Tag Archives: Illustration Friday

Milliner Maiden for Illustration Friday

Milliner Maiden, 9″ x 6″ Copics, fine liners on smooth Bristol

Those very fortunate, and very few, who get to meet the legendary Marta the Milliner are imbued with a mystical power of millinery and a haunting habit of haberdashery. Serious hats, is what I’m saying. This is maiden number nineteen.

For the topic “Tall” at Illustration Friday.

I have been saying for ages I wanted to do a cityscape or streetscape of some sort. Also, I like hats. So this is what happened! I still need to do lots more maidens to get the face just right. Or at least more interesting. Also had a few muddying issues. AND the background is a lovely gradation into peach but the lightest colors are always rough to perfect when scanning and then bumping up the contrast. (Any suggestions appreciated!) Thank you so much for visiting!

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Professor Tortoise and Druid Cat, Illustration Friday

Professor Tortoise, 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, white gel pen

Professor Tortoise is a meditation instructor. Now, maybe you think that’s just a dodgy way to slip in under the Illustration Friday topic, “Teacher”. And maybe you’re right! But I did have two days of horrible unable-to-draw-anything funk, and the Professor – Henry to his friends – taught me that if I kept at it, I would eventually draw another thing I liked. (There were many wretched and frustrated hours spent thinking otherwise. It is a poor strategy for art or anything else.)

A few days earlier I finished a certain druidic cat:

Druidic Cat, 3.5″ x 2.5″ Copics

Liam is a Tree Tending Instructor in the Many Wonders Woods. That’s right, another teacher! He teaches tree healing to young cat druids as well as forest sprites. Liam and Professor Tortoise were traded at illustratedatcs.com.

Thank you for stopping in! And here’s a progress slideshow!

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Ice Maiden and a Magical Fish for IF

Kuura the Ice Maiden, 4×6 Copics, fine liners, gel pen

In an attempt to dovetail Illustration Friday with my 100 Maidens Project, an Ice Maiden with a bit of a steampunk twist. (The eyepiece was initially supposed to be more snowflake-like. Alas!) If you look at the progress slideshow you’ll see how much I messed with this. To death. Particularly with the gel pen. On the other hand, I kind of like her in the end. For the topic “Freeze” at Illustration Friday.

Kuura* is a Maiden of Ice who lives in a frozen palace at the bottom of the sea. Her favorite companion is a  magical fish called Phylliss who delivers messages across the world. Phylliss likes to play racing games with young dolphins and manta rays when she’s not working. She was made for a trade at illustratedatcs.com.

Phyllis in the Deep, 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics

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Thanks for visiting!

*Kuura means frost in Finnish.

 

100 Maidens Project and Illustration Friday

Celestial Maiden Fara, 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics

Celestial Maiden Deia, 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics

 

The topic this week at Illustration Friday is “Lonely” and there are few lonelier than the Celestial Maidens. Whether walking the stars or talking to planets, they walk the heavens and rarely meet. These are the final two in a group of four created for a swap at illustratedatcs.com. The first two can be found in my last post.

I joined that swap as a challenge because I so rarely do people of any kind. But I had so much fun I decided to embark on a new project called 100 Maidens. I figure after 100 I will be much better at drawing women, at any rate! It’s not 100 in 100 days or any madness like that. Just 100 in the next year or so, hopefully a really nice variety (and not 100 young, beautiful blondes, for instance). I’ve got a Flickr set created to collect them.

The one below was created for a trade by someone who liked the second maiden and wanted a version with warm colors. Thanks for visiting!

Maiden Number 5, Pharandra, 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics

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Steampunk Elephant with Cat, Copics

Steampunk Elephant with Cat, 8.5″ x 11″ Copics with digital background

The topic is “Carry” at Illustration Friday. Another blue cat, this time a lovely creature called Delilah. As the eldest daughter, she will be inheriting the ancient elephant vehicle and the title Elephant Princess when her mother retires. She is both excited by, and dreading, the entire affair. Excited by the thought of riding the elephant in the parades, but dreading the procession of merchant cats and their tedious complaints about one another.

So glad I stopped before filling in the cat, because I think she makes a nice contrast with the very busy elephant. A bit too heavy on the outlines, but overall I think the steampunk elephant makes a worthy companion to the Cat Ship and Llama Genie Airship.

And one more thing. I’ve been listening to a great podcast while doing art over the last few weeks. It’s called The Dork Forest and is the podcast of comedian Jackie Kashian. She  talks to other comics and comic book people and movie people and loads of others about whatever it is they are really enthusiastic about. Very entertaining.  If you need a new thing, go see! Thanks for visiting!

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Elephant photo reference;  Siamese Cat Hybrid photo reference

Crossroads Mash-up for Illustration Friday

Crossroads Mash-up for Illustration Friday, Copic Markers and Pens
with a bit of digital correction, digital sky

The topic is “Lost” at Illustration Friday. This is an artist’s rendering of a place mentioned in two ancient and magical texts. A place where a lost person might find themselves, waking from a daydream, if the planets are aligned just so. Which direction would you choose?

Not so much in the way of Copic marker technique, but a lot of sketching and deciding and arranging and erasing. I’m calling it a mash-up because some of these things are not like the others! But I thought it was a fun and silly collection of magical places. And a bit of hand drawn text, though next time perhaps the styles could be varied more in both size and style.

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Crossroads Mash-up Key:

1. Asgard, home of the Norse gods; 2. Emerald City, in the Land of Oz at the end of the yellow brick road; 3. Cloudsdale, from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, home of the pegasus ponies; 4. Camelot, home of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, 5. The Shire, home to the Hobbits from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings; 6. Pepperland, home of the Blue Meanies from the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine; 7. Narnia, found through a door in the back of a wardrobe, from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe series; 8. Wonderland, from Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass; 9. the Tollbooth, gateway to the Kingdom of Wisdom from The Phantom Tollbooth (and there is Tock the dog, waiting to join you!).

Kookaburra Holding Court, Copic Markers

Holy cow, 100 posts!

Kookaburra Holding Court, 8×10 Copic Markers with digital corrections & digital sky

The topic is “Suspend” at Illustration Friday, and Thadeus the Kingly Kingfisher is holding court in an abandoned tire swing. He looks a tad cramped in there, if you ask me. His attendant today is a juvenile Boobook Owl, a smallish species. The elder Boobooks find Thadeus rather tiresome, if you must know. But he can usually get one of the kids to stand in. This one is called Lorna. She is very impressed by Thadeus, particularly the jeweled necklace.

The Kookaburra is the largest species of Kingfisher. Thadeus is a Laughing Kookaburra, though he tries not to laugh. He thinks it unkingly. This is my second kingly kingfisher! The first one with his mouse deer steed can be found here.

About 3 scans before the end I considered scrapping the whole thing! But I will be unable to do another this weekend, and I did spent quite a few hours on it. So here it is! I did some fixing up in paint.NET. The main issues were not enough refinement in the sketch and then trying to fix mistakes as I went. But each new drawing is a learning experience, whether it be post number 1 or 100.  Thanks for looking!

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Kookaburra reference photo from TrekNature, Boobook Owl reference photo on Flickr

Meow Tai, Mai Tai for Illustration Friday

Meow Tai Mai Tai Cocktail, 8×10 with Copics, digital background

The topic is Refresh at Illustration Friday. And they’ve got a whole new look. I find it looks lovely but is not as user friendly as the old. If you agree or have issues and want to let them know, may I suggest you do so on the blog post announcing the new design.

I started off with a teacup, intending perhaps to cover it with odd creatures or add a silly beast swimming inside. But then the teacup became a cat cup and the cat told me, in no uncertain terms, that a Mai Tai or other liquored beverage would suit us all better in these trying times. I agreed.

Actually I was thinking Margarita, but fortunately someone more schooled in the bartending arts let me know the garnish I had chosen was all wrong for a Margarita. And anyway, MEOW TAI! The same knowledgeable fellow went on to disagree that the “Meow Tai” thing worked very well. I disagreed.

Went a little crazy beach bingo party neon with the background, but it seemed to fit. ;)

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Thanks for visiting! (Oh! And I wanted to drop this note for Illustration Friday folks. Be patient on the new IF page because the images load slower now, so if you scroll through a group, you may need to wait a moment for the next group to load. And as you may know, there are always hundreds of entries. /end PSA) :)

No Room at the Couch, for Illustration Friday

No Room at the Couch, 8×10 Pencil Sketch for Illustration Friday

Marcelo, a large hound with the patience of, well, an extremely well-behaved dog, could never get a spot to himself anymore. When the stray cat came and shortly after, the kingfisher, he begrudgingly helped them settle in. And then the meerkat showed up, and he likes to argue – particularly with the llama, who simply waltzed in one day and made himself at home. By the time the koala showed up, Marcelo was resigned to living in a zoo. The bunny is the most recent addition, found by the cat as he was limping around the garden with an infected ear.

If you ask Marcelo, he will tell you they are rude, unruly and troublesome. But they all love him and call him “Poppa”. And he’s just a big softy, after all.

Holy cow, no color! Actually, I am so pleased with this sketch that I am scared to ink it. I will probably do it soon, I just didn’t want to rush it.

The word is “Space” at Illustration Friday. (Apologies for the muddy scans below. I spent some time cleaning up the final but not the others.)

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Thanks for coming over! Have a great week!

Animal reference photos:

Koala, Great Dane Cleo, Russian Blue Amanda, Llama by Rusinka, Blue-banded Kingfisher.

Shoebill and Squirrel Share a Secret, for IF

Shoebill and Squirrel, 8×10 Copic Markers, digital text & background

[Quick Note:  If you are subscribed to my blog (thank you very much!) it turns out the notices are going into spam. They were doing that for a bit but I thought I fixed it. Apologies for the trouble and I shall continue to try to find a solution. Arrrgh!]

The word is Secret at Illustration Friday.

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I was working with the pink background for a while but in fooling with the hue slider in Paint.NET I settled on this ecru. And actually, I don’t have too much in the way of critical comments on this one. I think I reached a good stopping place (and actually stopped!) before over-doing the swirly bits. Hooray!

Thank you so much for stopping by! You are the coolest. ;P

*Shoebill: Otherwise known as a shoebill stork or whalehead (or whale-headed) stork.  Some consider the shoebill a missing link between the pelican and the stork, and they are the last living species of the family Balaenicipitidae. Shoebills live mostly in eastern Africa and are endangered due to loss of habitat. They can be as tall as four feet and are mostly solitary creatures.

Beauty or Beast Shoebill by SKSfoto at DeviantART;  Gray Squirrel Hanging Upside Down photo reference. The font is Ugly Qua.