Tag Archives: Illustration Friday

Shy Goat and a Little House for Illustration Friday

Shy Goat and Little House, 5″ x 7″ on toned paper
Copics, fine liners and white gel pen.

For the topic “Shy” at Illustration Friday. Initially the goat was going to be peeking out of a barn or from behind a tree or something, but it wasn’t working. Then I decided I would do another little house, but less spooky, because people seem to like the little houses. Now the goat is peeking from the frame of the scene, and I suppose that still works. ;)

It also occurred to me that perhaps once in a while I should cut out the long-winded rambling, so that’s it for today! Thanks for dropping in!

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Goat reference photo. (His name is Gilbert!)

Haunt for Illustration Friday, and Captain Nemo

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

The topic is Haunt at Illustration Friday. I decided to try a larger version of my little spook house ATCs. It doesn’t actually have much more detail than the tinier size, but I do like the vulture! Also, I forgot the “Keep Out” sign. Dangit.

Three Spooky House ATCs, Copics

The other thing I did this weekend is this Captain Nemo ATC, for a Steam-Powered swap at illustratedatcs.com. To remind those who aren’t familiar, an ATC is an Artist Trading Card, sized 2.5″ x 3.5″, and usually traded from one artist to another. The sites I belong to are atcsforall, which is for everyone, and illustratedatcs, which is a juried site for folks with a fair amount of experience. They are both great! And also responsible for a lot of art and inspiration in the last few months.

Captain Nemo ATC
2.5″ x 3.5″ Pencil, Copics, fine liners

 

Captain Nemo is the result of about 1.5 months worth of stressing over having to produce a kind of a portrait of an actual person. But in the end I chose Captain Nemo because instead of a portrait of one of the actors who played the character, his unique outfit really helps determine who it is. (Also the little nameplate I added helps!)

It is a relief to finally have him done, much of his face left in pencil because I didn’t want to destroy it with a stray pen line. When I started him I never thought I’d end up with anything approaching a decent face (the first sketch in the progress set below came after a lot of restarts and erasing), but I kept at it, which is all you can do. :)

Progress pics below. Thank you so much for stopping in!

Oh! One more note! I have a blog pal called Moonsword who finds cool art all over the interwebs and posts about them. He is having a giveaway for a $25 Etsy gift certificate. Go leave a comment on this post and you’ll be entered to win!

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Beneath the Zombie Sky, Undead Dogs and Cats

Sometimes I want to post something that doesn’t go with the Illustration Friday topic. So I have to create a new thing that combines the thing I wanted to post with the weekly topic. Today I wanted to post the zombie cats and dogs I made this weekend for the Halloween-a-thon at illustratedatcs.com.

But the word at Illustration Friday is sky. So, I fooled around in paint.NET and ended up with the Infected Pet Kennel, giving guided tours nightly during a green zombie sky.

Zombie Dog and Zombie Gearhead Dog
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen, white pencil

I am not a zombie person but I thought I would do one because people seem to like zombies a lot! And I thought, well maybe a dog zombie. Anyway, as you may have guessed it was super fun and then I made some more. :)

Zombie Cat and Zombie Gearhead Cat
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen, white pencil

And then I couldn’t even trade them. But I am going to make a print of the four of them. And I am thinking about a metallic ACEO print set (my first)!

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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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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.

Books and Cats for Illustration Friday

Books and Cats, 8″ x 10″ Copics, fine liners

Totally ran out of time! I would have liked to do a lot more finishing. As well as add that spiral staircase sketched out on the left (below). Alas! For “Book” at Illustration Friday. I was seriously excited about this topic (and there are SO many awesome entries). But it turns out a bookshelf is not as easy a thing as one might think! (Egad – angles!) I do plan to do more of them. Not sure if I’ll finish this one or waltz on to the next thing.

Books and Cats, at least the name, was inspired by an extremely silly video called Boots and Cats. I STRONGLY suggest you stop watching when the bees show up. Particularly if you don’t like bees. But before that, the boots and cats are surprisingly mesmerizing. Possibly you are one of the 1.3 million people who have already watched it!

In other news, my last post did not seem to get emailed to any people following this blog. So, if you are one of the people and you didn’t get it, please check your spam. And apologies for the technical difficulties! I think I will be trying to find a new widget for followers because this is not the first problem.

Thanks for visiting! And please double check your link at Illustration Friday if you’ve entered. Lots of bad links last week!

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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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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

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.

Leah the Mystic for Illustration Friday

Leah the Mystic, 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copic ATC multiplied and adjusted in paint.NET

Leah the Mystic is another denizen of the Many Wonders Woods. Nobody is quite sure where she lives or what she knows, but if you happen to see her wandering the shadowed pathways, follow along for a little while. She might tell you a secret. She is also Maiden Number 20.

For “Identical” at Illustration Friday. The original is the image in the top left, and the rest were created in paint.NET using the hue and saturation sliders. I used a lot of different colors which make the changes more distinct.

I know opinions may be mixed but it does feel like cheating, and perhaps for IF it is a bit! Completely changing the colors with the touch of a button. And it turns out, despite my love of bright colors, it is the lower saturation settings (the bottom right) that I like a bit more than the original. So, I need to figure out how to achieve those subtler colors, which remind me of an Art Nouveau palette.

Blue Horses, 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copic Markers, fine liners, white gel pen.

Leah is also a friend to the Blue Horses. Born lavender, the Blue Horses turn blue by the time they are two. The lavender helps them blend with the purple undergrowth in the Wonder Woods, and the blue helps camouflage the adults among the Blue Willows.

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