Category Archives: sketches

A Last Batch of Mermaids. Probably.

Submitting to Paint Party Friday even though it’s pen and ink. Because I hope to be inspired by PPF people and get back to painting for next week. :)

Android Mermaid
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Yes, it’s totally more themed mermaids. Whether this is the end of them remains to be seen!

Nola, a Pirate Mermaid, and Mermaid Marie
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

These last three are probably my favorites. Also the 1970s Vampire Mermaid. Here’s the whole bunch. (Including that albino mermaid. I can’t decide about it.)

Nine Mermaids (click to enlarge)
March 2014, The Slumbering Herd

Thanks for stopping in!

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Cyborg of the Demon Witch Sisters

Submitted to “Red” at Illustration Friday.

Cyborg of the Demon Sea Witches (click to enlarge)
Two 2.5″ x 3.5″ art cards in Copics and fine liners

Mrs. Thurston’s fourth-grade class was reading about Hobbits. It was nothing by Tolkien of course, whose salacious and perverse vision was not appropriate for grown people, let alone children. Such was the lack of wisdom embodied in Mrs. Thurston, whose hippie parents would have been appalled by what their daughter Sunflower had become.

Unfortunately for Mrs. Thurston (or fortunately, if you believe the loss of ignorance is always a positive, even if painfully gained), she had a student named Maybelle Llewellyn whose mother had finally reached a breaking point in hearing about this narrow-minded teacher every day her child returned home from school.

On this particular day, Mrs. Thurston had assigned several pages to be read aloud by the students as she daydreamed about Father Knows Best, her favorite tv show. Unbeknownst to Mrs. Thurston, Mrs. Llewellyn had swapped the second half of all the childish folklore texts with an adventurous tale of two demon sea witch sisters, Djalla and Djegga, who built a cyborg mermaid to take over their ocean planet.

The sentence that snapped Mrs. Thurston out of her Jim Anderson fog began, “Djegga decided to use the lower orifice as a weapon repository,” and only because little Jenny Hernandez – despite being the best reader in the room – stumbled over both “orifice” and “repository”.

What happened next the whole town has promised never to reveal. Such was the agreement with Mrs. Thurston, who agreed to leave quietly with her small pension.

In the end Mrs. Llewellyn was given 25 hours of community service (and the enduring thanks of many local parents) and Mrs. Thurston retired to rural Wales with her blind husband. Maybelle Llewellyn eventually became a successful fantasy author, specializing in creatures of the ocean.

Many thanks to AnnD, who requested a story to go with my Demon Mermaid (now one of the Demon Witch Sisters). Thanks to everyone for stopping in!

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The Maiden and the Parasaurolophus, Ink Art

Imogene and the Parasaurolophus
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Another day, another two inked art cards with an unlikely connection! The parasaurolophus and Imogene are faces number 17 and 18, which puts me slightly ahead of the February curve!

This is a detail of a larger tapestry that hangs in Imogene’s front hall. She claims it was inherited down several generations, originally stitched out of the imagination of a talented great aunt from Quebec whose husband was the owner of a parasaurolophus skull.  The story is somewhat tenuous, as the  parasaurolophus was first discovered in the 1920’s, after the woman in question had died.

Incidentally, this creature (who probably looked totally different than this!) lived 75 MILLION years ago (according to Wikipedia. Hold it, confirmed at BBC Earth). Did I mention – SEVENTY-FIVE MILLION YEARS. I can’t even.

Here’s my last week’s retrospective (as inspired by denthe):

Faces 10 -16, 29 Faces Challenge February 2014
The Slumbering Herd

Thanks for stopping in!

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Henry VIII and the Jackalope, Copic Art Cards

Henry VIII and the Jackalope
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

If you came in here thinking that these two faces have nothing to do with each other, you could not be faulted for thinking so! For one thing, the Jackalope is commonly believed to be a North American cryptozoologic creature. And for another, ‘ole Henry spent a lot of his time juggling wives and that whole Reformation business so it’s doubtful he had time for pets.

I was just as surprised as you must be right now, to learn that it was in fact a six and a half foot tall Jackalope named Hewerald that told Henry which wives to behead and how to go about severing England’s connection to the Catholic church.

Perhaps you’re wondering if the Jimmy Stewart vehicle “Harvey”, about a gentle man who travels about with a six foot tall imaginary rabbit, might be based on this story. Why yes, it was! Of course Harvey wore no horns, and was intensely wise in the manner of good pookas. The complete opposite of Henry’s advisor (a bad pooka). Would you be, once again, surprised to learn that in fact they tried it that way the first time, but Jimmy Stewart was incapable of portraying villainy of this kind? Ah, the things you might learn on a little art blog!

I wish Henry’s eyes were more beady. But I like his nose. Thanks for visiting! These are Faces number 15 and 16 for the 29 Faces challenge.

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Another Girl and Her Dog, Acrylics

The Slumbering Herd post number 250 is Face #14! And it is Valentine’s Day. AND, also Paint Party Friday!

She Lost Him in the Divorce
6″ x 6″ Acrylics on canvas board

Sarah Trumpp and I briefly discussed whether this cross-posting, double-duty business was wrong. I believe we decided in the end not to worry about it too much. :)

I have a feeling I should try some things without the black outlines all the time. With this one, I went back to sketching and I like the result. Sometimes a sketch is nice way to go about it.

I had to stop last night at about the 9th frame, below. I haven’t been getting enough sleep and that makes for a rough workday. However, I think it benefited from drying completely before I took another run at it. More patience I must learn. Pffft.

Thanks for stopping in!

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Day 30 and Lived to Tell the Tale

Happy Paint Party Friday!  And holy cow, we made it! Day 30 of 30 Paintings in 30 days!

Leana, Lady of Cats
8″ x 10″ acrylics and ink on canvas board

Though I did not get enough sleep (and got off to a slow start), the challenge has been fantastic! And though I did several smaller works for a total of 30 in 30 days, these 19 acrylic paintings really represent what I hoped to accomplish this month. (And this little gallery is much more than I expected from one month!)

The First Eleven, January 2014
Various sizes, acrylic, ink, gel pen

The Final Eight, January 2014
Various sizes, acrylics, ink, gel pen

I suppose some of these might go in my shop (sadly neglected these past 30 days)! Some need some finishing, though. Lots of progress pics for each over the last 30 days of posts. (I think I skipped 2 days, possibly 3.)

Many thanks to Leslie Saeta for hosting!

And next, it’s off to 29 Faces, where I hope to continue painting. But with slightly more sleep. Congratulations to all and thank you to everyone for the encouraging notes!

And one more thing! I have linked to 50 Canvases in 2014, over at wonderstrange!

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Stella the Navigator for Day 29

Day 29 of the 30 Day Challenge. It’s crazy!

Stella the Navigator
6″ x 6″ acrylics, ink, gel pen on gessobord

Her poor neck is a bit off, and many other refinements are also needed, but it is midnight again and I have a day job. Alas!

I hope some of you folks will post a month-long retrospective tomorrow! I’m going to try to do that. Also, I hope to see some of you at the 29 Faces Challenge.

Thanks for stopping in!

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Animal Hat Masquerade, in Acrylics

I was going to say “Cat Hat” instead of “Animal Hat”, but I suspect it looks more like a bear hat, or possibly a brown wolf hat?  I shall call it a cat-bear-wolf hat.

Animal Hat Masquerade
6″ x 8″ Acrylics canvas on 3/4″ frame

Submitted for the topic “Disguise” at Illustration Friday. And it is Day 26 of the 30 Day Painting Challenge!

You will see in the progression photos (still quite amateur quality photography), I changed colors quite a few times. Maybe I should have stuck to blues and the first, lighter blue background. I’m also not totally sold on that bulky blue-green tunic. But I must stop here and move on!

Thanks for stopping in!

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Day 22 Brings a Well Dressed Cyclops Called Hazel

Day 22 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

Hazel in Her Finest, For Company
5″ x 7″ Acrylics only on canvas board

I am behind from yesterday! Re-did her poor eye way too many times and I still don’t love it. Will need to watch some acrylic eye painting videos! Colors: Ultramarine Violet, Medium Magenta, Mars Black, Titanium White.

Here are a few of my adventures with eyes in ink from the last year:

Various Eye Creatures
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Eyes as Big as Wagon Wheels, Tikki Skull, Melba, and my favorite, Darla Two. Thanks for stopping in!

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Tale of Two Giraffes

Welcome to Day 19 of the 30 day challenge!

A New Friend
5″ x 7″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

This giraffe was a request by a friend at illustratedatcs.com, intended for a nursery. I offered to add a bunny, but ended up adding a ladybug. On a very tall flower. I think s/he’s pretty cute.

My first try was a giraffe in acrylics, because of the painting challenge. I’ve done quite a few paintings recently so wanted to continue the run. But alas! The giraffe, while not finished, was just feeling too somber for a nursery (see below). Anyway, I was under a deadline to produce a giraffe and figured my best chance for success would be ink, my old standby.

Here’s the painted giraffe in progress. (Stay tuned, it may change dramatically between now and the next time I post it!)

Giraffe (in Progress)
5″ x 7″ Acrylics on canvas board

Note to subscribers! I am posting every day this month for the challenge, but only emailing twice a week. Just so you know. Thank you! (Also, apologies for dust and eraser bits on the scanner!)

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