September 2017 – Ellen Million Graphics Blog

Featured Artist: Brandy Woods

An elf with dark skin and long white hair occupies the right 2/3rds of the image, turned toward the viewer. Her right arm holds a white cloak with edging of golden embroidery closed at her throat; the sleeve depicted on her right arm is purple with a golden cuff. She wears a diadem of gold with a dark center-set jewel. Her eyes are tilted, and a subtle smile plays on her lips. The background is painted pale gold. — Elven Portrait Adoption

Welcome to Ellen Million Graphics’ Featured Artist of the Week! Each week (or so), we select an EMG artist and share their work and history. We hope you enjoy getting to see incredible artists this way.

This week, our spotlight turns to illuminate that artist of colorful characters and storied scenes, Brandy Woods! Brandy joins us from Montreal, and is originally from Louisiana where the walls of her family home were papered in her childhood drawings.

A sketch of a human woman, examining a leaf held before her face between pointer finger and thumb. Her bust is depicted. Her hair long, moving in an unseen wind. She wears a simple diadem with a curved decorative element in the center of her forehead. She appears to be wearing a plain, colored dress with some small lace edging at neckline and the one cuff in the illustration's view. She also wears a simple necklace: a thin chain and some circular center element. — Curious Human Portrait Adoption

“My mom tells me that even before I held a pencil, I was using fingernail polish to ‘paint’ on my highchair,” Brandy confided. She’s largely self-taught, and drew early inspiration from Wendy Pini before being deeply influenced by manga. She’s spent the years since refining her style, and attended Dawson College’s Illustration & Design program in her 30’s, graduating at the top of her class with honors and multiple scholarships.

When creating, Brandy most often sketches in pencil before digitally coloring her works in Corel Painter or Photoshop. She also enjoys working with acrylics, oils, and watercolors. Much of her inspiration is drawn from fantasy and various world cultures. When she’s not creating, you’re likely to find her reading—”One of my life goals is to have a library like Neil Gaiman’s,” she told us (a worthy goal!)—or playing video games. She enjoys science fiction, fantasy, mythology, and more. She also enjoys collecting Breyer horses, red foxes, and fountain pens. You can discover more about her and her work at her website.

A full figure stands against a soft background of mountainous brown-grey terrain and a blue-white sky. He stands with feet spread and arms held aloft. A brown owl is just alighting on the figures left arm. He faces the viewer; his left arm is covered with a baldric and arm-length glove. His right arm is bare, as is much of his smooth chest. He wears a short cropped purple vest, a teal cloth belt gathered by a gold center buckle over draped purple cloth with golden detailing in a thick edge over bagg golden pants tucked into knee-high brown boots. He also wears a purple bandana with golden detailing over his dark hair. He has a scarred face, the line running over his left eye. He bears a serious expression, and a partially open mouth. His facial hair is dark, and sort of an extended goatee out to the sides. — Owl Guy Portrait Adoption

Brandy is one of EMG’s most popular Portrait Adoption artists, with a gallery of seventeen portraits – several of which are on wishlists and many of which come with the option to purchase the original. She’s an inspired portrait artist as well – her character studies pull off impressive characterization in expression, stance, clothing and equipment details, and more. You can even request customizations on a number of her portraits. In her gallery, you’ll find everything from women warriors in both sensible and non-sensible armor, dark elves and skeptical elves, spellcasters and unicorn companions and characters in excessively long coats. She’s also open to commissions! We invite you to discover more of her work at EMG through the link below!

Brandy’s Sketch Fest gallery.

Sunday Sketches

EMG Sketch Fest 91 is drawing to a close, and it’s been a great one! There are dozens of ink and pencil sketches, paintings, handcrafts, and so much more over at the full gallery – which is full of autumnal delight, witches and fairies, magpies and crows and cats.

We’ve selected a few illustrations to feature that’ll intrigue you and have you clicking through to the full gallery in no time.

A fluffy white cat sits with tail curled around its paws, looking at out the viewer from the mid-right; a pair of round glasses lay to the left on top of an open book with the suggestion of lines of text; another open book lays partially atop it and behind the cat, and another open book lay further in the background. Stacks of books occupy the right edge (one in front of another) and the left edge of the illustration. Brown pencil and white charcoal on toned paper. — “Ex Libris” by Maria J. William

This beautiful cat from Maria J. William is just waiting for you to start reading before she happily and pointedly walks across your book and sits on it, purring all the while. You can purchase a glossy print of this 6″ x 8″ brown pencil and white charcoal drawing on toned paper for only $10.

Rough sketch. A kid-sized dragon faces away from the viewer, standing on two legs and wearing a backpack patterned with circular squiggles. There's the suggestion of flowers around its feet, and a bus stop sign in front of it. — “Waiting for the Bus” by Kir Talmage

This young fellow is ready to get back to school in Kir Talmage‘s adorable depiction of this kid dragon at a bus stop. Look at his little backpack! We can’t wait to watch this pencil sketch develop further.

A wizard faces the viewer on the right side of the drawing, his cheeks and chin and visible neck covered in stubble. He seems to have mid-length hair or long sideburns. His face is lined, and he has a gruff expression on his face. His brown eyes almost glare at the viewer. He's wearing a purple knit hat with golden arrows pointing down detailed along the edge; it's pulled down over a wrinkled forehead. He may be wearing a blue plaid scarf, along with a purple jacket or robe - you only see it from the shoulders. A wand is held aloft, sloping in from the left side of the page - held aloft by the wizard, no doubt. The wand is brown, and there's a poof of golden magic floating above its tip. — “Gruff Old Wizard” by Charlie Galvin

Charlie Galvin‘s “Gruff Old Wizard” isn’t taking any guff, and isn’t above a little magical assist to get those darned kids off his lawn. So, y’know, stay off his lawn.

A blue detailed sketch depicts a field of mushrooms of varying height, shape, and sizes. The mushrooms seem the size of large hedges compared to the little witch depicted among the mushrooms. Her body faces the viewer but she's looking and pointing to the viewer's left. She points with her right arm and holds a broom with her left. A waist-high fox stands next to her and looks in the direction of her pointing. The witch is wearing shapeless robes, belted with a small sack at her belt. She also has the requisite witch's hat on, which is a bit lumpy. — “Through the Mushroom Forest” by Mary Rose “Marose” Magpily

Marose has got us longing for a story! This witchy cutie and her sharp-nosed fox pal are definitely headed for adventure, and it looks like it’ll be a fun one.

A fat tome of a book sits on a vague background in this ink sketch on white paper. The book is padlocked; a crow sits on top of the book, back to the viewer and its head looking to the viewer's left. The crows holds a key in its beak. A mouse standing upright on its hind legs and wearing a hooted cloak and some type of baldric presses its back to the book (which is taller than it is), looking apprehensively up toward the crow above. — “The Quest” by Katerina Romanova

Speaking of stories, we’re also eager to know more about this cloaked rodent rogue and the key-grasping crow. What’s in the book? Who’s the rat’s tailor? Will we ever know?! Only Katerina Romanova can tell.

That’s it from #EMGSketchFest 91! (Have you been remembering to use our official hashtag?) More illustrations may be added over the next several hours, but our event officially ends at 12 PM AKST. We hope you all had fun – check our social media feeds next week for the announcement of October’s Sketch Fest dates!

Night Owls, Let Me Sing You A Song

Good evening, all you night owls! Late, late evening, I know. It’s been a productive and creative day in the EMG Sketch Fest 91 gallery!

Let’s get right to the featured illustrations:

A rocking horse (Appaloosa) facing toward the viewer's left, with a teddy bear in a cowboy hat and neckerchief sitting astride it and holding the reins. Pencil sketch. — “In the Saddle” by Sally Gilroy

Sally Gilroy took Ellen Million’s “back in the saddle” prompt and turned it into this perfect children’s book-esque illustration. Now it just needs the storybook that frames this Cowboy Teddy’s moonlight ride on his trusty Appaloosa Rocking Horse!

A pencil sketch of a jack o'lantern. The pumpkin faces the viewer, though its eyes appear to look to the viewer's left. The jack o'lantern is wearing a witch's hat with the pointed tip curling to the viewer's right. The pumpkin also features a leafy vine curling to the viewer's left. — “Whimsical Jack o Lantern” by Cindy Hill

Another entry on the autumnal theme! Cindy Hill has sketched an adorably be-hatted jack o’lantern with just a hint of the zany.

A Photoshopped collage - a brunette with free flowing hair is walking through a forest clearing toward the viewer, with one foot forward. She looks to the viewer's left, and her left hand reaches out to almost cup the chin of a unicorn trailing behind her. The woman is wearing a flowing and silken purple garment. The forest floor is verdant; light slopes through the thin trees in the background. — “Maiden with the Flowing Hair” by Llynara

Welcome to Llynara! This is her first Sketch Fest, and she’s shared a stunning and enchanting scene that she developed in DAZ 3D and refined in Photoshop.

A slender fairy woman poofs her tangled and leaf-strewn hair with one hand while her other hand curls back to touch her bare shoulder. Her fitted gown is made of autumnal leaves and accented with berries. The fairy has moth-like wings, four lobes relaxed in partial extension around her. Mushrooms litter the suggestion of ground about her gown-hidden feet. Ink sketch in progress. — “Lady of the Autumn Forest” by Mitzi Sato-Wiuff

Mitzi Sato-Wiuff has delivered autumnal royalty with her “Lady of the Autumn Forest” work-in-progress! If you’re interested in purchasing the original, contact her! She may or may not be adding color.

A set of branches curves in an backwards E shape, supporting a magpie on the lowest branch. The magpie's back is to the viewer, and it looks over its shoulder to the viewer's left. The magpie holds a small key in its beak. 11 keys of various ornateness and sizes dangle from ribbon and chains and rings from various branches. Ink drawing. — “Collector of Keys” of Kathy Nutt

This magpie just really gets what Sketch Fest is all about – a collection of shinies in all different shapes and sizes! Thanks for summing up this festival of creativity so eloquently, Kathy Nutt!

We’re off to bed, perchance to dream – of more art tomorrow!

Welcome to EMG Sketch Fest #91!

It’s September’s Sketch Fest weekend, and we’re delighted to be here with you all – we’re creating, inspiring, and generally enjoying a whole diverse gallery of art over at the Sketch Fest site.

We’ve even got handicrafts in this one, folks! Don’t miss out.

Oh, but you’re ready for the selection of teaser images? Of course! It wouldn’t be Sketch Fest if we didn’t tease you to hop over to the full gallery.

A black blob with white eyes and two lighter grey appendages as legs stares curiously down at a hedgehog next to the suggestion of a railing before some type of waterway, with a city skyline in the background. All in watery black almost sumi-e type painting. — “berlinstory #15” by blopdotink

Blopdotink had the distinction of getting us started with this lovely and intriguing sequential art illustration! Here’s what they said about a blop discovering a hedgehog: “Again, I am using Sketch Fest to compile a story made up solely of prompts and it’s gonna be a love story again. But not between blops or other creatures, it’s about the love for the greatest city in the world, my humble home town BERLIN.”

A raggedy black cat stares out at the viewer next to a grinning, bucktoothed jack o'lantern. The illustration is a black ink sketch on white paper. — “the black cat and the pumpkin” by Julie Rabishung

Julie Rabischung has started autumn off properly, reminding us that October is Halloween and all of September merely Halloween Eve! The original 4×6 ink sketch of this concerned black cat and their adorable jack o’ lantern is available for $12!

A well-worn stuffed bunny plush wears a tutu made of glimmering, iridescent tulle in bronze and green, decorated by silk leaves in red, gold, and green-tinged gold. (This is a handicraft and not an illustration.) — “Fall Leaves Tutu” by Amy Sue Stirland

Autumn is an inspired time to make handicrafts, and Amy Sue Stirland has started us off admirably here! Riffing off Mayumi Ogihara’s prompt, “a dress made of autumn leaves,” Amy used fall-toned iridescent tulle and colorful silk leaves to create a whimsical tutu for a well-loved plush.

A woman tilts her head to the viewer's right, staring boldly out of the illustration. She wears an elaborate layered bow of light-flecked ribbon, crowned with a spider web and a large black spider crouching over it. The woman also wears a short necklace composed of two strands of black bears with a large skull bead centered. Her hair falls in waves about her shoulder and the hint of a black garment at the bottom of the illustration where her chest begins. Graphite, white charcoal, and white acrylic paint on tan paper. — “Trick or Treat” by Mayumi Ogihara

Speaking of Mayumi Ogihara, she’s gotten into the autumnal spirit as well! She created this creepy cutie, with her eek-inducing hair accessory and tastefully macabre jewelry. If you’d like the original ACEO in graphite, white charcoal, and white acrylic paint on tan paper, it’s a steal at $22. You can also score an ACEO print for only $6.

A woman is depicted from the breast up, and both turns to and gazes to the viewer's right. She smiles slightly and her eyes are thickly lined with kohl. She has a beauty mark on her right cheek. She's holding a goblet up and almost out to someone, held aloft a little below her chin. The small goblet has a white steam rising from it that gives off sparkles. She has dark, unbound hair and a loose hood draped over her head, pushed slightly back. ACEO size, pencils and charcoal. — “The Sorcerer’s Magic” by Katerina Koukiotis

Katerina Koukiotis drew on the mysterious Red Priestess Melisandre (from Game of Thrones) and her admiration for her friend Janna to draw “The Sorcerer’s Magic.” And you can bring home this magical and engaging art card – the $12 original is currently on hold for a prospective purchaser, but you can get a limited edition print for $6!

That’s it for our early afternoon teaser post. Click on through to admire the rest of the gallery. And remember: when you share your Sketch Fest artwork or your favorite Sketch Fest creations on social media, use our official hashtag – #EMGSketchFest!

Featured Artist: Marika Purisima

Self-portrait of the author with her character Lorelai: a pale face is depicted from mid-nose up, wearing round spectacles; the person's eyes are brown, and dark colored hair frames their face under a white knit cap with cat ears (showing pink interiors); the brown bespectacled hedgehog faces the viewer from her perch atop the hat. — “Meeks and Lorelai”

This week, our spotlight picks out that artist of bespectacled hedgehogs and bright whimsy, Marika Purisima (AKA Meeks)! Meeks joins us from Vancouver, where she’s lived for the last eleven years – and she has no intentions of leaving any time soon! She describes herself as “artistically inclined aspie with a lifelong love of stories.”

A mottled red octopus faces away from the viewer, looking back at the viewer, wearing a many-armed grey-blue coat. The background is an impression of sea greens and blues. — “Coat of Arms”

She’s been creating art since she was a small child, with her parents saving drawings she made as a toddler. Disney’s classically animated films are some of her earliest inspirations; she also draws on historical sources from the Medieval period or early modern Europe (though obviously this can vary depending on what she’s working on). While she has fond memories of first learning to paint with oils, she’s more recently fallen in love with watercolors and Conté Crayons. Mostly, though, she works in digital, with her favorite programs being ArtRage and Sketchbook. When she’s not creating art, you can find her practicing swordplay – from the rapier and the longsword to the sidesword and polearms. She also enjoys sewing, scaling up from doll’s clothes to altering her own to making cloaks for secondary defense in swordplay. She paints fencing masks too! Discover more about her and her art at her website.

A friendly rounded green dragon with gold horns and purple eyes faces a masked tanuki and looks surprised. Smoke curls from the dragon's nostrils and open mouth. The tanuki is facing away from the viewer in the foreground, wearing a green hat on his brown and black furry body. He also wears a red Chinese-esque dragon mask with gold accents. In the background is a green lawn, brick wall, and Lorelai the hedgehog hurrying toward the dragon and tanuki while holding a red book. — “Jiro Dragon”

Meeks has been a delightful and productive friend to EMG for around six years now, contributing to Sketch Fests, Portrait Adoption, and Torn World! Her Sketch Fest gallery contains nearly 100 drawings and is full of puns, humor, and whimsy. See the hippo who swallowed a dwarf, grin at Lorelei the bespectacled hedgehog (who stars in the books Meeks founded Elder Days StoryTime to publish), chuckle at a tanuki pretending to be a dragon! Over at Torn World, she’s contributed to the article on fang deer and contributed drawings of snow-cats, skycats, deathfins, and more. She’s even got three portraits available for adoption – and these are popular characters! – ranging from a magic-user to a warrior to a rogue. We invite you to discover more of her work at EMG through the links below!

A young blue-eyed lynx-looking snow-cat of Torn World crawls down a branch toward the viewer. Detailed sketch on blue-grey paper. — “Snow-Cat in Winter”

Meeks’ Sketch Fest gallery.

Meeks’ Portrait Adoption gallery.

Meeks’ Torn World Creator page.

A humanoid figure of small stature with pointed ears climbs a rope up a brick wall to an open window barely in frame in the upper left. Light spills from the open window. The figure is wearing green, brown, and white adventurer clothes. It is night. — Portrait Adoption