Jenny Dolfen

Where do unicorns go?

I sat listening to "Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of Black Peter" today, which features a ship called the Sea Unicorn, and this thing popped up in my head.  Let's have some beauty and movement. 

Original and prints of Celebrían in my shop!

Signed prints, and the original painting, are available in my shop! 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/JennyDolfen

Your coupon codes are valid for the prints; Order of the Bear and up get their codes for all originals in my shop as well until the end of this week! 

If you can't remember your coupon codes, you can...

Celebrían finished

"This Hither Shore"

Watercolour and white gouache on Canson Héritage cold-pressed paper, 30x23 cm

Paints used:
Naples Yellow, Raw Umber, Lavender (Mijello)
Ultramarine Blue (Sennelier)
Dragon's Blood (Maimeri)

The Naples Yellow and Lavender are both quite opaque, "chalky" colours whose combination results in this pastel look here. 

With this piece there comes a bitter realisation: I can no longer paint detail in faces if they're this small. Not even with a mag...

Background mainly in place

I'm going to start on the figure tomorrow! The landscape is going to remain hazy; must be careful not to add too much at this point. 

Removing the masking fluid was a nightmare - this is very rough paper, which I didn't consider. I tried with my fingers, then with a tissue, then with a white eraser - it still wouldn't come off completely. My life-saver was my "DustCatch" eraser, which actually managed to get off the masking fluid completely. Whew.

Celebrían, first couple of washes

The deep blue stuff is masking fluid, hee hee. :)

I've discovered the landscape art of David Bellamy, and some techniques here were strongly inspired by his soft washes. Looks more like lavender now than thistle, but I'm going to bring the prickly little buggers out again in some places near the bottom. 

Hello new Patron Tina! 

Flea market frame haul!

I went to the local flea market today and managed to procure a fine haul of vintage frames! It's incredibly expensive to buy some on eBay; on flea markets, however, people just want them off their hands and practically give them away. The handsome two on the left were 7€ each! The one in the centre seems to be a hand-done copper etching print from a 17th century original. I got it in order to put some watercolour ground on it, but I really wonder if I should! 

The others will certainly ...

Celebrían lineart

Trying to go light on the background lineart, and keeping it sweepy. 

Freebies July 2018!

I apologise for the long absence of the freebies! I hadn't managed a lot of art in the last few months, but I've finally accumulated enough to tie a large and hopefully satisfying bundle for you. The holidays are just around the corner, too, and I hope to get Celebrían underway over the last few days. 

Messy Celebrian sketch

An extremely quick 5 minute Photoshop scribble for that thistle field painting I brought up a few weeks ago. Emily suggested putting Celebrian in it, and I feel the pale, desaturated purples and even more desaturated turquoises of the scenery fit her silveriness really well. Plus, I felt like doing something wistful. 

It echoes "Fields of Gold" in a very fitting, melancholy way, and it's been exactly fifteen years since I drew that one... wow. 

By the way, I have personally tri...

Ice and Fire - finished!

This was supposed to be a quick thing on the side, and in the end, it took me a month O_o If it hadn't been for the little reward drawings and paintings I managed in the meantime, I'd be worried. I do work more slowly than I used to, and need to make longer breaks, but managing my online time has helped a lot, so on the whole, I get about as much done as I did before this eye thing happened. 

I think the next larger piece may be the thistle field I posted earlier this month. 

P...

The "Ice" part

Not sure if it was a coincidence... But I painted this bit on Wednesday and have been in bed with a cold since then. 😳

Ice and Fire - Jon coming along, and rambling about my eyes.

Welcome to new patron, Sarah! :) 

I put off working on this to wait for my new glasses, which do a little bit to help with the blind spot in my right eye. I can see better, tire less, especially when I use a magnifying glass (which is whenever I paint these days). Unfortunately, as my right eye now insists on taking charge of my eyesight again, that means the blind spot is always extremely prominent (as opposed to when my weaker but non-blind-spotted left eye tries to tak...

Ice and Fire - next wip

We all know art that matches the furniture - here comes art that matches the weather forecast! Today and yesterday have been pretty cold for June, so I'm getting warmed up by painting the lower right half of this piece. Friday and Saturday are going to be hot again, so I'll be cooling off then with the upper left half. Ha!

Ice and Fire in progress (sorry, now with pic)

This has been waiting on my desk for a while; now I'm finally getting back to it again. Must - not - get - too - dark... 

Varda finished

Here she is! I finished her last night already, but didn't get round to scanning and flattening until today. 

Varda. Watercolour and gouache on Canson Aquarelle cold-pressed paper, ca. 21x15 cm. 

Flattening is another thing I've recently learned - it's dead easy to get a warped (non-stretched) watercolour painting to lie absolutely flat again, even flatter than it comes from a stretcher: I spray the back with water, out it between two heavy watercolour paper pads with a piece o...

Varda wip

Going all-out with a lot of water. The sunny veranda is just about as wet by now, so I've taken this indoors...

In progress: Varda (another Order of the Dragon reward)

Sitting on the sunny veranda, listening to Sherlock Holmes short stories, and doing more reward art!

The next few are going to be interesting, as the three people whose Order of the Dragon rewards I'm now doing left no prompts. So, only the postman will tell! =) 

Ecthelion battles Gothmog

And another one I did today, as suggested by Emily and Wiltraud! It was actually something I haven't done in ages, unless in a sketchbook: Just sat down, drew and painted on the same sheet, without much ref (save some 15th century armour) and without overthinking. It's something I had almost unlearned, and it's good to do it again. 

Ecthelion battles Gothmog. Watercolour on Bockingford paper (I think), roughly 21x15 cm.

When I sat down to draw, I was almost ready to leave out Ecthel...

Colony of Cats and other suggestions!

I've had an extremely prolific day sitting in the garden, listening to Sherlock Holmes read by Stephen Fry (an absolute recommendation, by the way!) and doing several little drawings. 

I really liked the fairytale of he Colony of Cats shared by Mary - it's like Frau Holle meets Cinderella, but with added cats. Yay!

Here's a hobbitty second breakfast as requested by Brit!  2018-06-09 17:08:10 +0000 UTC View Post

Two more little minis for the "Order of the Swallow" supporters

... drawn at another ophthalmologist appointment. My eye, incidentally, hasn't got any better, and nobody has any idea if it ever will, and certainly not how to help me. Drawing is only possible in little installments, which is why there's so relatively little new stuff. I have another appointment with my optician, who is actually a lot more helpful than all those ophthalmologists combined; maybe he'll have an idea for reading glasses or something... 

When you think of natural beauty...

... you probably don't immediate associate thistles. This is what the fields behind our house look like right now - it's incredible. It almost feels like Provence (well, if you squint), and smells wonderful, too! 

Let's do a slightly different prompt session to accompany the regular one! Whom could I paint into such a beautiful setting? I've been thinking of doing a piece on the Elves leaving Middle-earth for a while; I think having them ride through clouds of these would look incredible....

Suggestion box June!

After a month without, here's another suggestion box! Leave your ideas and prompts here. :) 

New thingies...

No, I don't think you can have too many buttons. Why? XD 

And of course there's a little giveaway on the horizon...

A warm welcome to new Patron Ashqtara!

Framed prints on Etsy

I came home from last weekend's con with a couple of framed prints left, so here they are on Etsy! 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JennyDolfen

Your coupon codes work for these. If you can't remember them, you can find them here. 

Oathkeepers 

2018-05-29 11:38:50 +0000 UTC View Post

Manwe, finished and matted

Here's the finished piece!

Ice and Fire - lineart

People kept puzzling over this at my booth yesterday, because "Well, that's obviously Khaleesi*, but who's the guy, and why has he got the sword of Jon Schnee**?"

*(Few people realise that's not Dany's name.)

**(Yes, the series translated the names. The bloody names. I can't get over "Kasterlistein".)

Ice and Fire - lineart wip

A new piece I've been wanting to do since last winter - Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen. Drawn at my booth today, as well. 

I had an absolutely great day today - lovely talks with wonderful people (some Patrons, too!) and really good sales as well. It was WAY too hot, but well, mustn't grumble!

Finished Manwë

I painted Manwë at my booth at Tolkien-Tage today. Just a camera photo for now; will scan him properly on Monday! 

Manwë for Inksinger

Next up in the Order of the Dragon pieces:  Manwë for Inksinger! I hope to paint him on the convention this weekend. 

I was going to do a hair tutorial, but then ended up doing most of the lineart on the go instead of at my desk, and couldn't record. 

Welcome to new patron, Szilvia! :) Great to see you here! 

Tolkien Days preparation

Been printing, matting and framing all week in preparation for Tolkien Days 2018 this weekend! A few small/Inktober originals are also up for grabs. If you're in the area, come and see me in Geldern!