I should have thought of doing this earlier and preserving old updates, but unfortunately it didn't occur to me until many years after the website had been up.
Another crazy busy year gone and not many updates on this website. However, I have a major website update in progress which will allow purchasing prints and more merchandise easily directly from here instead of having to go to a different website or checking to see if something is in stock. Very exciting!
Things are finally starting to slow down enough that I can start adding more items to the merch page and maybe even do some small updates to this site, although I admit I really do like how this site is right now. However, it would be good to weed out some older images.
I've been having the itch to paint and draw more again, so bought myself a new sketchbook and great new pencils. Yea! On a personal side note, I like to listen to music or have the TV on when I'm working, whether it be painting or coding. What has been my go-to lately? Hoarders. I have no idea why but it's just fascinating.
Well, another crummy COVID year over. Congrats to the survivors! Nobody won the free picture since nobody entered, so the drawing will continue until the end of this year. Hopefully I will update more this year. Last year honestly just kicked my rear and I'm glad to see it over. Here's to 2022 getting better!
Things have been busy, busy. I just finished a website (love repeat business, you guys make my day!). An updated version of Budget Sales Inc. with a much more fresh look. Naturally, the websites page has been updated. The current plan is to work on the latest figure and try to get some more merchandise available, like notebooks, etc.
The art world has been slow for me, but I am hoping to create some new stuff fairly soon. Also, the merchandise page has been updated. A bunch of items have been removed and this is where I hope to add more things soon.
Well, this dumpster fire of a year is finally almost over. I've never been so happy to have a year over. Here's hoping next year will be considerably better.
Last image posting of the year: the custom astronaut and deep sea diver skateboard in-progress and completed images have now been posted. You can see them on its page.
Just finished a commission birthday present skateboard that I need to put on the site. This year has been so crazy, it's difficult to find the time to update the website. But I'm still around & kicking and hope you all are, too! You may notice that I've changed the feel of this website a bit recently, though.
Hopefully is staying healthy! I have a fun commission in progress and will post pics when it is complete. Yoko is still waiting for her base to get done, so no progress there yet. I've been working on helping other flks adjust some websites and creating some colouring pages in the meantime and will hopefully eventually get enough to publish a book. There just aren't enough hours in the day, y'know?
This has been a pretty interesting year so far, so not many updates. Hopefully everyone is staying healthy. Yoko is finally finished the painting stage, I just need to do a base for her and she will be complete.
Also, I am working on another small website so that will be fun.
Hope everyone has had a good 2019 and will have a better 2020!
In other news, it's been so long since I've uploaded any new art images that I found something slightly older that is a fun piece: a pin-up version of Snow White. She started as an official Disney Princess porcelain doll and wound up as a tattooed pin-up.
A new website has been added to the websites page. The site is to rent horses and carriages for things like weddings or parades. Great horses, carriages and people are at Lace Ribbons Carriage. In other website news, I am still working on updating this site so items can be purched directly online.
In the meantime, Yoko is still being worked on and is nearing completion. There are a couple of new in-progress images on her page.
The Xtreme Pressure Wash image and link has now been added to the websites page. Progress is also being made (slowly) on Yoko, although there are no new images to post of her. I'll work on getting some in-progress images up soon.
It's been a very busy year! I'm in the process of updating images of a new website that was just completed. If you're looking for someone to power wash your home or business in the middle Tennessee plateau area, Xtreme Pressure Wash is a good choice. Gary is a very conscientious guy who takes care to do a good job. It's nice when I can do a website for folks that I can truly recommend.
I'm also in the beginning stages of a website for a local silversmith who makes custom jewelry. Very interesting stuff!
In other news, I'm also working on some actual paintings, which is why there isn't much to show at the moment. And I'm trying to get a figure and a couple of dolls done before Halloween. Hopefully there will be more updates soon.
It has been a VERY long time since I've updated, but that's only because there isn't much new news to impart. I am still injured, although healing gradually. I have mostly been making updates to this website behind the scenes, working on adding a shopping cart and updating the site a bit. All the changes will be unveiled at one time. Sometimes I like coding a lot more than it likes me.
Last update of the year! Hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year's. As for me, the back injury is slowly improving so hopefully I can start back on some Keiken-related things soon.
Just one update today. I've suffered a back injury which makes it difficult to sit, so the coding (adding a shopping cart to the site) is going quite slowly and the painting/drawing is pretty difficult at the moment. On the plus side, this is the down time anyway in terms of painting figures, so it's not really cutting into that. Hopefully in a couple months everything will be back to normal.
The Art n' Ale Trail was really wonderful and being able to meet so many interesting people was just great. With the Holidays around the corner, art may slow down a bit, but I'll be working on some website re-designs as well as offering other merchandise directly from this website instead of having to go through a third party. Also I'll be working on adding a shopping cart, which I've been meaning to do for quite a while.
Things have been so hectic getting ready for the Art n' Ale Trail this weekend and so on that the shopping cart hasn't materialized yet. It is in the process, though, and will hopefully happen this month. Also, the figures located at the Mad Raven during the Art n Ale Trail will be 15% off.
No new images today but there will be some business changes. Shipping will be easier to understand (I always hated the many multi-tier system) and I'm working on lowering prices and making the limited editions available to purchase online. So look for all of that in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully much sooner.
The contests went well and are over. Now I'm preparing for the Art n' Ale Trail in Sparta, TN on November 3rd. More information will be posted about that later. There are also some major updates: The Major is now complete and available at the Mad Raven at a super reasonable price, which also includes the display case. Additionally, a new figure named Evil Homura is in progress.
Just a couple of small updates today, the Major (who should be completed this weekend with a bit of luck) and Yoko both have at least one new image.
The first facebook giveaway was a success, now you can enter to win the same print, but in the 11" x 14" size by sharing this facebook post. Good luck! The Major is actually nearing completion, although I haven't had time to upload any pictures yet. Look for those soon.
Also, I'm preparing for the Sparta, TN Art & Ale trail which will be Saturday, November 3rd. In addition to some prints, I'll also have cels, magnets, stickers, keychains and hopefully some shirts. I'll be set up at the Mad Raven.
There has been some progress (but no new pictures) on both the Major and Yoko. Also, you can now enter to win a FREE limited edition print on the Keiken facebook page, which is also visible and available on the limited editions page.
A new figure in progress today, here's the Major! Also, I'm going to try and start a free giveaway on the Keiken Facebook page for the next couple of months to see how it goes. Hopefully that will get set up tomorrow.
Big update for Ai today! Her wip page is complete since she is finished! You can see the completed figure on her page and she will be at the Mad Raven cafe in Sparta, TN later this week, hopefully. Yoko got a small update, although she's finally starting to really get some painting done on her. And finally, the prints have come in, so I'm getting ready to start the giveaway on the Facebook page so look for that very soon.
A small update today for both Yoko and Ai. Also, I just finished a limited edition piece and ordered the first set of prints, so look for that soon. There will be a free giveaway of the print on the Facebook page.
Both Yoko Littner and Ai Amano have updated wip pictures, yea! The weather has been good enough to get some real work done, and Ai is ready to paint.
No new images for Yoko Littner today, but there is another figure, Ai Amano that has also been started.
The last image has been added to the Alucard wip (works in progress) page. His completed page can be found here. More images have also been added to Yoko Littner's page.
Additionally, there's a special limited edition print that is almost complete. If you like anime pin-ups with a horror twist, you'll love it. It will probably be the next free giveaway gift.
New images on the Alucard wip (works in progress) page. Also, one new in-progress figure added: Yoko Littner from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
The Alucard fix didn't work, but Plan B is taking shape just fine. There are more images on his wip (works in progress) page. The weather should be great tomorrow, so he'll get another primer coat and pretty soon be ready to actually paint!
It's taken longer to do an update than I thought. I'll try and do better in the future. On the plus side, Hanako has found a nice forever home. I'm building a custom case for her, as well. Alucard has hit a bit of a snag, and some images of that have been uploaded.
Winter has made my painting room too cold to work comfortably, so I've been working on other projects. I may start back with some tattoo designs soon. In the meantime, Alucard has a few new pictures of one of his many books that will go along with him.
The last update of the year, most likely. Hopefully everyone has had a happy, peaceful year and will have an even better one in 2018! As for me, I'm working on turning a porcelain Snow White into a tattooed sexy version, as well as making progress on Alucard. With a bit of luck, this will be a very productive week.
I've spent a lot of time in the last few weeks working on dolls, getting them ready for shows. Now that those are over, I can get back to my normal art things, so there are some new images of Alucard in progress. Also, on the sold figures page there's a Hello Kitty doll that recently sold that I just loved doing.
The Art n' Ale Trail was fun and we got to meet lots of new people. Since it was focusing on the Dolly Dearest dolls, I didn't bring any of my original art or prints. The Mad Raven will be hosting a craft fair November 18 starting at 11am and we'll be there doing the dolls for that. I'm also going to bring some prints and perhaps some other Keiken Art things, too.
Finally, Hanako is complete and her pictures have been uploaded. She is currently on display and available at the Mad Raven in Sparta, TN. For at least the next week I will be focusing on making dolls for the Art n Ale Trail which will be November 4. It's supposed to be a good time with the trail ending at the Calfkiller Brewery, so come join the fun!
The Diablo prints should arrive from the printer late this week, so I'll put them on the website this weekend. They are on a really nice heavy watercolour paper. Also, Dolly Dearest (which I am a part of) will be participating in the Art n Ale Trail in Sparta, TN on November 4. We will be at the Mad Raven. If you like creepy dolls, come see us!
After too long, Wonderbolt is finally complete! Hanako is in progress, and I've started Alucard.
Now that my workspace is set up (mostly), I have been catching up on actual art and figures. Wonderbolt has a couple of new in progress pictures. Also, I've recently completed a Diablo III watercolour & coloured pencil piece that will be a limited numbered edition run of 50 pieces. As soon as I get the proofs back from the printer, those will go on sale.
Well, the plan was to work on a lot of drawings, but I found I needed to do a website, instead. It's a dark-themed artistic site, which was fun. Dolly Dearest is a site with creative and creepy dolls and imaginative pumpkins. I help with some of the painting in that business, as well. You can also see it on the websites page.
The search function is complete on the website and this week is going to be spent almost completely catching up on artwork. Yea!
I've been working on the search engine sporadically (it's getting there). The Fire drawing is complete (still needs painting) and both Earth and Water are in progress. My art area is finally taking shape. I needed to figure out where I could actually get decent light before I set it up.
Since the website is working (except for the search engine), I'm going to take a few days off coding and focus on drawing.
The new website is complete and up! FINALLY!! It's much more interactive and has more images. Also, new wallpaper (both desktop and mobile) and colouring pages to download. If you have any problems with the new site, please contact me and be as specific as possible so I can (perhaps) fix it. Internet Explorer has some visual issues, but they're not bad enough to write a bunch of code to fix. The search engine is still in progress since it's something that couldn't be done until the last minute.
The dolls are doing well. That venture is called Dolly Dearest and the Facebook page is up and running. I'll make a simple website for that before too long. They are for sale on the Facebook page and through the Mad Raven used book store/cafe in Sparta, TN.
The light at the end of the website redesign is visible! Also, a friend and I have been painting creepy dolls which will be available at a local coffee shop soon. More info about that when it happens. The drawing mentioned earlier is complete (still need to paint it, though). I liked it so much that I'm turning it into a series: fire, earth, air and water.
The new website is more than halfway completed, which is fantastic news. Also, I'm in the middle of a drawing and as soon as I get my paints set up I can restart the figures.
Things have been insanely busy since I've relocated. Right now I don't even know where my paints are. Nonnon was donated to my fave coffee shop/bookstore (the Mad Raven) for their auction and brought a good price. Website work has also been keeping me busy.
Goals for the year: finish the reworking of this website, finish Wonderbolt and Hanako and (hopefully) do another figure or two.
I'm
in the process of relocating, so things will be very slow for the rest of the year. But there is a new website up that's been finished, called "Elaina, How's the Market?" and it's a great place to go if you're looking for a home in middle Tennessee.
In addition, the Zazzle site is now live and one of the most popular items is this phone case of a Vampire Sugar Skull Cat. The background colour can be changed to whatever you like if purple isn't your thing. Clicking the phone will take you to the order page.
A new Wonderbolt image is on the wip page. I'm still hoping to get Hanako finished this year, and you can see her images on the same page. They're slowly but surely coming along. There's a website redesign that I'm working on for this site to make things easier on the backend. Tattoo designs and other website designs are also happening. It's a busy time!
New pictures of a figure in progress have been put on up that page. It's turning Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony into a Wonderbolt version. Next on the agenda: adding merchandise to the website.
Well, that was a very long gap between updates. Things have been busy, doing the usual web design and tattoo work. I will have pictures soon of a Rainbow Dash that I'm customizing. In the meantime, here are some new colouring pages! If you like Disney, there is a very cool one of Mickey and Minnie kissing with a bunch of other couples inside — from Lady & the Tramp, Aladdin, Up, Beauty & the Beast, Little Mermaid and Sleeping Beauty. Also, a Superman and Shelby Cobra entwined and a logo from the Halo game.
It has been a VERY busy couple of months. The merchandise page is down while I redo it all. One of the websites is complete now and can be found on that page — Budget Sales Inc is the name of the cabinet store. A bunch of great people there.
No brush has touched Hanako in months. I really want to make sure I finish her this year.
Hanako has a couple new progress pictures. I need to put some more tattoo images on here, as well. In addition to the tattoos, I am currently working on two websites. Things are happily busy at the moment.
Took a bit longer than I expected, but here's the new merchandise page. There are phone cases, shirts, bags, notebooks, mugs, playing cards, gift boxes, and other items available. It's under the ART tab in the top menu.
There is also a new picture in Hanako's progress. She's almost done with the base painting and ready for shading. She's been an interesting experiment. I used different brand/kind of paint than normal on parts of it, and while it does have some advantages, I don't think I'll continue using that particular paint.
Great changes are happening on the website! I'm increasing the readability (people shouldn't have to squint to read a web page), as well as making adjustments to usability.
Finally have a page dedicated to web design (I'll move where it goes in the menu later). I'm going to tweak the navigation over the next couple of weeks, since I'm getting more pages and it's getting crowded, which I don't like. Also worked on Hanako today. I'll have to post more pictures soon.
Changes are finally happening on the website. You'll notice small changes for now as I'm updating the look of some parts. The T-shirt, notebook, etc. page is coming along well and should be up by the end of the month. On the longer term list of things to do: add more colouring pages, some for adults; work on Hanako; and of course regular work like the tattoos and websites. On the plus side, I have been better about updating the facebook page.
Just because it's Leap Day, I needed to post something. Today is devoted to website work. Tomorrow it's back to tattoos.
It's taking a very long time to get the new website up and running, so I'm going to add a page here instead where you can buy T-shirts, mugs, notebooks, etc. That will be my goal for the next month.
Hanako is still being worked on and has a few new pics. She's FINALLY ready to paint. Still also working on some new designs for notebooks, mugs, etc.
A bunch of new tattoo designs will be available on T-shirts, mugs, keychains, temporary tattoos, etc. soon. In the meantime, I've been working on Hanako, and you can see some in-progress pics here. It's been to cold lately to do the next primer coat, but should warm up enough this weekend. Some custom tattoo designs are still happening, although I've been a bit stalled building the new website. There's just enough coffee in my life, I think.
The tattoo designs that were for sale as mugs and t-shirts have been removed from the site for a few days while I fix the links to the place I sell them through. They will be available again shortly, along with other items.
On a side note, hopefully everyone will have a happy, peaceful and safe holiday season.
It's been a harrowing and busy couple of months, but things are starting to get on track. The site is much more reliable now and I've started working again. I've been called to task (in a friendly way) for not putting more things on the facebook page, so I'm going to do my best and start putting things on there more often.
The webservice has become unacceptable, in terms of speed and downtime, so I am migrating this site over to a new one today, hopefully.
My webhost has been bought out by a different host, and I've been notified that there are migration issues. Since part of what I do is website design and maintenance, there are a few sites using that webhost. This site, since it's my personal thing, is on the back burner until I make sure that all of the sites for my clients are A-Ok. Once that is done, I'll resume work on this website. In the meantime, however, I am still doing tattoo designs.
Well, in my effort to make the website faster, I've screwed up a couple of things. Rather than spend hours to fix everything, though, I'm going to focus on getting the new site completed.
Later that day...
Well, it didn't take as long to fix as I was afraid it might. Thankfully.
Finally fixed a thing on the navigation for the site that's always annoyed me, and moved a figure from the for sale to the sold page. The pictures for Marge & Fee were pretty bad, too, so the images have been replaced.
Things have been very, very busy. The new site is still coming along -- slowly.
Added a short, informative video about why tattoo ink stays in the skin even though skin is constantly regenerating on the tattoo information page. I'm trying to get back to doing more actual painting, since it's been a while. I've just been so busy doing coding and website stuff, I've flaked on the figures and painting. I think I'll ease into it with a few designs that have been sitting on my table.
Progress on the new and improved website is coming along very slowly. I want to make sure it all works correctly before making it live. In addition to tattoo designs, I'm working on a couple of pinups.
Some tattoo designs which have either been sold or completed are now on the Custom tattoo art page. Besides a Reaper and Angel piece, there a piece with Cloud, Sephiroth and Bahamut from Final Fantasy VII. Also a group of Disney villainesses starting at Snow White's evil queen and ending with Mother Gothel from Tangled. Included in that one are Lady Tremaine (Cinderella), Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland), Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty), Cruella de Vil (101 Dalmatians), Madam Mim (Sword in the Stone), Madame Medusa (Rescuers), Ursula (Little Mermaid), and Yzma (Emperor's New Groove).
The website I was working on is finished a few weeks early. There are still some small tweaks, but it's basically done. So now, back to art things! I'm also thinking of revamping this website a bit. For the most part, there won't be major changes. I really like this overall design. I'm primarily thinking of giving each item it's own page and simplifying some of the background code.
Progress on the website I'm building is going very well *knock on wood*. With a bit of luck, it should be done next month. Then it will be back to working on cow girl. I'm also still working on some custom tattoos, as well.
I'm working on a website design now, so the art thing is put on hold for a couple of months. I'm still doing occasional custom tattoo designs, but cow girl is going to have to wait for a bit. It's just as well, anyway, since I really prefer to spray her outside and it's just too cold for that right now. Today we had a high temperature of 15, I think.
A couple of new pics on the progress of Hanako (cow girl) have been added to the wip page. Pretty soon I think I'm going to be working on another website, so her progress may stop for a bit. I'll know more before the end of the month.
The last picture of monkey girl has been added to the wip page, you can now find the completed figure on the figures for sale page. I started working on her in 2012. I just had zero time, and she took forever to finish. I'm currently fixing one that I may put up for sale if she turns out good enough. After that, it's on to the cow girl. I'm also redoing the Beauty and the Beast pinup as an actual drawing, so look for that eventually.
Now, on the tattoo page, you can buy some Keiken art through Zazzle. The designs are on shirts, mugs, phone cases, bags, and buttons. At the moment, just two images are available. More items throughout the site will be added time to time. Also, another small update on Monkey Girl on the wip page.
Some more updates to the site today, some coding things and a new addition to the figures wip page. I'm at the beginning of a new figure, called Hanako. Also, the new free 2015 calendar is available. To download it, go to the calendar page.
The new search has been implemented for the site, it's ridiculously better than the old site search. Monkey girl is almost done, mostly I just need to finish the base. I'm debating on the next project. I had a request to do a cow girl, but I'm also thinking about doing a Yoko from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
I think I have a handle on a better search for the website. It should be fully functional by the end of the weekend. *crossed fingers*
Another fast update, just one picture of progress on monkey girl. She is very slowly coming along. It's been so very cloudy lately that it's hard to paint the really small details. I need to see about doing a different search engine, too...
Another small update today, I finally managed to implement a search function on the site. There were also some coding issues that were fixed.
Addendum: OK, after messing with the search engine all day, it's definitely not the best. I'll work on improving it.
Just a quick update today. I added some explanations to the images on the wip page, since there was a request for some.
After a year of not working on a figure, I finally got back to it a bit today. I'm working on monkey girl again. I added a picture of a piece of cedar that will be the base. It needs to be sanded yet to make it pretty, but I was happy to find it in the woods near my house, as part of a broken branch. With a bit of luck, I may actually be able to finish her this year.
A new tattoo design for lovers of Hawaii and pinups has been added to the tattoo page. I'm still working on the custom tattoo design. It's a neat half sleeve depicting aspects of a guy's life. I'm enjoying working on it, especially now that I have the time this week to really put some more time into it. After this tattoo, the plan is to try and finish monkey girl, then a new fancel.
It took a bit longer then I anticipated, but there are finally a couple of new designs on the tattoo page. One pinup for fans of Beauty and the Beast, and one for fans of medical marijuana.
I'm working on a new custom design at the moment, which is a nice change from so much coding. Although I have a couple of websites to build on the horizon, those probably won't happen for at least a month yet, so in the meantime I'm drawing, drawing, drawing.
Added a few more recent tat designs, including a Princess Leia one. I'm in the process of adding a few more tattoo designs to buy to the site. They should be up by the end of the week.
