Tag Archives: Copic Markers

Grisly Tudor Portrait. My Dark Side!

Two and Five.
Henry VIII with portraits of his two beheaded wives.
5″ x 7″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Hooray, I can finally post the gruesome portrait I made for a Secret Santa gift. The giftee, AnnD, is in love with the Tudors and has a fondness for historical beheadings. (She also does hilarious crafty things with her pals over at wonderstrange.  And, she made and sent me this coolest Marie Antoinette ornament. )

I do like how it’s *almost* tasteful. Then I feel guilty because those poor women. Dang!

I may need a whole new page for the Dark Side (which will need a much better name than the Dark Side).  I hope the people who like the cute animals and cities and houses here will not be offended. (But I’d wager you odd ones will dig it.)

Next week it’s back to imaginary birds. Or tiny houses. Or some other, cuter, thing.

Thanks for stopping in! Leave a note! Lots of progress pics!

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A Blue Queen, A Fancy Hat, and a FB Page

Hjordís
2.5″ x 3.5′ Copics, fine liners, gel pen

The latest Maiden, number 125!

In other news, finally, it’s The Slumbering Herd Facebook page! I’ve only been saying I would do it for ages. It is started.

But know this, friends, visitors, aliens, imaginary creatures large and small:  I shall never, after this moment, type the words “please like my Facebook page”. I like things I like. You like things you like. The whole likes thing is rather confounding.

I’m not sure what to do with the page just yet, but I’ve put up a bunch of art card albums, including dogs, cats, tiny cities, tiny houses and imaginary critters. Can I just say – holy crap. I have inked a LOT of little art cards.

Here’s another fancy maiden – fancy hat mostly! – that I did last week.

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

Progress pics for both below. Thanks for stopping in. ;)

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Further Adventures with Snow Queens, Ink Art

Bronweyn of Galac Clan
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Ilse of the Bright Snows, and Wise Helene
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen.

Three more for the Snow Kings and Queens swap over at illustratedatcs.com. I like to make them very different, when doing a swap. Face shape, eye size/shape/placement, hair, accessories – all easy to change! It’s good practice to make sure I don’t do the same face every time. It’s one thing to have a “style”, but another to repeat oneself too much. Do you have any strategies like that?

These are also maidens number 121, 122 & 123 for the newly upgraded 200 Maidens Project! (There are actually more than 123, but I’m just going to go with the number of uploads, and ignore that time I put four in one post.) :)

If I may add one more bit of news. I finally put some artwork in a local shop. I cannot take credit for finding this shop, as she found me (and some other local artists) at Etsy. Early the day after Thanksgiving, I met Di at her new shop, Honey Poo Poo’s. She was very kind and appreciative, and the shop is really quite adorable! Her art is colorful and whimsical children’s furniture, rocking horses and really cool and elaborate updated musical instruments.

On the off chance you’re reading this and in driving distance of West Dundee, IL,  you should go peek! Anyway, by the end of that first day she had sold one of my 8×10 originals. Holy cow, the first day! And I’ve been thinking lately I want to do more larger works, so of course this is very encouraging.

Progress pics below. Thanks for stopping in!

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A Happy Dragon Accident and Two Colorful Houses

Teal Dragonet
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

This is the happy dragon accident. Someone asked for a dragon in trade, and this is what happened! I wasn’t sure about him, but he got quite a lot of positive feedback (and requests for more, to boot).

Home of the Joyful Engineer, and The Pitch Inn
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Pink and orange make a joyful home for some happy engineer, who also seems to be using the small balcony for refuse and empty bottles – perhaps from a joyful event the previous evening!

The Pitch Inn is one of my favorites of the tiny houses so far. Maybe because it has a nice variety of textures, and plants, and things. And tiny birds. I like the rounded window on the right side. It is missing a trash can, but perhaps that tiny mailbox could be used as a portal. These two tiny houses are numbers 29 and 30.

As always, thanks so much for visiting! Ugh, 10 days since my last post. This is what happens around the holidays, particularly when one goes out of town. Getting back in the art-ish groove can take some time.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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. ;)

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