Back to the desultory playing card series for this Illustration Friday topic, “Villain”. This is not, incidentally, the original villain of my imaginary deck. One should, however, always be wary when taking directions from strange cats.
It is a tiny little cut-paper piece (although I had fun with the thistles and would like to do a larger version), digitally edited.
Sneaking in under the radar with a Queen and 7 of Wasps for this week’s Illustration Friday topic. As usual, trialling techniques. These sketches are based on a series of wasp queen drawings I made idly in panels during Continuum 11 (which was great).
Queen of Thorns: yet another in the playing card series, to (as usual) warm up for this week’s illustration projects and try out some techniques. This is a very light sepia pen and ink drawing, with colour and texture added in Photoshop Elements.
The shape of this one is taken from some 15th century playing cards from Holland (you can see them on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website). Old playing cards are generally amazing – have a 15th century Stuttgart set as well.
I have been asked whether the cards will coalesce into a single project. Maybe? They began as a prop for a story, and then turned into illustrations for other stories, as well as a testing ground for other ideas.
In other news: oh, stacks of stuff, some of which I hope to be able to talk about soon. I’ve been waiting on a few illustration projects to come back to my desk (they’ve all arrived this weekend), so I’ve been pushing ahead with the first read-through and edits on my Large Amorphous Manuscript. 8.3% to go!
A combination of “Tam Lin” and “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” for this week’s Illustration Friday topic, “Passion”. Another playing card design, of course. Maid of Flowers, I think. Or Maid of Roses. It is pen and ink, and watercolour, with (imitation) gold leaf.
This is a photograph of it still on the easel, as I’m working out how to take decent pictures of gold leaf. And how to get fine dust of gold out of places it shouldn’t be.
Yet another playing card! I am still working out some techniques with these, and also warming up for some projects which I need to get done ASAP BECAUSE OH MY GOODNESS I FLY TO NEW YORK IN 12 DAYS WHY AM I DOING ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY???
Anyway, here are the pencils for it:
Continuing with the playing card motifs, while sketching armour late at night. This piece is all digital (textures from an old book, as usual). I have no idea where the idea came from. I was thinking about bad puns and knight-jokes this afternoon (what weapon does a knight fear the most*), but can’t trace the connection. One day I will discover a purpose for these images, beyond trialling ideas and techniques.
*A can opener.
I am trying to use paints (in this case, watercolour pencils over lead pencil) more often, as I could use the practice.
For this topic, I was continuing with the playing card theme (round cards this time), influenced by too many Georgette Heyer novels in which fortunes are gambled away.
Still with the playing card theme for this week’s Illustration Friday topic, “skull.” I am drawing birds for other reasons, and thinking of the fool Eulenspiegel (and fools in general) because of Rima Staines’ Unknown Fool puppet. And fools and skulls of course suggest poor Yorick, and thus, the latest card: the Prince of Birds:
In other news, everyone else seems to have received their copies of Angela Slatter’s Bitterwood Bible – everyone save the artist! Sigh. It is reported to be very shining:
Playing around with techniques for a new illustration project, and playing-card motifs for an old story idea.
I also mocked up a Queen, based on old oval playing cards, and kept track of the process this time.
Both were straight digital sketches (pencil tool in Photoshop Elements), deconstructed in a vector program (I use Inkscape) and put back together in Photoshop Elements with some interesting textures.
Kathleen Jennings 