Katerina Romanova – Ellen Million Graphics Blog

Last Sketch Fest of the Decade

Welcome to our last featured creations post of the decade, celebrating our last #EMGSketchFest of same; read on to admire some of the wonderful examples of creativity uploaded to the Sketch Fest #116 gallery.

Vultures tend to be a massively misunderstood avian, so we’re delighted to see Kathy Nutt giving us such a regal “Egyptian Vulture” sketch this month. This 4.5″ x 6″ Micron pen drawing on watercolor paper is available for $30.

This vital and mysterious sketch comes from Katerina Romanova, who writes, “I loved this prompt! Also, I’ve fallen back into my unicorn phase and can’t get back up.” Inspired by Skarbog’s prompt of “the wild unicorn,” “Wild” is a speedpaint done in 50 minutes using the Mixer Brush tool. You can pick up prints in a couple of sizes for for $14 or $18.

We love the mischief captured in Nathalie Edelhirsch’s “Froggy Lady.” She said, “There probably is some magic in this” and we can’t disagree! You can take home the original mixed media painting on watercolor paper for $20.

Winter may be cold, but you’ll feel warm and fuzzy after admiring this mermaid snuggling with a puffin. Tallulah Cunningham drew “Fishy Cuddles” upon the inspiration of Sarah Alden’s “Puffin Mermaid” prompt.

“Fairy Midwinter Night Star Gazing” by Linnea Holmström Ljung

Our last featured illustration of the decade is Linnea Holmström Ljung’s “Fairy Midwinter Night Star Gazing.” This fanciful and wonderful sketch is pencil on A6 paper, completed in forty minutes.

Now that you’ve seen these pretties, click over to the gallery and admire all the rest! Don’t forget to do a little shopping and commenting while you’re there.

We hope you’ll join us for the first #EMGSketchFest of 2020 – it’ll take place on the weekend of January 17-19. Tell your friends, and we’ll see you there!

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!

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!

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 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.

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!

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!

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!

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!