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.

“Winter Forest Guardian” by Kathy Nutt

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.”

“itsapolarbear!” by blopdotink

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.

“Beary Christmas” by Linda Sayegh

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!

“Red in Snow” by Harkalya Reveur

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.

Thank you for Sketch Fest 100!

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 11×17 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.

IN ORDER TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE, PLEASE MESSAGE ELLEN MILLION GRAPHICS ON FACEBOOK. 

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!

Swords, horns, and rayguns: just another Saturday night!

Feeling a bit bored this Saturday night? Perfect reason to jump into #EMGSketchFest! Sign-up is free and you can choose either to inspire our artists, become one of those artists (create anything! it’s not just for drawing!), or both.

We’re having an amazing Saturday night, full up with a sword-wielding flower, a unicorn girl, a zero-g raygun-wielding scoundrel, colorful fairies and so much more – just check out our featured illustrations!

“Sword and Flower” by Selina Fenech

Selina Fenech spent 40 minutes creating this gorgeously atmospheric digital sketch – she used her Cintiq and Photoshop. Riffing on Mayumi Ogihara’s prompt “Sword and Flower” with this illustration, Selina commented, “I kinda forgot about the Rose part… I guess she could be the rose?” Sounds good to us! After all, a rose must have at least one thorn.

“Unicorn Girl Sketch” by Kathryn Whiteford

Kathryn Whiteford jumped in today after seeing Sarah Alden’s “Unicorngirl” prompt. Here’s what she wrote about her sketch: “After a week of writing very boring official documents, I needed some fun sketching time. Also, it’s been way too long since I took part in Sketch Fest, so here I am! 😀 This was the first prompt that really captured my attention. I’ll be adding some watercolour to this soon, but it may not be before SF ends. At least I did the sketch in time!” We’re so glad you had the time to join us, Kathryn!

“Space Girl” by Becca “Boo” Moore

We love the creative angle Becca “Boo” Moore took with her “Space Girl” illustration! Edward Cammarota prompted artists to create a “space girl doing a backflip shooting at an attacker” and this was Becca’s interpretation. “This was fun and challenging!” Becca noted. “I like the anti-gravity feel this ended up with!”

“Stone Dragon” by Jools62

We love this brief sketch of a “Stone Dragon” done by Jools62 today, inspired by Rebecca McCullough’s  prompt.

“Red Stockings, Black Dress” by Milkycat

Milkycat drew “Red Stocking, Black Dress” inspired by Edward Cammarota’s prompt, and captured a magical moment full of possibility – a sparkling backdrop, a swanky party, and a pensive expression all make you wonder what the story is here.

That’s it for tonight’s features! Now that you’re excited, don’t forget to visit the full gallery and leave some comments for our participants. Encourage someone’s creativity! And don’t forget to use our official hashtag, #EMGSketchFest, when sharing your favorite Sketch Fest moments on social media.

Saturday Night Sketch Fever

The #EMGSketchFest 96 gallery is thriving! Thanks to everyone who’s gotten creative with us this weeked – 18 of you have uploaded over 50 illustrations to the gallery so far! We can’t wait to see what Sunday brings. For now, we’re sharing a few more featured sketches:

“Necklaces” by Elisa Ferguson

Elisa Ferguson drew and inked this playful mermaid bedecked with “Necklaces.”

“Spring Flower Crown” by Milkycat

Milkycat’s impatient elf in “Spring Flower Crown” looks like she’s really over whatever she’s listening to.

“Emerald Eyes” by Tricia Danby

Inspired by Tara N. Colna’s prompt, Tricia Danby created these captivating “Emerald Eyes.”

“Flower and Dragon” by Jools62

Jools62, joining us for their first Sketch Fest, drew this fierce dragon taking time to smell the flowers in “Flower and Dragon.”

“Spring Dress” by Eimiel

Who doesn’t feel the spring breeze invoked by Eimiel’s “Spring Dress” illustration?

That’s it for our Saturday featured illustrations! Join us again tomorrow for the last day of our Sketch Fest – and don’t forget to visit the full gallery.