Monthly Archives: September 2011

Steampunk Sheep (Might Be a Goat) – Work In Progress

Steampunk Sheep (Or a Goat?) -Not Quite Finished

Straight from the pen that brought you that other steampunk farmyard animal-in-progress type post, comes steampunk sheep! Or he might be a goat.  If he’s a sheep do I need to add horns?  Could he be, like, a dandy who trimmed his horns way back so as not to adversely affect the tilt of his hat? The trouble is, I think, that I wanted to do a steampunk sheep and used a girl sheep photo as a guide. See for yourself:

Is this a Girl Sheep?

Which is fine, I would totally do a female steampunk sheep.  Except I just did a female steampunk llama, so I wanted to do a male steampunk sheep. Anyway, do female sheep tend to look like male goats?  Perhaps this doesn’t matter.  He is certainly at least one of, a sheep and a goat.  Here is what he looked like in the beginning:

Steampunk Sheep (Goat?) Sketch

And then

Steampunk Sheep (Goat?) Initial Ink

And then this monstrosity

Steampunk Sheep Color 1 (Horror)

I mentioned in the steampunk llama post that sometimes the first layer of color looks so bad I consider abandoning the drawing.  Well, I seriously considered abandoning this fellow at this point.  I mean, yikes.  First, the color combination is looking horrible, and second, I turned the brooch-type thingie into a cane, which is an idea I like but one which would have been nice to decide before inking the ear.  But anyway. I didn’t abandon him, but I didn’t have high hopes for him.  And really, is that fair?

I am pleased to report he is looking much better now (in my opinion) (thank you Copic markers!) and if it weren’t for that scanned picture above, I would find it hard to believe the color was as bad as it definitely was.  Not quite done:

Steampunk Sheep Not Quite Done

I have to decide whether to fill most of the cane in, in black, because it’s too busy and not doing the overall drawing any favors in its current state. Might do a background.  (I said that last time but decided against it.) I can picture an old style plane in the background but I don’t know how to draw a plane.  Actually, an airship would be cool.  Not this time, probably.  Might have to branch out into scenery with airships eventually, though.  Now there’s a thought.

Do you have an opinion on this or any remotely related topic?  Do share!

The “Rambling” Conundrum, and a Short Timeline of Banners

Who knew, by the way, how often the term “Rambling” is used in personal blogs – sometimes in the title.  (Please, no offense is intended to anyone with Ramble in the title of their blog! The thing is, I’ve been in the blogging game less than five months, so much naiveté remains, I fear.)

See, I was perfectly happy with “Pen and Ink and Ramblings-On” as a tagline until I realized how many other people used it first (well, rambling. Maybe not “ramblings-on”).  Anyway, I think I shall change that.  Which means a new banner.

Then, I was looking at the evolution of my banner, even in the less than five months since I started, and it was pretty cool to see my my art progressing, even in that small amount of time. Because it is so easy to doubt yourself and forget that any skill takes time to develop – it has no choice except to develop if you actually stick with it. (I have no doubt scientific studies have been done in an effort to profit from understand this phenomena. I may even have read a couple.  But I sadly have no expert testimony on this subject prepared.)  Here’s the stuff I was talking about:

tsh Banner May 3, 2011

tsh Banner May 16, 2011

tsh Banner May 20, 2011

tsh Banner July 31, 2011

tsh Banner Sept 5, 2011

So, I recommend, particularly if you make your own banner, to keep all the versions.  Because it is neat.   I wonder what mine will look like in another five months.

Eventually I will get to that new banner but for now I have a steampunk sheep to ink.  :o)

Steampunk Sheep (Goat?) Initial Sketch

 

Further Adventures of Steampunk Llama, Copic Color

Welcome back!  Steampunk Llama, aka Futurellama, aka Charlotte, is complete. Probably.

The first color never looks good and I sometimes question whether the piece is worth finishing at this point.  (Well, maybe less now than I used to.)

Steampunk Llama, Color 1

Ah, much better. Thank you, Copic markers.

Steampunk Llama Color 2

I was mostly able to correct the problems created in the initial inking. The horribly lopsided circles are much better now and the weird baby crib thing in the top right (see previous post) is now a tube and a porpoise-looking bit of machinery.

Steampunk Llama Color 3

And then I couldn’t decide on the hair color. I was planning on red.  But would it be red and brown or red and purple or red and orange? I almost did red and orange (and brown, probably), but I didn’t really want to go red on blue.  Or blue and orange, really, despite their being complementary and all that. Anyway, I thought I had a nice assortment of blues to do the hair and using the same color as the skin but different hues can have a nice effect. I do really need more practice with hair though, whether this kind or another kind.

Blue Llama Steampunk Color 4

Haven’t 100% decided about whether to fill the background, but it might be nice to get prints with different digital backgrounds.  May go back with a 0.05 nib for some finer detail, but may not. Almost avoided the shading swirls I’ve been using, for fear of additional clutter on an already busy field. But I used larger ones closer to the background color and achieved the effect I like with a bit more subtlety. Or so I foolishly think.  ;o)

As a side note, I still browse deviantART regularly and the overwhelming number of really accomplished artists can be a bit disheartening. (Is there room for any more? Will I ever achieve the skill level of these people? Do I need more formal training? That sort of thing. ) Just going to keep slogging on, though.

Blue Steampunk Llama Color 5

This is Charlotte, a distinguished, long-time independent agent for the Urban Camelid* Protection League, and as such she was not at liberty to reveal the uses for her various apparatuses. I believe the free-hanging tube is both a speech device and and a unit that can be attached remotely to certain mechanical gadgetry. But this is purely speculation on my part.

Charlotte was very friendly and professional, but despite my crafty line of questioning she did not reveal any UCPL secrets. This is why she is one of their most respected field agents, I imagine.

Drop a line and let me know how you ended up here!  :o)

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*Camelids include camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos.

Work in Progress Type Post – Steampunk Llama

If you’ve been visiting at all, or noticed my little Etsy art catalog to the right, you have some inkling that I have been drawing a lot of recognizable and less recognizable beast portraits in, well, non-traditional colors. Llamas and other large-snouted types are my current favorite, and the other day I decided instead of a simple portrait, I would steampunk* one up.

A hallmark of steampunk style is the pervasive use of small electronic gadgetry (the purpose of which is not often clear). It is generally shiny and intricate with lots of cogs, gears, moving parts and decorative bits. So I had to decide. Try to invent some actual devices, which seemed slightly overkill for this one portrait, or just kinda wing it.  I went with wing it.

I also had to decide whether to employ mechanical drawing means (tracing circles, for example, which I generally avoid), in order for the mechanical bits to be as precise as possible.  I didn’t go that way, as you will see in the sketch (and worse! in the initial inking).  It’s just not my style.  I’d like to think I’m not lazy about details, but I suppose one could argue that point.  I guess my general preference is to err on the side of an organic result rather than an overly precise (mechanical?) one.

Steampunk Llama Detailed Sketch

I decided to simplify the drawing for the first ink outline.  This outline, done with a smallish size nib, is mainly a guide for the color, and can change quite a bit by the time I do the final ink.  Sometimes I’ll do some correction with a larger nib, or fill in solid black detail areas (like the eye).

It was originally going to be a male beast, but I happen to be on an Etsy Team which is currently doing a doodle challenge based loosely around the theme “Hair”.  So I did hair.  And it happened to be a really nice Victorian-style detail to go with the hat and choker.  I haven’t done a whole lot of hair, preferring beasty animal types, but hair can be a really cool element in a design so I hope it works out!

Steampunk Llama, First Ink

As you can see, the result of simplifying in this case is a somewhat borg**-like collection of shapes and tubes, and the strangest baby crib looking thing at the right ear. It was intended to be a kind of enhanced listening device, but now I’m going to have to see what I can do with it.  :o)  Also, several quite imperfect circles are in evidence, which I will try to fix up later.

To sum up, yes, I took two severely trendy topics – llamas and steampunk – and did a mashup.  Is this the most original idea in the history of the world?  No.  But that doesn’t mean it can’t be super cool.  :o)

Updates coming soon.  Thanks for dropping in!

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*”Steampunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction, usually set in an anachronistic Victorian or quasi-Victorian alternate history setting. It could be described by the slogan “What the past would look like if the future had happened sooner.” (Thank you, Urban Dictionary.)

**Borg – “An immensely powerful civilization of enhanced humanoids from the Delta Quadrant of the galaxy. The Borg implant themselves with cybernetic devices, giving them great technological and combat capabilities. ” From various Star Trek television franchises. (Thank you again, Urban Dictionary.)

The Green Llama – A Tale of Photographic Inspiration

The photo that inspired a beast this weekend: Alpaca Eating from deviantART

Perhaps you remember this photo as one from my post Big Are the Noses. Which is slightly ridiculous because only like three people read that. (Incidentally, is that bad blogging form?  To continually remind the [nonexistent] audience that they are part of a practically nonexistent audience?  Would someone kindly forward a pdf copy of the manual?)

Anyway, I ordered a boatload of deviantART photos with close-ups of mostly farmyard-type-animal noses (you can purchase the fellow above here!), and I started using them as a guide to some brightly-colored, not-quite-farmyard-anymore beasts. Like the following, who appeared this weekend, and was modeled on the above photo:

Green and Blue Alpaca Original Ink Art

Strange but colorful alpaca beast. Possibly a llama. And less likely but still feasible – a camel. He wouldn’t tell me. I asked several times. Once I brought a sugar cube and once a lovely, fresh carrot. He took both very politely but still refused to speak.

Then it occurred to me! Maybe he doesn’t speak English. I have both a Dutch and a Portuguese translator on the way in. If that doesn’t work, one of my neighbors speaks a little Korean and a little Japanese. (For sale in my shop.)  :o)

He looks totally emo*, right?  It wasn’t intentional. I think mainly it’s the hair. And the eyes are a bit.. human. As soon as we overcome this language barrier, I will ask him about his ancestry.

8″ x 10″ drawing using Copic pens, Copic markers and Prismacolor markers, on a heavy board with Bristol finish.  Took about 5 hours.  Maybe less. Hmm, I really don’t know!  I will have to time one.

Anyway, the eyes could be improved and the ears aren’t quite screwed on correctly, but mostly I like him.  I need to experiment more with shapes that are not swirls.  Also, need to consider doing a whole farmyard-beast body one of these days.

Thanks for stopping in. ;)

 

*Emo – “Like a Goth, only much less dark and much more Harry Potter.” (Thank you,  Urban Dictionary.)

Papyrus Font. In My Banner. Don’t Hate!

Ah, Papyrus.  Sometimes the best that is said about this creature is, “well, at least it’s not Comic Sans.” Which is true. But wait!

Having arrived here in some manner, you have likely seen the banner on this page.  Which employs Papyrus.  Of course, the text is secondary to the artwork.  And yet.  The pros and cons of using Papyrus in my banner have not kept me up at night (particularly since the beasts in my bathroom cupboard do a fine job in this area), but I have still waffled about whether to keep it up there.  Here also is my similar Etsy banner:

The Slumbering Herd Etsy Banner

 

On the Etsy forum recently, a designer said the following about Papyrus:

Ever have a favorite song, and then your roommate played it 2,356 times a day? …Was it still your favorite? Or did it make you want to repeatedly smack your head against the wall? (or your roommates head…) If you think Papyrus is pretty, that doesn’t mean us designers think you have bad taste. You just probably haven’t heard that song as many times as we have!

I thanked her heartily in the thread because this, finally, was a good explanation (without the snark).  A couple folks visited my banner-with-Papyrus and said it fit my style of artwork.  Not sure if those were designers or not.  Probably not.  But that’s ok!  I’m not quite sure what sort of audience this blog is intended for, but “designers” probably wouldn’t be in the top 5 100. Which is not to say some might stumble in while acting in another capacity.

I have since asked a few other folks to take a gander, and none have been horrified by my use of the dreaded Papyrus. However, I have gotten conflicting advice of another sort.  If I’m using Papyrus for my title, then the secondary text should be in a different font.  So I changed it, thinking that was pretty fine advice and that the slightly cleaner font for the rest looked quite nice!  And then another design person said omg, if you’re using Papyrus, then use it for ALL the banner text.  Well, pfffft.  I haven’t changed it back yet.  Still undecided.

In another, tangentially related note, I am still trying to unlearn that whole two-spaces-after-a-period nonsense.  Which does not do nice things to blog posts, for one thing.  Arrgh.

Do you have an opinion about this highly-charged topic?  Please share it! And thanks for dropping in – if you have a moment, let me know how you ended up here!

 


 

The Llama Equation. Also, a Goat.

I am trying to navigate the treacherous hoodoo of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), aka “Here is My Stuff on the Internets,  Please Look at It”.  Anyway, Etsy has a feature called “Shop Stats” which shows you which search terms people used to find your shop.  I’ve only had this feature working for about a month, but my top keyword is “llama”.  [Granted, this top search term garnered all of 7 views when I first saw it (12 as of this writing!)]  But it was, and remains, my top keyword.

At the time, I just had the one llama (as seen in the previous post).  Here he is again:

A Blue Llama Named Dale Original ACEO

The Shop Stats mandate was clear.  More llamas.  A companion for Dale:

A Green Llama Named Lyle ACEO Original

Lyle is a young llama who likes to build sandcastles, and this is the first year he is old enough to participate in the village-wide sand sculpture competition. He is extremely excited, and has practiced several versions of a complex gnomish village in the side of a craggy mountain. If he has enough time, he is going to add a shaman’s hut at the top, accessible by a long treacherous stairway maze up the side of the mountain.

And then, because I got some nice heavy 8″ x 10″ Canson Bristol drawing boards, and I am trying to fill the “Larger Originals” area of my shop (and also because I liked the pony ACEOs I did before the llamas), this trio emerged:

Two Llamas and a Pony Original Art with Copic Markers

This drawing was entered into the September 2011 Web of Whimsy art challenge.

From left to right: Rico, Butler and Chloe. Rico is the head of a small herd of unusually colored llamas, including Chloe, his second cousin. Butler is a mild-mannered pony who fell in with the llamas after a fight with his twin sisters. The fight was about his favorite stand of flowers. Which his sisters ate. They mocked him for being a pony who likes to look at flowers. Which is extremely childish, of course.

Clearly, llamas are better. Quieter, slightly less likely to kick you, won’t eat your flowers. Sometimes the family you pick is much more bearable than the one you’re born with. Which is pretty cool, really. Incidentally, Rico and Chloe think he is weird but like having him around. If they stand close enough, his tail will flick their flies, too!

About this time it occurred to me that I had sold both goat ACEOs.  To a fan of goats.  She even sent me a photo of the goats in their little frames.  Which was really cool. I needed a new goat:

Orange Goat Original Art 8 x 10

Bright red-orange goat with purple ears and a purple stripe down her forehead. With a green striped wallpaper background. (The parlor of her house, if you were wondering, which she has decorated with a distinctly Victorian aesthetic. No really. She even has elaborate lambrequins ornamenting the two front windows. Don’t worry, I had to look that word up, too. Fancy window treatments. She has been searching for, but has yet to find, the perfect secretary’s desk to finish the room.)

Marnie the goat is an outstanding hostess. But she does tend to get a wild look in her eye about thirty minutes before the guests are set to arrive (as seen here). She imagines she’s forgotten something OBVIOUS like having enough Chardonnay on hand for the sheep who live next door, or a dish of pearl onions for Bernie the cow. But she never actually forgets any of those things.

I’ve also been doing a bit of experimentation with backgrounds.  I like wallpaper-type backgrounds.  More opportunity for colors and details, I suppose!  I need to work more on the wallpapers to try and settle on a technique that works for what is often a large area.  I suppose that’s it for now.  If you actually read this far, thank you so much!  You are a member of an elite and wondrous crowd of seven or eight.

Barnyard from Another Planet

The Copic adventure continues.  You may remember during the last installment that our herd-tending heroine had recently fallen for photographs of various domestic beasts, up close.  Particularly the noses. And perhaps you even recall that the big nose photos led to a preliminary expedition into big nose art territory, Slumbering Herd style.  There was a cow husband and wife, and then a water buffalo-highland cow hybrid type beast.  And then these things happened:

Goats.  A sheep. Cow and Goat.  Sheep and Cow. And that was only the beginning.

(All available in my Etsy shop [unless otherwise noted!]:  My Shop )

Lou the Goat, Original ACEO Art (SOLD)

It’s true that goats will eat your socks if you let them. Also your long johns, your shoelaces and your dish towels. But we should still be nice to them. This is Lou. He is a lovely, friendly goat beast, although he can be grumpy if he doesn’t get enough sleep. Sometimes you can find Lou playing backgammon with his best friend, Genevieve. They are quite evenly matched, so you never know who might win.

Genevieve the Goat, Original ACEO Art (SOLD)

Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded of things we already know. This is Genevieve. She is a lovely, friendly goat beast. But she will most definitely eat your socks should you leave them in tantalizing reach. However, if you remember to put your socks away, you might find Genevieve playing checkers with Lou, her best friend. Sometimes she lets him win.

A Green and Pink Sheep Original Art

Mindy the sheep is a big fan of Project Runway (the TV show). So far she has written two letters to the producers offering some particularly fine and beautiful bright green wool, either as material for a challenge or as a prize of some kind, but she has not received an answer. Once she dreamed that Keidi Klum invited her to be a guest judge. She made several hilarious and witty remarks during the judging but sadly when she woke up she couldn’t remember any of them.

Marlene and Rockford, Cow and Goat, 9" x 6" Original Art

This is Marlene and Rockford. Marlene, the mostly cow looking creature, has been having a hard time lately. She stayed up too many nights reading “true” ghost stories and as a result, keeps getting spooked by noises, shadows, and clowns. Well actually I think she was always spooked by clowns.

Rockford, the mostly goat looking fellow on the right, is a therapist specializing in ghost phobias (Phasmaphobia, if you like scientific names for things). As you can see, he is quite calm. Mesmerizing almost. Which reminds me. Someone stole my Violet Crumble candy bar the other day and I have a feeling Rockford may have pulled a fast one on me!

Sheep and Highland Cow, 8 x 10 Original Art

It may be obvious if you note her bleary-eyed stare, but Hemmy the sheep beast has not had coffee yet this morning. She probably won’t even speak until she’s finished at least half a cup.

Hattie the Highland-cow-type beast is slightly irritated but holding her tongue because she and Hemmy have been friends for more than ten years. Stumbling out of her bedroom moments ago, Hemmy trod squarely on Hattie’s ankle. Ouch! But Hattie would get over it. (Also, the last time Hattie forgot to clean her hair out of the shower, Hemmy didn’t even mention it.) It’s so nice to have a good friend like that, even if it means getting your ankle accidentally stepped on from time to time.

And then we moved onto Ponies.  A llama.  A dog.  And then… the emus.  That’s right.

A Pink Pony Named Mara, Original ACEO

Meet Mara. She is a a shape-changing pony from the magical Assateague Island (if you are female you probably remember “Misty of Chincoteague” a lovely book by Marguerite Henry) Shape changing ponies can be seen by other ponies but not humans, so of course she is never bothered by the herd roundups.

Mara’s specialties on the island are flower tending and pony dispute arbitration, but she is always willing to give rides to friendly sprites and water pixies, or run messages in times of dangerous weather. Mara is the second oldest of the pink shape-changers, and loved by everyone but a few grumpy gnomes (who don’t like anyone). She can change into a sprite or pixie, but only under a full moon.

Blue Pony Original ACEO

Andrew is a shaggy blue Shetland Pony with a light stripe on his nose. He likes to browse estate sale listings for medieval inspired tapestries and other boldly-colored fabric wall hangings. He is trying to cover all of his apartment walls with them. Most of the time they are too expensive, but sometimes he gets lucky! Sometimes he benefits from being a blue pony interested in tapestries, as people think it is terribly unique and are occasionally inclined to give him steep discounts.

A Blue Llama Named Dale Original ACEO

This is Dale, a rare blue llama with purple spots. He has a twin sister named Helen with the same coloring, and they were very popular in the yard as youngsters. Helen has since moved to New Zealand to live with an orange Llama named Jesse. Dale misses his twin but they Skype on Saturdays.

Rona the Green Dog 8 x 10 Original Art

This is Rona. She is mostly green now but will turn blue to match her nose as she gets older. Recently Rona won a spelling bee between all the young dogs in the village. Her final word was “squirrel”. The second place winner stumbled on “papaya”.

As part of the winner’s package, Rona gets to chase cats all afternoon. This is actually a paid gig for the cats, who are in no danger because Rona is a puppy. And not particularly dexterous yet.

 

Green and Orange Emu Original Art

Cecilia is usually much cheerier than she looks at the moment. She asked her friend Domo the Owl to bring over a cupcake, because she knew he had been baking. Well, he brought three cupcakes because he wasn’t sure if she would like the pumpkin, or the chocolate cheesecake, or the coconut vanilla best. (Actually, Domo was hoping she would try them all and give her honest opinion. She was super at honest cupcake opinions and he was trying to make a good impression on a new client.)

Well, she ate all three cupcakes and now she is not feeling very well. Also, she totally figured out that Domo did it on purpose. On the other hand, they were so very delicious and she couldn’t yell at him because then he might not bring any over next time. (Incidentally, the coconut vanilla was best.)

Emu and Capybara (Sort of) Original Art

Lulu (on the left) is playing the statue game, refusing to move a muscle no matter what anyone says. Kind of like those guards at Buckingham Palace. Gin-Gin, the orange capybara-kind of beast on the right, has exhausted his best jokes, and is trying to remember what insects Lulu doesn’t like so he can try to make her believe one is crawling on her. But his memory isn’t very good. Also, he is hungry and he knows that two tomato sandwiches with his name on them are sitting on her kitchen table.

He will probably resort to tickling, even though it is against the rules. It wouldn’t be the first time.

So there you have it.  Many exotic farmyard beasts.  Lulu the Emu and Mara the Pink Pony are undoubtedly my favorites.  And the llama. Also, some old friends have recently revisited my little shop and noted a difference for the better. I think it’s the big noses.  And from this I think it is safe to say you should follow your (minor, inexpensive) obsessions. Big nose animal photography, as an example. You never know what might happen.   :O)