HalfSparkle Studios | Artwork & illustration for comics, books, and role-playing games.

To understand our world, we create reflections that mirror reality and venture beyond it – fantasy, science fiction, horror.
I attempt to bring these worlds to life with art, design, and illustration, plus the occasional assistance from convenient electrical storms.

Illustration for Books and Role-Playing Games

Comics and Concept Art

Websites, Graphic Design, and Other Random Stuff

From the SketchBlog…

Hallooooo Out There!

Blink is named for his ability to blink in and out of the material plane over short distances. Like Nightcrawler, but less impressive and not as stinky.

It has now been two weeks since ComicFest ended – a weekend of new friends, inspiring costumes, and more alcohol than can possibly be healthy for a 5’2″ woman coming off a 5-week detox. As I said to more than one person that weekend, you know you’re in the right field when you can attend an event in your industry … Read more

The Power of Bacon Cupcakes

I don't know why bacon is funny. It just is.

For all that I talk about stories, I’ve actually drawn very few. Oh, there’s a story behind everything I draw, to be sure, but it’s one thing to draw a character with an elaborate backstory and quite another to tell that story in pictures. I’ve dreamed more comics than I can count, but I’ve rarely overcome the paralysis inflicted by … Read more

What’s In A Face?

I drew this to help keep myself awake while staying up to keep an eye on a wildfire burning 3 miles from my home.

Quite a lot, actually. Just like in real life, people judge a character the first time they see his or her face. This particular character plays an important role in my comic, but only for a short time. Readers have to connect with him instantly for his part in the story to work. So I need his face to reveal … Read more

In Creative Brain, Idea Gets You!

One of the questions most frequently asked of writers and artists is “where do you get your ideas?” Honestly, we don’t go out and get ideas. It’s not like running to the store for Oreos. We become artists and writers because ideas get us. They pop into our brains, sometimes for an instant, sometimes for a lifetime, and like a toddler, they … Read more

Dzeriel Wing Comparison

Can you tell from this drawing that I was a huge fan of the Gargoyles TV show?

Even small design choices affect a reader’s interpretation of a comic. A character’s pose, gestures, clothing, and physical features say so much more about them than text ever can. Paying attention to those little details pays off, and it’s part of what I appreciate about visual storytelling. I love flying creatures, and Dzeriel here started out with massive, wind-sweeping wings. … Read more

The Underworld Fisherman

I'm not sure I want to know what he's hoping to catch.

What I love about drawing, what makes it first in my heart before all other forms of artistic expression, is that it’s so easy. Easy to get into, that is, not creating the actual art! I’ve enjoyed other media like photography, painting, ceramics, sculpture – but all of them require some preparation and setup of materials before you can really … Read more