What a wonderful Sketch Fest we had last weekend! Twenty-one artists joined us and contributed 50 creations to the Sketch Fest gallery – we have thumbnails and watercolors and colored-pencil illustrations. We have a Christmas teddy bear, wonderland winter foxes, sweet Christmas mice, and polar bears, too – alongside Christmas tree cats and curious blops, folkloric illustrations and more.
And did we mention the art for sale? Snag originals and prints for all your friends this holiday season – just look for the red border in the gallery to discover what’s on offer.
Let’s have some final featured illustrations before we go.
The holiday spirit gets a little earthy in “Mistletoad” by Nathalie Reinholz – Nathalie was traveling this weekend but still managed to squeeze in this sketch!
Tara N Colna uses photography with “Kitten in Christmas Tree” to demonstrate that the struggle is real when you have kittens and Christmas trees together: “Can’t keep the new kittens out of the tree. This is Oreo getting caught, her brother Beelzebub jumped out before I could get him.”
We love this super-quick sketch from Kir Talmage! “Next Step of the Plot” captures the raccoon’s hopeful deviousness as he dons a disguise to steal Santa’s sleigh… “The plans were ready. The diagrams were complete. All he needed now was his disguise.”
Sarah Alden created this beautiful “Christmas Mermaid” and she has a question for us all: Sarah will be coloring her soon and asks, “Do you think I should keep the shell crown or go with more of a holly wreath crown instead?”
Feel the warmth of joy in your heart with this “Silent Night” landscape featuring a family of rabbits in scarves around a cheerful campfire.
This charming Christmas tree from Charlie Galvin made us grin! Here’s what Charlie said about it: “It counts as steampunk because I put the tree on a gear, right? The tree is also decked out in Edison bulbs. 🐙” We think it counts, too!
We hope you enjoyed this, and we hope you’ll participate in our next Sketch Fest in February! Enjoy the holidays and follow us on Facebook for the latest #EMGSketchFest updates.
What an AMAZING Sketch Fest! There was so much energy and enthusiasm, and it means a lot to me that you guys had fun and got involved. #EMGSketchFest is one of my favorite projects, and it would be really boring (and pretty pointless) if it was just me. 🙂
Fifty artists participated, making more than 325 sketches, and there were so many lovely comments and wonderful prompts to work from. Thank you for helping us make this one of the biggest and most beautiful events we’ve had in a while!
Thank you so much to everyone who came out and played this weekend at Sketch Fest #100!
Be well,
Ellen
It’s true, everyone! When all was said and done, Sketch Fest #100 featured 50 participating artists and 382 total uploaded creations to the gallery. Wow! You absolutely owe it to yourself to wander through all of the artwork and maybe buy a sketch or original – there are some really amazing pieces in there just waiting to hang on your wall.
Now, let’s announce all of our prize winners:
Comments Keep Us Going – Our 5 random winners are: Julie Cooper, who wins a 6×8 print with matching magnet by Maria William; Katerina Koukiotis, who wins a collection of 3 5×7 prints by Sarah Alden; ElmaBree, who wins a postcard of “Sea of Stars” and stickers by Nathalie Edelhirsch; Rosie Wells, who wins an original ACEO of your choice by Jenny Heidewald; and Mayumi Ogihara, who wins a coloring book of her choice by Selina Fenech.
Most Popular Prompt – This one was a tie between Nicole Madden and Rosie Wells! They will each receive a mystery bag (3 ACEO prints each) by Mayumi Ogihara.
Super Supporter of Sketch Fest #100– The person who purchased the highest value of art this Sketch Fest was Julie Cooper, with Ed Cammarato as our runner-up! Julie and Ed will both receive a selection of ACEO prints by Katerina Koukiotis (one of each she does this Sketch Fest).
Most Creative Use of Prompt– We had a really tough time choosing the winner of this category – so we’re awarding two Honorable Mentions as well! The artist with the most creative use of a prompt this Sketch Fest was Rosie Wells for “Operation: Fluffy Cuddles,” and she will receive an 11×17 print, an 8.5 x 11 print, and her choice of coloring sheet or bookmark by Sheryl Abid. Our two Honorable Mentions are Amy Sue Stirland for “Glittering Eye Blank Book” and Deirdre M. Murphy with “Warning, DM Whimsical When Bored” – they will each receive one print from Cindy Hill!
Sketch-crazy! – Jenny Heidewald submitted THIRTY-ONE sketches during the official #EMGSketchFest 100 hours! She wins a copy of From The Deep coloring book by Ellen Million.
Opening Bell Artist – The first artist to submit a sketch was Milkycat with “Storm of Petals,” and she wins a print from Cindy Hill!
First Hurdle Artist – Tara N Colna was the first artist to submit five sketches this Sketch Fest, and she’ll receive a customized original 4″ x 6″ character portrait from Julie Rabischung!
First 3D Artist – Afke van Herpt was the first artist to submit a 3-dimensional sketch or other work, such as sculpture, jewelry, crocheted piece, etc. and has won a wee dragon charm by Whimsical Dreams Art!
Collaboration – The best collaborative work, here defined as the best collaboration between prompt and art, was selected by our guest judges Afke and Ronja! Katerina Romanova wins this prize for “Shy,” and will receive an ACEO by Afke van Herpt and her niece Ronja!
Submission by Someone 12 or Under – Shell’s 7-year-old daughter Willow took this prize for “Am I A Rainbow?“! Our guest judges Afke and Ronja made the selection, and Willow wins an ACEO from them.
Sketch Fest Newbies – We had four new participants in our 100th Sketch Fest: Ellen Moore, Ellen Wilberg, J. Ryan Decker, and Regina Mailloux. Each of our newbies will receive an ACEO print and postcard.
And here’s our last series of featured illustrations – we hope you enjoy this final taste of Sketch Fest #100!
First up is this gorgeous example of handlettering in watercolour brushpen and tangles in black fineliners in honor of our 100th Sketch Fest. Thanks for this, Francis Bax!
We can’t get over how adorable Maria J. William’s “Mr. Meowington” is! This colored pencil, white charcoal, and white acrylic illustration is on toned paper and measures approximately 6×8. You can pick up prints of this fine feline for only $7-$10!
“Glittering Eye Blank Book” by Amy Sue Stirland is an upcycled plain spiral bound blank book with Velcro closure and won one of our Honorable Mentions for Most Creative Use of a Prompt. Amy said, “This was a book that was given out by a major company as a promotional item. I have reworked the cover for the prompt.. only one eye, and the scales are raised and nicely shimmery.” It measures 5.5 ” x 4 ” and contains 20lb weight white pages numbering 80.
Of her “Heart of Peacocks,” Julie Cooper says, “This is the first decent peacock I have managed to do. I might colour but not too sure.” We love this bird and hope you do!
We’re thrilled with this strikingly colorful ACEO from Erika Harm! Here’s what she says about “Oni Fox“: “I wanted to blend the idea of an oni and a kitsune into one mask. Ink!” You can pick up the original artwork for just $15!
Ellen Million, the founder of our Sketch Fest feast, created several fantastic art cards this Sketch Fest! Here’s her interpretation of an alarune. You can pick up the original ACEO drawing for only $8!
Our last featured piece is this lovely illustration by Janna Prosvirina. “Waiting for Autumn to Come” is ink pen on Bristol measuring 4″ x 6″. You can grab the original ink sketch for $12, and you can get a download to print out as a coloring page for only $3.
That’s it for #EMGSketchFest 100, a truly remarkable milestone. We can’t wait to see you at Sketch Fest #101, which will be August 24-26, so mark your calendars!
Have you had a fantastic Sketch Fest Saturday? We have! We’ve been celebrating #EMGSketchFest 100 since yesterday, and we’ve had over 100 sketches (and other creations) submitted to our gallery!
Let’s whet your appetite with a few featured illustrations, then be sure to check the Sketch Fest gallery out! And invite your friends if they haven’t seen it yet – there are prizes to be won.
Anastasia Bisel sketched this remarkable “Agate Queen,” inspired by Jenny Heidewald.
Rowan Lewgalon drew an enchanting start to a painting inspired by her own prompt, “Triple Goddess.”
“Demonic Butterfly” is a compelling Micron pen sketch by Kathy Nutt, inspired by Anke Wehner’s prompt!
“Moon Princess” by Julie Rabischung is a lovely 4×6 ink, markers, and gel pens sketch. You can purchase the original drawing for $15!
This magical acrylic painting by Tara N Colna is titled “Spell Weaver.” It measures 4×4 and is acrylic paint on a canvas panel. Tara says, “It still may change a little bit depending on how it dries and shifts. All paintings will be for sale but have to dry and cure, and varnish which will take about a month.” Snag the original for only $25!
That’s it for our sneak peeks – you’ll have to visit the gallery to discover more. At least until we’re back this evening with more featured illustrations to share! See you then.