So, I'm about to make a "triumphant return" to DA, and I wanted my opening piece to be an updated Rainbow Brite. Why? Because my daughter watches it non-stop, so I've got 'Brite on the Brain.

Anyway, I searched around DA for hours (literally) looking for stock or reference shots of girls aged about 10 - 15, because I don't know how to draw bodies in that age group. Nothing. So I went to Google. Nothing useful - all cropped shots or tiny pictures. I tried searching for tween stars, but they're all made to look so grown-up now that they lost the look and proportions I needed (Hello, Talyor Momsen! Kid looks like she's older than me!).

I understand why this is so: Tween girls are in that awkward age between childhood and teenager hood. They're just starting to look like girls in some ways, and with that burgeoning maturation comes a hint of sexuality - something that makes people nervous and uncomfortable. Either you find pictures of four year olds or of teens who look like adults - this age is unnerving, jail-bait territory. I get that.

But it's annoying for me because I need references!

Then, magically, I stumbled upon a few great resources. I'm sharing them here because I thought that someone else might need them. The first is a website for dance outfits. These are good because they provide flow and movement, they're fitted, and the tweens look like freakin' tweens. And they're not ridiculously thin, which relates to my last point:
[link]
Aside from the heavy makeup, this is great. There's also a section for kids which is equally awesome. And, they have boys on it too! Now I can do a Red Butler pic!

This next source isn't as good in some ways, but it's got some okay poses and neat outfits for inspiration:
[link]

I would question the sanity of any parent who lets their tween wear this costume, though:
[link]

Like, for reals.

I'm in love with Hayami Mokomichi. End of story.
[link]
[link]

So, I am officially back home. This means in the next two months I have massive amounts of work to get done, so who knows whether I'll update or not? Either way, my copy oh Photoshop is still working on my PC (just not on my laptop)so at least I COULD update if I wanted to. We'll see.

I HAVE WRITTEN THIS JOURNAL ENTRY THREE TIMES. GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER DA!


Yeah. Anyway, Photoshop had decided that it's trial period expired, after a full year of usage... And even though i actually bought it legally at my local Future Shop. D:

So, here's some random fun. Head on over to this deviation:
[link]
And let me know which number you like best. I won't promise anyhting, but I'll probably go with the one that gets the most votes.

And no, I'm not euphoric, but stupid DA resets my journal everytime I try to change my mood...
I am actually feeling pretty today.

Oh ho ho ho. Did I drop off the face of the planet or what? Well, so, two weeks or so later you get one deviation. Hehe.
Actually, I'm already in France of course, but they do have a scanner here and such, so I might do some other work, who knows? I brought my awesome new laptop with me (350 GB of harddrive space [after Vista was installed], 4 GB RAM, nVIDIA graphics card [level 8000 of something] - all for the low, low price of $899 Canadian!), as well as my tablet. I have yet to play WoW here, too. It's hard to find time because I'm watching four kids. Although, on most weekdays, it's just Evelyn.

So, to sum up, Kira is a liar.
And France is GORGEOUS.