Maria J. William – Ellen Million Graphics Blog

September Sketch Fest Sunday

Happy Sketch Fest Sunday! We’re welcoming in autumn the best way we know how, by spending a day celebrating with creativity in one-hour sprints.

#EMGSketchFest 113 has ended, but there’s still much to do – enjoy the art, leave comments for the artists, and maybe pick up a print or an original of your favorite pieces.

Let’s do some featured illustrations:

“Season of the Witch” by Linzi Fay is her “first witch of the season yay!” You can snag this magical sketch for only $20.

This vibrant piece by Maria J. William was inspired by Mayumi Ogihara’s prompt of “Azure Blue and Pumpkin Orange.” You can pick up the original colored pencil sketch of “Luminous” on toned paper for $40.

This contemplative witch is judging you! “The Witch and the Owl” by Jenna Wing-hu is on 5″ x 7″ MDF board.

“Hygge in a fairy home” by Katinka Sárvári

You can feel the comfort in Katinka Sárvári’s “Hygge in a fairy home,” which she describes as “Firay mums happiness with their little babies in their lilly of the valley home.” This is Katinka’s first Sketch Fest!

“Starry, starry night” by Rowan Lewgalon

This soft, sweet fox sleeps amidst lovely greenery in Rowan Lewgalon’s “Starry, starry night.” She admits she loved working on this one!

This curious “Acorn Princess” looks ready for autumn to unfold. You can snag the original 5″ x 7″ illustration by Milkycat for $10.

Feel the fear of this “Dangerous Beauty” coming for you! This rough pencil sketch by Kathy Nutt was inspired by Mayumi Ogihara’s prompt of “Dangerous and beautiful mermaid witch.”

We hope you enjoyed our featured illustrations – explore the full gallery, and keep checking back as artists may still add sketches that were in progress when #EMGSketchFest ended.

Come back tomorrow to discover October’s Sketch Fest dates!

Thanks for a great Sketch Fest #111!

Thank you to every artist, prompter, and commenter who joined us for July’s Sketch Fest event! We had almost 100 illustrations uploaded to the gallery in the 48 hours of the event, with over two dozen pieces available for purchase.

Before you explore our gallery full of witches and unicorns (and other kinds of -corns), fairies and foxes and bunnies with balloons, check out our last set of featured illustrations.

This evocative and spellbinding illustration by Rowan Lewgalon is called “Reach for the Stars,” matching the Maigan Lynn prompt that inspired the piece.

Tricia Danby’s “Fortune Teller” may be incomplete, but the intensity of focused attention comes through, inspired by Harkalya Reveur’s prompt of “Fortune teller (Enchanted Visions).”

These enchanting rainbow “Jellyfishes” were sketched by Afke van Herpt on Scratch Magic note paper and inspired by Maigan Lynn’s prompt, “Jellyfish parade.”

“Foxy Blue” by Harkalya Reveur is a whimsical, foxy delight! As the artist describes it, admire “[a] cute blue kitsune girl fancy dressed for a tea party!” Purchase the original mixed media ACEO painting on Opalina 200 gr/m paper for $25.

Inspired by Julie Rabischung’s “lotus flower mermaid” prompt, Maria J. William created this beautiful and captivating mermaid in her piece “Lotus Reverie.” You can purchase the original colored pencil, white charcoal, and white acrylic sketch on 6″x8″ toned paper for $40. Prints can be had for $7 and $10.

Our last featured creation for this Sketch Fest is from Melinda Baker, whose creativity took LEGO® pieces and crafted them into this intriguing scene.

That’s it for our eleventy-first Sketch Fest! Head over to the full gallery now to explore more, leave some comments for the artists, and perhaps buy yourself something awesome.

Join us in August for EMG Sketch Fest #112 on the weekend of August 23-25. Sign up for free! And you can find the Facebook Event here.

Sketch Fest Saturday, October Edition

We’re a bit over 24 hours into #EMGSketchFest 103, and our participants have not been idle! We have dozens of illustrations in our gallery, ranging from a bevy of witches to a cuddle of cats to angels and elves and demons, oh my.

There are also A TON of prompts – if you’d like to join in, we’ve got plenty to inspire you! Just register on the site (free!) and get started.

Time for a few illustrations to get you excited:

This adorable orange octopus is ready to celebrate Halloween! Prompted by Jill Britt, Paola Zunico drew this “Kawaii Octopus inspired in Halloween theme.” You can pick up the original 5.5″ x 8.5″ illustration on Canson paper for $45.

Can you feel the wind of this mischievous “Magic Cat” darting by you? Jill Britt was inspired by Rosie Wells to draw this feline in motion.

This “Pangolin Witch” by Kir Talmage is the envy of her neighborhood! As she sketched, Kir spent her time looking up references, and “watching part of a variation of The Little Prince. (The starred fox is marvelous!)”

Caitlin Woods’ “Harpy Witch” is coming for you!

Maria J. William, prompted by Jenny Heidewald’s love of chickens and her “The Witch of the Chickens” prompt, created this gorgeous portrait titled “The Simple Life.” You can snag the original 6″ x 8″ ink drawing on Strathmore paper for only $40 or purchase prints for $10.

That’s it for this afternoon’s featured illustrations! Hop on over to the full gallery now for even more, and don’t forget to use our official hashtag of #EMGSketchFest when sharing on social media.

Your EMG Stories: Maria J. William

We continue celebrating 25 years in business with today’s entry in our EMG Story series. Wondering what we’re doing? Start here with our introduction.

Now, we’re turning the mic over to Maria J. William as she tells us her EMG Story:

“I first met Ellen on Elfwood in the late 1990s – that long-ago era of
LiveJournal, e-zines, message boards, and chatrooms. Back then I still had a full time job, and art was just a hobby for me. I gradually evolved towards deciding to make a career out of it after conversations with fellow Elfwoodians, and being inspired by their work. Ellen was one of those people. All the advice and encouragement I got made my transition from a 9-to-5 hobbyist to a full time artist and mom in later on so much easier.

Some of my work was introduced in the Gallery section of EMG-zine
throughout the early 2000s, but EMG really became a big part of my life
when I joined Sketchfest in February 2016, after many invitations from
artist friends. I’ve been a steady contributor ever since, and have only
missed two. I’m not a natural sketcher; I’ve tried keeping a sketchbook,
and failed miserably. Being a part of Sketchfest not only pushes me to
sketch regularly, which I believe is an important part of being an artist,
but gives me an opportunity to promote my work and try new things. And it
really gets my creativity going.

The fact that Ellen appreciates my work and actually owns some of it
really means a lot to me. Her creativity, energy, and drive inspire me a
great deal.”

You inspire us as well, Maria! Thank you so much for walking with us on this journey.

Would you like to share your EMG Story with us and perhaps see it featured on our blog? Email Deborah here.

Sketch Fest 102: After Action Report

For our 102nd Sketch Fest, we had two dozen participating artists contribute more than 100 creations to our gallery! We were feeling the onset of fall with a bevy of autumnal faeries, fall-colored owls, candy corn-colored bats, and more. There are over 2 dozen illustrations you can buy – whether original or print – as well!

Check out these final featured illustrations, then wander through the full gallery and leave comments for our artists.

This was artist Linda Sayegh’s first Sketch Fest, and she drew several great sketches, including this “Flutter Kitty.” Here’s what Linda has to say: “Adorable little Fairy cat waiting for some snuggles and a new forever home. Thank you to Paola Zunico for the prompt.” This piece was done in colored pencils, Sharpie paint pen, and Signo gel pens on light grey Mi-Tientes acid-free paper. You can purchase the original 6″ x 8″ sketch for $45!

“Sanguine” by Maria J. William depicts the most curious and bright-eyed, shell-bedecked mermaid! Drawn in colored pencils, pastels, white charcoal, and white acrylic on toned paper, you can snag the original 6″ x 8″ portrait for $40 or two different sizes of open edition print for $7-$10!

Welcome back to Sketch Fest, Majen Jewel! “Going Somewhere” is one of her first illustrations for Sketch Fest in over two years and we’re loving it. As Majen said, “It is fun to both follow and lead.” This illustration is drawn in colored pencils and markers on 11″ x 4″ Bristol.

Paola Zunico drew gorgeous, luminous butterflies in “Monarchs in Autumn.” Her 5.5″ x 8.5″ illustration is on Canson paper and can go home with you for only $45!

Erika Harm drew this “Fae Cat” in all their implicit arrested mischief – invite this feline fairy into your home by picking up the original watercolor painting – 4.5″ x .25″ on watercolor paper, only $15!

Feel wild and free when you gaze at “Midnight Riders” by Peter C.M. van Herpt. These moonlit riders gallop across the page in pen and ink from Conté à Paris.

Perhaps we can feel the summer fading in Eimiel’s “Rain Song” – a gentle downpour of warm rain with the barest chill. This illustration is graphite and Polychromos colored pencils.

We hope you enjoyed these sneak peek’s at #EMGSketchFest 102’s gallery – click through now to enjoy the rest.

Go ahead and make plans to attend our next online Sketch Fest – #EMGSketchFest #103 will take place October 5-7, 2018 while we’re celebrating 25 years in business! Mark your calendars.

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!

EMGSketchFest 99 – After Action Report!

Another #EMGSketchFest has come and gone, and we had a grand creative weekend! We had 29 participating artists and 99 sketches – which, given it was Sketch Fest #99, we feel is rather apropos. And there are 19 pieces of art available for purchase, from original full-size and ACEO sketches to limited edition prints. You should really do yourself a favor and have a whirl through our gallery if you’re in the market for some art.

We also welcomed two new artists this month: RCoots and NickyWolf!

Let’s take a final turn through some featured illustrations before putting Sketch Fest #99 to bed:

Inspired by Tara N Colna’s prompt “coffee time,” Maria J. William creating this alluring sketch of “The Curator.” You can purchase the graphite and white charcoal original on 8×10 toned paper for $40 or pick up some prints for $7-$10.

NickyWolf’s first Sketch Fest drawing is the adorable and fluffy “Fairy’s Big Pet“! Here’s what they had to say this about their digital drawing: “I rarely do quick sketches so this is good practice. I hope you like it!”

We can’t help but grin when we see Amy Sue Stirland’s 5.5×8 watercolor of a “Pig Fairy!” This wonderful when-pigs-fly what-if was inspired by Heather Kilgore, and Amy says: “I’m tickled with how the flowers turned out.” You can grab the original for only $17!

Kim Turner’s woman wearing “Amethyst and Pearl” is effortlessly elegant! Here’s what Kim says about her: “This was really a quick one, but I can imagine going back to it as a painting and bring out the pearls and amethsyt sparkles…” We hope you do, Kim!

Even in it’s partially-sketched state, Tricia Danby’s “Strawberry Fairy” has out mouths watering for some fresh strawberries!

Patricia Bowne created this digital art sketch of a “Meeting” between water and air, inspired by Julie Rabischung’s “fairy and mermaid meeting on the beach.”

“The Littlest Mouse” by Nathalie Reinholz

This teeny tiny ACEO from Nathalie Reinholz is the cutest littlest mouse we’ve seen!

Rowan Lewgalon drew on Katta’s prompt of a “meditating nature sprite” to create this magical and provocative illustration. About “Meditation,” Rowan notes: “I took the background from one of my other paintings, so I could already finish this one.” You can purchase a print for just $15.

Our last featured illustration for this Sketch Fest is this lovely portrait from Linzi Fay, a delicate response to Julie Rabischung’s prompt, “Flower’s enchantment.” The original 5.5×8.5 drawing is available for purchase.

We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s set of features, and our #EMGSketchFest 99 weekend. We’re planning our 100th Sketch Fest right now and it’s going to be AMAZING – follow us on Facebook or Twitter so you don’t miss our upcoming announcement!

Counting Down This Sketch Fest Sunday

#EMGSketchFest 98 will soon come to an end, but that’s no reason to cut short your creative jam! Come on by, claim a prompt, and upload your creation once an hour’s up. It’s perfectly allowed.

Let’s do a few featured illustrations to inspire you!

Mayumi Ogihara drew this “Oceanid” with her pensive eyes and expression nearly yearning. Col-Erase brown, white charcoal, and acrylic on 5″ x 7″ toned paper. You can purchase the original sketch for $27.

Sketch Fest is for all types of creations – artwork, jewelry, sculpture, and even dolls! Amy Sue Stirland started work on this charmingly excited vampire doll: “18” bendable muslin doll. I didn’t get as far as I wanted to in the hour and I might have gone over. Those darn ears. Still to come. Dapper outfit and a flow-y cape.”

We love this weird, disturbing “Angler Fish Mermaid“! Inspired by PeggyB, Kathy Nutt drew this in Micron pen.

This happily “Snoozing Cheetah” was drawn by Afke van Herpt in white and black ink on 2.5″ x 3.5″ colored card. You can pick up the original for $17!

Inspired by Mayumi Ogihara’s “Mermaid wearing historical Asian jewelry” prompt, Maria J. William drew “Before Monsoon” in colored pencil, white charcoal, and white acrylic on 6″ x 8″ toned paper. You can purchase prints or even the original – starting at $7 and going up to $40 for the colored pencil drawing.

Are you inspired? Click over to the gallery to discover more, and contribute something yourself! If you don’t feel like creating, leave comments to cheer on our participants.

Don’t forget to check back on our blog tomorrow – we’ll have one last #EMGSketchFest 98 post and announce next month’s Sketch Fest dates!

Thanks for a Successful #EMGSketchFest 96!

Did you attend #EMGSketchFest 96? Our 96th Sketch Fest took place over this past weekend, starting at noon AKT on Friday and concluding at noon on Sunday – and it was an exciting, vital weekend of creativity! 27 participating artists contributed nearly 100 sketches of swamp mermaids, hairy unicorns, dragons with flowers and riders, and so much more!

“The Witch of Rose Quartz” by Sachiko Mili

We also had several new members join us for the first time – including Sachiko Mili, the artist of this elegant, esoteric witch. “The Witch of Rose Quartz” creates love potions and is famous for helping lovers – she always uses rose quartz since its energy is pure. Her loyal crow Edward is always at her side. Sachiko used ink, watercolors, and colored pencils.

This handsomely ridiculous and ridiculously handsome “Hairy Unicorn” is one of our favorite illustrated responses to Becca “Boo” Moore’s prompt, “very hairy unicorn.”

“My Favourite Highlander” by Francis Bax

Anyone recognize this hunk of Highlander? I’m sure a few of you do! Francis Bax drew this breathtaking graphite sketch (2B and 4B) over the course of a Sketch Fest hour.

“Spring Has Sprung” by Katerina Koukiotis

About “Spring Has Sprung,” artist Katerina Koukiotis said “we can only hope because in NY [it] still feels like winter but crossing fingers soon enough. This illustration is colored pencils and pastels on 5 x 7 toned paper. (Model reference from FantasyStock.) You can grab an LE ACEO print for only $6!

Maria J. William created this beautifully atmospheric illustration of a swamp mermaid from Edward Cammarota’s popular and provocative “the swamp mermaid” prompt. “Swamp Flower” is colored pencils and white charcoal on 6 x 8 toned paper. You can purchase prints at $7 or $10.

#EMGSketchFest looks like fun, right? It is! If you missed participating in Sketch Fest 96, we hope you’ll join us for next month’s Sketch Fest – #EMGSketchFest 97 will take place from April 13 through April 15.

To participate, you need to register at the Sketch Fest site. You can just leave prompts to inspire others, or you can also participate by creating art yourself – and remember! We welcome artists of all skills levels and all sorts – you can create jewelry, knit or crochet, or even write something inspired by the prompts. The only rule is that you work for only 1 hour!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for Sketch Fest 96! We look forward to seeing you next month as well.

Farewell EMGSketchFest 94… hello EMGSketchFest 95!

That’s it, folks! Another #EMGSketchFest weekend has passed in 48 hours of creativity and sharing. Archers and dancers, sea unicorns and Christmas mermaids all turned up in the gallery during this Sketch Fest. And there are tons of goodies for sale, as well – snatch an original or a print to give to a friend this holiday season!

How about some final featured illustrations?

Lorna Cowie created this delightful piece, which she later finished with an outline of Mystic Hare. “I’m always surprised at how blue winter is,” Lorna wrote. “There is a certain time of night, when it snows, that everything turns blue, with violet shadows. Windsor and Newton watercolours with salt detailing. Once dry, the salt is brushed free to reveal the textured pattern.”

Caitlin Woods, meanwhile, spent some time playing with crayons and drew this “Faerie Light.”

Edward Cammarota left the prompt “Christmas fairy in candy cane stockings” and that’s exactly what Heather Kilgore created! You can get the original drawing, 4″ x 6″, on cream drawing paper for $35.

Tricia Danby’s participation this Sketch Fest is manifesting as a beautiful “Winter Fae” – we can’t wait to see the finished creation!

Maria J. William snuck in at the end of the weekend, sharing several amazing illustrations – including this snow leopard with it’s stunning “Icy Blue” eyes. Snag a print for a cat-loving friend: get a semi-gloss print for $10 or an ACEO print for $5.

We may be done featuring illustrations from this Sketch Fest, but artists may still upload a drawing or two as they finish up their latest pieces – be sure to check back and don’t forget to shop!

We’d also love to announce #EMGSketchFest 95 – SURPRISE, it’s December 29-31! We’re getting in one last event before the end of 2017! Please join us, and create something warm and wonderful in the heart of the cold. We can’t wait to see you there!