Heather Kilgore – Ellen Million Graphics Blog

Enjoying Sketch Fest Sunday?

#EMGSketchFest 99 may be over, but that’s no reason to stop the party! If you wander over to the gallery, you may still find new art – and you’ll definitely find something fantastic! You may even find a piece of art to buy, and you should absolutely leave some comments for our participants!

Let’s do some featured illustrations:

“Dragon and Sleeping Fairy” by Afke van Herpt’s Cousin Susan

“Unicorn of the Sea” by Afke van Herpt and her Niece Ronja

First up, we have these great illustrations done by Afke van Herpt’s cousin and niece. “Dragon and Sleeping Fairy” by Afke’s cousin Susan is blamed on Ronja! For “Unicorn of the Sea,” Afke wrote: “My niece Ronja did another collaboration with me! I sketched the horse part, and she did all the rest.”

“Blue and Orange Stockings and the Green Dress” by Heather Kilgore

Heather Kilgore created this dancing beauty, the evocation of a summer breeze in her green dress with sand-and-sea stockings below!

Monika Holloway is putting us all in a vaudevillian frame of mind today with her fancy-free depiction of a nurse.

Founder of our Sketch Fest feast, Ellen Million took Mayumi Ogihara’s prompt “Unicorn of Shadows” and ran with it to create #Junicorn 16: “I loooooved this prompt. See more details about my #junicorn project here!”

Katta went three dimensional and sculpted this adorable earth dragon, resplendent in green and showing their belly and holding on to a brown stone.

The glory of the night sky emerges in “Stardust” by Mayumi Ogihara. This illustration is mixed media on 7×5 toned paper, and you can even purchase the original! Just $27!

“Trinkets and Tentacles” by Natacha Chohra

Inspired by Selina Fenech’s great prompt, Natacha Chohra created this provocative and playful drawing: “Trinkets and Tentacles” is a 5×7 graphite sketch and you can purchase the original for only $40!

Our last featured illustration for today is an untitled piece by Kir Talmage. Inspired by Edward Cammarota’s prompt, “Blue warrior women,” Kir commented that she’s “just drafting some idea” in this pencil and colored pencils sketch.

That’s it for a super-sized Sunday Sketch Fest featured set! Don’t forget to check out the full gallery, and come back here tomorrow for our After Action Report – completed with more features and our announcement for #EMGSketchFest 100!

Saturdays are for Sketch Fest

We’re back with the first installment of our Saturday highlights from #EMGSketchFest 97! Have you been creating today? We’d love to create with you! Just head on over to the full gallery – explore the art, leave some prompts, and create art (sketches, jewelry, whatever you make) of your own!

Let’s take a sneak peek at what’s hanging out in the gallery, shall we?

ElmaBree, inspired by Mayumi Ogihara’s prompt “Mermaid dress decorated with the most beautiful mermaid scales,” drew this well-dressed mermaid. She adds that this is an unfinished sketch to be completed later.

It may not be sweater weather anymore, but Heather Kilgore sketched the fabulous “Miss Fuzzy Sweater.” You can almost feel that fuzzy sweater! You can purchase the original graphite drawing on cream drawing paper for just $25.

Tricia Danby’s “Shy Fairy” promises to be a lush illustration in all the fresh colors of spring. We can’t wait to see her completed!

Janna Prosvirina drew this fresh-face fairy crafting a “Chain of Daisies,” and it’s soon to be a coloring page! Here’s what she said: “For those who enjoy coloring I will make this image available as a digital stamp /coloring page. It will be available through my Etsy.” You can pick up the original ink drawing on office paper for $12!

Our last highlight for this afternoon is “Jellyfishie” by Nathalie Reinholz! This gorgeous watercolor of a jellyfish absolutely glows. “No ideas how these are fish,” Nathalie wrote, “but I took this as an opportunity to follow Stephanie Law’s instructional video on patreon on how to paint jellyfish.” If you fancy snagging the original watercolor painting on Hahnemühle Cornwall paper, it’s only $35!

Now that your appetite has been whetted, head on over to the full gallery and wander through the marvelous works waiting for you. Don’t forget – share your thoughts and your artwork on social media with our official hashtag, #EMGSketchFest.

Farewell EMGSketchFest 94… hello EMGSketchFest 95!

That’s it, folks! Another #EMGSketchFest weekend has passed in 48 hours of creativity and sharing. Archers and dancers, sea unicorns and Christmas mermaids all turned up in the gallery during this Sketch Fest. And there are tons of goodies for sale, as well – snatch an original or a print to give to a friend this holiday season!

How about some final featured illustrations?

Lorna Cowie created this delightful piece, which she later finished with an outline of Mystic Hare. “I’m always surprised at how blue winter is,” Lorna wrote. “There is a certain time of night, when it snows, that everything turns blue, with violet shadows. Windsor and Newton watercolours with salt detailing. Once dry, the salt is brushed free to reveal the textured pattern.”

Caitlin Woods, meanwhile, spent some time playing with crayons and drew this “Faerie Light.”

Edward Cammarota left the prompt “Christmas fairy in candy cane stockings” and that’s exactly what Heather Kilgore created! You can get the original drawing, 4″ x 6″, on cream drawing paper for $35.

Tricia Danby’s participation this Sketch Fest is manifesting as a beautiful “Winter Fae” – we can’t wait to see the finished creation!

Maria J. William snuck in at the end of the weekend, sharing several amazing illustrations – including this snow leopard with it’s stunning “Icy Blue” eyes. Snag a print for a cat-loving friend: get a semi-gloss print for $10 or an ACEO print for $5.

We may be done featuring illustrations from this Sketch Fest, but artists may still upload a drawing or two as they finish up their latest pieces – be sure to check back and don’t forget to shop!

We’d also love to announce #EMGSketchFest 95 – SURPRISE, it’s December 29-31! We’re getting in one last event before the end of 2017! Please join us, and create something warm and wonderful in the heart of the cold. We can’t wait to see you there!

Goodbye, EMG Sketch Fest #90!

Our 90th Sketch Fest has come to an end! Don’t be sad, though – #91 is coming next month, and artists can still add the sketches they’re working on to the current gallery. Which means there’s still fun, amazing, beautiful, and whimsical art to explore!

An eclipse pictured on a black field; the sun's corona peeks around the moon's edges in smoldering orange. — “Total Eclipse” by Heather Kilgore

You know we couldn’t skip featuring an eclipse illustration this Sketch Fest! (Has everyone in North America got their eclipse glasses ready for tomorrow?) Heather Kilgore did this eclipse ACEO card with colored pencils and Polychromos. You can snag the original for $20!

An acrylic painting of pink, blue, and white-trending butterflies on a field of thick whorled paint in blues and pinks and whites. — “Butterfly Whimsy” by Deirdre M. Murphy

Deirdre M. Murphy created this dreamscape of butterflies frolicking amid whorls of pink and blue. She’s offering the original for sale – acrylics on a 9″ x 12″ canvas for $30.

A brown-feathered owl with a face done up in white and pink like a Mexican sugar skull; the owl is pictured from mid-body up, peering to the viewer's right. A full moon occupies much of the background, with the rest of the canvas painted a nightsky green. — “Sugar Skull Owl” by Afke van Herpt

This owl is ready for this year’s Dia de los Muertos! Afke van Herpt drew “Sugar Skull Owl” with copic markers and white pencil on 2.5″ x 3.5″ recycled paper. If you fancy the original, it’s only $15!

A bee has been tooled on a piece of undyed leather; the bee is depicted against six hexagons in a honeycomb pattern. Another piece of leather lays across this piece, with For the Love of Bees #Sketchfest 90 scratched into it. — “Leather Love for the Bees” by Charlie Galvin

EMG Sketch Fests aren’t just about paintings and sketches and art cards – it’s also about jewelry-making, crocheting, and leather tooling! Charlie Galvin tooled this brilliant bee design onto a piece of undyed leather. We can’t wait to see the finished piece!

A black and white sketch of a woman facing the viewer, depicted from waist up. Her waves of long hair obscure her torso, and she holds her hands in front of her, resting her face on her right hand. Her head is tilted to the viewer's left, her eyes are closed, and she is crowned with perhaps a dozen butterflies. — “Butterfly Crown” by Sarah Alden

Our final featured piece is “Butterfly Crown” by Sarah Alden. “I’m so happy with this one! Just the right amount of butterflies!” Sarah says. “Now if only I could get one for myself…” We agree!

That’s it for #EMGSketchFest 90. Follow us on Facebook to be the first to know about September’s Sketch Fest dates. We’ll see you there!