Jennifer Melzer's Blog, page 4

Inktober Day 17: Ornament

Usually when the word ornament comes to mind, I think about decorative lawn gnomes, or shiny baubles dangling from a holiday tree, but when I started talking about what I might like to do for today’s prompt, my husband immediately said, “You need an alien dashboard ornament on a ship dashboard overlooking some distant galaxy.”

Okay… that’s… intriguing. And while this is quick and sloppy morning Inktober scribbles, I like this concept quite a bit and will probably rework it at some point to clean it up a bit.

I used a Tombow Mono 03 drawing pen, Uni ball signo gel pens, and Tombow dualbrush pens to take this little journey through the stars.

Inktober Day 16: Wild

A lot of things come to mind when I hear the world wild, most of them animals, but the one that sticks out above all others is The Green Man, and though we come to the end of his cycle in just a few short months, I always imagine him vibrant and green and teeming with promise and life. So, even as we are nearing the end of that cycle, and the green things wilt and darken, and begin to die, I chose to make his eyes the vivid green of new life.

I used an Artist’s Loft 1.0 illustration pen, Uniball Signo gold gel pen and Sakura Gelly Roll greens for the eyes. I may go back at some point and color this in, but right now I’m content with it as it is.

Inktober Day 15: Legend

There were so many things I could have done for the “Legend” prompt, and for a long time I contemplated drawing David Bowie, but then I realized probably about a billion people would also do David Bowie because let’s face it… LEGEND! Then I started thinking about the times in my life when I personally felt like a legend, and one particular repeated experience came to mind. Every time I play Dragon Age II and slip into Marian Hawke’s life in Kirkwall, I feel like a legend. I mean, I feel that way with Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and obviously Mass Effect as well, but there’s something about Marian Hawke that I connect with on a level I can’t explain.

So, Hawke is my LEGENDARY Inspiration today.

I used Tombow Mono 01 and Mono 03 drawing pens and Tombow dualbrush pens,today to do this quick ink sketch of Marian Hawke from Dragon Age II.

Inktober Day 14: Overgrown

I was so tired of summer this year, of being hot, that lately I keep thinking about winter landscapes, fresh snow drifts, dried out vegetation grown up around crashed ufos in the woods… So, when I saw today’s prompt, all I could think about was a crashed ship in the woods, buried deep in snow and dead vegetation. And the thing I love about art is that you think of what you want, then you bring it to life, and a lot of the time it’s similar to what you imagined when you first envisioned the concept, but generally it’s even better than your imagination gave you credit for.

I used Tombow Mono 01 and Mono 03 drawing pens, Tombow dualbrush pens, and Uniball Signo white gel pen to create this overgrown winter landscape UFO crash site.

Inktober Day 13: Ash

I could have done all kinds of things for the “Ash” prompt, but the first thing that popped into my brain was a cigarette. Probably because I used to smoke and cigarette ash was the bane of my existence for years. I jokingly told a friend that after I finished this, I felt like smoking for a brief second, the nostalgia of it kicking in, but in all honestly I probably wouldn’t touch a cigarette these days if it were my last day on Earth and I was waiting to get disintegrated into ash by aliens… (Aw, man, now see… that’s a cool concept…)

I used a Tombow Mono 01 drawing pen and Tombow dualbrush pens to create this cigarette and it’s icky, yucky ashes.

Inktober Day 12: Dragon

I have loved dragons as long as I can remember, some part of me convinced these majestic beasts once roamed the skies of our world, even if only in our dreams. I am still pretty sure there is a planet out there somewhere in the universe where dragons reign supreme. I’d go to that planet on vacation.

The dragon was created with a Tombow Mono 01 drawing pen, and Sakura Gelly Roll pens, and the background was created with Tombow dualbrush pens, the clouds highlighted with a white Uni ball signo gel pen.

Flashy Friday: Dropping Hope

He was tired of holding onto it, clutching it in his hand, fingers gripping so tight the bright white edges of it seeped out through the cracks between his knuckles. It wriggled softly against his palm, tickling his skin almost affectionately.

At his back, the sounds of an argument that existed long before he was even born echoed through the penthouse. Mother screaming betrayal, Father bellowing indignation, they circled around the same accusations and hurts over and over, night after night.

He tested his grip, loosening his fingers just a little and feeling the tiny scrap of hope cling desperately to his skin as if it knew what he was thinking, what he wanted to do.

If he let it go, none of the fighting would matter. If he unclenched his fingers and watched it plummet to the sidewalk thirty stories below, he knew he wouldn’t care anymore about how much his mother and father despised one another, how little his feelings–no, his existence–seemed to matter to either of them. He could watch it splatter on the pavement, the motes of its light scattering in the wind.

But in the end, he couldn’t do it. Not that night. Not the night before. Probably not the next night either. If he gave up hope, he’d have nothing left at all.

Inktober Day 11: Snow

I love owls, and not just because Harry Potter made them cool, but because this family friend we had when I was growing up was an owl-lover. She had owl knick-knacks around her house, art, sweaters, t-shirts, I swear she even had a pair of owl socks, which for an adult was a big hoot back in the 1980s. I haven’t seen that family friend in probably a good twenty-five years, or so, but you better believe the entire time I was drawing this owl, I thought of her with great fondness.

And you’d think maybe today’s prompt was owl, but it was actually snow, though I’m pretty sure the owl dominates this picture.

I used a Tombow Mono 01 drawing pen, Artist’s Loft Illustration pen 1.0, Uni ball signo gel pens, and Tombow dualbrush pens to draw this owl perched among the trees on a snowy night.

NaNoWriMo 2019: The Plot Thickens

I have no idea if this loosely plotted thing is even going to make sense once I start writing it next month, and I’m already seeing weak spots I will have to rework and delete and expand upon and throw up in the air or even in the trash, but I’m sort of enjoying figuring this out chapter by chapter. I will be really interested to see if I at least follow the basic outline I’m setting up here as I get going.

I’m up to twenty-one loosely plotted chapters in this outline, two main and four secondary characters, a haunted painting, and a town I haven’t really figured out yet, but I’m not stressing that at the moment. It’ll work itself out when it’s ready for me to know… I hope. I have twenty-one days to get this outline in tip-top shape, so it’s clear and concise and I can just start writing without fear it’ll be all over the place. At least that’s the hope anyway.

So… I posted my last screenshot when I was at fourteen chapters, and someone on Twitter told me he was pretty sure plotting your novel before November first is cheating. I don’t agree at all. I’m not using any of those words on those note cards, they will not factor into my word count, which is how you win NaNoWriMo. What are you thoughts. Is plotting the novel you want to work on before November even starts cheating, or is it just good planning?

I used to pants everything, just dive right in and start writing and hope it all came together in the end. When I look back over my finished works, I can clearly see that it wasn’t always as well-executed as it could have been, and maybe if I’d planned it might have gone better. I don’t know, it’s something new I’m trying in hopes of getting my brain back into writing. Is there anything wrong with pantsing? No! I just know my brain cannot do it anymore.

How are your NaNo plans going? Do you have any idea where you’re going to dive in on November 1, or are you just going to make a splash and start writing?

Inktober Day 10: Pattern

I’m not entirely sure how patterny this is, but they’re all pumpkins, right? RIGHT? And I tried to match the star patterns on the two pumpkins with the darker blue background, so maybe there’s a pattern. I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m having a blast trying to come up with answers to these prompts. I’ve learned so much these last ten days, and I can’t wait to see what the next three weeks to follow bring!

I used a Tombow Mono 01 drawing pen and Tombow dualbrush pens to make these probably not very patterny pumpkins!