ElfQuest Fan Art

Aw, you did very good for your first time drawing a wolf!  My only critique there would be that the muzzle should be just a tad longer for a wolf.  Dogs generally have shorter muzzles than wolves and the short muzzle on Choplicker here makes him look vaguely husky-like.  Otherwise, very nice!

Ember is also very well drawn.  The only improvement would be to give her a little longer legs and arms.  The proportions you have are very good for a younger, pre-teen Ember but an adult elf would still have a big head compared with the torso (like you've drawn), but would have grown some legs by then!  LOL  A good guide is that the crotch should be a little lower than center when judging the height of the short elves (on a human it would be on center).

Ha ha, Maggie, wait until you see Berit's Yif in the 2013 calendar!  Yeah, not a flute but.....

@Mirror:  Thanks!  This is done in my usual medium: traditional watercolor (with a little gouache for details) on Lettramax Illustration board.  The board was a little old and made the washes a bit more grainy that usual, but I don't mind texture.  The original was something like 11 x 11 inches.

Afke, you are getting SO good!  I love that you are constantly looking for ways to push yourself as an artist.

I kind of went "huh?" about the comment of warm shading to make the picture feel warmer.  Shadows are almost always cooler than the lit parts (the "almost" being because moonlight or artificial lighting can be exceptions).  The only exception in daylight would be an object that is getting reflected light bounced back from a warm-colored ground into the shadowed areas.

This is pure awesomeness!  I love it when artists take chances and draw something challenging!

The underwater part is really effective.  The difference between above water and underwater reads perfectly even as an small thumbnail (by the way, still "reading" when tiny is one of the best ways to see if your composition works).

You may not like the upper part of the background, but I think it has a nice echo of the shapes in the underwater part.  One of the overlooked elements of composition is repeating elements to create rhythm.  You've got that going on here quite nicely!

The richness of the color here is just stunning!  Excellent use of complimentary colors.

I don't see much Leetah in this gal, instead I see Shenshen in all that curvy voluptuousness.

Thanks for all the comments.  Foxeye, the expression on Skywise in the second pic is due to the "story" I was thinking behind the scene.  I figure this would be fairly soon after Cutter lost his parents and became chief.  I thought it natural that he and Skywise would den together and take comfort in each other, since Skywise also lost Foxfur at that time.  Anyway, I figure in the first pic, Cutter is telling Skywise about the troubles of being chief, and in the second Cutter has fallen asleep and Skywise has that little "big brother" slightly patronizing smile.

Let's see which of the others I have scanned and can post - probably not too many.

The human is Khorbasi, Yun's adopted son.  I love how expressive he is.  That slightly lopsided mouth as he sleeps - just perfect.  Wonderful how free and lively the pencils are here, I hope you can get the whole thing posted.  I often have to scan my large work in two or more pieces and splice them together in PS.  Did that for the originals of "Full Circle" too.  Just get them on the scanner square or you'll never get the pieces lined up!

Hey - why aren't you doing Khorbasi for the calendar?  

This is marvelous!  The sketchy quality really lends a sense of immediacy, like the artist is living with this elf tribe and was recording a journal (like an anthropologist), saw this scene and had to jot it down.  Even your notes reenforce that feeling.  Reminds me of old fashioned illustrated travel journals, too.

Foxeye:  So am I understanding correctly that this is new elfquest art from you? O_O

Yeah, shocking isn't it?    It's been rainy here, so there have been days at the sailing center when there is nothing to do.  And it just seems natural to work on Wavedancer stuff in that setting.

After rereading the Wavedancer series, I think Stormsong might have been Spine older brother (since he had a lifemate and offspring), what do you guys think?  I dunno if he looks too mature here - younger or about the same age as Spine maybe.  He must have had dark hair too, judging from his son Tumble since Tumble's mother has brown hair.

This is really sensitively drawn, both in the expressions and in the handling of the line and shading.  The emotion is heightened by how simply it is drawn, creating focus on the character interplay, yet there is rich detail scattered here and there to add interest.

You have asked for a crit.  The male character is very well done. My only suggestion is how the female character is drawn in perspective.  It is really difficult to draw a head from 3/4 behind!  You've got her facial features down very believably, which you deserve credit for.  What is awkward is the placement of the ear.  In a profile, the ear canal (hole) will be in the center when you measure from the nose/jaw to the back of the head.  You've got it in the center here when it is supposed to be 3/4 view.  Visually, it needs to appear closer to her facial features, leaving a wider and more full view of the back of her head.  She probably needs more skull back there, too.  As to drawing an elf ear in that perspective, well, I remember doing a similar view somewhere in IABB.  I couldn't figure out how to draw an elf ear at that angle and Wendy said "there is no correct way, you just have to fake it."  LOL

You did such an excellent job on Bearclaw's face!  Hardly any female artists (likely myself included) draw Bearclaw with the kind of craggy features Wendy gives him.  He is all angles.   Having only seen you do lovely soft, feminine features I find this a bit unexpected and want to give you a big high-five.  You captured him in all his craggy glory!

You do the best trolls!  I don't know how you do it, but that troll gal is a real cutie while still being very trollish.  And her suitors are also quite handsome young trolls while not being short on warts and other embellishments.

This is by far my favorite of your drawings!

The clothes are great.  With the ink work, you've got a real tactile sense going on that these are rugged leathers, something that is practical for a forest dwelling elf (like Native American deerskins, with the fringe too).  Yet, there is enough of your characteristic ornamentation to keep it feeling "fantasy."  Nice.

Then there is the character's gesture.  Your style tends greatly towards "posed," almost dance-like gestures, but this seems more natural, as if Crow were stepping onto that rock in order to launch his crow-friend into the sky.  Maybe he wouldn't be pointing his left foot quite so balletically, but all in all, I really like the natural feel of this.

Oh, and speaking of natural, I love seeing you do short(er) hair for once!  Now this guy I can see running through the forest without having to untangle himself every few seconds!  :thumbs up:

In English, we would shout "DOG PILE!"  Don't know what it has to do with dogs, though.  LOL

Nice work.  A difficult undertaking, getting all those bodies, arms and legs to look like they inhabit a believable space with all those odd perspectives.

I so adore how "real" your elves are.  They are not some idealized paper cutouts with all sorts of attributes that require a suspension of disbelief, but rather they seem like real believable beings.  The adjective "earthy" comes to mind.

I can imagine these, or any of your elves, with skinned knees, dirty clothes and other "real" consequences of life in nature.  I mean, EQ talks about Cutter having fleas, but it is hard to picture it!  

These four look like trouble!

Joyrider, I often use a heavy, translucent, parchment-type vellum for pencil drawings.  I don't know the exact name because... gah!.. I can't find my pad at the moment because I am switching my art stuff upstairs to a different room.

I like to do scribbly sketches working out poses and composition, and it is nice to lay a piece of vellum over all that cr*p for the final drawing.  The vellum I use isn't transparent, so I am not *tracing* my originals but I get an idea of where everything is.

Plus the vellum is so durable.  When you have to erase the heck out of something again and again, the tooth still holds up.  Paper would be shreds.

Ah, yes, you can MAKE wood into sharp tips, but who would do it for a TOY sword that kids would play with.  (Yeah, okay the Go-Backs would LOL).

I like the liveliness of the gestures and expressions here.  It isn't posed but is instead like a candid photo, which is really neat.  The brushstrokes just add to the liveliness.

O my god, I think I was at this party in the '70s!  

Seriously, are you my age?  Because I remember getting a late 70s LoTR's calendar by the Brothers Hildebrandt and Aragorn looked like a member of the Bee Gees.  Your elves have a similar feel.  That is not a bad thing, BTW, just unexpected unless you are from my era.