the blog of susan davis

Couldn't resist. Original. My version.

Welp... I'm back on Gaia Online. Gaia Online is an English-language, anime-themed social networking and forums-based website. I've been a member since 06/21/2005.  (It was founded 02/2003.)  I like using the art forums to give me excuses to redraw OC's (other characters) and member avatars.  I haven't been on there for a couple of years, but this Coronastorm combined with poor fung shui is leaving me with a bit of a creative block, so I'm back. I have a bunch of old art crap on my DeviantArt:  https://www.deviantart.com/lilmisshoppi So here's what happens: Gaia Online member, or "Gaian", asks me to draw an avatar or their character. I draw their request in my own style, however I want. Usually it involves sketching on paper, then taking a photo or scan, uploading it on the net, and sharing it with said Gaian. Sometimes I receive something in return, like game currency (Gaian Gold or Platinum), game items, or just a "thanks" and/or

It would seem it only takes a worldwide medical crisis to get me working on my site again.  Who knew? Before "the storm" (aka COVID-19), I was working as an art instructor teaching painting classes mostly to adults in a paint-and-sip setting.  It was an awesome junction between fine art and entertainment, and I really felt myself being able to teach step-by-step painting while occasionally cracking jokes, depending on the clientele, of course.  However, the work was part-time.  In an effort to get more hours, I sometimes played host/bartender during events when I wasn't instructing.  (There was an odd stipulation that the hourly pay was somehow less as a host, and honestly I still wasn't getting enough hours.)  I tried to rationalize that I'd work on self-improvement in the meantime, with Canvas and Metal (I haven't sold any art in quite a while), art shows (the Pacifica Winter Art Fair was the last I've done with no current plans for other shows or ex

Welcome to the blog of susan davis . Today is a very special day, not only because it's a beautiful rainy Sunday, but because I'm reworking the website that I created back in 2009. A little backstory: I grew up in the Bay Area, California. In my younger years, my interests included painting, crafting, singing, dancing, and acting. I was better in English and Mathematics than Science, though I did like Physics to some extent. I was very shy throughout school, and mostly kept to myself, except when performing in acting/singing/dance classes. I spent a lot of my teenage years drawing, painting and writing; I especially loved drawing comics depicting silly adventures of my friends and I. Upon entering college, with the decision to specialize in character design, I was given the choice of majoring in Media Arts and Animation or Game Art and Design; by the advice of the staff of the Art Institute of CA- SF, I started my curriculum in Game Art and Design, with the idea that b