fantasy art and tree chatter of aquariann

Inspired by the butterflies I've seen outside recently, I decided to flutter back here to share my butterfly alphabet series. First up is my drawing of the Adonis Blue butterfly. A is also the first letter of my mom's name, Annette. Several products like throw pillows are now available through Fine Art America at aquariann.pixels.com . The original piece is drawn on 3.5"x2.5" Strathmore Smooth Bristol Paper with Prismacolor pencils .

My daily blogging days have melted away ... but I haven't completely given up on this haven! Thus I'm sharing my new holiday drawing that was inspired by my mom wanting a snowman image to make jewelry to sell at the Milton Holly Festival last weekend. Milton used to be known as The Land of the Holly. According to Delaware Public Media, a family in the 1930s could earn up to $500 in a season harvesting holly for about 10,000 wreaths. Now some artisans can make that in one day at the annual craft fair that happens the second Saturday of December! If you missed my Snow Angel art at the Milton Arts Guild, don't pout! Several products like fleece blankets are now available through Fine Art America at aquariann.pixels.com . The original piece is drawn on 4"x4" Strathmore Smooth Bristol Paper with Prismacolor pencils .

EDIT: Giveaway is officially over. Congratulations to Sandy Klocinski for submitting the randomly-chosen 105th entry. Please email me back within 72 hours to claim your prize. I am such a fortunate wench! Talk Like A Pirate Day, Sept. 19, marks me fifth anniversary to me soulmatey. To celebrate, I sailed into the Color Me Lucky Giveaway Hop. One of me hearties will win a magnet of the pirate and parrot pair above, based on my dad and his pet when I was first born. I'm also including a magnet of the proposing pirate I drew after Ogre and I got engaged. All my magnets are printed on semi-gloss photo paper, then turned through a Xyron 900 laminate/magnet cartridge. They measure approximately 2.25x3.5 inches. Use the Rafflecopter below to enter to win worldwide giveaway before 11:59pm EST on September 15, 2017. Then sail down the post to enter dozens more giveaways from other bloggers! (If you're one of those bloggers, I invite you to promote your giveaway on my ongoing G...

My Flower Friday hop is a late bloomer again. Ogre and I have been busy digging into our dream of opening a brick and mortar shop. Invasive species keep crawling the walls to slow us down, but we are not giving up. Sooner or later we will have a space to display comics, collectibles and art, including mine! But we need to grow more money to do so. Thus I am in the process of adding all of my drawings, such as Pink and Yellow Columbine , to Fine Art America. The print-on-demand company has planted several new products since I joined a year ago, including zippered pouches as shown above. Featured Flower Picks: Perfectly Lily • Dogwood Bloom • Rose Of Yesterday How To Plant Your Own Post for Flower Friday: The only rule to play is that you can only add one link per week! The post doesn't even have to mention flowers, but only ones that do will be eligible for being picked as a feature next week. I will be sharing my flower image on other blog hops, n...

I borrowed a sliver of Quicksilver's power and was able to finish my Fantastic Four fan art in time for Revival House's Comically Cinema event last Thursday at Milton Theatre. I hadn't worked on art bigger than ACEO size for ages, so coloring the background of 8"x8" Strathmore Smooth Bristol Paper with Prismacolor pencils was quite a feat for me. In addition to various Wordless Wednesday posts, my Fantastic Four fan art is linked at Sunday Sketches .

I have a fantastic reason for not being able to spend much time blog hopping for Flower Friday the last few weeks. Ogre and I are collaborating with Revival House for their Third Thursday event at the local theatre March 16. The theme is " Comically Cinema " and they're screening " Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman's ‘The Fantastic Four,’ " followed by a Skype session with the director. But before the documentary starts, we're having a mini-convention in the back of the Milton Theatre! Ogre will be selling comic books and auction figures. I'll be selling my fantasy art prints, and am working on a special Fantastic Four fan art piece for the occasion. This morning I inked my drawing with black Sakura Pigma Micron Pens onto Strathmore Smooth Bristol Paper . In addition to various Wordless Wednesday posts, my Fantastic Four fan art is linked at Sunday Sketches .

The Summer of Color is back and I finished the first art challenge with mere minutes to spare! This year the theme is Color By Number. Each week, Kristin of Twinkle, Twinkle will provide a generic palette of 2 of one color and 1 of another. Then the participants get to choose which shade of each color to use. Week One was two blues and a green, so I chose Deco Blue, True Blue and Spring Green. I also used White to lighten the blue hydrangea flower petals and Grass Green to darken the leaf background. Blue hydrangea drawing is colored with Prismacolor pencils onto ACEO cut Strathmore Smooth Bristol Paper . Colored pencil art is also linked at Sunday Sketches .

I was hoping I'd have a stunning snow photograph to post today, but Winter Storm Juno didn't reach southern Delaware as expected. For those that were hit, stay safe and warm! For those that weren't and are still wishing for white magic, I'm sharing my snowflake fairy drawing instead. I have one winter fairy art bookmark left in my Etsy shop, and will send a free matching magnet to the buyer that gives her a good home.

I can't keep quiet this Wordless Wednesday, because I have some exciting news to share! My friend and Jamberry consultant, Kimberly Carman, used my red gerbera daisy drawing and columbine flower drawing to design the two custom Jamberry Nails sheets above. She is now taking orders to print my first batch of nail art! Just buy a Jamberry gift card for the amount of sheets you want (don't forget to choose Art of Aquariann in the party dropdown during checkout to help me earn hostess rewards) and then enter the code into the Google Form before Christmas 2014. That way the flower sheets will bloom in mailboxes during January, just in time to combat the winter blues after the holidays. I look forward to seeing how everyone applies them, so pretty please with swirls send me photographs to share for Manicure Monday ! You can buy any of Jamberry Nails' 300+ designs at the same time as (or instead of) buying a gift card to pre-order my exclusive sheets and I'll still...

I had a love/hate relationship while coloring my lady bug art, but we finally came to a compromise. I had too much of a heavy hand while coloring the black shell and heart spots so the detail in the line art was lost. However, I think the bolder shapes will reproduce better when I shrink it for the pendants my mom wants to make. Plus, I have the original ink illustration available as a unique digital stamp on Etsy. I hope paper crafters will be enticed to buy the Art Nouveau design for Valentine's Day - I'd love to see how other creative souls would add color. Lady bug drawing is inked with black Sakura Pigma Micron Pens and colored with Prismacolor pencils onto ACEO cut Strathmore Smooth Bristol Paper . Colored pencil art is linked at Sunday Sketches .

If you haven't stopped by my blog during the last two holidays, I now host handmade shop hops where sellers can promote their listings as gift ideas to potential buyers. Valentine's Day is courting us next and I recently realized I don't have any lovely art to use for the sidebar button! So I was seduced into drawing a lady bug with hearts for spots and revisiting my adoration for Art Nouveau borders. Before coloring the sketch with Prismacolors, I plan to clean up the line art and offer it as a digital stamp on Etsy. Lady bug pencil sketch is inked with black Sakura Pigma Micron Pens onto ACEO sized Strathmore Smooth Bristol Paper . Valentine art is linked at Sunday Sketches .

While shopping for garden sculptures this spring, I found out that Ogre is a fan of frogs! So when Erin of Purple Eggplants invited me to join powers and each draw one, I giddily agreed. Granted, in took me a couple weeks to fit it into my "free" time ... but I finally sketched a steampunk frog this weekend. Frog pencil sketch is inked with black Sakura Pigma Micron Pens onto ACEO sized Strathmore Smooth Bristol Paper . Steampunk art is linked at Sunday Sketches and Inspire Me Monday .

I've been warming up to the idea of redesigning my blog for months. The spark turned into a blaze when I realized I could draw on my Kindle Fire using a capacitive stylus and the SketchBook Pro app . Which was easier daydreamt than done. Drawing on a screen is so different than paper! Believe me, the undo button and I became tight like vines around branches. It took many, many tries to get my lines not to wiggle. Not to mention all the times I accidentally drew by resting my hand on the screen! My digital tree painting is nowhere near perfect, but I am pleased (and exhausted) enough to share it. The great part about it being digital is that I can easily alter it later - I'm already planning on splitting the top trunk into a few more branches after I get some other items checked off my to-do list. Plus, the flowers are on a separate layer so I can change the tree seasonally. I've included a screenshot below, so please comment if any components are broken and include the...

March Madness makes me daydream of Alice in Wonderland, not basketball. So I finally colored my white rabbit sketch from last year! The drawing illustrates the opening scene in the book: Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?” So she was considering, in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her. There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" (when she thought it over af...

Since the first (and sadly, only) time I participated in Sketch Fest , the creative jam session has been lengthened from a 24 to a 48 hour event! I still couldn't snag even an hour to pick up my pencils at Sketch Fest #32 because I had blog posts to prepare before vacationing to Williamsburg the next day. That didn't stop me from plucking a prompt from the bountiful bouquet to draw later, though. I had such fun drawing flowers during the Summer of Color challenge that Vikki's Steampunk Rose idea instantly ensnared me. If I lived in an industrial world where roses wouldn't grow, I'd have to craft ones out of metal instead! Steampunk rose drawing is inked with black Sakura Pigma Micron Pens and colored with Prismacolor pencils (White, Deco Pink, Pink, French Grey 20%, Warm Grey 30%, Warm Grey 50% and Black) onto ACEO sized Strathmore Smooth Bristol Paper . Colored pencil steampunk art is linked at Sunday Sketches and Inspire Me Monday .

Remember Mitch, my adopted felted mushroom sculpture ? I was cheerfully chosen to give his creator, Shana of Woodland Whimsy , a gift for this year's Fantasy Artists of Etsy team's Solstice Swap . After perusing her list of likes, I picked out my purple unicorn bookmark , steampunk unicorn magnet and fairy card to send. But I heard Mitch clearing his throat and knew he had a more creative gift idea in mind. He posed prettily as I drew him playing hide and seek in a patch of orange fungi. He was about as successful at blending in as I was at following the poem rules when writing a cute limerick. There once was a mushroom named Mitch, Shaped from felt rather than stitch. He liked to hide in fungi, But his eyes shone the lie. That silly shroom didn't mind the hitch! Mushroom drawing is inked with black Sakura Pigma Micron Pens and colored with Prismacolor pencils onto ACEO sized Strathmore Smooth Bristol Paper . Colored pencil fantasy art is linked at Sunday Sket...

The Summer of Color event has blinked by brightly. The last challenge is Watermelon Ice, a red fruit flavor with black chocolate chip "seeds." I am proud to have officially completed a piece each week, six weeks in a row. That is a new record for me. Sticking with the flower series helped to motivate me. As did all of your great comments, thanks for the support. I'm considering listing my art card garden on eBay, so email me at underwater at aquariann dot com if you're interested in plucking up an original first. $50 includes the shipping and a protective sports card sleeve. This week I used a Gerbera daisy picture as a reference. Daisy art is drawn entirely with Prismacolor pencils . I used Blush Pink, Carmine Red, Scarlet Lake and Black Cherry pencils to color the flower. The background swirls are colored with White, Warm Grey 30%, Warm Grey 50% and Black pencils. Drawing is on Strathmore Bristol Vellum Paper , hand cut to approximately 3.5" by 2.5", ...

This week's Summer of Color theme is Wild 'N Reckless Sherbet, a vibrant party of green apple, blue raspberry, and fruit punch flavors. Two weeks ago Kimberly of Night Lily Design requested I draw a clematis. I happily gave in to her delicate demand when I saw this cool color scheme. I used a photograph of The President Clematis species as a reference. Its combination of deep blues and purples are so pretty - if I had a green thumb, I'd certainly try growing the vine in my back yard. For now, I'll just have to settle having one in my art card garden. Clematis flower art is drawn entirely with Prismacolor pencils . I used Bronze, Sand, Greyed Lavender, and Dahlia Purple pencils to color the stamen, and Cloud Blue, Parma Violet and Imperial Violet pencils to color the petals. The background swirls are colored with Deco Aqua, True Green, Periwinkle and Electric Blue pencils. A White pencil was used to blend together many of the colors. Drawing is on Strathmore Bris...

When life hands you lemons ... make Strawberry Lemonade Punch color schemed artwork for the Summer of Color challenge! Due to a busy schedule (especially on Saturday, as I went to a friend's birthday lunch, came home to bake caramel banana cake with homemade honey-cinnamon frosting and then whisked the dessert away to a girl's night-in party), it took me a little longer than usual to complete this week's ice cream flavor theme. I drew a daffodil, a flower known for its sunny shades of yellow. I was originally going to strictly stick to the color palette and use different shades of pink for the background. But all that brightness begged for the contrast of a dark green. Daffodil flower art is drawn entirely with Prismacolor pencils . I've used White, Canary Yellow, Sand, Goldenrod and Bronze pencils to color the petals and Deco Pink, Pink and Dark Green pencils to color the swirly background. Drawing is on Strathmore Bristol Vellum Paper , hand cut to approximately...

My art card garden is growing! The Summer of Color challenge is already half over, and I've managed to complete a piece each week. For the third theme, I found a burgundy red columbine flower to draw whose colors match the smooth vanilla, black raspberry and cashew ingredients of Baskin-Robbins' Baseball Nut flavor. I can't recall having seen columbine flowers in person, but you can bet next time I go hiking, I shall keep my eyes open. Columbines are known to grow wild in woodland and mountain areas, so the fairies must nurture them there. Columbine flower art is drawn entirely with Prismacolor pencils , from start to finish. I used Jasmine, Yellow Ochre and White pencils to blend the inside petals, and Pink Rose, Raspberry and Black Cherry pencils to blend the outside petals. Drawing is on Strathmore Bristol Vellum Paper , hand cut to approximately 3.5" by 2.5", ACEO size. I've also linked up my colored pencil art and recommend visiting the following...