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!

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!

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.

Re-reading The Hobbit

Nothing can quite capture the satisfaction that comes from exploring Middle Earth with Bilbo Baggins. I've been drawing scenes from chapters as I go. Here's what I've done so far.

Still figuring out Smaug. I'm trying to NOT illustrate these characters to look like they came out of the Peter Jackson films. These are mine, my own imaginings that come to life as I read the book. No offense to the Peter Jackson movies, they're great but too departed from the original story for me. 

So I'm working on a smug, but fierce, Smaug dragon. Tricksy, but I love doing it.