Jenny Dolfen

The Wand of Shrikes - lineart

Who remembers this? Months ago, I posted my scribbles for a card game that Changeling Artists are putting together - and asked you for suggestions for "evil" and "good" birds that hadn't been overdone. I love all the shrike imagery here, such a cool suggestion! 

Also - holy wow, why have I never done lineart on Bristol board before? Look at how clean those pencil lines are - they can pass for ink! So happy with this. 

I made another thing...

I had this idea pretty spontaneously (the product of seeing a student of mine with a tee saying "99% unicorn" and the Solo film posters) and I thought I'd totally want to wear this. 

Anyone else? XD

Back from Rome

This is a long post, so let me say a hearty welcome to three new patrons who joined us over this past week: Jeni Buechel, Ashley Wittling, and Hannah Miller! 

So, I'm back, and I'm alive. That's about all I feel confident to say right about now. 

Think about going on a school trip with a thousand people, in twenty buses, and staying in two hundred ramshackle bungalows, in a camp where breakfast is a fifteen minutes' ma...

"Exhale"

A quick sketch I did waiting for my appointment at the eye clinic last week and then forgot to post...

And the print bag goes to...

... Lisa Gerard! Congrats! Please check if your address is correct! ^^

I'm sorry that the draw comes so late - I actually forgot, what with the Rome trip in four days. My eye is getting worse again too, or maybe it just seems that way. :/ 

I probably won't be posting a lot until the end of the month - apparently, there's no WIFI at the camp where we're staying, and without a smartphone, I won't have Internet, heh. (I suppose the student might be quite unbearable aft...

Prints have arrived!

Here's the lovely double-matted prints! The regular A3 ones are available as well. If you'd like them, go through your discount links for your discount! If you've forgotten them, Collectors can find theirs here, Oathkeepers here. 

I've uploaded the bags too; they won't be shipped until I'm back from Rom...

The baggies are here!

The weather today was so rotten I could not get in a minute of sun to take some decent photos, but until tomorrow, here's what they look like! 

As supposed, they're not messenger bags, but very sturdy, anthracite shoulder bags with straps that are great to carry across the body. I'll get in some on-model shots (me, haha) tomorrow! The print on the front looks just awesome. I'm quite partial to the framing too, though I think it looks better on the Thistle Dragon. For the next one...

The Passing of Arwen

Just finished this! There's some good news on the eyes front (ha ha) as well - it seems the spot is receding. My ophthalmologist identified it as acute macular retinopathy (which, he said, basically meant that nobody knew what it is). What I'm finding about it online doesn't seem to fit me 100% either, but it's good to know that it may just go away again.  

It's still bothering me, but if I work slowly, I can work around it.  

Watercolour on Waterford cold-pressed paper.
2018-03-08 17:01:47 +0000 UTC View Post

Livestream result

This is how far I got during the livestream! Thanks for all those who dropped by! 

Livestream now!

Heya! Join us at http://www.twitch.tv/jennydolfen. Give me a minute or two to get set up.

Edit: You can still see the livestream here https://www.twitch.tv/videos/235555282 for a week!

The Passing of Arwen - wip

Going for a soft and unusual colour scheme here, making sure to keep it translucent. You can join me for a livestream tonight to see whether I manage! :) 

Bags, bags, bags!

Or rather, bags, bags! Who'd be interested? Spreadshirt makes some extremely nice and affordable bags, and I've been wanting to stock a few for ages. I think these two motifs work well - I wouldn't want to put anything too specific on them.

I'm not quite sure if they have flaps or not, but they're pretty large (about 40x40 cm). 

Can I have your input on pricing? I was thinking of selling them for about 20€, does that sound fair? They're heavy canvas and really well made, but there...

Livestream announcement

Hey my dears! I'll be doing a livestream on Monday night, 8 pm CET, painting Arwen!

(A livestream of a little Mica Dragon might be an idea too, no?)

Hope to see many of you there! 

Suggestion box March

I know I didn't get done as much in February as I did in January; and I already have to caution that March may end up even worse - even if it weren't for the eye business, I have more exams coming up, and I'll be away on a school trip for eight days in two weeks. But it's the holidays after that, so with some luck, I'll get some stuff done!

Preferred suggestions: Stuff that might work in the style of the koi/Mica Dragons I did! (And a few more Mica Dragons, anyway.) Any thoughts?

Freebies March 2018

Here we are with the wallpapers, avatars and lineart of the day! Hope you like them! :) 

The Passing of Arwen - lineart

No, I didn't give up on this - it went dormant three weeks ago when a deskful of exams arrived, and then continued to lie dormant when my eye started to act up. Finishing this did require an eyepatch and a magnifying glass and a lot of patience, but it did work, which is a bit of a relief. 

Arrrr, me mateys

This is how I do my marking now - at least I can focus with one eye covered!

All the doctor visits have yielded nothing. Everybody's just stumped. There's a stain on the retina, but it's not an injury or an inflammation or anything that anyone has ever seen. And in six days, it hasn't made any sign of going away. :(

I'll see if I can draw like this over the next few days, and am slowly trying to get used to the thought that it'll not just go away... 

Green dragon is up on Etsy!

(Spell-checked thoroughly before posting, heh...) ;)

I'll see na ophthalmologist tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Mica paint on video

This is what the iridescent mica paint looks like in real life!

Edit: Red dagon is spoken for! :)

Another Mica Dragon

So many people have suggestied dragons this month, here's another one. I wasn't really planning on it either... I was listening to Terry Pratchett with my eyes closed and my brain couldn't help it. (It always draws, theoretically, when I close my eyes. Still, I think a visit to the ophthalmologist is in order tomorrow. :/)

FineTec paint and Pitt artist pen on Strathmore toned papr.

Edit: Original drawing is spoken for!

Drawing works, just writing, not so much

Turns out that drawing works, and I found myself doodlong this one as I was listentign to the Audiobook of "Guards, Guards!" 

(Insaenly recommended, by the way. I repeatedly had to rewind a bit to hear somethign again that I'd missed while howling with laughter.)

Rotring liner and Coliro paint on Strathmore toned paper. 

Slight time-out

Hey all, just letting you know I can't draw right now - I've got the mother of all ophthalmic migraines and can barely see. Stress levels are high. :(
Going to try and take a few days off work, listen to audiobooks, drink some tea and get my right eye back...

Suggestion: Koi

Here's Sommer's suggestion of a swirly koi! 

I haven't got any further with Arwen, but at least I've made good progress with marking, AND got to experiment with these lovely Coliro pearl colors you see above! So pretty! <3 

New Patron shoutout - welcome to Katherine! I'm super grateful to all you guys - so many new people this month, and so many of you stocked up your patronage! 

The Passing of Arwen - refined digital sketch

I spent all afternoon sketching and doodling and adding backgrounds and erasing them again and sketching and resizing and flipping them... until I decided that vertical was the way to go, and then the layout took me four minutes. 

I hope to keep working on this over the next week - on Monday, 21 looooooong exams will land on my desk that I'll have to mark, and that'll take up a lot of time. But I'm determined to get some art done in between. It worked both in October and in December, so i...

Suggestion: The Passing of Arwen

A few prelim sketches to capture the look of Arwen, suggested by Ianflyhi. 

She looks a lot like I envision Nienna, incidentally; I always had this clear image of her, a sad, mourning, graceful figure in a streaming cloak. 

I don't imagine things very clearly most of the time; sometimes, when I have a very clear idea of a character, I still don't know where I got it from. 

In the case of Nienna (and, by extension, Arwen) the realisation struck me a c...

Video ahoy!

As promised, a narrated video this time! Enjoy!

(Ignore the bit at the end where you're encouraged to become a Patron, hee.)

This one is a free-for-all Patrons video, not just the higher-uppers. :)

The prints are here! <3

Look! My new camera can actually take photos! (This is the Epson paper, by the way, haha). 

I've put together a "photo box" with pretty tablecloths and decorative thingies that I'll use for photos like this from now on - my husband loves the sea (Eärendur?), so we've got buckets full of ocean-themed decorative items. 

The matted and non-matted prints can be found 2018-02-14 08:31:08 +0000 UTC View Post

Help me with a paper question...

I've known for a long time that the Hahnemühle paper I always use for my prints deepens the darks in a way that can't be adjusted. That makes my prints a bit more contrast-y than in the originals. 

Now I've started using a heavy but smooth Epson paper for my preliminary proof prints - and find that they *always* look better than the finished prints! D=

It's a difficult decision - most of you have seen (and touched) my prints, and know that the feel of them plays a huge part in why ...

"For Ulmo bore up Elwing out of the waves"

"For Ulmo bore up Elwing out of the waves, and he gave her the likeness of a great white bird, and upon her breast there shone as a star the Silmaril."

Watercolour and gouache on Canson Vidalon paper, 26x35 cm. 

I'm still wrestling the print file into submission; once I've got it, there'll be prints. ^^

I'm starting to think...

... that I'm just adding more and more detail as part of an avoidance strategy because I'm scared of the fish! XD

But seriously, yes, this is another level up piece. I'm so freaking happy with how this is turning out. 

New Patreon Shoutout to Ali Phelps! Welcome, hope you enjoy the experience! *wave*