My 100 day project has basically switched over from digital drawings to watercolor. This is a spread in my sketchbook from the transition. Took a few days but, I am starting to feel like myself when using the medium again. Just needed to reactivate some muscle memory.
My vision of the character ‘Smaug’ from J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’.
Pencil sketch, coloured digitally on IbisPaint X.
Here is a passage from The Hobbit describing Smaug’s appearance: “There he lay, a vast red-golden dragon, fast asleep; thrumming came from his jaws and nostrils, and wisps of smoke, but his fires were low in slumber. Beneath him, under all his limbs and his huge coiled tail, and about him on all sides stretching away across the unseen floors, lay countless piles of precious things, gold wrought and unwrought, gems and jewels, and silver red-stained in the ruddy light. Smaug lay, with wings folded like an immeasurable bat, turned partly on one side, so that the hobbit could see his underparts and his long pale belly crusted with gems and fragments of gold from his long lying on his costly bed.”
I just finished the Calandra Lark. Here are some facts about this beautiful bird...
Appearance: It's a large lark, about 17.5-20 cm long, with a robust build, a heavy bill, and noticeable pale eyebrows
. Its plumage is mainly greyish-brown streaked above and white below, with large black patches on the breast sides.
Habitat: This species is found in open plains, steppes, pastures, and dry cereal cultivations. It's mainly resident in the west of its range but Russian populations migrate further south in winter.
Diet: Their main food source is seeds, but they also consume insects when nesting.
Behaviour: Calandra Larks are known to be gregarious outside the breeding season, often forming large flocks.
Song: Their song is considered musical and slower than the Skylark's. It has been historically popular as a cagebird.
They say Prometheus brought fire from the sun concealed in a hollow fennel stalk. They say tarragon came to be when a flax seed was pushed into the pierced root of a sea onion and planted after dark. The Minotaur simply likes the smell of chopped herbs.”
- Steven Sherrill
For some reason out of all of my drawings, this one went viral on Tumblr. So when I got to the Minotaur on the list of hybrid creatures, I had to (re)make this one.
The sentence is from “Minotaur takes a cigarette break” by Steven Sherrill. It’s wonderful.
This sketchbook spread features a stylized pattern of colorful poppy flowers. The garden of flowers includes leaves of green, yellow and peach. The flowers are yellow with blue stems. The drawing as a whole has a whimsical and playful feel with a bright color scheme, polka dots and organic squiggle shapes, and blobs of seemingly random colors. Please check out my website ArtsyDrawings.com for more by me, Brianna Eisman. Thank you!
The little bluebird, restless artist,
Flew over the orange horizon without restraint.
With his box full of colored pencils,
He thought he could paint the sky in an instant, of course!
But too many pencils and too few wings,
Unbalanced the poor little bird.
So many colors, no coordination,
His creative disaster fell to the ground!
Orange, yellow and red pencils shattered,
While the little blue bird fell in tears.
His celestial dream turned into a nightmare...
Until he saw - a rainbow formed!
From sadness, joy overflowed,
In that magical moment he understood:
It doesn't matter the skill or the tools,
Art comes from the heart, even if messy!
Skylight from Dialogues in Paradise by Can Xue.
The light shrank back into two dots. A dark shadow brushed by, a clumsy night bird that shrieked and swooped toward the skylight, its huge wings tapping the roof fiercely, echoing like thunder.
Follow @thecovatar on IG and Twitter for daily art inspiration!
Do you like fantasy movies and literature? Then you must know Ben Barnes! The actor who played Dorian Gray in the same-name film adaptation and Prince Caspian in the Chronicles of Narnia has surely won your heart!
But do you know that he also played Alexander Kirigan in Shadow and Bone? Turn on Netflix and watch the first season if you haven’t seen it yet!
This piece was heavily inspired by the amazing designs of Ian McQue and it was one of the very first test-drawings on my remarkable 2 e-Ink tablet. So I was still in the process of adapting to this new tech :)
Abandoned drawing of Ellie wearing a black turtleneck. The lighting in the room was terrible and the black fabric hid a lot of the shadow detail of the folds and it frustrated me. That’s my excuse anyway… Model: Ellie.
Second drawing of Amy with her arms up. Based on an earlier sketch that I’ve posted. Bic4 Ballpoint Pen, Hello Kitty 10 Colour Ballpoint Pen on 9” x 12” Archival paper. Model: Amy_D
"Whirlwind 24”, an original drawing. Micron pens on archival paper. Size: 4” x 6”. Title, signature, and date in the back of the drawing. This drawing is the 24th in a series of drawings posted over a period of 100 days. The original post date on this drawing was September 24, 2020.
This drawing has gone through several iterations (rough napkin sketch, sketchbook sketch, black and white version, limited colour version). 2021, Bic4 Ballpoint Pen, Novelty 10 Colour Ballpoint Pen on 9” x 12” Archival paper. Model: ImaniZ
I enjoy drawing the forms of the back. Especially when classically lit.
Pencil, Charcoal Pencil, Pastel Pencils and white Prismacolor pencil on 9” x 12” Strathmore Toned Grey sketchbook paper.
