Tag: illustration

The Month that was November

Jen

I have been writing, arting, businessing, and planning, and you’re going to have to take my word for it because I forgot to do the updating (and several other -ings as well).

But no, for real, did the things. I drew. I painted and collaged. I experimented with some still raw, in-the-seed ideas. I wrote and illustrated. I prepped several projects. I did a secret thing I’m not going to talk about yet.

I just didn’t mention any of it to you guys. The Communications division of me is feeling a bit exasperated with the Studio division of me. 

Oh, well, I’m telling you now. Let’s get into the update.

An Alchemy of Dragons

As you know, Chapter 6 was posted earlier this month. Read it here.

Chapter 7 is about half written so far. Here’s a glimpse into the current draft:

The first tone of the concert seemed to rise from the Bard of Perna’s fingers of its own accord, tight, hard, building tension until it broke into an arabesque of notes sparkling through the air like the sunlight itself.

He let the passage fade into silence, then repeated, and with it, the Lady of Arrak rose and began to dance. His music and her movements were relaxed and breezy. Her veils floated and subtly slipped away, exposing slender bare arms, then a hint of a colorful bodice, all grace and tender gestures

November Art Highlights

Studies for seasonal paintings.


Illustrations for Alchemy Chapter 6 were posted.


Studio Assistant Princess LunaLynx posed for a photo shoot.


“I have traveled far to share this with you,” collage postcard with asemic writing. This was a mark-making exercise, related to a workshop idea in development. It resulted in a two-sided art object and an examination of my creative process.

And I have a question for you!

Little by little, I’m organizing my online realm and figuring out how all the knobs and buttons work. The next phase is to integrate all the parts of the Jen Fries Arts Community, i.e. all you wonderful folks who subscribe or follow in the various ways. I’m going to be tweaking some features of the website and adding some more ways for us to interact, but I need to plan which skills to learn and gear to acquire next.

I would love to get some guidance from you via the form below. Let me know what you’d like me to develop for our little circle, and I’ll see what I can do about it.

Go back

Your message has been sent

Choose the features you’d enjoy as a member of the JFA Community. Select all that apply.


Thanks!

– Jen

An Alchemy of Dragons, Ch. 6, is up for reading

Jen


Previously, in An Alchemy of Dragons, Erran Fox was forced to realize that the Divines of the Grand Temple had been right, and he must do at last what he should have done at first.

It’s time to hire a bard.

As he said to Sister Kathil and Brother Godre in Ch. 5, bards follow money, money flows through cities, and the nearest city to Chesny is Lorondrias.

Lorondrias, the City of Emerald Spires, capitol of the Duchy of Lorond, commanded the Bay of Jewels from a promontory above the Reed Lands, the vast delta where the Pontyd River flowed into the ocean, and trade flowed across Bodhael and the Sea of Llyr.

Read the full chapter, illustrated, here.


I had fun with the illustrations for Ch. 6. As we travel farther abroad with Erran, we are getting to see more of the world of Aeldreth and its magic. We even get our first glimpse of Erran himself.

The view of Lorondrias in the Chapter initial is inspired by the woodcut engravings of the Nuremberg Chronicle, an illustrated encyclopedia published in 1493, establishing the general style of this part of the story’s world.

Erran’s clothes and the building ornament around the owls hint at the style of magic as well. Protection is less a matter of armor to deflect blows and bars to keep out intruders, and more about eye circles, colors, and complicated patterns to control the energies. So expect things to continue fancy as we progress.

And let me know in comments or on the Community page if you recognize the species of owls hanging out at the Golden Owl theater.

-Jen

Magical Art for Halloween – Hunter’s Moon collages and a magic fantasy flight

Jen

October is the Hunter’s Moon, and this week, it was big and bright, and lit up the broken clouds in silver and gold. I decided to celebrate with some collages.

I’ve been deep in painting for the Alchemy of Dragons illustrations, so it’s been a while since I did a collage, which has been a mainstay of my work for many years. It was interesting to compare the two processes.

Painting is straightforward. I sketch and plan. Finalize the image. Recreate or transfer the line art to the painting surface. Select the palette. Do the doing. It takes as long as it takes.

Collage takes its time, too, but it’s a wilder ride. It’s a deep dive into my mind. It’s like memory recovery hypnosis. It’s like dream analysis. Nothing is planned or designed. A vision is in my head – a thing is seen or thought – and wants to become art. In this case, it’s a real-life thing, the Moon on the 28th of October, 2023.

The actual Moon, photographed from my studio on the night in question.

But I didn’t draw a picture of it. I didn’t try to recreate the object of the Moon. I wanted to express the feelings it gave me. Complicated feelings and several of them.

I wanted to pull that Moon down to me, big and close, the way it felt when I looked up and the distance between me and it melted away. The clouds parting, and my little neighbors in their roosts, touched by its light. Taking a night walk, soaking up that cool glow amid autumn wind and flying leaves, in the season of witchery and ghosts.

I can’t sketch that out. I have to wander my way to such an image. I have to find the hooks to draw it out, piece by piece, to turn the ephemeral into the material. So I hit the collage files.

I pulled out papers, vintage clips, found materials, searching for pieces of what was brewing in the old noggin, anything that resonated in the moment. Dark blues and a rich black. Oh, look, some gold tissue paper, just like the clouds that night. A scrap of a copy of some Japanese textiles, this will give me the leaves I want. Wait – what stars are up this month? Consult the Old Farmer’s Almanac! Collect paint, ink, pencils. Cook some paste.

I pulled out so much stuff, and then began the process of combining and recombining, adjusting and problem-solving until two stories emerged. One on paper. One on canvas.

Hunter’s Moon and Cassiopeia, collage on canvas, Jen Fries
Admiring the Moon, collage on paper, Jen Fries

It took up my whole freaking workspace, much to the annoyance of Studio Assistant Princess Lunalynx, who likes to nap in the sun on the main table. Holy smokes, there was a lot of clean-up. I’m still holding out the unused materials, in case more Moon or Halloween ideas come to me – the ripples and echoes still bouncing around.

Collage will always be a vital part of my creative practice because it teaches me about myself. The process of selection and composition mirrors the way my mind works and how I construct my ideas. Chaotic. Messy. Quirky. Full of references. And of the school that says that even the most unrealistic image will be realistic if it captures the real essence of a thing – if it speaks to a person’s emotions – if it makes you feel like you were there, like you had that dream, too.

Anyway, that’s the goal.

These works will be added to the Artworks gallery and my shop very soon.

I did the Alchemy Chapter 6 illustration, too. I’ll talk more about this and its accompanying chapter initial in another blog post, but for now, thrill to the world’s first glimpse of our main protagonist, Erran Fox.

Here he is, with Squirrel Nutkin and the aura-horse Maedrephon, flying towards the sunset, in search of a bard who can charm dragons.

… flew the distance as fast as the wind itself …
pen and wash in pastels, on paper

Chapter 6 is expected to hit the website by the end of this week. Watch this site.

Our Halloween is a little pauce this year. We’ve had too many headaches and joint issues, both me and My Sainted Mother, too many distractions, and too much disappointment with our fellow humans.

But I still found some moons and some magic. Plus, I see it’s 1:30 AM as of this writing. The day is young.

Happy Halloween!

-Jen

New Art – Illustrations, a small painting, teasers in October

Jen


A round-up of what I’ve been drawing and painting lately.

New illustrations for An Alchemy of Dragons.

I decided to take pity on you all for once and split my longer chapters into two parts for easier reading on teensy-beensy little phone screens. Of course, each chapter still needs at least two illustrations, so that means more art!

Chapter 4 has been split into Chapters 4 and 5, with two new images. You can see these in the novel text, here, and get a close-up look in the Artworks Gallery, under Illustration, here.

jfries-alchemy-ch-4b-initial-10.15.23-72dpi-1

jfries-alchemy-ch-4a-dragon-10.18.23-72dpi-2


Chapter 3 is also going to get split. I need to do one new image for that. I’ll probably default to Ch. 3, Pts 1 and 2, rather than edit all the other page titles after it.

A Small Botanical Painting


Dog roses from my garden, pastel on paper.

I actually don’t work well with pastels in the traditional way, as a dry medium. I apply them wet, like watercolor paints. It gives me an interesting matte finish, like a more ethereal gouache. I intend to write about my process in the near future.

Teasers

Coming Next: The first illustration for Chapter 6 of Alchemy. Here’s a sneak peak of the sketch.



Still Inside My Head: October is the month for lunar art, don’t you think?


I’m thinking collage for this one.

Why, yes, I do take photos of the moon with a rubbish old point-and-click camera with no filters or proper settings, from my studio window in the middle of the night. Doesn’t everyone?

Figuring it out, little by little

Jen
JFries leaves banner 12.31.19

Hello, all. It’s been a while, as usual.

I have been off wandering in the weeds again, trying to figure out how to organize all the new tools and features I’ve been picking up in building my little corner of the online world. I have progress to report.

Behold!

It’s an org chart.

A Jen-style org chart – over-thought, drawn free-hand, complete with smudges and the ghosts of erasures, a big ol’ patch where I messed up in ink, and pencil notes indicating more to come. Terrible photo, I admit, due to having no scanner at the moment and the weather here being so stormy, I can’t get good light even with lamps. Oh, well, it’s a working draft, still in progress. The original is hanging over my desk now.

The point is that it’s all finally starting to make sense. Take a tour with me:

The Studio: This is where I work the magic, all by myself. This is my workspace, home base, refuge, and one-person think tank. Everything flows from here.

The Website: The official online hub for all things Jen Fries Arts. Whatever happens in the Studio ends up here eventually, and everything else revolves around this site. If you’re looking for anything to do with my work, this is the place. Over the next few days, I’ll be adding some tabs, updating some buttons, and sprucing the joint up.

Community: Free, public, via Patreon. The new social media arm of Jen Fries Arts. This the place to find frequent updates on WIPs and the Arting Life, engage in discussions, participate in challenges and prompts, and purchase digital downloads, starting this month. And we can do it all without the intrusive, passive-aggressive shenanigans of the social media platforms.

Patrons: Paid, exclusive, via Patreon. Friends of the Studio who opt to support me with a $5 monthly pledge receive exclusive content and benefits as well as my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation. Patrons will enjoy free downloads, discounts on purchases, backstage looks into my creative processes, discussion threads on art and writing, invitations to events, and more as we go along.

Newsletter: Free, private, via Email. The newsletter is being transformed into a monthly digest of Studio News and Community content for those who prefer to keep things mellow, far from the social media hurly-burly.

Buy: All the legit venues where my work is sold will be listed and linked on this site. Artrepreneur for original artworks. Patreon for digital images and files (coming soon). My email for commissions, licensing, or offline sales. And more to come, including art prints, books, and other stuff currently simmering in my head or in development.

Offline: I’m a real person living in the real world where I do real things. Watch this site for exhibitions, pop-ups, and in-person events. Check out my public, professional network. Someday, there may even be some courses and workshops.

Check out Patreon features here. Sign up for the Newsletter here. Visit my Artrepreneur shop here.

And this not all I’ve been doing.

October will see new artworks and poems.

An Alchemy of Dragons is very much alive. Chapter 4 is getting reposted in two parts for more screen-friendly reading length, with additional illustrations. Chapter 5 is written and waiting for its illustrations. Our second protagonist has arrived at last. Chapter 6 is scheduled for this month as well.

And I’ll be exploring the season with some witchy, autumnal moods. Be on the lookout for moons, dreams, and magical stuff.

Happy Autumn!

– Jen

An Alchemy of Dragons, Ch. 3, in which Erran is rudely awakened

Jen

Read it here: Ch. 3: Sharp rapping on the caravan wall…

…woke Erran in the early dawn on his second day in Chesny Wold.

His meeting with the wyvern the day before had been brief, dominated by beak and teeth, colorful head frills, huge eyes rising above him on a snake-ish neck, and shrieks like a hundred raging harpies. Finding the human amongst the leftovers of its meal, the wyvern had sought no introduction, but lunged straightaway. Erran instinctively dropped down among the deer bones, rolled under the trunk of a fallen tree, and froze behind it.

The massive head did not appear above him, and after about a minute of listening to angry thrashing and growling, Erran took a deep breath and a chance. He jumped up and shot his arrow into the bushes. The beast’s head whipped around after the sound, and Erran took off in the opposite direction, leaving the wyvern entangled in brambles.

It had been encounter enough, though, and he had spent most of that night in the caravan in the stable yard of the Old Ram, going through his books and crafting spells.

Now, summoned by the incessant knocking, he climbed from his bed, shaking papers from the blankets, and stepped out to find most of the Chesny Council with more questions and complaints.

He could at least tell them what kind of dragon it was.

“It’s a blood wyvern,” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“A what?” was the chorused response.

Things go downhill from there for Erran Fox, Ranger of the Beast Goddess.

Need to catch up with Chapters 1 and 2? Click here for the Index.

The illustrations for An Alchemy of Dragons draw on traditional Celtic patterns and Medieval illuminations. I got on a bit of a roll this month, and also added another illustration to Chapter 2, along with ornamental section separators in all the chapters, copied from 14th century French manuscripts.

New in Chapter 2, the signboard of The Old Ram.

An Alchemy of Dragons, Ch. 2, is ready for reading

Jen

Read it here: Ch. 2: Be a smart fox, Erran.

Chesny Wold was a soft land of green meadows dotted with flowers. The undulating terrain rose and dipped like waves in motion. They had landed near one of the Temple’s shrines, a water hole circled by standing stones carved with Nimrie’s symbols. All creatures might stop here as they pleased and be blessed by the place’s sacred aura. Yet no beasts grazed these pastures, as far as Erran could see.

Nearby in one direction, a line of trees marked a road, and in another, a soft sound and a fresh, earthy smell suggested a swift-running stream. Over one hill rose a faint haze of chimney smoke. On the slopes and ridge of another stood a dark mass that seemed to resist the dawn. Shadow and tension radiated into the air above it like a different kind of smoke.

“I would keep clear of that place, brother,” a voice called out.

Did you miss Chapter 1? No problem! Click here to see the Index of Chapters.

Like all the art for An Alchemy of Dragons, the illustrations for Chapter 2 are done in walnut ink and soft pastel on paper.