Friday, December 29, 2017

Inktober 2017 Highlights

OK, even though I failed at completing Inktober 2017, I have some pretty solid ATCs to show for my attempt!
 Here we have a horse skull for a Skeleton Sunday. I also made the background paper myself and love the vibrant colors!
 Cat skeleton for a Skeleton Sunday.
 Mothmanda (a character from a project unlikely to see the light of day) for Monster Monday.
 Witchy Wednesday! I really loved this one, possibly my favorite from this year. I feel like my line work improved a lot since last year.
Another Witchy Wednesday, featuring Miss Mama Cass Elliot as Witch Hazel. Her dress isn't movie-accurate, but I love her regardless! This one I watercolored. I'm, uh, not that skilled with watercolors. So I'm super happy with how this one came out.

And that's it! There's a few more over at my Instagram (pooknero) but these are my favorites. I had challenged myself with themed days, and I think that was my downfall this year. My theme for Thursdays was "Traumatic Throwback Thursday" where I shared what was supposed to be a goofy, lighthearted memory from my arguably dysfunctional childhood, and the last ATC I completed (unposted) actually ended up triggering a pretty serious episode of melancholy. Whoops! Maybe next year I'll be able to complete it again.

Friday, December 22, 2017

From Mr. Rusty to Mr. Darcy - Doodle Collection

We had the most charming, handsome old pug boarding at my workplace last month. His tongue hangs out of his mouth 90% of the time. He absolutely stole my heart. This dog literally developed a fan club out of my coworkers. I drew his owner a picture of him to go home with him, but unfortunately a friend picked him up for her, so I didn't get to see her reaction! I LOVE YOU MR. RUSTY.

Also, I'm a huge, huge Pride and Prejudice nerd. Like, to an unreasonable, unhealthy degree. Of course I've got some Pride and Prejudice doodles!
This Elizabeth Bennet here is based on the 1995 Pride and Prejudice's Jennifer Ehle. I drew this several months ago for an unfinished button design, but wasn't happy with it. I like her a lot now, though!
And here we have Fitzwilliam Darcy, clearly based on 1995's Colin Firth. Or at least I hope it's clear! This one's more recent, from just a few days ago. I got some Copic Ciao markers, my first time using Copic products. I also used some Prismacolors and other various markers to fill in for colors I didn't have, since I only bought the Ciao skin pack.

Gold waistcoats are my favorite! I absolutely adore Regency fashion, especially regency menswear. I think it's because the fashion is very equestrian in nature, and I find that very appealing. And I adore the movie Labyrinth, and Jareth's style of dress also appears very Regency-inspired.

Despite the two P&P 1995 fan doodles, I actually prefer the 2005 movie version. They're both excellent adaptations (I don't care what anyone says!) and sure the 1995 version is more book-accurate (aside from the lake scene) but the 2005 version has Matthew MacFadyen. How can you compete with that? It will always have a special place in my heart.

Several Sympathy Cards

It's been a rough couple of months for some of my dearest animal friends and their owners. Here are a few of the sympathy cards I've made.

The first two are inspired by the card I'd made for Leela. I changed a few things up to make the designs unique and suited to the pets I was honoring.
In Memory of Lexi
Lexi's card is a little softer, with warm colors and a soft gray backing panel. Lexi was a sweet, soft, small dog, and I was trying to remember that about her with the colors I chose.

 The heart behind the die cut sentiment doesn't have the embossing that Leela's card has. I instead sprayed the whole die cut with a warm gold shimmer spray. I also lost the washi tape embellishment and instead finished up with some Nuvo drops in white and a warm gold.


In Memory of Phantom
Phantom's card has the embossed heart, like Leela's, but I added gold shimmer spray to the whole thing instead of just the raised paw prints. I also used a rainbow color scheme and a different washi tape. I thought the black and white pattern would help make the rainbow card more somber and appropriate for a sympathy card. I chose the rainbow palette as a nod to Phantom's owner, who was my high school art teacher.




My favorite thing about this card is the paper I chose to line the inside, but I forgot to take a picture before I wrote in it, and I didn't want to share my personal message here. But it's Stardust White, with flecks of color echoing the rainbow ink blending from the front of the card.
In Memory of Jon
 Jon's card is in a rather different style. I was going for a more simple, masculine look. There are die cut paw print windows on a stamped panel, layered over green paper on a kraft card base. I have unfortunately made this owner several sympathy cards before, and I wanted to honor Jon with something unique.
This card has an extra panel for more room for signatures from my coworkers. Jon was a well-known and well-loved regular in the clinic, so I needed to make sure everyone had plenty of room to show their respect.
Remembering Gatsby
 Gatsby was not a client from work, but a horse belonging to a fellow boarder at the barn where Wrangler lives. I used a floral stamp set, but a masculine color scheme. The colors red, green, and navy remind me of the saddle pads from the lesson barn where I grew up riding. To me they are very "equestrian" colors. I finished off the card with some baker's twine and Nuvo drops. I hoped that the white drops would tie together the card base color and the backing for the sentiment panel, to give everything a cohesive look.