Tag Archives: illustration

Art Card Dogs in Many Colors

Astro Dog and Pierce with Pipe
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ art cards. Copics, pens, gel pen.

Astro was teased for a few years at school until it became clear the girls thought his flowered ears were adorable. He had a lot of attractive lady friends! Finally he settled down with a pink dog called Sophie who shared his love of classical music and mud baths (not necessarily together – but sometimes).

Pierce is a (little bit of a) snob. He wouldn’t even give me two minutes to answer a few questions for this bio! Handsome devil, though. It’s probably what led to his bad attitude. Or perhaps he’s painfully shy. In which case it wasn’t nice of me to call him a snob. Not nice at all.

Rollo the Skeptic and Walter the Scrivener
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ art cards. Copics, pen, gel pen.

Rollo is not a professional skeptic, but he has always been suspicious of food and his food bowl. Have you ever known one of those dogs who won’t eat anything until he’s sniffed at it for a minute? Rollo’s like that, except he will sniff it for much longer. And if it’s big enough, he will carry it around for a while too. Drool is usually involved.

Walter has taken the name “Walter the Scrivener”. He hasn’t actually read “Bartelby the Scrivener”, but he likes the idea of a quiet individual working at a serious, if repetitive, job. It’s a bit of a secret identity, really. Everyone should have a secret identity.

I’ve been trading away SO many cards that I decided recently to put more in my shop, which is where all these went! I’ve been experimenting with the eyes for dramatic effect, with some success, but still working on it.  Thanks for visiting!

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Guardian Clan Cat ATC for Illustration Friday

Son-Ji the Guardian
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Son-Ji is a ranking member of the guardian clan who watch over the Bridge at the Edge of the World. Both her brothers chose to leave the territory and seek their fortune on the other side of The Wonder Woods. Only Son-Ji inherited the Guardian’s Gift.

Submitted for the topic “Edge” at Illustration Friday. I intend to actually draw the bridge, but it won’t be in time for this topic! (Perhaps if there’s a “bridge” topic. I should submit that. Hmm…)

Here’s one more art card I did recently, for the “Kings and Queens” swap at illustratedatcs.com. I really like the color and style of this one, though the crown is not sitting quite properly in her hair/on her head. Queen Hana is Maiden Number 55 (and I am up to 60)!

Queen Hana
2.5″ x 3.5″, Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope we all have a wonderful year with Illustration Friday and whatever other projects we’ve got hidden up our magic little sleeves. :)

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Happy New Year to all my visitors and art blog pals!

As I suspect may be the case with many of you, I have been trying to climb out of the holiday doldrums. Happened last year at this time, too. And it’s not like I have nothing to post. I did all of those secret santa things that I couldn’t post because they were secret. So I am posting my favorites!

Jillian Calavera2.5" x 3.5" ATC, Copic markers.

Jillian Calavera
2.5″ x 3.5″ ATC, Copic markers.

This is my favorite of all the Calavera/Day of the Dead girls I’ve done (which granted is only about a dozen, and all Art Card size.) I wanted to post it as soon as it was done, but it was a secret!

10 Brown Lemur 5x7

Brown Lemur & Friend
5″ x 7″ Copics on mustard-tone card stock.

This is my favorite of the (slightly) larger art I did for secret santa. It was tricky picking the colors because the mustard tone of the paper changed everything. In the end I think the detail on the chameleon’s face might overpower the lemur a bit, but I was very satisfied with the finished composition and color scheme.

And finally, three more ATCs I thought were pretty neat:

Three secret santa ATCs

Maria Calavera, Young Dreaming Tree, Alien Ambassador
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ ATCs, Copics on smooth Bristol board.

Progress pics for some of these below.  Thanks so much for visiting my first post of 2013! I hope we all have a very peaceful and art-filled new year!

 

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Monsters and Mermaids for Illustration Friday

Jeremiah and Devon ACEOs
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

On the easternmost edge of The Wonder Woods is a glowing marsh with a peculiar variety of phosphorescent lichen called Witchlight, which many creatures find quite delicious! Those that help themselves to a bellyful of the stuff emit a yellowish glow, particularly in the cheeks, though only for a couple hours.

For the topic “Glow” at Illustration Friday. (Both original monster ACEOs are available in my Etsy shop – link at upper right! They were inspired by a “Little Monsters” ATC swap at illustratedatcs.com.)

Nari and Ivy ATCs
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Another enormous colony of Witchlight lichen is said to be located in the dark depths of the Story Sea, or so it’s told. Only mermaids and other deep sea creatures have ever seen it, and as you know, it’s hard to get a straight answer from a mermaid (particularly a cultish Goth one, like Nari or Ivy, above).

Nari and Ivy were made for a “Goth Mermaids” ATC swap at illustratedatcs.com.

Thanks for stopping in! I hope your holidays have been, and continue to be, super great!

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Four More of the 100 Maidens

Cerys, the Hope Queen and Goth Girl Tess ATCsEach 2.5" x 3.5" Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Cerys, the Hope Queen and Goth Girl Tess ATCs
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Holy cow, will the ATC madness ever end? (I hope not.) If you’ve been here before you may know I started a project called 100 Maidens on Flickr to catalog my adventures in illustrating maidens (mostly maiden faces, truth be told, but I had been avoiding doing people for years). These are four of those maidens, who now number 49!

Cerys never wanted the crown but when all the other options were exhausted, she wore it justly and little complained. And so she kept Hope alive for another generation.  Made for a “Kings and Queens” swap at illustratedatcs.com.

This is Tess. A few years older, she is a bit like a den mother to the local Goth scene. She is a bartender at the The Shady Maiden and occasionally sells mysterious potions out of a very small room in the back. None of the thieves who occasionally break in hunting for her stash can ever find the entry to the room. Made for a trade at atcsforall.com.

Natasha's New Hat and The Wizard's Daughter ATCsEach 2.5" x 3.5" Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Natasha’s New Hat and The Wizard’s Daughter ATCs
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Natasha has always been drawn to strange hats and in her new apartment she has created The Misfit Hat Room. People who visit the room often describe a strange craving for pastries after spending time there. Made for a swap at atcsforall.com

Dahlia has picked up quite a few tricks from assisting her wizard father for so many years. She does not fear walking in the woods alone, and has twice foreseen events that allowed her family and their animals to avoid danger. Made for a trade.

You guys! While I was making this post I was looking through my site stats and saw that several people had come from a particular page, so of course I went to see. And here’s what I found. A big thank you to Dogster!

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Elaine and the Bachelors, for Illustration Friday

Three Bachelor Snowmen

Three Bachelor Snowmen and the Fair Elaine
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

For “Snow” at Illustration Friday.

This is the story of three dapper bachelor snowmen, all vying for the fair Elaine. Join us in Episode One as Alfred (with the extremely fine top hat), hatches a plan to heat the apartments of his two rivals, Leo (in the blue) and Grumby.

I took no process scans of these creatures! However, here are two more ATCs I did recently that I really dig (and for which I have some progress scans – apologies for the hair on scan 12)!

Noise Monster and Ursula the Priestess ATCs
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″, Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Jangle is a particularly irritating little noise monster. He rustles papers and makes other small noises whose source you can never find! Fortunately he only stays in the same house for one day.

Descended from a long line of priestess healers born with elaborate facial tattoos, Ursula left the cloister and founded a small alpaca farm. She sometimes fosters girls who help with the flock while she prepares tinctures and various healing balms for the local community. Ursula is Maiden Number 45. Holy cow, 45!

AND ONE MORE THING!  A lovely person called Bettina has interviewed me for her site! If you have a moment, take a look! I don’t sound too dorky (I don’t think).

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Sugar Skull Girls and Arlo Dog ATCs

Four Calavera Girl ATCs
Each 2.5′ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners on Bristol board.

These were made for a Sugar Skull Girls Swap at atcsforall.com. I am not sure whether to call them Sugar Skull girls or Calavera girls (calavera means skull in Spanish). I think it is the same thing, but someone please tell me if I am wrong! This face painting style is done in celebration of The Day of the Dead. They are also fun to do!

I’ve actually done some other work that I really want to post, but that stuff was made for a secret santa swap at illustratedatcs, so I cannot post them until the recipients have received them. Arrrgh!

Arlo Dog ATC
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Arlo Dog is a minor warlock specializing in the removal of drawing-block. He has a sister named Astrid who specializes in the removal of writer’s block. Their mother can do a little of both, though less reliably.

In fact he did help me get over a couple days worth of drawing block funk, mostly. I’m hoping this week’s topic at Illustration Friday, “Tree”, will help too!

Thanks for stopping in! Tons of progress pics below.

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Steampunk Maiden and Christmas Cat

Georgie Gears ATC
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Despite being raised with six brothers, Georgie was always the one their father came to for help with the family tractor. No one was surprised when she went on to found her own airship engineering company. Reference photo.

Made for a steampunk swap at illustratedatcs.com. I am very pleased with the style of this one. On the one hand it’s a rather typical “pretty girl” image. But I think she has some charm and personality. And I’m sure my 100 Maidens Project made a difference. I recommend these projects – repeated practice with a particular subject.

Nikolas the Christmas Cat
2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen

Nikolas wasn’t always a Christmas cat. At ten months old he ate some tinsel and that soured him on the whole subject for several years. But then he found his person – a woman named Lizzie living firmly in the spirit of Christmas six months of the year – so Nikolas gave it another shot. It was much better the second time. Made for a trade at illustratedatcs.com.

It’s very odd the number of cats and sheep I have been doing! I am a dog person. But I’ve gotten the most trade requests for cats and sheep, so I’ve gotten a bit quicker at them. But it’s still several hours each. Or more.

I’m going to try my hand at glass tile pendants with prints of my images, and these two are on the list. We’ll see how it goes! Thanks for dropping in!

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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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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.