ellenmillion | Entries tagged with projects

I snuck away for most of January to recharge my solar cells.

The family and I went to Hawaii, where we learned to hula, did a lot of swimming and jungle hiking, relaxed, read books, played games, and ate wonderful food.
I also wrote 15k words while I was on 'vacation' (at least in part to see if I could) and did no artwork (though I did take a LOT of pictures).

Then we came home, where it was 95 degrees colder, and spent three days clearing the driveway.

I am back and feeling ready to go again, and will be tackling a whole pile of exciting projects, including finishing my current not-a-book, finishing my tarot card for 78Tarot, upgrading my sites to be more mobile friendly and easier to shop at, an illustration project in non-disclosure, and a personal writing project. I've got a not-a-book coming out in just a few weeks, and another on the schedule for the month after that. I also have enough work for a new coloring book, so that's stewing away in my brain, too!

Crossposts: https://ellenmillion.livejournal.com/1637129.html

I have a three-month dragon plan!

#junicorn was so much fun that I was delighted to hear there was such a thing as #smaugust, and I am throwing my hat in. I noodled with the idea of doing colored ACEO cards like I did with the unicorns, but decided to go a different direction, and work on some more coloring/card designs, possibly even doing a little coloring book at the end of the project.

But! I have a lot on my plate over the next couple of months. A ridiculous amount, even for ME.

So, I'm going to break this into two parts. In August, I will be doing pencil sketches, 30 in 30 days. If you have a dragon YOU would like to see sketched, you can pledge at my Patreon for as little as $1 a month. Suggest a sketch - you can even provide, say, a photo of your pet that you'd like to see with a dragon, or any keyword or suggestion you'd like. For patrons, you are guaranteed a sketch. I will pull other inspiration from the August Sketch Fest (date to be set SOON), and I've got a lot of ideas of my own. SOME of those sketches will be inked as part of #inktober (in October). Patreon patrons for the month of October will get to choose sketches to sponsor into completion, whether they prompted that sketch or not. That guarantees that the sketch gets inked, and also gets the sponsor a high resolution copy of that piece to download and color. SOME of the inked dragons MAY get included in a limited edition mini coloring book. (Some will also be added as downloads through my Etsy shop.)

If you don't want to pledge at Patreon to join in the fun, you may donate $3 (or an amount of your choice) at my webpage for the same perks: http://ellenmillion.com/index.php (There is a donate button on the left.)

All patrons (either place) will also receive 50% off the original of any of the finished pieces.

See? I'm not entirely nuts. That's a totally reasonable breakdown for a project I'm really enthused about. (And I reserve the right to stop at less than 30 if life and work become too crazy, because safety valves are good to have.)

Some words written, some contracts worked on, some phone calls made, some laundry done, all the usual cleaning and feeding and housework and princess pretend games. I've got a new promotional postcard to finish up (uploading now), and new artwork to post for my coloristas, and I need to work on next week's sampler page, and a presentation to prepare for in a week.

I'm so full of creative excitement I could BURST.

Oo! I can now announce my involvement this new collection now available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997595922?tag=ellemillgra0d-20

(It's an affiliate link, in case such things give you hives...)

I have two pieces in there (Tentacle Friends and Lazy Afternoon), and also a color example on the back cover. This is a promotional book, selling at exactly the printing cost, in order to introduce colorists to a wide variety of talented independent artists. There is a huge variety of designwork - mandalas, flowers, fantasy, abstracts... something for everyone.

Cat is throwing up and Guppy is hanging on my arm talking non-stop. No more blogging for me!

You may or may not remember me wailing and beating my chest about a particularly difficult art piece several weeks back. The piece in question was the Kind of Swords:

Last year, I had the honor of joining in a group collaboration to produce a deck with 78 Tarot, and this year, I was invited back to do the King of Swords for their nautical-themed deck. This is my write-up for my card:

All of the kings in the tarot deck represent strong, adult, male figures, and the King of Swords is no exception. This fatherly monarch is usually depicted on a throne, with an upraised sword, with symbols that represent his will and judgement. Traditionally, his throne is carved with butterflies and angels. These butterflies are monarchs specifically, and act as both a symbol of metamorphosis, and a play on the word 'monarch,' while the angels appear near his ear to whisper words of wisdom to him. The butterflies are real here, to strength the air aspect of the card (a challenge in a nautical deck!), and his throne is a sea rock adorned with subtle barnacles. The wings of his crown are a nod to the angels shown some decks.

Behind him are crashing waves, chaotic and untamed. Before him, the sea is smooth and uniform, controlled by his will. Likewise, the clouds (more of the suit of sword's air element) are split by the two-edged blade of his sword, revealing serene sky behind. He brings order and direction from a place of balance and serenity. The flying fish in the foreground represent the ability to rise above emotional turmoil and make sound decisions, and the book and blue vestments remind us that the King of Swords is an intellect. The owl pin shows us a glimmer of his wisdom, and the rubies in his sword, crown, and pin are signs of self-confidence and strength.

The Kind of Swords is about order, discipline, and making decisions, and urges transformations using willpower and logic. His sword is two-edged, and while he may be kind and generous with his truth, he may also be over-forceful or judgmental, demanding order and a rigid interpretations of rules.

The deck is in crowdfunding at Kickstarter now, and got past 75% in a week: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kayti/78-tarot-nautical

But that's not all... Ellen Million Graphics is producing a companion coloring book!

This is a gorgeous coloring book; I am so pleased with the way it has come together. I should be able to order a proof next week, and it will be sent out with the Kickstarter rewards. It will be generally available in the future, but right now, the only way to get one is through the 78 Tarot Nautical Kickstarter itself: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kayti/78-tarot-nautical - and they are limited to 100 through the campaign!

It's 20 pages, and there are print and PDF options as add-ons.

The Kickstarter will (probably) be the only opportunity to get the PDF version!

The last installment of Rails is now posted. If you've been holding off on reading until it was all there for enjoyment... there it is! I will be formatting and bundling it as an ebook once I get taxes and some programming finished (and possibly an exclusive backstory...), but you can use the browsing tools at the site to go from the very beginning to the end (for now). It's decidedly set up for a followup series, and I already have a vague idea about the outline of that...

This is my first serial, and (aside from fanfiction), the first cohesive storyline that I've taken to such lengths. I'm surrounded by novel-writers and people who easily dash off a few 100,000 word stories each year, but I generally stick to stories about 1000 words, and this even (barely) beats out the Upheaval NaNoWriMo-winning novel that is still in bits and pieces on my harddrive. It solidly qualifies as a novella, and... it's done. I've been working on it for three years, and it wasn't really meant to turn into a serial - it just sort of inserted itself into a Muse Fusion-sparked stand-alone story and drug me along for the ride.

It was a challenge. I've found that the further we write into Torn World, the more convoluted it becomes... the shared world aspect of it works both to unexpectedly constrain - and to offer un-looked-for footholds for inspiration. Getting the timeline details to entwine with other ongoing stories (Tainted Wings, Lalya and Dini's romance, the City of Lights story, the arrival of the snow-unicorn riders in the South...) was not simple or straight-forward, but I feel like it added a lot of depth to the series.

Rails was also a sharp deviation from my usual fare - this isn't a light, fluffy slightly romantic fantasy where nothing really happens; this is a grittier, darker collection, with murder, blackmail, prostitution, rape, intrigue, betrayal... it wasn't always comfortable to write, and it wasn't always comfortable to share. Several scenes dipped into the spicy category, and one even ventured all the way into adult - a totally new experience for me, and one I am not convinced I will do again. It is a little unsettling posting this series and then wondering what someone who has just found me online would think about it - or think about me by reflection. That is often a consideration with artists sharing art, I know, but I'm not sure it's ever hit me quite so keenly.

I may have a daily post later, but I'm running on less sleep than usual and have much to do. I'll leave you with the artwork I did for Rails... though in truth, it came before the series was more than a few formless ideas. (You can see the WIP stages of this in the contributors forum if you are registered at the site and agree to the contributor's terms!)

(Click to see it at the Torn World site.)

If you've enjoyed the series, the artwork, or the rambles I've blogged about it, and you'd like to see more like it, I am happy to accept your tips!

(oh, hush.)

http://www.ellenmilliongraphics.com/abstracts2.php

I need a few beta testers! This page is now working correctly, as far as I can tell, but I'd like to take it for some quick test driving, please - if you wouldn't mind giving it a spin, I would greatly appreciate it! If you choose CC/paypal, you don't need to go through the final payment unless you want to (just let me know that you got to the shopping cart and it had the right thing in it), and if you'd like to test EMG credits, just let me know and I will add your credits back to your account.

Other comments - especially on the incentives and perks - are welcome!

Merci! Thank you!

Muse Fusion is open for prompting now! Go leave me prompts to tackle as soon as I've had some lunch! http://torn-world.livejournal.com/88856.html

As if that weren't enough prompty goodness, I'll give you a sneak peek at what else I'm working on: http://www.ellenmilliongraphics.com/abstracts2.php

I realized EMG-Zine was behind the power-curve fundraising-wise, and I REALLY want to paint another batch of abstracts, so that's what I came up with. The form doesn't work yet, and there are a few gaps... but this should streamline the process pretty well. The form will shoot you to an appropriate shopping cart, and if I'm SUPER clever, will even allow you to spend EMG credits on the spot. Boo-yeah. (This is the inevitable problem of being able to do clever things... I can't be satisfied with slap-dash when I can make awesome FORMS to keep me organized! With bells! And whistles!)

Anyway, that page doesn't work yet, but now you know what's up my sleeve. Comments welcome!

Lunch now, my stomach is grumbling, and I think I let the fire go out while I was off project-izing. Woops!