Category Archives: ATCs and ACEOs

More for Inktober, with a Princess in a Bottle

My goodness, post every day did I say? No, that’s not possible, it turns out! However, I HAVE been managing lots of little ink projects as Inktober continues to continue!

Uli With Familiars, and Mausoleum for Mona
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ pen and ink

Actual black and white and also some grayscale – these are noteworthy details as you don’t generally see either around these parts. Perhaps that will change. Perhaps a “Grayscales Project”. Ugh, but no time right now. Will put on back burner. :)

The Princess in the Bottle
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics

The Princess in the Bottle

Once there was an evil queen who loved nothing but jewels. It is said her heart was a hard, tiny diamond. They say she caused the riding accident that took the life of the king as punishment for impregnating her with their only child, a daughter. When the baby was born, the queen was repulsed by its soft helplessness, and without so much as giving it a name, she sent it away to live with a childless crone living in the dusty hills.

Unbeknownst to many, the crone was a witch,. She named the child Marta and taught her everything she knew,  all the while filling her with tales of her mother’s greed and evil nature. When the child was thirteen, she set out with a pale amber bottle she had prepared for her mother.

When Marta arrived at the castle, she found the queen a sad, lonely wreck of a woman surrounded by her jewels, who could not even keep a hound for more than a week before it ran away into the forest. She admired her daughter’s beauty, and wished some for herself. Marta agreed she could have some, so she added a few words to those she had prepared, making her mother young again, as young as Marta herself, before capturing her in the amber bottle, and sealing the lid with a waxy resin she’d made from boiling her own hair.

Marta invited the crone to live with her in the castle. They threw open the heavy curtains for the first time in years, and tamed all the half-wild hounds that roamed the forest.

None of the hounds would go near the room that housed the amber bottle, the one with the sad, tiny princess who was once an evil queen.

(c) The Slumbering Herd, 2014

***

Thanks for dropping in! And super late hello to Paint Party Friday. :)

More Pen and Ink, Inktober 5 and 6

Spotted Rooster, in progress
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners

Inktober continues! The rooster was fun. I really tried to manage a black and white pattern that would hold up up without color. But then I added color. :D

Villa van de Paddestoel, in progress
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ pen and ink

This mushroom villa actually has a bit of perspective (instead of a flat front). Still need to work on that. Meanwhile, where the heck did October come from? Yikes.

Stacked City in Pen and Ink, Inktober Day 2(.5)

Oh my gosh, you guys, it’s so much cuter in color! The black and white on the left was my #inktober production for Day 2, Inspired by this photo of Norway.

Stacked Housing in progress, pen and ink with Copic Markers
Final image 2.5″ x 3.5″ art card size

And here is a progress shot of the Scouting Team from the other day. You may notice I changed the eyepiece on the horse, as well as the drape of the hood. Also working on the background.

Scouting Team, in progress
6″ x 6″, pen and Copics

Thanks for dropping in! Hello to Paint Party Friday!

Sullen Witch, Tiny Things in Bottles & Happy Inktober!

Annabelle, 2.5″ x 3.5″
Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

It is the first of October and also the first day of Inktober! Are you going to do some? Hilariously, on the very first day of Inktober I forgot to scan this sullen little witch before adding color. For tomorrow and the rest of Inktober I hope to remember to scan new projects in ink before they get color.

And here’s some tiny bottles for a “Things in Bottles” swap at illustratedatcs.com. I have to do two more. Perhaps I will post them for Inktober and then color them. Or perhaps there will be other plans!

Model Home and Abandoned City
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ ink, Copics, gel pen

New plans might be made. Some plans might be broken. And so it goes. Thanks for dropping in! The plan is to post every day this month… we shall see!

Post 300, Themes and Schemes in Pen & Ink

The Smoking Fish, model #1
5″ x 7″ Copic markers, digital background

Themes I’ve been working on recently:

Here’s another witch, somewhat mummified.

The Ritual of Josephin, in progress
2.5″ x 3.5″ ink, markers, prismacolor pencil

Thanks for dropping in! Woooo, 300 posts!

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Silver Unicorn and a Pouty Witch, Copics

Moira, a Kladruber Unicorn
5″ x 7″ Copic Markers

In today’s installment of the Season of the Horse (a new project to improve my horse drawing skills), we have a unicorn based on a very old Czech breed, the Kladruber, found on Pinterest! The convex facial profile (rounded out instead of sloping inward), is an identifying characteristic of this breed. Here is an insanely adorable foal.

Hoping to get back in the swing of Paint Party Friday! Meanwhile, I’m still in early-Halloween mode with witch ATCs. This is Marciana, captured with a crabby scowl because her prized Fancy Chiggerwort spoiled. Bummer.

Marciana, in progress
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Thanks for dropping in! Still super busy at my day job. And I have to decide very soon about September’s 30 Paintings in 30 Days! Are you going to do it?

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Giraffe in a Catalog! Also, a Horse.

I have landed on page 34 of the new Blick Art Materials catalog (aka Dick Blick)! So crazy!

Blick Art Materials summer 2014 art supply catalog, pg 34

Holy cow! This is an image from 2011, but it’s the one they wanted. I had almost forgotten because they asked me many months ago.

Maximillian Likes Opera
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

And here, a very silly horse. Because my new project is The Season of the Horse! And many horses will be practiced.

[Also, I may have done something strange with my subscriber list, because occasionally I get people who say they do not get the emails, who want them! I’m not sure how to check whether I made things better or worse, though.]

One more thing! This board game looks super fun! And is so cute! It is one of those Kickstarter dealies. If you like games, you should totally watch the video. I only found it because the creator knows a comedian I like, and she mentioned it in her newsletter. :)

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A Witch and a Creep, Halloween Harbingers

Lucia, A Modern Witch. In progress.
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen.

Lucia, made for a “Witches” themed swap. Very early for Halloween. It all started when I made the following to answer a request for a “creepy thing in a jar”. As you may know, creepy things are not my typical choice of subject!

Creepy Thing in a Bottle, in progress
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Creepy can be fun once in a while. Might do more. Lots of progress pics!

Thanks for visiting!

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Copic Marker Art Cards, Fanciful Fantasy

You guys! This post was going to be about a tiny castle and a young witch, which you will find below. However, I am most pleased with this unicorn I made today, so I have decided to make her the star of this post.

Thistle in Progress
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ pen and ink

Thistle is a rare horned pony of the Lilac Herd. Her mother is Shadowfast, a Wisemare. Thistle has shown signs of of the following Talents: Empathetic DiscHorse, Minor Raincalling, and Soothsense.

Horses are a favorite art subject but I am so afraid of doing them terribly that I get no practice at them. However, a unicorn was requested as a trade and I decided to give it a go. I think I went through five sketch cards, but she turned out not bad!

Fenrick’s Castle and Young Agnes
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, uni PIN pens, white gel pen

And here we have a tiny house castle (belonging to Fenwick), made for an art card trade. I am fond of the mailbox. This tiny house is number 48 of 100 Tiny Houses!

And a young, somewhat stylish witch – very early for a Witches swap due in October. (I wish I’d left her eyes red but as often happens, I screwed about with them too much. Alas!)

Thanks for stopping by!  All horse drawing tips and suggestions welcome!

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Fancy Maiden and Fancy Mushroom, Pen and Ink

Red Gwendolyn, and Home of the Astral Gnome
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copic markers and uni PIN pens

Two from recent themes – Fancy Dress, and Tiny Houses.

Still smack in the middle of busy season at work so less energy for art. Arrrgh! Hello to Paint Party Friday! Thanks for dropping in!

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