Jenny Dolfen

Tears Unnumbered - finished.

"Thus ended Nirnaeth Arnoediad, as the sun went down beyond the sea. Night fell in Hithlum, and there came a great storm of wind out of the West."

Watercolour on Bockingford cold-pressed paper, 18x29 cm. Just under A4 format. I'm mad. =O

You can get it as a print in my Etsy shop! 2019-02-13 18:54:23 +0000 UTC View Post

Maedhros and Maglor finished

Mostly, at least. This went very smoothly after the most recent chance of paper. Bockingford handles very nicely; I'd forgotten that. 

The detail on Maglor's armour is ridiculously small (I can cover up almost the entirely of him with just a finger). I stumbled upon some new brushes last week that have already prov...

Noooow we're talking.

Now this is coming along nicely. I've always wanted to do a colour scheme like this. Although the washi tape on the borders, pretty as it is, is confusing as hell, colour-wise.

Incidentally, it's weird how much I sometimes detach myself from what I'm painting, while I'm painting. I suppose it's impossi...

I suppose I'm an influencer now, hee

I was sent this beautiful and fully customised handmade watercolour set by Katie from KwartsCreations to review. She asked me what sorts of colours I liked, and I told her to go bonkers with transparent earth tones, so she did! 

I just had JUST the idea of what I'd do with them. I already felt the Prussian Blue was...

All right, feel free to mock me now...

... but I'm off to another paper rant. As you can see, I started this one anew, after the last version clogged up beyond recognition with three or more layers. I'd been determined to just follow through with it, but then the lines started fraying out, making detail work impossible, which was the final straw, sadly. I wonder i...

If it looks good when it's wet, it's wrong

Watercolour wisdom, which I tend to overlook at times: If it looks good when it's wet, it's wrong. 

That's a tragedy in watercolour, interestingly. One of the reasons why I love the medium so much is that while I'm painting, these amazing things happen on the paper. The pigments float around, only partly c...

The Grey Phase is apparently over.

As is the Pale Phase. Not sure if I can pull this off yet, but it's exactly how I saw the colours in my mind's eye, and I'm glad I pulled them off on paper. I even made colour sketches for this, as it's such an unusual combination for me. 

Tears Unnumbered - lineart and How to Steal like a Fantasy Artist

Sketching and finishing this went far quicker than any of my last pieces. This felt a bit like a compulsion. 

Here's a closeup of the bottom half (a lot of this piece is going to be sky). 

With this one, I felt ...

Someone give Maglor a hug.

He looks as if he wouldn't resist. Not sure about Maedhros. 

Tears unnumbered, lineart wip

And wouldn't you know? 8 to 15 February has "Tears" as its Month of Love art challenge prompt. How very apt. It looks as if I'll be joining. I think I did "Polaris" for Month of Love two years ago. 

There are loads of fanart images of the aftermath of Nirnaeth Arnoediad, with Maedhros holding a dead Fingon in his a...

The pic I hinted at...

"Thus ended the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, as the sun went down beyond the sea. Night fell in Hithlum, and there came a great storm of wind out of the West."

I'm sorry to be doing this to you. No. I'm not sorry. 

Welcome to new Patron, Ann! 

Betrayal, finished

Still looks sort of unfinished, but it's a look that I've been wanting to pursue for a while... and now I see it's not what I want to pursue for long. Well. It's good to be trying around! And I do love the greys here. Funnily, what I love most is the tendrils of paint on the upper left! 

And Maedhros, I apologise f...

Maedhros finished

... and Fingon getting there. I'll finish today! ^^

Drawing the colour schemes together

This took a couple of attempts, but it's now coming along nicely! Hope to do some more work tomorrow or Friday. Until then, I think I'm falling prey to a cold. >_< 

Maedhros in grey

I love Maedhros all in silvery grey. It makes so much sense. 

This is a new tiny brush I have for detail work - it's normally used in oils and acrylics, but works exceptionally well for tiny detailed spots. As I can't (and never could) see in 3D, it's pretty hard for me to know where exactly a brush tip is going to...

More sketchbook madness!

So yes, I've decided that I want Elves in my sketchbook, not phone boxes. XD I spent nearly all day at school yesterday, so I couldn't work on "Betrayal", but I went mad with my sketchbook, mini palette and water brush! 

Don't really like Fingon here, but the little Maglor sketch turned out fine. 

2019-02-06 07:47:11 +0000 UTC View Post

Starting to paint + Angband sketches

The general colour scheme is in place; now for the fun parts. :) 

Probably not before Wednesday though - conferences all day tomorrow... But I'll take my sketchbook! I've started doing quick Silmarillion watercolour sketches - something that I haven't done in about ten years. It was either quick and pencil, or wate...

Betrayal - lineart

“So Fëanor has sealed his betrayal with fire. He will not return and has abandoned us here, as we all secretly feared he would. And Maitimo – where do you stand now? Did you bow to his will, do you stand by him, as you did when he broke the peace, as you did when he swore that terrible oath? Have Morgo...

"Betrayal" underway, with a lot of eraser dust.

I usually remember to clear that away before I take a photo, oops ;)

Maedhros  😍 

Quick snowmelty landscape...

...before I sit down with fire and ice today! 

This is actually what I see twenty minutes out from my school. There are fields, a forest, and a little lake just in a free period's walking distance, which I take a LOT of advantage of. Much more relaxing in between Year 8 and Year 9 than sitting in the stuffy staffro...

Little phone booth sketch

"What," you say, "a phone booth? You owe us burning ships and Renaissancy Elves!" 

Yes, I'm sorry. I'd just finished my beautiful Betrayal sketch and was about to print the sketch on Monday night, when my old printer finally gave up the ghost for good. Just when I had two days left of my two-week sick leave, and wa...

Betrayal - digital sketch

Did I mention how much I love my manikin?? Even mass scenes are suddenly so relatively easy to do, especially with views slightly from below or above, which aren't as easy for me without models or ref. Now I have it all just sitting at my desk! 

I probably will end up having to move the two sides further apart (edi...

Technique tests

I tried a few things today - firstly, an idea I had recently, to paint waves by "masking off" the white foam with a white candle. I'm not 100% sure how archival birthday candle is, but it's definitely a start. 

For another piece - first proposed by Lintie a while back, of Fingon and Maedhros standing at opposite sh...

Original, and prints!

Sorry for spamming you so much today! I have one week left of my sick leave and hope to make it count before getting buried under less blissful work again until late February.  

The original is in my shop now! It's covered by your 2019-01-24 21:10:21 +0000 UTC View Post

Alone against the world

"And they disguised themselves, and came in the night to the camp of Eönwë, and crept into the place where the Silmarils were guarded; and they slew the guards, and laid hands on the jewels. Then all the camp was raised against them, and they prepared to die, defending themselves until the last."

Watercolour (Payne's ...

Going for monochromatic...

... or duochromatic, apparently. It really works well for this piece. 

And you're going to shake your head now, but I have a new favourite paper. Really. Hahnemühle Expression. I wish I'd found this one after I'd bought six pads of the last one though. XD

2019-01-24 14:35:40 +0000 UTC View Post

Trying something new here

I've been thinking about how to preserve the immediacy and chaos of the scene, and this is promising to be a good choice! 

And they prepared to die - lineart

You'll note that I changed Maedhros' pose considerably (many thanks again to my dummy for helping me visualise new, balanced, poses on the spot). It's partly because of a problem I have often encountered in my Silmarillion illustrations. By their nature, the Silmaril have to dominate every piece they're shown in. You can't th...

Giveaway winners!

I got delayed slightly by what you see above - kept fiddling with Maedhros' hair and forgot the time, woops. 

Here's the winners of the giveaway! Thanks to everyone who joined, or liked and shared on social media - and especially to all those of you who hit the "become a Patron" button! <3 

Congratula...

And they prepared to die...

... defending themselves to the last. 

This was by far the most suggested scene when I asked for "iconic Maedhros", so yes, I'm heartbroken to do such a horrible scene. I plan to do something with "Union of Maedhros" soon so he gets a moment of strength (if ill-fated). 

There's a fantastic version of thi...