My first ATC's.

I've been making ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) for a swap in the HPC Group. First time I've ever made ATC's, and I'm pleased enough with them. My swap partner considers herself a Hufflepuff, but adores Severus Snape. I made her four ATC's of Hufflepuffers, and three bonus ones of the three ages of Snape that we're shown in the movies. On the back of each card is a brief bio of the character; that gives me a place to sign and date them, too. All I made were the portraits, but there were some very clever ATC's made for this swap. My swap partner seemed very pleased with what she got, though. :)

At upper left is Professor Pomona Sprout, Head of House at the time Harry was attending school. I sketched from a still photo I'd found online, in HB pencil, then in colored pencils, in a sketchbook. This was taken before I cut it out for gluing onto cardstock. All ATCs were executed the same way.

At top right (where I did NOT put the pic!!!) is a montage of four ATC's, fronts.
It shows the four Hufflepuffs, Susan Bones (age 11) Hannah Abbott (age 15) and Cedric Diggory (age 17), and includes the above pic of Sprout, finished up, and on the cardstock. The paper on the reverse side is calligraphy "parchment".

I'm having a terrible time getting photos WHERE I want them; they're not going where I put them. Will try again, in a separate post, but it will read out of order... sorry.

More sketches

Just a couple more sketches... To the right is Remus Lupin, after having changed into a werewolf, in HP, Prisoner of Azkaban. The image on the screen ended on the left side, so I shrugged my shoulders and gave up. I should have simply "invented" the necessary missing bits to make it look right. I may yet do that, but won't likely take a photo of the fix.
*
Above left (because that's how it loaded) is an older sketch of a dragon I did, maybe a couple of years or so ago. I've recently revised the "hand," since it looked too human-esque, and not draconic enough. Not completely satisfied, but less dissatisfied with it, now.

All I've done lately is sketches, and those have all been from the Harry Potter movie series. The two I did yesterday are of Ron and Draco, having just entered Hogwarts and listening to Prof. McGonagal's speech about the sorting into houses. She was interrupted by Neville's discovery of his missing toad, and Ron found that a bit amusing. Then, she named off the four houses, and when she mentioned, "Slytherin House," Draco smiled, knowing he was most likely going there. His whole family had been Slytherins for centuries!

These two sketches are done in pencil, the others (not shown) in ballpoint pen. At least I can erase mistakes with the pencil work, but it's all out there, flaws and all, with the ink, so I'm not quite as happy with them... plus they're a bit older. I want to sketch Hermione soon, too!

TO THE RIGHT is my first commissioned sculpt. It sprang off a fun piece I made and gave to a friend last summer: Dobby the House Elf's great uncle, "Flobby" (his new owner renamed him "Seebo"). Since it's a descendant of Uncle Flobby, it's Dobby's first-cousin-once-removed, "Dibbly". They're all inspired by the Harry Potter books and the movie, but the ones I make are not mentioned in those works. They are strictly from my own imagination.

He was intended as a Christmas gift, but I haven't heard yet how he was received. Anyway, he was fun to make -- hee hee... they ALL are!

The Harry Potter Christmas Swap

The person I sent the Harry Potter swap items to has received them, so now I can post a photo or two of each.
The theme was anything Harry Potter Christmas. So, I made two more tree ornaments -- since ornaments are so much fun! I scoured through all seven movies (DH2 took place after Christmas, remember?) to find images I could work with. Originally, I thought about doing one for each year, but as it was, doing only 2 ornaments was plenty of work. I went with first and last: one from HP and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry's first C'mas at Hogwarts, and the first in his life when he actually received real presents) to HP and the Deathly Hallows, part 1. That's where Harry and Hermione visited his parents' grave on C'mas Eve.





The first ornament shows Harry trying on his new Invisibility Cloak, and saying, "My body's gone!" as only his head still shows. There was an unsigned note with the gift, so I included that under Harry's head. It says, "Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it Well."

The second ornament I made was the Wreath of Christmas Roses, which Hermione conjured to lay upon the grave of James and Lily Potter, in the graveyard at Godric's Hollow. It's not a precise replica, but gives a good idea. The wreath in the movie is lovely, but rather dark in every photo I could get of it.





So, that is the extent of my holiday ornies for now. I am currently working on a House Elf, and it's a commissioned work! My first one for sculpting!!! It's just a head, like the ones I did last summer as gifts for friends, but one of those friends wants to give one as a Christmas Gift to someone she knows! Hence, the commission! :)

Group Ornament Swap, 2011

Well, this year I was in an elf-head mode, I think... These are the two ornies I made for the group ornament swap. Can't post the Harry Potter Group swap yet, as those have not yet been received, that I know of. Later, I guess....

Holiday projects

I have some new projects upcoming for the holidays... and SO many ideas for other sculpts that will have to wait until next year. The holiday projects are ornaments for the holiday swap in my sculpting group, and ornaments or other ??? for the Harry Potter Crafts group. I haven't decided yet; it's early, but I won't put it off! These things take time, and I don't want to be late mailing them out, early next month. And I want them to be GOOD. I'll post more, later.