Jenny Dolfen

Sun and Moon pins

I'm loving these to BITS. 

I'd love some opinions here. I've noticed that smaller pins are bought much more than larger ones, even if the cost difference is negligible. If you're a pin person, would you agree? These ones will be fairly small with respect to detail - 38 mm, a little smaller than the Valar. 

Also - what's your opinion on glitter? I haven't used it at all so far, but in the pin community, there's hardly any glitter-free pin, haha. And there are some with an iridescent glitter that look really cool. Would g...

New Tolkien themed pins

Back in the pin mood! The Dormice haven't even arrived yet but I'm planning new ones... 

Here's Arien/The Sun and Tilion/The Moon. Gosh, I hope they can get that sort of detail. 

I also want to do a hope-themed Tolkienesque pin, possibly even with writing. My first idea was doing Eärendil, since the star theme would fit in nicely with the Sun and Moon one. Any more ideas along that line? 

Hope is a little thin on the ground here otherwise - we're being squashed by the third wave and vaccination isn't taking ...

Dormice sticker sheet and some extended MarchofMaedhros

While I'm waiting for my D&Dormice pins to arrive (about three more weeks...), I've painted a little assortment of "inventory" for dormouse adventurers that I'll include with pin orders as a sticker sheet! I've found a sticker printer that can make indivual little stickers in free form on one sheet of paper. The Valar stickers will be back in that shape, too! 

I've taken another dive into my archives and dug up three more rather showable sketch/homework pages from my Uni days. The first two are from late 1994, the last one is ...

Maedhros (no gouache)

So, I started this in gouache, bravely kept going through what I hoped was jsut the ugly stage, but it just kept getting uglier and uglier... so I redid it in my sketchbook and gave it the watercolours it deserved. ;) 

I faithfully documented my failure with gouache: 

The lack of lineart and the lack of luminous colour is definitely a thing that'll be hard to overcome. My next experiment will probably be layering transparently ...

Maedhros sketch for gouache

I'm totally in love with this. And scared silly, haha. I'll transfer this sketch to paper tomorrow, for my first ever gouache Maedhros. With my last few gouache sprees, I never even had the confidence to attempt a guinea pig Maedhros. 

Let me just take the chance for a heartfelt "GO ALL OF US!" for this month's incredible Patron influx! I'm beyond happy to welcome twenty new Patrons (most of whom already got a "yay welcome" message from me) since the beginning of March. I'm thrilled to have you all, and hope you enjoy what you're ...

Whoa.

I'm beginning to think the only gouache course I need is someone who holds my hand during the "ugly stage" of a painting (i. e. the first 90%) and tells me, "It'll be all right". 

I switched from trying to use gouache like watercolour to working with completely undiluted paint for this one; and I decided to dig up the only flat brush I own, because I figured it was no coincidence that flat brushes are what all gouache painters use... and wow. 

(From photo reference. That way, I only have to try and match colours and moo...

Gouache attempt

I told you I'm going to take a gouache course next month; I decided to get in a bit of practice before that. I started out using gouache much as I would watercolour, very diluted with a lot of water, but then went all-out with opacity to try for a "true" gouache look, not a "but I'm really a watercolourist" hybrid. I think this could be a direction I may like, but oh boy, I need so much more practice and tips. 

I did feel a little Bob Ross-y when I painted the little cabin. ;) Painted from a photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh. 

Colour swatches fail

When you're decided to get into gouache again, and make yourself a great little palette, and dutifully do colour swatches... 

... only to remember that gouache is a "what you see is what you get" medium so you don't need colour swatches. XD

Yes, I want to try it again... I came across a class from Justin Donaldson recently, starting in April, and I've signed up for monitoring it. I find that spending money on something I want to learn is the only way to make me learn. .Spending money on art materials doesn't work. I...

MarchofMaedhros, Q&A

I dug even deeper into the archives (the ones in my closet which screams "tidy me!!"), and found some Maedhros sketches I've definitely never shared before. 

The one above comes up in my sketchbook some three times in 2005, but never was taken further. I think I recycled the idea for Gil-galad some twelve years later. 

Also from the 2005 sketchbook. In the first page, I'd inscribed it GRAVEYARD OF IDEAS, and that was p...

March of Maedhros, pin sale, and print plans

Here's another little MarchofMaedhros for you! I snuck it into 1996 (probably late 1995), into an art phase quarely in between Katherine Kurtz' Deryni Chronicles. There actually was no other Maedhros at all between 1996 and 2004. But the special place he still held in my heart can be seen in the fact that I placed him in February - my birth month. 

It seems that consuming Prince Valiant comics did a *bit* to my style in those days, and it seems I actually attempted backgrounds exceeding ten pencil lines even before I met my husban...

Q&A hangout postponed

Sorry guys, I have to postpone the hangout scheduled for this afternoon - a loved one is in hospital and I have to keep the phone lines free. <3 

I'll let you know when I can reschedule it! 

Aredhel and Maeglin

Working on a deadline there! To be put in my shop in forty-five minutes... They're already matted and I've framed a few of the new ones too. Photographing them might pose the greatest problem now - it's already dark... 

Have I ever drawn Maeglin? I mean, after 1994? I'm not sure...

Who can see the obvious reference for Aredhel? =D

ACEO prints, AND US SHIPPING

*sing hallelujah!* 

I just opened all shipping to the US again, after ALL the old orders have arrived (or are at least accounted for), and ALL of the guinea pig orders from two weeks ago have either arrived, or are trackable and safely on their way after just a week! =D I can't begin to tell you what an abnormally huge relief that is. 

My daughter helped me with the first 200 ACEO prints - she was stamping, I was numbering. She's a master stamper. I wanted to show her how to stamp the backs and it looked terrible; she t...

Dungeons & Dormice pin designs complete

I love the little splash of colour the Wizard adds. I think for most of the pins, I can give the pin company colour codes I've used before, but for those bright purples, I'm going to need my Pantone book! ;) 

Can't wait to order these. There's a giddy excitement to ordering pins; cooperating with the designer/representative, seeing her designs come back, tweaking, giving the go ahead... and then waiting six weeks. 

I'm very close to opening US shipping again. All (!!!) of the "Bermuda batch" orders from Nov/Dec 2020 hav...

The postman rang...

... just as I'd made myself a pot of tea.

I now have 2000 pretties.

And a pot of very strong, rather cold, tea. =D 

I'll be busy stamping and numbering, and hope to put them up in my shop soon! 

Nerdanel, Feanor, and Finduilas, I think; Barbarians, pointed eaes, and a Q&A hangout!

Galadriel turned into someone else during the colouring (you won't believe how often this happens. Especially with beautiful, light-haired women, strangely). I think she's Finduilas. I'm really happy with Nerdanel and Feanor though. Fenaor indeed looks less angry than in later life, and I've managed to capture what I think is important for Nerdanel - the non-classic beauty that I nonetheless love to paint, freckles and all. 

I also did the D&Dormouse Barbarian last night; only the Wizard to go now, and then the batch can go in...

Three new ACEOs

Here's Nerdanel, Feanor, and Galadriel! I'll definitely finish them for the next TinyTuesday. Not sure there'll be (many, if any) more - school will finally start again on Monday*, with split classes and a huge load of stuff to bear in mind, so I'll have a lot to deal with. I do want to finish the last two Dormouse pin designs over the weekend so I can get the order out on Monday. 

*Infection numbers are actually so high here that our district asked the local governor to leave the schools closed until the Easter holidays, but they...

First four pin designs

I'm having the time of my life designing pins on the iPad. In Photoshop, even on my graphics tablet, any swooshy line I wanted to do always worked in the third or fourth attempt, never on the first. In Procreate, it's just a breeze. 

My only problem, apparently, was to keep the line weight consistent (my biggest problem with lineart in Procreate as a rule), but since the lovely lady from PinSource always redraws them anyway, she'll know what to do. It's wonderful designing pins again! Next up are the Wizard and the Barbarian ...

Pudgy little Paladin, ACEO (print) plans, and homework planner Maedhros

I seem to have an awful lot to talk to you about; I hope you're not tired of these emails yet? 

Here's the first of the pin designs: Pudgy little Paladin Pin! I'll use some of the poses I did last spring, but some I'll make a little more compact. Most popular so far is the Ranger, and I just had the wonderful idea to make the bumblebee as an extra pin, so they'll be a set you can rearrange. XD 

The others right now seem to be the Bard, Cleric, Wizard, Ranger, and Barbarian, so that's a nice little set that'll cover most...

Dungeons&Dormice pins - poll

I finally want to do the dormouse pins that I put off since April! I'm also going to reorder the Silmarils, so if you missed out on those, they'll be back in stock.

I can't make eleven D&Dormouse pins, so I'll start with the five or so character classes that are most popular. I have an idea what they are, but please let me know what you favour, too! (This poll will be open to other platforms as well!)

Here's all of them again. Clockwise from top left: Monk, Paladin, Druid, Bard, Sorcerer, Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, Range...

Tiny Tuesday is almost here: ACEOs on Etsy ... and deep fanart territory

So, those of you who have been waiting for the original art to drop - only one and a half hours to go! Originals are not included in coupon codes, but I made the prices a little less than I said I would for most of them, so I hope that's a good compromise. :) They will be in the Original art section at 9 pm CET. 

MarchofMaedhros for today is another deeeeep from the archives,...

Three more ACEOs, and That Day Maedhros Became a Looker

I did Glorfindel and another Maglor yesterday (looking less like Brad Pitt), plus another Fingolfin. The paper and I had a severe fight, and I'm not sure who won. I'd got new Torchon paper from Fabriano, and it refused to let me do what I wanted to. 

I had an interesting realisation when I was painting these - namely, that I assign faces to characters based on the sound of their names. I have noticed before that shorter names seem to suggest shorter hair for me; similar names result in similar faces and even hair. Thus, Turgon alw...

F...fun size Friday?

Four more ACEOs for Tuesday! (I think all of them look just terrific as a set, and have already looked into printing options.) 

Here are Éomer, Faramir, Celebrimbor, and Lúthien. 

I ADORE this Lúthien. Lúthien is a character I've always loved to paint, and who also presents a huge challenge - how do you portray someone inhumanely beautiful?  As a consequence, she's changed more over time than other characters in my head, as I usually adjusted her to my current image of perfection.

That image of perfection...

Tiny Tuesday previews!

The Maedhros and Finrod I did first took terribly long - not the painting itself, but the drying in between! So I actually did the next four simultaneously, always working on one while the others dried. That's a wonderful way to work. Of course, in a larger-sized painting, I always work like it, but a larger-sized painting always has a dry spot I can work on! 

I'm not that happy with Maglor. He looks a little as if he sent his stunt double. (And his stunt double is Brad Pitt?!) 

I intend to do at least two or three more...

Tiny Finrod and my first ever Maedhros

Finished tiny Finrod yesterday! When did I start putting him in teal and turquoise? Probably fairly recently, as I can't think of a lot of coloured Finrod art at all. 

It's also MarchofMaedhros the third, and to start us on our March, I've dug up my first ever Silmarillion picture, with a scene you may recognise. ;)

My backgrounds back then consisted of a maximum of fifteen pencil strokes; you can tell the figures were mo...

ACEO art preview

Next four tiny Finweans! This time, I sketched them in Procreate (with ref), so I can have slightly more detail in the lines and general forms. These are so much fun! Fingon, Finrod, Fingolfin, and Maglor. 

#MarchofMaedhros #TinyTuesday

Now that's some hashtags we're going to have some fun with! =D 

I hereby declare MarchofMaedhros a thing. I'll post some older stuff and maaaaaybe some new ones. I should have enough to get me all through March 2021 to 2034. 

I also decided to do ACEO cards (sometimes called Kakao cards in Germany)! They're 2.5x3.5 inches, the size of sports cards. I plan to do some more over the coming week and drop them all in my shop on 9 March - the next TinyTuesday. I hope it's okay for you if I post them on social media the same d...

American guinea pigs wanted! *ALL GONE!*

Thanks so much, guys! =) 

After several months without US shipping, I'm feeling brave and want to send out a white dove, to see whether there is land across the ocean. And maybe a working postal service. Who'll be my guinea pigs?

(Tips a few Euros in the mixed metaphors jar) 

THE SITUATION

As you have heard, I stopped shipping to the US several weeks ago, after over eighty orders sent between late October and late December dropped off the face of the earth, no tracking, nothing. (A few...

Maitimo's fox (finished)

Those bright colours make me happy. ^________^

The dandelions were an experiment I was really scared of - I actually scanned the piece before I painted them, so I could fall back on the digital version to finish it in Procreate, but I ended up being really happy with how they turned out (and I managed not to go overboard, which helps). 

Prints are in my shops! I will list the originals of Maedhros and Legolas later, probably tomorrow. If any of you would like to claim one beforehand, please shoot me a message! US buyers &nbs...

Maitimo's fox - wip

I just love the combination of orange and pale purple. Granulating paints were used lavishly.