Time for a Touch of Whimsy

As much as I love charcoal drawings of leaves
(and I srsly do)
I felt I needed to take a break and do something different.

So I perused through my files of old drawings and found an Inktober drawing that I really liked:

I've wanted to see it in color ever since I finished this sketch.

It took a slightly different turn than I had originally imagined, but that's how the creative process goes sometimes.
Here's the finished piece:

You can find it in all the Suspended Dreams shops. Check it out. Like it. Share it.
Because that would be great.
Thanks!

Halloween Continues to Approach

My only regret this Inktober is that I didn't make more of an effort to get involved with other artists on it. The competition and inspiration from comparing to others' work is hard to replace.

But there's only one week left of this, and the rest of my life (you know, stuff like being a wife and a mom and keeping the house together...not-so-small stuff) is starting to catch up with me.

Getchya caught up on Inktober thus far:

Day 20 - Bats and a kitty

Day 21 - Witch's kitty

Day 22 - My kitty (this one is alarmingly accurate to real life)

Day 23 - The mask I wish I owned and would wear EVERY DAY

Day 24 - Haunted Forest

And there is a lovely Autumn storm brewing up outside. It's perfect: overcast skies, gusty winds, gold and yellow leaves whipping past my window. Aaaah. Life is good.

Inktober Days #3 & #4

day 3 - Grim Reaper

day 4 - Witch in Training

Color Abuse

I have this terrible habit when I work digitally...

...of changing the color of the entire piece, over and over and over again.

Because it's so easy! You just move a slider back and forth and suddenly, "Oh hey! This looks even better in blue!"

If I were painting in oils or acrylic, I would not have this option. I would have to choose my colors ahead of time and hope I made the best choices because once it's on the canvas
-BOOM-
you're committed to it.

But I don't have that problem on the computer. And I do abuse the hue/saturation sliders. I'll admit that.

It's not just for my wishy-washy non-committal self that I do this. It's for YOU, really.
Cuz now you have more options!

Both of these (and the original green) can be found on Redbubble and no-background versions can be found on Design By Humans
And another pleasant surprise for you:

I finished the Hobbit Puppets!

*victory dance*

I hope this proves to be the beginning of more puppet paintings based on characters from books (and/or movies, I guess). More Lord of the Ring puppets are in order, and I've got some Alice in Wonderland puppets on the back of my mind, too....

What book/movie characters would you want to see as puppets? Tell me in a comment below!

No Sick Days Here

Been sick in bed with terrible phlegmy cough all week (tmi? Idk). Want to know what happens when you're stuck in bed for a week?

Not much.

But if you have a laptop and a Wacom tablet, between coughs you can make stuff like this:

w00t.

I would have more cool new stuff to show you, but I've been asleep a lot this week.

Like, srsly, a lot.

But the phlegmy cough is finally letting up a little bit, hopefully I will have a finished Lord of the Rings Puppet painting by next week.

Looking forward to it? I AM.

I also touched up on an old favorite of mine.

Why do I like skeleton keys in a tree? Why does that even make sense?

Doesn't matter IT'S STILL COOL AND I LOVE IT.

(like these pictures? Check it out on Redbubble, you can get them printed on clothing, posters, bags, notebooks, phone and laptop cases, and LOTS more awesome stuff. Click here.)

TREES

I friggin' LOVE the line art of this. I feel like I was channeling Bill Watterson (look at the line variation, yo!).

So pretty

Even better in color (though my coloring is admittedly less Bill Watterson than I would like), check it:

More pretty

There ought to be something hanging from those branches RIGHT? A Facebook poll revealed a quick winner (as well as half a dozen amazing ideas that will shortly come to fruition):

Level up to Friggin' Sweet

Which is awesome...
but what about a family tree?

I just don't know WHEN TO STOP

O-M-G-O-S-H, Kenna, move on past this tree already.

And I'm trying. I really am.
I just really like drawing trees. Apparently.
To keep myself from doing yet another variation of this tree, I forced myself to move on to another family themed piece.

Imagine this framed and in your living room. Looks good, doesn't it?

This will be printed at 11x14" and available at the Cinco de Mayo Festival, you should drop by if you're in the area. Free event!
And if you're not in the area, fret not, just fill out the Order Form on this page (look on your right, yep, there it is) and I'll send it to you. :)

The Tree Addiction Begins

Once upon a time, not so long ago, I drew a tree.

This tree:

And I've been thinking about trees ever since.

I might be addicted to drawing trees.

Last night I drew this:

If there's a support group out there for tree-drawing addicts, send the info my way.

Deep Sea Line Art

Newest paintings...

For the deep sea creature lovers out there. All these can be printed on phone cases, tablet cases, notebooks, and more at the Redbubble Store.

Remember the Creepy Puppets? (of course you do, silly question)
They are PERFECT on these new Graphic Tees (also at Redbubble)




I would wear that. Freaking all the freaking time.

 I've got a lot of ideas, dishes to do, and a daughter to feed; there are not enough hours in a day. Can't wait to get on the Wacom tablet again.
Lots more to draw.

But not another octopus.

O_O

That octopus was INTENSE.

Hobbit Illustration #12 is DONE

Behold: In Search of a Burglar, the beginning of the adventure.

Now I have enough to put a Hobbit calendar together. I'll be using Redbubble to put the calendar together, so if you are interested, that's where you can go to order it.

To commemorate finishing the Hobbit illustrations, let's have a puppet.

A Legend of Zelda puppet!

Inspired by Majora's Mask, which I've been rediscovering on the 3DS lately

Surprise.

This can also be ordered on Redbubble on almost all their products - phone cases, tablet cases, notebooks, journals, mugs, etc. Give it a look, tell me if I should change anything.

Gotta sign off now. Lots to do today.

The Last Homely House

Hobbit illustration 11 of 12 is completed.

Here is Elrond, revealing the secret of Moon Runes to Thorin & co.

Originally these illustrations were supposed to be quick, cute and simple.
This one took forever. What took the most time?
The. MAP.
Freaking jeez-louise, why do I obsess over details??

It turned out, though. So no regrets.

But srsly, on the next one, I have got to loosen up and finish quicker.

Next: In Search of a Burglar.

Also!! I am crocheting some trinkets to sell at GAM Con. I've started the Totoro plushies,

Adorbz, right?

What about you? Are you coming to GAM Con? Is there anything you'd like me to paint/crochet for you? Cuz I'll do it!

GAM Prepping... Part 2

Painting painting painting

It feels so good to be painting painting painting.

Worked for about 4 hours straight this morning, no interruptions, because my awesome husband wants me to finish these as much as I do. Thanks, hon!

Here's some more of what will be at my table at GAM Con:

More Dwarves?! -poor Beorn

Barrel Rider!

Hide and Seek with Smaug

Gotta paint more. The Hobbit pics still need a scene from Elrond's House, running from the Wargs, and I think we need to see the look on Bilbo's face when he arrives to the Shire just in time for the Baggins Estate Auction. :)

Back to painting painting painting!

GAM Prepping...part 1

There's a local convention coming up in August. It's called G.A.M. Con - Games, Anime, and More (their facebook page is here). Just a little gathering of awesomeness and family fun.

My sister Good Moe-Jo and I are going to have an artist's booth together. If you're in the Vernal area, you ought to come see us! We're going to set up our laptops and television screens so you can watch us paint digitally. It's going to be great!

I'm finished the Hobbit illustration series for the convention. Here's a preview of what will be there:

Riddles in the Dark

Sleeping Smaug

Unexpected Party

 I'm excited for the convention even though anime fascination was years ago...and the only game I really consistently play is The Legend of Zelda...but I've got the "more" part totally covered!

There will be some Zelda pictures, Studio Ghibli fanart, and awesome crocheted goodies.

But what about puppets? Will puppets be there?

Um...yes. Sort of. I mean...sure! Puppets will be there! 

Subscribe to this blog or my facebook page to keep up with my G.A.M. Con progress. And I hope to see you there!

Bilbo in Mirkwood - In Color!

Finished!!

It has crossed my mind that these pictures would make a fun coloring book. Anyone know where one would go to have a coloring book printed, bound, and distributed?

Share if you do. And if you don't, head over to Facebook.com/KennaArt and leave your mark.

Peace out.

Back From Vacation!

Went on vacation to visit family out of state. On my way back I kidnapped my sister, Good Mo-Jo, so she could teach me how to do this:

I guess technically I already knew how to do this part, but I was really slow at it. She's helped me get faster so I'm not wasting my life away on line art.

Today she's going to show me how she is able to paint so crazy fast. Stay tuned for the final picture!

Check out her FB page to see her artwork: facebook.com/jomoellmer

Problem-Solving

When I look at this picture, I imagine this puppet is hard-core problem solving.
You can almost see the wheels turning in his head, right?

Which is fitting, because this painting sat for a LONG time, waiting to be finished, waiting for me to solve the problem I was having with the colors.

Took me (freaking) long enough. But now he's done!

I'm having similar issues with color and The Hobbit illustrations -

- but I have some exciting news about that. I'm going to collaborated with an artist I've been wanting to collaborated with for years (our styles just differ too much for us to do projects together before now), and she's agreed to paint them for me. :D

This may be premature to announce, she hasn't started yet and it may not work as harmoniously as we're hoping...but I am optimistic!

The artist happens to be my sister, Good Moe-Jo!
(aka: comicstrip, to some)

I think her more graphic approach to coloring will be just right. I'll post finished pieces for you as we complete them!

More Smaug!

Now Smaug has wings, you can all rest easy.

Colored versions of these Hobbit illustrations are coming soon, and they will bring with them an awesome giveaway. Stay tuned, tell your Middle-Earth friends!

Hobbit Illustration: Smaug

Didn't have much to do today and realized I haven't drawn any Smaug scenes! ¡Que horror!

So I finalized a dragon design that matched the aesthetic I'm going for, snuggled him up against some gold, and here he is folks!

Next, I'll draw some interaction between him and Bilbo.

Welcome to November

Wondering where I've been?

I'll tell you what I told Facebook:
Living with a chronic illness is difficult. Being an artist with a chronic illness means that sometimes I go a long time without making art. (I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, by the way, not sure I mentioned that)

I haven't had the energy to create new creepy puppet paintings. I've been spending a lot of time in bed or on my couch crocheting, instead.

Wanna see what I made? ^__^

For Halloween.

And a black pair for my good friend Alicia

This is a free pattern, found here: http://nephithyrion.blogspot.com/2013/12/crochet-pattern-lace-beret.html

I've drawn ONE thing. Even though it is only one, I'm quite please with how it turned out. 

...not sure how to explain this one. Maybe you had to be there.

 There are many more pairs of fingerless gloves and at least three other hats (I have a problem....) but I don't have pictures of those (YET).

Wanna know what else I'm doing??

NANOWRIMO! National Novel Writing Month.
Are you doing it, too? We should totes be writing buddies!!
Find me here:
nanowrimo.org/participants/miss-hobbit

Can't wait to see you there!