mandala" theme that's been running through much of my work during the past few years.</div>
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Poppy Fox: I did a fair number of watercolor and gouache paintings this year, and "Poppy Fox" ranks among my favorites! The idea had been running through my mind for awhile before I sat down to paint it, and it ended up being the last piece I completed before my major injury.</div>
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<a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2017/11/happy-birthday-my-major-injury.html" target="_blank">My Major Injury</a>: I feel like 2017 could have been the year to break me, but I wouldn't let it, not even with a major leg/ankle/foot injury like this. My physical mobility and energy are still very limited from this formative hit in July of this year, but even as it is, I wouldn't let it define me.</div>
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Fall Lion: My art output took a drastic hit after my injury, but around the time I was scheduled for my third surgery, I mustered up enough energy to paint this little leaf-maned lion and his cardinal friend and later put it up for auction to help offset my medical bills. I was truly touched by the reception it got.</div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/943541382152466432" target="_blank">UV-Reactive Charms</a>: In the time after my injury, I had little periods where I could sit at the computer, but only for about 30 minutes at a time. Rather than use this time to relax and play video games like any sane person would, I used the time to design a number of new products for my art which I hoped people would enjoy, including stickers, magnets, pins, and UV-reactive charms. The charms were some of my favorites.</div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/929785955908595712" target="_blank">Fall Hummingbird</a> - This was another concept that had been swimming around for a time before I finally sat down and painted it. I loved the idea of naturemancer crafting creatures from natural materials.</div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/946882039508230146" target="_blank">Gemstone Wolf</a>: A commissioned piece in a similar style to my gemstone lion. I really enjoyed the opportunity to infuse personality into this piece and get back to sculpting after many months away from it.</div>
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<li style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2016/08/art-and-stories-interwoven.html">“Sashah's Song” – Mixed Media Sculpture (Work in Progress) and Novel Progress</a>: I started this sculpture way back in late 2014, and it's gone through periods of heavy work and delay in favor of other projects, but it's hardly forgotten! It stalled at one point because I needed to work with resins as well as more complex molding and casting to continue working on it, and at the time I acknowledged there was a very real possibility of damaging it if I didn't take awhile to step back and skill up before continuing work on it. That said, 2017 taught me a lot, and I'm hoping to continue work on it in 2018 and hopefully finish it off! It's a sculpture of one of the lead protagonists of my stories, who happens to be a werewolf enchantress. She's been a labor of love, and I figure I'm around 200+ hours in at this point, and there are a lot more photos of her over on my Twitter accounts <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/">@KLeCrone</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Vaeflare/">@Vaeflare</a>. To date, this is very possibly the art project I'm proudest of so far! Along these lines, this year I made an absolutely *massive* amount of progress on the first novel in my series, and I'm thrilled to report I am ending the year at over 100k+ words into it! This milestone means a lot to me, especially with the numerous setbacks I've had this year and the variety of projects and obligations fighting for my time. Woo!</li>
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My 2017 Year in Review</h3>
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<b>The good:</b><br />
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<li>Really felt the self-love this year, even when it seems like my life careened off the tracks in July. This can be a hard one sometimes, especially when I’m not in the shape I want to be in, but I know that who I am is encompassed by so, so much more than that. I tried to be kinder to myself and more realistic with my goals in 2017, and felt that really made me a happier person.</li>
<li>Felt the love from the people I choose to surround myself with. In addition to the absolutely humbling outpouring of support surrounding my injury and follow-up surgeries from people in the community and absolute strangers, I grew a lot closer to a number of new friends and long-time friends this year. This has made my day-to-day so much richer and more enjoyable, and it felt like I had people there to help support me when I was down and out. I kept fearing the demons of depression might rear their snarly heads again, but that moment never came, and I owe it to so many real-life and internet hugs.</li>
<li>Gave less of my time and energy to toxic people, and people that didn't positively contribute to my life and the person I want to be. This can sometimes be a bit of a hard one because I like to think of myself as a very giving person, but there comes a time when self-care needs to be a firm priority. This focus also meant I had <b>more</b> time and love to give for folks that deserved it a million times over.</li>
<li>Celebrated 9 years with my SO and hugged him even tighter. <3 He is such a wonderful, supportive light in my crazy life.</li>
<li>We bought a house! Right after my injury though. Talk about horrible timing... </li>
<li>Continued to donate, purged, sell, and gave away a dramatic number of boxes of stuff I had stored in my garage. Downsizing has been *amazing* and I'm thankful through sheer luck I managed to cull so much before my injury, because I can't lift much of anything at the moment.</li>
<li>Got a promotion at work and am very pleased with my career performance and trajectory! It was difficult being out of work for months and then back in a limited capacity, but I tell you what: I felt and continue to feel SO valued and supported. It's absolutely incredible and humbling.</li>
<li>Somehow, even with all the crazy, I managed what is very possibly my most productive artistic AND writing year to date! I completed over 100 pieces of original art in a variety of mediums!</li>
<li>I deepened my focus in my art side-business, and managed to have a surprisingly great year of sales, including opening my own storefront, becoming more active on Instagram, and diversifying and deepening my Patreon content.</li>
<li>Continued to use and update my <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2016/01/tiptuesday-sharing-my-productivity.html" target="_blank">Personal Productivity tracker</a> to try to hold myself accountable for how I was using my time.</li>
<li>Chugged away at my writing and my first draft prose for v4 of the first book in my series, ending the year at 100k+ words into "The Apprentice of Rook."</li>
<li>Learned more about woodworking and molding and casting, and leveled up some necessary skills in that realm!</li>
<li>Pushed myself to learn and try new things and experiment without being as concerned about if others would like it, if it's marketable, etc.</li>
<li>I managed to navigate a careful line between keeping busy, but not becoming overwhelmed.</li>
<li>Kept my optimism intact through a truly challenging year both emotionally and physically!</li>
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<b>The not so good:</b><br />
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<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2017/11/happy-birthday-my-major-injury.html" target="_blank">Suffered a Major Leg/Ankle/Foot Injury</a>. It's a bit comical to look back and see me say 2016 was probably my "healthiest year on record," because 2017 felt more like a dumpster-fire in comparison.</li>
<li>Didn't lose weight.</li>
<li>Didn't resolve a repetitive stress hand/wrist injury I previously suffered at work, and it only got worse from my heavily reliance on my wheelchair/walker/crutches.</li>
<li>Didn’t finish “Sashah’s Song” sculpture, but hopefully next year!</li>
<li>Didn't finish my first draft of my novel like I'd originally planned. Oh well!</li>
<li>Moved shortly after my injury. This was absolute hell, and the only saving grace was the overwhelming support from my mother and friends to help get us packed.</li>
<li>I took on a reasonable number of commissions, but they stretched beyond my normal 1 month window of when the original order was placed due to my injury and some compounding factors like moving, unfortunately. I am not taking on any additional commissions until these are completed, and am extremely thankful for the understanding of my commissioners while I recover.</li>
<li>...Went a little overboard buying handmade artisan watercolors as retail therapy. >_> I mean, I'm going to use them, but good lord, I bought so many...</li>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S7DX-tOhRFQ/WkmQlMVGaSI/AAAAAAAAFoY/6l8QDxoAP-Y-QMF3NomYeVjBRxQeTIqEwCKgBGAs/s1600/2017-12-30_MiraInkSketch_01_900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="817" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S7DX-tOhRFQ/WkmQlMVGaSI/AAAAAAAAFoY/6l8QDxoAP-Y-QMF3NomYeVjBRxQeTIqEwCKgBGAs/s640/2017-12-30_MiraInkSketch_01_900.jpg" width="579" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Mira" - A Character from my Upcoming Novel</td></tr>
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On to 2018!</h3>
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All-in-all it's been quite a crazy year, and I am hopeful 2018 is a sizable improvement over 2017! Here are how 2017 stood up to some of my goals:<br />
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<li><strike>Complete "Hummingbird and Kitten Memorial Sculpture"</strike> - <b>Complete!</b></li>
<li><strike>Complete "Sashah's Song" Sculpture</strike> - <b>Nope. :/</b></li>
<li><strike>(Re)learn how to mold and cast</strike> - <b>Yep!</b></li>
<li><strike>Keep moving forward with one or more novels</strike> - <b>Yep!</b></li>
<li><strike>Finish at least one outstanding art project and selectively retire others</strike> - <b>Done!</b></li>
<li><strike>Continue to grow my creative side-business</strike> - <b>I absolutely did!</b></li>
<li><strike>Continue to infuse my unique vision into my work</strike> - <b>Again, yes!</b></li>
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Some personal things I'm aiming to accomplish in the new year include:<br />
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<li>Complete first draft of "The Apprentice of Rook."</li>
<li>Continue to further grow my art business.</li>
<li>Complete "Sashah's Song" Sculpture</li>
<li>Create some new small sculptures and mold and cast them.</li>
<li>Create new wood and resin art.</li>
<li>Learn to walk again.</li>
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The recovery and creative process continues, and I've been back to making a lot of posts <a href="https://www.patreon.com/KLeCrone/">over on my Patreon</a>! I generally make updates there every day or two, so if you're interested in a feed of more frequent updates from me, I would suggest checking it out! I also put together a public post on my Patreon about <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/16144078" target="_blank">my 2017 Patreon Thoughts and Upgrades</a>.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here's a few of the main spots you can find me online:
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<li><a href="http://patreon.com/KLeCrone" target="_blank">http://patreon.com/KLeCrone</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.kimberlylecrone.com/">http://www.kimberlylecrone.com</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/k.lecrone/" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/k.lecrone/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/K-LeCrone-200871613293094/">https://www.facebook.com/K-LeCrone-200871613293094/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.storenvy.com/" target="_blank">http://klecrone.storenvy.com</a><br /></li>
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2017 has been really weird and challenging year for me with high highs and low lows. I've admittedly been hard on myself at times for my injury and it's impact on my creativity, yet, here we are, and I realize that even with that, 2017 was my most productive creative year to date. Huh! I’m eager to see what 2018 brings personally, professionally, and creatively, and I’m so thankful for all of your support along the way of this crazy journey called life. <3 Happy New Year!<br />
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K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-17110501645970812832017-11-07T15:42:00.002-08:002017-11-08T12:32:30.340-08:00Happy Birthday - My Major Injury!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Happy Birthday to Me!</div>
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This has been the longest I've gone without updates in this blog, but man, these last few months have been absolutely intense.</div>
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I've debated writing a blog about things, but honestly, it's been so crazy here that I'm not really sure where to start, or how to organize my thoughts, but let me give it a try.</div>
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Back in July, I suffered quite a severe injury which impacted my leg, ankle, and foot. It shattered a number of bones, snapped ligaments and tendons, and grossly dislocated my ankle, causing additional vascular and neurological issues. I've had three surgeries in the time since it happened. The core injury is considered a severe type of a trimalleolar fracture with dislocation (which for me also included a broken leg, ankle, and foot). This led me to have nearly 3 months of straight bed rest to accompany my plates and eight screws (one of which has since been removed).</div>
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The briefest version of what happened is that in order to get to my car each morning, I had to cross a street that is on a hill and slightly curved, so I usually step off the curb in a large, designated red zone, look both ways, and cross when it's safe to do so.</div>
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On this particular day, however, a large truck was parked in the red zone, and when I went to step off, I hit some air because the curb was higher in that area. When I landed, to this day I'm not sure I'd done more than sprain my ankle, but something went wrong, and due to the momentum, I landed on my side facing uphill, with my head and torso in the street: with an oncoming car rapidly approaching.</div>
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With more instinct than logic, I vaulted out of the way and successfully dodged the car, but when I landed on the hot asphalt, it was clear things were very, very wrong: My foot was grossly facing the wrong direction and I was in more pain than I thought the 1- 10 pain scale was capable of covering. I place it at a solid 17.</div>
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I was on the phone with my mom, and after being unable to properly explain where I was, I called 911, but was rapidly going into shock. Thankfully, two amazing good Samaritans were there within moments trying to help. One helped me get out of the street and put an umbrella over me and a pillow under my knee while the other one talked to dispatch and then called my mom and SO to let them know what happened and get help ASAP.</div>
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Shortly thereafter, the fire department, then the ambulance, then my SO arrived, and I was whisked off first to one ER, then another, for a day I will never forget. Ever. (Two major surgeries in one day, one of which lasted over four hours on the operating table!)</div>
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Injuries are all different, and my particular case resulted in three surgeries (so far), including two weeks in a heavily padded splint, four months in a walking boot, advancing into a spider brace. I have been using a wheelchair and walker for the last four months, and hadn't had success with traditional crutches, so I'm currently working on gait training with elbow crutches. It's estimated that my recovery may take two years or more, so this will be a long haul.</div>
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I feel like I could write a book about the whole experience, of that day as well as the four months that followed, but they have been some of the roughest I've ever experienced. On top of that: we had to move midway through. It was awful, but we made it through. Even still: I'm using a wheelchair and walker at-best, and I'm hoping I can advance to crutches soon. The bulk of the nitty-gritty and daily-life stuff I've been documenting on my <a href="https://www.patreon.com/KLeCrone/">Patreon</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/" target="_blank">Twitter</a> if you're interested. Be aware: there are lots of photos of the best doctor of them all - Doctor Opal!</div>
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I spent a lot of time reading-up on things online and following blogs of those that experienced similar injuries who kept a daily blog of their progress, but I quickly realized that my own injury was simply not comparable. Rather than get frustrated that my own pain, healing, and progress were a bit out of my hands, I focused on one of the few things I could: my attitude.</div>
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I chose to try to maintain a positive attitude, because it was one of the few things I could do. And by and large: I feel I've been able to pull through. <3</div>
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While times have certainly been hard, the daily frustration I've felt at not being able to do "normal" things like get up and get a drink, use the restroom, etc. has been easily offset by the sheer outpouring of support I've received from friends, family, and coworkers. I was overwhelmed with assistance on getting items from my <a href="http://a.co/12BKik6" target="_blank">recovery</a> and <a href="http://a.co/2LGqfDo" target="_blank">"fun" recovery</a> wishlists to help me acclimate to my disability. I was humbled at having so many visitors to keep me company and lift my spirits, and those who went out of their way to help me with errands, help pack our home, and even helped us move. For this and so much more: I am forever grateful. Even upon returning to work, I've remained so incredibly thankful of the ongoing love and support of so many people, that it makes it easier to look past the months of pain and frustration this injury had beset upon me, and the journey yet to come. I went back to work worrying I would feel like a burden, and instead I feel so cherished and loved.</div>
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In particular, I don't know how I would have been able to get back to somewhat functional without the support of my mother and SO. The two of them have been incredible caretakers, especially with the amount of doctor appointments, physical therapy appointments, errands, packing, unpacking, and not to mention all the necessary assistance I've needed with so many things you take for granted, like being able to get a drink, food, brush your teeth, dress yourself, etc. My mom in particular is seriously an MVP in all this. She is the best parent and friend I could have ever asked for.</div>
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I’ve really learned a lot about myself and the people in my life from this whole fiasco. I’ve felt overwhelmed by love and support, and it’s really helped keep my spirits bright even on some of the hard days. Likewise, I’ve privately shaken my head at the sometimes confusing and mixed-messages from some individuals. Rather than feel brought-down by them, instead it just reminds me who around me really had my back when times were hard, and who just... were apparently only fair-weather friends. I feel almost comforted by that knowledge because, my god, I have so many incredibly talented, giving, amazing friends who came through in spades, and I am ever-so thankful for their love and support and smiles and hugs through all this. ❤</div>
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I still have a long road ahead of me, but I truly feel that I'm in good hands, and that in time, I can hopefully get back to walking. In the meantime, I wasn't about to let a disability keep me from achieving a lifelong dream of being a velociraptor for Halloween!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Literally the happiest I’ve been in four months. Literally.</td></tr>
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During this time, I haven't been doing as much writing or art as I've been accustomed to, but I've been trying to have patience with myself and my new body while I acclimate and make the best of a bad situation. It hasn't been easy, but I'm doing what I can! </div>
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Thankfully, in the last few weeks I've had enough energy to start doing little bits of art and writing again, and it's felt great! I'm still chugging along on the book series I'm working on as well. Here are a few of the pieces I've made over the last few months (some of which are dated as to the days after my accident): </div>
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The recovery process continues, but now that I'm coming back out of my shell, I've been back to making a lot of posts <a href="https://www.patreon.com/KLeCrone/">over on my Patreon</a>! I generally make updates there every day or two, so if you're interested in a feed of more frequent updates from me, I would suggest checking it out!</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here's a few of the main spots you can find me online:
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul>
<li><a href="http://patreon.com/KLeCrone" target="_blank">http://patreon.com/KLeCrone</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.kimberlylecrone.com/">http://www.kimberlylecrone.com</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/k.lecrone/" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/k.lecrone/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/K-LeCrone-200871613293094/">https://www.facebook.com/K-LeCrone-200871613293094/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.storenvy.com/" target="_blank">http://klecrone.storenvy.com</a></li>
</ul>
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In any case, I hope all of you have been well, and thanks again for your support during this difficult time. <3</div>
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K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-26832005708173526332017-06-21T12:12:00.001-07:002017-06-21T12:18:30.682-07:00A Time of Busy, Busy!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The last few months have been action-packed, and I've been incredibly busy <a href="https://www.patreon.com/KLeCrone/">over on my Patreon</a>! I generally make updates there every day or two, so if you're interested in a feed of more frequent updates from me, I would suggest checking it out!</div>
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<a href="https://c3.patreon.com/2/patreon-posts/11329006332650863216.JPG?t=1499212800&v=45-9lQa4Qg_ioL4SPIr6sxAmwsdyqLDAJ_zJbFyUBMc%3D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://c3.patreon.com/2/patreon-posts/11329006332650863216.JPG?t=1499212800&v=45-9lQa4Qg_ioL4SPIr6sxAmwsdyqLDAJ_zJbFyUBMc%3D" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here's a few of the main spots you can find me online:
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul>
<li><a href="http://patreon.com/KLeCrone" target="_blank">http://patreon.com/KLeCrone</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.kimberlylecrone.com/">http://www.kimberlylecrone.com</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/k.lecrone/" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/k.lecrone/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/K-LeCrone-200871613293094/">https://www.facebook.com/K-LeCrone-200871613293094/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.storenvy.com/" target="_blank">http://klecrone.storenvy.com</a></li>
</ul>
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In the meantime, here are links to two public posts which recap some of what I've been up to over the last few months:</div>
<ul>
<li><b><div style="text-align: left;">
<b><a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/april-wrap-up-10619083">April Wrap-Up!</a></b></div>
</b></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/may-wrap-up-11521453">May Wrap-Up!</a></b></li>
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<a href="https://c3.patreon.com/2/patreon-posts/10582230835030266682.JPG?t=1499212800&v=pkZQctw-VVKqaebng3ogzpjbbR4KhjVQLYWiezirhb8%3D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://c3.patreon.com/2/patreon-posts/10582230835030266682.JPG?t=1499212800&v=pkZQctw-VVKqaebng3ogzpjbbR4KhjVQLYWiezirhb8%3D" width="400" /></a> <a href="https://c3.patreon.com/2/patreon-posts/2569434090730737935.jpg?t=1499212800&v=U9cZdL-EbeuFRcjcwXndUjXMcdaMNEMZopldxFyi0R4%3D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://c3.patreon.com/2/patreon-posts/2569434090730737935.jpg?t=1499212800&v=U9cZdL-EbeuFRcjcwXndUjXMcdaMNEMZopldxFyi0R4%3D" width="400" /></a></div>
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<h3>
More New Art</h3>
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I've created many new pieces of art over the last few months, and will see what I can do to put up a recap of all of them at some point, but in particular, I've been making a lot of wood and resin creations (including spiral stones and pendants), as well as painting a lot of gemstone lions, jeweled phoenix skulls, fractal romanites, and crystallized dragon claws. Many of them are still available <a href="http://klecrone.storenvy.com/" target="_blank">in my online shop</a>!<br />
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<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5UrIx_UcAAJnES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5UrIx_UcAAJnES.jpg" width="240" /></a> <a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5YeMbOVUAALE63.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5YeMbOVUAALE63.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9ZNAdbUAAA0Itm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="548" height="320" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9ZNAdbUAAA0Itm.jpg" width="219" /></a> <a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C8_3OTVVoAAMDmN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C8_3OTVVoAAMDmN.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Additionally, I've been doing a lot of work on my novel, which is currently tracking at around 52k+ words! On the side, I've been really diving into watercolors with renewed gusto, and a keen interest in handmade artisan watercolors:<br />
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<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBxeVb4V0AAbTVz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBxeVb4V0AAbTVz.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I also got a new space at work that I've been slowly decorating!</div>
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<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_ae_UxVoAA7m8P.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="800" height="198" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_ae_UxVoAA7m8P.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In any case, I've been up to so much over the last few months that I've only tapped some of the highlights here! So in closing, here's a photo of me and an adorable wolf pup from <a href="https://www.projectwildsong.org/" target="_blank">Project Wildsong</a>! I hope you have a fantastic day, and I that you enjoy all the updates! Keep in mind that even more recent art and updates are available at the following links:</div>
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<li><b><div style="text-align: left;">
<b><a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/april-wrap-up-10619083">April Wrap-Up!</a></b></div>
</b></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/may-wrap-up-11521453">May Wrap-Up!</a></b></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>and <a href="https://www.patreon.com/KLeCrone/" target="_blank">Patreon</a>!</b></li>
</ul>
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K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-50492028031901707732017-02-01T16:59:00.002-08:002018-08-17T09:59:51.797-07:00Gemstone Lions in All Colors!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2ssncbI0vSM/WJ5Mh-hIxwI/AAAAAAAAFMU/-mvnzdNSFegtmFPTZjPTcWhcCZB08XM8gCPcB/s1600/IMG_8298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2ssncbI0vSM/WJ5Mh-hIxwI/AAAAAAAAFMU/-mvnzdNSFegtmFPTZjPTcWhcCZB08XM8gCPcB/s200/IMG_8298.JPG" width="150" /></a> <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FVprrMgo-7I/WJJ0iM-qx1I/AAAAAAAAFIQ/SkmBv90ALV4lySZPg19LkATdwgDSAYJfgCPcB/s1600/IMG_8019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FVprrMgo-7I/WJJ0iM-qx1I/AAAAAAAAFIQ/SkmBv90ALV4lySZPg19LkATdwgDSAYJfgCPcB/s200/IMG_8019.JPG" width="150" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmAv0mlaryKY_UmlWzNbEqHlvoNG3wIxBhyphenhypheno-snFJz7KS0jGi3atyiisbZdRysjrKj7QYYSLlUDB6LTb4f4waejDdUEA-ZhhvTjmkgneLHtE83wrGv5aN7MlKPDsQhW8Kq4rySTn843-Y/s1600/IMG_7949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmAv0mlaryKY_UmlWzNbEqHlvoNG3wIxBhyphenhypheno-snFJz7KS0jGi3atyiisbZdRysjrKj7QYYSLlUDB6LTb4f4waejDdUEA-ZhhvTjmkgneLHtE83wrGv5aN7MlKPDsQhW8Kq4rySTn843-Y/s200/IMG_7949.JPG" width="150" /></a> </div>
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The last month has entailed a lot of molding and casting, and I'm truly humbled that people are enjoying my "gemstone lions" so much! </div>
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I thought I would put together a quick blog showing many of the various colors of these vibrant magnets that I've been cooking up. :)</div>
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If you're interested in one of your own, please feel free to contact me at: <a href="mailto:kimberly.lecrone@gmail.com">kimberly.lecrone@gmail.com</a>. They are $15 unpainted, or $50 painted with crystal accents. I'm also happy to make one completely custom for you, in whatever colors and glitter combinations you desire!</div>
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<b>The following Gemstone Lions are still looking for homes:</b></h4>
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<li style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/827995946713706498">Inference Gold Pearl</a></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/822983324041822208">Fire Opal</a></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/823366938269093888">Glitter Gold</a></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/828079838682451969">Brilliant Blood Red</a></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/823329808658509824">Smoky Quartz and Rainbow Labradorite</a></li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Additional Colors Available! Please email me for a full list. :)</li>
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Gemstone Lions in All Colors!</h3>
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I'm hoping to keep this post updates as I add new colors and finish painting and detailing each lion, but I thought it would be fun to have them all in one place for reference! They look MUCH better in video form, so make sure to check out the links to each video as well! <br />
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Which colors are your favorites?</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zeWhpXXZwRY/WJJ0iBV0qXI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/UDQhzsXB6ZIiznb02_YpuPfqSc20R2RpACPcB/s1600/IMG_7806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zeWhpXXZwRY/WJJ0iBV0qXI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/UDQhzsXB6ZIiznb02_YpuPfqSc20R2RpACPcB/s320/IMG_7806.JPG" width="240" /></a></td><td> <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oU2FWb_MjUk/WJJ0iMoYeXI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/lJyMTY9jIkkXyRygt3xki1XmCq4huey9ACPcB/s1600/IMG_7916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oU2FWb_MjUk/WJJ0iMoYeXI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/lJyMTY9jIkkXyRygt3xki1XmCq4huey9ACPcB/s320/IMG_7916.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Blue-White Pearl - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/821138916245811200">Video Here</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Blue-White Pearl Painted - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/822632388425633792">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FVprrMgo-7I/WJJ0iM-qx1I/AAAAAAAAFIQ/SkmBv90ALV4lySZPg19LkATdwgDSAYJfgCPcB/s1600/IMG_8019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FVprrMgo-7I/WJJ0iM-qx1I/AAAAAAAAFIQ/SkmBv90ALV4lySZPg19LkATdwgDSAYJfgCPcB/s320/IMG_8019.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue-White Pearl 2.0 - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/822696795343982592" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Video Here</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/825049100068401152">Here</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IsJ0cyCqWtk/WJJ0iGseTOI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/1HM55G5esFovfip2KbCEe1VBEA4R7F5xACPcB/s1600/IMG_8045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IsJ0cyCqWtk/WJJ0iGseTOI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/1HM55G5esFovfip2KbCEe1VBEA4R7F5xACPcB/s320/IMG_8045.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rainbow Glitter White Pearl - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/825781216108539905">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kohG_7_wEVc/WJ5Mh56uUHI/AAAAAAAAFMU/Y8uMqtsTxeMQgJrH8oGKMOdcxFGZwSBlACPcB/s1600/IMG_8160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kohG_7_wEVc/WJ5Mh56uUHI/AAAAAAAAFMU/Y8uMqtsTxeMQgJrH8oGKMOdcxFGZwSBlACPcB/s320/IMG_8160.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inference Golden Pearl - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/827995946713706498">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aHW3WboNgtA/WJJ0iFL38OI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/5tnFg6rvdCkUFh8rN2lZGQO7gy3drI-nQCPcB/s1600/IMG_8074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aHW3WboNgtA/WJJ0iFL38OI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/5tnFg6rvdCkUFh8rN2lZGQO7gy3drI-nQCPcB/s320/IMG_8074.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Golden Pearl - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/825884115173924866">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J4qPyqBcX3Q/WJUmQb-iTAI/AAAAAAAAFKQ/ZJ7zvxTj9_Ai8X356LuqK9106KECg7uRgCPcB/s1600/IMG_8148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J4qPyqBcX3Q/WJUmQb-iTAI/AAAAAAAAFKQ/ZJ7zvxTj9_Ai8X356LuqK9106KECg7uRgCPcB/s320/IMG_8148.jpg" width="239" /></a></td><td> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCKZOqw_dBljHWI8QYJLh-71wN3fTXt0xdBVXI42FeIGbIjpcl1oPgQo_JphOxGnL3Q7cm8JiwIh82rSsD1mAw-H8Um-S3scRam4W-SS14LggpOFbMwZKxw8HoihdcToJtO6FE-h4dKg/s1600/IMG_8263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCKZOqw_dBljHWI8QYJLh-71wN3fTXt0xdBVXI42FeIGbIjpcl1oPgQo_JphOxGnL3Q7cm8JiwIh82rSsD1mAw-H8Um-S3scRam4W-SS14LggpOFbMwZKxw8HoihdcToJtO6FE-h4dKg/s320/IMG_8263.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Extra Golden Pearl - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/827622189293674496">Video Here</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Blue-White Pearl with Gems - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/829762030089367552">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJYJ0Mie3oGpqFAFuVGqRVs5YmLvjrzW8kIGupsSptqkpEqrfSgRitgK-gZ8iEYERndNYWm0V2tazm_iikckt20u-ALKY-HoZEmnCkinB41l8nWsq6jl113AgjY9rhu3fNMZCWHDheHMI/s1600/IMG_8312.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJYJ0Mie3oGpqFAFuVGqRVs5YmLvjrzW8kIGupsSptqkpEqrfSgRitgK-gZ8iEYERndNYWm0V2tazm_iikckt20u-ALKY-HoZEmnCkinB41l8nWsq6jl113AgjY9rhu3fNMZCWHDheHMI/s320/IMG_8312.PNG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Golden Pearl (Heavy Gold) - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/828333905040125952">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ctg-aSGydTs/WJJ0iJt0EvI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/w25H7JIgs0IZMUbGZUHKB5IjXK3vbpUUgCPcB/s1600/IMG_7932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ctg-aSGydTs/WJJ0iJt0EvI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/w25H7JIgs0IZMUbGZUHKB5IjXK3vbpUUgCPcB/s320/IMG_7932.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glitter Gold - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/823366938269093888">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmAv0mlaryKY_UmlWzNbEqHlvoNG3wIxBhyphenhypheno-snFJz7KS0jGi3atyiisbZdRysjrKj7QYYSLlUDB6LTb4f4waejDdUEA-ZhhvTjmkgneLHtE83wrGv5aN7MlKPDsQhW8Kq4rySTn843-Y/s1600/IMG_7949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmAv0mlaryKY_UmlWzNbEqHlvoNG3wIxBhyphenhypheno-snFJz7KS0jGi3atyiisbZdRysjrKj7QYYSLlUDB6LTb4f4waejDdUEA-ZhhvTjmkgneLHtE83wrGv5aN7MlKPDsQhW8Kq4rySTn843-Y/s320/IMG_7949.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duo Cream and Gold Amber - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/821618978783186945">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEzyMj8N79-I_XM_jI7KZjS0AgVf6qXkByTonyOefUZJtdEhIJEqiEWI5YXz4mXuTGrMEsuQ8R8evWCie8zkVX3U5RFhD6_IESgRR06Cu4fo5iIYNNNee9HWw48xD_d0mbnr5XAnHJNg/s1600/IMG_8124.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEzyMj8N79-I_XM_jI7KZjS0AgVf6qXkByTonyOefUZJtdEhIJEqiEWI5YXz4mXuTGrMEsuQ8R8evWCie8zkVX3U5RFhD6_IESgRR06Cu4fo5iIYNNNee9HWw48xD_d0mbnr5XAnHJNg/s320/IMG_8124.PNG" width="240" /></a></td><td> <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hQRv-ml4orw/WJJ0iMYkJyI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/qIfybOR7aJccKGS5pdiL7elKi9L4cB8fgCPcB/s1600/IMG_7950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hQRv-ml4orw/WJJ0iMYkJyI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/qIfybOR7aJccKGS5pdiL7elKi9L4cB8fgCPcB/s320/IMG_7950.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Metallic Bronze - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/821155762965614592">Video Here</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Metallic Bronze (Painted) - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/821618823522557952">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dqHWyZF4Hmw/WJJ0iD6qS7I/AAAAAAAAFIQ/khxPlyI21AIjI_WT4macapQITvCVdk0qgCPcB/s1600/IMG_7915.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dqHWyZF4Hmw/WJJ0iD6qS7I/AAAAAAAAFIQ/khxPlyI21AIjI_WT4macapQITvCVdk0qgCPcB/s320/IMG_7915.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fire Opal - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/822983324041822208">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IWvL_jHUp5w/WJJ0iCcilwI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/m_MuwRAobogerlf5AKgm_IxdO4fs5NAQQCPcB/s1600/IMG_8130.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IWvL_jHUp5w/WJJ0iCcilwI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/m_MuwRAobogerlf5AKgm_IxdO4fs5NAQQCPcB/s320/IMG_8130.PNG" width="240" /></a></td><td> <a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OF6EpCCEk4g/WJ5epqvHQFI/AAAAAAAAFNE/vPsaOfODp4wbDKQza56egVYyyLcP89_2gCPcB/s1600/IMG_8268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OF6EpCCEk4g/WJ5epqvHQFI/AAAAAAAAFNE/vPsaOfODp4wbDKQza56egVYyyLcP89_2gCPcB/s320/IMG_8268.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Duo: Red and Gold - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/825782382439473152">Video Here</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Painted - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/830127063180861440">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YH_FsgLdzMw/WJ5Mh_5SAWI/AAAAAAAAFMU/YI2c4WMC1SImvdnzQAaeDv6fmdNpKjB_ACPcB/s1600/IMG_8179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YH_FsgLdzMw/WJ5Mh_5SAWI/AAAAAAAAFMU/YI2c4WMC1SImvdnzQAaeDv6fmdNpKjB_ACPcB/s320/IMG_8179.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brilliant Blood Red (Unpainted) - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/828079838682451969">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c3wugu7oCno/WJJ0iMPBAAI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/sQAEqb1oVjAZt2-NWmMywCScfheNh9KtwCPcB/s1600/IMG_7979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c3wugu7oCno/WJJ0iMPBAAI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/sQAEqb1oVjAZt2-NWmMywCScfheNh9KtwCPcB/s320/IMG_7979.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starry Purple and Black (Painted) - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/824679241144864768">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FSTLU0_-xog/WJJ0iO7CNfI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/p0rYjDMMdQ878Dgc00_u8hHhBM5sLGTQwCPcB/s1600/IMG_7959.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FSTLU0_-xog/WJJ0iO7CNfI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/p0rYjDMMdQ878Dgc00_u8hHhBM5sLGTQwCPcB/s320/IMG_7959.PNG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Medium Purple with Teal and Magenta Sparkle - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/823382641936187392">Video Here</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cMnH2Az7iio/WJJ0iEhreFI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/HIQkpV97m5gLGVAlkchMDcHMqYsjdMvtgCPcB/s1600/IMG_7928.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cMnH2Az7iio/WJJ0iEhreFI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/HIQkpV97m5gLGVAlkchMDcHMqYsjdMvtgCPcB/s320/IMG_7928.JPG" width="240" /></a></td><td> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0jqmLGJhfKc6SQmofHZeYhFinOL0xtuMZej_heS2cPbCefRSTZJ5teNr1zfyQ24VSwfOfYvsQKUOHyo5JmEOxoUKpldX9z1jQWOHE_5cB5eX3RF9YXVejI54neblE7RnQV7et-pP5L8U/s1600/IMG_8255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0jqmLGJhfKc6SQmofHZeYhFinOL0xtuMZej_heS2cPbCefRSTZJ5teNr1zfyQ24VSwfOfYvsQKUOHyo5JmEOxoUKpldX9z1jQWOHE_5cB5eX3RF9YXVejI54neblE7RnQV7et-pP5L8U/s320/IMG_8255.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Bright Purple & White - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/823309928517382144">Video</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Bright Purple & White (Painted) - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/829621636693241857">Video</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HqAMQ1yVh0o/WJJ0iCAbbpI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/6VCMr4ozG_ExtNeBiZPmCz_f_QKFl65vgCPcB/s1600/IMG_7930.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HqAMQ1yVh0o/WJJ0iCAbbpI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/6VCMr4ozG_ExtNeBiZPmCz_f_QKFl65vgCPcB/s320/IMG_7930.JPG" width="240" /></a></td><td> <a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2ssncbI0vSM/WJ5Mh-hIxwI/AAAAAAAAFMU/-mvnzdNSFegtmFPTZjPTcWhcCZB08XM8gCPcB/s1600/IMG_8298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2ssncbI0vSM/WJ5Mh-hIxwI/AAAAAAAAFMU/-mvnzdNSFegtmFPTZjPTcWhcCZB08XM8gCPcB/s320/IMG_8298.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Aurora Teal & Blue - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/823347700011646976">Video Here</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Aurora Teal & Blue (Painted) - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/830209905814429696">Video</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yV8VYZ76d8I/WJ5Mh5Aet4I/AAAAAAAAFMU/5hkgFqjv66gMDTEGj0CJeTzQZwoU8QvvACPcB/s1600/IMG_8209.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yV8VYZ76d8I/WJ5Mh5Aet4I/AAAAAAAAFMU/5hkgFqjv66gMDTEGj0CJeTzQZwoU8QvvACPcB/s320/IMG_8209.PNG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Opalescent Medium Blue (Lightly Glow-in-the-Dark) - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/828432092857982978">Video Here</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PtIPT6A15Ik/WJJ0iC6thfI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/M5TTZZZrY1sXx--v3RdXwteJ6YOqoYzpgCPcB/s1600/IMG_8133.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PtIPT6A15Ik/WJJ0iC6thfI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/M5TTZZZrY1sXx--v3RdXwteJ6YOqoYzpgCPcB/s320/IMG_8133.PNG" width="240" /></a></td><td> <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PmllrSlPf0M/WJJ0iFv9xKI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/QlpCcQLHyA4DOw7NT_luxLdEJwjfa2R3wCPcB/s1600/IMG_8102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PmllrSlPf0M/WJJ0iFv9xKI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/QlpCcQLHyA4DOw7NT_luxLdEJwjfa2R3wCPcB/s320/IMG_8102.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Medium Blue and Purple - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/822926169121001472">Video Here</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Medium Blue and Purple (Painted)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vlKYJ-N1_X4/WJJ0iBCRDtI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/tcMrE1HTyTEOsebSR7IqUSqL_PrKjbrIACPcB/s1600/IMG_8132.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vlKYJ-N1_X4/WJJ0iBCRDtI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/tcMrE1HTyTEOsebSR7IqUSqL_PrKjbrIACPcB/s320/IMG_8132.PNG" width="240" /></a></td><td> <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-94n2Xdb9-xw/WJ5Mh6co3HI/AAAAAAAAFMU/UM6d3mxb1pkz9GZZriPAGCNNQeun0OAuwCPcB/s1600/IMG_8304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-94n2Xdb9-xw/WJ5Mh6co3HI/AAAAAAAAFMU/UM6d3mxb1pkz9GZZriPAGCNNQeun0OAuwCPcB/s320/IMG_8304.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Duo Opalescent Medium Blue & Dark Blue - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/822943686300340224">Video</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Painted</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KruSvp3y6Mo/WJJ0iNwpZTI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/9h5i-dNfkjwyE7gbKM_3TXYdixVWpPMxQCPcB/s1600/IMG_7831.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KruSvp3y6Mo/WJJ0iNwpZTI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/9h5i-dNfkjwyE7gbKM_3TXYdixVWpPMxQCPcB/s320/IMG_7831.JPG" width="240" /></a></td><td> <a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zkt80rgGdSg/WJJ0iCNvpKI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/3J3DrVXTIB02HhRXFgmIAE5OpEQ5nR1IACPcB/s1600/IMG_7952.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zkt80rgGdSg/WJJ0iCNvpKI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/3J3DrVXTIB02HhRXFgmIAE5OpEQ5nR1IACPcB/s320/IMG_7952.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Blue and Purple Metallic - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/821522797469974529">Video Here</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Blue and Purple Metallic (Painted) - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/822696795343982592">Video Here</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yaLXEbw0hqc/WJJ0iCdxvcI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/MOUtBOO842QqvSWI-biqjdYfUIAIbU7dACPcB/s1600/IMG_8037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yaLXEbw0hqc/WJJ0iCdxvcI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/MOUtBOO842QqvSWI-biqjdYfUIAIbU7dACPcB/s320/IMG_8037.JPG" width="240" /></a></td><td> <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7efMPrYlKPg/WJ5MhzpyYNI/AAAAAAAAFMU/AQdiUO4RNnE0lY1e-pm3IeE9Z-BcwsmbQCPcB/s1600/IMG_8302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7efMPrYlKPg/WJ5MhzpyYNI/AAAAAAAAFMU/AQdiUO4RNnE0lY1e-pm3IeE9Z-BcwsmbQCPcB/s320/IMG_8302.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Blue & Purple Metallic 2.0 - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/825777872547647488">Video</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Painted - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/830173497364066304">Video</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AU4U36C4ck0/WJJ0iOF4d7I/AAAAAAAAFIQ/j2vhHLw5YVE0ezJFxC_fymssDXx4UgjPgCPcB/s1600/IMG_7912.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AU4U36C4ck0/WJJ0iOF4d7I/AAAAAAAAFIQ/j2vhHLw5YVE0ezJFxC_fymssDXx4UgjPgCPcB/s320/IMG_7912.PNG" width="179" /></a></td><td> <a bp.blogspot.com="" href="https://www.blogger.com/href=" https:="" im1d-3i="" imageanchor="1" qsix_iq19y="" s1600="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" uh5snzjsjg9oq-izehqmhs0urdqbzboqcpcb=""><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CqsiX_Iq19Y/WJJ0iM1d-3I/AAAAAAAAFIQ/Puh5SNzjsjg9Oq-IzEHQMhS0urDQBzbOQCPcB/s320/IMG_8014.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Aurora Blue & Purple (Partially Painted) - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/822632492633092100">Video</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Aurora Blue & Purple (Painted) - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/824663805762220032">Video</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xOXMzh0NKMI/WJJ0iNR7bUI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/DeJP4sjvR4QTK7DjN-4bH24u1cnWLD9zgCPcB/s1600/IMG_8100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xOXMzh0NKMI/WJJ0iNR7bUI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/DeJP4sjvR4QTK7DjN-4bH24u1cnWLD9zgCPcB/s320/IMG_8100.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Aurora Blue and Purple 2.0</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4H5_EfYWUuw/WJJ0iNwz7CI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/3CZgcvAPkHMuh8F_w3U52TSPo-OuIlDiACPcB/s1600/IMG_8095.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4H5_EfYWUuw/WJJ0iNwz7CI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/3CZgcvAPkHMuh8F_w3U52TSPo-OuIlDiACPcB/s320/IMG_8095.PNG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Duo Ocean Teal and Blue - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/825909371141967873">Video Here</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H9gzIpT3zsk/WJJ0iHE-J4I/AAAAAAAAFIQ/DvpkXIJoCZc4mdHGhG1-7ktEy8EIfIfbwCPcB/s1600/IMG_8131.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H9gzIpT3zsk/WJJ0iHE-J4I/AAAAAAAAFIQ/DvpkXIJoCZc4mdHGhG1-7ktEy8EIfIfbwCPcB/s320/IMG_8131.PNG" width="240" /></a></td><td> <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eOYFHqS4nlE/WJ5Mh5iguKI/AAAAAAAAFMU/UhXpvVlKLDsY4DmE2K-393WATrLiW-X2wCPcB/s1600/IMG_8290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eOYFHqS4nlE/WJ5Mh5iguKI/AAAAAAAAFMU/UhXpvVlKLDsY4DmE2K-393WATrLiW-X2wCPcB/s320/IMG_8290.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Duo Robin's Egg Blue & Peridot Green - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/825500724100411392">Video</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Painted</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fom7kZxMBlM/WJJ0iJIWlTI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/p01ty6F4uUkr_TmIVqPwOZ67XlQN3_BEQCPcB/s1600/IMG_7927.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fom7kZxMBlM/WJJ0iJIWlTI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/p01ty6F4uUkr_TmIVqPwOZ67XlQN3_BEQCPcB/s320/IMG_7927.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Smoky Quartz and Rainbow Labradorite - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/823329808658509824">Video Here</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4udUyyob7Hy4ugZeO3f7fd9QZNNtFtc9vY_u3vtHGnruZyR7vRY9Ja9qfdIUgd3kSLpCSECu6u7V8pqLuASuYiUWDQ8jC7hguGKiEtQf1-Td8yXwaTZN5Qe9beXb1ICi1mU0jW4feLXU/s1600/IMG_8093.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4udUyyob7Hy4ugZeO3f7fd9QZNNtFtc9vY_u3vtHGnruZyR7vRY9Ja9qfdIUgd3kSLpCSECu6u7V8pqLuASuYiUWDQ8jC7hguGKiEtQf1-Td8yXwaTZN5Qe9beXb1ICi1mU0jW4feLXU/s320/IMG_8093.PNG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Marbled Liquid Silver, Gold, and Steel - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/825915266248761345">Video Here</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SclZ_z-4hdw/WJJ0iJaLllI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/HoQik48DDnYuF3d4D6-QewdNz25RJgu7QCPcB/s1600/IMG_8069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SclZ_z-4hdw/WJJ0iJaLllI/AAAAAAAAFIQ/HoQik48DDnYuF3d4D6-QewdNz25RJgu7QCPcB/s320/IMG_8069.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Duo Light Grey and Medium Grey - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/825887131318906880">Video Here</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3>
Onward!</h3>
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I still have many lions left to paint, detail, seal, and send off to their new homes, but I'm excited to continue working on them, and share the many other projects I'm working on next!</div>
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K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-48650115553142169802016-12-31T21:21:00.001-08:002016-12-31T21:48:05.722-08:00New Art, My 2016 Art, An Upgraded Workshop, My 2016 Year in Review, and More!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The last couple months have been incredibly busy and productive for me on multiple fronts, so I thought I would write up a comprehensive blog about it! :)</div>
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<h3>
More New Art</h3>
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I've been very busy working on prepping some original wood panels for sale as well as taking a few commissions, fulfilling orders, and trying new things. One of these new things was offering some original lithograph prints with hand-painted, real 24k gold leaf accents. You really have to check out the video to really appreciate it: <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/810361383892062208">Video Here</a>. I also have lithographs of it and some other recent art prints for sale as well! If you're interested, please feel free to contact me at kimberly.lecrone@gmail.com. :)</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l33kDwLVZww/WGh5fT-k7jI/AAAAAAAAFCQ/fBRE7TZrBvYhB3G1B4DyaOza6Ioj_F75ACPcB/s1600/IMG_7106_Golden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l33kDwLVZww/WGh5fT-k7jI/AAAAAAAAFCQ/fBRE7TZrBvYhB3G1B4DyaOza6Ioj_F75ACPcB/s400/IMG_7106_Golden.jpg" width="341" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">"Fire Tiger" - Real 24k Gold Leaf Lithographs $65 - <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/810361383892062208">Video Here</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yz-fVnhLBfE/WGh3UOVIsDI/AAAAAAAAFCQ/GVo8LBbadlsud1WB1j1b7T2KtvWKF_2YwCPcB/s1600/Dragonfly_comp_900CR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yz-fVnhLBfE/WGh3UOVIsDI/AAAAAAAAFCQ/GVo8LBbadlsud1WB1j1b7T2KtvWKF_2YwCPcB/s400/Dragonfly_comp_900CR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Dragonfly Mandala" - Prints $15</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uKU81MZvPOI/WGh5cSN3itI/AAAAAAAAFCQ/u5HUsotmttULPNTPxrE3b_Hi-efuq4FNACPcB/s1600/MacawMandala_Color_Edit_900CR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uKU81MZvPOI/WGh5cSN3itI/AAAAAAAAFCQ/u5HUsotmttULPNTPxrE3b_Hi-efuq4FNACPcB/s400/MacawMandala_Color_Edit_900CR.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Macaw Mandala" - Prints $15</td></tr>
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12 Glimpses of My 2016 Art</h3>
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During 2016, I created over 70 pieces of original art! Here are twelve of my "top" projects:</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s8R3pahnSb8/WGiNR2o-DpI/AAAAAAAAFDw/jryO5eFK5bM5t7EE0HcHWb11W4ZOvnolgCPcB/s1600/2016-Year-in-Review_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s8R3pahnSb8/WGiNR2o-DpI/AAAAAAAAFDw/jryO5eFK5bM5t7EE0HcHWb11W4ZOvnolgCPcB/s640/2016-Year-in-Review_01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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You can learn more about below:</div>
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<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://dreamspirit.deviantart.com/art/Jeweled-Lion-Sculpture-593780613">Jeweled Lion Sculpture</a>: One of the first sculptures I did this year, and one that I'd started many years prior!</div>
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<a href="http://dreamspirit.deviantart.com/art/30-Day-Story-Sketch-Challenge-Day-9-Sea-of-Stars-583313384">Sea of Stars</a>: One of a number of story sketch pieces I did this year, and one that I would definitely like to revisit!</div>
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<a href="http://dreamspirit.deviantart.com/art/30-Day-Story-Sketch-Challenge-Day-13-Color-640322594">Color</a>: Another sketch story piece I did that shows one of the major towns of the third book in my book series. :)</div>
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<a href="http://dreamspirit.deviantart.com/art/30-Day-Story-Sketch-Challenge-Day-16-Huntress-640324308">Huntress</a>: Yet another sketch story piece, this time of one of the creatures in my novels (a gryphowl!)</div>
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<a href="http://dreamspirit.deviantart.com/art/Ornate-Dragon-640328455">Ornate Dragon 2</a>: A watercolor painting I did while at Lightning in a Bottle this year!</div>
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<a href="http://dreamspirit.deviantart.com/art/Messenger-607118075">Messenger</a>: A wood panel painting that really got me rolling back into acrylics this year!</div>
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<a href="http://dreamspirit.deviantart.com/art/Aeterno-Kymba-Facepainting-640335138">Aeterno Kymba Facepainting</a>: A fun facepainting fan art of sorts that I really enjoyed creating!</div>
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<a href="http://dreamspirit.deviantart.com/art/Mandala-Fox-640331960">Mandala Fox</a>: An enjoyable exercise in combining my love of animals and mandalas.</div>
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<a href="http://dreamspirit.deviantart.com/art/Fire-Tiger-644980319">Fire Tiger</a>: Easily my favorite painting of the year! :)</div>
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<a href="http://dreamspirit.deviantart.com/art/Sun-Spots-645147332">Sun Spots</a>: I had a lot of fun trying to level up my mandalas with gold leaf!</div>
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<a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2016/08/art-and-stories-interwoven.html">Hummingbird and Kitten Memorial Sculpture (Work in Progress)</a>: A memorial sculpture (and accompanying short story) I hope to complete in January of 2017</div>
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<li style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2016/08/art-and-stories-interwoven.html">“Sashah's Song” – Mixed Media Sculpture (Work in Progress)</a>: I started this sculpture way back in late 2014, and it sat around for the bulk of the year before I got <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/676138902806130688">moving again on it</a> in the later half of 2015 and beginning of 2016. It's a sculpture of one of the lead protagonists of my stories, who happens to be a werewolf enchantress. Much like the Yak, this project has encountered numerous technical battles along the way, including not fitting properly in a home oven, which meant I had to <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675897060013445120">build an oven to bake it</a>, so... suffice to say, she has continued to be a labor of love, and I'm really hoping I can finish her off in the near future. :) I figure I'm around 200+ hours in at this point, and there are a lot more photos of her over on my Twitter accounts <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/">@KLeCrone</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Vaeflare/">@Vaeflare</a>. To date, this is very possibly the project I'm proudest of so far! </li>
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An Upgraded Workshop</h3>
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Over the last week and many, many hours of hard labor, I spent the bulk of my time inside of my garage in order to clean, organize, donate, sell, and purge items. While I wanted to downsize, the overall goal was for me to reclaim my garage workspace, which had been compromised when my mother moved closer, and thus gave me back the boxes I'd stored in her garage for many years.</div>
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I cleared out so much space, in fact, that I was able to install the new workbench and some upgrades I'd gotten from the holidays (or from gift cards)! :)</div>
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While I am physically exhausted, I am thrilled beyond belief to see my hard work pay off in such a tangible way! I love how far it's come, and it's not over yet! This will easily allow me enough room to continue my woodworking projects, as well as the molding and casting I want to do in the new year!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1-sdcrzL_L4/WGh8X1wgPuI/AAAAAAAAFDA/8oAMnPP9PEE-7ru5IgpaFN_BZ7-U5qFCwCPcB/s1600/IMG_7421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1-sdcrzL_L4/WGh8X1wgPuI/AAAAAAAAFDA/8oAMnPP9PEE-7ru5IgpaFN_BZ7-U5qFCwCPcB/s400/IMG_7421.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r3-hx-PV1X8/WGh8X3hk_AI/AAAAAAAAFDA/isj5DI4oyik3CVYDtwKuiu9Crb6J0V5VACPcB/s1600/IMG_7484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r3-hx-PV1X8/WGh8X3hk_AI/AAAAAAAAFDA/isj5DI4oyik3CVYDtwKuiu9Crb6J0V5VACPcB/s200/IMG_7484.JPG" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MJBpaJGaSK4/WGh8X2RjE-I/AAAAAAAAFDA/DdBV1sv6MBQGOcscEu6PjXqoO2FUvn2IgCPcB/s1600/IMG_7485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MJBpaJGaSK4/WGh8X2RjE-I/AAAAAAAAFDA/DdBV1sv6MBQGOcscEu6PjXqoO2FUvn2IgCPcB/s200/IMG_7485.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HaWX8ybp7eg/WGh8X6NEEdI/AAAAAAAAFDA/qokMQxXTb0wptDGRj_NFPsfAzgg5BbeYQCPcB/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HaWX8ybp7eg/WGh8X6NEEdI/AAAAAAAAFDA/qokMQxXTb0wptDGRj_NFPsfAzgg5BbeYQCPcB/s200/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NlkQJO48uMc/WGh8X_ZRtcI/AAAAAAAAFDA/Wg7-zc5vqX0ugVzxmFRkaQXt0dqKkCK6QCPcB/s1600/IMG_7504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NlkQJO48uMc/WGh8X_ZRtcI/AAAAAAAAFDA/Wg7-zc5vqX0ugVzxmFRkaQXt0dqKkCK6QCPcB/s200/IMG_7504.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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Since I was sharing workspace photos, I figured I would also show you my two other primary workspaces. The first is my art and writing room. The second is my computer area (for general web-browsing, gaming, digital art, scanning, printing, etc.).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P6Pfq3NwpbU/WGh8X6-APII/AAAAAAAAFDA/YoGfvI1VpWoaZvx4TxjcV3oBakPlVDLZgCPcB/s1600/IMG_7488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P6Pfq3NwpbU/WGh8X6-APII/AAAAAAAAFDA/YoGfvI1VpWoaZvx4TxjcV3oBakPlVDLZgCPcB/s400/IMG_7488.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Art and Writing Room</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oT2PNdkJ30s/WGh8X2awaCI/AAAAAAAAFDA/3fcs4ksV7wAH18XepC1J3aK7j7k2ptG6QCPcB/s1600/FullSizeRender_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oT2PNdkJ30s/WGh8X2awaCI/AAAAAAAAFDA/3fcs4ksV7wAH18XepC1J3aK7j7k2ptG6QCPcB/s400/FullSizeRender_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Multimedia Digital Workstation</td></tr>
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My 2016 Year in Review</h3>
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I hope to have more to report next week, but in the meantime, I'm excited for the prospect of making some real headway with my various projects over the remainder of my holiday vacation (the first half of it was dedicated to family events, the garage overhaul, cleaning, errands, and other busy-work). My 2016 year in review:<br />
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<b>The good:</b><br />
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<li>Really felt the self-love this year. This can be a hard one sometimes, especially when I’m not in the shape I want to be in, but I know that who I am is encompassed by so, so much more than that. I tried to be kinder to myself and more realistic with my goals in 2016, and felt that really made me a happier person.</li>
<li>Grew closer to a number of new friends and long-time friends this year. This has made my day-to-day so much richer and more enjoyable. It feels wonderful to be able to talk about “real stuff” with supportive people I feel like I can be myself around.</li>
<li>Hugged my SO even tighter. <3 He is such a wonderful, supportive light in my life.</li>
<li>My mom moved closer, so I get to see her more often, yay!</li>
<li>Donated, purged, and gave away a dramatic number of boxes of stuff I had stored in my mom’s garage (sorry, mom!), as well as a ton of unneeded review items, art supplies, clothes, and more. The heavy downsizing continues!</li>
<li>Felt very happy with my career performance and trajectory this year!</li>
<li>Did a lot, a LOT of Amazon reviews, and learned a TON in the process!</li>
<li>As a fun result of this reviewing, I probably produced more art this year than in any other year to date! I think somewhere in the ballpark of 70 pieces of new art! Having to use so many real media art materials (some of which were…subpar…) for reviews reminded me of how nice and manageable it is to do smaller “bites” of art.</li>
<li>Resumed selling personal art on the side, and managed to have a surprisingly great year of sales too!</li>
<li>Took a number of commissions, and completed all of them within 1 month of when the original order was placed. I managed to walk a careful line between keeping busy, but not becoming overwhelmed.</li>
<li>Finished general outlining my 8 book series!</li>
<li>Swapped gears and finished fine outlining v4 of “new” first book!</li>
<li>Restarted prose for v4 of “new” first book! 25,000+ words in or so!</li>
<li>Learned more about woodworking, and leveled up some necessary skills in that realm!</li>
<li>Went to various conventions to meet up with people and had a great time, but tried to manage my hours and energy level better so as to not get overwhelmed and exhausted.</li>
<li>2016 was one of my healthiest years on record!</li>
<li>Got Contoura Lasik!</li>
<li>Did a massive overhaul on our garage and purged/donated/sold a TON of stuff, opening up a lot of room to rework and upgrade my garage workshop space!</li>
<li>Started ordering molding and casting supplies to move forward into that realm in 2017!</li>
<li>Kept my optimism intact.</li>
<li>Pushed myself to learn new things and experiment!</li>
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<b>The not so good:</b><br />
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<ul>
<li>Lost a kitty (we still miss you, Augie)</li>
<li>Gained some weight. >_></li>
<li>Had a health scare with my kitty, Opal (she’s okay now).</li>
<li>Had a repetitive stress hand/wrist injury at work, but it’s on the mend now, and at least it’s my left hand!</li>
<li>Didn’t finish my own self-imposed 30-day sketch story challenge, but made it to day 18 or so!</li>
<li>Didn’t finish “Sashah’s Song” sculpture, but hopefully next year!</li>
<li>Admitted temporary defeat on my life-sized hydralisk head sculpture and relegated him to the garage so I could prioritize other projects.</li>
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<h3>
Diablo Fan Art Watch #300: The Art of Kimberly “Vaeflare” LeCrone</h3>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-swP0xnEA6ic/WGiWpnQafTI/AAAAAAAAFEQ/OlaA1wAlD54gk7W7D6iaJ21rCX_d-RnSQCPcB/s1600/BfV7FfKCcAEPR0z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-swP0xnEA6ic/WGiWpnQafTI/AAAAAAAAFEQ/OlaA1wAlD54gk7W7D6iaJ21rCX_d-RnSQCPcB/s320/BfV7FfKCcAEPR0z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This year I was honored to ask to partake in an in-depth interview about my personal art and roles at Blizzard Entertainment. You can read the full interview (and lots of art and videos) here: <a href="http://www.diabloii.net/blog/comments/diablo-fan-art-watch-300">http://www.diabloii.net/blog/comments/diablo-fan-art-watch-300</a></div>
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<h3>
On to 2017!</h3>
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All-in-all it's been quite a year, and I can't wait to see what 2017 holds! Some personal things I'm aiming to accomplish in the new year include:<br />
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<ol>
<li>Complete "Hummingbird and Kitten Memorial Sculpture"</li>
<li>Complete "Sashah's Song" Sculpture</li>
<li>(Re)learn how to mold and cast</li>
<li>Keep moving forward with one or more novels</li>
<li>Finish at least one outstanding art project and selectively retire others</li>
<li>Continue to grow my creative side-business</li>
<li>Continue to infuse my unique vision into my work</li>
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Overall, 2016 was a pretty solid year for me, and I’m really eager to see what 2017 brings personally, professionally, and creatively. :) I’m so thankful for all of your support along the way of this crazy journey called life. <3</div>
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K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-60866770233886826112016-11-15T18:05:00.000-08:002016-11-15T18:07:15.342-08:00New Original Art and Prints for Sale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been a whirlwind last few months, and even though all the craziness and responsibilities of work (especially <a href="https://blizzcon.com/en-us/">BlizzCon</a>), I have still been forging ahead with both writing and personal projects! I also opened up a new store on <a href="https://society6.com/klecrone">Society6</a> that I am hoping to further populate over the next few months. In the meantime, you can check out some products with my "Fire Tiger" art on them here: <a href="https://society6.com/klecrone">https://society6.com/klecrone</a><br />
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<h3>
Art Updates and Original Art and Prints for Sale</h3>
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I completed a number of new pieces of art, and have been posting them regularly to both my <a href="https://www.patreon.com/KLeCrone">Patreon</a> as well as to my <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone">Twitter</a> and other social media accounts. Virtually all of them are available as prints (ranging between $13 and $15), and some of the originals are still for sale as well! If you're interested, please feel free to contact me at <a href="mailto:kimberly.lecrone@gmail.com">kimberly.lecrone@gmail.com</a>. :)<br />
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In particular, I've had renewed interest in painting on wood panels. It certainly makes for more prep-work, but I find the interplay of wood grains and gold leaf quite intriguing! You can see a video of one example here: <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/796458006879703040">https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/796458006879703040</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm31xWjDDoQsEFpdIy-8SB5nu9e9PrZwCclnvGQ-v71mSFdlXHv_hVYfkM9uTab3sMMIhQMfFkSDICzzPv7xipbtaINtFIBJW9xFLACtt2wDdHbti6SrEov0unIkog523MlLuR4UwpzaQ/s1600/2016_11_04_sunspots_workscan_900_cr_by_dreamspirit-dao3qv8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm31xWjDDoQsEFpdIy-8SB5nu9e9PrZwCclnvGQ-v71mSFdlXHv_hVYfkM9uTab3sMMIhQMfFkSDICzzPv7xipbtaINtFIBJW9xFLACtt2wDdHbti6SrEov0unIkog523MlLuR4UwpzaQ/s640/2016_11_04_sunspots_workscan_900_cr_by_dreamspirit-dao3qv8.jpg" width="513" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Sun Spots" - Original ($175) - Prints $13</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZdfbsPgN08/WCu7OsNJG4I/AAAAAAAAE-Y/ktDIQIQmOSAdAxJgtKYV6M8NxYPKwSecQCPcB/s1600/firetiger001_da_by_dreamspirit-dao05zz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZdfbsPgN08/WCu7OsNJG4I/AAAAAAAAE-Y/ktDIQIQmOSAdAxJgtKYV6M8NxYPKwSecQCPcB/s640/firetiger001_da_by_dreamspirit-dao05zz.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Fire Tiger" - Prints $15</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW30t06aye1atuwSWbh4vIzqoXMPmftaalZ3d6AXY7U1FCeaqsv7JzNeo5WZAx6l5lQBOgNviuPYW2vO3ki9illy2eA1EpydvRohyrZBN_Ia2Kk9r7MK6fF8RJNp6JB-Twtc5zHm-E3qU/s1600/owlmandalabelly002_da_by_dreamspirit-dao05qd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW30t06aye1atuwSWbh4vIzqoXMPmftaalZ3d6AXY7U1FCeaqsv7JzNeo5WZAx6l5lQBOgNviuPYW2vO3ki9illy2eA1EpydvRohyrZBN_Ia2Kk9r7MK6fF8RJNp6JB-Twtc5zHm-E3qU/s400/owlmandalabelly002_da_by_dreamspirit-dao05qd.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Mandowla" - Prints $15</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fTt74LpXBRs/WCu7Olh7udI/AAAAAAAAE-Y/yY6r-rckE2kyJlZE4XQM4O1chFUdEjOfwCPcB/s1600/mandalabird001_da_by_dreamspirit-dao0648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fTt74LpXBRs/WCu7Olh7udI/AAAAAAAAE-Y/yY6r-rckE2kyJlZE4XQM4O1chFUdEjOfwCPcB/s400/mandalabird001_da_by_dreamspirit-dao0648.jpg" width="307" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Sun Raven" - Prints $15</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqd_IJTWeC515-mCxjdkCiq2QKntwdEmZPVWrUOahppV2XknOEsDpO-QWUFNolbyJ9b3_o9u4uLiP7R5WNlejmHKbPPR62Xm_rw-pIaI2_3YOqb4Eq7aOJcPk4eOMgVzv6X3-gdnJaVxY/s1600/DASharedImagePage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqd_IJTWeC515-mCxjdkCiq2QKntwdEmZPVWrUOahppV2XknOEsDpO-QWUFNolbyJ9b3_o9u4uLiP7R5WNlejmHKbPPR62Xm_rw-pIaI2_3YOqb4Eq7aOJcPk4eOMgVzv6X3-gdnJaVxY/s640/DASharedImagePage.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Friendship" - Original for Sale ($225)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oOJgpcUFnFM/V70LCOi4NXI/AAAAAAAAExQ/tPB5qqm2DmIsl2THTF-gN_np1BvjORFUwCPcB/s1600/2016-08-10_StylizedFox_01CR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oOJgpcUFnFM/V70LCOi4NXI/AAAAAAAAExQ/tPB5qqm2DmIsl2THTF-gN_np1BvjORFUwCPcB/s640/2016-08-10_StylizedFox_01CR.jpg" width="498" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Mandala Fox" - Original for Sale ($110) - Prints $13</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-amEx9uksAB0/Vyrdnixh3LI/AAAAAAAAEcg/lL7kdMrMV3wajuxRsiWm_8Hs0gmiGakFwCPcB/s1600/Acrylic_Hummingbird_01_Web01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-amEx9uksAB0/Vyrdnixh3LI/AAAAAAAAEcg/lL7kdMrMV3wajuxRsiWm_8Hs0gmiGakFwCPcB/s400/Acrylic_Hummingbird_01_Web01.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Messenger" - Prints $15</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OGOQSkt1yv0/WCu7OtSR5pI/AAAAAAAAE-Y/1WiFOHxMeo4KkNutmesR2d0HZCCv_5MCwCPcB/s1600/2016_08_24_stylizedlion_01_cr_by_dreamspirit-dal8ixv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OGOQSkt1yv0/WCu7OtSR5pI/AAAAAAAAE-Y/1WiFOHxMeo4KkNutmesR2d0HZCCv_5MCwCPcB/s400/2016_08_24_stylizedlion_01_cr_by_dreamspirit-dal8ixv.jpg" width="376" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Stylized Lion" - Prints $13</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3>
Novel Progress</h3>
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I recently completed v3 of my outline for <i>The Apprentice of Rook</i> and am currently working on v4 of the outline before I dip my toes back into the prose next week! While I am not formally working on this book as part of NaNoWriMo, I am hoping to make some serious headway with it next week. I will be taking a nine-day staycation overlapping the Thanksgiving holiday, during which time I plan to do a load of writing with a side of art!<br />
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I hope to have more to report next week, but in the meantime, I'm excited for the prospect of making some real headway with my various projects. :)<br />
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K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-78622818679668624502016-08-23T21:12:00.001-07:002016-08-23T21:12:48.677-07:00Art and Stories Interwoven<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The last few months have been crazy busy for me, and while they've been productive in some ways (pleasantly so!), they haven't always been as productive in ways that I wished them to be. Such is life. Ever-onward!<br />
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<h3>
Art Updates</h3>
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At the end of May, after an absolutely wonderful excursion to Lightning in a Bottle with a close friend, I returned home and had to put our young cat down. Over just a few days he'd developed the onset of Wet FIP, which is a terminal illness, and we were not expecting our furry companion, who was just a year old, would have to leave us so soon. In the wake of this tragedy, I started sculpting a memorial piece I plan to give to my mother. <br />
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It's a quite a bit different than my usual sculptures, but it will be a freestanding lattice hummingbird with a saddle, who is taking our dear kitty, Augie, skywards onto their next great adventure. I have a short story that will accompany the sculpture once it's finished as well, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy some of the work in progress shots of the sculpture leading up to where it now stands.<br />
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It's not quite done yet, but the sculpture part is getting close. The sculpture includes real amazonite gemstone eyes for the hummingbird, a labradorite on her chest, and then glass eyes for the kitty.<br />
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<h3>
More Art Created with The Help of One or More Reviewed Products</h3>
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The last few months have been a mix of many things, and by and large, I've actually been regularly creating a decent amount of what I'd consider "smaller" art pieces. Many of these were the results of needing to review items and art supplies for sellers, and I've been having a lot of fun with them! In particular, I've enjoyed the more stylistic creatures I've been creating in one sitting. They aren't my usual style, but I really have loved creating them! I haven't done a lot of work on my bigger projects aside from the hummingbird, but I do home to make some headway with my "Sashah's Song" sculpture over the next few months too.<br />
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I'm not going to link all the reviews (since that isn't the purpose of this blog), but if you have questions on any particular ones, just let me know and I'd be more than happy to let you know! The captions below list what materials were being reviewed for each piece.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vzjNLtW4Dp8/V70QlVQSv-I/AAAAAAAAE0g/4kqb-AjJu0Aac9oLpv8sSswvsZYNQHQRwCPcB/s1600/IMG_2754.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vzjNLtW4Dp8/V70QlVQSv-I/AAAAAAAAE0g/4kqb-AjJu0Aac9oLpv8sSswvsZYNQHQRwCPcB/s640/IMG_2754.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Sashah's Song" (Work in Progress) - Multiple Types of Paint Brushes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUYQ0vjU6oXDuWTAAuHdMh28OkEUHcTYsQa05-cJ3nHnuTJ4D-IFT-7HeEoXdli_IjztnkeKvgLlHUBKQIGy9MRMpkB8KCd3mrhZMzl3vJCM6LwJzMX2SXeKYwzr90yNuiolAVuYRuLfw/s1600/IMG_2752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUYQ0vjU6oXDuWTAAuHdMh28OkEUHcTYsQa05-cJ3nHnuTJ4D-IFT-7HeEoXdli_IjztnkeKvgLlHUBKQIGy9MRMpkB8KCd3mrhZMzl3vJCM6LwJzMX2SXeKYwzr90yNuiolAVuYRuLfw/s200/IMG_2752.JPG" width="150" /></a> <a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J-RCjj6_8lM/V70QlWcAa5I/AAAAAAAAE0g/FE79fgCXIqsH7O5egoiYrP-bvAk8h-vNwCPcB/s1600/IMG_2751.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J-RCjj6_8lM/V70QlWcAa5I/AAAAAAAAE0g/FE79fgCXIqsH7O5egoiYrP-bvAk8h-vNwCPcB/s200/IMG_2751.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b9zYcWlV6pQ/V70QlVXoL7I/AAAAAAAAE0g/zX_Rq6bQZzEirll-CM4GmPNWLdAT7e-QQCPcB/s1600/IMG_2245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b9zYcWlV6pQ/V70QlVXoL7I/AAAAAAAAE0g/zX_Rq6bQZzEirll-CM4GmPNWLdAT7e-QQCPcB/s400/IMG_2245.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Dragon Koi" for Use with "Sashah's Song" Sculpture - Clay</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Eg3TQv8T-ViKa__v7hi-7YRUYZ2SHObweVVP155YT0jIbzHZCym7t_14T34uBboGWYaY02nGhwvhH9Ekru6_RXwXG5EZ0zMY3H1o737eYEit8UPve1s8jQU37qyDk5Gu1-w6t0dVZQA/s1600/IMG_2241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Eg3TQv8T-ViKa__v7hi-7YRUYZ2SHObweVVP155YT0jIbzHZCym7t_14T34uBboGWYaY02nGhwvhH9Ekru6_RXwXG5EZ0zMY3H1o737eYEit8UPve1s8jQU37qyDk5Gu1-w6t0dVZQA/s200/IMG_2241.JPG" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTkDPWlp1a-pJpNshP-J5dBsZ-6LFaqHkyRTQnClKjHiHqAB-5YX7sLHWiXTNvtcwrwWL57iw_SUADng7B3RW4WdJ8DMl6arXCX_YdVcBapRZM4ZKXOhq-GLFSLty5l1ew21S5E9we78k/s1600/IMG_2242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTkDPWlp1a-pJpNshP-J5dBsZ-6LFaqHkyRTQnClKjHiHqAB-5YX7sLHWiXTNvtcwrwWL57iw_SUADng7B3RW4WdJ8DMl6arXCX_YdVcBapRZM4ZKXOhq-GLFSLty5l1ew21S5E9we78k/s200/IMG_2242.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t7vm6lbR__c/V70LqSUQTiI/AAAAAAAAExQ/OEPtR1dWN_IanHlent5RttpdhybVKb9AwCPcB/s1600/2016-04-27_LabradoriteFetish_Painting_01_1000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t7vm6lbR__c/V70LqSUQTiI/AAAAAAAAExQ/OEPtR1dWN_IanHlent5RttpdhybVKb9AwCPcB/s320/2016-04-27_LabradoriteFetish_Painting_01_1000.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Zuni Fetish" - Watercolor Pencils</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rfx2nUlRO-I/V70LqYbZVVI/AAAAAAAAExQ/1EUqc_-OtOspBs3Vdw5ryDLdEfvzUkUKgCPcB/s1600/2016-05-06_FireHawk_Painting_01_CU_1000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rfx2nUlRO-I/V70LqYbZVVI/AAAAAAAAExQ/1EUqc_-OtOspBs3Vdw5ryDLdEfvzUkUKgCPcB/s640/2016-05-06_FireHawk_Painting_01_CU_1000.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Fire Hawk" - Watercolors</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ie089qOKPY4/V70LqQGAkzI/AAAAAAAAExQ/dOjcvU8Hw9kxsmWxSr6W9GdT5_Xf0Xf2wCPcB/s1600/2016-05-06_FireHawk_Painting_01_1000_CR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ie089qOKPY4/V70LqQGAkzI/AAAAAAAAExQ/dOjcvU8Hw9kxsmWxSr6W9GdT5_Xf0Xf2wCPcB/s320/2016-05-06_FireHawk_Painting_01_1000_CR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA53UNI_71wEwyKu4ilgbHruLFjKx2Dmmo6JVw2iLvlmB0ssBS4d-GBbgE7TcU_VBhNb1CbVbwSN1m_X_F_FZYAedPjdCOnO_3rDm2RlLewo5AteojNeqecdrsEmmB5d-Ixd3WIetkMpk/s1600/2016-05-05_Melinda_Painting_01_1000_CR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA53UNI_71wEwyKu4ilgbHruLFjKx2Dmmo6JVw2iLvlmB0ssBS4d-GBbgE7TcU_VBhNb1CbVbwSN1m_X_F_FZYAedPjdCOnO_3rDm2RlLewo5AteojNeqecdrsEmmB5d-Ixd3WIetkMpk/s320/2016-05-05_Melinda_Painting_01_1000_CR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Melinda the Mean Hummingbird" - Watercolor Pencils</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lVhGOkyw3Nw/V70LqX2fCUI/AAAAAAAAExQ/BkDyzS1YzeId06jEFl-6I4aAkaiO_hKPQCPcB/s1600/2016-05-07_Winter_Painting_01_1000_CR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="385" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lVhGOkyw3Nw/V70LqX2fCUI/AAAAAAAAExQ/BkDyzS1YzeId06jEFl-6I4aAkaiO_hKPQCPcB/s400/2016-05-07_Winter_Painting_01_1000_CR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Winter" - Watercolors</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ukIVMV4EQQ/V70LqbaIGOI/AAAAAAAAExQ/9pwuesDw_64HCgWTRg0ZZeYbX_69zkcyQCPcB/s1600/2016-05-11_FeatheredVelociraptor_01_x1000CR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ukIVMV4EQQ/V70LqbaIGOI/AAAAAAAAExQ/9pwuesDw_64HCgWTRg0ZZeYbX_69zkcyQCPcB/s640/2016-05-11_FeatheredVelociraptor_01_x1000CR.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Velociraptor" - Watercolors</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BUUmHmx2EiY/V70MRPuwKhI/AAAAAAAAExQ/N3wkBGrEsAMWX0bS1-4Tqps5RXFvV_SjQCPcB/s1600/IMG_1553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BUUmHmx2EiY/V70MRPuwKhI/AAAAAAAAExQ/N3wkBGrEsAMWX0bS1-4Tqps5RXFvV_SjQCPcB/s320/IMG_1553.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Selkie" - Pens</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g8d8M3G9DNc/V70MLx1nmaI/AAAAAAAAExQ/AhzvZVpkCEEN18gCfrw3kCfQ_FKNGORVgCPcB/s1600/2016-05-28_OrnateDragon02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g8d8M3G9DNc/V70MLx1nmaI/AAAAAAAAExQ/AhzvZVpkCEEN18gCfrw3kCfQ_FKNGORVgCPcB/s640/2016-05-28_OrnateDragon02.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Ornate Dragon" - Watercolors</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RPIYp2-6cE0/V70LqSfQ6oI/AAAAAAAAExQ/lSqc9vFGNCkWmjUj_r_-xNDS1lIF5YQXwCPcB/s1600/2016-06-28_BetaFish_01_900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RPIYp2-6cE0/V70LqSfQ6oI/AAAAAAAAExQ/lSqc9vFGNCkWmjUj_r_-xNDS1lIF5YQXwCPcB/s400/2016-06-28_BetaFish_01_900.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Fish" - Colored Pencils</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoauumLCQLXN-Ziu9GOefOKD3N4fmbTYkrQzV4jq-lPcblsnA8AI2530Jkq7NFV6IKHhakD0ETkqnC2PD0pH2jXN4w1r4IM_J1TTywPHAeoodY_FpVL-EdJ3rufTZqxlot3J7FA9V-gX0/s1600/2016-07-11_DragonLizard_01_CR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoauumLCQLXN-Ziu9GOefOKD3N4fmbTYkrQzV4jq-lPcblsnA8AI2530Jkq7NFV6IKHhakD0ETkqnC2PD0pH2jXN4w1r4IM_J1TTywPHAeoodY_FpVL-EdJ3rufTZqxlot3J7FA9V-gX0/s400/2016-07-11_DragonLizard_01_CR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Lizard Dragon" - Markers</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pEY9qvRPmpU/V70Q5SfgWpI/AAAAAAAAE0g/0y7n3I6GrX0Mad-l_7tFjaRM151GzHgMwCPcB/s1600/IMG_3307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pEY9qvRPmpU/V70Q5SfgWpI/AAAAAAAAE0g/0y7n3I6GrX0Mad-l_7tFjaRM151GzHgMwCPcB/s320/IMG_3307.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Gryphon" - Metallic Pens</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ih-xPxoA01A/V70L4NUVCWI/AAAAAAAAExQ/P2Z6LJGY7U0Rfogf5z_MC0XMPpE-GwI_wCPcB/s1600/IMG_4157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ih-xPxoA01A/V70L4NUVCWI/AAAAAAAAExQ/P2Z6LJGY7U0Rfogf5z_MC0XMPpE-GwI_wCPcB/s320/IMG_4157.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Dotty Cat" - Gel Pens</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhZvr8qlJgPYwzbqJTILf5tjv-M0UNIqHN6nggpBZd1DDdQ9wpQZvAvCFyDgE5u5ujmRx7KRWpj7gTplRHP-P0pLnlzs4RBTRLoekOOxHGkSH8fB00ApPLX4A86m0DcVCIox2Wsp92oFE/s1600/2016-07-25_SparkleWolf_Scan_Web_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhZvr8qlJgPYwzbqJTILf5tjv-M0UNIqHN6nggpBZd1DDdQ9wpQZvAvCFyDgE5u5ujmRx7KRWpj7gTplRHP-P0pLnlzs4RBTRLoekOOxHGkSH8fB00ApPLX4A86m0DcVCIox2Wsp92oFE/s320/2016-07-25_SparkleWolf_Scan_Web_01.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Dotty Wolf" - Gel Pens</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FN4D6Qv1fOA/V70MEUefRUI/AAAAAAAAExQ/vJtFj76N3i8mWsze-iX-dwe-2Rm35rVzQCPcB/s1600/IMG_4156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FN4D6Qv1fOA/V70MEUefRUI/AAAAAAAAExQ/vJtFj76N3i8mWsze-iX-dwe-2Rm35rVzQCPcB/s320/IMG_4156.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2u8iGbd0Kng/V70MjKLRHKI/AAAAAAAAExQ/30lsr8FPCTw93zZ1FO4hyQWxfQlzucY1ACPcB/s1600/IMG_4002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2u8iGbd0Kng/V70MjKLRHKI/AAAAAAAAExQ/30lsr8FPCTw93zZ1FO4hyQWxfQlzucY1ACPcB/s640/IMG_4002.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Lattice Raven Sculpture" - Airbrush Kit </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ukcHEJMlLRE/V70LqdZuQqI/AAAAAAAAExQ/s5tdFOX5Eqw6blCCWIzPvYWdyLNX3zTzQCPcB/s1600/2016-08-09_StylizedRaven_01_CR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ukcHEJMlLRE/V70LqdZuQqI/AAAAAAAAExQ/s5tdFOX5Eqw6blCCWIzPvYWdyLNX3zTzQCPcB/s400/2016-08-09_StylizedRaven_01_CR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Stylized Raven" - Masking Frisket</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oOJgpcUFnFM/V70LCOi4NXI/AAAAAAAAExQ/tPB5qqm2DmIsl2THTF-gN_np1BvjORFUwCPcB/s1600/2016-08-10_StylizedFox_01CR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oOJgpcUFnFM/V70LCOi4NXI/AAAAAAAAExQ/tPB5qqm2DmIsl2THTF-gN_np1BvjORFUwCPcB/s640/2016-08-10_StylizedFox_01CR.jpg" width="497" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Henna Fox" - Markers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZAyEE2ny6kbarQExqVBtrysFhlN9rmYqziQmiReGNxWJgeRV_NNsvc7BpyY_cqdK80eskEm4VJ5oWIhR1_3qbkx_PXH6_OIIzFK0y1T9XsQpG1oOHdcxlCx-mG93XnAW7S1l1r-AWlvQ/s1600/IMG_4895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZAyEE2ny6kbarQExqVBtrysFhlN9rmYqziQmiReGNxWJgeRV_NNsvc7BpyY_cqdK80eskEm4VJ5oWIhR1_3qbkx_PXH6_OIIzFK0y1T9XsQpG1oOHdcxlCx-mG93XnAW7S1l1r-AWlvQ/s400/IMG_4895.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Mandala Dolphin" - Gel Pens</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Mandala" - Laser Engraver</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Hyacinth Macaw" - Fountain Pen</td></tr>
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<h3>
Novel Progress</h3>
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After spending the last two years or so working diligently on <i>Secrets of an Accord</i>, which I'd intended to be a sort of origin story for how two main characters in the series got to know each other, I realized that all my careful planning was for naught because this really was the third book in the series, and the more I though about it, the more I realized it would be silly to publish this particular novel ahead of other novels, only to follow them with prequels.<br />
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So over the last few months I've been working to find a nice stopping point for myself on that book (which is quite far along), so that I could take a step back and look at the novels and stories I'd planned as part of a greater series and reorganize everything and start re-planning things so that there was a better overall flow.<br />
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So far that has been going quite well! I don't have a lot to tangibly show for my planning aside from a bunch of notes on note-cards and bits and pieces in my private wiki and Scrivener documents, but things are slowly moving forward, and I've finally gotten to the point that I can resume work in earnest on the first book of the series. Thankfully, it's a story that's already gone through two full drafts, and while there are undoubtedly changes as I move forward, it felt really nice and comfy opening up an old Scrivener document and finding a completed outline looking at me at the ready: <i>The Apprentice of Rook</i>.<br />
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It's also been fun (and challenging!) trying to pin down some of the overall flow of the novels, but at this point, there looks to be around eight of them, but who knows how much that will change as I push them forward.<br />
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Tentatively, this is what I've named and numbered them (all of which are subject to (undoubtedly) change):<br />
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<ul>
<li>Book One: The Apprentice of Rook</li>
<li>Book Two: Crystalline Whispers</li>
<li>Book Three: Secrets of an Accord</li>
<li>Book Four: Song of the Wild Ones</li>
<li>Book Five: Hand of the Lion</li>
<li>Book Six: Journey to the White Forest</li>
<li>Book Seven: Rising Storm</li>
<li>Book Eight: Claws of Fortune</li>
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But, well, that's where things stand as they are! I'm pressing forward with <i>The Apprentice of Rook</i> and will be working on this third version of the text for the next few months, and will continue onward and upward! While I will still be doing some Amazon reviews, I'm also trying to review less on a weekly basis to ensure I have enough time to really sink myself into my writing, and I'm hopeful so far! I've been getting up early each morning to get a few hours of writing in before work, and it's been absolutely wonderful to keep those creative vibes flowing on a regular basis.<br /><br />Thank you again for joining me on this journey, and I hope you have a wonderful week!</div>
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K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-24366635403927801382016-05-11T22:56:00.001-07:002016-05-12T09:52:15.036-07:00I Could Write a Novel about Not Being Able to Finish a Novel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I realize it's been a couple months since I gave an update about the novel(s) I'm working on, and so I wanted to get back around to that!<br />
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<h3>
I Could Write a Novel about Not Being Able to Finish a Novel</h3>
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Recently I found myself looking back through some years worth of writing and found myself momentarily quite disappointed in myself that I still haven't finished a novel from head to toe and published it.<br />
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I assured myself that I've done things that come close: after all I've written a number of first and second drafts of "novels" that stretch back to both my high school and college years. I've finished many short stories, drabbles, novellas, and even some novel-length pieces since then, too, but I still haven't gotten to the point with any of them of taking them through three or more drafts, polishing them up, sending them to an editor, and so on.<br />
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I could offer an unending stream of reasons why this is the case, but at the end of the day, the reason is nothing is ready yet, multiple novels have been steadily moving forward over the past few years, and I'm thankful for that. Forward momentum is certainly better than no momentum at all.<br />
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<h3>
The Fanciful, Appealing Nature of Trilogies</h3>
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After returning from this year's <a href="http://writersconference.com/">Southern California Writers' Conference</a> in February, I was infused with creativity, but I also found myself pulling myself to a halt to try and evaluate how I was proceeding. I realized that I was juggling a number of active writing projects I was working on that were all vying for my attention, including three novels and two short stories in addition to other work I'd put on the back-burner. So it was with a bit of soul-searching that I realized that, like art, trying to juggle so many projects at once wasn't doing me a lot of good, and that it would be better to try to focus on taking one to the finish line before I worked on finishing off the rest of them.<br />
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I hemmed and hawed a bit about which one I should pick, but in the end, I found myself really drawn to finishing off <i>Secrets of an Accord</i>, which is a sort of origin story for how two main characters in the series got to know each other, and it's a story I feel is a really good introduction to the world of my books as well.<br />
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I returned from the conference with fresh ideas and eagerly began plotting and implementing them, but all the while I've had something nagging at me, and it was only this week that I realized what it was.<br />
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You see, way, way back, over seventeen years ago or so, I had a trilogy of novels plotted out (because it seemed like fantasy novels were supposed to be trilogies, so who was I to argue?). I wrote one and a half and had the other fully outlined when a computer fire consumed them. Years later, I would go on to write stories from all over the world: some picked up where I left off writing, some dealt with the backstories of side-characters and creatures, some were lore-tales from the world, others were bits and pieces of stories from years before or after that trilogy, but all along my mind still stuck to the idea that that original trilogy I'd written was the meat and potatoes of the story, and all this other stuff was just filler.<br />
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Now mind you: since I originally penned that "trilogy" years ago, many other books have crept into my field of view that have shown that there is hardly any hard and fast rule about series needing to be part of a trilogy (Harry Potter and the Dresden Files among them), but what I came to realize this last weekend was that I have continued to view that trilogy I wrote as the beginning and core of things. Therefore, when I've been working on these other novels (all of which actually take place before that original trilogy by quite a number of years), I've felt like they were somehow "just" prequels. Like somehow what I was doing was writing filler and backstory to the trilogy from yesteryear, which.... isn't even out. That bore in mind the question and realization together: Why is it that I'm telling myself I'm writing a backstory to a story that isn't even available? That's quite strange, if not a bit backward.<br />
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In the wake of this realization, I feel more than a bit overwhelmed but also empowered. I've realized that rather than sitting on the events of that trilogy of books and scattering other stories and novels around it to help fill in the world and characters, I really need to detach myself from the idea of a trilogy <b>at all</b> and instead sit back and look at the stories I want to tell and organize them into a more intelligent whole. Maybe that's six books? More? I'm not sure. But I know that instead of treating these precious standalone novels as works meant to support that trilogy of books, it makes a whole heck of a lot more sense to weave it all together more cohesively and to plan out the release order. That might mean that I need to make hard calls, too. It might mean that I need to put <i>Secrets of Accord</i> back on the back burner if I want to release everything in chronological order. I'm not sure yet. There are so many casts of characters and so many time periods and places I've written in and about that I need to narrow my scope yet again and stop jumping around from time to time and place to place and instead pick not only a starting point for my published work, but a reading order that is sensible to those completely unfamiliar with the world and its characters.<br />
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That right there sounds like a completely daunting task, and while part of me wants to scramble and defend that well, I should clearly publish whatever I want to publish first, I also respect and realize that if I want this to be a project spanning many years, and if I want others to join me on the journey, that I'd better figure out the intended read-order as well.<br />
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<h3>
How to Further Noodle Novels<br /> </h3>
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I've written thousands of pages about my world and its characters already, but by-and-large, I've kept most of it closely guarded and out of the public eye. I've also had some highs and lows along the way, including a literal computer fire that destroyed years worth of work, which led to me exploring <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2014/07/my-stages-of-story-grief-and-my.html">My Stages of Story Grief</a>. <br />
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Like my art, sometimes I also get so caught up in the details of a story that it keeps me from moving forward with any resemblance of a healthy, regular clip, but I'm certainly trying to get better on that front. That is part of why I try to use <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2016/01/tiptuesday-sharing-my-productivity.html">Productivity Trackers</a> to hold myself accountable for how I spend my time, and it's also part of why I realized that working on multiple stories at once (five of them...) simply was doing me no good. I only have so much free time, and it's hard to keep things fresh in my mind if I'm regularly juggling projects.<br />
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But in a way, it's both daunting and freeing to finally start to detach myself from the idea of later stories being some sort of sacred trilogy simply because they were written first (so very long ago). It means that not only can I re-evaluate them, but hopefully I can start to weave everything together into a much more cohesive and powerful whole.<br />
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As such, it means that I will be temporarily halting progress on <i>Secrets of an Accord</i> while I take a step back and look at the stories as a whole and reorganize them into what they really are: a series (not a trilogy with random add-ons). I suspect it's very likely I will want to publish them chronologically, and if so, I will need to move a few things around and fill in some gaps, but on the whole I suspect the stories will be that much better for it, and I'm excited to get started figuring out critical questions like "Just how many books long IS the main storyline?" and "Where should I actually start the series?" rather than running with what I'm simply most eager to write on any given day.<br />
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<ul>
<li>I know I have a lot of characters, but who <b>is</b> this series about at its core? </li>
<li>What events need to be "seen" by the reader, and what can be left for flashbacks?</li>
<li>I know I love so many of my short stories, but which are actually necessary to the overall story, and which are better left for side reading?</li>
<li>What is an acceptable time to jump ahead in time between books?</li>
<li>Is it okay to change PoVs depending on the novel?</li>
<li>What is the common, building thread between everything that ties all of it together?</li>
</ul>
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I think I know the answer to most of these questions, but I'm tentatively giving myself until the end of June to really solidify my strategy. One thing I'm thinking of doing is going through the existing books and outlines and giving each of them a cohesive (if temporary) naming structure to start shaking my brain and retraining it into realizing this is all one big story with separate, smaller arcs, rather than piecemeal bites alongside a central trilogy as I've been considering it for so long.<br />
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This is all so incredibly intimidating and exciting, because it makes me realize that these holes of time I've shrugged off and perhaps filled with little bites of story might actually have whole novels there waiting to be unearthed and told fresh. There might be sideline characters that become mainstream, or the need for entirely new characters that I haven't even yet schemed up. It's a rush thinking of all the possibilities!<br />
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The best art analogy I can think of is realizing you've been spending all this time making separate pieces of art that are casually related, when you suddenly realize they are in fact part of a much larger tapestry, and that there are blank holes to fill in to make something even bigger and greater than before.<br />
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It also means that I'm even more intimidated, because the stakes feel higher somehow if this is truly a series, but that certainly isn't going to stop me. :)<br />
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In any case, thank you for your support, and hopefully in the coming months I'll have even more to share. I'm sure there are some (actual) side short stories to be shared as well. :) Onward and upward!<br />
<br />K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-39183435739506167162016-05-04T23:17:00.001-07:002016-05-05T16:55:29.540-07:00I Looked into the Void, and the Void Tossed Back Art Supplies: New Art, Reviews, and More!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6u-ndslEfm4kNOgoyuU9948-MSNngDV_qTll8-joRec-iKfIAd2vwlh0ZHjqLQesX5hCbHiFVEhlPmGdgdGOAnwqKGAFm-Adf_Kz-AoaKZgheW1LVlcE5NVmKWx1vdTpz0OgTxrWhlY/s1600/IMG_9521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6u-ndslEfm4kNOgoyuU9948-MSNngDV_qTll8-joRec-iKfIAd2vwlh0ZHjqLQesX5hCbHiFVEhlPmGdgdGOAnwqKGAFm-Adf_Kz-AoaKZgheW1LVlcE5NVmKWx1vdTpz0OgTxrWhlY/s200/IMG_9521.JPG" width="150" /></a> <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-amEx9uksAB0/Vyrdnixh3LI/AAAAAAAAEcg/APxB-T88CdgXC6t7u0XileaPbeourohVgCKgB/s1600/Acrylic_Hummingbird_01_Web01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-amEx9uksAB0/Vyrdnixh3LI/AAAAAAAAEcg/APxB-T88CdgXC6t7u0XileaPbeourohVgCKgB/s200/Acrylic_Hummingbird_01_Web01.jpg" width="150" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqV0Z3571JBDkJcdP0AOcHw7PIv5bci5fndwJ6lpSm9sNK9mS_jrQlA0TAvEx15QertRw-Qy_EjIrp1oF2PWmj2wA_fcusltF9fwZUcKZ8LWXFIHFtC148RAN_PLpvLUcXy9ehetTvbE/s1600/2016-03-12_Koi_Painting_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqV0Z3571JBDkJcdP0AOcHw7PIv5bci5fndwJ6lpSm9sNK9mS_jrQlA0TAvEx15QertRw-Qy_EjIrp1oF2PWmj2wA_fcusltF9fwZUcKZ8LWXFIHFtC148RAN_PLpvLUcXy9ehetTvbE/s200/2016-03-12_Koi_Painting_01.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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The last few months have been busy as ever for me, and in addition to the usual mix of work, personal projects, art, writing, raising monarchs, and social excursions, I also dove in head-first to a really fun (and admittedly: somewhat time intensive) side-hobby: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/AOIIPYKC63YX">doing Amazon reviews</a>.<br />
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Now I have no intentions to turn this blog into a space for a string of extensive reviews, but rather, I wanted to take a moment to elaborate on why I've been enjoying it so much, and why I actually feel it's been beneficial to my art.<br />
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<h3>
I Looked into the Void, and the Void Tossed Back Art Supplies</h3>
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I started getting into doing reviews because, well, I use Amazon reviews to gauge a large amount of my purchases. From cat litter, toilet paper, batteries and other household items, through to niche art supplies. I realized that over the years I've read probably thousands of reviews, but hadn't contributed very many, and for whatever reason, that propelled me forward to look into how I could get involved into reviewing items for free or at low-cost in exchange for a review (you can Google this if you're interested in doing it too!).<br />
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In time, I was reviewing all sorts of things, and after a time I got to the point where I had enough credibility that I would sometimes reach out directly to sellers on Amazon to ask if they were interested in offering me products for them in exchange for an honest review, and it should be no surprise that some of the most interested sellers I contacted were often ones that had art supply listings with few or no reviewer photos: how sad!<br />
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So over the past few months I've reviewed over a dozen sets of brushes, as well as colored pencils, acrylics, water color pencils, and more. Some have been great, and some not. But at the end of the day, one of the things it did was that it prompted me to do more shorter, focused projects, and to reignite my love of 2D real media pieces. <br />
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Some pieces got more love than others, and the ones that got more love were usually the ones with better supplies, but even still, it felt wonderful to have the freedom to experiment and have fun without worrying so much about the final result. And as an added bonus: whatever my findings, I felt good knowing that by <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/AOIIPYKC63YX">my reviews</a> and photos, I was hopefully helping other artists or aspiring artists out there make informed decisions about their supplies, and where they might want to spend their money.<br />
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So what I've decided to do is to post all of the pieces I've worked on over the last few months where I was using art supplies I was reviewing. As I mentioned: sometimes the supplies weren't up to snuff, in which case I didn't spend much time creating art with them, but for most of these pieces (with the exception of the sculptures), I probably would not have ever created them were it not for the fact I was nudging myself along to do the best possible reviews I could. :) In particular, I think there is close to a 0% chance I would have ever done any face painting or work in acrylics were it not for wanting to provide reviews for various products. And a major shout out to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JessicaDruArt/">Jessica Johnson</a> and Jay Patel for being a model and photographer on one of the impromptu "What about having some fun collaboration with this facepaint...?" sessions. You two rock!<br />
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I'm not going to link all the reviews (since that isn't the purpose of this blog), but if you have questions on any particular ones, just let me know and I'd be more than happy to let you know! The captions below list what materials were being reviewed for each piece.<br />
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<h3>
Art Created with The Help of One or More Reviewed Products<br /> </h3>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6u-ndslEfm4kNOgoyuU9948-MSNngDV_qTll8-joRec-iKfIAd2vwlh0ZHjqLQesX5hCbHiFVEhlPmGdgdGOAnwqKGAFm-Adf_Kz-AoaKZgheW1LVlcE5NVmKWx1vdTpz0OgTxrWhlY/s1600/IMG_9521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6u-ndslEfm4kNOgoyuU9948-MSNngDV_qTll8-joRec-iKfIAd2vwlh0ZHjqLQesX5hCbHiFVEhlPmGdgdGOAnwqKGAFm-Adf_Kz-AoaKZgheW1LVlcE5NVmKWx1vdTpz0OgTxrWhlY/s400/IMG_9521.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Sashah's Song" (Work in Progress) - Multiple Types of Paint Brushes</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqV0Z3571JBDkJcdP0AOcHw7PIv5bci5fndwJ6lpSm9sNK9mS_jrQlA0TAvEx15QertRw-Qy_EjIrp1oF2PWmj2wA_fcusltF9fwZUcKZ8LWXFIHFtC148RAN_PLpvLUcXy9ehetTvbE/s1600/2016-03-12_Koi_Painting_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqV0Z3571JBDkJcdP0AOcHw7PIv5bci5fndwJ6lpSm9sNK9mS_jrQlA0TAvEx15QertRw-Qy_EjIrp1oF2PWmj2wA_fcusltF9fwZUcKZ8LWXFIHFtC148RAN_PLpvLUcXy9ehetTvbE/s400/2016-03-12_Koi_Painting_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Koi" - Colored Pencils and Paint Brushes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mF1Qc0Luj9o/VyrdmCy3DFI/AAAAAAAAEcc/h4ry7yM4UaEo0zasq5W_iNd7vsDqOecpgCKgB/s1600/2016-02-17_Huntress_Med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mF1Qc0Luj9o/VyrdmCy3DFI/AAAAAAAAEcc/h4ry7yM4UaEo0zasq5W_iNd7vsDqOecpgCKgB/s400/2016-02-17_Huntress_Med.jpg" width="365" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Huntress" - Electric Eraser</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6sOEx8SgO5s/VyrdmK7_naI/AAAAAAAAEcc/lZDWnhVngNsTJXxwrVC3JzeeMgv4_DncgCKgB/s1600/2016-02-20_JeweledLioness_DA_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6sOEx8SgO5s/VyrdmK7_naI/AAAAAAAAEcc/lZDWnhVngNsTJXxwrVC3JzeeMgv4_DncgCKgB/s400/2016-02-20_JeweledLioness_DA_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Jeweled Lioness" - Various Paint Brushes</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P4qzeaLccA8/VyrdmDNUjRI/AAAAAAAAEcc/A_cKfFwafRsumyfa5WfG9b9D1vH382tTQCKgB/s1600/2016-02-21_Cat_Sketch_01_Med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P4qzeaLccA8/VyrdmDNUjRI/AAAAAAAAEcc/A_cKfFwafRsumyfa5WfG9b9D1vH382tTQCKgB/s320/2016-02-21_Cat_Sketch_01_Med.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Water Color Pencils</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G2koElnLx-A/VyrdmrtRZDI/AAAAAAAAEcc/O-4I8yAMDYg6y05a3Oo9GSUIHCyavy9zwCKgB/s1600/2016-02-22_Dragon_Sketch_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G2koElnLx-A/VyrdmrtRZDI/AAAAAAAAEcc/O-4I8yAMDYg6y05a3Oo9GSUIHCyavy9zwCKgB/s320/2016-02-22_Dragon_Sketch_01.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sketch Book</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AV2dF68DnQFoMsXCUoDaDq9BVmd-9BoEo-jjYJc1nSwvjvGmEzu1VbblYCLlnrYHF4Fuxu6nZhXqVGYIIUDt94_GEfJa9ctRCGvCHwgv5Eo5QVMzk-g-kkGd5Lxs1B_mpF_P0Mt0kzs/s1600/2016-02-24_Blue_Med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AV2dF68DnQFoMsXCUoDaDq9BVmd-9BoEo-jjYJc1nSwvjvGmEzu1VbblYCLlnrYHF4Fuxu6nZhXqVGYIIUDt94_GEfJa9ctRCGvCHwgv5Eo5QVMzk-g-kkGd5Lxs1B_mpF_P0Mt0kzs/s320/2016-02-24_Blue_Med.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Blue" - Water Color Pencils and Paint Brushes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DTFjHt1AzSY/Vyrdmyj0LVI/AAAAAAAAEcg/En9kx7S3WMoe0pxP7Hd1EfmstCfzbIPgACKgB/s1600/2016-02-27_Raven_Painting_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DTFjHt1AzSY/Vyrdmyj0LVI/AAAAAAAAEcg/En9kx7S3WMoe0pxP7Hd1EfmstCfzbIPgACKgB/s320/2016-02-27_Raven_Painting_01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Raven" - Water Color Pencils and Paint Brushes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rKLQ1JG60Qw/VyrdoaE81sI/AAAAAAAAEcg/gYOQ-CppvF8ojC4yDIbwbvHpla1bI_tHACKgB/s1600/IMG_8629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rKLQ1JG60Qw/VyrdoaE81sI/AAAAAAAAEcg/gYOQ-CppvF8ojC4yDIbwbvHpla1bI_tHACKgB/s400/IMG_8629.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Face Paints and Paint Brushes (Inspired by a painting by the incredibly talented <a href="http://balaa.deviantart.com/">Balaa</a>)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hzkWt7Yqz1c/VyrdnpzgOEI/AAAAAAAAEcg/9BjIjSc27WwfeHIdh2CXVJ4-o9rL4L8AACKgB/s1600/DSC_3506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hzkWt7Yqz1c/VyrdnpzgOEI/AAAAAAAAEcg/9BjIjSc27WwfeHIdh2CXVJ4-o9rL4L8AACKgB/s400/DSC_3506.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Face Paints and Paint Brushes (Model: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JessicaDruArt/">Jessica Johnson</a>, Photographer: Jay Patel)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eKHFSx3lbIc/VyrdoM_kALI/AAAAAAAAEcg/jdUw9wlKuGIjgDIuHDwH0IRLecq3tNFfwCKgB/s1600/IMG_9053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eKHFSx3lbIc/VyrdoM_kALI/AAAAAAAAEcg/jdUw9wlKuGIjgDIuHDwH0IRLecq3tNFfwCKgB/s320/IMG_9053.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Acrylic Paints</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0-8Anic4YVA/VyrdpF1n2bI/AAAAAAAAEcg/-Kvnd-9Q3CU-bKZaOCspLiRr-DOQPLaQACKgB/s1600/IMG_9756.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0-8Anic4YVA/VyrdpF1n2bI/AAAAAAAAEcg/-Kvnd-9Q3CU-bKZaOCspLiRr-DOQPLaQACKgB/s320/IMG_9756.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Wulfhound" - Pen</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rn-cyT00v0s/VyrdnVz4kwI/AAAAAAAAEcg/tGr0w8UPICYSFRVctb7rSjvOk0HSLh0NQCKgB/s1600/2016-04-14_HennaTigress_Painting_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rn-cyT00v0s/VyrdnVz4kwI/AAAAAAAAEcg/tGr0w8UPICYSFRVctb7rSjvOk0HSLh0NQCKgB/s400/2016-04-14_HennaTigress_Painting_01.jpg" width="393" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Acrylic Paints and Paint Brushes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3WZVZnZbHAE/VyrdnfsGvoI/AAAAAAAAEcg/Y9qZKTjupxkd2ZtYd3jaC2mZjHbfLYmDACKgB/s1600/2016-04-17_WomanWithHummingbirds_Painting_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3WZVZnZbHAE/VyrdnfsGvoI/AAAAAAAAEcg/Y9qZKTjupxkd2ZtYd3jaC2mZjHbfLYmDACKgB/s320/2016-04-17_WomanWithHummingbirds_Painting_01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fountain Pen and Aqua Brushes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-amEx9uksAB0/Vyrdnixh3LI/AAAAAAAAEcg/APxB-T88CdgXC6t7u0XileaPbeourohVgCKgB/s1600/Acrylic_Hummingbird_01_Web01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-amEx9uksAB0/Vyrdnixh3LI/AAAAAAAAEcg/APxB-T88CdgXC6t7u0XileaPbeourohVgCKgB/s400/Acrylic_Hummingbird_01_Web01.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fav.me/da1gnaz">"Messenger"</a> - Paint Brushes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6ylb2DqaKjg/Vyrdn8h3xiI/AAAAAAAAEcg/ORcAfBCo08c4yPI188yfMnvd0At7VT0YQCKgB/s1600/IMG_1045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6ylb2DqaKjg/Vyrdn8h3xiI/AAAAAAAAEcg/ORcAfBCo08c4yPI188yfMnvd0At7VT0YQCKgB/s320/IMG_1045.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gel Pens</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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On the whole, I've been pleased (if not a bit overwhelmed sometimes) with all the art and reviews I've been able to squeeze in, and while I'm hoping to slow my roll a bit so that I can dig back into some more involved projects like my "Sashah's Song" sculpture, I am hoping that I can keep this momentum up, and that going forward, I can squeak in a few new art smaller pieces pieces with a bit more regularity. :) That's the intent, at least!<br />
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As a random bonus, here are two tabletop doodles I did during our recent Blizzard Art Summit! That is a Rogue Dragon on the left. ;)<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EBKucBAurVs/Vyrdo9PKdhI/AAAAAAAAEcg/F9DuHBhKB9Q7BHM8e6kmXSmcZrF5k-0lACKgB/s1600/IMG_9598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EBKucBAurVs/Vyrdo9PKdhI/AAAAAAAAEcg/F9DuHBhKB9Q7BHM8e6kmXSmcZrF5k-0lACKgB/s320/IMG_9598.JPG" width="240" /></a> <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lnL03MxaYxM/Vyrdo5VtEbI/AAAAAAAAEcg/EP1vXFBPYUsdw-pwx85KrkIyXhlxypjwgCKgB/s1600/IMG_9607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lnL03MxaYxM/Vyrdo5VtEbI/AAAAAAAAEcg/EP1vXFBPYUsdw-pwx85KrkIyXhlxypjwgCKgB/s320/IMG_9607.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>I hope you find your inspiration in the most surprising of places too!</b><br />
<br />K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-88541773865539195982016-03-22T11:02:00.001-07:002020-10-17T12:37:47.250-07:00Of Dragons and Demons: The Art and Legacy of Kevin Kanai Griffith<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AMbVjVQgzuc/VvFo9yMAsRI/AAAAAAAAEMw/XbDylx-M2Ts8hiWV60EwxN-e_Ep80kFLA/s1600/IMG_2414.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AMbVjVQgzuc/VvFo9yMAsRI/AAAAAAAAEMw/XbDylx-M2Ts8hiWV60EwxN-e_Ep80kFLA/s640/IMG_2414.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">A framed Malthael Sketch by the late Kevin Kanai Griffith (2013) next to his Frostmourne sword</td></tr>
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We never know how long we have, or what our lasting legacy might be. I'd like to think that, generally speaking, a life long-lived is a good one, and so it's all-the-more painful when friends or family pass away "too soon." <br />
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In 2013, I shared <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2013/07/of-hummingbirds-and-memories-art-and.html">a memorial blog about fellow artist, and nature and bird enthusiast named Caroline Muchmore</a>, who passed away from Cystic Fibrosis (she was 26 years young).<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xoVfEETOJ7M/UdNX2djjvZI/AAAAAAAABqs/oyfXYQee_eE/s596/theowlking.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xoVfEETOJ7M/UdNX2djjvZI/AAAAAAAABqs/oyfXYQee_eE/s200/theowlking.jpg" width="155" /></a> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VFbLjLpDaGk/UdNX1APNFqI/AAAAAAAABqs/pyqYUurnaOA/s631/queengryph1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VFbLjLpDaGk/UdNX1APNFqI/AAAAAAAABqs/pyqYUurnaOA/s200/queengryph1.jpg" width="152" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglu97lyhxYozb9RSx9CZH2FjDROG5rewxnvPZvpYQfVz5aCKX48SBRvYDC2oH_ubOXWYc01bXt3GaAEIKWg_amucBci4FHeWKa4CBMnY6lZ7x0ka58XggS57rHduAIL2qF8zdBbqwfzkM/s672/Lady_Wolf_by_autumn_rains.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglu97lyhxYozb9RSx9CZH2FjDROG5rewxnvPZvpYQfVz5aCKX48SBRvYDC2oH_ubOXWYc01bXt3GaAEIKWg_amucBci4FHeWKa4CBMnY6lZ7x0ka58XggS57rHduAIL2qF8zdBbqwfzkM/s200/Lady_Wolf_by_autumn_rains.jpg" width="145" /></a></div>
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And today, and for the last few years, really, I've wanted so desperately to share the legacy of a fellow artist and dear friend Kevin Kanai Griffith with the world, but attempting to do so feels like an incredibly impossible prospect. I simply can't hope to encapsulate someone in a few paragraphs and scattered images, but I'll try my best.<br />
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<h3>
Memories of Kevin<br /> </h3>
Kevin Kanai Grifftith's birthday is March 24th, and he would have been 34 this year. Unfortunately, sometimes the lights that burn the brightest are sometimes snuffed out far too soon, and Kevin passed away on October 17th, 2014 from Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma (ASPS) cancer (he was 32 years young).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v7ZMrNNSMwI/VvFYiQlrcgI/AAAAAAAAEL8/hN42T2gm3ngSvvMUDaCodnFEUFIK9vesg/s1600/kkgProfileAchievement.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v7ZMrNNSMwI/VvFYiQlrcgI/AAAAAAAAEL8/hN42T2gm3ngSvvMUDaCodnFEUFIK9vesg/s1600/kkgProfileAchievement.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Late Kevin Kanain Griffith's Blizzard ID Photo</td></tr>
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Kevin was a Senior Artist at Blizzard Entertainment, and if you played <a href="http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/wow/">World of Warcraft</a> or <a href="http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/d3/">Diablo III</a>, you were undoubtedly touched by his artistry, and if you were lucky enough to know him, you were awestruck by how authentic and giving a person Kevin Kanai Griffith was.<br />
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I first met Kevin in 2009 at a Sketch Group he’d helped get up and running at Blizzard. At the time, I was working in the Community Development department, and was eager to stretch my creative muscles and connect with like-minded individuals. I’d been directed to the sketch group by a fellow artist, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JessicaDruArt/">Jessica Johnson</a>, and in short order I connected with Kevin and he was off and getting me set up on creative mailing lists about sketch groups, live drawing sessions, art challenges, and more. This might not seem like a big deal to many since Kevin was an artist, but it takes a certain kind of person to see the best in others and be willing to spend time and energy helping people and, well, Kevin was just that kind of guy.<br />
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Kevin wasn’t one for cliques. When folks from other departments or specialties showed interest in joining Sketch Group, Kevin did any and everything in his power to make them feel welcome, regardless if they were already employed at Blizzard as an artist, or were someone interested in learning and spreading their wings. He took time to get to know people and introduce people to one another. He was as inclusive and open as any artist I’ve ever known, and genuine to the core. Whether he was spending time helping other creative souls flourish, or working on his own assortment of projects, he was always striving to bring out the very best in himself and those around him.<br />
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<ul>
<li>Kevin kept a blog with much of his artwork here: <a href="http://cowandcheese.blogspot.com/">http://cowandcheese.blogspot.com/</a></li>
<li>Kevin's Health blog is located here: <a href="http://cowandcheesehealth.blogspot.com/2012/07/i-haz-cancer.html">http://cowandcheesehealth.blogspot.com/2012/07/i-haz-cancer.html</a></li>
<li>You can check out the Bonus Camel blog (for Blizzard Sketch Group) here: <a href="http://www.bonuscamel.com/">http://www.bonuscamel.com/</a></li>
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Kevin was a close friend and mentor to me, and I will miss our talks so very much. I am thankful also to everyone at Blizzard, especially those that welcomed me to sit in the Environmental Artist pit in the Diablo III area for a few years. Whether I ever said it aloud or not, it meant the world to me to be able to sit by Kevin on a daily basis, and I know that it meant a lot to him as well. The people at Blizzard are seriously the best.<br />
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I'm also thankful for knowing Kevin for how much he inspired me on my art and encouraged me to believe in myself and my abilities. I'm thankful for his awesome choice in partners in crime, too, because he chose wonderfully in his wife/widow, Connie Griffith, and I am thankful that through Kevin, I've had the opportunity to grow closer to her, and discover an incredible, lifelong friend in the process. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKrt1MtRF69_eIQQgSr-FdhZudPpUNKcyPQdk1UQq793vrHHCoBMvatBnhrh22uUNXQU1B3FJnvYhQz_c4bkfGu0BeUg4F9PoGu-ObtTpSbvH6FubaQF6O8Mz9ySfTnKiJuxNeEO4-2LA/s1600/1269231_10152704035226391_1379653233077519963_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKrt1MtRF69_eIQQgSr-FdhZudPpUNKcyPQdk1UQq793vrHHCoBMvatBnhrh22uUNXQU1B3FJnvYhQz_c4bkfGu0BeUg4F9PoGu-ObtTpSbvH6FubaQF6O8Mz9ySfTnKiJuxNeEO4-2LA/s200/1269231_10152704035226391_1379653233077519963_o.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q5ie2qVuzHA/VvFrzLl7IOI/AAAAAAAAEOE/uH027IpY2Jsyf9RkqpQU43Ys2e8yLodGQ/s1600/pictureset2_0-117sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q5ie2qVuzHA/VvFrzLl7IOI/AAAAAAAAEOE/uH027IpY2Jsyf9RkqpQU43Ys2e8yLodGQ/s200/pictureset2_0-117sm.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Kevin and Art<br /> </h3>
Kevin loved Diablo something fierce, and he was always eager to stretch his skills as an illustrator and contribute to all sorts of Community and development initiatives, and inject his special humor along the way. He created a number of holiday pieces for Diablo III during his tenure, and the top one holds a special place in my heart because I remember so many hilarious discussions we had while he was creating it. During one particular evening of OT, I remarked the lower right boggit (then hairless) wasn't reading as female to me. Boggits didn't have hair, though, so we couldn't come up with a solution... until I mentioned perhaps she was wearing the scalped hair of a Hero or adventurer. Maybe the Enchantress?<br />
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We laughed about it, and the idea stuck, and Kevin added it to the illustration. If you look carefully, you can even see blood trickling out from under it... ;)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pu014MEwvJ4/VvFuLxiis_I/AAAAAAAAERc/2kwQWFTgumsTTeFXq7JbwWrM1pdeWwH7w/s1600/KKGbogfamilyxmas012.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pu014MEwvJ4/VvFuLxiis_I/AAAAAAAAERc/2kwQWFTgumsTTeFXq7JbwWrM1pdeWwH7w/s640/KKGbogfamilyxmas012.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A piece of holiday art that Kevin created for Diablo III.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlX3WTknkcKdtHfx49Ti-dwMOT1-hkcEwLANC1Hwer1JwN_PlPsWzdPr4SnTpUoLPKPj7b3ZiZ3NYIr8s1Q1ym8PPrlxy_MCfm9j1NmttnKQYujJQMjw40H-ZLB-EfN9YBHO3smpApVaY/s1600/azmodanValentinesKKG.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlX3WTknkcKdtHfx49Ti-dwMOT1-hkcEwLANC1Hwer1JwN_PlPsWzdPr4SnTpUoLPKPj7b3ZiZ3NYIr8s1Q1ym8PPrlxy_MCfm9j1NmttnKQYujJQMjw40H-ZLB-EfN9YBHO3smpApVaY/s320/azmodanValentinesKKG.jpg" width="239" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIEb0CCseIqr6JrLVf0F7IzFqEJEWmM3Z9any_Zjxdskn6MKRRGXotFfUDY7JqiTgd534nHNroo86ARDxNRAOXCCCDiB3KHha1Idk-wN32KBMYlgFvm9ZD0wM_0_u2wTFvzIc_bfLZIOE/s1600/KKG_LeahAndDad_Final.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIEb0CCseIqr6JrLVf0F7IzFqEJEWmM3Z9any_Zjxdskn6MKRRGXotFfUDY7JqiTgd534nHNroo86ARDxNRAOXCCCDiB3KHha1Idk-wN32KBMYlgFvm9ZD0wM_0_u2wTFvzIc_bfLZIOE/s320/KKG_LeahAndDad_Final.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
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Kevin was also instrumental in encouraging me and offering critiques on one of my first Blizzard-sanctioned illustrations I ever did a few years ago for a <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/12144858/">Community blog</a> for the holidays.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fav.me/d6zpsg9">"Season's Wishes" final illustration by K. LeCrone - Completed on December 23, 2013</a></td></tr>
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Gestures like offering to critique my work meant the world to me as a growing artist.<br />
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Here’s a small selection of some of his art which spans some of his contributions to Blizzard as well as his personal work. You can find his galleries on <a href="http://cowandcheese.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">DeviantART</a> and <a href="http://cowandcheese.blogspot.com/">Blogspot</a>. If you want to learn more about these pieces and many others, please check out his personal galleries. I've also uploaded over eighty pieces of his art and some photos to <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104143510862640880888/TheArtOfKevinKanaiGriffith" target="_blank">this Google+ Gallery</a> to make sure they have yet another location to reside for posterity, and aren't lost to the sometimes fickle winds of the internet.<br />
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In addition to being a welcome ear for oh-so-many conversations, Kevin also offered me heartfelt and much-needed advice during some stressful and complex times as I navigated balancing my work-life balance at Blizzard. He chose to stay upbeat even during his own health trials, and kept his humor and caring about everyone else around him right till the end. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Planet Eater" - by Kevin Kanai Griffith</td></tr>
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While Kevin and I never played World of Warcraft together on the same server or guild, we definitely played Diablo III together, as well as a bit of Heroes of the Storm and a hefty dose of Minecraft on his custom server. It was always a hoot to group with him, and it was fun to watch him play with fellow artist Neal Wojahn, as well as Brandy Camel (one of our Diablo III Community Managers) and a member of the Diablo III community. He truly loved the games he worked on, and interacting with players and coworkers alike.<br />
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I am so incredibly thankful for the time we had as friends, even if it didn't feel like nearly long enough. While it brings me sadness to think that I won't get to chat with him any longer this life, or see his latest art updates or new tools or books he's discovered, but I am also so, so happy that he can finally be at peace away from that awful, awful cancer. After immersing myself in so many movies and games where in the nick of time, a cure miraculously arrives to save someone, I think many of us were met with the harsh reality that sometimes there is simply nothing we can do but hope for the best and prepare for the worst.<br />
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I've said it many times, but seriously: fuck cancer.<br />
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Honoring Kevin<br /> </h3>
Kevin's lasting legacy was honored in a number of ways. In addition to a memorial service that was a celebration of his life, the Diablo III team also introduced <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/19817367/">a number of updates in Patch 2.3.0</a> that were a nod to him, including Kanai's Cube and the Barbarian area where Immortal King Kanai resides, the <a href="https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Ruins_of_Sescheron">Ruins of Sescheron</a>. You can learn a bit more about them in the Diablo III videos below (both of which I helped capture after becoming a full-time artist at Blizzard in 2015. Fitting, isn't it?).<br />
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There's even <a href="http://kotaku.com/diablo-iii-players-discover-new-secret-cow-level-1762347713">a secret mini-event</a> called <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Udder_Cowlamity">Udder Cowlamity</a> that <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/20058187/once-more-unto-the-breach-adventuring-with-kanai-3-22-2016">only takes place</a> during the month of his Birthday (March).<br />
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Kevin was also honored with <a href="http://wow.gamepedia.com/Kanai_Griffith">a World of Warcraft NPC, Kanai Griffith</a>. Kanai Griffith is a Forsaken art teacher located on the mountain ridge on the southeastern side of Coldarra in the Borean Tundra, and his dialogue is very Kevin-inspired, right down to the doge memes it references. :)<br />
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Additionally, Kevin was honored in <a href="http://www.gamersforgood.com/kkg-artbook/">Gamer for Life: A Fan Art Tribute for KKG</a>. It was an ambitious project organized by <a href="http://www.gamersforgood.com/">Gamers for Good</a>, and in it, <a href="http://www.gamersforgood.com/gfl-credits/">283 game artists</a> came together and donated 476 gorgeous art pieces to be used in the campaign to raise funds for the fight against cancer.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhqM1czcvcnH2CAY23fBRVNygW8Z8LsLnHDSYcNI4I3j4V1fH2Wr0iLJlfnZOkNlhdxGlQIkG6C1QKI0IUsVk6KAy2cqRhCOuMRWFoh5s4JWak3CziQwQkUQpmanViStAJKy7SR6VwcBg/s1600/Indiegogo_cover_image_WIPa.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhqM1czcvcnH2CAY23fBRVNygW8Z8LsLnHDSYcNI4I3j4V1fH2Wr0iLJlfnZOkNlhdxGlQIkG6C1QKI0IUsVk6KAy2cqRhCOuMRWFoh5s4JWak3CziQwQkUQpmanViStAJKy7SR6VwcBg/s400/Indiegogo_cover_image_WIPa.jpg" width="400" /></a> <a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZmweJBfklEQ/VvF-MsIROuI/AAAAAAAAER8/1GBtX15T0REJf1lu1mEbdZ_PbLlG8Fu1w/s1600/12038012_1055659697799705_327582072524069166_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZmweJBfklEQ/VvF-MsIROuI/AAAAAAAAER8/1GBtX15T0REJf1lu1mEbdZ_PbLlG8Fu1w/s200/12038012_1055659697799705_327582072524069166_n.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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Unfortunately, the project was not completed until after his passing, but the funds that were raised were split between two charity organizations in KKG's memory: <a href="http://www.gamechangercharity.org/">Game Changer</a> and <a href="http://www.cureasps.org/">CureASPS</a>.</div>
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Many, many people created art for this project, as well as included relevant art. Kevin and I contributed the following pieces:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Final Fantasy 6 Level - Lethe River Battle with Ultros" - by Kevin Kanai Griffith</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fav.me/d78q7yx">"Primal Fury - Altered Beast Fan Art - Project KKG" - by K. LeCrone, Completed on March 3, 2014</a></td></tr>
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You can read more about this piece and the process I used for it <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2014/05/altered-beast-fan-art-for-great-cause.html">in this blog update: Altered Beast Fan Art for a Great Cause - Project KKG</a>.</div>
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<h3>Our Living Legacy</h3><h3> </h3>
But like anyone else, living or dead: Kevin’s legacy doesn't really end there.<br />
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His passing actually made me rethink and reevaluate quite a lot in my own life, and in a way I'm not afraid to admit, some of the discussions we had helped prompt me to take the risk of changing careers and moving into more creative and rewarding roles, which you can read about in these blogs: <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/11/onward-to-new-opportunities-within.html">Onward to New Opportunities within Blizzard and BlizzCon 2015</a>, and <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/12/my-2015-year-in-review.html">My 2015 Year in Review</a>. <div><br /></div><div>Even more recently, in October of 2020, I joined the Diablo team as a 3D Artist, and am *thrilled* to take up an artistic role in a franchise that means so much to me. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E5cqsfh4hwc/X4tGJNJ8YSI/AAAAAAAAG7k/ZY6MJSLYgvgpXnhrE0INgLZ_c0EDDEEzQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1963/2020-10-12_VaeflareReturns02_Cropped_50p.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1963" data-original-width="1411" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E5cqsfh4hwc/X4tGJNJ8YSI/AAAAAAAAG7k/ZY6MJSLYgvgpXnhrE0INgLZ_c0EDDEEzQCLcBGAsYHQ/w460-h640/2020-10-12_VaeflareReturns02_Cropped_50p.png" width="460" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
Kevin believed in me and encouraged me, and I wish he would have been alive to hear that I am now a full-time artist at Blizzard, but then: I think he knew I had it in me all along, and that it was only a matter of time until I figured it out for myself.<br />
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While it makes me very sad that I will never again be treated to see new art or a silly quip from him, in a way, Kevin’s legacy lives on in all the lives he touched along the way. And by proxy, everything <i><b>we</b></i> create and the people <i><b>we</b></i> inspire, well, in a way we live on through them too.<br />
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So, what will <i><b>your</b></i> legacy be?<br />
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Here's to you, Kevin, and all the lives you touched along your incredible journey! And thank you, for everything, and most of all: for being uniquely <i>you</i>.<br />
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<i>If you feel so inclined, please share this blog to help perpetuate Kevin's memory and consider donating to <a href="http://www.gamechangercharity.org/">Game Changer</a> and <a href="http://www.cureasps.org/">CureASPS</a> to help the many other "Kevins" out there.</i><br />
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</div>K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-6591259765424822362016-02-29T13:18:00.000-08:002016-03-05T20:30:46.981-08:00The Southern California Writers' Conference and My Novel's Progress<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It has been a crazy last few months, full of prepping for the Southern California Writers' Conference through to hard decisions on how I should proceed with my novels, but like so many journeys: this one was more than worth it. :)<br />
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<h3>
The Southern California Writers' Conference</h3>
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I love having upcoming events and milestones to look forward to, and one of the ones for this year was the knowledge I would be attending the <a href="http://writersconference.com/">Southern California Writers' Conference</a> this February 12th to 15th. This was my second year attending, and this year I had a much better idea of what I wanted to get out of it. Last year was a bit of a whirlwind, but a creative-infused one at that!<br />
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Going into the conference this year, I'd spent a few months trying to self-evaluate how I was doing on my stories. I was making progress, certainly, but as you might have seen on my <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/08/current-story-status.html">current story status page</a>, I had a number of active writing projects I was working on that were all vying for my attention, including three novels and two short stories in addition to other work I'd put on the back-burner. So it was with a bit of soul-searching that I realized that, like art, trying to juggle so many projects at once wasn't doing me a lot of good, and that it would be better to try to focus on taking one to the finish line before I worked on finishing off the rest of them.<br />
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I hemmed and hawed a bit about which one I should pick, but in the end, I found myself really drawn to finishing off <i>Secrets of an Accord</i>, which is a sort of origin story for how two main characters in the series got to know each other, and it's a story I feel is a really good introduction to the world of my books as well.<br />
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So, armed with this knowledge, I prepared for the Southern California Writers' Conference, which included preparing manuscripts of the first few chapters of "Secrets of an Accord" for two advance readers as well as rogue readings, where groups gather to receive feedback on their work. I've also shared these early glimpses into the story over on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/KLeCrone">my Patreon</a>. One of my advance readers (who is himself a published author) was especially fond of my work and also offered to be my editor! Talk about humbling!<br />
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That said, I felt like I had a pretty good feel for the story (I had it fully outlined, and well over half of it in a first or second draft state), and attending the conference only heightened my interest in making it even better, infused with more charm and personality, and more impactful overall. <br />
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Writing in a box can sometimes be quite difficult, and it was really valuable for me to be able to come together with other writers and discuss some of the trials and tribulations of the process. In particular, this year I spent a lot of time learning about some of the various publishing options that are open to me. It's important to note: I'm not trying to put the cart before the horse here. I am very well aware that I want a complete, edited, proofed novel in my hands before I start worrying too much about publishing, and if I'm going to go the traditional route, indy, Kickstarter, or something else entirely, but it was important for me to start to be able to understand the time and costs associated with various routes, even if I'm not even close to the point where I need to make a decision just yet as to what path (or paths) I'd like to travel. The thing that's most important to me is being free to tell the story I want to tell, but to also do it as best I can. At minimum, that will mean a lot more writing and self-editing, as well as hiring a professional editor and proofer to make sure that when all is said and done, I put my best foot forward. :)<br />
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How to Noodle a Novel<br /> </h3>
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I've written thousands of pages about my world and its characters already, but by-and-large, I've kept most of it closely guarded and out of the public eye. I've also had some highs and lows along the way, including a literal computer fire that destroyed years worth of work, which led to me exploring <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2014/07/my-stages-of-story-grief-and-my.html">My Stages of Story Grief</a>. <br />
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Like my art, sometimes I also get so caught up in the details of a story that it keeps me from moving forward with any resemblance of a healthy, regular clip, but I'm certainly trying to get better on that front. That is part of why I try to use <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2016/01/tiptuesday-sharing-my-productivity.html">Productivity Trackers</a> to hold myself accountable for how I spend my time, and it's also part of why I realized that working on multiple stories at once (five of them...) simply was doing me no good. I only have so much free time, and it's hard to keep things fresh in my mind if I'm regularly juggling projects.<br />
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But I digress: now that I've chosen one to push forward, it's actually been incredibly helpful in clearing my mind and helping me focus. It's also meant that I've felt more willing to try to expand and add additional layers of depth to the story, and so far, it's going quite well! It's meant that I've had to break out the carefully-laid outlines again and try to spend time adjusting them, however, which is unfortunately taking longer than I would have liked, but that's how it goes sometimes. :) I wish I were able to give you or even myself a firm date as to when the first draft of the third version will be done, but We're just going to have to hang in there while I push forward just as quickly as I can. I'm definitely hoping to get it done before crunch sets in at my full-time job!<br />
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These two, these two lost souls with so many adventures ahead of them:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaB8Dc60ZeG0CDoZuEzmYwDBUAvF_nVyyIEEPocmSxEtiDj-uBg-31tCSDslzECRVkcTuuKCIbm82mtX_vQixj4zldqX4qo-d37oowppr6Johogvio5dTo2rFO75U78mYtd9_UhmtLj4/s1600/prev-Kymba-SashasSpell2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaB8Dc60ZeG0CDoZuEzmYwDBUAvF_nVyyIEEPocmSxEtiDj-uBg-31tCSDslzECRVkcTuuKCIbm82mtX_vQixj4zldqX4qo-d37oowppr6Johogvio5dTo2rFO75U78mYtd9_UhmtLj4/s400/prev-Kymba-SashasSpell2.jpg" width="276" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art by <a href="http://inklingart.com/">Emma Lazauski</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXcQ6g64LNr_KYgC6Zv1Y2acoOX7uAv2EU9eIc9JTN-Vfj62TPpp1Cv4RH_B0aMWXT8IHT1lz6KpmW-tT15eBjroGeYMyXFmQ4X53H0iAv5L9aKj4WIY5qaZwCgw9-oFeEacBWZ422kE/s1600/210893_280276812019240_200871613293094_752180_481589943_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXcQ6g64LNr_KYgC6Zv1Y2acoOX7uAv2EU9eIc9JTN-Vfj62TPpp1Cv4RH_B0aMWXT8IHT1lz6KpmW-tT15eBjroGeYMyXFmQ4X53H0iAv5L9aKj4WIY5qaZwCgw9-oFeEacBWZ422kE/s400/210893_280276812019240_200871613293094_752180_481589943_o.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art by <a href="http://crocodiledreams.deviantart.com/">Cynthia Reep</a></td></tr>
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They started like this:</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-srbjv69NshM/U7-Jr-MX5iI/AAAAAAAACnA/wvaHzzLW8QQ/s1600/2014-07-10-Journal-Scan-Page-77-RAW_FB_CU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-srbjv69NshM/U7-Jr-MX5iI/AAAAAAAACnA/wvaHzzLW8QQ/s320/2014-07-10-Journal-Scan-Page-77-RAW_FB_CU.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And they started out without any knowledge of the steadfast companions they would become, and how they would each grow from the years they spend at each other's side.</div>
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That said, here are some fun facts about my novel, <i>Secrets of an Accord</i>:<br />
<ul>
<li>It is now in its third version of the story.</li>
<li>It is the formal introduction between two characters of my overarching set of stories: Oberon (the man who was cursed and turned into a horse) and Sashah (the werewolf enchantress).</li>
<li>It shares at least four different types of unique magic that exist within the world.</li>
<li>It showcases a gorgeous city that specializes in bright dyes and dark secrets.</li>
<li>Werewolves? We got werewolves.</li>
<li>Curses and transformation? We got that too.</li>
<li>While the location isn't a center for magical creatures, a number of them make appearances in the book, including gryphowls, and various creatures that have been bred by mages.</li>
<li>Sentient animals.</li>
<li>Cats with very unique and special abilities.</li>
<li>Dark humor, mystery, and adventure.</li>
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In any case, thank you ever-so-much for your support, and hopefully in the coming months I'll have even more to share as the third version of the story progresses. :) Onward!<br />
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<b>I hope you enjoyed this brief glimpse into the Southern California Writers' Conference and My Novel's Progress!</b><br />
<br />K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-19413536612938154062016-02-10T11:25:00.002-08:002016-02-10T11:26:30.165-08:00#WIPWednesday Sculpture: "Sashah's Song"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A little over a year ago I started this sculpture of Sashah, the werewolf enchantress, who is one of the main characters of my stories.<br />
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<h3>
A Glimpse at the Stages of the Sculpture: "Sashah's Song"</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpkpPaeNIh0gIPPNjlqjYK3nOH86G1dKhyphenhyphenjYIS_SL8PmGMEzGs2f5zcrat5PBK0OkjWcfR2MeXt9kqQECP5zOEfqvdO4RVlMNGbi4etN4uCKLSDyMPxAITB-vn5WII_oKZeGAEYWB0xY/s1600/IMG_6301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpkpPaeNIh0gIPPNjlqjYK3nOH86G1dKhyphenhyphenjYIS_SL8PmGMEzGs2f5zcrat5PBK0OkjWcfR2MeXt9kqQECP5zOEfqvdO4RVlMNGbi4etN4uCKLSDyMPxAITB-vn5WII_oKZeGAEYWB0xY/s200/IMG_6301.jpg" width="150" /></a> <a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gk4qADJFFCc/Vrt5I9a_b7I/AAAAAAAAEBI/QjMoVDswyPU/s1600/IMG_1702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gk4qADJFFCc/Vrt5I9a_b7I/AAAAAAAAEBI/QjMoVDswyPU/s200/IMG_1702.JPG" width="150" /></a> <a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_OPhcLly8e0/Vrt5JD8vIUI/AAAAAAAAEBI/SxeoS8ACJ3U/s1600/IMG_1841_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_OPhcLly8e0/Vrt5JD8vIUI/AAAAAAAAEBI/SxeoS8ACJ3U/s200/IMG_1841_b.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ANdAzxSXFcY/Vrt5I5mAC2I/AAAAAAAAEBI/-iXXQHDQcUs/s1600/IMG_2107_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ANdAzxSXFcY/Vrt5I5mAC2I/AAAAAAAAEBI/-iXXQHDQcUs/s200/IMG_2107_b.jpg" width="149" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9MsjeTRsqRG94-FIutP-oDyZ_MgW_NF6cBxTBpUtDOd15Aw1m8Y1mfzHktqZi7HB1PEoE8ARrpkKe7Qie_WxMalu4vthwma7JwNzLHDR_amtbxdszpeUKtnrlhgpKKt3upniFYp7DiQ/s1600/IMG_6279_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9MsjeTRsqRG94-FIutP-oDyZ_MgW_NF6cBxTBpUtDOd15Aw1m8Y1mfzHktqZi7HB1PEoE8ARrpkKe7Qie_WxMalu4vthwma7JwNzLHDR_amtbxdszpeUKtnrlhgpKKt3upniFYp7DiQ/s200/IMG_6279_b.jpg" width="149" /></a> <a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dObLAhVPfxU/VruFG63aiZI/AAAAAAAAEFU/ygXmoIFc_Qo/s1600/IMG_6819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dObLAhVPfxU/VruFG63aiZI/AAAAAAAAEFU/ygXmoIFc_Qo/s200/IMG_6819.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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In time I hope to better document all the crazy steps of this project, but in the meantime, here's a glimpse of how she's progressed from her original sketch onwards through some of the many stages of sculpting. For more WIP photos of this and other projects, please keep an eye on my <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone">Twitter</a>!</div>
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Size: 7 x 7 x 13 inches</div>
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Current Time Taken: 170+ hours to date</div>
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Latest Updates:<br /> </h3>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WQf2b3UYbPw/VruFKaPFc2I/AAAAAAAAEFU/LUUfMnur-vY/s1600/IMG_6865.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WQf2b3UYbPw/VruFKaPFc2I/AAAAAAAAEFU/LUUfMnur-vY/s320/IMG_6865.jpg" width="240" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xhj16fsNMhRPIW8vGXsdgz95kAIoz4AjSuZ5SzYaCtfYSypvtKG7vGsfkYLs43jUlhNUwQrJOsKjPNdlBTOm_5loMflU-q5WhKqb9wgitBUYETrofW2ZtnZ0ryT0bSN1qbj_no6XKmM/s1600/IMG_6867.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xhj16fsNMhRPIW8vGXsdgz95kAIoz4AjSuZ5SzYaCtfYSypvtKG7vGsfkYLs43jUlhNUwQrJOsKjPNdlBTOm_5loMflU-q5WhKqb9wgitBUYETrofW2ZtnZ0ryT0bSN1qbj_no6XKmM/s320/IMG_6867.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fyE-KAgksQU/VruFKvqL8xI/AAAAAAAAEFU/eFO33jKTxNs/s1600/IMG_6868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fyE-KAgksQU/VruFKvqL8xI/AAAAAAAAEFU/eFO33jKTxNs/s320/IMG_6868.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTsZyaP5BzHIrY8SIse-klJEfBoPRiaFv0_DLLwvcuV7hri68MRU2tO5UvcGNzxcku0_xJHHsQLSGC1wMYea84XqWnfMzlC2ZILpbi2-F4kqoSu6x_dtnxYXQW_G3WuvlPFtSCzPTZO_M/s1600/IMG_6870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTsZyaP5BzHIrY8SIse-klJEfBoPRiaFv0_DLLwvcuV7hri68MRU2tO5UvcGNzxcku0_xJHHsQLSGC1wMYea84XqWnfMzlC2ZILpbi2-F4kqoSu6x_dtnxYXQW_G3WuvlPFtSCzPTZO_M/s320/IMG_6870.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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At the present time, I've finished sculpting, baking, sanding, filing, patching, and primering the sculpture, and am currently working on painting on the base colors of her! I decided to challenge myself and tackle one of the most difficult areas first: her leather pants, complete with rivets, lacing, and lots and lots of patience! Those overlapping areas are SO tiny!</div>
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<h3>
The Pre-Painting Photo Shoot for "Sashah's Song"<br /> </h3>
Before I got to work sanding, filing, patching, primering, and painting this sculpture, my dear friend Dana Bishop was find enough to photograph her so I had a better record of how the sculpture looked at this stage because, well, iPhone photos only do so much. ;)<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VF8zx1zJNKU/Vrt4taG6ZPI/AAAAAAAAEA8/fLXdzKyY_r8/s1600/Sashah_2_Med_Social.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VF8zx1zJNKU/Vrt4taG6ZPI/AAAAAAAAEA8/fLXdzKyY_r8/s400/Sashah_2_Med_Social.jpg" width="273" /></a> <a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7v6bJURiD3k/Vrt4-hI54kI/AAAAAAAAEBI/NOVnLmMpIxY/s1600/IMG_3144_WIP_DA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7v6bJURiD3k/Vrt4-hI54kI/AAAAAAAAEBI/NOVnLmMpIxY/s400/IMG_3144_WIP_DA.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
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<h3>
So Much Patching!<br /> </h3>
While baking went fine, the sculpture suffered some hairline cracks during transport to and from the photoshoot, so unfortunately it took me a lot of time afterwards to sand, file, patch, and then resand her. All the white areas you see in the many photos below are patched.<br />
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<h3>
Primer Time!<br /> </h3>
I painted the primer by hand as well as with an airbrush because I had certain areas like the translucent nails where I wanted them to remain their original color, and other areas like the jewelry where I wanted to use a black primer instead to help make the future metallic paint "pop." It took about three coats for complete coverage.<br />
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<h3>
Working on the Test Base<br /> </h3>
I have some pretty ambitious plans for the final stages of this sculpture, and one of them includes making the base look to be a creek-crossing, complete with a dragon koi in the "water." In order to create this illusion, I decided to try using a clear casting resin. My thought was that I could line the outside in Monster Clay and coat it with a release agent and it should act as a sort of sculptable mold. That's the theory at least! <br />
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Before even considering doing this to my actual sculpture, I created a small and very basic test base in order to test this technique as well as how I might sculpt the outer edge and add additional levels of detail, like ripples to the water's surface. It's turned out good so far, but I would like to try some new methods and give it another go before applying these techniques to the actual werewolf sculpture.<br />
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I think my little test koi is adorable. ;)<br />
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The Start of Color<br /> </h3>
After a lot of deliberation, I figured out the color scheme I'll be using on this sculpture, and have been busying purchasing paints and mixing them as well. I'm still not entirely committed to the colors of the enchantress's dress, but once I am totally committed, I'll be posting the mock-up for it as well. :)<br />
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I look forward to sharing more updates with you about this personal project that is so very dear to my heart. I hope that some day you might enjoy learning more about her and her story too!<br />
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<b>Thanks for reading, and joining me on the journey!</b><br />
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K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-90026055867883809542016-01-12T14:23:00.000-08:002016-01-12T14:39:34.438-08:00#TipTuesday: Sharing My Productivity TrackerI'm a huge fan of holding myself accountable for how I use my time, so for over a year and a half now I've used a custom tracker to keep track of a number of things, including how much art and writing I do on a given day, as well as how many steps I've taken and how well I've eaten and what sorts of things I spent my time on. <br />
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I try to make sure that these things are very easy for me to input to encourage me to keep up with the tracker and meet weekly goals, and I thought it might help to share the same customizable tracker with you!<br />
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Here is a Google Sheets document which includes a blank version of the tracker I use to help increase my productivity! You're welcome to save a copy & use it for yourself. :) --><b> <a href="http://bit.ly/1J2qCo9">http://bit.ly/1J2qCo9</a></b><br />
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<h3>
More about the Tracker and How to Use It</h3>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdoaAMt2VLQWU1bkF7iSudB6Ir5ZSQJaN6wofykGb1grFcRrMJk3klA2z36zfDlHSmc7T6PC8qrWMvkm72GEPAK3AdEHb5bVNpYndkhbhHq3zbKlhBqAt539nwp5T8y2Ij1UvR8Q2j12k/s1600/Tracker-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdoaAMt2VLQWU1bkF7iSudB6Ir5ZSQJaN6wofykGb1grFcRrMJk3klA2z36zfDlHSmc7T6PC8qrWMvkm72GEPAK3AdEHb5bVNpYndkhbhHq3zbKlhBqAt539nwp5T8y2Ij1UvR8Q2j12k/s640/Tracker-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Example of a blank weekly log for art and writing</span></td></tr>
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Included in the tabs:<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: blue;"><u>Your Log</u></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><u>Your Historical Info</u></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><u>Log Example</u></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #ea9999;"><u>Historical Example</u></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><u>Tracker for Artists</u></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><u>Tracker for Writers Without Part Numbers</u></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><u>Tracker for Writers With Part Numbers</u></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><u>Tracker for Artists and Writers</u></span></li>
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The tabs can be found along the bottom of the sheet:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WrWdHKDHjKQ/VpV6OazpyvI/AAAAAAAAD5o/Tyc51VqiQw4/s1600/Tracker-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="26" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WrWdHKDHjKQ/VpV6OazpyvI/AAAAAAAAD5o/Tyc51VqiQw4/s640/Tracker-4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I've found that weekly goals work better for me than daily goals, so that's how I set this up. I feel that part of striking a good balance in your life means holding yourself accountable for how you're spending your time on the whole, while also respecting that some days you simply need to take some R&R and watch Netflix, see friends, or what have you.<br />
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As far as this tracker is concerned, you simply need to set weekly goals for yourself in the "Hours to Weekly Goal" row, and as you make progress, they will turn green when you hit the threshold you set. As you can see in the example below, I've already met my weekly goal for hours spent writing and doing art for this week (yay!), but I haven't met my blogging or words written goals just yet. <br />
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You can track how much you want to exercise, do art, write, how healthy you're eating: you name it! And you can take notes on how you spent each day in the "Notes" section.</div>
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You can even set goals months out in the "Next Milestone" section so you're mindful of approaching milestones.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v71UATPmiU0/VpVwB1sJ7NI/AAAAAAAAD5A/EFLfe5wHJok/s1600/Tracker-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v71UATPmiU0/VpVwB1sJ7NI/AAAAAAAAD5A/EFLfe5wHJok/s640/Tracker-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Example of a Weekly Log. This is mine from this week! I still have a few days left to meet my next milestone.</td></tr>
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There are quite a few formulas included in it to help ease everything along, including a Food grade tracker to help track how you're eating in a given week. I generally envision "C' as making eating choices that will maintain my weight, whereas regular, healthier meals that would encourage me to lose weight could fall into the "B" or "A" category depending on a number of factors including their caloric intake and nutritional value. Keep in mind that you can track as much or as little as you like, so feel free to customize your tracker for what works best for you!<br />
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Once the week is over, you can move that week's data into the "Historical" tab, and then start fresh. You can change the date in the top-most row, and everything below will automatically populate as well. Feel free to change up your hours to weekly goals so that you can set realistic goals for yourself.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DKHdPeW9qH0/VpVwDDhrKlI/AAAAAAAAD5I/CiKugJs3YWo/s1600/Tracker-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DKHdPeW9qH0/VpVwDDhrKlI/AAAAAAAAD5I/CiKugJs3YWo/s640/Tracker-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Example of a Historical Tab</td></tr>
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<b>I hope you enjoy checking out my productivity tracker and might consider using it for yourself. Let me know if you have any questions on how to customize your own tracker, or if there is a new template you would like to see me offer! </b><br />
<br />K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-28252197619358116322015-12-30T04:20:00.001-08:002015-12-30T14:44:27.458-08:00My 2015 Year in Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2LcpMdSbPuo/VoOuwrcm7PI/AAAAAAAAD1U/6YY13xbJLHM/s1600/2015-Year-in-Review_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="416" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2LcpMdSbPuo/VoOuwrcm7PI/AAAAAAAAD1U/6YY13xbJLHM/s640/2015-Year-in-Review_01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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2015 year has been something, alright!<br />
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I'm not ashamed to admit that the first half was pretty heavy and depressing for me, as I was still reeling over <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/03/fly-free-hawk-plate-and-gamer-for-life.html">the loss</a> of one of my dear friends, <a href="http://cowandcheese.blogspot.com/">Kevin Kanai Griffith</a>. :(<br />
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I felt like in early 2015 it had to really force myself to do personal writing (and I did), but the art side of things wasn't coming nearly as easily for me, and somewhere in late 2014 and early 2015 I felt like someone had shaken me awake to get me to really sit down and think if I was happy with the trajectory of my career as a Community Manager at Blizzard. In truth, I was content and I certainly enjoyed a lot of the work I was doing, but I kept finding myself wondering if I was selling myself short by not even letting myself consider the possibility of a more creative career in the arts.<br />
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The thought was terrifying, and then after a time, it was inspiring. What could my life be like in another five or ten years if I let myself pursue the arts? Would I even be capable, qualified, or skilled enough to change careers and find success in something so different? Would I have to leave Blizzard to progress?<br />
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In the early half of 2015, I didn't talk about it, but behind the scenes, I gave it my <i>all</i>.<br />
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I applied to a job at Blizzard as a Media Artist within Story and Franchise Development (formerly known as Cinematics) and Video and Post Production with every ounce of passion I had. I spent countless hours on my cover letter, resume, portfolio, and then threw myself into the art test and preparing for the eventual interview.<br />
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And I got it.<br />
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And I haven't looked back.<br />
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I talked about <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/11/onward-to-new-opportunities-within.html">my new opportunities within Blizzard in this blog post</a>, but even in the time since, I've got to tell you: I am <i>so</i> much happier. I have so much more creative energy both during and after work, and feel like I am just buzzing with ideas. I feel like myself again, in the best possible way. I love being surrounded by so many creative individuals, I am digging my new work/life balance, and I am <i>so</i> excited for where the future will take me. I'm glad I dared to make the change, and that I had the opportunity to join such an immensely talented, passionate, and wonderful team.<br />
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So when I look back at the first half of this year, part of me cringes that there isn't a lot to show for it publicly, but man, if you could see all the hours and hours that went into my portfolio/art test, you would probably understand that that's completely fine by me. :)<br />
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I remember about a year ago at this time I was really struggling with whether or not to make a career change, and I'm immensely glad I did. If I had any piece of advice in all of this, it's to be willing to believe in yourself and pursue your own happiness with as much gusto as you can muster! It's never too late to follow your heart!<br />
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<h3>
12 Glimpses of My 2015 Year in Review<br /> </h3>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BQGskFtjilE/VoOxK4Qj_HI/AAAAAAAAD1g/DS3rS6iXmvc/s1600/2015-Year-in-Review_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="416" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BQGskFtjilE/VoOxK4Qj_HI/AAAAAAAAD1g/DS3rS6iXmvc/s640/2015-Year-in-Review_02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This year was extremely busy, but I put together 12 of my "top" projects throughout the year, which you can see above and learn more about below:</div>
<ol>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/12/worlds-first-butterfly-cosplay-part-3.html">World’s First Butterfly Cosplay – Part 3: Bringing Monarch Brightwing to Life</a>: While I <i>technically</i> completed this official project in the middle of 2014, it wasn't actually posted publicly until <a href="http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/19272682/world%E2%80%99s-first-butterfly-cosplay-part-3-bringing-monarch-brightwing-to-life-5-22-2015">May of 2015</a>. It was definitely a fun project to try to realize Monarch Brightwing in a butterfly-cosplay-sized sculpture, but I really enjoyed the challenge! It was one of the first full-body sculptures I'd done in years, too!<br /> </li>
<li>This year I did a fair bit of <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/08/current-story-status.html">personal writing</a>, organizing, <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/">blogging</a>, and a boatload of social media. I made 16 blogs in 2015, including numerous blogs detailing walkthroughs of my various projects. I'm hoping to increase that number in 2016, as well as to really kick my writing into gear!<br /> </li>
<li>This is one of the many composite images I created for my portfolio for my media artist job application. I spent so much time working on the contents of it, and I'm so very glad it all paid off. :)<br /> </li>
<li><a href="http://fav.me/d8qtza2">Matt Murdock (Daredevil): Avocado at Law</a>: I got really into Netflix's Daredevil this year, and allowed myself a bit of a breather to do some loose fan art of him in the middle of the year.<br /> </li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/11/many-new-sketches-and-fantasy-commission.html">30 Day Story-Sketch Challenge: Day 2: Protection</a>: In July I decided to challenge myself to partake in a 30-day challenge to sketch characters and environments from a story I wrote, and would like to get back to editing in order prompt me to get back in the headspace of those characters. This is the second day's image of two of the main characters. Unfortunately I only made it about five days in before I got really sick and put the challenge on ice for awhile, but I definitely plan to give it another go next year.<br /> </li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/07/walkthrough-butterscotch-yak.html">'Butterscotch' - World of Warcraft Fan Art Yak</a>: Gah, this project was a beast! Started on November 3rd, 2012 and completed on July 26, 2015, this project spanned many years, and was subject to so much scope creep and technical hurdles that it was sometimes incredibly frustrating to keep moving forward with it, but finally, <i>finally</i> it is done. During the last two years, I've been trying to finish off a number of long outstanding projects and this was one of them. It was also a more than subtle reminder that money and time are hardly limitless, so it's important to make sure you're spending your time on projects you find worthwhile, and well, that you actually finish them.<br /> </li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/08/video-walkthrough-dragon-mage-zbrush.html">“Dragon Mage” – ZBrush Sculpture</a>: This is yet another project that had been put on ice for awhile that I finished up in 2015. I had a lot of fun with the patterning on this fella. :)<br /> </li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/11/sculpture-friendship-and-cindys.html">Sculpture: "Friendship"</a>: Amidst a lot of really time-intensive projects (like the job application, Monarch Brightwing Sculpture, and Yak project), when Cindy visited me this year I was somewhat emphatic that I wanted to to a project we could actually complete during a few days, and this ended up being just that. :) I'd long wanted to experiment with a particular type of air dry clay, and had a wonderful time sculpting with my seester! <3<br /> </li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/11/many-new-sketches-and-fantasy-commission.html">Demon Pig from 2015 BlizzCon Sketch Group</a>: I enjoyed working at the BlizzCon Art Gallery this year as well as at the BlizzCon Sketch Group. The theme for the sketch group was "demon + pig" so I had fun with it. :)<br /> </li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/11/join-us-for-crafty-secret-santa-2015.html">Crafty Secret Santa</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/vaeflare/status/671737627565883392">"Sailor Usagi"</a>: This year I hosted a special Secret Santa-type exchange for crafty people <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/11/join-us-for-crafty-secret-santa-2015.html">that you can read about here</a>, and by and large I feel it's been a great success! My own giftee enjoyed (among other things) Sailor Moon and rabbits, so I forged her interests together into <a href="http://fav.me/d9m31bp">a fun little sculpture gift</a>. It was a lot of fun to be able to allow my creativity to go wild on another short-form sculpture!<br /> </li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/679115205750579200">Jeweled Lion Sculpture</a> (Work in Progress): While it's not done yet, in late December I discovered yet another abandoned project from many years ago (2011), and I decided to take a break from my other projects to try to and make it into something with a bit better form. I'm looking forward to finishing it off!<br /> </li>
<li><a href="http://fav.me/d9kewqt">“Sashah's Song” – Mixed Media Sculpture (Work in Progress - Current as of December 17, 2015 - Photographed by Dana Bishop)</a>: I started this sculpture way back in late 2014, and it sat around for the bulk of the year before I got <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/676138902806130688">moving again on it</a> in the later half of 2015. It's a sculpture of one of the lead protagonists of my stories, who happens to be a werewolf enchantress. Much like the Yak, this project has encountered numerous technical battles along the way, including not fitting properly in a home oven, which meant I had to <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675897060013445120">build an oven to bake it</a>, so... suffice to say, she has continued to be a labor of love, and I'm really hoping I can finish her off in the near future. :) I figure I'm around 106 hours in at this point, and there are a lot more photos of her over on my Twitter accounts <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/">@KLeCrone</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Vaeflare/">@Vaeflare</a>. To date, this is very possibly the project I'm proudest of so far!</li>
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On to 2016!</h3>
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All-in-all it's been quite a year, and I can't wait to see what 2016 holds! Some personal things I'm aiming to accomplish in the new year include:<br />
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<li>Complete "Sashah's Song" Sculpture</li>
<li>(Re)learn how to mold and cast</li>
<li>Finish one or more short stories</li>
<li>Keep moving forward with one or more novels</li>
<li>Learn some new art materials (CX5, I'm looking at you!)</li>
<li>Finish at least one outstanding art project and selectively retire others</li>
<li>Sell some new personal art</li>
<li>Continue to infuse my unique vision into my work<br /> </li>
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Conventions/Festivals I Am Planning to Attend in 2016</h3>
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<li>February - <a href="http://writersconference.com/sd/">The Southern California Writer's Conference</a></li>
<li>May - <a href="http://lightninginabottle.org/">Lightning in a Bottle</a></li>
<li>July - <a href="http://www.comic-con.org/">San Diego Comic Con</a></li>
<li>August - <a href="http://prime.paxsite.com/">PAX Prime</a> (Planned) </li>
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<b>Thank you for all your support in 2015, and thanks for joining me on my creative journey!</b></div>
K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-65370805382388453362015-12-30T01:47:00.001-08:002015-12-30T12:58:51.735-08:00World’s First Butterfly Cosplay – Part 3: Bringing Monarch Brightwing to Life<br />
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Back in 2014 when I was still a Community Manager, I worked on an official project relating to a character for the <a href="http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/" target="_blank">Blizzard</a> game <a href="http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/" target="_blank">Heroes of the Storm</a>, and due to one thing or another, it took over a year for all the requested blogs relating to the project to finally be published on the official site, but at last in May of 2015, <a href="http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/19272682/world%E2%80%99s-first-butterfly-cosplay-part-3-bringing-monarch-brightwing-to-life-5-22-2015">the final blog and photos were posted on Battle.net</a>, and I wanted to share the final results here for posterity as well :)<br />
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Originally I shared with you <a href="http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/14665105/" target="_blank">how this project began and the various stages required to sculpt the Monarch Brightwing sculpture</a> that will serve as the base of what may very well be the world’s first butterfly cosplay!* In the second part of this blog series, I showed you <a href="http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/15371654/">the colorful and creative steps that followed</a>, and in this blog, we’re putting it all together and bringing Monarch Brightwing to life with a live monarch butterfly from my home garden!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BnfGyMJvlfg/U7tZmRn_FQI/AAAAAAAACi8/PazAY55XpIo/s1600/FZGDWMZAUR631397323263139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BnfGyMJvlfg/U7tZmRn_FQI/AAAAAAAACi8/PazAY55XpIo/s200/FZGDWMZAUR631397323263139.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bpRCX-Pov4o/VApJQxV20dI/AAAAAAAAC0I/Zf8NKIDVL40/s1600/Lightbox_IMG_0810.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bpRCX-Pov4o/VApJQxV20dI/AAAAAAAAC0I/Zf8NKIDVL40/s200/Lightbox_IMG_0810.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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The in-game model is seen on the left, and my sculpture is seen on the right. All it needs now is a regal monarch!<br />
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Where We Left Off<br /> </h3>
When we last left off, Monarch Brightwing was all painted, sealed, and ready for her guests, and it was time for everything to come together to complete this unique take on cosplay! Here are the final results:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QXqw3BBSeQM/VoOjacEb5XI/AAAAAAAAD0k/RqP4ryktdZs/s1600/L6SRG700NQIJ1432149240148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QXqw3BBSeQM/VoOjacEb5XI/AAAAAAAAD0k/RqP4ryktdZs/s640/L6SRG700NQIJ1432149240148.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Did You Know?<br /> </h3>
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Monarch butterfly populations have plummeted so much in recent years that the <a href="http://www.fws.gov/international/animals/monarch-butterfly.html">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a> now believes there might be reason to protect them under the Endangered Species Act.</div>
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You can learn more about how you can help raise monarchs and milkweed plants at <a href="http://monarchwatch.org/">MonarchWatch.org</a>.</div>
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All monarch butterflies used in this project were hand-raised and released into the wild after photographing.</div>
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Outtakes!<br /> </h3>
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Things don’t always go as planned when you’re working with one (or more!) live subjects, so here are some of my favorite outtakes of Monarch Brightwing and her fluttery entourage.<br />
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I'd highly recommend checking out the original blogs which are posted directly on Blizzard's website because there are a lot more photos and details about the process there (and with much better formatting)!<br />
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<b><a href="http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/14665105/" target="_blank">World’s First Butterfly Cosplay – Part 1: Sculpting Monarch Brightwing</a></b></div>
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<b><a href="http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/15371654/" target="_blank">World’s First Butterfly Cosplay – Part 2: Painting Monarch Brightwing</a></b><br />
<a href="http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/19272682/world%E2%80%99s-first-butterfly-cosplay-part-3-bringing-monarch-brightwing-to-life-5-22-2015"><b>World’s First Butterfly Cosplay – Part 3: Bringing Monarch Brightwing to Life</b></a></div>
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If you're interested in finding out more about <a href="http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/" target="_blank">Heroes of the Storm</a>, you can learn more about this fun team brawler <a href="http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/" target="_blank">here on our official site</a>. And if you work at Blizzard or manage to get a tour of campus, you can see this little guy currently on display at the Blizzard Museum!</div>
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Do you have any questions about painting materials, the creative process for this project, or raising monarchs? Let me know in the comments below!</div>
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<i><br /></i><i>As this project was done on-the-clock for work, all photos of Brightwing and my Brightwing sculpture are Copyright Blizzard Entertainment. All standalone monarch photos are copyright Kimberly LeCrone.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><i>* - As far as we know! </i></div>
K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-31873272421147668662015-12-15T18:21:00.001-08:002015-12-15T18:21:50.787-08:002005 Scale Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 3 of 4 - Water, Terrain Details, and the Wizard's Abode<h3>
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Recap: </center>
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In 2005, while I was busy attending the University of Southern California to pursue a degree in the Cinematic Arts: Production, I took a class for Art Direction. As our final project (which was worth 50% of our grade), I had to create a quarter-scale miniature model. I was more than a bit ambitious with my model, and I put a ton of work into it, which I enjoyed sharing with my friends over on LiveJournal at the time. Here's a quick peek at the exterior of the end result!</center>
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In 2006 I created a series of three detailed posts which went through each step of the project. Unfortunately, since I was so busy, I never actually posted a final blog sharing the final stage and finished results, so I thought it would be great to post everything over here on my blog for posterity, and to finally create that final blog after ten long years! <br /><br />As such, I hope you enjoy this flashback onto an early project of mine. While it's not sculpture in a traditional sense, it's projects like this which ignited my imagination and fed my desire to learn and improve, and this project is <i><b>incredibly</b></i> close to my heart.<br /><br />I tended to be even more verbose back in my LiveJournal days, so I've shortened and edited some of the original text below from LiveJournal. This is the third of four blogs about this project, and you can access all available parts at the links below. These are the original images I posted in 2006, so they're also a bit on the small and blurry side, but there will be some nicer ones in the final blog: promise. :)</center>
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Enjoy!<br />
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<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/12/2005-model-project-wizards-retreat-part.html"><b>Part 1 - Conception to Early Production</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/11/2005-scale-model-project-wizards.html"><b>Part 2 - Painting and Refining the Base</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/12/2005-scale-model-project-wizards.html"><b>Part 3 - Water, Terrain Details, and the Wizard's Abode</b></a></li>
<li>[Coming Soon] Part 4 - Detailing the Wizard's Abode, Furniture, Props, and Final Details</li>
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Scale Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 3 of 4 - Painting and Refining the Base</h3>
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At this stage what I was doing was trying to create additional realism, so I was using a variety of consistencies and colors/grains/textures of ballast, which is a sort of lightweight faux rock. I put some around where my rock faces were (since real rock faces fall away over time) and I put a lot more along/in the waterway. I paid particular attention to trying to make it seem as if the water had washed rock down the waterfalls over time, so in that bottom area, there are some dead logs and other debris that have helped to form a makeshift sort of "pool" of water. In that pool, I planned for there to be fish as well as lily pads and that sort of thing since the water would be slower moving/still there. :)
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It was amazing how much planning ,time, and money all this was taking, but I was certainly in a "spare no expense" mindset at the time, and I viewed this as a portfolio piece for once I graduated college.<br />
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You can see some of the river plants I was working on here. Those long stem plants sticking way out of the water were there so I could keep track of the positions where the final flowers would be situated. All of those flowers are about twice the size of the head of a pin. We are talking small, and all of them were put together by hand: each separate petal and layer, down to the little bits of yellow pollen inside. I can still remember how much it hurt my eyes to make each of them. <br />
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Some of the landscape glue was also still wet at this point, which is why the glue appears white above rather than clear. I also worked on texturizing the riverbed at this point.<br />
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I actually did all sorts of weird stuff for realism down to some light green powder I blew on the right side of the riverbank there to be moss. :) I did something similar along the top of the rock faces, but unfortunately it doesn't appear as though I took any photos of it at the time, because it was starting to get down to the wire.<br />
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This is the future area where debris would have collected to form a sort of pool. I thought that would be something neat to have the bridge cross over it there. The final water level was supposed to be a little higher than where those logs cross.
I even had to age and stain that wood so it looked like fallen logs. Regular sticks from outside don't cut it thanks to the scale issue.<br />
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This is a view looking down at the empty waterway, including a log that's precariously close to the crest of the waterfall. If you look carefully you can see the start of a deciduous tree on the lower left. You can also see where two smaller creeks converge before they reach the first waterfall.<br />
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I want to point out that each single rock had to be glued in place individually as this project would have to be driven all the way to my college for evaluation, so it had to be completely secure.<br />
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This was when I made a horrid discovery: the faux water I wanted to use was meant more as a coating than for depth as I intended to use it. I discovered that it was recommended for 1/8 of an inch deep every 24-36 hours, or else the layers below would never fully dry.
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This created quite a problem because not only was the river intended to be a good 1 -1 1/2 inches deep in areas, but like a real river, it all ran DOWNHILL. So when the base was finally dry (and that included the glue from the plants), the liquid poured down the waterfalls rather than staying in place.<br />
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Also, at this point I believe there was only about a week of time left until the project was due, which made the water situation even more...problematic. I hadn't thought the water would be such a big issue, but as with everything: it was a learning experience I had to overcome. Therefore, at this point I halted progress on the actual treehouse to try and rush the base so that I could put in the artificial water once every 24 hours and pray I could get it sufficiently deep in time.
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In the image above you can see two 1/8 inch layers of the liquid water. Which.... you might be able to guess wasn't very deep. It looked like there was a steady trickle, but not exactly something that would require two raging waterfalls.<br />
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Due to the complete lack of time, I realized if there were going to be ANY fish, I'd need to put them in ASAP. So, I sculpted this little fantasy koi (It's a WIZARD's retreat, after all). He is ridiculously tiny, and was a pain to sculpt, but alright, all things considered. :)<br />
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Next I put more work on the greenery and rocks, and I solved the "water running downhill" problem by using some tacky clay to block the waterfall faces. :) Take that, gravity!<br />
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There were are a few more layers of the artificial water shown above, and as you might be able to see: it's cloudy until it dries (and it wasn't drying completely within 24 hours, because I wasn't giving it enough time to dry because I was running out of time...).
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At this point I also started on the walls of the tree house. As if I couldn't have made things ANY more difficult on myself, most of the walls were curved, so I couldn't use matte-board or something to make the walls properly, so instead I ended up building the walls stone-by-stone by hand.
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That's right: every stone you see is individually placed. And trying to regulate the curves and the thickness and making it structurally sound? It was tremendously harder than it looks. If you see the tape along the front curve: that is actually where one of the cut away walls was going to be, so it could not be directly attached to the base. The intent was to make the wall removable so that I could pull the wall off if I wished to shoot into the interior of the finished miniature.<br />
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So I had to get the clearance as close as I could so it look like the wall was continuous, even though in reality it wasn't. I also had to make it look as if it was continuous by making the spots were it nearly connected hidden and concealed. I ended up offsetting the rocks along the edges sort of like the grooves on a key.
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The "stones" are ballast as well, but I bought bags and bags of the stuff just TRYING to find suitable rocks for the walls. It took days and days of straight work just to get that much done because I was also having to wait on the glue to dry to keep things structurally sound as I went.
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Here the dragon koi is in place in his second layer of surrounding water. While it was still cloudy at this stage, I was praying I could get the water level high enough that it would submerge the koi rather than have him skimming the surface like some sort of mutant shark. In the end, the lower pool was due to be nowhere near as deep as I wanted it since I could only put in 1/8th of a bit of water at a time. It was frustrating to say the least!<br />
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At this angle, you can see some of the lilypad flowers I made that were formed to appear open or closed.<br />
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And each of those flowers? They took me about an hour to craft each single one! I recall removing some of the other flowers temporarily so I could add more yellow pollen to the open ones to ensure I didn't accidentally get the powder in the still drying liquid water.<br />
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....oh man the memories this shot brings back. You can see bags of ballast there, and all sorts of containers of wood stain and paint trays, to different mediums to hold the stones in place, exact-o blades, rulers and just... wow that was a mess.
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At this angle you can see the tape of the break away wall, and for the first time: stained glass windows! Those suckers had hand-cut moldings that were then painted and aged, and then I cut acetate to put in the "frames" which I then affixed and used a brand of glass marker and frosted glass paint to make it look like stained glass. Please keep in mind: I didn't have instructions of a guide for any of this: I had to figure out creative techniques for myself.<br />
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At this point I also realized I had to figure a way to make the windows sit IN the wall... which was a lot harder than it sounds. Especially to get them to sit "straight" when the rocks below them were all bumpy and un-fileable.
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I went with a dark green and sort of burgundy color scheme. The little knight (which was: larger than a real person would stand), continued to serve as a temporary stand-in for scale purposes.
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When looking back at these photos, I found it actually sort of strange at first that there were so few in progress shots, but that just goes to show how busy I was at the time. What you see below was days of work later, where I was trying to find ways to get the windows to stand in place on their own, but you can see the general look of the abode starting to take shape. <br />
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To the far right is the kitchen, and the far left is the edge of the Globe Room where the wizard can freely practice his spells. In the back is the door frame of the front door!
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This window is so incredibly small in person. Under an inch high, I believe. Yet I frosted and aged each individual diamond pane. I also tried to make the painted acetate look like it had a subtle variation of color, like real stained glass does.
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This is the front of the wizard's retreat some days later. I was way behind time on this, so I was starting to get freaked out I wouldn't even get to the interior in time. So I....didn't sleep much. I was finally getting to the point that some of the windows were nearly getting roof clearance too. Actually, aside from the base of the windows, this was one of the harder steps because I had to find a way to make the stones surround the window molding, which was extremely thin, so it required some clever crafting on my part, especially over those sort of pointed windows that lined the curve of the dining room. I also aged the glass and edges of the frames inside the windows a little.<br />
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It really didn't' help that the walls were curved, either. curved walls + "straight" windows = recipe for frustration.
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In the background the bathroom/bedroom and front door share another cut away wall. You can also see the water level of the river is slowly rising, little by little.<br />
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This is a rear shot with the rear cut away wall removed so you can see the progress/development. This is where I determined the idea of a second story was out of the question at the moment considering the current scope of the project and time remaining. I just remember thinking how the dry time of that medium was horrible.
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This is also the stage where I remembered that I needed to craft the continuation of the tree house up through the house. So I sculpted it out of more foam, and then started to layer on the paper mache strips while I tried to juggle adding more water to the river, and ever more rocks all over the retreat. If I'd cursed all the rocks on the base one-by-one, that didn't even vaguely compare to my frustrations on the actual building looming overhead.<br />
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Anyway: in the shot above the tree is upside down. That little opening on top is the nook where the cozy den would later be situated within.<br />
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At this point I finally got a proper scale miniature for the retreat, so that new wizard in the back was finally to scale. At this stage I was finishing up the walls, and I began work on finishing the tree that would support the Globe Room. Here, you can see work done on the trunk and roots, as well as the start of the branches.
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I was slowly running out of time on the water, so I had to call it "done," so it would (hopefully) turn a bit clearer before the time the project was due for grading. So at this point, I added handmade lilly pads that I painted with acrylic and sealed. I wasn't totally done with the flowers yet, but at least the dragon koi was definitely underwater.<br />
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I might have gone a bit overboard with the lily pads, but I regret nothing. ;)<br />
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More days passed and I eventually cut away the clay along the riverbed/waterfalls, and (offscreen) worked to prep the waterfalls themselves. I also finished the walls/windows/doors, and in this photo you can see the front breakaway wall is in place, as well as the rear wall (which is also breakaway). I worked on a quick way of constructing the limbs and branches of the Globe Room tree that would act as a sort of canopy for the whole area because time was almost up.
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At this point I also placed the continuation of the large tree trunk on top of the main structure so you could get a look at how it would go along when completed. It only has its first layer of paint on here, which is why it doesn't yet match the base of the trunk below it. I worked at this point to texture that as well as to hollow out the area where it is open in the den room in the middle. There is also a branch sticking out the side there to give an additional sense of scale.<br />
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Here is another view of all of those incomplete elements. Along the bottom right you can see where I was starting to plan out the stairs, which was another area where curves = very bad idea). Unbeknownst to myself, I made this project so very difficult on myself for art's sake.<br />
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Next I began using water effects to create and bulk up my waterfalls, as well as to add the sort of ripples in real moving water. At this point it was still wet, so it's not entirely clear but.... it was really neat to finally see! That log on the topmost waterfall appears to hold back some of the falling water.I like little unexpected things like that. :)
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At this point there was more work on the Globe Room's tree, as well as a bridge at last! The pieces of wood seen here are all individually cut and stained, and I made sure they were just the TINIEST bit uneven, like a real handmade bridge would be. You can also see the start of stairs (also real stained wood) leading from under the archway root! :D
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Though you can't see it: the final white and pink lily flowers were finally in place here as well.<br />
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Up on the edge of the Globe Room you can also see piece of furniture! A wardrobe of real wood that was individually put together and hand-cut/stained in a cherry stain. Many tweezers were involved. This wizard is rather well-off, so it figured to me he'd have such nice pieces of furniture. There are even tiny handles and a mirrored front! Pieces like that took so long to put together.<br />
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On top of the wardrobe is a potted fern, also handmade. I put little wires under the leaves so I could bend them how I wanted. (Sooooo tiny....) I had all array of magnifying glasses, tweezers, and pins for this stuff.<br />
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I realize this all seems so "quick" to post in comparison to how long it actually took, which is so many dozens of hours over weeks and months that I wouldn't even be able to keep count.<br />
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I hope folks are enjoying seeing this take shape. :) Apologies that I was a bit slim on photographing these later stages: I was too busy crafting it to even think to pick up my camera.<br />
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<b>We're getting close! :) Stay tuned for the final blog, which is brand new and will be Part 4 of 4!</b>K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-20596817804004613232015-12-11T20:10:00.001-08:002015-12-11T23:14:10.969-08:00The Tweet That Spawned Story Sharing<h3>
How It All Started
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So the other night I saw a few people from Facebook and Twitter post saying that for every Like, they would share something about themselves. The idea of such a social experiment sounded interesting to me, and I decided I'd do the same thing on <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone">my art & writing Twitter</a>, except instead of sharing information about me, I'd share information about my stories, characters, and their world. I figured since it was pretty late at night, perhaps I'd get maybe a half a dozen Likes to prompt sharing, but... my original tweet got far more attention than I ever expected.
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For every like this tweet gets, I will tell you something about my stories/characters and their world! <a href="https://t.co/3p3yREzIwu">pic.twitter.com/3p3yREzIwu</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675127309423271937">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
I received 64 Likes within the first few hours, which eventually hit 88 Likes! I soon found myself spending the evening sharing art and information. Since Twitter can be a bit of a tricky best to follow, I decided to put my first batch of replies together into a blog so that they can be more easily digested. I hope you enjoy them!<br />
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The posts below include a great deal of art that is my own, as well as pieces that were gifts or commissions from a variety of talented artists. Those pieces can seen below on Deviant Art where they can be enjoyed in their full glory.<br />
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I couldn't credit all art here, but you can see many of the pieces of original art I shared here: <a href="https://t.co/1uc1QePwjD">https://t.co/1uc1QePwjD</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675226364421775360">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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And you can see some of the many incredible gifts and commissions of my story characters here: <a href="https://t.co/7rla410JOf">https://t.co/7rla410JOf</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675226555073888256">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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My Responses
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1: This is a scene originally from Book 3 of a series I've worked on for over 20 years. 6 years between these arts! <a href="https://t.co/kLvUByAIzy">pic.twitter.com/kLvUByAIzy</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675170890603216896">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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2: Most of my stories take place within one massive world. The setting contains elements of fantasy, steampunk, and natural influences.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675171240412356609">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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3: The 1st book of the series was destroyed in a massive computer fire around 2002. All data, even backups, were gone. Depression followed.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675171669120536582">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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4: I've completed over 13 unpublished stories about my characters & world, & I'm currently working on 5 new ones with the intent to publish.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675172243295625216">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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5: I've wanted to ensure my villains weren't pure evil, so many have complex & tragic backstories where they tried to do the right thing.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675172988866699264">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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6: My favorite character is Oberon, a once-warlord cursed to be a horse 364 days/year. He is blunt, fiery, & snarky. <a href="https://t.co/Ahjo0jBblb">pic.twitter.com/Ahjo0jBblb</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675173476202881024">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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7: Sashah is a half-breed werewolf/human who cannot transform into a human. She uses illusions to pretend to be. <a href="https://t.co/ZxRtSCFLK7">pic.twitter.com/ZxRtSCFLK7</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675174170590879745">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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8: I feel that a lot of people idealize animals, so having an "animal" idealize humans, but to never truly be one in the flesh felt fitting.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675174600586719232">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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9: While I have illustrated Sashah (the werewolf enchantress) over the years, she is not a personal avatar for me. <a href="https://t.co/vzqC2DsJOi">pic.twitter.com/vzqC2DsJOi</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675175437329416192">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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10: After my first novel was destroyed in a computer fire <a href="https://twitter.com/oneirosuchus">@oneirosuchus</a> offered to RP w/ me to reconnect with chars. <a href="https://t.co/wtxNBE7i5t">pic.twitter.com/wtxNBE7i5t</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675175873235034112">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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11: There are many cultures in my stories. One of the primary ones includes heavy iconography of twin lions. <a href="https://t.co/oYr2hA3P9V">pic.twitter.com/oYr2hA3P9V</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675176931541827584">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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12: At home I surround myself w/ art from other people. It helps me write stories about my characters. <a href="https://t.co/sfLxy5P6yu">pic.twitter.com/sfLxy5P6yu</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675177829286453248">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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13: If you see a skeletal figure in my work, it is likely Richard. He was the main PoV & protagonist for Books 1-3. <a href="https://t.co/CgDhlc8iCr">pic.twitter.com/CgDhlc8iCr</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675178401544695808">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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14: Richard isn't the first hero character to die in a book & come back, but his journey to figure out what to do after death fascinates me.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675178679555784705">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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15: I have an absolutely massive private wiki and blog for all my story stuff. It's the only way I can keep track of so much content.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675179159388336129">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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16:Typical romance doesn't play heavily into most of my stories, but I do dig the idea of exploring the bonds of friendship, family, & love.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675179552314941440">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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17: I enjoy exploring the quiet moments between characters. The best ones help ground & inspire (by <a href="https://twitter.com/inklingtweet">@inklingtweet</a>). <a href="https://t.co/MzgMX4aD5l">pic.twitter.com/MzgMX4aD5l</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675180035410628609">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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18: Some of my favorite creations have a air of mystery about them. The mechanical hummingbird is certainly one. <a href="https://t.co/bl5ZkQxTOj">pic.twitter.com/bl5ZkQxTOj</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675180601746571264">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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19: I wrote a 50k+ word chunk of Book 2 entitled "Hollow Ground." I've considered sharing it, but...other bits 1st. <a href="https://t.co/qGQHcZP0iV">pic.twitter.com/qGQHcZP0iV</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675181310462271488">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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20: There is a native culture that trains their wolves to bond with bears. War bears! Was inspired by dog + cheetahs <a href="https://t.co/h679SLFxVD">pic.twitter.com/h679SLFxVD</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675182193946271744">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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21: Sensory & tactile stuff is very important to me. Part of what makes Richard's story so tragic is he loses it all <a href="https://t.co/aww07YGrGT">pic.twitter.com/aww07YGrGT</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675182863541776385">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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22: One of the cultures has elk iconography. They are one of the more political groups & hardest for me to write for <a href="https://t.co/y50XgbEeT1">pic.twitter.com/y50XgbEeT1</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675183279914512389">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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23: Abuse is a theme that pops up in different ways. It felt important to me to acknowledge different upbringings. <a href="https://t.co/ZMjUlHOB29">pic.twitter.com/ZMjUlHOB29</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675183717984436231">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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24: I strive to have characters choose to be an active part of their own mythos. Action is needed to grow & evolve. <a href="https://t.co/olIXXPnyoL">pic.twitter.com/olIXXPnyoL</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675184523378876416">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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25: There are gryphons of various shapes and sizes, because I couldn't have a world without them in the skies. ;) <a href="https://t.co/seSYVjOush">pic.twitter.com/seSYVjOush</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675185086577381377">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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26: There is a rather complex magical system that I prefer not to spoil, but suffice to say: it can get pretty dark. <a href="https://t.co/iFGxFwokwV">pic.twitter.com/iFGxFwokwV</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675185509669462016">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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27: I have detailed chronologies covering hundreds of years. I like knowing how everyone lived & died. <a href="https://t.co/iUXLMSjY4l">pic.twitter.com/iUXLMSjY4l</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675185880097759233">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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28: These two unlikely companions (Sashah and Oberon) are the central figures of a new story I'm working on now. <a href="https://t.co/MWxDAPVXkN">pic.twitter.com/MWxDAPVXkN</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675186537680777216">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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29: Sashah (werewolf), Richard (Undead Paladin), & Oberon (cursed warlord) don't always get along, but they balance. <a href="https://t.co/1iQ6ZDDpVr">pic.twitter.com/1iQ6ZDDpVr</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675190968199610368">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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30: All three of them view themselves as "cursed," & have complex character arcs that don't necessarily end in them getting their wishes.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675191166434979840">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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31: Multiple people, including <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxAmoore">@FoxAmoore</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/izzyLizard">@izzyLizard</a> have composed music about my characters and their world. Five tracks & counting. :)</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675191583571058689">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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32: I'm immensely thankful for all the character art I've gotten from friends & commissions over the years. <a href="https://t.co/NHWmjDaGG4">pic.twitter.com/NHWmjDaGG4</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675192542749675521">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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33: The five current stories I'm working on are listed here: <a href="https://t.co/ZQbIN2xTRI">https://t.co/ZQbIN2xTRI</a> I hope to finish one in 2016! <a href="https://t.co/ns3dXkknhj">pic.twitter.com/ns3dXkknhj</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675193252925079552">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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34: <a href="https://twitter.com/oneirosuchus">@oneirosuchus</a> made me amazing art which I turned into a massive faux stained glass piece. I write with it on! <a href="https://t.co/8zX2XebvtJ">pic.twitter.com/8zX2XebvtJ</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675195493287403520">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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35: Are dragonsin my stories? Well...that one is a bit tricky to go into without spoilers, but they're around. ;) <a href="https://t.co/N9Y4q7RQnl">pic.twitter.com/N9Y4q7RQnl</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675196903504654336">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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36: If I'm feeling down I just need to see art of Oberon maiming people with an axe to feel better. ;) Bad horse! <a href="https://t.co/TpKAXtGVmT">pic.twitter.com/TpKAXtGVmT</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675197500731604994">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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37: I have a backlog of completed stories, but I'm worried releasing them as is would be a poor way to formally introduce my characters. :/</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675198147421978624">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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38: While I love that I've embraced my artistic side, it also means my writing comes at a slower pace since I have to split my attention.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675198776521465856">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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39: Sashah spent a lot of her childhood in Rook. It is one of my favorite locations in my stories & very dangerous. <a href="https://t.co/UaOSUdDp8C">pic.twitter.com/UaOSUdDp8C</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675199417083953152">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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40: I took a scene from my books, heavily edited it, & made it into a student film called "Beauty in the Beast!" <a href="https://t.co/2XBMO6M3XM">pic.twitter.com/2XBMO6M3XM</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675202214147858432">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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41: Music is really important to me & my stories. I have lists of existing & original music that inspire me when I art & write.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675203626525175808">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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42: I've listened to "Horse and Rider," by <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxAmoore">@FoxAmoore</a> a lot lately. I commissioned this piece about Oberon & Sashah> <a href="https://t.co/SboOHI7keH">https://t.co/SboOHI7keH</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675203892855119873">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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43: I've always loved thematic tales of beauty & the beast, & I hope to have my own take on it within my own stories. :)</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675206099344166912">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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44: I try to drop clues & foreshadowing in my stories, & I hope it helps weave a deeper narrative tapestry. <a href="https://t.co/YZhczJjduB">pic.twitter.com/YZhczJjduB</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675206834953830400">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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45: I dig the idea of exploring how people need to face their biases & fears in order to grow as people. <a href="https://t.co/Ov1wsn6f9p">pic.twitter.com/Ov1wsn6f9p</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675207512728190980">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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46: I'm thankful to work where I do, but glad to keep my longstanding personal art & stories separate from work as well. :)</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675207965171957761">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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47: Having a horse as a main character forced me to improve my ability to render horses. Same with wolves & humans. <a href="https://t.co/tDnoX1m11S">pic.twitter.com/tDnoX1m11S</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675208913604747264">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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48: The sculpture I'm working on of Sashah is the first time I've tried to render her in 3D. I'm proud of her grace. <a href="https://t.co/W4QJJbGz9C">pic.twitter.com/W4QJJbGz9C</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675209450886725632">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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49: I always intended to share my stories, but it got "real" when I was talking to my grandmother about them when she was on her deathbed.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675210194717163522">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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50: My Loirin doesn't figure into any plot lines at the moment, but I'm sure he's waiting for the perfect moment. <a href="https://t.co/hNvUhLXJxf">pic.twitter.com/hNvUhLXJxf</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675211419743309824">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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51. One of my stories + art was abandoned when one of my dear friends who was offering art critique passed away. :/ <a href="https://t.co/bfWn8GbEAc">pic.twitter.com/bfWn8GbEAc</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675211967343239169">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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52: I'm incredibly, endlessly thankful for my circle of friends who have continued to nudge me about my stories & read even the older stuff.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675213270391889920">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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53: Sashah wears ornate jewelry under her human illusions because they make her feel more connected to "real" people <a href="https://t.co/7LWIIqIhbp">pic.twitter.com/7LWIIqIhbp</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675214029732880384">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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54: One part of Sashah I really connect with is that idea of searching for yourself & making sure you become more than what others want.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675215110961569792">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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55: She uses illusions to mask her true self & emotions & yet using magic to bring joy to others. She's very giving. <a href="https://t.co/pgMzd1xYpn">pic.twitter.com/pgMzd1xYpn</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675215667059171332">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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56: From 2011 to 2013 I kept a cohesive story journal. It helped me come to terms with my stages of story grief: <a href="https://t.co/QLbg1Rh4Lt">https://t.co/QLbg1Rh4Lt</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675216941041217536">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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57: I have a rather wide cast of characters, many of whom I've never illustrated for fear that doing so will slow my writing further.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675217554378498048">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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58: In a small way, I'm glad some of my early writing & books were destroyed, because it allowed me to let go of some childish ideas too.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675218132982751232">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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59: Sashah is hardly perfect, but I love how much she embraces life & craves to connect with & help others. <a href="https://t.co/x3YPbZw39H">pic.twitter.com/x3YPbZw39H</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675219213913612290">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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60: Richard definitely channels my inner Paladin & his inability to use his senses reminds me how precious mine are. <a href="https://t.co/7Gdhw4X8zQ">pic.twitter.com/7Gdhw4X8zQ</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675220262816759808">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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61: Oberon reminds me we're all a work in progress. That we have to speak up & act, be full of self & selfishness. <a href="https://t.co/TbQtsxdFzt">pic.twitter.com/TbQtsxdFzt</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675220972258107392">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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62: Sashah tends to keep Oberon in check. If she wins a bet, she occasionally puts flowers in his mane. >_> <a href="https://t.co/vkEa74xso4">pic.twitter.com/vkEa74xso4</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675223946225197056">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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63: Early stories of mine were really heavy & angsty but I've begun injecting lighter moments & adventures in them to better balance things.</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675224675023265792">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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64: My hope is that my diverse characters, world, & stories appeal to a wide range of people that will enjoy them as much as I do. :)</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675225375681695744">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">65: I have lots of old art of my story characters. They haven't changed much, but my creative skills have improved! <a href="https://t.co/oQOIr3AJoq">pic.twitter.com/oQOIr3AJoq</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675531673967038464">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">66: An old HS book I wrote had a race of intelligent, evolved raptors. <a href="https://twitter.com/sixthleafclover">@sixthleafclover</a> illustrated a scene, too! <a href="https://t.co/knHCrDICYD">pic.twitter.com/knHCrDICYD</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675532693946236928">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">67: I don't see raptors happening in my main series, but there are lots of fantasy creatures some of which are natural, some are bred & more</p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675533397637251073">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">68: It leaves a lot of room open for creatures bred for beauty & utility & magic wild creatures left to freely breed <a href="https://t.co/BfoX1yxNAm">pic.twitter.com/BfoX1yxNAm</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675534538785689605">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">69: The intelligence & sentience of natural creatures as well as magic-bred creatures is definitely something explored in my stories.</p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675535052470554624">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">70: Sashah (the werewolf) can weave illusions expertly & enjoys entertaining close friends with all array of fancy. <a href="https://t.co/2X2wlkPdse">pic.twitter.com/2X2wlkPdse</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675541880990371840">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">71: Of all my friends <a href="https://twitter.com/oneirosuchus">@oneirosuchus</a> probably knows the most about my stories. She has been my beta reader for years. <a href="https://t.co/GoUy4mcwkm">pic.twitter.com/GoUy4mcwkm</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675543671941390338">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">72: Different types of magic follow different rules in my world. I had to create a list in my private wiki to make sure they were consistent</p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675545701527379968">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">73: Sashah believes she is a monster & is on a constant search to find a way to become truly human in the flesh. <a href="https://t.co/9hXSCZwOVw">pic.twitter.com/9hXSCZwOVw</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675546983965175808">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">74: Dragon koi are a type of fish in my stories. I hid one in my scale miniature & plan to have 1 in my new sculpt. <a href="https://t.co/a5qzQ23Okf">pic.twitter.com/a5qzQ23Okf</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675547424606191616">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">75: Oberon's human appearance is based in part off Ares from Xena: Warrior Princess, played by the late Kevin Smith. <a href="https://t.co/ldEtLkcurE">pic.twitter.com/ldEtLkcurE</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675549025521680384">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">76: A short story that I'm currently working on involves a boy who doesn't dream. There are others like him in the world of my stories... :)</p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675553862472732672">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">77: "Awakening" was composed to go along w/ a scene where undead Richard briefly experiences sensation & hope again. <a href="https://t.co/lfWMlcZ0rM">https://t.co/lfWMlcZ0rM</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675556339704201216">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">78: "The Twin Lions" is a song of Richard's homeland: full of adventure, danger, & the bonds of friendship & love. > <a href="https://t.co/EaaaRjiYyg">https://t.co/EaaaRjiYyg</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675557094393712640">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">79: My story journal's last pages incl. a lot of promises to myself. I feel like I'm on my way to fulfilling them. <a href="https://t.co/TZGrBdFjKS">pic.twitter.com/TZGrBdFjKS</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675558396330827776">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">80: Sashah has her "human" illusion up at almost all times. She only let's it down to reveal her true self around those she deeply trusts.</p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675563182551752704">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">81: Some of my old sketches of Sashah strove to reveal the weight she feelt wanting to feel worthy of being love. :( <a href="https://t.co/dpPbmEs9rW">pic.twitter.com/dpPbmEs9rW</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675565173319467008">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">82: Sashah has a wolf-like form as well, but she rarely uses it since it is feral in appearance & she strives to be well-mannered & "human."</p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675566162449600513">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">83: One pair of characters includes a little girl who made a pact with a demon. Read more > <a href="https://t.co/Z3uf9gJgPv">https://t.co/Z3uf9gJgPv</a> <a href="https://t.co/1k2c2zXWuk">pic.twitter.com/1k2c2zXWuk</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675567235180593152">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">84: I feel that sometimes animals are more in tune than we are. This gryphon recognizes Richard even as undead. :) <a href="https://t.co/pWqWzz7NKK">pic.twitter.com/pWqWzz7NKK</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675567770851868672">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">85: I like to think that Sashah has a fondness for creating things of natural beauty with her illusionist magic. :) <a href="https://t.co/Y0NcwqBmIV">pic.twitter.com/Y0NcwqBmIV</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675569094846840832">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">86: Richard's spirited undead horse, Lady, holds a place in my heart. She was a plow horse before he adopted her. <a href="https://t.co/W0nknghvy9">pic.twitter.com/W0nknghvy9</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675570193561587713">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">87: Would you start dabbling in dark & dangerous magic to help a cursed stranger? Sashah takes a chance & does just that. Oberon disapproves</p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675571293727514624">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">88: I plan for some creatures from my doodles to make cameos in my stories. :) About "Jack"> <a href="https://t.co/toft4UKUo7">https://t.co/toft4UKUo7</a> <a href="https://t.co/o7LQ02CUfK">pic.twitter.com/o7LQ02CUfK</a></p>— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675572867673624576">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Thank you for the 64(!) Likes on the post which prompted this series. Your ongoing support means the world to me. <3 <a href="https://t.co/C8HuFeYoo5">https://t.co/C8HuFeYoo5</a></div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675225633983700996">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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I hope all of you have a wonderful evening, and I hope you enjoyed the barrage of art and story babble. <3 It was very cathartic for me!</div>
— K. LeCrone (@KLeCrone) <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone/status/675226906510364672">December 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Since the original Tweet has even more Likes now, I'll have to write up a few more facts to share soon! :)K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-41868355115609637852015-12-06T13:29:00.002-08:002016-12-01T21:46:59.649-08:00[Guide] Materials I Use for SculptingI'm often asked what materials I use for my sculptures, so I decided to put together a short guide! For a tutorial on one of my sculptures, please refer to my <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2014/09/walkthrough-steinir-dragon-sculpture.html">[Walkthrough] "Steinir" Dragon Sculpture</a>, which includes a FAQ, or any of the walkthroughs below:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uzkdXKIJPcQ/U3muAVQvwuI/AAAAAAAACLs/LHgUjJyeyfo/s1600/993817_10102021591675905_1296108065_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uzkdXKIJPcQ/U3muAVQvwuI/AAAAAAAACLs/LHgUjJyeyfo/s200/993817_10102021591675905_1296108065_n.jpg" width="150" /></a> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TglOBc2cXfw/U3muAh4S8SI/AAAAAAAACKE/xBaTjzWWAGw/s1600/999454_10102021996853925_721287908_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TglOBc2cXfw/U3muAh4S8SI/AAAAAAAACKE/xBaTjzWWAGw/s200/999454_10102021996853925_721287908_n.jpg" width="150" /></a> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0ZIRStpzhEc/VBTN1i_IzyI/AAAAAAAAC2M/7aGKwJtbjQY/s1600/Mirrored%2BProfile2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0ZIRStpzhEc/VBTN1i_IzyI/AAAAAAAAC2M/7aGKwJtbjQY/s200/Mirrored%2BProfile2.jpg" width="143" /></a></div>
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Walkthroughs:</h3>
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- <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2014/09/walkthrough-steinir-dragon-sculpture.html">"Steinir - Dragon Sculpture"</a><br />
- <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/07/walkthrough-butterscotch-yak.html">“Butterscotch” – World of Warcraft Fan Art Yak Soft Sculpture</a><br />
- World’s First Butterfly Cosplay: Monarch Brightwing<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2014/07/worlds-first-butterfly-cosplay-part-1.html">Part 1: Sculpting Monarch Brightwing</a></li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2014/09/worlds-first-butterfly-cosplay-part-2.html">Part 2: Painting Monarch Brighting</a></li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/12/worlds-first-butterfly-cosplay-part-3.html">Part 3: Bringing Monarch Brightwing to Life</a></li>
</ul>
- <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2016/02/wipwednesday-sculpture-sashahs-song.html">"Sashah's Song" Werewolf Enchantress Sculpture (WIP)</a><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--64FacG-4N0/U3mt_Vvq1FI/AAAAAAAACL0/M0b_WSUzel4/s1600/1480759_10102021224516695_90941605_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--64FacG-4N0/U3mt_Vvq1FI/AAAAAAAACL0/M0b_WSUzel4/s200/1480759_10102021224516695_90941605_n.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRDq8PsYqPhUwBJdwn3HyYYcUg-OUT7SvlSgzmTRBKjU3YBUGIt58mUmTnZDOHzYjOUUs6BQ18WFW8VZC6VuTY7M-qbUNgSDPDOfZtLJjLnp4FSokYM8G5GKaDhCH1nTGMcgoYUZUOJ4/s1600/6BXDS7OEMFW01404319461355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRDq8PsYqPhUwBJdwn3HyYYcUg-OUT7SvlSgzmTRBKjU3YBUGIt58mUmTnZDOHzYjOUUs6BQ18WFW8VZC6VuTY7M-qbUNgSDPDOfZtLJjLnp4FSokYM8G5GKaDhCH1nTGMcgoYUZUOJ4/s200/6BXDS7OEMFW01404319461355.jpg" width="200" /></a> </div>
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Materials:<br /> </h3>
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Polymer Clays:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.sculpey.com/product/super-sculpey-firm/">Super Sculpey Firm</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.sculpey.com/product/super-sculpey-medium-blend-1-lb/">Super Sculpey Medium Blend</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.sculpey.com/product/super-sculpey/">Super Sculpey</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.sculpey.com/product/sculpey-iii/">Sculpey III</a></li>
<li><i>Smooth with 70% rubbing alcohol (mildest), 91% rubbing alcohol, and/or turpenoid (strongest)</i><br /> </li>
</ul>
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Two-Part Epoxies:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.avesstudio.com/fixit-category/fixit-sculpt">Aves FIXIT Sculpt</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.avesstudio.com/apoxie/apoxie-sculpt">Aves Apoxie Sculpt</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.avesstudio.com/apoxie/apoxie-clay">Aves Apoxie Clay</a></li>
<li><i>Smooth with water</i><br /> </li>
</ul>
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Non-Curing Clays:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.monstermakers.com/product/monster-clay-premium-grade-html">Monster Clay</a></li>
<li><i>Smooth with <a href="https://www.monstermakers.com/product/isopropyl-myristate-8-oz.html">Isopropyl Myristate</a></i><br /> </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chavant-NSP-MEDIUM-Professional-Sculpting/dp/B00YNZ7IQC/">Chavant NSP Medium</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chavant-NSP-HARD-Professional-Sculpting/dp/B00YNY4R2G/">Chavant NSP Hard</a></li>
<li><i>Smooth with a butane lamp, water, or turpenoid</i><br /> </li>
</ul>
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Sculpting Tools:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.kenstools.com/">Kens Tools</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/AMCreatures">AMCreatures</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.artsupplywarehouse.com/classDisplay.php?id=335">Sculpting Tools from Art Supply Warehouse</a></li>
<li>Dental Tools<br /> </li>
</ul>
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Armature Wire:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.artsupplywarehouse.com/finelineDisplay.php?id=335000">Armature Wire from Art Supply Warehouse</a><br /> </li>
</ul>
<h4>
Eyes:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Stainless Steel Ball Bearings (<a href="http://stores.ebay.com/BC-Precision/Stainless-Bearing-Balls-/_i.html?_fsub=1152984619">Purchased through eBay</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/">VanDyke's Taxidermy</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.tohickonglasseyes.com/">Tohickon Glass Eyes</a></li>
<li>Glass Beads</li>
<li>Gemstone Beads<br /> </li>
</ul>
<h4>
Paint:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.cartooncolour.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=1">Cel Vinyl Paint</a></li>
<li>Bottled Acrylic Paint<br /> </li>
</ul>
<h4>
Misc.</h4>
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<ul>
<li>Aluminum Mesh</li>
<li>Aluminum Foil</li>
<li>Wooden Base</li>
<li>Needle-nosed Pliers and Various Tools</li>
<li>Two-part Plumber's Epoxy Putty</li>
<li>Hot Glue Gun and Glue</li>
<li>Tape Measure</li>
<li>Turntable</li>
<li>Sculpey Clay Softener</li>
<li>Clay Thermometer</li>
<li>Various Paint Brushes</li>
<li>Various Glass Bottles</li>
<li>Various Tupperware Containers</li>
<li>Oil-Based Wood Stains</li>
<li>Bottled and Spray Varnishes</li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZR77HN078-o/U3muD1_CzpI/AAAAAAAACbM/y_UlmY7DR34/s1600/steinirportfoliopagesave_da_by_dreamspirit-d77ssjj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZR77HN078-o/U3muD1_CzpI/AAAAAAAACbM/y_UlmY7DR34/s320/steinirportfoliopagesave_da_by_dreamspirit-d77ssjj.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
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<b>Please let me know if there's anything I've missed so that I can add it to my guide!</b></div>
K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-38225583204829227022015-11-30T20:18:00.003-08:002015-12-14T21:19:41.629-08:002005 Scale Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 2 of 4 - Painting and Refining the Base<h3>
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Recap: </center>
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In 2005, while I was busy attending the University of Southern California to pursue a degree in the Cinematic Arts: Production, I took a class for Art Direction. As our final project (which was worth 50% of our grade), I had to create a quarter-scale miniature model. I was more than a bit ambitious with my model, and I put a ton of work into it, which I enjoyed sharing with my friends over on LiveJournal at the time. Here's a quick peek at the exterior of the end result!</center>
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In 2006 I created a series of three detailed posts which went through each step of the project. Unfortunately, since I was so busy, I never actually posted a final blog sharing the final stage and finished results, so I thought it would be great to post everything over here on my blog for posterity, and to finally create that final blog after ten long years! <br /><br />As such, I hope you enjoy this flashback onto an early project of mine. While it's not sculpture in a traditional sense, it's projects like this which ignited my imagination and fed my desire to learn and improve, and this project is <i><b>incredibly</b></i> close to my heart.<br /><br />I tended to be even more verbose back in my LiveJournal days, so I've shortened and edited some of the original text below from LiveJournal. This is the second of four blogs about this project, and you can access all available parts at the links below. These are the original images I posted in 2006, so they're also a bit on the small and blurry side, but there will be some nicer ones in the final blog: promise. :)</center>
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Enjoy!<br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/12/2005-model-project-wizards-retreat-part.html"><b>Part 1 - Conception to Early Production</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/11/2005-scale-model-project-wizards.html"><b>Part 2 - Painting and Refining the Base</b></a></li>
<li>[Coming Soon] Part 3 - Water, Terrain Details, and the Wizard's Abode. </li>
<li>[Coming Soon] Part 4 - Detailing the Wizard's Abode, Furniture, Props, and Final Details</li>
</ul>
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<h3>
Scale Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 2 of 4 - Painting and Refining the Base</h3>
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At this point during the project, I ended up seeking advice from train model-builders, but unfortunately they didn't really have answers to the specific questions I was asking. This led me to looking up whatever YouTube videos and DVD I could find (which wasn't many at the time, considering it was 2005). Amid all my research, I did get information on what sorts of paints I should be using to make the terrain look as realistic as possible, and from what I gathered, it involved a lot of layers of build-up.<br />
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<lj-cut text="[~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 2 - Painting and Refining the Base">I started by coating my rock faces with a sort of gray and black medium, letting it run and "be natural," while I coated the tree's bark with a sort of red and burnt umber. Of course I hadn't thought ahead that papermache, even when dry, is still affected by water so... that was a bit of a fight. :-/ Live and learn!</lj-cut><br />
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At this stage I was wondering if all the countless hours I'd spent on this thing was going to be ruined outright by the paint but I kept on going and painting in loose washes as a video had suggested! At this stage I really disliked that everything appeared so "sloppy," but I was told it was the only way to get all the rocks and such to look "realistic" from a miniatures perspective. I tend to be someone who is very perfectionistic and detail-oriented, so I was struggling to let gravity fill in the nooks and crannies rather than trying to go in and go every minutiae individually.<br />
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I ended up adding a bit of brown into the mix because it seemed more realistic on the rock faces. Anywhere where I imagined there might be exposed rock, I used the same treatment. Considering the scale of this miniature, these cliff faces would also be huge!<br />
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The lumps were pleasant, but at this stage I was having a lot of trouble imagining it "completed" with grass and all. Somewhere around this point I'd also realized I should pick out what season it was for the diorama, and eventually settled on late Spring.<br />
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I really don't know why I wasn't using a tripod for these shots, but my apologies for the blurriness as well.<br />
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<lj-cut text="[~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 2 - Painting and Refining the Base">Next was the topsoil! At this point I had to define where there was rock, earth, or grass, so that I could properly treat each area. At least the tone made it look a little more cohesive, and I could really start to see the rock vs. soil better! Also, I added a second layer of darker stain over top of the tree/roots to make them "pop." </lj-cut>Those dabbles of gray on the far right are where there are rocks in the riverbed. :)<br />
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<lj-cut text="[~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 2 - Painting and Refining the Base">During this detailing stage was when, for the first time, I started to see everything come together. I'd seen SO many horrible miniatures and models in my time, and I was insistent to use a variety of ground cover so that it would read as earthy and "real" rather than just one shade of artificially bright green. So, with the aid of some scenic cement and sealant, I went to work sprinkling and mixing the base layer of ground cover. </lj-cut><br />
<lj-cut text="[~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 2 - Painting and Refining the Base">I made a "path" of "darker "dirt" where I planned the bridge to cross the river, and then I also went and put some thicker textured material down to sort of serve as underbrush. With the topsoil and rock faces peeking through, for the first time, I could finally see the vision in my head becoming a physical reality, and it was exhilarating! </lj-cut><br />
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You can see all the hues of green and browns I was using, as well as the various textures of the materials to try to simulate different environments surrounding the roots and rocks and such. I recall this being a very, very fun stage. :)<br />
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Above is a view looking over the future river/waterfalls. Those powders got everywhere, too! I remember having fun trying to figure out how earth might crumble around the rock faces.<br />
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I was trying not to focus too much attention in any one area, rather: I tried the world the piece as a whole and add different colors and textures all around the piece as I looked at it from different angles rather than just its "hero angle." That is one thing I've slowly been growing used-to as an artist: things usually turn out much better if you work the piece as a whole rather than focusing too much love and attention in a tiny area at the cost of the bigger picture.<br />
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In any case, at this point I started to work some of the riverbed as well so it was appropriately colored and textured to fit in with the surrounding areas.<br />
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During this next stage I put in lots of bushes and foliage, as well as some trees (including a weeping willow!) as well as some "flowers."<br />
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<lj-cut text="[~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 2 - Painting and Refining the Base">"Happy" landscape. :) Isn't it crazy seeing how far it's come since being a pile of foam?</lj-cut><br />
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Above is a clearer shot of the root-archway. I loved the variation in tone, color, and texture that was starting to come together.<br />
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At this point I also first started thinking about debris, so I started gluing that down too. That small tree in the background would be about 30-40 feet tall, so that central one would be simply huge in comparison.<br />
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The tone of these old photos is much too red, but I think you get the idea. I remember really liking how broken up and natural the landscape was turning out. In the last photo I was pretending to look out across where the future bridge would be, that would lead down a path under the archway and up stairs encircling the tree. but oh: I was still a ways off from there! :)<br />
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And here is where things started to get even more interesting, because this project wasn't simply to be a nature diorama: there had to be a Wizard's Retreat built up atop that large tree!<br />
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The white shape on the left is the central base of the second tree which would one day support the outdoor patio area of the home. Inside the secondary supporting tree was a dowel that had been cut and textured. The large platform lying atop it was to be the floor of the tree house which was cut with a band saw and then sanded and stained to try to age it a bit so it would look like it fit in, scale-wise, with what would be the future house. There is actually a miniature man standing by the archway for scale, but he's a bit too large to be truly to scale. He'd be about 7 1/2-8 feet high, but he worked well to give myself a general sense of scale for how the project was progressing.<br />
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The floor of the treehouse is pretty high up there. It was to keep it out of the reach of critters and unexpected (and unwelcome) guests. The scenic views probably didn't hurt either. ;)<br />
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This view is is looking down from the top waterfall. I started to lacquer in the base colors of it (and it just so happened to be reflective at this point). The back side of this model was never meant to be actively shot, but that din't mean I was going to leave them bare!<br />
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The oversized miniature figure under the archway would probably say "I'm really tall for this scale, but I still wouldn't hit my head!" You can see where I added the yellow flowers growing off the rocks, as well as some fallen logs. I was constantly adding more colors/textures to try and liven things up and diversify the setting.<br />
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<b>And we're just getting started! :) Stay tuned for Part 3 of 4!</b>K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-68126207399846293752015-11-25T14:46:00.000-08:002015-11-25T14:46:30.495-08:00'Friendship' Dragon Sculpture Now for Sale on eBay<h3>
Sculpture: "Friendship"</h3>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r1vOhOB_B2g/VkKCy8ad8jI/AAAAAAAADhk/SQrqLgyFxyw/s1600/DASharedImagePage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="460" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r1vOhOB_B2g/VkKCy8ad8jI/AAAAAAAADhk/SQrqLgyFxyw/s640/DASharedImagePage.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fav.me/d9f8kyk">'Friendship' - Dragon Sculpture</a> - Completed on October 31, 2015</td></tr>
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My original dragon sculpture "Friendship" is now up on eBay! I hope she finds a good home for the holiday season. :) You can learn more about her <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/11/sculpture-friendship-and-cindys.html">in this blog post</a>.</div>
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<b>Auction Here -> <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/291623709073">http://www.ebay.com/itm/291623709073</a></b></div>
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<b>Thanks for reading!</b><br />
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K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-87387411620364986772015-11-25T00:32:00.000-08:002015-12-06T12:07:22.317-08:002005 Scale Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 1 of 4 - Conception to Early Production<center style="text-align: left;">
It's hard to believe that 2005 was ten years ago! That means that over ten years ago, while I was busy attending the University of Southern California to pursue a degree in the Cinematic Arts: Production, I took a class for Art Direction. As our final project (which was worth 50% of our grade), I had to create a quarter-scale miniature model. I was more than a bit ambitious with my model, and I put a ton of work into it, which I enjoyed sharing with my friends over on LiveJournal at the time. Here's a quick peek at the exterior of the end result!</center>
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In 2006 I created a series of three detailed posts which went through each step of the project. Unfortunately, since I was so busy, I never actually posted a final blog sharing the final stage and finished results, so I thought it would be great to post everything over here on my blog for posterity, and to finally create that final blog after ten long years! <br /><br />As such, I hope you enjoy this flashback onto an early project of mine. While it's not sculpture in a traditional sense, it's projects like this which ignited my imagination and fed my desire to learn and improve, and this project is <i><b>incredibly</b></i> close to my heart.<br /><br />I tended to be rather verbose back in my LiveJournal days (even more so than now, if you'd believe it), so I've shortened and edited some of the original text below from LiveJournal. This will be the first of four blogs about this project, which you can access at the links below. These are the original images I posted, so they're also a bit on the small and blurry side, but there will be some nicer ones in the final blog: promise. :)</center>
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<li><a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/12/2005-model-project-wizards-retreat-part.html"><b>Part 1 - Conception to Early Production</b></a></li>
<li>[Coming Soon] Part 2 - Painting and Refining the Base </li>
<li>[Coming Soon] Part 3 - Water, Terrain Details, and the Wizard's Abode. </li>
<li>[Coming Soon] Part 4 - Detailing the Wizard's Abode, Furniture, Props, and Final Details</li>
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Scale Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 1 of 4 - Conception to Early Production</h3>
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In 2005, this project once tied as one of the two creations I was most proud of (the other being my film, "Beauty in the Beast" - More on that sometime), and yet, because of the stress of creating it that year, I never got around to documenting it properly. While his post is very image intensive, I also documented a great deal of my progress all through the way, so it is a fun adventure and labor of love. :)<br />
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<lj-cut text=" [~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 1 - Conception to Early Production">I went..... overboard with it. One of the big reasons was that I felt it was a very unique opportunity to BUILD something in a manner I never had before. I've painted things, certain, drawn and sculpted things, yes, but I NEVER worked on models, really. So going into it.... I was sort of having to learn it all on my own. </lj-cut><br />
<lj-cut text=" [~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 1 - Conception to Early Production"><br /></lj-cut>
<lj-cut text=" [~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 1 - Conception to Early Production">Now, in film, were you to pitch a concept, you'd usually use a drawing, or at the very most, a matteboard model of a set or somesuch. Going this far into a model... well, that would be if you were going into a job in miniatures, and were wanting to show what your'e capable of. </lj-cut><br />
<lj-cut text=" [~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 1 - Conception to Early Production"><br /></lj-cut>
<lj-cut text=" [~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 1 - Conception to Early Production">For me, I wanted something unique that I'd be able to use to "sell" myself. To show how I could think things out and create based off of a picture I had in my mind. As such, in addition to creating the model (which was supposed to have an interior and exterior), I made sure that I could "film" or peer into it appropriately, and that I could properly plan how I was going to "dress" the set. </lj-cut><br />
<lj-cut text=" [~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 1 - Conception to Early Production"><br /></lj-cut>
<lj-cut text=" [~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 1 - Conception to Early Production">Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. :) </lj-cut><br />
<lj-cut text=" [~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 1 - Conception to Early Production"><br /></lj-cut>
<lj-cut text=" [~VERY~ Image-intensive!] Model Project: "Wizard's Retreat": Part 1 - Conception to Early Production">This is all in quarter-scale. That scale is EXTREMELY tiny, and is much, much smaller than, say, doll-house miniatures. </lj-cut>How tiny is that?<br />
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This is a grain of rice next to a mortar and pestle. So when I'm saying "tiny," I mean it!<br />
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I found a nice example of a model I worked on in 2005 ago for a sitcom set. While at this stage it wasn't complete, you can see what a "traditional" set model usually looks like. Only the "built" sections of the set are constructed (not the furniture, for instance). This sitcom set would be used for a three-camera set-up with a live audience, which is why the one side is open and it is staged as it is. Everything, down to molding and door frames, were something I created.<br />
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You can even see a staircase by the fireplace (70's style, anyone? :) ), and a bay window and front door. Towards the center is a hallway and kitchen. Everything has dimensions, including the scenery backdrop, so if someone wanted to construct this set, I could swing right into giving the carpenters exact measurements, and they could run with it from there. This was to be the same scale I used for the Wizard's Retreat I was scheming.<br />
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Planning Commences on The Wizard's Retreat</h3>
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The fun began when I started to plan my topic. I wanted to do something unique and very "me," so I decided early on I wanted to do an outdoor environment, kinda nature-y, and at some point I decided I would make a "Wizard's Retreat," which was basically an incredibly large tree in the middle of a forest which a wizard had made into a home.<br />
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After I decided on a general subject, I sort of... "stewed." I really didn't do that many conceptual sketches, because my mind was busy rolling over the "look" I was aiming for. Since I am apparently desirous of punishment, I decided I should have a river as part of the project, and of course some rolling hills and all that. In retrospect, it seems I was incapable of choosing a simple, reasonable project. It wouldn't be until many years later when I first heard the term "scope creep," but my goodness, that fit this project to a "T."<br />
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Here are some of the initial thumbnails I did with a fountain-pen. From early on I'd decided I wanted the staircase to wrap around the trunk and lead up to the front door, and that I wanted a portion of the house to be sort of like an open deck (left side), where the wizard could practice all array of magic or alchemy without setting things on fire. One must always be careful, yes?<br />
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So from this early stage I'd established I wanted to have the house situated around/in the tree, and part of it would be extended over the water to be supported by a smaller tree. (This wizard is eco-friendly, after all!). At this point I also planned on there being a second story, which ended up being cut out due to time constraints.<br />
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The first sketch I did is in the upper left. Just some overheads of ideas on treehouse/river placement. The one in the fart left also has the bridge over the river idea that I ended up using much later. Then I sketched the one below it, where you can see a sort of side view of things.<br />
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The sketch in the lower right was where I went "ooohhh, maybe I can have the stairs start from INSIDE the tree...." I also did some rough calculations on size based on the actual height of an average stair in comparison to how high off the ground I wanted the house to actually be. That helped determine the circumference of the tree trunk when I finally built it. I was surprised how much math and pre-planning went into this sucker!<br />
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Here is the next sketch I did, which ended up really starting to set the stage for the project. I dubbed the sort of open room the "Globe room" and used this sort of 3/4 view to really start planning in earnest. I decided on the bridge idea for sure, but I was still working out how to have the stairs start. I liked the idea of an archway, and it seemed like it would work better than the tree-trunk idea because of the angles/head clearance involved.<br />
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Anyway, the professor also asked me if this was a shared, or private experience for the wizard, and that really made me think: I mean, how far out was this place? Remote? Did he get visitors often? Foul beasties? Ninjas? That question right there really helped me think things through from a world building perspective.<br />
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This is when it started to come together. I decided that instead of an archway, that I'd let one of the tree's huge trunks be a sort of gateway through which the stairs would start. At this point, I'd already decided on that the river would fork together, and that I would try to make a waterfall or two along it as well.<br />
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This is a top-down view, and you can sort of see the staircase curving around, and then the front door is around the back of the house. I planned on a bathroom (or bedroom) in the rear, (conveniently by the "Globe Room" ;) ), and the whole area along the bottom of the diagram would be a sort of dining room/additional living space. Then nestled "inside" the tree would be a living room/den with a fireplace that would back into/share a wall with the kitchen stove. At this point there is also an overlay of the second story bedroom/balcony that never came to be, and the indoor stairs that would have led to it.<br />
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I'd also planned out where I wanted some trees, and more importantly: I planned out a variety of "break away" walls so that I could take then out at will and shoot into the interior. Neat, huh? :)<br />
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Time to Get to Work! </h3>
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Then I began collecting supplies. At this point I'd guessed this might be a $200 project.... but it ended up being closer to $400 or $600. I had NO idea what I was in for, but regardless.<br />
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First off: I did some research on what to use as a base. I ended up with a certain variety of particle-board (I can't recall the name), and then on top of that, I used a variety of sturdy foam. The thought I had was that this would allow me to sort of "sculpt" the landscape, and also be able to hollow out areas for water/waterfalls. It would also HOPEFULLY be lighter than most of the alternatives I could think up. It was very important to me that the landscape look believable, and making it rolly rather than flat I hoped would aid the illusion.<br />
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I also did some research into the width of doorways and the dimensions of my car's trunk to make sure it would fit. I believe the final measurements were around 2 feet by 3 feet wide.<br />
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Let me tell you: sculpting that foam is a ~bitch.~ It gets EVERYwhere. It tracks EVERYwhere. This stage was interesting in the perspective I was seeing it coming together, but it was also a great deal of not fun. I think I ended up trying about 3 different types of glue to get things to "hold." Foam putty, foam glue, and a hot glue gun did the final trick. Present day me would have been using a whole lot more epoxy putties instead, but I digress.<br />
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Next I used loads and loads of foam and foam "bits" and sculpted them into the basic "form" of the tree. This included the "roots," and since the tree is so huge, I tried to make it look as if the outstretching roots sort of "disrupted" the surrounding landscape. Then I covered it with lots of papermache strips.<br />
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This is another angle so you can sort of see where I started to hollow out the riverbed. That was soooo all kinds of not fun. >_> I ended up using a variety of exact-o knives, before I settled on a exact-o saw (that's a real thing) and my all-purpose woodburning/soldering tool, which also comes with a sort of blade attachment that heats up (and cuts through foam sooo nicely, but smells NASTY while it's doing it). In later years I would learn about the existence of heated wire tools and rasps, but this was just the first step of my journey with foam sculpting.<br />
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What I remember most about this stage is how I had no idea what I was doing. I wished my class gave us more hard facts, but the professor was big on "self discovery and self failure" whereupon he said we'd learn a lot better. >_><br />
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So, I covered the whole bloody thing in papermache strips, and found that my little idealistic concept of it being all rolly and wonderful was.... not a reality. I ended up having to use bits of foam, glue, rolled-up paper towels, newspaper, more papermache, and even air-dry clay to start to "work" the landscape to be like it was in my mind's eye.<br />
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As I continued to sculpt the landscape further, I refined the rolling hills, two waterfalls, and the beginnings of some mountainous/rocky outcroppings.<br />
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It was also at this stage I started to put some fibrous instant paper mache material called Celluclay II over the trunk of the tree and roots so I could <strike>take a break from the other landscape, and reassure myself this was going to work</strike> see how it would look. I tried to keep the consistency rough and textured, since this tree is supposed to be huge in comparison to the surrounding landscape. This is yet another time where I wish present me could talk to past me and go "No no! Don't use the water soluble clay! Use two-part epoxies instead!" Ah well!<br />
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You can see some of the "trails" of roots I laid out here, as well as the opening through which I planned to start the staircase. For comparison's sake, that opening under the root on the left would be something like 10 feet high. So that is one <b>big</b> tree.
And you can also tell by lack of treehouse, that I planned to work that as a separate stage. This is sort of the "underlying" landscape/base, and on top of that I built up various textures.<br />
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Front view. You can see a texture/sculpture tool (in yellow) there too, in my beloved tupperware cup of water. There are some rock faces I started on the left side there, and you can even see the little "root cave" to the right of the waterfall.<br />
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This is a close-up of one of the rock-faces I worked at. Some of these sorts of things were done by a sort of plaster/latex/rubber mold-making process, and other parts were done entirely from scratch. Then I had to use more paper mache and such to try to get it to work into the landscape I'd already sculpted. Neat though, huh? :)<br />
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This is a photo from a different angle. You can see more of the rock faces/sculpting here, as well as some debris I put in the riverbed. Also: you can see the waterfalls and where the water on the top level converges.<br />
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I did more root work (especially on the river side), and I also decided to toy with the root that would start the staircase, because I wanted it to look like it was a natural arc. I remember being pleased by how the mounds and such were shaping up.<br />
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Many......... MANY hours of work later, I felt the "base" of this was approaching completion and I let it air dry.<br />
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Side view. More rock work and environmental sculpting. I had to make sure that as I was making the roots, they wouldn't obstruct the future staircase.<br />
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Another view! You can see the root archway very clearly from this angle as well as the root-cave and waterfall areas. I wanted to make sure that the landforms were very fluid so that there wasn't a sudden drop-off where the foam ended.<br />
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And these are close-ups of the rocks. I tried to imagine this tree's massive roots had broken up the land from how it once was, and I played with the idea of how the area might have evolved over time.<br />
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...You'd be amazed how LONG it took to get all these lumps of various shapes/sizes consistencies! I decided to have the rock face exposed mostly on one side, but that earth and such had settled over top of it in time. This tree has been around awhile, after all. ;)<br />
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So just think that opening is about 10 "feet" high. I'd LOVE to stumble on a tree like this in reality!<br />
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These photos show the the lay of the roots, land, and future water areas well. This part of the process was quite time-consuming, but it was an important part of laying the groundwork for what was to come.<br />
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Next up was painting the base, which I'll cover in the next blog about this project!<br />
<br />K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-79338254531561712072015-11-16T08:00:00.000-08:002015-11-21T22:14:42.300-08:00Sculpture: "Friendship," Cindy's Burrocorn, and a Yak Photoshoot<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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During my dear friend <a href="http://crocodiledreams.deviantart.com/">Cindy Reep</a>'s nine glorious, adventure-filled day visit, we both worked on some sculptures using a new type of air dry clay I wanted to test out. I opted to take a dragon route. ;)<br />
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Sculpture: "Friendship"</h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fav.me/d9f8kyk">'Friendship' - Dragon Sculpture</a> - Completed on October 31, 2015</td></tr>
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I call this sculpture "Friendship," on account of the little kingfisher on the dragoness's outstretched paw/hand. :) I'm really pleased with how it turned out considering how (relatively) quick a project she was! Trying to get her to balance on one paw was quite the challenge! </div>
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This sculpture was made with an aluminum armature, Fixit Sculpt, Air Dry Clay, Swarovski crystals, acrylic paint, Pearl Ex pigments, and various varnishes.</div>
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I hope you enjoy my graceful little dragoness! I'm considering listing her for sale to help with some medical bills as well. We shall see! For WIP photos of this and other projects, please keep an eye on my <a href="https://twitter.com/KLeCrone">Twitter</a>!</div>
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Size: 7.75 x 4.5 x 4.75 inches</div>
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Time Taken: Approximately 12 hours total.</div>
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Cindy's "The Burrocorn in Her Winter Coat"<br /> </h3>
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Cindy's creation was even more enchanting! Here's her description of her regal burrocorn:</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fav.me/d9fi8vp">"The Burrocorn in Her Winter Coat" - by Cindy Reep</a></td></tr>
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"Wire armature, Apoxie sculpt, air-dry clay, steel bearings, translucent Premo, acrylic. October 2015. About 5" tall. </blockquote>
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This year's (single-year!) art project while out visiting Kymba ... some of the folks we visited have wild burros that occasionally show up in the neighborhood, and of course with us, they can't be just burros. There had to be burrocorns! This was also our first time working with this particular type of air-clay, and the texture was quite unique. I had trouble getting it to smooth, so I decided to texture the heck out of it and joked that she was extra fluffy for the winter. Her horn and hooves are translucent Premo, and the Apoxie sculpt was only used to hold the armature wire in place.</blockquote>
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She's quite proud of herself, but she misses her dragon friend that took shape alongside her!"</blockquote>
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The Friendship and the Burrocorn Together and the Yaks<br /> </h3>
Before Cindy headed back home, we took some photos of our yaks together as well as the two tiny sculptures above. To be fair, her photos were far, far superior to mine, so she's the photographer for these. ;) We hope you enjoy them!<br />
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You can read more about the walkthrough for my yak, Butterscotch, <a href="http://klecrone.blogspot.com/2015/07/walkthrough-butterscotch-yak.html">here</a>.<br />
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I look forward to when I see Cindy next time so we can continue our creative shenanigans. :D<br />
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<b>Stay crafty, my friends, and thanks for reading!</b><br />
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K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582435761037146658.post-28236463975582774942015-11-11T13:51:00.000-08:002015-11-21T22:15:20.835-08:00Join Us for Crafty Secret Santa 2015!<br />
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<b><u>Edit: Registration has now been closed.</u></b><br />
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This year I've decided to organize a Secret Santa with a special twist: please join us in a holiday gift exchange of crafty proportions, where all you need to spare is four hours of your time to surprise another artful individual with an original creation this holiday season! Individuals of all skill levels are welcome to join and take part in the festivities!<br />
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What is Crafty Secret Santa?</h3>
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By filling out <a href="http://bit.ly/1MSV7nu" target="_blank">the Crafty Secret Santa registration form</a>, you agree to take part in a fun holiday experience where you and other creative individuals will be randomly matched in a Crafty Secret Santa experience! Participants should not purchase premade gifts for their Secret Santa, but rather, you should put on your crafty holiday hats and spend a minimum of four hours making your Secret Santa something special using the answers in their match's form.</div>
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How to Register</h3>
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I’ve put together <a href="http://bit.ly/1MSV7nu" target="_blank">a Google Form for the Crafty Secret Santa 2015 project</a>. If you’re interested in joining us for some festive holiday gift-making, please swing on by and register! </div>
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In order to deter bots, you will need to create or log in with a Google account in order to view the form, which also allows you to edit your answers later if you like. Below are images of the short, two-page form so you can check it out and see if you're interested in joining us prior to logging in! <br />
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I've kept the questions very short and simple so that everyone should be able to fill in the details with the imagination and that the information will be helpful to you, regardless of if you crochet, sculpt, draw, bead, sew, make ornaments, paint, or anything else! I'll be participating as well, of course! :)<br />
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If you notice any issues when using the form or have any feedback, please don’t hesitate to let me know! -> <a href="http://bit.ly/1MSV7nu"><b>Register Here</b></a><br />
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What the Registration Form Looks Like</h3>
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Important Dates and Deadlines</h3>
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<li>Registration runs through <b>November 22nd, 2015. </b></li>
<li>You will receive your match on or before <b>November 25th, 2015</b>. The sooner you register, the sooner you get your match! Registration may end early if capacity is reached before November 25th, 2015.</li>
<li>Please complete your project and mail it out to your recipient by <b>December 15th, 2015</b>.</li>
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If for any reason you need to back out from the exchange, please let the organizer know so that they can make alternative arrangements. </div>
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Individuals who do not complete their end of the exchange will be barred from future exchanges. </div>
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Costs and Expectations</h3>
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Since you are not expected to buy your Crafty Secret Santa a premade gift, the only financial cost to participate will be to cover shipping and handling to mail your gift to your Secret Santa. You can create your gift using any creative materials you already own if you like! You just need to spend four or more hours on whatever you're creating. The sky's the limit beyond that!<br />
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When you receive your gift from your Crafty Secret Santa, we ask that you please take the time to take a photo and a thank you message if you have one so that we can share it with your Crafty Secret Santa and other participants. Please email your photos and messages to <a href="mailto:kimberly.lecrone@gmail.com">kimberly.lecrone@gmail.com</a><br />
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Your personal email address will not be shared with your Crafty Secret Santa nor posted publicly. Your mailing address will only be shared with your Crafty Secret Santa for mailing purposes.<br />
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Questions? Feedback?</h3>
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If you have any questions, please email me at <a href="mailto:kimberly.lecrone@gmail.com">kimberly.lecrone@gmail.com</a>.</div>
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<b>I hope you'll <a href="http://bit.ly/1MSV7nu" target="_blank">join us</a> for this fun holiday activity!</b><br />
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K. LeCronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03938983584915132805noreply@blogger.com0