Tag Archives: atc

Psychedelic Faces with Copic Markers

Rhonda Red and Donna Disco
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″, Copics, fine liners, gel pen on smooth Bristol

Recently someone pointed out this neat exercise with intuitive faces. Although the directions are for watercolor, I figured I could try to coax a more watercolorish effect with Copic markers. So far the results have something of a hippy vibe.

For this reason I am declaring this the Power of the 1970s post, for the topic “power” at Illustration Friday. I have not abandoned the cityscapes, more of which you will undoubtedly see if you come around next time. And thank you so much to Vinyl Eraser who does terrific architectural drawings, for mentioning my 100 Cityscapes Project!

 

Thanks for visiting!

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The Village of Little Sprout, for Jungle at IF

The Village of Little Sprout, process and final
2.5″ x 3.5″, Copics, fine liners, gel pen on Bristol Board

Submitted for the topic “Jungle” at Illustration Friday. My latest unconventional cityscape, it was very fun to make. And I would like to live there. :)

I was also quite pleased with this cat, though she has only the most distant connection to the jungle, having moved to the Great Red Plains in her youth.

Tarabell the Theurgist
2.5″ x 3.5″, Copics, fine liners, gel pen

Shown here with her ceremonial robe and shield, Tarabell was one of the three founding members of the Lunar Cat Council. A cat called Elsbeth wears Tarabell’s robe now, with great care and reverence.

The Lunar Ceremony is open to visitors twice per year, and it is a grand and wondrous honor to see the entire Council in their ancient finery.

(Somewhat more realistic than previous cats!) Made for a trade at illustratedatcs.com.

Thanks for visiting! I forgot to send out my last post, so maybe take a look if a robot called Croissant sounds interesting to you.

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Sizing Him Up, Copic Art Card

Sizing Him Up
2.5″ x 3.5″, pen and ink, Copics

Croissant is the sort of name one acquires when one’s owner allows his six-year old to name his robot butler. Croissant bore it stoically, after the fashion of his kind. But perhaps it made him slightly more suspicious of visitors to the family estate. Other robots, in particular, were forced to endure quite stringent scrutiny.

For the topic “Robot” at Illustration Friday. It’s a bit abstract! And I’m not sure how the big fellow ended up with a lizardy texture. Experimenting, I suppose!

I also figured out a way to get that white on toned paper look, which is to use white gel pen in a sketchy style over lightly colored areas. In this case, lightly colored with warm gray 02 or 03. I also tried to cover up the design in the large eye with gel pen. To mixed results.

Thanks for stopping in!

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Cityscape Illustrations and Imaginary Travels

Daydreaming City
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, gel pen

Sometimes at night the entire city sways gently side to side, as if recalling blissful daydreams that its Dreamers dreamed all day.

Submitted for the topic “Travel” at Illustration Friday. I have always wanted to do cityscapes and streetscapes! Just not quite as much as dogs or magical creatures or alien robots or maidens. Until now! So here are the first two. Be kind, as I need much practice!

draak eiland
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, gel pen

A spotted dragonlet lands beyond the seawall, impatient for her companions to join her. Watching the young ones learn to fly is a favorite pastime of the villagers.

(This was actually the first one. Eeek, perspective.) It was originally a city in the side of the hill but you know how it is, sometimes the hill turns into a winged beast of one kind or another. Thanks to waughtercolors for starting a cityscape themed swap!

I’ve put together an Etsy favorites board for inspiration, if you want to see some great streetscape and cityscape art! Thanks for dropping in!

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Red Setter in Copic Markers

Red Setter Called Waldorf, process and final
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copic markers, fine liners, gel pen

Waldorf was a reader from a very young age. At three he was a fan of White Fang and the Jim Kjelgaard series of dog books. But lately he prefers such diverse topics as Nordic legends and artisan cheese making, with the occasional Philip K. Dick.

If you were a reader and a dog lover like me as a youngin, you probably read some Jim Kjelgaard. We had an Irish Setter named Rusty, and as a result I was particularly fond of the Big Red, Irish Red and Outlaw Red books, but also Snow Dog and Desert Dog. I was also a huge fan (and cried frequently!) over White Fang by Jack London. The other dog book I remember fondly is Champion Dog: Prince Tom by Jean Fritz, the uplifting tale of a scrawny Cocker Spaniel runt who grew up to be a champion many times over.

Made for a trade at illustratedatcs.com. Did you have favorite dog books as a young person?

Beautiful reference photo, (a Gordon Setter). Thanks for stopping in!

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Two Bright Birds, One Goldfish, Marker and Ink

Maureen in the Jungle
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Two more colorful birds created for a Birds swap (first two posted previously). Maureen is a little bit Hornbill and a little bit Heron, with a possible side of Flamingo. She is one of a small flock of magical, long-lived creatures who live in villages atop clouds. This may be my favorite background!

Lionel Shoebill
2.5″ x 3.5′ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Lionel comes from a long line of strangely-colored shoebills. The color always passes down to the male members of the family (much to the chagrin of his sisters). Family legend suggests that a great-great-great uncle was a Toucan, but really, how would that be possible? (Answer: Nature finds a way!)

Hannah the Goldfish
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

And finally, Hannah the goldfish. It’s quite different than previous goldfish, but thankfully the client was happy. Her mom said Hannah got loads of positive comments on Fishbook and was thrilled and also quite touched, especially because she got teased a lot for her spots when she was little.

Thanks for visiting! Progress pics below.

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Robot Aliens, or Alien Robots?

Darla Two
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, gel pen

On the cold side of Centauri Sixteen, forty years after landfall, an elderly astronomer called Garth discovered a creature much like this one, seemingly lost in the Stalagmite Forest. It seemed shy and kept a distance between them, but followed him home. The sad face reminded him of his daughter Darla, now a deep space navigator, so he called her Darla Two. She became a sort of pet, one who liked to eat fig beetles and look through his daughter’s old picture book replicas. At least this is the story he told. No one else ever saw her.

Winnie the Wonk
2.5″ x 3.5″ ATC, Copics, fine liners, gel pen

Leah was the daughter of a Meteor Retrieval engineer and a planetside nurse, with few playmates her own age. When she was about five, her father heard about an interplanetary astronomer called Garth who befriended a mechano-alien with wonky eyes and wonky hair. The story inspired him to build his daughter a mechanical friend with similar features. As a testament to the success of this friendship, Leah grew up to become a robotic specialist and built the first Robotic Ambassador. She named it Winnie.

Keen Art Resource 02

How to Refill Copic Markers, by BayleeCreations. I believe you can find quite a few videos on this topic, but this one is very thorough and talks about various related issues. I spilled a lot of ink before I watched this, but now I don’t. Hooray!

Thanks for stopping in! Lots of progress pics below. (I keep thinking about doing videos instead of slideshows, but it feels like it would be too  time-consuming so I’m not sure yet. Do you watch many art-related videos?)

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An Alien ATC and Some Keen Resources!

Melba T
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, Microns, white gel pen

A persistent rumor in scientific circles is that a small creature with one large eye appeared on the Saturn space station one day. If it had a small craft of its own, they never found it. It didn’t speak, but displayed an uncanny affection for Melba Toast, an old earth delicacy which the lead climate engineer had been hoarding. They named the creature Melba T and studied it for three days. When the Melba Toast ran out, the creature disappeared as mysteriously as it had arrived, with no witness.

Melba T was created for a “People of Planet X” swap, as mentioned in the last post. I think the curve of the white highlights is one of the keys to an effective eye. I use a Signo Uniball white gel pen. The tip clogs frequently but it is the best opaque white I’ve found for this purpose (some might prefer white paint with a brush).

And one more thing. I am going to try to add a new art resource to all of my blog posts, something I’ve actually used and found helpful. After I’ve done a few I’ll create a page and put them all in one place.

Helpful Art Resource 01

While reading up on noses recently I came across a very charming and effective online art instructor called Stan Prokopenko and his channel, ProkoTV. These two videos helped me with noses more than any other video or written instruction:

Proko: How to Draw a Nose: Anatomy and Structure

ProkoTV: How to Draw a Nose: Step by Step

(Let me know if you watch them!)

Thanks so much for visiting! A few Melba T progress pics below.

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Sir Valance Surveillance for Illustration Friday

Sir Valance Surveillance
5″ x 7″, Copic Markers, Micron & Prismacolor fine liners

Made for the Illustration Friday topic “Surveillance”. So I was just going to do a dapper fellow called Sir Valance who liked valances. But Bert thought I should make him standing behind the valance, and then I thought it should be an ad for his detective agency. I thought the idea was too complicated and I didn’t think I’d be able to illustrate it.  But then I did. Which is very satisfying. (And the result of  a lot of practice. Tons. If you wondered.) ;)

Murmak Cogwrench ATC
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, Microns, gel pen

And this is an art card for a “People of Planet X” swap, which is third in a series after People of the Forest and People of the Sea (see previous posts)! I tried to get some vital statistics so I could introduce this fellow, but the universal communicator reverted to ones and zeroes and I wasn’t able to fix it in time for this post.

Thanks for visiting! Progress pics below. Questions and comments always welcome!

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Patterned Skulls in Ink for Illustration Friday

Arturos and the Witch’s Eye ATC
2.5″ x 3.5″, Copics, Microns, gel pen

There was once a mute witch who lived in a cave outside of town with her cat called Arturos. She sold love potions and healing balms to any villagers brave enough to visit. As legend tells, she plucked out her own right eye, and the right eye of Arturos, and switched them. It is said her new eye allowed her to see into the twilight world of cats. What Arturos saw, he never told.

Submitted to “Worn” for Illustration Friday. Both the eye and the skull are quite worn! They were displayed for a short time at the Oddity Museum of Ulster, but were reportedly removed when an elderly couple insisted the eye was moving in its (borrowed) socket. At least that’s what the placard beside the plaster replica says! I do not know if any of this story is true, but it does bring a touch of magic and a few curiosity seekers to the village.

Red Yellow Skull, and Red Skull with Lizard
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″, Copics, Microns, gel pen on Bristol Board

Two more skulls! I quite like the red one with the lizard. This is not subject matter I usually cover! All three were created for a “Bones” swap. I’ve been thinking lately I want more cards for my shop, and fewer for trading – simply because there is only so much time in the day! On the other hand, the swaps provide lots of inspiration in the form of other artists (just like Illustration Friday!) and also require subjects I am not as familiar with, which is excellent practice. Balance is the thing I must find.

Reference photo for the red skull (it’s a bit spooky). Thanks for stopping in!

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