New tattoo - disembodied forearm

To commemorate the release of my second novel 'Spirit Shear' I got a new tattoo!!

 

I actually got it a few weeks ago when I returned from Barcelona. It was an impulse 'post-holiday' tattoo (you'll never see me on Tattoo Fixers!!!) But now it's finally healed and looking great (b-t-dubs, there is no way to take a good picture yourself of a disembodied forearm so the pictures don't quite do it justice). I'm absolutely in love with it!

All of my tattoos have a deep and personal meaning to me. Several people have already picked up some of the meaning behind it; the pen being mightier than the sword. But, on top of that, it's even more meaningful because the glyph at the top of the pen is from my books, the Emersus Project series (read a bit more about the meaning in my celtic tattoos post). I got it to help commemorate the event. I've published my first two novels! That's pretty hardcore.

Yes, yes, I know it looks a bit like the green lantern logo. But it's not. However, in the world of Arbea, it is a symbol of power. I'm thinking that, over time, I might turn it into a band, having all the symbols from my books circling my forearm. Hmm... too many new tattoo ideas, too little time!

The tattoo was done by Nik Costaz (check out Nik's art, it's freakin amazing!) at Tribe Tattoo. It was great working with a new tattoo artist who made some excellent adaptations to my original design. Mostly, adding in the more delicate lines along the body of the pen and doing the pen nib in outline instead of solid black. Nik's contribution has resulted in something much cleaner and light than the original solid black glyph style. It's finer lines lend themselves to the beauty and fineness of creating.

I was apprehensive about having a tattoo that was visible all the time (except when I'm wearing long sleeves). But now that I have it it feels like it's part of me. The only downside is I can't stop staring at it and touching it (especially when it was healing)! Well, that and the Green Lantern comparisons. But I suppose that's the price of showing your art to the world. What matters most is that I love it!

Hope you enjoy!
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Buy 'Black Star' or 'Spirit Shear' on Amazon in the UK and US
Check out Themo on Twitter and Facebook

Nothing like a good blogging - book launch

The book launch for Spirit Shear went off without a hitch and had an amazing turnout. 

Thank you to everyone who attended and also made donations to Book Aid International. We've already raised almost £150 thanks to sales on opening night, donations and silent auction bids. Remember, you can still buy Spirit Shear online and a percentage of all profits go to charity.

One of the silent auction items was an original drawing for the book. It was a scene from Spirit Shear that didn't quite make the cut for getting into the book. But, I'd been wanting to do a finished pencil drawing for ages. I'm super pleased with how it turned out and even more pleased that it found a good home at the auction.

I've spent the last week and a bit recovering from the excitement of the book launch, filling out my citizenship UK application and slowly getting back into my routine. I now need to start working on promoting the book more and a big part of that is doing this, blogging about my work. So, here for your enjoyment is a colour digital painting version of the drawing. 

First, I created a hand inked version using tracing paper and a lightbox (mm... fancy lightbox).

Next I scanned in the line drawing. Using photoshop I added colour to create the final product. I'm getting better at using my drawing tablet but am still quite handy with a mouse when it comes to photoshop digital painting. So I still create individual layers for painting in individual parts. 

What do you think? Doing this drawing reminded me of the many comic book covers I adore that made me want to become an illustrator in the first place. I think my next side project will be doing alternate, comic book style covers for books one and two.

Hope you enjoy!
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Buy 'Black Star' and 'Spirit Shear' on Amazon in the UK and US
Check out Themo on Twitter and Facebook