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This is a bit of a change of pace from fantasy character drawings, but this is something that I also really enjoy doing: illuminated letters and page designs. I drew the above letter this week kind of as an example for one of the drawing classes I teach (but more just because I wanted to have fun drawing it :)
I love the style of ancient illuminated manuscripts, as well as Norse and Celtic design motifs. I thought the Norse style (and Viking ship) would be well-suited to my last initial of "N", since I am a quarter Norwegian.
The intricate border design is taken from historic carvings found in a church in Norway, though I had to design corners to link the sides together.
The ultimate illuminated manuscript to my mind is, of course, The Book of Kells, found in Ireland. Here's one of the more famous pages, the "Chi Rho" monogram design, that's formed from the first two Greek letters that spell Christ, that look like an "X" and a "P" combined. By the way, total random side-note: it's because an "X" is the first part of the word "Christ" in Greek that the abbreviation "Xmas" came about.
And speaking of like holidays, hope everyone had a great Easter! Yes, I am 35, but my mother still sends me an Easter basket from New York. Thanks, Mom!! Mmm, Cadbury Cream Egg deliciousness!
Hello all,
I've been absent for several weeks on my blog, but I'm still here. A combination of factors are to blame: moved to a new apartment; starting a new art project that involves writing a story as well as drawing it; busy with some events.
The new art project is a graphic novel I'm trying to get going. I haven't done much in the way of comics/graphic novels before so I'm learning as I go. And right now I'm needing to spend some time writing the story that will be illustrated. Hopefully I can post some pictures related to that soon. My hope is to get a sample chapter done in time for Comic Con this July.
Here's a fun thing that kept me busy over last weekend. I attended a 2-day Illustration Workshop with amazing illustrator Jon Foster.
Jon Foster is an artist I've noticed and been a fan of for a number of years, having seen his work in Spectrum's Annual, as well as on some book covers that have caught my eye. I was really excited to have the chance to take a workshop with somebody I would love to emulate, within driving distance in Pasadena.
Here's some more of his work:
and this:
0 Comments on still here...and went to a fun art event! as of 4/13/2011 3:19:00 PM
Well, I've been working on some other stuff that I'm pretty excited about... but not sure I'm ready to post any of that artwork right now. In the meantime, here's a couple of cyclops sketches I did today.
I started out planning on drawing either trolls or ogres. As soon as I can figure out the difference. But then I felt the need to make my troll/ogre like creature have only one eye. Hence, a cyclops. I guess I also felt the need to have him grinding bones--though it's supposed to be giants that do that, right? Ah... I'm always muddling my mythologies.
By the by, I'm moving this weekend (different place, same city) so I'll be pretty busy. Hopefully I can still get a new post up but if I don't, that's why.
:)
Okay, so this week I've got some fairies to post (just for you, Sean!). For some reason I felt possessed to add some snarky gender commentary--if you can see to read it. Feel free to ignore it. Or add additions in the comment section :)
I found I could only picture fairies with butterfly-type wings. And mine all seem very benevolent in nature. I think the historical view of fairies has been that they have more of an impish, even malevolent nature. Or maybe it just depends on what kind. Anyone have an idea about that?
In other BIG news, I received notification this past week that I was accepted for "professional" status for Comic Con in San Diego this summer! You have to go through these steps of proving that you are a professional in the realm of games, comics, fantasy art, etc. I've never applied before and wasn't sure my credentials would be enough. Yay, I've been officially recognized! Now I need to really push myself to brush up and prepare my portfolio of work to show, as well as mentally prepare myself for the absolute craziness that is Comic Con.
Anyone with any helpful advice for me, please share.
:)
This week I thought I'd go for something on the cute side: gnomes. I saw an ad on a bus for that new movie, Gnomeo & Juliet, and it put them in my mind, I think. I don't know much about gnomes really. When I was a little kid I do recall that I had a little 4x5 or so notebook that had these really cool gnome illustrations on the cover and some of the pages. Who knows where that little notebook (or should I say gnotebook) went, but I think I'm trying to harken back to it here.
Not sure what the deal is with those pointy hats that gnomes wear. A bit like dunce caps. Anyway, I think they have somewhat of a scandinavian origin (gnomes that is, not dunce caps), so I was thinking of that somewhat with their costumes. I have no idea why I gave them pointy/curly shoes though.
In other news, I am trying to get myself tickets to Comic Con in San Diego this July and having absolutely no luck. Any of you fortunate jerks out there going? I failed to get regular tickets during the last ticket sale window. So now I'm trying to get "professional" tickets. It's quite a process, I'm finding. But I've sent off what documentation I have to prove professional status and am hoping I get chosen/they haven't run out of pro tickets yet. Until next time...
Here's the next thing I've been sketching. I didn't post anything last week so I'm doin' a two-fer this week with the Elves post. You're welcome.
I haven't really tackled any fantasy creatures in the bird realm (well, unless you count Pegasus) so I thought I'd go for the Griffin. It's bit tricky melding the two animals (eagle + lion) in a way that looks natural. I'll be doing some more sketches to continue to try to nail it. In the meantime, this is what I have so far.
Well, I got a little off-track in my scheduled posts, but here's some stuff. I thought I would tackle some drawings of elves. I spent some time trying to get a handle on what my concept of elves was like. It's pretty much in the Lord of the Rings vein, I guess. Tall, stately, somewhat androgynous...
The couple was drawn around Valentine's Day. It's sort of "Hey, you're pretty, I'm pretty, let's do this," right? The lady above them isn't so happy about it ("But... I'm pretty too!")
The second page is just some of the earlier sketches I did while trying to figure out my concept for elves.
I guess it's about time that I posted some sketches of unicorns on my "fantasy" art blog. I mean, they are right up there with dragons as the ultimate fantasy art subject matter, right? I will confess, I had a couple of cheesy unicorn posters in my room as a kid. Oh, and this blog is turning into a movie blog as well as art. Last week I mentioned Adventures in Babysitting.
Well, I can't mention unicorns without mentioning my all-time favorite animated movie from my childhood, The Last Unicorn. Such an awesome movie. It has a sweet soundtrack performed by the group "America" that I enjoy to this day. Wow, confessions!
Does anyone else out there remember Last Unicorn? There's also a really cool unicorn in the fun-tastic '80's movie Legend, starring a youngish Tom Cruise. Anybody out there seen it?
OK, that's all for now. I'll try to be more on time for next week's blog post:)
Well, I had fun with these sketches. I happen to love Norse mythology. I'm a quarter Norwegian so I enjoy connecting to it. This page of sketches concerns the Valkyrie. These are the female warriors who gather the bodies of the brave who die in battle and take them to Valhalla. Not the most fun job, I guess...
Any other Norse mythology fans out there? Not that it's really related, but anybody excited about the Thor movie that's being made? Thor actually just always makes me think of the awesome 80's Elizabeth Shue movie, Adventures in Babysitting. There's this young girl in it that's obsessed with the comic book character of Thor and dresses up like him. Total classic movie.
Well, the other week I posted a faun drawing, specifically a male faun. Which is what you usually see. So this week I thought, how about a lady faun, which you usually don't see? The only instance that's coming to mind is the first of the new Narnia movies that came out: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. I think there might have been some lady fauns in that... or maybe it was just lady centaurs. Definitely one of the two.
I've noticed that putting "Lady" in front of the creature name immediately makes it sound like a women's basketball team. Hey, maybe they do play some b-ball from time to time:)
Anyway, back to my drawing, I was thinking of her in Greek mythology terms. So that is what inspired the style of her clothing and look -- a Greek kind of look.
Well, mixin' it up on my fantasy art blog and posting a dragon sketch. Crazy! I actually do love drawing dragons, though I always feel sheepish if I tell that to someone. Except my high school art students. You don't have to explain why you make drawings of dragons to 9th graders. Which is awesome.
I will note that the ears on this dragon came about because a friend commented on the fact that I never seem to draw ears on my dragons. Well. This one's got some ears.
Any suggestions for a background for this piece? Also, what would you guess he/she's looking at??
Alright, here's this week's sketch. I figured, this fantasy blog needs to have a faun drawing finally! It's not quite finished, as you can see. I plan to have him holding a pan flute or something of that nature.
By the way, I've always been a little confused about what the difference is between a faun and a satyr. I know, this stuff keeps you up at night, right?? I've heard that they are the same-- as in one is just the Greek version, and the other the Roman version. Anyone out there that can give me the facts??
Okay, that's about it. Busy week since the school where I teach,
OCHSA, is have a big art show of student work at a gallery (
OCCCA) in Santa Ana. It's gonna look great though. The opening is tomorrow night:) Wish us luck!
Hello all,
Well, I'm safely back in SoCal after surviving the "Blizzard of 2010" on the east coast! My family is all over there in beautiful Upstate New York and I wanted to spend some time with them during the school break. I flew out of LA on Dec. 26. I had a connection in Philly and flew right into a blizzard! I ended up having to spend two nights there before I was able to finally get up to NY. I had planned a little side trip into NYC, but that ended up being a bust due to the lost time.
But I had a great time with my family:) Got to do a little skiing, enjoy the winter beauty of the Adirondacks, and, of course, spend wonderful time with my loved ones.
As you can see by the drawing I've attached, I'm still on my Dryad kick. I'm not regimenting myself too much regarding the subject matter of this blog. If I feel like sticking with one thing for several weeks, obviously, I will:) Wow, I sound so defiant! Well, I was a "strong-willed child" :)
Have a great week everybody (especially teachers facing returning to the classroom this week!) I know... there's no sympathy:)
Sorry I haven't posted. Hope you are all having a great Christmas! I'm off to NY tomorrow to stay for a week with family so I'll be out of commission for a bit longer.
So here are some more dryad sketches. I kind of felt like the earlier one looked too much like a woman was just standing in front of a tree. For the next one, I made the woman more transparent to try to make it seem like she was more of a spirit. Then I tried combining the tree with the woman more -- kind of half-tree, half-woman. I think I like the last look best.
What do you think? How would you picture a dryad?
Kinda late on this week's post. We all understand how busy things are, right? Anyway, here's just a quick sketch I did the other day. I was trying to visualize a Dryad, that is, a tree spirit or nymph. More opportunities for flow-ey, cool hair:) And you know how I love to draw trees...
How is everyone doing on their Christmas preparations and general holiday doings?? Busy, busy, busy!
Gotta make time for art though, right?
:)
Wow, totally late on my weekly blog post. Tomorrow, okay?
Well, here's a fun one I just did. I had an idea about creating a Lord of the Rings themed Christmas image for a card. I mean, good excuse to draw some Lord of the Rings stuff, you know? LOTR is kind of the ultimate fantasy subject matter, so when I thought about creating some sort of fantasy-themed Christmas image it seemed like a good idea:)
I thought it would be nice to feature some of the "lesser" characters of Lord of the Rings. Boromir has his dark side, so to speak, but it's nice to seem him just having a good time with those fun guys, Merry & Pippin.
Is there a Lord of the Rings character that you can envision having a Christmas moment? Do tell... Or perhaps you'd rather think about who you'd like to cozy up next to at the fireplace. Gosh, this is turning into tawdry fan fiction. Sorry!
Anyway, hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I had a good time at some friends' house, though I did end up being seated at the "kid's table." I'll take it as a compliment;) Now Christmas is hurtling toward us! Where does the year go?
Hey all,
I've still been mulling and sketching ideas for the background of the merfolk scene this week. I think I want to move in a different direction and go for a kelp forest kind of look. I'm still thinking of making this an undersea spin on Midsummer Night's Dream, so I wanted to try mirroring a forest setting.
What do you think? Should there be some sort of architecture in the design as well?
In other news, I was in Burbank over the weekend for the CTN Animation Expo. It's kind of like a smaller, more intimate version of the massive Comic Con of San Diego. I saw lots of awesome work, had quite a few great conversations, and got to show my work around a little bit.
Well, I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving:) I hope you are surrounded by good friends and find lots to be thankful for. I know I have so much to be thankful for in my own life.
:)
This week I was doing some sketching trying to figure out a background for the merfolk scene I posted before. You would just need to imagine those three merfolk figures in one of these backgrounds. I don't know if I am quite feeling like any of these really nails it. What do you all think?
Oops, I'm a bit late on my post for this week. Please forgive me because, hey, wasn't the merbaby cute??
So this time it's some Minataur sketches. I'd love to turn one of these into something with a background of the Labrynth...
What do you think would be the right weapon for the Minataur to use? A sword doesn't seem right. An axe? Tell me your thoughts, please.
:)
Okay, I will put up a "normal" post with some new drawings tomorrow, but in the meantime... I went ahead and drew the version of my merman that you were all waiting for. See, now he's really hot. To (mis)quote Dorothy L. Sayers in Gaudy Night, now "He's not a merman, but a mer-miracle."
But now that I've drawn a baby mermaid/merman, just don't ask me exactly where merbabies come from ;)
Okay, so I'm a little late on this week's post. Had a trip out of town over the weekend.
As you can see, I'm still working on the merfolk stuff. I say merfolk, because I've got a merman there. You don't see those so often so I thought I would draw one. I showed the right side of this drawing last week, since that mermaid was more finished. I didn't originally intend to make a little scene, but it seems to have turned out that way:) To me, it comes off as kind of an under-the-sea version of Midsummer Night's Dream. Merfolk versions of Oberon, Titania, and Puck. Of course, a friend suggested that it looked more like some sort of love triangle stand-off ("I'm done with you, Donald!!) :) Hey, however you'd like to interpret it.
Oh, and I want to say a thank you to "Sparks" for answering my burning question of last week, about the proper plural of Pegasus. The answer apparently being that Pegasi is not correct because Pegasus is indeed the proper name of a particular flying horse from Greek mythology. So there is no proper plural other than just saying "flying horses." Finally, I don't have to stay awake at night wondering!
Lookee here, several sketches this week. I know, I'm spoiling you. But I do have a burning question: is the plural of pegasus actually pegasi? Or is it pegasuses? Please help me out if you have an educated answer for me. Besides the pegasus or three, I did some mermaid sketching this week. Lots of fun playing with the flow-y hair and curving shapes. I guess this gal is a queen of some sort? Let me know if anyone has a story idea.
Lastly, I've got a tree drawing. Tree drawings are just something fun that I always enjoy doing.
I suppose everybody is gearing up for Halloween? I'll actually be out of town for the weekend. So you may or may not get a blog post out of me. It will have to be either early or late. We'll see...
Okay, so these sketches are from a prompt from Conceptart.org to visualize the Lady of the Lake from Arthurian legend. I figured it could be dual purpose since I'm working on mythological subjects. I haven't done many "romantic" figures like this exactly in a while, so this was pretty fun. Also, I love drawing swords... I have a couple of swords that I've bought because I "need" them for illustration reference purposes:) Well, see... here's me using them!
Is there another aspect to the legend of King Arthur that you would like to see visualized? And what do you think about the various film and tv versions that have been done? Any Excalibur movie fans? That is some shiny steel!
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Very cool! Way to build the hype. Can't wait to see the "other stuff". Good luck with the move.