DreaminglizardStudio

I have been freelancing as an artist since 1988 and started a client base back then when I still was in High School. I was doing illustrations on many of my school mates jean jackets and leather clothing. I quickly expanded to having clients in the local music and entertainment industry. I was doing contracts for the entertainers' stage clothes and equipment. Eventually, I added photography to my skill set and fumbled horribly along with my aunt's old film SLR camera. I wasted hundreds of rolls of film until the age of digital photography arrived, giving me the freedom to snap as many photos as I could and start to understand ISO and f-Stop.

When I was 17, I asked my parents if I could go to one of the Catholic High schools' because I heard they had an amazing art department. They did, but even back then I found myself pushing boundaries and being taken aside by the teachers or principal to let me know that my artwork was ‘inappropriate’. That was when I discovered a part of my 'fuel'. I loved that feeling I felt when I got under someone's skin. It was also then, that I discovered how much I enjoyed illustrating strong female characters. In the 1980s most of the art in the fantasy and Sci-Fi portrayed women as the weaker sex. To have these scantily clad women in a position of power and confidence, seemed to make some conservative people uncomfortable.

Over the years I have had the pleasure to have my work printed in teachers manuals, writing anthologies, travel brochures, book covers, and fantasy magazines. I have designed business logos, tattoos, and advertisements. The present big projects' I am involved in at the moment are the following:
The Paladin Sequence. A 13 book series of an elite team of exorcists' dealing with a world on the brink of apocalypse. (It is a blend of Supernatural, the TV show, and the Hell Blazer comics -What the movie Constantine was made from-).

I am one of these people who struggle at staying with one niche, and knowing full well how important this is when you run a business, made me split off my creative abilities into other areas. Not only do I run my Dreaming Lizard Graphics I am also building a brand for a clothing line with my sister Nicky. The clothing line is called Sib.Bling Rivalry Design and the clothing is meant to be edgy-hipster positive image clothing that has a biker feel to it.

My other project is I am opening an on line art supplies store called Empire Art Supplies.

Yes, I keep very busy and don't take too much time off, but DAM I love to create. I hope I make something along the way that speaks to you as well.

Love-

Cindy JK