Category Archives: Steampunk

Four Girls on Various Themes, Copic Markers

Four Girls on Various Themes (click to enlarge)
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″, pen and ink

(Left to right: Celestus (with cat), Tamara, Francine and Skye)

Fine people of the blogosphere, I bring you my continuing tale of illness and the American healthcare system. No, not really. But I did go to the doctor three times in two months, and only on the third visit did I get some antibiotics, which I hope will help. But if it’s viral, they won’t help. But maybe I have more than one issue, who knows?!

The first doctor thought I would be over an upper respiratory infection soon and told me to wait it out. The second doctor, a month later, said I probably had adult onset allergies. And finally two days later, maybe bronchitis-maybe pneumonia, let’s try antibiotics. And if that doesn’t work, next is a chest X-ray. Yeesh.

Enough about that! Above you will find some new art cards, three on a Build-Girl-Theme with various attribute and color choices, and one more beehive-haired steampunk lass, Francine, at the bottom left. I’ve started a new Flickr album with all the fancy gals from 2015 to date.

Thanks for dropping in! More Found Poetry next time, perhaps! [And hopefully no more griping about being sick. Arrrgh!]

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]

 

Fancy Hair, Fancy Gadgets, Fancy Overload

Jasmine, Tika, Ooni (click to enlarge)
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, gel pen

I kid. Of course it’s not possible to get fancy overload. These are the three most recent art cards with the big hair-fancy clothes themes. Which I apparently cannot get enough of. Maybe this is why I like Project Runway (despite the fact that most of the clothes produced on that show are dreadful – mainly because of stupidly short “challenge” timelines).

Also! Because I told someone recently I would be putting new things in my shop soon (after many months of neglect), I have finally done so! A whole bunch of newer art cards including Tika, in the center above.

Lots of progress pics! Thanks for stopping in! I have yet another big hair woman in the works. :)

And hello to Paint Party Friday! It’s been a while.

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]

More Fancy Hair and Fancy Doodads!

Yuki, Nina and Agent Coo
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, gel pen

The latest fancy lasses, who have inspired this collective:

Twelve Fancy Dos, theslumberingherd.com
Assorted art cards, 2.5″ x 3.5″ pen & ink

Row one: Calliope, Geraldine, Sayoko, Phyllis; Row Two: Virginia, Yuki, Betty Lou, Nina & Agent Coo; Row Three: Tamako, Elsa, Dorothy, Bubblegum Geisha. (Because I always name them!)

Thanks for dropping in! I have an idea for a book that uses lots of my art cards from the last few years. For one thing, I like them, and for another, it puts this project firmly into progressing territory as opposed to haven’t-started territory. I know which territory I prefer!

More on the book soon, maybe! Thanks for dropping in!

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]

 

Just Another “Where Did February Go” Post

Faces 17 & 18, Elsa and Bubblegum Geisha
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, gel pen

These are seventeen and eighteen of the 29 Faces challenge. Over the weekend I managed six more, and that’s not too bad.

six in progress, pencil, pen, Copics

Being sick is not pleasant, and this nasty cold has dragged on too long. I’d say most of us here on the winter side hope Spring shows up soon! Thanks for stopping in. :)

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]

 

 

Steampunk Beehive and 29 Faces to Date

 

Calliope, 2.5″ x 3.5″
Copics, finer liners, gel pen

Notes from the Sick Room, Day 6:  The bugs think they are winning, but they are not. I will outlive you, tiny hellions! The worst is I feel better in the afternoons, but then the evening and morning are sucky again. Arrgh! Perhaps one benefit to getting sick is to have empathy for others when they get sick. Which I will. Because this is SUPER SUCKY. But I do like my beehive steampunk lass (progess pics below)!

29 Faces February 2015, the first 15
Mostly 2.5″ x 3.5″, pen and ink, Copics, colored pencil

And these are the first fifteen of 29 Faces. So, it is day 22 and I am at #16. Still doable, people! Thanks for dropping in! Apologies if I have not visited back, I am trying but the teeny bugs continue to sap my energy. Bah.

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]

Further Colored Pencil Adventures

Bug and Robut, 4″ x 6″
Faber-Castell Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils, mostly

Bender from Futurama (in a rare spot of fan art!) for a Secret Santa partner whose likes include bugs and robuts. I hope she likes it! This is mostly done in Faber-Castell Polychromos. The main drawback to using them (or other creamy-type pencils) is that I use a lot of pressure at times which causes muscle fatigue. And I am no spring chicken! Or other chicken. What a weird phrase. :D

Also! Ugh! Colored pencil dust. (Probably because I use too much pressure.) Any tips? I keep getting little colored dust stuck all over. So frustrating! Please provide tips if you have any.

Linus, 2.5″ x 3.5″
Colored pencils and pens

And this is Linus. Also done in Polychromos and pen. I like him! He is strangely stylish.

Thanks for dropping in! I was in Florida for a long weekend and work continues to be crazy but I hope to get back to at least once a week, soon.

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]

Scouting Team, from Black and White to Color

Submitted to Illustration Friday for the topic “Silence” because silence is one of a scouting team’s most potent weapons!

Scouting Team, 6″ x 6″ pen and ink with Copic markers
Inked version for Inktober and final color version

I must say this was an interesting exercise! For Inktober, I attempted a black and white image but you can see on the left where I got stuck and started to add color. I was going to fill the whole background with black, but I decided I should at least TRY an interesting background of some kind. And hopefully keep it from clashing or interrupting the figures in the foreground.

The final version seems a bit overly busy, but I don’t think it is competing with the figures, so that is one victory! I don’t tend to plan ahead, so maybe that’s something to work on. Here is one of the horse photos I used for reference.

I’ve also noticed that this orange-green-purple (red-violet, really) palette has followed me through three projects! Here they are all together. This is a departure from my usual VERY bright colors. Who knows what colors I shall use today! Maybe it will be ones that do not need to be filled. Haha.

Annabelle, Scouting Team and Stacked Housing
pen and ink with Copic markers

This is horse number 15 of the Season of the Horse project, in which I draw horses in hopes of improving that skill. Thanks so much for stopping in!

Horsing Around in Pencil

Scouting Team, 6″ x 6″ pencil sketch

I like this one because there’s more of a story with the accessories and additional figure. But this horse is more cartoonish than I would like. Don’t know if I’ll color it.

 

Seaworthy, 5″ x 7″ pencil sketch

I did this one last weekend and I may be done with it. I do love the tiny ship! But the rest is all too close to the edge of the paper (again) and I sort of moved on to other things. But you never know what might show back up here!

Is anyone doing Inktober? Another month-long challenge! To draw in ink every day. Thanks for visiting!

More Smoking Fish. In Clothes, with Pipes.

The Smoking Fish Banner
Copic marker art, arranged digitally

Blue jeans. Victorian ruff. Kilt. Tuxedo pants. Did you wonder if they were stylish? They are so stylish!

It’s Version 1 of a new Facebook banner for the band The Smoking Fish.  I may try to increase the size of the text but with my unpracticed Photoshop Elements skills, the digital part of this took ages and I figure I’d give it a rest for the moment. (The slideshow below has more close-ups of the drawings.)

You may have been following the smoking fish illustrations on my Facebook page. (Or, you could!) I do put a bit more art up there. I’m also still updating Flickr. My Tumblr and DeviantArt pages are ancient history. I think with blog-Facebook-Flickr, three is my maximum. I don’t have time for more, holy cow!

Thanks for dropping in! Boatload of progress pics below (though none of the digital part – maybe next time.)

[portfolio_slideshow size =”large”]

 

The Twins Who Parted Ways, Pen & Ink

The Twins Who Parted Ways
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Mila and Delia were born twelve minutes apart on Atari Prime, one of earth’s closest habitable planets. Their parents were scientists preparing for an influx of new colonists. Both believed their daughters would stay but if not, then surely they would at least stay together. They did not.

Mila chose the Earth and joined a commune committed to reforesting the former South of Italy, now part of the New Mediterranean Landmass.

Delia chose space and became a Raptor Pilot, making stellar light runs into unknown star systems in search of adventure and lucrative mineral resources.

Both art cards were recently made for no particular reason except to practice fancy things. And also because I was avoiding doing a different project.

Thanks for the visit! Progress pics below.

[portfolio_slideshow size=”large”]