MOAR Halloween

More Halloween art in the more creepy category:

Grim Reaper

Skull and Tree

Skeleton Puppet

This Took Some Doing...

Every once in a while I get comments about how cool my Link puppets are, and I feel a little sad that I didn't format them to be anything other than art prints.

And then I did something about it.

See the real deal HERE

To be found here

This link works, too

These can be found at TeePublic.

It took some time and an exceptional amount of cleverness. I only hope my fellow Legend of Zelda fans will appreciate that.

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!

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.

Last Picture for the GAM Con

...GAM Con is tomorrow!!

One last Legend of Zelda picture for the Con and my supply is complete.

Remember how I've been playing Majora's Mask?

Do you love it?? I DO.

If you want one, come to GAM Con tomorrow and say hi to me. Or email me at SuspendedDreamsArt@gmail.com and tell me what size you want
(8x11" - $12, 11x14" - $20)

I don't know if I shared this here or not...I think I forgot to...but maybe you saw it on the Reddit /r/gaming page:

A really awesome friend shared it on Reddit and apparently it exploded. Which was awesome.
Thanks, awesome friend. I owe you one.

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.

Puppets of Hyrule

I know. I know.

Legend of Zelda.

Where are the Legend of Zelda puppets?

Good question!

Look no further, friend. Here they are:
 

Full color version, for people who are into that

Three tone version, for people who are into that

I really like this image for the fact that these three characters are bound together, by Fate, by the Triforce, but Ganon constantly seeks to sever the connection. The characters were loosely based on Twilight Princess versions, but I think this sums up almost all the Legend of Zelda games.

I've been playing Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask on the 3DS and holy-freaking-crap it's awesome. The graphics are beautiful and changes/updates to the gameplay are excellent.

It's also given me some ideas about Link, and masks, and strings, and puppets. Stay tuned, more Legend of Zelda puppet fan art is coming your way.

(btw, these pictures are available on shirts, hoodies, notebooks, and lots more over at Redbubble, give it a quick browse and let me know if you think they look good.)

Moving and Sleeping and Sleeping More

My little family just moved back to Utah after a lovely 2 years living in Arizona. The move was exhausting. And exhausting. And wow, I'm tired.

But it's over now, we're settled in and getting back into a routine. Haven't set up my painting equipment yet, but I have cracked open my sketchbook once or twice.

Painting idea. Parchment texture, rose gold color scheme. It's gonna be great.

Any other Legend of Zelda fans here?

Doodling while watching Spirited Away. Any other Miyazaki fans around?

Vita brevis, ars longa!

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!

Commission!

I was recently commissioned to paint a puppet for a full chest tattoo.

COOL.
And also -
O_O

Never done a piece for a tattoo before. Slightly intimidated.

But what a COMPLIMENT to my puppets that someone wants it permanently in their skin!

They were great to work with, a perfect client. I hope they had a good experience commissioning me. (fingers crossed)

Here's the finished piece:

Want your own puppet? Just ask!

Two New Puppets

He's painted!
(finally)

Not exactly what I'd imagined, but it's good. And it's done.

 I'm lost as to what to title this one. I've been calling him Burton but...that's not really title.
(no, I don't name all the puppets, this is the first time. probably because he's been waiting so long to be painted.)

You know what else happens when you wait a LOOONG time to paint a puppet?

Puppets behind him in line literally POP OUT into reality.

w00t

This guy took a couple of days, whereas the one before him took over a month. O.o
I didn't even know he was waiting in the wings, or that he was getting so impatient, but judging by the speed at which he came into being I'd say he's been cooking in my subconscious for quite a while.

I've been calling that second one "Climbing." Uber boring, I know.

So what would you call him?

Thanks for reading! I hope to see you again for the next creepy puppet painting.

Re-Ignite!

I drew this puppet and I'm in love with him and I want to paint him.

Really want to paint him.

I think about it all the time.

But every time I've tried, I get...stuck.

Either the colors aren't right or the values are unappealing and it's been a really heart-breaking ordeal.

This puppet has been waiting to be painted for a couple of months now.

So what's an artist to do?
Well...I've expanded my toolbox to include Photoshop and Painter (to compliment my crazy Paint Tool SAI skillz), and I've been drawing a lot of things that are not creepy puppets. I read 3 novels and a self-help book, and I visited family for a week.

The result?

I feel rejuvenated and I'm ready to jump back into the creepy-puppet-painting saddle.
Everybody ready?
Yee--HAW!

Next time you see this guy, he WILL be painted and finished!

 (btw, Prince Lir is finally available on redbubble - yay!)

So Let It Be Written, So Let It Be Done

I know I said I didn't have time for this but it was important to me to get the series to look more cohesive.

Thanks for all the comments and likes on Facebook(.com/KennaArt). After taking a tally, it's been decided that the blue cape is a winner.

So I present to you, for the last time, the completed series of The Last Unicorn puppet characters:

The Last Unicorn Fanart Series

The book The Last Unicorn made a big impression on my life. From watching the movie a ba-zillion times as a kid with my cousins to reading the book for the first time when I was 14, the story has always resonated with me.

It's adventure and hope and loss and love. Beauty, truth, immortality and death.

It pretty much has it all.

So here they are, all together, the 5-part series of puppet fanart:
(first and only puppet fanart series...so far...)

Lady Amalthea/the Unicorn

Molly Grue

Schmendrick the Magician

King Haggard

Prince Lir

As it is with any series of paintings, I learned A LOT (about color, about concept, about painting in general) so it was worth the time and effort, but the last one looks much more sophisticated than the first.

For example: there's a lot of touching up I would love to do on King Haggard, and it drives me crazy that Prince Lir isn't as monochromatic as the others (his cape should be blue...that's going to drive me nuts...I don't have time to change it but I don't care, I'm going to change it) and a million other tiny details.

All that aside, I can say I like what I've done. And I'm glad to declare this little project DONE.
I hope you like them. If nothing else, perhaps they will inspire you to read the book. It's a good read. :)

Molly Grue and Schmendrick the Magician!

Fellow lovers of The Last Unicorn, here are a couple more characters:

"It would be the last unicorn in the world that came to Molly Grue."

Schmendrick took a long time. Much longer than I should be spending on these. But he's such an important character, I think it had to be done. And he has most of the lines (at least the most memorable ones) so there was a lot to include in this painting.

"It's a rare man who is taken for what he truly is."

Next in line is....Prince Lir!

I'll be posting these Last Unicorn paintings on Redbubble, so if you like them you can have them printed on tote bags, throw pillows, ipad and phone cases, as well as posters or canvas prints.
Check it out here: Suspended Dreams on Redbubble.

Thanks everyone!

Peter S. Beagle: The Last Unicorn

For lovers of The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle:

That movie was a HUGE part of my childhood. And the book itself was a substantial part of my adolescence. I bought the graphic novel (illustrated by the AMAZING Renae de Liz) as soon as I heard about it.

So. Yeah. Safe to say I'm a fan.

The characters in The Last Unicorn translate perfectly into puppets. All of them are being pulled at by strings of Fear and Faith, Greed and Love. Immortality. Beauty. Truth.
Lady Amalthea acts the part of a human girl and slowly loses herself to it, no longer seeing the strings. King Haggard weaves his own strings, his own limitations, and ultimately his own doom.

Molly Grue is already sketched out, but I'm struggling with Schmendrick. The point of these pictures is their simplicity. Schmendrick is anything but simple. Every time I draw him, he gets more and more cluttered. Too busy.

If you've read the book/watched the movie/seen the graphic novel, then I have a very important question for you:
Could you describe Schmendrick in 5 words (or less)? Let me know in the comments or on Facebook.

I appreciate your help. You're awesome. I mean it.