First things first: The HUGE NEWS is coming in about a week or so! I'm under a gag order but I can assure you it's HUGE. Did I mention it's HUGE?
I was going to post the announcement that there was news along with some really kickass art, but I'm not entirely happy with this piece. It's probably run its course before I got around to finishing it. I'm still mostly trying around with colour...
2022-02-18 18:50:29 +0000 UTC
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Just a heads-up (I only discovered this by accident too; wish they'd tell the creators beforehand!) - Inprnt is offering free shipping until Sunday, worldwide, on all orders over 30 USD! If you've been eyeing anything, this is your chance! =D
https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/jenny.dolfen.5/
I'm coun...
2022-01-28 15:10:38 +0000 UTC
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A belated happy new year to you all! It's still January, so you can say that, but you can no longer write it in capital letters. It is known.
The last few weeks have mostly been coping, ouch. But I'm slowly getting used to this new stage of bad eyesight and low mental battery, and finding my way around it. I've started a new piece to be done in Procreate - "Beside the Waves", pretty...
2022-01-22 18:46:53 +0000 UTC
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... and antlery-feathery-rabbity, too! =D
Hope you had a nice New Year's in whatever way was possible for you! We spent the night eating raclette and playing games with two friends. We played Trivial Pursuit/Lord of the Rings and I managed to win after about an hour of failing miserably because it was all movie questions, haha. ("Who kills the Mouth of Sauron?" - "BLOODY NOBODY." - "It sa...
2022-01-01 15:45:12 +0000 UTC
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(It's official: I can't match a previous style in Procreate to save my life. Ah well. It still looks great!)
It's been an exhausting year, again. I don't know what the next will bring pandemic-wise, or regarding any other of the things currently going on in my life, but there's at least one potentially bright spot I can't wait to tell you about, as soon as I get the go-ahead!
...
2021-12-24 22:40:12 +0000 UTC
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No, I haven't forgotten about the "Haunted Forest" book - it's just that the last few weeks have been difficult with new eye episodes, a hospital stay, more diagnostics, and school work getting less and less manageable, and I'm so horribly tired of pandemic and lockdowns (me and everyone else). That leaves little room for art.
The bright side is that my Etsy shop works really, reall...
2021-12-04 11:04:59 +0000 UTC
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... and I also did my tax declaration today (with hubby's eyes). I feel mightily accomplished. And I'm waiting for new cardboard envelopes so I can send the rest of the Maedhros prints out! =)
Thank you again for your fantastic suggestions for the writings! I twiddled with them a bit to make them fit the space, and each other, and I really like what we came up with there!
<...
2021-11-15 16:14:26 +0000 UTC
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Here's the finished design for the Haunted Forest Trio! (I did consider doing the Light, but she's too specific to the story - the other three work on their own, too.)
I also had an idea for more Silmarillion characters! I'm going to start with a re-run of Finarfin, Feanor, Fingolfin, and I think either Gil-Galad and/or Celebrimbor. They'll be the same size as the Maglor and Finrod ones, ...
2021-11-13 13:34:38 +0000 UTC
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... please tell me I'm not the only one who always thinks "Lawful Evil?!" when reading about Limited Editions. XD
The edition is limited to twenty copies, plus one artist proof! They'll drop tonight, at 18.30 CET (6.30 pm)!
This happened pretty fast now. The print shop I work with only has two modes: "waiting for paper", and "you can come in today!"
I'm also working on t...
2021-11-12 12:48:00 +0000 UTC
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Kept my delay under a week! Yaaay!
Once upon a Haunted Forest, day *cough* 31: Peculiar spirits. Happy, uhm, Hallowe'en!
Still the wind rose up into the sky, and now Agnes saw that shapes came with it, rising from the mound and the caverns beneath it, shaking their heads, beating their wings, flicking their tails, twitching their ears, staring at their surroundings, then...
2021-11-06 06:53:21 +0000 UTC
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I've been doing some serious thinking over the last few days and weeks, and I've arrived at a model for the time being that I hope I may be able to keep going.
First, the last weeks - particularly outside the holidays - have been extremely difficult. Painting with Procreate is actually one of the few things I can do without overtaxing myself (and it's even better as of today as Proc...
2021-11-02 19:12:49 +0000 UTC
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My favourite part! ^___^ And a favourite image, too! The colouring went easier for this, too. After a month of using the iPad to draw and paint almost every single day, I feel I've got what I was aiming for. Thanks to Inktober!
Agnes stood still, the Guardian’s voice echoing in her mind, as clearly as if he was standing beside her.
When the Light is free at la...
2021-10-30 16:13:11 +0000 UTC
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Three days late, ouch. That day's prompt was "Masquerade", but I couldn't get any semblance of a masquerade in, so I decided to stop trying. I needed the story to the take our heroes to the conclusion. :)
School's started up, and is taking up all my energy. I'm sorry I still haven't opened my Etsy shop; I wouldn't know how to deal with packing orders right now, frankly. BUT I've loo...
2021-10-28 14:29:38 +0000 UTC
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One day late! I'm catching up! … before falling hopelessly behind again once school starts up next week. 😂
Probably the prompt I had most trouble with (as well as the next one, which I chose to interpret even more loosely!)
Another double page spread. There'll be at least one more of those. I also think I'll do a few little spot illustrations on a few pages to round...
2021-10-23 19:20:15 +0000 UTC
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Agnes finds Peef, and a new friend: The Light of the Forest.
And yes, there'll definitely be a book! I'm trying my best to keep the art style consistent for that...
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19: Ancient Grove
Agnes left the Guardian, but she found that the courage that had filled her when she first heard his voice was still in her heart, and she felt as though ...
2021-10-21 12:41:00 +0000 UTC
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I dhould have posted this yesterday, but between the con last weekend, a lot of fun holiday activities, cinema (James Bond and Dune, tonight!) and doing some marking, it was only to be expected I'd fall behind. Hey, it took me until day 19 to do so. That's better than most other Inktobers!
Here's my lineart of "Ancient Grove". The prompt (as well as for the next two pieces) take second p...
2021-10-20 13:55:34 +0000 UTC
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16: Ghostly animals
“I was the Guardian of this forest,” the stag went on, “when it was fair and green and full of birdsong. Then the Light was taken and imprisoned in an iron cage, and the spirits of all that lived here faded away, lingering in deep underground caverns. For long centuries, what remained of the creatures of the forest has been bound to this place. Some endured, but ...
2021-10-16 19:27:41 +0000 UTC
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I know it's the 14th, but technically, since I started on day 2, it's still correct =D Agnes finds out about the ancient curse that lies upon the forest, and meets its Guardian.
13: The Guardian
Into the clearing sprang a white stag, the most magnificent Agnes had ever seen. Glimmering cobwebs streamed from his antlers like ribbons as he came down upon the clearing,...
2021-10-14 11:40:08 +0000 UTC
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I'll probably fall behind today; the lineart is done, but I don't think I'll finish this tonight, so here's a little teaser!
I'm off to MagicCon tomorrow, but only until Saturday. Spent all day bagging prints and pinning pins. It's weird being back at a con after more than two years. Wonder if it'll feel the same?
There's a con bonus of 15% off everything on 2021-10-13 18:35:01 +0000 UTC
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“It was your fault!” – “No, your fault!” – “You lets it escape, you did!” – “And the crest too! Naught but shadow fowl for eatin’ for as long as I can remember, and you lets a real crest get away!” – “Is that all you thinks of? Don’t you remember the verses? When the Light is free at last – you knows what happens next?” – “Yeeeh, but he won’t app...
2021-10-10 05:05:43 +0000 UTC
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10: Dark Fae
“It was your fault!” – “No, your fault!” – “You lets it escape, you did!” – “And the crest too! Naught but shadow fowl for eatin’ for as long as I can remember, and you lets a real crest get away!” – “Is that all you thinks of? Don’t you remember the verses? When the Light is free at last – you knows what happens next?” – “Yeeeh,...
2021-10-09 14:55:58 +0000 UTC
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As Agnes plodded deeper into the forest, the darkness deepened until she had to walk slowly to avoid stumbling over low brances and tree roots. All birdsong had ceased, and the silence was like a crushing, choking presence. Gnarled, dead trees stood on either side, overgrown with mushrooms, sinister in the gloom. While she wondered how far the Grove of Faces was and what awaited her there, she ...
2021-10-07 16:12:07 +0000 UTC
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Poor little Agnes. I don't want to ask those trees if they've seen my firecrest.
Working on backgrounds and trying to find some sort of workflow (with the emphasis on flow). Once thing I've noticed is that working in Procreate is fun during the drawing stage (the same as on paper, really), great when it is all finished, and an absolute chore while colouring. Right now, it's got litt...
2021-10-06 17:34:16 +0000 UTC
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Some warmup sketches, referenced from the wonderful photos from John Garth. I love the two top right ones to bits! One of them will definitely feature in the next piece: “Faces in the trees".
2021-10-06 07:10:28 +0000 UTC
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Agnes had never been in the forest before. Desperately, she looked for the bright green and yellow speck that was Peef, but couldn't see him anywhere. Even the light looked unfamiliar, as if the bright mid-day had turned to twilight in an instant.
While she hovered on a clearing, unsure of whether she dared to go deeper into the forest to go after Peef, she heard a faint, barely aud...
2021-10-04 20:09:48 +0000 UTC
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Why does Agnes venture forth into the Haunted Forest in the first place? Well, to retrieve Peef, her little pet crest, who has a knack of getting himself into trouble and was last seen flitting into the forest. Hope I can do and upload the first illustration tomorrow!
2021-10-03 18:12:51 +0000 UTC
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Well, it's the second of October, and that means an Inktober theme comes to me in one blast!
It was several blasts, actually. One was a comment from Leo a few weeks back, suggesting "hares and horns" as an Inktober theme, and I had no idea I would take that so literally! The other was an art challenge put together by Kneeleyp and Moonbound.Studio on Instagram, who put out a prompt l...
2021-10-02 16:03:56 +0000 UTC
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I was really going to make it Goldtober, but the gold wouldn’t fit here. There’s always tomorrow, I suppose! Hares, squirrels, Elves or witches may happen. In any case, it's definitely Procreatober! Maybe there’ll be more OCs. I definitely have enough for the month.
To kick things off, I felt like drawing my character Jax once he accepts his origins (and has become powerful en...
2021-10-01 21:23:59 +0000 UTC
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Fingon, of course, was rather disappointed that Maglor got the first gold leaf trial, and was very eager to volunteer for the next!
For this one, I made my own metal leaf textures - in the classical way. I haven't been able to use gold leaf in years, so I had $$$ worth of the stuff lying around here... so I covered several large sheets of paper with gold leaf, silver leaf, and coppe...
2021-09-30 09:59:06 +0000 UTC
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Trying around more with the style from the Feanor piece, and playing around with digital gold leaf! Gold leaf is so ridiculously easy in Procreate. =O I'll go overboard with this next. Might even be an Inktober idea? Fakegoldtober? ;) Ooooh, I want!
Not sure whether this will work as a print, buuuuut it's actually something I could have printed with gold... Gosh, the possibilities.&...
2021-09-24 21:08:16 +0000 UTC
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