Tag Archives: pen and ink

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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Fancy Goldfish are Fancy. Also, Sheep.

Maureen, A Goldfish
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics

This is Maureen. She is best friends with a starfish named Dinky. This is my favorite ATC to date. I don’t know what happened, it just flowed. :)

Emilio, Another Goldfish
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics

Then, another fish. Emilio wanted to be a seahorse when he grew up. Once he learned it was never going to happen, his expression turned into a scowl which has been with him ever since. Much too heavy-handed compared to the first one. Must stick to the tiniest nibs. Arrrgh! But still happy with him.

Then, after Maureen and Emilio, I did several new cards that I was not happy with. I panicked a bit. Have you ever done something you really liked and then worried you would never do anything good again? Well, I did that. I mentioned it to Leigh of Colorfulleigh and she said the same thing happens to her. So, I guess it’s a thing that happens but we keep pushing forward. ;)

I seem to be doing lots of sheep. Here is another.

Blue Swirl Sheep, 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics

Grant the blue sheep was born in Hawaii. But he is allergic to macadamia nuts. Speaking of nuts, I’ve gone a bit nutty with the white gel pen! I think it’s an interesting effect for this sheep, and I think it also repaired a few ugly spots, but I probably need to lay off the gel pen a bit. Or just practice more. I thought it would be cool to see all the sheep together:

Five Sheep ATCs, oh my! From left to right: Pinky Mae, Patrick O’Keefe, Deeba, Grant, Arwen

Thanks for visiting! I totally skipped an Illustration Friday but plan to do “Freeze” this week. Probably!

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Another Art Trading Card Post: Cat, Kingfisher, Dog

 

Purple Peach Peterbald Cat ATC, 2.5″ x 3.5″, Copics on Bristol

I finally decided I should document these tiny arts just like any other. Or, some of them at any rate. So here you have the latest three (I am most pleased with the Cat), with a slideshow for one of them. It’s funny to see them in a blog post. I’ve saved them at 5 inches and on my screen they are the exact size of the original. Still trying to decide whether to list them for trade or for sale in my Etsy shop.

Green Crested Kingfisher ATC, 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics on Bristol

Orange Barclay, 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics on Bristol

Barclay the dog got a bit overworked, and the lighter background was probably a better choice. I thought about leaving him out  but this blog was not intended as a best-of production. (For one thing, way fewer posts!) Both the cat and dog could use whiskers and I just got a new Uni-ball Signo white gel pen, which came out on top after rigorous testing at ArtTrader magazine. I skipped the whiskers for now but I did use it on their eyes to good effect.

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Three Beastly ATCs – Llama, Horse, Sheep

Fuzzy Green Llama ATC, Copic Markers

 

This evening I was inspired to complete some Artist Trading Cards because I have joined a new community called  IllustratedATCs and it is all about trading art by mail. They do lots of stuff besides the ATCs, like moleskin journal swaps and inchies and twinchies and holy cow, tons of stuff. They have provided a helpful list of definitions (thank goodness).

I think I saw their link initially through someone at Illustration Friday, but I don’t remember! You have to apply and whoa, there are some seriously cool (and many professional) artists there. I got accepted (it takes 3-4 days), but then I was instantly intimidated. Super nice folks so far, though.  They have another site called ATCs for All where there is no application and everyone is welcome to join.

Horse with Blue Swirl Sky ATC, Copic Markers

I am pretty happy with all three, though the horse in particular is sort of caught between cartoonish and realistic as if I could not choose which way to go. I really like the blue sky on that one, achieved with the help of a Masquepen.

Pink Orange Sheep ATC, Copic Markers

 

Both the llama and sheep were done on top of light-colored swirly backgrounds also done using a Masquepen. I worked on all of them over the course of a few hours, doing some reading and IF visiting in between.

Thanks so much to everyone who visits! All comments welcome, of course. (Except spam.)

Llama reference

Horse reference

Sheep reference

 

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

Llama Genie Air for Illustration Friday

Llama Genie Air Advertisement, Copics with digital text & background

The topic is “Heights” at Illustration Friday. Though it wasn’t a conscience decision, this marks the second in a series of ancient vessels, the first being a Cat Ship for Monday Artday. I am a big fan of the Cat Ship and it is one of my favorite recent things.

I knew I wanted to drawn an airship. Then the traveling section turned into a genie’s lamp. Then the genie airship needed a company mascot, so I figured a genie, and it had been at least three posts since the last llama. (It’s weird because dogs are actually my favorite but I’ve been doing lots of llamas so perhaps there is a comfort factor.) I included a couple extra sketches, in case it might be of interest to someone:

Llama Genie Air sketch

Llama Genie Air sketch2

Llama Genie Air sketch3

Llama Genie Air ink

Llama Genie Air color1

Llama Genie Air color2

Llama Genie Air color3

Llama Genie Air Ad, 8.5" x 11" Illustration

The fonts are Penshurst and Quaver Sans. One of these days I may try my hand at handwritten text. But not quite yet!

Also yes, I have resorted to the digital cloud effect again! I am a big fan of this color combination. And I am happy not to “waste” my Copics on the whole background. But I have very mixed feelings on a digital versus Copic background. To tell the truth, it makes me sad that such a lovely background can be done with a few mouse clicks in like, a minute. Anyone with their free copy of  paint. NET could do an almost identical texture in under sixty seconds. A Copic background would take an hour or two, maybe more. And it would not be as easy to replicate. Ah well, I doubt the history of man has seen many Llama Genie Airships. So that’s something. Thanks for visiting!

IF Shades, Wombat and Chihuahua

Wombat and Chihuahua Copic Ghosts

I’ve been meaning to do a wombat for ages! So my choices for Illustration Friday “shades” included – wombat with sunglasses (shades) or a wombat in front of window shades or in shades of a particular color, or a wombat ghost (shade). My first wombat is a wombat ghost! His name is Nigel. And he wouldn’t be complete if he weren’t haunting the place with his best friend Gabriel the Chihuahua (also a ghost).

Their friendship is a tale of incredible mystery and adventure, but we’ll have to save that for another time. Suffice it to say they met their untimely ends together during an escape attempt from a trio of American kidnappers in Venice sometime in 1974. They haunt the Venetian tavern where they lived with a quiet Irishman for  eight years after being won in a dice game from their former owner, a globetrotting Tasmanian.

I am not sure they look entirely like shades in the final above. But how about 2 scans ago:

Wombat and Chihuahua, Somewhat More Ghostly

I can’t decide which I prefer. The background is definitely unfinished in this one, but I could have left the critters alone. Let me show you the whole process:

Wombat and Chihuahua Sketch

Wombat and Chihuahua Color 1

Wombat and Chihuahua Frisket

On Nigel here I went over frisket with three shades of gray then peeled off the frisket. On Gabriel you can see the Masquepen (frisket) in blue, with no marker yet.

Wombat and Chihuahua Color 2

Gabriel colored with 2 grays and one gray-purple so the ghosts would not be quite the same color. I suppose I could have left the eyes white. That’s rather ghostly.

Wombat and Chihuahua, Somewhat More Ghostly

This would have been a stopping place for the figures, but the wall and tabletop need somehelp.

Wombat and Chihuahua Color 3

Wombat and Chihuahua Copic Ghosts

I don’t know, the more I look at them, the more ghostly they seem, though they did not need the extra thick black outline. I can say with certainty I have never drawn a wombat ghost, or any animal ghost, before this challenge. And though I do get a kick out of steampunk trend-wise, I don’t have much enthusiasm for the whole zombie thing. But ghosts, that’s totally different! Right? Thanks for coming!

Photo inspiration from Wombats! and Chihuahua Pictures.

Art Blog Interview and Colorful Copic Cats

I would like to take a moment to thank a lovely person named Alex Colombo at Tales for Creative Minds, who posted an interview feature about me and my herd of beasts. It is quite an honor and I can’t thank her enough. As I’m sure you know, every little bit of encouragement helps! And the presentation of the interview is really wonderful so hopefully some of you kind people will go take a peek.

You may have seen my herd of ACEO dogs on these pages recently. I decided to take a break from the dogs and have at some cats. The first is sort of accidentally a raccoon cat (yeah, didn’t quite mean to lay on the eyeliner so thickly), and the second is a kind of circus fox cat, as follows:

Raccoon Cat 2.5" x 3.5" in Copics

Wallace the Circus Cat, in Copics

I attempted some whiskers (and eye reflection) with a white gel pen, but it seems to clog to easily and not provide a consistent line. I might have to look into a paint pen, because often the ability to make a small correction or add a white detail is very handy. If you have any tips for using a gel pen, do tell! (Oh yes, and I do have some liquid frisket but haven’t braved it yet!)

Raccoon Cat is very mysterious and refuses to 1. provide an actual name, or 2. engage in any kind of pleasant conversation whatsoever. Fortunately her brother (yes I know, they don’t look the least bit related!), is much more genial and talkative. His name is Wallace, he loves Muenster cheese wedges (both for eating and juggling) and he is not allowed to tell me his sister’s name.  Just one of those things, I suppose. He is not actually in the circus but please contact him if you happen to know of an outfit that could use a juggling cat.

The progress of Wallace, the Circus Fox Cat:

Circus Cat Sketch

Circus Cat Ink

Circus Cat Color 1

Circus Cat Color 2

 

 

 

Phil the Cat

You may remember Phil, my previous ACEO cat. He still lives with Chaz (a llama) and Dean (a goat), and he asked to be introduced to the newcomers so I thought I would let him wander into this post as well.  Thank you for visiting!

ACEO Dog Quartet in Copic Markers

ACEOs revisited. I was supposed to do an updated Magic Preparedness Kit (and I will!) but many days passed without the impetus for a new (or old) project. And then I was given the assignment of an anonymous gift to an internet stranger, and due to her interests in the colors seafoam, teal and aqua (with grays), and “Sad Etsy Dogs” (among many other things, but these were the bits I chose) – I was finally inspired to make a sad etsy dog of my own.  His name is Edgar and he is currently traveling to upstate New York with some Almond Roca and a box of vanilla spice tea.

ACEO Dog, Edgar

I decided to do three more in order to do another 4-ACEO Giclee, like I did here:

Four ACEO Print with 2 Llamas, Camel & Pony

I decided to stick with the spaniel face/ears and do a similar (but not identical) dog for the next two, but with different colors (though mainly blues and greens).

ACEO Dog Martin, Sketch

ACEO Dog Martin, Color 1

ACEO Dog, Martin

ACEO Dog, Miles

Martin got into the mud, as you can see. Otherwise known as, I muddied up the color by going with gray as a shading color instead of a darker green or blue. On top of that, the black ink ran more than normal. I may have used a Micron pen instead of a Copic multiliner by mistake.  (The Copic is designed not to smudge!) Arrgh. I also like the Color 1 version better than the overdone final version. But he’s still a cool cat.

Miles, possibly as a result, ended up on the slightly underdone side of the spectrum (fewer fine lined details). But he is also a cool cat. These two, only distantly related by blood, once planned a grand cupboard heist. They never went through with it, thank goodness.  Also, they were only about seven months old at the time.

And now, feeling a break coming on, I am going to post this despite having reached only a triptych and not a quartet yet!  I have to decide on the last ACEO. A similar style dog but with different colors? A dog with stand-up ears? A cat? A llama? I like the idea of the fourth being different (like I did with the pink pony in the other set).

In any case, thank you so much for visiting. All comments appreciated! I will update this post a bit later with the final creature.

 

Stripe and Bustle for IF Friday with Progress Pics

Stripe and Bustle

Busy, stripey, slightly mysterious thing for the Illustration Friday topic “Stripes”.  I have wanted to do a bustle for ages but was afraid.  Pfft, was not very hard and I am quite happy with it.  Still avoiding faces though, which led to a cool and successful hairdo. The stripey beast is rather flat, which was the original intention, but it doesn’t seem to go with the rest. Also, did a pretty bad job on his eye.  Arrrgh! Progress photos below.

Stripe and Bustle Sketched

Stripe and Bustle Color 1

Stripe and Bustle Color 2

Stripe and Bustle With Copics, 8x10 Illustration

No story at the moment, though I may yet add one. Thank you for visiting!  Did you do Illustration Friday this week?  Drop a line so I can go see.  ;)