It’s a late summer night, and we’ve been Sketch Festin’ all day! Let’s take a look at some of the creativity that’s come out to play, then make sure you click over to the full gallery and explore some more.
“Beach Witch” by Jenna Wing-hu
Jenna Wing-hu did this quick digital sketch inspired by Becca Moore’s prompt. This delicate and whimsical Beach Witch sports appropriate coverage in her wide-brimmed hat.
“Fire Fairy Dance” by Becca “Boo” Moore
This playful and dancing fire fairy was sketched by Becca “Boo” Moore – and you can pick up the original pencil drawing on copy paper for only $15.
“Gizelle and Conall” by Ellen Million
Ellen drew two of her favorite characters from the novel Tropical Christmas Stag: Gizelle and Conall! She said, “I couldn’t resist the excuse to sketch these two. It’s been WAY too long since I just sat down and sketched!”
“Grey Fox” by Mayumi Ogihara
This sultry and intense fellow drawn by Mayumi Ogihara was inspired by William “Kenku” Swiftfoot’s prompt, “Grey Fox.” Commenting on her digital sketch, she shared, “He might be featured in a fantasy male portrait colouring book I’m thinking of creating in the future.” We hope she does!
“Ocean Communion” by Shelley M. Walker
Shelley M. Walker drew this vital and wild beach witch taking part in an “Ocean Communion.” Her piece is colored pencil on paper.
What was your favorite piece? Don’t forget to check out the rest of the #EMGSketchFest 122 gallery – and leave some comments for our awesome participants!
Welcome to this September’s Sketch Fest Saturday! It’s been a leisurely day full of creativity, evoking the autumnal spirit with hedgehogs and fairies and witches and more. We hope you’ve joined us in either leaving prompts or creating art – or both!
If not, you should definitely check out the #EMGSketchFest gallery – but admire these featured illustrations first.
“Black Cat” by Ellen Million
Ellen uploaded the first sketch to our gallery this month! She drew “Black Cat” as a bookplate sketch for the Zoe Chant Shifting Sands Resort series of books. You can purchase this sketch on the sticker paper bookplate for $10.
“A Prickly Fall Flower” by Hannah Stayton
This is Hannah Stayton’s first Sketch Fest, and she created this completely adorable autumnal hedgehog illustration in “A Prickly Fall Flower.” She describes them as a “Cute little garden buddy to help you clean up the flower beds.”
“A Witch’s Best Friend” by Jill Britt
Jill Britt sketched this provocative and eldritch witch and her tree in “A Witch’s Best Friend.”
“Moon Witch” by Tricia Danby
Tricia Danby created magic in her painting of “Moon Witch,” reveling in the moon’s phases.
“Moonlight” by Madison
Let’s end with another beautiful black cat: as Madison says of her illustration “Moonlight,” it shows “A black cat crowded on to a shelf between some potion bottles and some toadstools, looking out the window at a full moon.” She did this in 22 minutes.
Now, head on over to the gallery and leave some comments for our artists! It’s not too late to sign up and participate on Sunday, either.
Don’t forget to use our official hashtag, #EMGSketchFest, when sharing your thoughts on social media.
Welcome to July’s Sketch Fest Saturday! This is our eleventy-first Sketch Fest, but don’t worry – we won’t make a puzzling speech like “I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” before disappearing with a magic ring.
Promise.
Let’s dive into some featured illustrations before you tumble down into the full gallery.
“Falling Star Filly” by Ellen Million
The founder of our Sketch Fest feast, Ellen Million, had the first piece of art uploaded to our gallery this weekend! This art card is an overdue Junicorn sketch; “Falling Star Filly” is colored pencils on colored paper measuring 2.5″ x 3.5″ and can be purchased for $15.
“Centaur of Attention” by Becca “Boo” Moore
We love a fun pun, and Becca “Boo” Moore has tickled our funny bones with “Centaur of Attention.” Becca said, “I think she turned out really pretty and fun” and we agree! The original ink and marker sketch on 8.5″ x 11″ cardstock can be purchased for $35.
“Moon Fox” by Linda Sayegh
This handsome fellow is “Moon Fox” and, in artist Linda Sayegh’s own words, a “cute little fox sitting out in the moonlight.” This illustration is in colored pencils and Sharpie paint pen on Strathmore toned tan paper measuring 5″ x 7″. Snag the original drawing for $45!
“The Fungus Watch” by Holly Broxson
This is Holly Broxson’s first Sketch Fest as an artist, and she’s drawn this fantastic fungus witch in ink in her sketchbook. This is one look we’d love to see cosplayed!
Those are all our features for now – head over to the EMG Sketch Fest #111 gallery to discover more art (and some for sale!). Then sign up for free so you can leave prompts, comment on the art, and create some of our own.
We’re over 24 hours in to #EMGSketchFest 106! Have you been by the gallery yet? We’ve got 18 participants so far who’ve contributed over 40 creations to the gallery – including unicorns and mermaids and baby dragons. There’s even sculpture!
Check out our five featured creations below, then hop on over there – and, if you’re not registered, sign up! It’s free, and you can leave prompts for the participants and comment to encourage them. You can even get in on sketching or knitting or crafting or writing yourself.
“Snow Unicorn in Tack” by Ellen Million
First up, we have a sketch from the founder of our Sketch Fest feast, Ellen Million! Drawing on Nicole Madden’s wintry prompt of “Unicorn in a snowy scenery,” Ellen Million said about her ACEO pencil sketch: “Well, I didn’t get the snowy scenery in, but maybe it’s snowing really hard…” You can snap up the original drawing for only $5!
“Batty for You Valentine” by Jill Britt
This sweet little bat was sketched by Jill Britt, inspired by Rosie Wells!
“Kitsune” by Linda Sayegh
Linda Sayegh drew this gorgeous fox – or “Kitsune” – with colored pencils and sharpie paint pen on toned Canson Mi-Tientes acid-free paper. 5×7 inches.
“Two of Hearts” by Maria Gonzalez
Sarah Alden left the prompt “Little Hearts” and Maria Gonzalez spun that seed into this lovely and fanciful 4×6 inches sketch. Titled “Two of Hearts,” this drawing was done in colored pencils on toned paper and the original is available for $18!
“Viola” by Lorna Cowie
Lorna Cowie, inspired by Sarah Alden’s prompt “Violet Flowers,” drew these violet flowers and amethyst crystals in the style of her coloring pages.
Loving these illustrations? Head over to the full gallery and enjoy some more! When you share on social media, make sure to use our official hashtag: #EMGSketchFest.
What an AMAZING Sketch Fest! There was so much energy and enthusiasm, and it means a lot to me that you guys had fun and got involved. #EMGSketchFest is one of my favorite projects, and it would be really boring (and pretty pointless) if it was just me. 🙂
Fifty artists participated, making more than 325 sketches, and there were so many lovely comments and wonderful prompts to work from. Thank you for helping us make this one of the biggest and most beautiful events we’ve had in a while!
Thank you so much to everyone who came out and played this weekend at Sketch Fest #100!
Be well,
Ellen
It’s true, everyone! When all was said and done, Sketch Fest #100 featured 50 participating artists and 382 total uploaded creations to the gallery. Wow! You absolutely owe it to yourself to wander through all of the artwork and maybe buy a sketch or original – there are some really amazing pieces in there just waiting to hang on your wall.
Now, let’s announce all of our prize winners:
Comments Keep Us Going – Our 5 random winners are: Julie Cooper, who wins a 6×8 print with matching magnet by Maria William; Katerina Koukiotis, who wins a collection of 3 5×7 prints by Sarah Alden; ElmaBree, who wins a postcard of “Sea of Stars” and stickers by Nathalie Edelhirsch; Rosie Wells, who wins an original ACEO of your choice by Jenny Heidewald; and Mayumi Ogihara, who wins a coloring book of her choice by Selina Fenech.
Most Popular Prompt – This one was a tie between Nicole Madden and Rosie Wells! They will each receive a mystery bag (3 ACEO prints each) by Mayumi Ogihara.
Super Supporter of Sketch Fest #100 – The person who purchased the highest value of art this Sketch Fest was Julie Cooper, with Ed Cammarato as our runner-up! Julie and Ed will both receive a selection of ACEO prints by Katerina Koukiotis (one of each she does this Sketch Fest).
Most Creative Use of Prompt – We had a really tough time choosing the winner of this category – so we’re awarding two Honorable Mentions as well! The artist with the most creative use of a prompt this Sketch Fest was Rosie Wells for “Operation: Fluffy Cuddles,” and she will receive an 11Ă—17 print, an 8.5 x 11 print, and her choice of coloring sheet or bookmark by Sheryl Abid. Our two Honorable Mentions are Amy Sue Stirland for “Glittering Eye Blank Book” and Deirdre M. Murphy with “Warning, DM Whimsical When Bored” – they will each receive one print from Cindy Hill!
Sketch-crazy! – Jenny Heidewald submitted THIRTY-ONE sketches during the official #EMGSketchFest 100 hours! She wins a copy of From The Deep coloring book by Ellen Million.
Opening Bell Artist – The first artist to submit a sketch was Milkycat with “Storm of Petals,” and she wins a print from Cindy Hill!
First Hurdle Artist – Tara N Colna was the first artist to submit five sketches this Sketch Fest, and she’ll receive a customized original 4″ x 6″ character portrait from Julie Rabischung!
First 3D Artist – Afke van Herpt was the first artist to submit a 3-dimensional sketch or other work, such as sculpture, jewelry, crocheted piece, etc. and has won a wee dragon charm by Whimsical Dreams Art!
Collaboration – The best collaborative work, here defined as the best collaboration between prompt and art, was selected by our guest judges Afke and Ronja! Katerina Romanova wins this prize for “Shy,” and will receive an ACEO by Afke van Herpt and her niece Ronja!
Submission by Someone 12 or Under – Shell’s 7-year-old daughter Willow took this prize for “Am I A Rainbow?“! Our guest judges Afke and Ronja made the selection, and Willow wins an ACEO from them.
Sketch Fest Newbies – We had four new participants in our 100th Sketch Fest: Ellen Moore, Ellen Wilberg, J. Ryan Decker, and Regina Mailloux. Each of our newbies will receive an ACEO print and postcard.
And here’s our last series of featured illustrations – we hope you enjoy this final taste of Sketch Fest #100!
“Happy 100!” by Francis Bax
First up is this gorgeous example of handlettering in watercolour brushpen and tangles in black fineliners in honor of our 100th Sketch Fest. Thanks for this, Francis Bax!
“Mr. Meowington” by Maria J. William
We can’t get over how adorable Maria J. William’s “Mr. Meowington” is! This colored pencil, white charcoal, and white acrylic illustration is on toned paper and measures approximately 6×8. You can pick up prints of this fine feline for only $7-$10!
“Glittering Eye Blank Book” by Amy Sue Stirland
“Glittering Eye Blank Book” by Amy Sue Stirland is an upcycled plain spiral bound blank book with Velcro closure and won one of our Honorable Mentions for Most Creative Use of a Prompt. Amy said, “This was a book that was given out by a major company as a promotional item. I have reworked the cover for the prompt.. only one eye, and the scales are raised and nicely shimmery.” It measures 5.5 ” x 4 ” and contains 20lb weight white pages numbering 80.
“Heart of Peacocks” by Julie Cooper
Of her “Heart of Peacocks,” Julie Cooper says, “This is the first decent peacock I have managed to do. I might colour but not too sure.” We love this bird and hope you do!
“Oni Fox” by Erika Harm
We’re thrilled with this strikingly colorful ACEO from Erika Harm! Here’s what she says about “Oni Fox“: “I wanted to blend the idea of an oni and a kitsune into one mask. Ink!” You can pick up the original artwork for just $15!
“Alarune” by Ellen Million
Ellen Million, the founder of our Sketch Fest feast, created several fantastic art cards this Sketch Fest! Here’s her interpretation of an alarune. You can pick up the original ACEO drawing for only $8!
“Waiting for Autumn to Come” by Janna Prosvirina
Our last featured piece is this lovely illustration by Janna Prosvirina. “Waiting for Autumn to Come” is ink pen on Bristol measuring 4″ x 6″. You can grab the original ink sketch for $12, and you can get a download to print out as a coloring page for only $3.
That’s it for #EMGSketchFest 100, a truly remarkable milestone. We can’t wait to see you at Sketch Fest #101, which will be August 24-26, so mark your calendars!
#EMGSketchFest 99 may be over, but that’s no reason to stop the party! If you wander over to the gallery, you may still find new art – and you’ll definitely find something fantastic! You may even find a piece of art to buy, and you should absolutely leave some comments for our participants!
Let’s do some featured illustrations:
“Dragon and Sleeping Fairy” by Afke van Herpt’s Cousin Susan
“Unicorn of the Sea” by Afke van Herpt and her Niece Ronja
First up, we have these great illustrations done by Afke van Herpt’s cousin and niece. “Dragon and Sleeping Fairy” by Afke’s cousin Susan is blamed on Ronja! For “Unicorn of the Sea,” Afke wrote: “My niece Ronja did another collaboration with me! I sketched the horse part, and she did all the rest.”
“Blue and Orange Stockings and the Green Dress” by Heather Kilgore
Heather Kilgore created this dancing beauty, the evocation of a summer breeze in her green dress with sand-and-sea stockings below!
“Nurse!!” by Monika Holloway
Monika Holloway is putting us all in a vaudevillian frame of mind today with her fancy-free depiction of a nurse.
“#Junicorn 16” by Ellen Million
Founder of our Sketch Fest feast, Ellen Million took Mayumi Ogihara’s prompt “Unicorn of Shadows” and ran with it to create #Junicorn 16: “I loooooved this prompt. See more details about my #junicorn project here!”
“Earthdragon” by Katta
Katta went three dimensional and sculpted this adorable earth dragon, resplendent in green and showing their belly and holding on to a brown stone.
“Stardust” by Mayumi Ogihara
The glory of the night sky emerges in “Stardust” by Mayumi Ogihara. This illustration is mixed media on 7×5 toned paper, and you can even purchase the original! Just $27!
“Trinkets and Tentacles” by Natacha Chohra
Inspired by Selina Fenech’s great prompt, Natacha Chohra created this provocative and playful drawing: “Trinkets and Tentacles” is a 5×7 graphite sketch and you can purchase the original for only $40!
Untitled by Kir Talmage
Our last featured illustration for today is an untitled piece by Kir Talmage. Inspired by Edward Cammarota’s prompt, “Blue warrior women,” Kir commented that she’s “just drafting some idea” in this pencil and colored pencils sketch.
That’s it for a super-sized Sunday Sketch Fest featured set! Don’t forget to check out the full gallery, and come back here tomorrow for our After Action Report – completed with more features and our announcement for #EMGSketchFest 100!
It’s been a wonderful day at #EMGSketchFest, and many of our participants clearly have summer and MerMay on their minds! You’ll find many interesting mermaids in the gallery, along with flower fairies, attentive dryads, and tiger ladies.
Let’s take a peek at the gallery!
Tiger Lady by Ellen Million
Ellen Million, the founder of our Sketch Fest feast, began sketching this “Tiger Lady.” As she says, “big cats are such fun to draw.”
“Asian Mermaid” by ElmaBree
ElmaBree shared this rough sketch of a mermaid wearing Asian jewelry, inspired by Mayumi Ogihara’s prompt!
Twisted Tale by Kir Talmage
Kir Talmage created this inspired ribbon motif twisting and turning with the words of a twisted tale! Ink pen on paper.
“Dryad” by Becca “Boo” Moore
Becca “Boo” Moore drew a nymph and her tree in spring (as prompted by Edward Cammarota). She says, “Nature Nymphs are known as Dryads (sea/river nymphs are called Naiads) and boy are they fun to draw!”
“Small One” by Elisa Ferguson
Elisa Ferguson was also inspired by Edward Cammarota’s spring nymph prompt. In “Small One,” she says, “A nymph has decided to help a small tree grow!”
That’s it for now! The #EMGSketchFest 98 gallery keeps growing, so check it out and drop off some prompts for our participants. And if you have some time, get creative this weekend with us!
Welcome to Sketch Fest Saturday afternoon, everyone! We hope you’ve enjoyed a leisurely morning and found some time for creativity. To entice you to join our creative weekend, I’ve got some sketches from the gallery to feature for you! Let’s get to it.
“Highlander” by Ellen Million
We start with this piece by the founder of the Sketch Fest feast, Ellen Million! Ellen created “Highlander,” a cheeky hunk of the shapeshifter persuasion. She’s selling the final inked version of this sketch as well!
“Mangrovians” by Kir Talmage
Kir Talmage, inspired by “the swamp mermaid” gave us this fantastic mermaid in her mangrove grotto, joined by nanatee. “Mangrovians” is pencil on ACEO-sized sketchpaper.
“Steampunk Mermaid” by MrsFriSco
This is MrsFriSco’s first Sketch Fest, and she’s given us a finely behatted mermaid! “Just a coral reef mermaid finding steampunk flotsam and jetsam – she is trying her best to mimic the fascinating air-breathers’ fashion with her ocean finds, some of them even genuine articles!” This sketch is titled “Steampunk Mermaid” is 12×24 pencil on 140lb cold press paper.
“Garden of the City” by Willow
Shell’s very keen daughter Willow took Amy Sue Stirland’s prompt of “garden landscape” and drew this pretty landscape of flowers and fish! “Garden of the City.”
“Tonight We Ride” by Becca “Boo” Moore
“Tonight We Ride” is a fantastic dragonrider inked sketch shared by Becca “Boo” Moore! Look at that armor, and those faces – this pair means business. I wouldn’t get in their way!
“Fantasy Violinist” by Amy Sue Stirland
Our last featured illustration this afternoon is “Fantasy Violinist” by Amy Sue Stirland! Inspired by Julie Rabischung’s prompt, Amy comments that she thinks her fantasy violinist is reminiscent of Lindsey Stirling! We have to agree. This illustration is gouache on 5×7 toned tan paper.
We hope you enjoyed this set of featured illustrations! Don’t forget to click through to the full gallery for even more mermaids and dragons along with hummingbirds and fairies and more. We hope you’ll stay a while, submit a prompt, and maybe even create a little with us. See you there!
Have you been following Sketch Fest 94? There’s been some gorgeous work added to the gallery, spanning topics as diverse as fluffy dragons, ice princesses, and abstract concepts. There’s even a dragon made of pipe cleaners!
Let’s jump into some featured illustrations:
“Golden Light and Trees” by Ellen Million
Ellen Million’s first addition to this Sketch Fest is this ACEO art card, colored pencil on tinted paper, capturing that gorgeous feeling of golden light filtering through tree branches. $15 for the original!
“Fluffy” by Unky Lastrange
Unky Lastrange took Erich Heidewald’s prompt of “fluff dragon” and turned it into this floating bit of adorability: “Fluffy,” a graphite sketch.
“Lonely Egret” by Renee Erickson
Renee Erickson painted this beautiful and lonesome egret, prompted by our resident bird-guy Peter C.M. van Herpt. She’s offering the original 11″ x 14″ oil on canvas painting for $150!
Our last featured illustration for now is “Ice Unicorn” by Kathy Nutt! Inspired by Mayumi Ogihara’s prompt, Kathy spent less than an hour sketching this beauty in faint pencil. She darkened it a bit in GIMP so she wouldn’t end up with a partial inked sketch when the first hour’s time was up.
There’s still an hour left in #EMGSketchFest 94! Hop on over to the gallery to marvel and shop!
The clock is ticking down, my friends, to the time when #EMGSketchFest 93 is put to bed! But we’re not quite there yet, so there’s still time to participate – and so many wonders to appreciate. Join me for a sneak peek!
“Snow Leopard” by Nathalie Reinholz
Nathalie sketched this adorable little “Snow Leopard” that captures a bit of that Zootopia spirit quite nicely! You can pick up this postcard-sized original for only $30! Ink on watercolor paper.
“Winter Unicorn” by Ellen Million
This shaggy beauty appears courtesy of Ellen Million and her pencil! This shaggy “Winter Unicorn” is 5.5″ x 8.5″ and the original’s available (to be cleaned up and finished a little more) for $20.
“Moon Crown” by Mayumi Ogihara
Mayumi Ogihara depicted this “Moon Crown” and its lovely bearer with colored pencils, pastels, acrylic, and glitter on toned paper. “IÂ added some glitters on her crown and the fur which you can’t see in the scanned image, but they’re quite sparkly,” she adds. She’s offering the original for only $27, and you can get various prints for $6 – $12.
“Mr. Tumnus and the Lamp Post” by Caitlin Woods
This last one is a winter classic! Caitlin Woods sketched Mr. Tumnus as we first met him in Narnia. It does remind one of a certain gifty time of year!
