It’s Sketch Fest Saturday night – and also time to turn your clocks back if you live in the US! Enjoy an extra hour of creativity this weekend, make some art, and share some comments with all our Sketch Fest participants.
Let’s take a look at some featured illustrations:
“The Little Mouse and Her Toadstool House” by Julie Rabischung
Julie Rabischung submitted the first piece of art this weekend! Her charming illustration of “the little mouse and her toadstool house” was created with colored pencils and ink on 4″x6″ toned paper.
“Christmas Stag Bust” by Tam
Tam is getting into the winter holiday spirit early with this “Christmas Stag Bust,” described as “With candle like horns and a wreath of holly the stag uses the North Star to guide its way.”
“Leaf Fox” by Kathy Nutt
You can just feel the autumn wind this “Leaf Fox” is cavorting in! This illustration by Kathy Nutt is “metallic ink wash over coloured pencil and micron pen.” The colors also match her “Fallen Colours” piece, so those two pieces are now a set.
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.
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!
