Tag Archives: Copic Markers

A World in a Drop of Water, for Illustration Friday

Drop of Water World, 6″ x 9″
Copics, fine liners, gel pen, pencil with digital background

My entry for this week’s Illustration Friday topic “Water” is based on a misquote. Here is the first stanza from “Auguries of Innocence” by William Blake:

To see the world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

The rest has some mighty depressing imagery which has no place at my blog! But you can look it up if you like. Thanks for stopping in!

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Woodland Creatures ATCs, in Copics

Basilisk Lizard, A Master of Zen
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copic markers, fine liners, white gel pen

I have to admit I am very fond of George. He was going to get a tree or a fern leaf, but I decided not to risk mucking up his Zen space. He does meditation most evenings. I almost abandoned this card (like many other half-sketched images recently!) but I told myself it would work out. And it did! Possibly my best one yet. I would keep it, except I’ve been keeping too many lately and besides, I have to mail it off tomorrow!

A few weeks ago I made the fox (a different style than my other foxes, though I’m not sure my rudimentary hatching went as well as I’d like), and also the elephant shrew. Photo references are usually linked at the bottom of my posts. I use photos as guidelines and try to make the drawing very different.

Alastaire Fox ATC
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Alastaire is a forest elder and renowned peacemaker. Feuding foxes accept his judgement on a variety of matters from kit-rearing to boundary agreements.

Giant Elephant Shrew ATC
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Unlike her hyper brother Alec, Francesca is shy around strangers. All bets are off once you get to know her, however, because then she’ll chatter at you for hours. Mostly about shrews or bugs. But once in a while, if she’s in a strange mood, about the circle of life.

All three Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) were made for the Woodland Creatures swap at illustratedatcs.com. Thank you for visiting!

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Basilisk lizard photo reference, fox photo reference, giant elephant shrew photo reference.

Castle in the Mirror for Illustration Friday

Castle in the Mirror, 6″ x 8″
Copics, fine liners, white gel pen, white prismacolor pencil on toned cardstock.

For the topic “Mirror” at Illustration Friday. I’ve been seeing all kinds of IF entries on brown paper and I finally got a large sheet of mustard, and another of dark brown. The mustard is a card stock, so very absorbent and very thick, (though maybe not acid-free or ideal for one reason or another).

I can only manage to get greens or brown and oranges out of all my colors, which is a good start. But I may have to try blue paper too.

Princess Moira, 2.5″ x 3.5″
Copics, fine liners, white pen & pencil on white Bristol board.

Moira is not queen yet, but is next in line for the royal sanctuary. Her mother will probably give up the Queen’s crown by the end of the year, and Moira is content to wait. As princess she’s seen a bit of the workings of sheep bureaucracy, and she does not willingly, or hurriedly, seek more. (Which is not to say the perks aren’t excellent, too.)  Final card for Winged Queens swap at illustratedatcs.com. (You can see the first two, Floria the Fey Queen and The DogFaerie Queen, in my last post.)

Thanks as always for stopping by! Please double check your Illustration Friday link, if you’ve entered.

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(I was using artist’s tape around the edges because I planned to do a background, but then I didn’t!)

Sheep reference photo.

Steampunk and Fantasy ATCs, Tales Included

Geoffrey Teeth and Lilah Steampunk, Artist Trading Cards
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″, Copics, fine liners and white gel pen on smooth bristol board.

Because of a cleverly designed spring mechanism in his lower jaw, Geoffrey’s mouth can open and close in speech every once in a while. Because the motor takes so long to re-charge, he makes sure to save it for something important. The last time, several days earlier, produced the cryptic phrase, “Toads cannot move roads.” Made for Robots, Rocketry and Rayguns swap at atcsforall.com but I had to keep him.

Lilah is an adventure girl. She was raised among wild animals by a rural physician and his military-trained wife. As a result, she can fly most small planes and stalk unseen through dense undergrowth. She can also set a broken leg and makes very neat stitches. If needed. Made for a Steampunk swap at illustratedatcs.com.

Roland One Eye, 2.5″ x 3.5″ ATC
Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

A veteran engineer of the Mechanical Horse Wars, Roland disappeared from city life for many years. But when a second generation of the Merrano Gang started causing trouble in New Chicago, Roland was reluctantly pulled from a quiet retirement.

Floria the Fey Queen and The Dogfaerie Queen
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Floria the Fey Queen was the result of a forbidden union between a Valkyrie and a rare tree spirit. Hers is the final word on all matters of justice and death in the Wonder Woods.

The DogFaerie Queen was the first of her kind, created by a mad wizard’s experiment. He made four more before his death, and from these five all the others came. Nobody remembers her name. Only that she outlived the rest of the original pack by three generations. Both made for Winged Queens swap at illustratedatcs.com.

Lots of stuff outside my comfort zone but surprisingly pleased with the outcomes. Which is nice. Because that is hardly always the case! Thank you very much for stopping by! I am still looking into issues with my email subscriptions. Arrrgh.

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Maidens in Profile and Retro Sci-Fi ATCs

Lena the Seer, 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners and white gel pen.

Lena the Seer acts as both Counselor and Matchmaker to all the races of people in the Wonder Woods. She is well-respected by all but a few stubborn goblins who rarely heed her advice. Inevitably to their detriment.

Peculiar Maiden, Mystic Princess and Retro Redhead
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″, Copics, pen and ink. Two on bristol, one on mustard card stock.

Despite an existing list of trades and swaps I need to do (plus the great topic “Book” for Illustration Friday this week!), sometimes I’ll take a detour and do something else. In this case, the “Pleasantly Pretty and Particularly Peculiar People Profile Swap” at atcsforall.com. As a bonus, this swap inspired five more maidens for my 100 Maidens Project, which is now up to 32 maidens. (I must admit I was too fond of Lena the Seer {above} and decided to keep her rather than send her in for the swap!)

The Fontaine X97 and Retro Rocket
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen. Bristol, and mustard card stock.

The Fontaine X97 is considered a multi-class weapon. It is equipped with both long range and narrow beam lasers and a variety of explosive and cloaking attachments (available separately). It is rated M-14 and requires a Second Master’s Class license.

The Fontaine X97 is analogous to ancient earth’s BMW 300 series. This series was affordable to a wider audience than its top models, while still retaining the highest in early 21st century innovation and engineering.

For “Robots, Rocketry and Rayguns Swap” at atcsforall.com. If I haven’t mentioned it sixty-seven times already, I highly recommend atcsforall.com for anyone looking for a little inspiration, practice, feedback or ideas. It is open to everyone and features a huge range of art styles and levels.

At the risk of making this post way too long I just wanted to say one more thing. I sometimes get comments asking how I have time to do so much art! Well, I do have a regular job as an office manager, but because business is slower this year I am working about 32 hours. But the main reasons I think are, 1. I have no kids, and 2. I don’t go out much. Also, my current Artist Trading Card phase means tiny art that just doesn’t take as long as larger pieces. Thanks so much to everyone for stopping by! Progress pics below.

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House in the Crooked Tree for IF

Crooked Tree House, 9″ x 6″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

For “Crooked” at Illustration Friday. I realized that I’ve done a few tree houses so I had to make sure to add new things. Including: a vegetable garden box, a refuse area, a romantic dining room, a beehive, and a tiny tree house growing in a tiny pot. Plus many more things! I also spent more time with the animals.

In ATC news, I’ve been wanting to try some word art, and especially feel-good word art since the news is so ugly, particularly lately. That led to the “Be Kind” ATC below. The second, which is simultaneously awesome and appalling, was made on a lark when someone jokingly said, “What about a unicorn llama with a psychedelic rainbow nightscene background?” I was in a weird mood so I did it. The blacklight idea came at the end.

Be Kind & Blacklight Unicorn Llama
2.5″ x 3.5″ Artist Trading Cards, Copic markers, ink, white gel pen

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A Boot, a Cat, a Maiden, and Three Cool Dogs.

Whimsical Boot, Cat with Fairie, and Winged Moon Maiden
3.25″ x 2.25″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen on bristol board.

The boot is a recent favorite. Your heel has its own tiny chair – it’s the height of comfort! (Did you groan? So did I.) These three are from an address tag swap at illustratedatcs.com, and are meant to be hole-punched at the top and put on a ring. My address will appear on the back of each, and I will in turn get an address tag (with themes chosen from my preference list) from each of the same people. Yay! (The Winged Moon Maiden is Maiden Number 26.)

Have I convinced you that Artist Trading Card trading is super fun yet? How about some whimsical dogs? Made for a swap at atcsforall.com, the sister site of illustratedatcs.com.

Three ATCs for Whimsical Dogs Swap
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen on bristol board.

1. Brutus with Pipe. Brutus considers himself a terribly refined dog, and likes to smoke his pipe in the evenings. Sometimes after licking his butt.

2. Unrequited. The French Bulldog is Jackson. He is in love with a cat. The cat does not return his affections. In fact, the harried feline almost took out his eye in response to his recent advances. If she imagined this event would put an end to the whole business she was sadly mistaken, as Jackson had her portrait stitched into his eye patch.

3. Daisy with Kittens. Despite the apparent moment of calm captured above, Daisy’s patience was being tried, quite severely, by Inky the black kitten, aptly nicknamed The Terror of the East by the rest of the neighborhood. Why couldn’t she be more like her sister Luna, who could fall asleep in a snowstorm?

For more of my swap sets, I’ve posted about the Celestial Maidens, the Elemental Maidens, and Whimsical Robots. Hooray! Thanks so much for stopping in!

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The Bee Maiden and her Bursting Bonnet

Bee Maiden ATC and Bee Girl envelope art.
Copics, fine liners, white gel pen. Illustration board and envelope.

Nyuki* is a bee maiden. She travels with the hive she bonded with as a child, and can sing the name of every bee. The hive’s honey is a magical balm and can heal even the most grievous of wounds. Beside her is the Bee Girl. She is a friend to all the hives.

For the topic “Burst” at Illustration Friday. Made for a trade at illustratedatcs.com. Tons of progress pics below! I struggled mightily with the eyes, as you will see.

And since I’ve started doing more elaborate envelope art, I am including a few of my favorite envelope images:

Images from three envelopes. Copics, Sharpie & Staedtler markers and pens.

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Thanks for visiting! Don’t forget to visit other Illustration Friday artists (and the wonderful art blogs in my sidebar). If you want. ;D

*Nyuki means “bee” in Swahili

ATC Cats in Copics and Blog Award

Witch Cat, 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copic markers.

Selena is a water witch. She can cleanse a dirty well, draw the poison from a wound, and detect any trace of groundwater in a ten mile radius. She is rumored to have other, less savory skills, but only in the whispers of a jilted Tom.

I also thought it would be cool to see a row of ATC cats, due in part to the wild popularity (mild exaggeration) of my row of ATC sheep in this post. I seem to have a particular fondness for huge-eared Peterbald and Oriental Shorthair type cats (I always think that should say “Asian Shorthair”. Hmm.).

Five Cat ATCs, Copic markers. Left to Right: Peach Purple Peterbald Cat, Liam the Tree Tender,
Cat and Faerie (address tag card), Selena Witch Cat, Spook the Cat

And Another Thing

A big thanks to Linda Hensley for so kindly including me in her One Lovely Blog Award list. I couldn’t possibly pick seven favorite blogs to pass this along to, but I thought I could pick seven art blogs that are 1. lesser known, 2. posting consistently 3. not already in my sidebar. (Also that haven’t won this award recently, as far as I know.)

By the way, you should totally visit all those awesome blogs in my sidebar! But also these, on which I humbly bestow that small graphic called “One Lovely Blog Award”. And they will, if they choose, pass it along to seven blogs of their choice, too.

Sharon at del.art.ful. Go see “A bird a day” and other strange and beautiful things.
Claire Wildish. Hilarious and goofy characters, sometimes with photo backgrounds.
Ana Menéndez Fuentes. Darkly stylish pop culture digital illustration.
Alicia Gorecki. Colored pencils on toned paper, so cool!
Roland Prinsler. Pen and Ink in a tornado.
Linda at dots ‘n’ doodles.  Wonderfully cheerful illustrations.
Leigh at Colorfulleigh. A new blog from a new friend at illustratedatcs.com

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Imagination Tree or, Maiden of the Wood

Maiden of the Wood, 8.5″ x 11″ Copic Markers, digital sky

For “Imagination” at Illustration Friday. Have you joined yet? Why not?

This is the Maiden of the Wood, sometimes called the Dreaming One, another daughter of Gaia. One night for this maiden equals one thousand years for us. She makes her bed underground and dreams of magical things while hundreds of human years pass overhead. Often her dreams come to life on the earth just above her slumbering form.

Like the footie socks? I’d like to tell you they were planned all along but no, I tried and tried to do feet. I need to practice feet!  In any case, my favorite bit includes the socks and the underground reading room above them.

Tons of progress pics below (including some close-ups of the final), in case anyone is interested in the way the sketch changed as it went along. I could not get the colors right on the computer – arrgh! – but this is close. I’m not sure I love the greens. I think the underground should be darker. Also may go back and do a trunk design like in some of the sketches. Though more likely I will just move on to the next thing!

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Figure reference photo.