I *should* probably just scrap this, because if there's one thing I'll never be, it's a photographer.

Anyway, I managed to fritter away the year and never finished a digital picture to submit to the fair this year. So, about a week or two before we had to have them in, I decided I'd do a colored pencil picture.

Nevermind that it's been a very very long time since I used them, and even then, I wasn't that good with them. BUT, I went ahead anyway.

Long story short, I got this finished less than a day before I needed to have it in. We found out that they don't make mats or frames to fit 14x17 in. pictures, that framing places are very snooty, and that I know a great deal less about the whole framing process than an artist probably should.

But I got it in.

And we waited. Last year, they printed the winners in the paper. I don't remember when. But we checked every day. I think it was the Sunday before the fair opened(on the 3rd) that it finally showed up. The category that I had entered--Graphics--was, for whatever reason, omitted from the results! That was kind of funny. In an annoying sort of way.

So I had to find out the results at the fair. Unfortunately, I didn't get anything this year. I think it's because I didn't have a background. Oh well. Lesson learned.

I haven't even talked about the picture yet.=/ I was trying to think of something to draw for the fair that represented me, but also wasn't too out there. Like fairies, for instance, or dragons or unicorns. I wanted to do a woman in some form, and I was actually going to enter this picture of Athena, but it wasn't interesting enough. Then I had a geisha, which, in retrospect, I probably should have gone with. But I decided against it. I don't know why... Finally I decided I wanted a female samurai. A strong woman kind of thing. And mom kept wanting me to put a horse in. I thought it kind of fit.

(if you wonder about the title, I found a new word at the last minute! And that "female samurai" is a misnomer. Bugei-sha is the term used for someone trained in the arts of combat, I believe, and "onna" is woman. Of course, I forgot to put "Onna" in the title for the fair, so it's kind of weird. Like anyone would have gotten it anyway.)

The horse, I really wanted to come out darker. Much much darker. But I do like it. At least, except for the legs. I'm not sure *how* realistic the face is, but it's at least more realistic than I've ever done. And yeah, they're both very very short. Or her head is too big. I'm not sure. I don't usually work with such a large picture! xD I'm also not entirely sure I got the outfit correct. It was hard finding reference. I do like the patterns, though, and I really like the little bit of folds near the bottom.

All in all, not bad for someone who didn't even have a plan and managed to start and finish a picture in four days. Or at least, not bad for me.

Here are some detail shots:
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