blopdotink – Ellen Million Graphics Blog

Sketch Fest Saturday with EMGSketchFest 105

Welcome to #EMGSketchFest Saturday! It’s bitter cold and/or rainy in the multilocational EMG offices, so we’re looking forward to staying warm and getting creative with all of you. Let’s take a look at some featured sketches from the gallery so far.

Kathy Nutt got the first sketch in this Sketch Fest with her imposing “Winter Forest Guardian,” which she describes as “Ent sketch with Micron pen.”

blopdotink has joined us for another Sketch Fest, sharing “itsapolarbear!” from her blopmess Christmas calendar: “It’s a continuous story with an ink illustration per day until Christmas and I am excited to base it (partly) on sketchfest prompts again. Let’s find out what mischief my blops are up to and what role their newly discovered ‘polar bear’ plays.” We can’t wait to find out!

“Cats in a Christmas Tree” by Julie Cooper

I laughed out loud when I saw Julie Cooper’s “Cats in a Christmas Tree.” I feel like this is exactly what would happen with enough cats around sparkling lights, shiny tinsel, and something to climb.

This adorably fluffy bear was created by Linda Sayegh: “A cute little Teddy Bear getting ready for Christmas. Colored pencils and a bit of Sharpie paint pen on toned Canson Mi-Tientes acid free paper. 5 x 7 inches.” You can actually purchase the original sketch of this piece!

Our final sketch – for now! – is “Red in Snow” by Harkalya Reveur and we really hope she does more work on it! She said she spent 20 minutes rough sketching here to create a concept sketch.

Head over to the full gallery to check out more illustrations – register for free and leave some prompts for our participants! And don’t forget to use our official hashtag of #EMGSketchFest when sharing your favorites on social media.

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!

Mermaids and fairies frolic with EMG Sketch Fest #90!

Time for the Evening Edition of #EMGSketchFest Saturday! We’re up to a few dozen works of art in our gallery so far, with more creativity on the way. The eclipse has been a popular theme as well, for obvious reasons!

Let’s take a peek.

A bust of a blue-eyed woman with pale skin, looking left over her shoulder with her eyes cut right. Her hair is in a large updo, with two dragonflies perched on the vaguest sketch of a crown or tiara. Another dragonfly alights on her shoulder, and she has the faint suggestion of dragonfly wings sprouting from her back. — “Dragonfly Fairy” by Carol Moore

Carol Moore drew this Dragonfly Fairy with an intense blue gaze using colored pencils on blue cardstock. The faint hint of a crown-to-be and dragonfly wings on the fairy are fantastic!

A mermaid stares straight ahead at the viewer, her dark tresses touched with white floating above her head. Faint scales shimmer on her chest and shoulders, while her breasts are covered with clinging kelp-like material. She appears to have fins on the backs of her upper arms. Figure is shown from the torso up with arms mostly off page. Drawn with graphite and white charcoal on greyish beige toned paper. — “From the Depth of the Sea” by Mayumi Ogihara

Speaking of intense gazes, Mayumi Ogihara outdid herself with “From the Depth of the Sea“! The eyes are piercing, the scales captivating, and those fins on her upper arms! This illustration is graphite and white charcoal on toned paper. ACEO prints and 5″ x 7” prints are available for $6 and $10 respectively.

A red-haired mermaid turns to her left to look at the viewer with her over-sized blue eyes, lined and with thick lashes. She has a button nose and freckles dusted across her nose and cheeks. Blush colors her pale skin as well. Only her neck and face are visible, surrounded by her red hair. Empty space to the left is filled with a pale green-blue suggestive of the sea. — “Red Hair Mermaid” by Katerina Koukiotis

Katerina Koukiotis fills out our complement of mermaids with her red-haired beauty inspired by Ariel, sporting bright eyes and lips. She’s offering limited edition ACEO prints for $6.50.

Small figures composed of a round head with two empty white eyes and having two black leg-like protrusions each build a vaguely blob-like unicorn out of black fronds. — “whatfluffdoes!” by blopdotink

blopdotink has joined us for another Sketch Fest to tell her curious and delightful tales through a series of blop illustrations. Here’s what blopdotink has to say about “whatfluffdoes!“:

Who doesn’t want to have a fluffy unicorn? Is what humans would probably think… But blops are different… having something doesn’t do it for them… they explore, they study they experiment und they copy… Especially, if they are as impressed with something as much as they are with all the fluff on one hoof here. I had to do this one, even though I don’t know whether or not it will make it in this weekend’s series and my storyline, because… … 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 simple birdhouse composed of a square with a triangle roof hangs suspended from one branch with two other branches bearing leaves visible in the background. A fairy rests her elbows on the doorway, staring out at the viewer while a bird likewise peers out from behind her. — “House Guest” by Sally Gilroy

We end tonight’s highlights with a lovely pair of creatures in Sally Gilroy‘s “House Guest.” She wants to paint this one, so keep your eye out for a finished version!

Right. That’s EMG signing off for the night. Keep creating and keep admiring in the meantime. We’ll be back with more features tomorrow!