Sketch Fest – Ellen Million Graphics Blog

Summer Night Sketch Fest

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.

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.

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.

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!”

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!

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!

Turn back your clocks and enjoy more Sketch Fest!

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.

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.”

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.

Julie Cooper sketched in the beginning of this matched and curious pair – check back for more work on it tomorrow!

“Crown of Moon and Stars” by Jenna Wing-hu is a “quick sketch on gessoed hardboard with graphite and white colored pencil.” Mysterious and radiant!

Have you enjoyed this preview? Don’t forget to click through to the full Sketch Fest gallery! Enjoy the art, and come back soon.

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!

September Sketch Fest Saturday

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.

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.”

Jill Britt sketched this provocative and eldritch witch and her tree in “A Witch’s Best Friend.”

Tricia Danby created magic in her painting of “Moon Witch,” reveling in the moon’s phases.

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.

Sketch Fest 107 Sunday

We’ve been sketch festin’ all weekend, and have nearly 100 sketches in the gallery to show for it! You should definitely pop over and explore – there’s even art for sale, so you might find something wonderful for your walls.

Let’s check out some featured pieces to whet your appetite:

This piece of a “lovely lady with blue eyes and a diadem in her hair” kicked off Sketch Fest #107. As the first sketch, it’s appropriately named “First Glance” by artist Tammi Sponseller.

“Mermaid’s Narwhal Friend” by Julie Rabischung

Julie Rabischung was inspired by Sarah Alden to create this playful piece: “A little mermaid swimming with her narwhal friend. Thank you Sarah for the lovely prompt!” This 4×6 illustration was drawn with ink, colored pencils, and markers on toned paper. You can grab the original sketch for just $15!

Narwhals were a popular subject this Sketch Fest, as you can see in this adorable narwhal watercolor from first time Sketch Fester Juliana Velasco.

This was Corgi’s first Sketch Fest, and she slayed it! This cute and striking illustration of a “Harajuku Girl,” those iconic Tokyo fashionistas, is a fine example.

“Art Nouveau Mermaid” by Amy Sue Stirland

Inspired by Mayumi Ogihara’s prompt and an Alphonse Mucha piece that she really likes, Amy Sue Stirland drew an “Art Nouveau Mermaid.” This sketch measures 5.5×8.5 and is ink and colerase on mixed media paper. She’s planning to add watercolors. Check back later to see if the original’s available!

Jill Britt, inspired by a prompt from Afke van Herpt, drew this wonderful slice-of-life illustration of a mermaid and otter friend titled “Otters and Orange.”

Our last featured illustration for today is this colorful piece from Kelly Johnston – she created a “plum fairy hummingbird pattern sketch” in the one-hour limit.

Now that you’ve enjoyed these highlights, go and explore the full gallery! Meet us back here tomorrow for one more featured post – and be sure to join us for next Sketch Fest, which will take place April 5-7.

Saturday? More like SketcherDay!

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.

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!

This sweet little bat was sketched by Jill Britt, inspired by Rosie Wells!

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.

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!

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.

Stay Up Late & Get Creative!

It’s a Sketch Fest Saturday night, and you know what that means – we’re staying up late and getting creative! We’re over here gossiping away over a bevy of choice prompts – and by gossiping, I mean mulling them over and making art. You’re missing out if you don’t join in. If you don’t feel like creating something yourself, our participants would love comments cheering them on.

Pride of first sketch in #EMGSketchFest 106 goes to Julie Rabischung!

Julie gave us this adorable and whimsical pair of dragonlings, one embodying the new life and blooming moments of Spring while the other captures the whimsical and cozy essence of Winter. If this one makes you “aww…!”, don’t sleep on it – the original painting is available for purchase and it’s only $15. 5×7 original ink pen sketch on Bristol.

Check out the rest of the gallery, where you’ll find another two dozen pieces waiting to be discovered. Share your favorites on social media, and be sure to use our hashtag #EMGSketchFest when you do.

Wrapping Up Sketch Fest #105

What a wonderful Sketch Fest we had last weekend! Twenty-one artists joined us and contributed 50 creations to the Sketch Fest gallery – we have thumbnails and watercolors and colored-pencil illustrations. We have a Christmas teddy bear, wonderland winter foxes, sweet Christmas mice, and polar bears, too – alongside Christmas tree cats and curious blops, folkloric illustrations and more.

And did we mention the art for sale? Snag originals and prints for all your friends this holiday season – just look for the red border in the gallery to discover what’s on offer.

Let’s have some final featured illustrations before we go.

The holiday spirit gets a little earthy in “Mistletoad” by Nathalie Reinholz – Nathalie was traveling this weekend but still managed to squeeze in this sketch!

“Kitten in Christmas Tree” by Tara N Colna

Tara N Colna uses photography with “Kitten in Christmas Tree” to demonstrate that the struggle is real when you have kittens and Christmas trees together: “Can’t keep the new kittens out of the tree. This is Oreo getting caught, her brother Beelzebub jumped out before I could get him.”

We love this super-quick sketch from Kir Talmage! “Next Step of the Plot” captures the raccoon’s hopeful deviousness as he dons a disguise to steal Santa’s sleigh… “The plans were ready. The diagrams were complete. All he needed now was his disguise.”

Sarah Alden created this beautiful “Christmas Mermaid” and she has a question for us all: Sarah will be coloring her soon and asks, “Do you think I should keep the shell crown or go with more of a holly wreath crown instead?”

Feel the warmth of joy in your heart with this “Silent Night” landscape featuring a family of rabbits in scarves around a cheerful campfire.

This charming Christmas tree from Charlie Galvin made us grin! Here’s what Charlie said about it: “It counts as steampunk because I put the tree on a gear, right? The tree is also decked out in Edison bulbs. 🐙” We think it counts, too!

We hope you enjoyed this, and we hope you’ll participate in our next Sketch Fest in February! Enjoy the holidays and follow us on Facebook for the latest #EMGSketchFest updates.

Holiday Sketch Festin’

Our December Sketch Fest is nearly over, and it’s been seasonally appropriate and inspirational! Jump over there to check it out, and maybe even pick up a gift or two – prints and original sketches are for sale.

Let’s have some featured illustrations:

Amy Sue Stirland sketched this adorable “Warm and Fuzzy” pig, and she says: “This cutest fluffy piggy is enjoying his first snow in a warm winter cap.” She plans on finishing the 8.5″ x 5.5″ illustration with watercolor/gouache.

“Polar Bear and Her Cubs” by Peter C.M. van Herpt

Peter van Herpt’s animal illustrations never disappoint, and this protective polar bear with her two cubs is no different! This sketch was done with pencil, pen, and ink.

This sketch of a “Christmas Cardinal” from Sally Gilroy easily conjures the feel of a bright, crisp day and the birdsong all about. We can even see the colors!

“The Sweetest Mouse” by Katerina Koukiotis

Evelyn Henderson left the prompt of of “sweetest mouse” and Katerina Koukiotis delivered with this sweet creature! “The Sweetest Mouse” is a 5″ x 7″ sketch in colored pencils – and an ACEO LE print is available for only $6!

“Unimpressed and Ornamented” by Tallulah Cunningham is another illustration that made us laugh out loud – the expression on this giraffe’s face is priceless! Tallulah created this illustration with color pencils and pen on a paint swatch card.

We hope you enjoyed these illustrations – why don’t you head over to the full gallery and leave comments for our artists? And don’t forget to shop!

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.

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.”

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.

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!

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.