ellenmillion

(a public post!)



It's live! My long-time Secret Passion Project is now crowdfunding on Backerkit! And, because I've been slow at posting, it's not only live, but funded, and past six stretch goals!!

You can pledge now at https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/ellen-million-graphics/a-unicorn-key-oracle-and-guide-deck?ref=dreamwidth



This is a 55 card unicorn oracle deck with four guide words for each design, broken into four aspects: Act, React, Reflect, and SHINE. Each deck comes with a mini guidebook, but there's also a large Companion Guidebook with sixteen detailed layouts to use (with any card system) and color if you wish.

If you have any questions, about the project or about how Backerkit works, feel free to ask!!

Thank you! <3 <3

I can haz Kickstarter! (And we're funded!)



I can haz book!



I can go haz sleep!
(click images for links!)

I LOVE #Junicorn. I had so much fun with it last year, that I'm reprising the project. I will be doing 30 art cards in 30 days. (Not necessarily one every day, because my life doesn't work like that.)

You can see last year's roundup here: https://ellenmillion.dreamwidth.org/1538566.html

Like last year, you can purchase the original cards, and/or prints. Any single original is $15, 2 for $20, 3 for $25, or 4 for $30. I have updated the list of originals from last year that I still have, and you can get prints of any of them. All shipping, even international, is included in the price.

Signed prints are $5 each, any 8 for $20, or 30 for $40.

NEW: Get #junicorns of your choice as magnets or bookmarks. $4 each or 5/$15. (Bookmarks no longer available!)

You may include pieces completed last year in your mixes, including originals!

This time, I'd also like to extend an offer to my artist friends! If you draw a snow-unicorn as part of your #junicorn endeavors, I will send you an original #junicorn card of your choice! You do not have to send me your original if you don't want to, but I do want to be able to add your artwork to the Torn World art gallery at the site.

And here's the artwork! I'll replace phone photos with scans as I get them finished.

Claimed #junicorns: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 25




The Gathering is a 9x12 ink coloring page. The original is available and digital copies to print and color are at my Etsy shop.

I have always, always wanted to do my own tarot deck, but I knew that I couldn't do 78 polished pieces any time this decade. Or possibly next decade.

But this month, I sat down and did a few sketch cards for the 78 Tarot Kickstarter... and thought "I can do this..."

These are simple ink sketches, not too involved, though I am careful about incorporating some traditional tarot symbolism and ideas. Each one is 2.5 x 3.5 inches, archival ink on acid-free bristol art cards with rounded corners. And they are available for sponsorship!

Early Adopter Pricing - good until December 31!

(This is a soft launch - it's not a secret project at this point, but I'm not going to be pushing it until early 2015... when all the pricing will go up significantly.)

If you have a personal card you'd like to own the original for - and maybe even dictate your vision! - you may sponsor that card for $50. That nets you a copy of the final deck, AND your original card. Add to cart

A sponsorship of $40 or more will get you a random original* and a copy of the final deck Add to cart

A sponsorship of $30 or more will get you a copy of the final deck. Add to cart

A sponsorship of $10 or more will get you a random draw* - you'll get a printed copy of a card I draw from the deck for you. I will sign your card. Add to cart

A sponsorship of any level will get you a pdf of the final deck that you can print (and color?) for your own personal use. Add to cart

*Random draws will be of fully illustrated cards - if we don't make the stretch goal of illustrating the minor arcana, I won't send one of those!


Stretch goals (not set yet) will include fully-illustrated minor arcana, printed tuck boxes for the decks, a booklet of meanings, and other goodies.



00 The Fool - available! (finished)


01 The Magician - available! (finished)


02 The High Priestess - available! (finished)


03 The Empress - available! (finished)


04 The Emperor - available! (finished)


05 The Heirophant - available! (sketched)


06 The Lovers - available (finished)


07 The Chariot - available (sketched)


18 The moon - SOLD

All other major arcana and face cards available for claiming! If you claim a card before I sketch it, you may make suggestions about specific things you'd like to see on your card. (Minor arcana will be simple counting cards unless we make stretch goals...)


Please note that it may take me as much as a year to complete the Sketch Tarot project. I am sure it will go faster than that - but I like wiggle room. Check back for updates!

Coming late to the 78tarot project, I had the choice of two cards. I glanced at the meanings of each of them, and the 3 of pentacles made me smile. Briefly, the card is about projects. And I? Love projects.

More specifically, the card is about bringing a complex project to completion, about leadership, teamwork, planning, and competency. It makes suggestions about the need to rely on others when appropriate, and to take pride in the hard work that will bring results. The suit of Pentacles, sometimes alternately called the Coins, is associated with the element of earth.

Traditionally imagery for this card shows an apprentice (a laborer, in some interpretations) in a cathedral with two older men holding architectural plans, listening to him intently. The three pentacles are part of the arch above them, and the cathedral is in a stage of being finished. Alternate versions of this card show a master craftsman completing his work, usually carving into stone, or something with permanence.

As I sat down to sketch, I kept several things in mind. I didn't want to stick to merely a reimagination of the Rider Waite version, but I wanted to keep some of the sense of grandeur from the original setting, so I kept the arching composition. Rather than make the pentacles part of an arch, I turned them into lights - at first I thought the chandeliers would be crystal, then I thought they might be something organic based on the earth element, but as I sketched, I wanted to capture a little hint of steampunk, so I made big gear settings with chains.

I wanted to keep a trio of people in it, as well (because I couldn't do anything the easy way), and I wanted them to show levels of mastery - an apprentice, a laborer, and a master craftsman. It was important to me to show them assisting each other, because the card is so strongly about cooperation with others, so I had one of them holding a ladder for the other, and I showed them all working on different aspects of the project. The old woman in the foreground is handling plans and drafting tools, wearing robes that indicate status. The laborer has a box of hand tools, is dressed for physical work and is wearing practical clothing. He is clearly in the prime of his life. The young apprentice reaches high above himself, holding the delicate globe and dressed in modest garb. He wears a pouch with scrolls to show that he is learning and studying.

The vinework up the arches is intended to echo the element of earth, and the deck of cards on the table by the plans is not an accident; it is meant to represent the 78tarot project itself! The 3 of pentacles is about bringing a project into its final stages through teamwork, and leadership, and ambitious plans that couldn't come to fruition without hard work and cooperation.

This card is part of the 78 Tarot project. You can get a copy of the deck - plus awesome extras! - through our Kickstarter! Some of the limited packages are sold out, and several others are disappearing fast!

May is Sea Monster month!

But a lot of our sea monsters may not seem that ferocious... a turtle? A snail? A ring leech? Part of their monstrosity rests in their scale, and that's hard to get a sense of from numbers. So, I'm compiling a scale chart! I have, at the unveiling of this project, completed seven of the creatures, all scaled together on one easy-to-reference chart. I will be releasing the art I've done for it individually, but here's a peek at the chart so far:



It will be rearranged as (if!) more sea monsters get sponsored, to make room for as many as we need, and each sea monster will get a text label. There will also be a graphic scale. I plan to have this finished by the end of May, so new monster sponsorships end Wednesday, May 21! (You can purchase general sponsorships or get ACEO packs and existing monsters until the end of May.)


Sponsor some Sea Monsters!

Sponsor $1 (You may change the quantity in the cart to add any amount!)

All sponsors will receive a large PDF of the final scale chart. You can print it - and even color it! Per group goals, you will also receive a large PDF of the new border, which you can print and use as stationery (for personal use only).

Postcard sponsorship: For any sponsorship of $5 or more, you get a postcard print of the final scale chart. $5.00

Print sponsorship: For any sponsorship of $25 or more, a print of the finished scale chart is included, so you don't have to squint over the teeny text on the postcard! $25.00 (or select a sponsorship from below! The print is included free with any sponsorship over $25!)

ACEO sponsorship: A collection of ACEO prints of all the monsters in the final piece - no matter how many we get to! (At least 11, at last count!). This is a separate sponsorship and is not included with the other sponsorships. You may purchase it as an 'add-on' at any point in the month, or by itself (you will receive a postcard print of the final scale chart). $20.00

You may make a general sponsorship (above), or you can sponsor a specific sea monster!

Sponsorships may also be paid with EMG credits or Torn World credits. (Please note - US shipping is included. Please estimate $10 extra for sponsorships including a print or 9 x 12 artwork sent internationally.)

Your monster sponsorship nets you the original artwork, a postcard print of the finished chart, and your patronage listed at the webpage. You also receive a postcard print of the final scale chart. (For sponsorships of $25 or more, you also get a print of the final chart!)

( Monster list! )

Crowdfund some Creatures!

Here are the group goals.


$0: The above thumbnail is the base chart. If nothing else gets sponsored, you will at least get a larger image of that to use as a reference, released after each individual sea monster portrait is unveiled. A print-resolution PDF of the finished scale chart will be available for Torn World supporters only.

$25: At least eight sea monsters will be on the final chart. $25.00 / $25

$50: Every sponsorship that includes a purchase will receive a bonus (random) ACEO print of one of the monsters! At least nine sea monsters will be on the final chart. $50.00 / $50

$100: I will add a human diver for scale $100.00 / $100

$150: I will redo the borders with something less generic and more suited for the sea monsters. This border will be available for all sponsors to print out and use as stationery! $150.00 / $150

$200: I will add layers to the map program I'm working on to show current sea monster territories. You get 5 monster map layers at this level (I'll run a poll to decide which one) and there will be at least 10 sea monsters on the scale chart. $200.00 / $200

$250: I will add 5 more sea monster territories to the map layers! (For a total of 10) $205.00 / $250

$300: 5 more sea monster territories for the map, for a total of 15.

$400: I will add 10 land animal territories to the map in layers, as selected by a poll.

$500: I will make a small coloring book of every sea monster I draw for the chart available - free with all sponsorships over $50.



... I'll add more as I need them! I have no shortage of ideas!

We're just $9 from a drawing for a coloring book! $35 after that, I'll be doing another free prompting window... it was supposed to be today, but we're getting late and I have evening plans: if we hit that goal by the end of the day, I'll schedule one for next week.

We've already made the benchmark past the next print drawing! Congratulations to Minor-architect!

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

These are Friday's paintings - and I will have to check over my notes, but that may be all the abstracts I'm so far obligated for! There is still time to sponsor one until Friday, and if we meet our tip goals by Friday, there will also be another window of free prompts (all of which I will do!). I've got scans of the previous two batches to process and post shortly. :)

The weekend... was busy, if not entirely forward productive. On Friday, I got two totally unrelated comments that poked me in exactly the wrong way, and rather than being snarky, like I wanted to be, I stormed off the Internet, stomped around, and tackled all the drywall projects with the sanding block and then primer. Rargh!

We went shopping on Saturday, which was extremely frustrating. No one had what we were looking for, we made a WHOLE bunch of extraneous stops, and aside from my fabulous new winter boots (clearance! With a bonus coupon!), came home largely empty-handed after an entire day of driving around. Then, doing the texture spray on the drywall patches - we ran OUT, and I ended up driving all the way back into town to pick up some more. I also went to pick up a Guppy Gift at Sears, and they were out, so I ended up having to get a raincheck, and, after waiting around for nearly an hour (finding someone to help, two checks out to stock, someone who'd never written a raincheck before...), I decided it was not entirely worth the $5 I will be saving. In all, the day felt very wasted.

Sunday was gaming. Beforehand, I ironed all the curtains for the nursery - the ones in the bedroom have not hung out as well as I'd like. Our ironing board is teeny, so it took quite a while, but I found it somewhat soothing. While I had everything out, I ironed the curtains in the living room, too. I also painted the repaired bits in the nursery, and was very, very relieved to find that the repair job was worth doing, and blends into the existing texture quite nicely indeed. I got the light switch put back together (and why yes, I did shock myself on it on Thursday... zap!) and we moved the furniture in the hallway back where it belonged so we could get the contents of the bookshelf out of the nursery again. Gaming was far more satisfactory than shopping on Saturday (pizza! Blowing up evil minions!). I did not get everything I wanted to finished over the weekend. Today and tomorrow are fully booked, but I'll start trying to catch up on Wednesday. I was offline most of the weekend, and will be the next few days, as well.

I forgot to do a factory update on Friday, but it's more of the same - feeling great, looking huge. Strange to think there are almost four months of growing left... seriously, where is she going to fit??

Now, EMG-Zine, and some writing. Then emails, book-keeping, and... probably some other things.

Last batch for the moment, because I'm pretty pooped, but I will leave free prompting open for another hour or so! I also laid down a background on a big 16 x 20 sheet... not entirely sure what I will do with it, but I wanted to do something bigger after all these teeny things.

New brushes get a big thumbs up, new paints get a satisfactory, so far. (I haven't gotten to play with ALL the colors yet.)

Maybe a shower and a snack will give me some more energy!

Last chance for free prompts: http://www.ellenmilliongraphics.com/abstracts2.php

I'm pulling out my paints right now - free prompted abstracts are now open!

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

This is a fundraiser for EMG-Zine, which is in danger of being canceled after the June 2012 issue. Free prompts are open during today's window, and there are a variety of prizes and perks to choose from! Tips will get you your original paintings, entries in drawings for copies of our anthology, subscriptions (which come with advertising!), coloring books, larger originals and much more. Don't be shy about leaving prompts without tipping, though - some of the sponsorship options come with extra sponsorships for free prompters. Link back to this project to improve your chances of winning a free sponsorship!

You may comment here with your prompt, but I would prefer you used the form to keep me organized... it collects all kinds of information so I don't have to come back and bug you for it later (like your prize preferences, and your address, so I can send you your sponsorships and prizes!). All information is strictly confidential, and don't worry about duplicating prompts... I like tackling an idea more than once and it's fun seeing how they can vary.

Help EMG-Zine keep publishing awesome non-fiction on the art of the business of fantasy art and writing! Inspire teeny fun paintings! Spread the word!

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