I like this idea of doing graphic-style pieces that I can later turn into stickers, and convert into pins! Here's Ulmo.
Doing the six Valar I want to make pins of also means I have a few more days before I need to think of different stuff to draw again, hee.
2020-03-19 17:53:15 +0000 UTC View Post
Here we are with a bit of glorious spring!
Cabin fever is starting to set in, and it's very un-funny. I hope to be able to do some art tomorrow. <3
Stay safe!
Who's up for a little preview of my next sketchbook page? ^___^
I tried to do the first silhouette-type Valar pin (Varda) yesterday, but I'm no longer sure silhouettes are the way the go. I'll probably toy around with other ideas, like doing fully-fledged paintings and then simplifying them for pins. That way, I would also be able to make stickers, which might make great sets. I certainly have time now. There are no more deadlines for conventions - I can't imagine that any of them will ...
2020-03-18 10:45:30 +0000 UTC View Post
I still haven't got an overall theme or a clear direction - what I do at the moment is take quick ideas I've been nurturing over the years but never took the time to execute properly... and execute them quickly, hee.
I've never painted the silver doe, though I wanted to since 2007!
Today was the first day in a week that didn't bring drastic changes. The supermarkets were all open, and there was a normal number of people around - there just wasn't a lot to buy! I went t...
2020-03-17 22:29:30 +0000 UTC View Post
... or maybe not quick, but something that would have warranted more time put into it. Considering the time that went into this, I'm not happy with it, but hey, no chickening out!
Today was a lot harder than yesterday. First day of home-schooling the kids. I had told them we'd start at 9 am, dressed, and would work until noon. Well, at 9.30, they were parked on the sofa in their pyjamas with their phones. Took a huge effort to get them to work. I never quite appreciated the fact that, a...
2020-03-16 19:23:38 +0000 UTC View Post
More Art in the Time of Corona, more Legolas singing! This one was fun.
Spent Sunday uploading and coordinating school stuff, painting, and going for a walk in a glorious spring weather.
So, things are definitely not normal. States all over the globe declaring emergencies, shutting off borders, shutting down all social life. My county decided it would close all schools from Monday onwards - for three weeks plus two weeks of Easter holidays. Shops and even restaurants here are still open, but I'm pretty sure that won't be for long.
Weirdly, the realisation that we'll mostly be cooped up at home came as a bit of a relief. Not going to a place where a thousand people...
2020-03-14 22:11:10 +0000 UTC View PostI don't really have much of an update, but given the last time I wrote was a while ago, I wanted to let you know I'm fine here 10 km from Germany's epicentre. There's not a single case in my home town still, and our school is still open too (which was the main reason for my long silence - eighty exams to mark!)
Watching all this receding normalcy feels pretty scary. Class trips, football matches, conventions cancelled...
In the meantime, Elves in Brocade are back in st...
2020-03-12 13:45:25 +0000 UTC View Post
So much to do this week - the first forty pin orders have gone out, and then there was school work - and watching the news.
We're pretty close to the largest German coronavirus outbreak in Heinsberg (about 20 miles from here). There's nothing in my home town yet, but that's only a matter of time if you ask me. The WHO says that, on average, every infected person passes the virus on to 1-3 people. This one guy managed thirty-four. Oh the joys of Rhineland Carnival. *facepalm* One m...
2020-02-28 17:53:11 +0000 UTC View Post
I've decided to have a few quick and more (or less) generic pins made for MagicCon this April, so the Valar will get done later this spring, for release in May (I hope). MagicCon is a Tolkien-centric general Fantasy audience, so I wanted some stuff that general Fantasy fans and those who are fans of the movies might connect to. I'll meet all the ultra-nerds at Tolkien Tage in June anway, so I can leave the Valar for later.
I sent off the three dragon varieties to the pin company t...
2020-02-25 16:07:35 +0000 UTC View Post
It turns out there was no daylight today whatsoever, but I seem to have found good camera settings. And had a lot of postwork patience. :)
https://www.etsy.com/shop/JennyDolfen
Looking at those pins again, I am SO. HAPPY. with how they turned out. Every time ordering pins with this company is a better Christmas than the last. I'm already mentally designing the next ones.
Here's li...
2020-02-23 13:14:35 +0000 UTC View Post
PINS! Pins! Shiny pins!!
Yes, I could have told you they were on their way! But I was so afraid they would be faulty that I decided to wait and suffer in silence, he. They're manufactured in China, as you know, and with the New Year and the coronavirus, I was notified they would be delayed. I suppose they were finished before the lockdown, because they'd already been sent to Austria (where, I think, quality control sits) when the factories slowly started opening again last week...
2020-02-22 15:28:08 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm pretty proud of myself for not having this clogged up yet!
Turns out what Fingon's hair needed was a spot of violet with Raw Sienna, and plenty of water. Maedhros' hair is Quinacridone Rust - a colour I actually bought because of him, ha.
The green is hard to see here; I hope my scanner does a better job of picking it up than my camera. I like how the colours here echo exactly the "Song of Valinor" colours. (Even though I hardly used any of the ones I did in that o...
2020-02-21 18:55:50 +0000 UTC View Post
... but I won't get away with any of these for Fingon's hair. Not unless I want a rerun of the Fingolfinian Hair Colour Debate (TM).
And here's something you never thought you'd get - I recently came across a word document on my hard drive where I had actually collected the insane attacks of blonde Fingolfin fans on my Elfwood page. Here's all the madness for you to enjoy. Posted on "The Coming of Fingolfin" on Elfwood many years ago.
(Editor's note: There were, of course,...
So, we have Gamboge, Natural Sienna, Green Gold, Sap Green, and Aussie Red Gold.
The funny thing is that I rarely end up using the colours I thought I would. We'll see. :)
2020-02-21 14:29:03 +0000 UTC View Post
You'll note I changed the poses (Maedhros a bit and Fingon a lot). I had already started to pencil the first version, Maedhros was finished and lovely, and I noticed how stupidly uninvolved they were sitting side by side, and I felt I wanted to add something happening. Something nice, definitely.
I was looking at pictures I took on my last few England holidays for reference of ponds and vegetation, and came upon a couple of photos of my kids in Glastonbury in 2017. They were sitti...
2020-02-20 16:18:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Not sure if this counts as "refined", as it objectively got a lot messier. ;)
I also sat down for a quick watercolour sketch of the colour scheme, BUT I forgot that I wanted to make it vertical, AND whenever I do a colour study, I usually end up going with something else. So, what's left? A kinder bar still-life. ;)
Three cheers for my husband, who dropped off fifty enve...
2020-02-17 14:57:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Woo-hoo! I've packed all the remaining Friend in Need prints today, so they will ship tomorrow. So, from the Netherlands to Siberia to New Zealand, all the FINs will be on their way!
I've also done a very quick sketch for "The Bliss of Valinor" which I'll tackle next. (Both Fingon and Maedhros will be fully* clothed; just to forestall *that* kind of ideas...) Toying with the idea of using some pictures I took in the Peak District last year for landscape and lighting.
2020-02-16 17:55:55 +0000 UTC
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Then when Fingon heard afar the great trumpet of Turgon his brother, the shadow passed and his heart was uplifted, and he shouted aloud: ‘Utúlie’n aurë! Aiya Eldalië ar Atanatári, utúlie’n aurë! The day has come! Behold, people of the Eldar and Fathers of Men, the day has come!’ And all those who heard his great voice echo in the hills answered crying: ‘Auta i lómë! The night is passing!’
Watercolour and gel pen on Fabriano No. 5, 19x33 cm.
I love blues a...
2020-02-15 15:59:17 +0000 UTC View Post
To say nothing of silver and gold armour. <3
2020-02-14 10:15:19 +0000 UTC View Post
Now with dark hair and very probably the most handsome face I have painted in my life. <3
2020-02-14 08:15:46 +0000 UTC View Post
If I wanted to commit suicide, I would post this on social media, and be ripped to pieces by hair colour fanatics within seconds. As it is, I'll just post it here and say it's just to get a golden sunrise glow under everything before adding the actual colours. XD
2020-02-12 18:06:58 +0000 UTC View Post
It's my day off school tomorrow! PAAAAAAIIIIIINT!!
I'm in love with this mechanical pencil. I've gone back and forth with "normal" and mechanical pencil for years, and the mechanical ones were never fine enough OR they kept breaking off. And of course, the regular ones I had to sharpen every five minutes, which was a bit of a nuisance.
2020-02-11 18:03:51 +0000 UTC View Post
I sense a Bert or two coming in the background.
Which would theoratically be possible. He could be part of Fingolfin's people, and have fled to Gondolin with Turgon after the battle.
Thanks for all the Discord feedback - it seems there is a large group of people here who'd like to be in! I'll set that up over the coming week or so.
Another thought that occurred to me when I revisited this scene recently on the Prancing Pony Podcast - What did Beleg and Mablung th...
2020-02-10 18:39:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Many thanks once again to Patrick Wilson for giving us his eyes.
It breaks my heart to think that Fingon is so happy here, and will be dead at the end of this battle. ;_;
Some plans! Before I tackle the Prophecy of the North, I'm going to put in a piece of happy Fingon and Maedhros in Valinor. Boy, have those two earned that.
I am also thinking of ways to give you a bit more of a fun Patreon experience, especially for the higher tiers, which don't put me un...
2020-02-10 12:32:41 +0000 UTC View Post
She has done it again! A very tiny woolly black cat hair attached itself to the painting when I scanned it, and I only noticed it now (as opposed to the one on Arien, which was a lot more noticeable). I have made seven prints of the piece already, so they'll go out as special edition prints with cat hair. If you've ordered one already and do *not* want it (it's barely noticeable, as you can see on the scan I uploaded earlier), let me know, and I'll pack a new one for you, with the cat hair re...
2020-02-09 18:17:10 +0000 UTC View Post
"Then his sons raised up their father and bore him back towards Mithrim. But as they drew near to Eithel Sirion and were upon the upward path to the pass over the mountains, Fëanor bade them halt; for his wounds were mortal, and he knew that his hour was come. And looking out from the slopes of Ered Wethrin with his last sight he beheld far off the peaks of Thangorodrim, mightiest of the towers of Middle-earth, and knew with the foreknowledge of death that no power of the Noldor would ever o...
2020-02-09 15:53:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Again, sooooo slooooow! But I have only myself to blame. XD
2020-02-08 18:27:13 +0000 UTC View Post
On Thursday I completely ruined Fëanor by tryng a "glowing ember" effect that totally didn't work out, and started once again from (lineart) scratch. The good thing about this is that every new attempt has been slightly better than the last. and I *really* want this to be spectacular, so there's that. :)
Fëanor is in progress now, too. It's pretty ambiguous if he's burning because his spirit is fleeing, or because of battling Balrogs, but that makes perfect sense, I think.
(And I've found a better setting for photographing this!) I'm slowly starting to feel excited about the colours (rather than mortified, which is how I spent the day yesterday). This is such an unusual colour scheme for me! But I still managed to sneak in some Ultramarine.
2020-02-06 15:21:31 +0000 UTC View Post