Texture Tuesday - Charcoal Rubbings

Hello there,

Apologies for the lack of textures and posts in general. Been very busy.

But here are some textures made with charcoal!

As always, feel free to use these resources for personal or professional projects but please:

Do not claim the original resource images as your own,
Do not redistribute commercially. Basically, don't save and sell the resources as your own, but by all means do share the link to this page with others. :)
Do not use these textures as a base to create your own stock art/resources.

And, as always, please feel free to share anything you've made with these resources with me. I'd love to have a look! =)

Previous Freebie Friday posts:

Mix and Match Textiles
Pencil and Pastel Patterns
Hand Drawn Patterns
Black & White Textile Textures 4
Cross-Stitch Cloth
Holiday Inspired Paper Textures
Speckled & Stamped Paper
Animal Print Textiles
Sweater Season Textures
Subtle Fabric Textures
Paper Textures 1
Paper Textures 2
Stained Coffee Textures
Layered Lace Textile Textures
Colourful + Abstract Textile Textures
Branches, Berries and Blossoms
Blue Pattern Textile Textures
Black and White Textiles (part 3)
Black and White Textiles (part 2)
Black and White Textiles (part 1)
Coffee Stained Paper
Fanciful Florals
Fanciful Florals 2
Fanciful Florals 3 
Vintage Inspired
Green Textiles
Red Textiles
Denim Textile Textures

Have a great week!

Autumn Updates + Illustration Inspiration Blog

Hello people who wander over to this blog!

Regrettably, I haven't been posting too much new art on this blog.

The past few months have been busy for me because I've been trying to find a decent balance between art jobs, a new day job, spending time with friends + family, and enjoying a rare, sunny Vancouver summer. Finally though, (I hope!) things are settling down and I'm looking forward to a season of cool collaborations, gallery shows, and nature retreats.

I've also started a Tumblr blog a little while ago to share the work of illustrators/artists whose work I really enjoy and find inspiring. I post once a day and plan on doing so for at least a year.
If you enjoy this sort of thing, please give Illustration Exhilaration a browse! :)

Here's a little overview of some of the artists I've posted about

Also, if you'd like to keep up with my miscellaneous sketches and mini adventures - I'm on Instagram and Twitter. Below are the sort of things I post on there.

Hiking excursions

Rough sketches

I also spend time on Pinterest collecting all kinds of images that I think will make great reference materials for drawings and paintings. (Landscapes, trees, castles, light, poses, clothing, hair, etc)


Now, I'm off to go draw. Hope this September will be treating you all well!
-M

Mr. Holmes at the Canadian National Expo

Hello friends!

Today, I'm happy to share with you some neat news!

My illustration - "Mr. Holmes" will be taking part of the The Game is Afoot: Consulting Sherlock Holmes exhibit at the Canadian National Expo in Toronto Canada. The CNE will be on from August 21st to September 7th, so if you're in the area - come check it out!

Additionally, I was very humbled that my piece was chosen to be the image headlining the exhibit on the CNE website.

Below are some screenshots from their page, and a blurb about the exhibit:

"Sherlock Holmes is more popular than ever! He continues to be reinvented since he was first introduced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887. This exhibit takes a look at the evolution of Sherlock Holmes over the years and provides an opportunity for you to test your detective skills with some fun and interactive games!"

CNE Exhibits Page

The Game is Aftoot: Consulting Sherlock Homes

CNE PDF Guidebook (page 14)

And here's a quick process gif of the illustration, because - why not!

Freebie Friday - Mix and Match Textiles

Happy Friday!

It's been a while since I've uploaded a texture pack but I promise to make it up!

For starters, here's a brand new textiles pack that has black and white, floral, and abstract motifs - all in one!

As always, feel free to use these resources for personal or professional projects but please:

Do not claim the original resource images as your own,
Do not redistribute commercially. Basically, don't save and sell the resources as your own, but by all means do share the link to this page with others. :)
Do not use these textures as a base to create your own stock art/resources.

And, as always, please feel free to share anything you've made with these resources with me. I'd love to have a look! =)

Previous Freebie Friday posts:

Pencil and Pastel Patterns
Hand Drawn Patterns
Black & White Textile Textures 4
Cross-Stitch Cloth
Holiday Inspired Paper Textures
Speckled & Stamped Paper
Animal Print Textiles
Sweater Season Textures
Subtle Fabric Textures
Paper Textures 1
Paper Textures 2
Stained Coffee Textures
Layered Lace Textile Textures
Colourful + Abstract Textile Textures
Branches, Berries and Blossoms
Blue Pattern Textile Textures
Black and White Textiles (part 3)
Black and White Textiles (part 2)
Black and White Textiles (part 1)
Coffee Stained Paper
Fanciful Florals
Fanciful Florals 2
Fanciful Florals 3 
Vintage Inspired
Green Textiles
Red Textiles
Denim Textile Textures

Have a great weekend!

Ostara Tarot App

Didn’t get a chance to “officially” share this till now: Ostara Tarot Card App!

The Ostara Tarot card collective now has an app available for iPhone/iPad and Android devices thanks to The Fool's Dog! One more reason to stare at you phone - to get your tarot reading at any time!
http://www.foolsdog.com/Ostara/

And here's a little write up from the app website:

"Ostara Tarot is as fresh and wild as the verdant springtime. The creation of four artists from the Pacific Northwest, the deck is a unique and surreal interpretation of the traditional Rider-Waite cards. In Ostara Tarot, the familiar scenes take fanciful forms, and the usual suspects are played by a wondrous array of divinities, people, animals, and mythical beings. Some cards show us unearthly visions of nature, others portray realms of purest whimsy. Each artist drew one suit and some of the Major Arcana. Each creator has endowed her suit with a distinctive yet complementary art style, giving us a playful, cohesive, and innovative masterpiece."

Ostara Tarot by Molly Applejohn, Eden Cooke, Krista Gibbard, Julia Iredale, with Mariya Olshevska

Bye for now!

Meet the Artist Tag

“Meet The Artist” tag from @Sketch_Dailies topic on Twitter. A little something to show that I'm still alive and working.

I used Kyle T. Webster’s digital brushes for all the Photoshop drawing and some experimentation with the Gradient tool to do the rest.

Portrait without text

Process gif!

If you'd like to see more frequent art updates, please "like" my Facebook page, and if you'd like to see miscellaneous snippets of my daily life, then please follow me on Instagram.

Have a great Tuesday guys!

The Fox's Tower and Other Tales (Cover Art)

Hello friends!

I have some exciting news!
A few months ago, the lovely Yoon Ha Lee hired me to do the cover artwork for her eBook fairytale collection "The Fox’s Tower and Other Tales"  which has been released today!

It can be found at the following places:
– Amazon.com
– Barnes & Noble
– Google Play
– Kobo
– Smashwords

A peek at the contents can be found at the Barnes & Noble page.

The cover before text was added.

Close up of the tower

Close up of the fox

And a close up of some branches

This illustration is a media hybrid. It was mostly painted with waterproof coloured inks, watercolour, and gouache. However, the sky, wind, and a few other things were completed digitally.

Here's a fun gif of the process!

Cheers!

Freebie Friday - Pencil and Pastel Patterns

Happy Friday!

Sorry for the lack of updates. It's been a busy couple of months!
If you'd like to say random day to day sketches and photos, you can follow me on Instagram (@mariya.olshevska) or Twitter (@mariyaolshevska)

Anyhow, here is a new texture pack - hand made patterns made with white pencil crayons and chalk pastels. =)

As always, feel free to use these resources for personal or professional projects but please:

Do not claim the original resource images as your own,
Do not redistribute commercially. Basically, don't save and sell the resources as your own, but by all means do share the link to this page with others. :)
Do not use these textures as a base to create your own stock art/resources.

And, as always, please feel free to share anything you've made with these resources with me. I'd love to have a look! =)

Previous Freebie Friday posts:

Hand Drawn Patterns
Black & White Textile Textures 4
Cross-Stitch Cloth
Holiday Inspired Paper Textures
Speckled & Stamped Paper
Animal Print Textiles
Sweater Season Textures
Subtle Fabric Textures
Paper Textures 1
Paper Textures 2
Stained Coffee Textures
Layered Lace Textile Textures
Colourful + Abstract Textile Textures
Branches, Berries and Blossoms
Blue Pattern Textile Textures
Black and White Textiles (part 3)
Black and White Textiles (part 2)
Black and White Textiles (part 1)
Coffee Stained Paper
Fanciful Florals
Fanciful Florals 2
Fanciful Florals 3 
Vintage Inspired
Green Textiles
Red Textiles
Denim Textile Textures

Have a great weekend!

Justice - Industry Versus the Environment

Hello, hello!

Today I'm posting about a recent illustration I've made for a gallery show.

It was created for the Ostara Tarot: A Celebration of Tarot show which is on at The Fall Tattooing and Artist's Gallery from March 20th to April 18th. This show celebrates the launch of the new Ostara Tarot deck (which I designed for and blogged about earlier), and also includes original artworks by 22 participating artists. 

Each of the participating artists was asked to pick a Major Arcana card and to embody the essence of the card in their art piece. 

I chose Justice and drew my inspiration from my personal concern for the environment, which has as of late, particularly locally, been threatened by pipeline projects, mining spills, chemical fires, and other man made injustices.

Amidst all such avoidable disasters - where is the respect for the earth that provides us with air, water, and diverse nature to explore and enjoy? These are all finite things unless they are protected.

In the case of Justice: Industry Versus the Environment - what is the verdict? Which way do the scales tip? Which way should they tip?

I hope that all those who read this give this some thought and what part they play in the matter.


Below, is my usual illustration process break down, for those interested.

1. Compositional sketch - somewhat roughly penciling in where I wished the all the elements to go.

Sketch

2. Inking - After doing a basic outline with ink and doing some shading work with crosshatching techniques and such, I realized that I've made some silly mistakes and would need to start over. You see, I definitely went overboard with certain details, which the excess of would prove to be distracting. I'm talking about the decoration of the scales. Truly unnecessary. Also, the birds flying up from the mountainous island risked being mistaken for insects, or something else which I did not intend.

First inking attempt. When in doubt - restart.

3. Inking (Take 2) - I returned to my sketchbook and experimented with a few ideas, finally deciding to substitute the birds for some clouds.

Second inking - that's better, provided nothing else goes horribly wrong.

4. Shading - I used a number of methods to reach a desired look, including cross-hatching, stippling, and white gouache intervention.

Shading in-progress. Look- some birds have been added!

5. The Midas Touch - After finishing with the black and white shading with my pen and ink, I decided to add a touch of gold to the piece. It would both be a nice way of making the chains on the scales pop against the grey-scale scene and of making a symbolic suggestion. 

Finished piece

Some close ups. (Click to view larger)

Before framing the piece, I took a few quick shots with my phone to show the glistening of the gold.

6. Framing - and now, the illustration looks somewhat like this, but with a mat.

I hope to come back soon to the gallery and take some nice photos of my piece on the wall, as well as the works of my colleagues.

Image size: approximately 4.5 x 6.5 inches
Media: micron pens + gouache + gold coloured acrylic paint on paper for mixed media.

Thanks for reading and looking!
Prints are now available at my Society6 shop. Proceeds will be donated to environmentalist groups, like the Dogwood Initiative and the David Suzuki Foundation.