Now, which Elf would pull off brocade AND armour? <3 (Am I a good enough artist that the face shape gives him away?)
Edit: Kirsten guessed him! It's Fingolfin. He felt slighted by being put in my sketchbook and left without any brocade, and was very clear that he needed to be drawn with brocade. And armour.
Wow, you guys really took care of every Inktober piece - I'm chuffed to see all of them go to nice new homes! <3
Sorry for the lack of Elves in brocade yesterday - I spent all day marking. But the holidays start tomorrow, so I do hope, eyes permitting, that there will be many more pieces to come from now on.
The calendars and artbooks are delayed for some reason, but to be honest, I'm almost glad. I wouldn't have known when to send them all. Another thing for which ...
2019-10-10 20:49:35 +0000 UTC View PostFeanor, the eyes and Elrond were snatched up last night. Good luck!! =D
https://www.etsy.com/shop/JennyDolfenArt
2019-10-09 06:54:44 +0000 UTC View Post
I didn't quite finish Melian yesterday, but got both her and Elrond done during a conference today.
There's has been a bit of confusion about claiming an Inktober piece! I will put all available pieces up on Etsy tomorrow around 9 am CET. You are the only people who know this, so you'll get first dibs. BUT if you are absolutely sure you already want one before I put them up, you can claim them straight away by sending me a PM here on Patreon. All pieces are 250€ plus 10 shipping...
2019-10-08 17:23:13 +0000 UTC View Post
It's incredible how much I've suddenly fallen in love with inking! My self-perception, for the last fifteen+ years, has been, "I can't ink". I did have a feeling that I knew why that was, and that's proven true: I approached inking by doing a pencil sketch that was still pretty rough in places, and thinking, "I'll fix that when I ink."
Now in every piece, there were about ten places that could or might not work. Of those, five ended up not working. Of these, two tend of be in the face o...
2019-10-06 17:29:51 +0000 UTC View Post
Feanor really, really wanted brocade. I'm cross-eyed now!
I think this style is the way to go - keeping the characters purely in black and white and adding some colour with the background.
I can't believe I'm actually inking. O=
2019-10-05 16:39:07 +0000 UTC View Post
My eyes prevented me from doing any art yesterday, but at least I put some colour on Maglor today. My basic hope for this year's Inktober is to get more pieces done than last year - that means more than six, so I guess I'm still on track!
I always compare my available eyesight to weight watcher points. I have 100 points of eyesight each day. 30 minutes of driving uses up 50. The same time reading with ridiculously large letters uses 30. Reading normal text - 50 points for five minutes. ...
2019-10-05 11:15:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Elves in brocade, anyone? Maglor would have to be first. XD
I had the idea yesterday, watching Pirates of the Caribbean, of all things. The way Barbossa dresses after having gone all respectable reminded me that I had a full folder of brocade patters on my computer that has been waiting to be put on Elves. Inktober is the best excuse for that.
I think it's funny how my Inktobers acquire a theme on day three. And reaffirms my decision not to start out with a theme in the firs...
2019-10-03 17:05:39 +0000 UTC View Post
Two years ago, I left him for last. This year, he gets a motivational spot at number two. But hey, I can still do a full one of him later. XD
I switched to Sennelier hot-pressed watercolour paper for this. That was great for the inks but sad news for the colours. Well... I have 29 days left to find the perfect paper combo. =D
What I have found are some great fineliners with flexible tips which are also waterproof- finally, the perfect tools!
Some thoughts on ...
2019-10-02 18:22:27 +0000 UTC View Post
I almost gave up INktober before I could start. Today was a day that was just too full of all manner of stuff, and under normal circumstances, I'd have have spent the early evening reading newspapers online, but then I decided that this was precisely what Inktober is about - form new habits, make room for what matters. I'm not totally happy with Fingolfin here, but hey, curls!
I plan to move to more black ink, more stylised, and less colour over the course of the month. Let's see ...
2019-10-01 18:05:52 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear me! How I've missed this look (or rather, working up to this look, as I can't really say I ever really achieved it).
I'm thinking of doing a Ladies of Tolkien series for Inktober... just for an excuse to do more gorgeous curls, haha!
2019-09-30 13:27:12 +0000 UTC View Post
This style, funnily, is what I fully expected to be doing for all my life about twenty years ago. I stopped inking around 2002, when I felt my inks were horrible compared to my pencils. That, of course, is because inking will show every little mistake and insecurity which you can still hide with pencil.
I've made a few forays into inking every other year or so but always gave it up again immediately, as my pencils always looked so much better - but I think I've finally reached a l...
2019-09-29 06:42:47 +0000 UTC View Post
The good thing: I can actually laugh about them as I only ordered one copy, and quickly moved to correct the mistake in the final file (made it a single, multi-plage pdf this time to be on the safe side). Basically, the printer said "Make sure to clearly number your calendar pages", which I did. Of course, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12+cover sounds clear and logical, until you realise it's just ordered by AI, which orders it 1,10,11,12,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,cover.
That, or the guy who asse...
2019-09-28 08:43:17 +0000 UTC View Post
The "prototype" of my artbook with the new printer came today, and YESSS! The printing quality is perfect, the colours are bright and full and crisp. Exactly as they would look if I had printed them myself.
Remember how pale and blurry this page looked in the old version? I'm totally and utterl...
2019-09-20 12:08:37 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to new Patron, Nika Kara!
Hey my lovelies! Here's the postcard calendar that will go out to all of you in the Celebration and Friend in Need tiers over the next couple of weeks! Since the calendar is quite small in size, I went for out-of-the-ordinary pieces or cropped larger ones.
I ordered a sample copy yesterday (never going without sample copies ever again...). It'll be a postcard-sized calendar, with the calendar bit at the bottom. If you know ...
Whoa you guys, I finally tried out my Etchr sketchbook! I'd got it earlier this summer, but being a good girl, I filled my old sketchbook before breaking in the new one. (And was that ever hard!)
It's called "The Perfect Sketchbook" and it really is a marvel. Normally, sketchbook makers really skimp on paper - this one is a bit more expensive, but still not as prohibitively so as some others. It's 100% cotton, heavyweight paper - a dream to do washes in!
The paint is a new ...
... in your postbox. XD This is the little extra thing I mentioned in my last post - I've ordered little jelly bear bags with my art (foxes) on them to throw in with Etsy orders for Patrons. The chocolate proved an idea that won't work after April. ;)
The new orders going out today already have them! <3 Now I have to defend them from my kids. Apparently, they taste better than the Haribo ones, and they keep sneaking into my study to get more jelly bears!
2019-09-13 13:56:47 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm sorry for the serious lack of art around here lately - the artbook and t-shirt stuff has sucked up all my energy (plus, a lot of work at school). I've finally heard from the &?!§§ printer - they absolutely refuse to refund me anything. Which I expected, and the news was more infuriating than shocking, but still. I've deleted the company from my bookmarks. That'll teach them! Sigh. I haven't progressed very far with the new printing company; communication with them is pretty slow.&nb...
2019-09-12 06:58:56 +0000 UTC View PostWelcome to four new Patrons! Hi there, IlexBerry, Luciana, Shawn, and Deniz!
I know I shouldn't be amazed at your response - but it would have been mad to expect the kind of support you've been given me this past week! Thanks to your incredible help, updated pledges, huuuuuge amount of Etsy orders, even donations (hug!!) and just a spot of luck (selling an original this week), I'm almost even!
I've sent back...
2019-09-06 14:55:44 +0000 UTC View Post
I had barely finished writing my t-shirt post yesterday when the postman rang (once), to say he had eight packages for me. Oh my!!! He carried them all inside (they are beastly heavy - we're talking 500 pounds altogether), and I opened the first to look at my new artbook.
And went about as pale as the book I was holding.
You know, I have worked with this printer for five years. They printed Cannae, in all versions and editions, and they printed my last artbook as well ...
2019-09-01 10:19:38 +0000 UTC View Post
Aren't they gorgeous? My daughter is already proudly wearing one. =) I'm really happy with the print quality! I used the same printer and printing method that the Tolkien Society used for the event shirts, because the quality is much better than the company I've been using so far. The tote bags are lovely too - they're all in my Etsy shop now! Here's the shop link with the coupon code already figured in. 2019-08-31 09:38:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Not even The Sparkle can dissipate its meanness! =D
2019-08-23 06:12:15 +0000 UTC View Post
Who would have thought it was some major eye-circles that made them mean?
I suppose it took some major frustration with the printer of my artbook to bring out mean dragons. The entire upload-troubleshooting-reupload-troubleshooting-fix-reupload process would be comical if it wasn't so tiring. The printer only has its model sheets in German, and in tiny writing; my layouter is excellent with design stuff but can read but isn't German, and I could understand the stuff but can't read...
2019-08-22 16:24:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Somehow, everything is getting ready at the same time. aaaaah! XD
Next week, the t-shirts will arrive! They're printed on a muted blue instead of the graphite tone they had at the Tolkien2019 event, and I will indeed have men's and women's cuts. I also ordered a bunch of tote bags of the design, in dark navy. <3
I'm also finalising the artbook, which I hope can go to print over the next couple of days, to be sent to me in early September at the latest. There will be...
2019-08-20 12:02:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to new Patron, Szilvia! Great to see you again. Aaaand just in - Carin! W00t! :)
This piece, the last of the England sketches, has a nice little story to it.
I'd spent the first two days of the event not sketching at all. Usually, at any con, I will sit with my sketchbook and draw away, putting it down every now and then when I'm talking to a customer. On the first two days in Birmingham, that was not possible - there was no ti...
2019-08-13 16:56:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to new Patron, James! Welcome! :)
Sorry for not updating - life was busy and at times hectic. On 2 August, I was this close to cancelling everything. Due to my blasted eye disease, which makes it almost impossible for me to tell a 2 from a 3 on my smartphone screen, I had misread the dates for our hotel stays in Deal and in the Peak District, and we were well on our way north and stuck on the M25 when I saw that we had checked out in Deal a day early, and were ...
Spent a day in Canterbury and one at Botany Bay. No fossils to write home about, but an actual beach day (complete with sunburns) and wonderful scenery.
We heard the Evensong at the Cathedral - always an experience of otherworldly beauty.
Welcome to new Patron, Morgan! 😊
2019-08-02 19:22:25 +0000 UTC
View Post
We're in Kent! I took some time to sketch on the ferry and after a short walk along the shore. Canterbury today, and maybe fossils tomorrow!
And look! Patreon can do picture galleries now! 😀
Welcome to new Patron NaryaVermouth!
2019-07-31 06:02:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Woo-hoo! Look at this beauty! My friend Jonathan did such a terrific job with this. I just love the look!
I will probably send this to print when I'm back from Birmingham (mid-August), so hopefully, the preorder can start then - with the books going out this September! *excited* I might even have the postcard calendars printed alongside, so we can save on shipping.
2019-07-24 16:01:20 +0000 UTC View Post
New Patron alert! =D Welcome, Hana!
To think I wanted to do a series of "quick little paintings" - little, yes. Quick? Ouch! I think I need to do some with a water brush. That way, I can't do that much detail. XD (But that'll frustrate me like no man's business, so there is that.)
Still far quicker than the Tolkien one.
I love the "fairy" shimmer all around Aredhel. Turquoise well-spent!
2019-07-22 19:06:55 +0000 UTC View Post