Category Archives: Copic Markers

Another 100 Maidens?

Multicultural
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Snow Sister, a Witch for Oddbreed and Cousin Naini. Multicultural maidens! Because I try to branch out from drawing conventionally pretty white girls all the time. I don’t always succeed. In my defense, I don’t want to offend anyone by drawing an unfamiliar culture poorly! Or accidentally including an offensive detail. (Please tell me if you see any!)

One thing, at least, is clear. I need more work on noses and mouths. Also, I should do some three-quarter views. So many things! Which is why I thought maybe I’d upgrade the 100 Maidens project to 200 maidens. I’ve probably got at least another 15 or more already done, including the three above.

Here are a few multicultural maidens from my first 100:

Maidens from Distant Lands, previously created
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Thanks for dropping in! A few progress pics below.

[portfolio_slideshow size=large]

Further Fancy Frocks! Ink ATCs

Cecille in the Portrait Room, and Housedress
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Cecille, on the left, is probably my favorite bit of vintage fancy clothes so far. I’m running a “Victorian & Other Elaborate Feminine Costume” swap at illustratedatcs. So, I like to make a lot of examples to draw people in. (It’s a few months off yet. I should probably pace myself a bit.)

As often happens, two of my current fixations merge into one! Here we have the Housedress – part fancy frock, part tiny house.

This ATC mashup brought to you by The Slumbering Herd. I have actually been thinking lately of changing the blog name. It’s a bit too long and unwieldy. You’ll be the first to know. Well. Probably the second.

Red Gold Dress Study, Ainsley Rabbit
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Ainsley Rabbit was made in response to a request for something Scottish. I think he’s pretty cute. (Or cat! Some people think he looks like a cat.) :)

That’s for stopping in! Slideshow below.

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]

 

Fancy Some Fancy? Old-Fashioned ATCs

Two Vintage Portaits
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, ink, gel and sparkly pen

Two maidens full of secrets submitted for the topic “Secret” at Illustration Friday. The young Tudor maiden on the left might be a lost portrait of a young Anne Boleyn. The one on the right is called “Antonia of Barcelona” and may be the only known portrait of a mysterious young woman who practiced fortune telling for the amusement of Spanish nobility in the mid-eighteenth century.

I’ve got a new mini obsession: Victorian and other fancy dress. Which makes life difficult when one has ongoing projects for previous obsessions: Tiny Cityscapes and Tiny Houses! But I shall muddle through it. :)

Lucille of Rhodan
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics

This is my 200th post, holy cow! The first was way back on May 1, 2011! Many thanks and welcome to new visitors and old friends! Slideshow below.

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]

Halloween Ghouls and More Autumn Cats

Three Ghoulish Halloween ATCs
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

A zombie goat! A Monk Ghoul! And a zombie sheep! Happy Halloween! We had a Halloween Art-a-thon all weekend at illustratedatcs.com. These were some of my favorite cards, currently en route to their new homes.

Also, more cats!

Three Autumn Cat ATCs
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

I do love the cats with the big ears! Particularly the Peterbald  and Oriental Shorthair varieties. (I always want to call them “Asian Shorthair” cats, but I’d be the only one.) From left to right:  Lionel in Hat, Meow Open (or “Housecat”!) and Lydia’s Kitten. The last refers to last year’s Peterbald cat with pumpkins:

Lydia with Pumpkins, 2012
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners white gel pens

Last time nini asked about the horse cards I got in trade for two cat cards. They were both by artist Nadine Thome. Here is her illustratedatcs gallery and Etsy shop! I was also very lucky to trade Lionel in Hat (above) for her Autumn Keeper. (This reminds me that I owe nini a cat!)

Thanks for stopping in! Not as many progress pics this time; I was in a bit of a Halloween frenzy and did not stop for many scans.

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]

 

Three October Cats

Tango and Ladybug, Franklin’s Giant Kitten, Teddy Cat
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Tango foolishly took a temp job as a security guard. Foolish because staying awake for extended periods is not his forte. Fortunately, his pal Ladybug has no problem giving him a friendly peck if needed.

Cats! Someone requested cats in a trade, but I wasn’t sure what kind of cat! So I made the first one and the third one above. She liked both and I shall get two lovely horses in return. The middle card was made for next weekend’s Halloween-a-thon at illustratedatcs.com.

Also for the a-thon, more tiny houses. These were made with a more muted but still colorful palette that I’ve been recently fooling with. They are Tiny Houses twenty-one and twenty-two. I think my favorite bit is the red cat against the moon.

Two Curious Spook Houses
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Thanks for dropping in!

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]

 

Tiny Halloween Houses, Part Deux

More Tiny Halloween Houses
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, Microns, Signo Uniball

More tiny houses. Halloween shaped ones. Today, lots of potted plants. And of course the trash cans. (They are still portals to a common hub!)

Candy Corn Cottage, Unwelcome, Housecan and Rounded House with Witch Hat.

I’ve also done some cats.  So while you may see more tiny houses next time,  you are also quite likely to find some cats.

Thanks for dropping in!

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]

100 Tiny Houses Project, Pen & Ink

Nine Tiny Houses, Oh My!
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

It was inevitable! I’ve been on a tiny house tear around here. Perhaps eventually I can turn the 100 Tiny Houses into a bustling neighborhood! It will have a Halloween side of the tracks and maybe a Steampunk neighborhood. (The Project includes 17 houses so far, starting with three Spook Houses from Halloween 2012.)

Those who have been following will be happy to know I am remembering to put little trash can portals in (almost) every one, for easy travel options.

The above nine include several older ones, and these four new ones:

Three Halloweenish Houses and 1 Steampunkish
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

I’ve started to name them – also fun! 1. Chapel of the Grey Witch, 2. The Cat Hag’s Shack, 3. The Pumpkin Charmer’s Cottage, 4. Clever Inventor’s Shed.

Thanks for stopping by! Managed a few progress pics. Will try to do more. ;)

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]

 

Halloween-ish Cityscapes

Witchy Boot Village
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

It’s back to the cityscapes around here, with a bit of Halloween flare. The 100 Cityscapes Project is up to 25! My favorite bit is probably the candy corn mailbox.

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

Also, hat houses. With tiny hat house numbers. Sort of Halloweenish.

Snowglobe City
2.5″ X 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

One more, not very Halloweenish. Done about the same time as the City in a Bottle. I should really look into doing proper light reflections on glass. At some point. If you know some good resources for learning about light reflections on glass, please share!

Thanks for dropping in!

[portfolio_slideshow size =”large”]

 

Stella and Moe for Illustration Friday

Stella and Moe
5″ x 7″ Copics, Micron pens, gel pen

Created for the Illustration Friday topic “Together”.  I think Stella’s pretty cute but Moe looks far too serious. Also, I’m not entirely sure a cat’s ear would bend quite that way and I’m afraid it makes him look a bit like a dog. Otherwise, two furry pals. Hooray!

I looked at LOTS of cat photos. A couple reference cat photos can be found here and here.

I wanted to add another note to this post. Several people from Illustration Friday, or other visitors here, have recently switched over to posting only on FaceBook. Since I am not on FaceBook, I cannot comment on those images. I wish I could – some are really great! I really do try to visit back everyone who visits here, but sometimes I am unable to comment because I don’t want to join any more networks. : /

Thanks for stopping in! More cityscapes next time! 

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]

Oh! And I just posted some zombie dogs and cats greeting cards in my shop! You know, in case you needed something of that nature. :D

Bird and Bear Portrait Project, Copics

Bird and Bear
9″ x 12″, Copic markers on 150 lb smooth drawing paper

This is the final version of a commissioned portrait for a quirky bird girl and burly bear guy, getting married in about three weeks. The project took closer to three months. Most of that time was filled with mild panic and her unhelpful cousin, procrastination. Hooray!

I don’t do portraits, neither people nor pets. But I often do beasts, and often in clothes. So I figured I would give it a shot, with my friend’s promise he would not take it if he did not want it.

Three items were produced for this project. A pencil sketch, which I chose not to ink over – sort of a contingency plan in case the inking never worked out quite right:

Final sketch, Bird and Bear

I was worried about two things. One, that all the erasing would affect the marker coverage, and two, that I wouldn’t be able to reproduce the image as well again if I mucked it up.

So, I bought my first lightbox (with a 40% off one item coupon at my local Dick Blick’s) and used that to ink a clean sheet. Actually, I should back up a moment. I also used the lightbox to reduce the size of the image, by scanning it, shrinking it by a couple inches, printing it, then re-creating the pencil sketch, but smaller and with better detail. THEN I got another clean sheet and started inking.

The first inked version got off to a bad start when I made his pupils too big. Then I overworked the thing to death trying to adjust the colors.

Bird and Bear, first color version

Still, I could have stopped here, finished it in a bit more, and called it a day. But his hair is too dark and his snout far too short. And her feather too long. So I inked a whole new one and started over. And it not only went far more quickly than the first, it came out much better. (I think.) Yay!

Lots of progress pics, including some early bird and bear sketches. Thanks for visiting!

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]