Woodland Fancies: The Art of Meredith Dillman

Mermaids, cats and dryads

2011-10-06T09:43:00.001-07:00

It's about time I update, since there are three new paintings. Prints of all are now available. If you are interested in originals please inquire by email.

Morning Glory Fairy - 5x7 watercolor

This fairy was inspired by the morning glory flowers in my garden. All summer I waited for flowers to bloom. Finally the purple plants did in July, and I thought the blue flowers never would. The blue plants looked thin and stunted, and nowhere near the size of the others. One of them finally had a bloom in august, and the flower was 3 times the size of the purples and stayed out all day. Of course it needed a cat with matching blue eyes.

• Morning Glory Fairy Prints

Curiosity - 2x16 watercolor

I don't often paint mermaids because I always come up against the same problem - What are they doing? This mermaid was looking at something, probably a bubble before I found some amazing jellyfish photos and was inspired.

• Curiosity - Mermaid and Jellyfish prints

Forest Dryad Portrait - 5x8 watercolor

A beautiful face peeks out through autumn leaves and branches.

• Dryad Prints

2012 Woodland Fancies Calendar

2011-09-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

2012 Calendars are now available on my site.

Instead of going through Zazzle this year, I've had a small print run made. This allowed me to to make some nice upgrades. The entire calendar is on thick cardstock and ring bound. The date pages have a nice parchment style background rather than white and added features Moon Phases, and holidays including Fairy Day, Talk Like a Pirate Day, and birthdays of Hans Christian Anderson and 19th century fairy tale artists. Go here to see more of the inside pages.

Fantasy art tote bags set 1

2011-08-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

I posted my current stock of handmade tote bags in my Etsy shop. My next show is on the 19th, so anything that doesn’t sell before then I will remove and take to Anime World Chicago.

Each bag is sewn by me with custom canvas fabric featuring one of my illustrations, and lined in a matching cotton fabric. More designs coming in the future, little by little. Right now there are only one or two of each available (and only one actually finished)

Chai Teas - What's the difference?

2011-06-16T09:48:00.001-07:00

First of all, "chai" means tea in India. It is usually made with a blend of spices, tea and milk. "Oregan Chai" did not invent it, and is less like the original than most bagged chai teas.

I've tried a couple of ways to make my own chai tea. Spices can either be mixed and added separately or you can find a bagged tea of your preferred spice level.

Ready-made spice mixes:

These can sometimes be found in the bulk section of a grocery store or boxed at an Indian grocery. If you see something called Masala Spice or Garam Masala, don't be fooled into think it is for tea, because it has spices that are better for curries. Masala Chai or a box with tea on it is the label you should look for:

MDH T-Plus Masala
Badshah Kamal Tea Masala

Spice mixes are meant to be brewed wit the tea, not mixed into your tea cup. It's very easy to go overboard adding it to a cup. Spice can be added to a mesh tea ball or strainer with black tea leaves and steeped with the tea. The first time I bought spices, I didn't know this and put a whole teaspoon in my cup which was like drinking hot black pepper.

For something closer to what you'd find in Indian restaurant, put your tea leaves and spice in a tea ball or fillable tea bag and brew in a pot on the stove directly in a mix of water and milk (bagged tea will work just fine too, but you may need more than one). I usually use 1 cup of milk to 1 1/2 cups of water. Honey or sugar can be added as you like.

Making your own spice mix:

Using a list of the spices traditionally used, find them in a grocery store and make your own mix. Some of the spices will probably come whole and need to be ground. My favorite recipe came from a Steampunk blog and involved grinding and roasting the spices in a pan before using: Kagashi's Kitchen: Masala Chai Mix

Pre-mixed loose and bagged teas:

If you prefer a pre spiced tea, there are many available. There is a lot of variation in brands of chai tea and the recipes used at coffee shops. For a long time I wanted to make a list of the spiciest to the blandest in my opinion, so here goes.

Spiciest

• Your Local Indian restaurant's chai will probably come mixed with milk, but without any sweetener.

• Frontier Organics Chai A loose tea with fine ground spices mixed in. Needs to be strained well before drinking. Can be found at some Rainbow and Copps stores in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

• Stash Double Spice Chai Spicier than their regular Chai bags.

Spicy

• Yogi Tea Chai Yogi and Stash seemed pretty similar to me.

• Stash Chai Stash carries both, bagged and loose online. The bags can sometimes be found in locally.

• Celestial Seasonings India Spice Chai Can become very spicy if left to steep a long time or with more than one bag.

• Bigelow Chai

• Tea Source's Reena's Chai A loose tea.

Medium

• Tazo Chai Tea bags

• Adagio Masala Chai Tea

• Teavana Chai

Bland

• Starbucks Coffee - As far as I know uses Oregan Chai concentrate, which is good if you like sugary pumpkin pie flavor, without a lot of spice. This was probably the first chai I encountered, so I can't say it's horrible.

• Oregan Chai mix - This is a liquid concentrate that Starbucks and a lot of coffee shops use. It's already sweetened (a lot), so if you prefer less sugar it's probably better to brew your own another way.

• Caribou Coffee - The last time I had a Caribou Chai, I saw the sign that said "New Milder Flavor!" too late. That was the last time I drank any. They decided Minnesotans couldn't handle spice and replaced it with hot nutmeg water.

Glow Fairy

2011-05-26T12:32:00.001-07:00

This glowing moth-winged fairy watercolor was painted almost entirely at Anime Central this year. It is 4x5.5 inches in watercolor and ink.

The original painting is for sale on Etsy.

Below are some step by step photos I took while painting over 3 days.

Customer Art Survey - responses appreciated

2011-04-26T11:23:00.001-07:00

Fanciful Notions - A Victorian Sewing Fairy

2011-03-19T16:55:00.001-07:00

I imagine this fairy is having a wonderful daydream of the fancy fashions she wants to create. She wears and appropriate outfit, complete with a hat that takes the shape of a pin cushion and measuring tape ribbon, and wings made of sewing scissors and lace.

Fine art prints of Fanciful Notions are now available. Scroll down for a detail image of the painting. Many of the details are too small to see at web size unfortunately.

Home is Where My Cat Naps

2011-03-19T16:46:00.001-07:00

Truer words were never spoken, and often my cat's favorite napping spot is directly on top of what I am working on. There is nothing like cat to make you feel at home.

Fine Art prints of Home is Where My Cat Naps are now available. Head over to my zazzle shop for Tshirts, mugs and bags featuring this painting.

A photo from the work in progress stage:

The art of aceos - new and improved!

2011-02-24T13:51:00.001-08:00

I've been working on improving my ACEO cards. I have always printed them on 4x6 paper to allow me to mat them for shows. Many people at art shows I attend do not know what aceos are, or the shows require that I display prints in mats. So until now I trimmed them down for customers who requested it.

I recently learned that the cards will fit in trading card sleeves, even with a tiny border included. All new cards will be trimmed and mounted on heavy archival watercolor paper. The thickness gives card a really nice feeling.

You can still find them untrimmed and matted at any of the shows I do, or if you'd like to use a larger frame simply request "untrimmed" with your order.

Here are a few ACEO cards made from details of larger fantasy paintings that are now available. All my available ACEOs are listed here.

If you don't know what an aceo is, you can find more information at art-cards.org

"ACEO stands for "Art Cards, Editions and Originals". These cards have one main rule - they are 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches - the size of a trading card."

ACEO Art cards can be open or limited edition prints, or original paintings and drawings. The only rule is that they should be 2.5x3.5 inches in size. They will fit in tiny wallet size photo frames, trading card sleeves or collectable card binder pages. Art cards can be displayed as a group in one frame or group of small frames on a wall, kept in a wallet, used as a bookmark or traded with friends.

Chinese Zodiac - Year of the Rabbit painting

2011-02-10T14:39:00.001-08:00

This year I wanted to paint a companion piece to the previous year's Chinese Zodiac Tiger painting. The tiger painting was and ACEO, but that size can be pretty confining. This painting is 6x8 inches in watercolor, and inked with acrylic ink and a tiny paintbrush instead of a pen.

In China and Japan rabbits are associated with the moon. The moon is said to have a rabbit on it instead of the "man in the moon". I can't see it myself so I'll just take their word for it! Bunnies are definitely cuter.

The original painting is available on Etsy (detail pics at the link).

Newest fantasy rubber stamps available

2011-02-09T23:49:00.001-08:00

Sweet Pea Stamps has released quite a few new rubber stamp designs based on my work since I last wrote about it. It's been great seeing what customers create with them on stamping blogs. Everyone comes up with a unique color scheme. These two steampunk stamped cards from the blog In My Quiet Time are especially nice.

All the stamp designs available can be found here.

Illura - Fairy of the Moon and Stars

2011-02-09T23:12:00.001-08:00

Illura is based on an older painting from 2005. I had always liked the character design and colors, but felt the pose drawn was awkward. I decided to paint a new version of her last winter. I turned the former art nouveau border into a theatre stage.

Fine Art Prints of Illura are available in several sizes.

Illura painting from 2005

Crazy Kitty Time

2011-02-09T22:58:00.001-08:00

Does your cat zoom around the house at midnight chasing invisible things, leap in the air and chase her tail? It's Crazy Kitty Time, AKA The Midnight Crazies!

Perhaps the fairies are chasing them, but that's just my theory.

Fine Art Prints of Crazy Kitty Time are available in several sizes.

My cat really likes her catnip pillow,

2011-02-05T17:10:00.001-08:00

but it makes her bitey.

Cyber Monday Sale

2010-11-29T11:23:00.001-08:00

I'm having a 20% off sale on both my site http://www.meredithdillman.com and etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/meredithdillman this weekend. Just use the same coupon code for both sites: BlackFriday2010

It's an especially great deal if you've been looking at any of the larger prints of originals.

Sale goes until Midnight today.

2011 Fantasy Art Calendars from Meredith Dillman

2010-11-22T15:26:00.001-08:00

My 2011 Fantasy Art Calendar features 12 paintings of fairies, mermaid, foxes and dragons. For your convenience, it is available from three different websites this year, all with almost identical quality.

Zazzle: http://www.zazzle.com/meredith_dillman_2011_fantasy...
Use coupon code 40CLNDRS2011 for 40% off until Nov 30

Cafepress: http://www.cafepress.com/studiokyrn2.488869403
Deviantart: http://www.deviantart.com/print/15954551/

Last year's calender design also remains available as a 2011 calendar.

Zazzle: http://www.zazzle.com/the_art_of_meredith_dillman_2010...
Use coupon code 40CLNDRS2011 for 40% off until Nov 30

Cafepress: http://www.cafepress.com/studiokyrn.93767877
Deviantart: http://www.deviantart.com/print/8869107/

As well as a 12 month Birthstone calendar from Zazzle

HandmadeMN Market Nov 20

2010-11-14T16:49:00.001-08:00

I will have a booth at the HandmadeMN Market Nov 20th, on the UPSTAIRS floor.

November 20th HandmadeMN Market To Feature Largest Collection of Made-in-Minnesota Items By Local Etsy Artists

HandmadeMN; a collective of Etsy artisans and crafters, which will host its first-ever Holiday Market at the Uptown VFW in Minneapolis on November 20. Shoppers will find everything from unique statement gifts to budget-friendly stocking stuffers. The show will feature two floors of hand-crafted, locally-made items including jewelry, ceramics, paper goods, toys, clothing, photography, home décor, soaps, artwork, and accessories. A list of participating shops can be found here. You can even check in at the facebook listing for the event.

Show Details:
WHAT: HandmadeMN Market
WHEN: November 20, 2010 10am-6pm
COST: Free and Open to the Public
WHERE:
James Ballentine
VFW, 2916 Lyndale Avenue S,
Minneapolis, MN 55408.

Free parking lot located at rear entrance to VFW, on Aldrich Avenue.

Raven's Treasure

2010-11-12T11:20:00.001-08:00

Raven's Treasure
8x10 watercolor and acrylic painting

Across the sky
fly ravens black,
with treasure gold.
Such great power
to behold.

Click for prints!

Limited edition prints of Summer Sun and Blossoming Spring are now available as well.

Announcing 3 new products

2010-11-11T14:01:00.001-08:00

I'm excited to announce three new licensed products featuring my art!

• Using custom fabric, Haut Totes has designed make-up, cel phone and tote bags from 6 of my paintings. All of the bags available with my art can be seen here. Cel phone/gadget bags feature a clip to attach to a purse, strap or belt, and make up bags are backed with a strong mesh.

This week all of the cosmetics/coin purses are on sale for $9.99!

• Sweet Pea Stamps is now offering my first set of rubber stamps. A set of 4 fairies, or 4 individual stamps is available. All stamps come unmounted so they can be mounted on clear or wooden blocks temporarily (to save space) or permanently according to preference. More designs will be in the works soon!

• Masterpiece Memos has created a series of magnetic dry erase memo boards featuring my Birthstones collection. They are each 4x6, acrylic covered, magnetic on back, and come with a black dry-erase marker. Birthstone memos boards are also available in their etsy shop.

Summer Sun and Blossoming Spring

2010-09-22T11:27:00.001-07:00

I finally finished the Spring and Summer paintings. I really love how they turned out! Both paintings are 5x11 inch watercolors made with archival paints and paper. Click the links below to see the entire painting:

Summer Sun was inspired by sunsets and Fuschia flowers.
Prints are available here

Blossoming Spring was inspired by Cherry and Apple blossoms of Spring. Prints are available here

If you haven't seen the previous paintings, you can see "Fallfire" and "Queen of the Night Sky" in detail on my site. Many people have been asking me to make it into a series of of 4 seasons for years.

Finished Commission - Of Air and Sea

2010-09-09T13:00:00.001-07:00

A recently finished commission of a dragon and mermaids at the edge of an enchanted forest.

The original painting was 11x14 size watercolor.

Print of this painting are available here.

Spring and Summer works in progress

2010-09-09T12:53:00.001-07:00

I started working on two paintings to complete a series started with Queen of the Night Sky and Fallfire. I hadn't planned to make the seasons, but most people assume that Queen of the Night Sky was meant to be winter, and I've gotten a few requests. Spring is cherry blossom based and Summer will have a sun motif added to match the stars.

Below is a mock up of my planned colors. They never end up exactly the same in watercolor but it helps to know what I'm doing first.

NEW skins for laptops, phones and more

2010-07-14T09:28:00.001-07:00

I'm pleased to announce licensed skins for laptops, phones and ebook readers are now available. I have one on my own laptop and it looks amazing!

You can see all my current designs listed right here, and if your device is not listed yet custom designs can be ordered. Just look through my gallery for the image you want and then choose your device.

They are running a 10% off promotion on all my designs from from July 14th - July 31st. Just enter the code MEREDITH10 in the checkout at www.decalgirl.com to receive the discount! If you do not see a device or a design available contact their support! support@decalgirl.com or 866.841.0922.

• Ebay auction this week for 9 limited edition ACEO prints starting at .99. Some are newer and some are old, but it's a great chance to get a bunch at once.

• If you're going to be at San Diego Comic Con this weekend be sure to look for my panels in the art show!

Red panda ACEO steps

2010-07-12T16:10:00.001-07:00

1. I inked the sketch in black and then painted in most of the panda's colors. The paper is taped down around the edges with artist tape so it doesn't wrinkle. I went over the background with a light greenish yellow. Normally I'd paint the background first so this is a bit backwards.

2. Roughly filled in some darker areas between the leaves.

3. Worked more on darker leaves in the background to give an impression or a full forest behind the panda and started on the tree limb. I wanted the foreground leaves to stand out more so the area around them needs to be darker.

4. Almost finished here. The tree limb requires many layers of color and final detailed lines for 3d bark. Foreground leaves are are painted and details added for leaf veins.

And the finished painting:

The original painting is for sale on etsy.

studio shot

2010-07-06T21:38:00.001-07:00

DSC09602
Originally uploaded by uminomamori

from working on the last red panda ACEO.

New paintings - Sinovia, Tree Swallow, Foxfire, Red Panda, Celtic Ferret

2010-06-28T22:23:00.001-07:00

New Originals for sale:

"Sinovia"
8x10 inch watercolor painting of
an elegant gothic vampire sitting on a throne. I've painted her
before, but always wanted to do a better version. I think this
painting is much improved and shows her personality.
The original is for auction on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360276684274

Tree Swallow ACEO
2.5x3.5 inch watercolor painting
The original is for sale on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/listing/49664845/original-painting-aceo-tree-swallow-with

New Prints available:

- Foxfire

Emerald Dragon

Gathering Poppies

Moon Mermaid

Red Panda in the Treetops

Celtic Ferret

Current Art Show list

2010-06-15T09:22:00.001-07:00

This list contains convention art shows & auctions for which I am not in attendance and shows which I will be at in person (in bold) The dates are current despite the original date on the post.

April 2011

Anime Detour April 1-3 2011
Bloomington MN
http://www.animedetour.com/

Oddcon April 8-10 2011
Madison WI
http://www.oddcon.com/

Sakura Con April 22-24 2011
Seattle Washington
http://www.sakuracon.org/

Eerie Con April 29-May 1 2011
Niagra Falls NY
http://www.eeriecon.org/

Craftstravaganza April 30 2011
MN State Fairgrounds
http://www.craftstravaganza.com/

May

Anime Central May 20-22 2011
http://www.acen.org/

June

Convergence June 30-July 3

2011

Minneapolis MN

http://www.convergence-con.org/

July

August

Sept

Dragon Con Sept 2-5 2011
Atlanta GA
http://dragoncon.org/

An outdoor art faire

2010-06-09T22:10:00.001-07:00

I spent a lot of time reading tips on EZ up tents before finally getting one. I knew it was probably going to rain the day of the fair so I got one just in time and spent most of the week finding extra supplies for displays and weighing the tent down.

It rained the whole time but luckily the new tent held up. I need waterproofing and a bigger tarp. Unfortunately my nice canvas banner I got for conventions last year turned out to not be waterproof and now has streaks running down it. So probably something vinyl or laminated would be good.

I'm sure everything will be better when figure out what works and what doesn't for the next time and have better displays. There's not a lot I can do for displays because I'm limited to what I can carry and fit in the car.

I got the idea of using chains from a photo of someone's tent on an etsy listing. It worked really well and I will get more of them.

And a corgi. Cause they're awesome.

Poppies

2010-05-18T14:59:00.001-07:00

P1020122
Originally uploaded by uminomamori

Flower Fairies

2010-05-12T21:05:00.001-07:00

Red Poppy Fairy - For sale on Ebay
Size: 5x8
Medium: Watercolor

Fuchsia Fairy - For sale on Ebay
Size: 5x7
Medium: Watercolor

Helping with convention prep

2010-05-11T00:03:00.001-07:00

IMG_0405
Originally uploaded by K-Oni

Emerald Dragon

2010-05-03T12:24:00.001-07:00

Emerald Dragon - Original for sale on Etsy

4x7 inches
Watercolor and acrylic

still life with violets and kitty

2010-04-28T22:40:00.001-07:00

still life with violets and kitty
Originally uploaded by uminomamori

Kitty wants to nom them.

St. Paul Art Crawl this weekend

2010-04-21T23:25:00.001-07:00

I'm at the St. Paul Art Crawl this weekend - http://www.stpaulartcrawl.org/

Friday April 23, 6-10 pm
Sat April 24, noon-8 pm
Sun April 25, noon-5 pm

Location: Hamm/Everest Building studio 204 & 206

Meredith Dillman
Fantasy & Fairy Art & Illustration

Sarah Bober – SB Design
Resin & Fine Silver Jewelry
http://sbdesign.etsy.com

Kati Roberts
Pastel & Mixed Media Artwork
http://www.kavanaughgallery.com/K_Roberts.html

Becky Amble
Fused glass art and jewelry

Pasha Gravdahl
Watercolor and Photography

Adventures in Kittyland

2010-04-10T13:51:00.001-07:00

Easter Sunday I let the cat out to play at a relative's house. She started making her way out of the yard and when someone moved to grab her she ran up a pine tree (yes, I could see this coming!) Usually she gets about 4 feet up and decides to jump down or stays until I pick her off the tree.

But not this time,

The proximity of tweeting birdies was just too much! (birdies landed right out of her reach just to mock her of course)

Hi Mom! I'm checking ze tweets!

Fft, I'm NOT coming down you silly human.

Kitty smacked my head and bit my hand when I climbed up. I picked her up and put her on a lower branch and she went right back up. So I told her she couldn't come down unless she brought me a bird. I went back inside for a few minutes and when I came back out she'd managed to find her way down herself.

She's a brat, but I love her anyways. There's a reason she gets painted as the Cheshire Cat.

Alice and a Mermaid

2010-03-27T19:04:00.001-07:00

The finished Alice in Wonderland painting. I love all the details in this. It's filled with things I love like cats, fairies and tea. Prints have been posted in two sizes along with detail images.

Alice in Wonderland
7x10
Watercolor

Mermaid Braiding her Hair - Click here the eBay auction
2.5x8 inches
Watercolor

Forest of Butterflies ACEO

2010-03-10T18:18:00.001-08:00

Forest of Butterflies - for sale on Etsy
2.5x3.5 inches
Watercolor

Aice in Wonderland ACEO painting

2010-03-09T17:32:00.001-08:00

Alice - for sale on Ebay
2.5x3.5 inches
Watercolor

Faires igoogle theme

2010-02-26T22:01:00.001-08:00

Introducing a new igoogle theme featuring my art. There are 5 different images which change with the the time of day. If you have a google account you can add it by going here: Meredith Dillman Fairies theme

Book paintings now for sale

2010-02-25T12:25:00.001-08:00

11 original paintings published in my book from Walter Foster - Watercolor Made Easy: Fairies and Fantasy have been released for sale in my eBay Store.

All painting are around 8x10 inches in ink and watercolor.

Castles in the Sky
Fairy Royalty
Among the Mushrooms
Throne of Ravens
Dryad
Follow Me
Wisteria
Umi Mermaid
Fairy Friends
Poppies
Snow Maiden

Also, new mug designs available at zazzle are buy 2 or more mugs or tshirts and get 22% off with the code TWOTWENTYTWO until 3/1/10.

Alice WIP 1

2010-02-18T09:59:00.001-08:00

maneki neko sketch

2010-02-12T12:34:00.001-08:00

A sketch for a finished painting later.

Phoenix Eyes

2010-02-11T21:20:00.001-08:00

Phoenix Eyes
size: 5x7 inches
medium: ink, watercolor

This painting was inspired by the amazing Atlas moths, and a photo I saw of a gigantic example of one.

The original painting is for sale on ebay: link

I saved some work in progress photos of this painting. First is inks, second I began painting some the face, crown and moth, and thirdly the finished painting.

Chinese new year - year of the tiger ACEO art

2010-02-06T22:09:00.001-08:00

Year of the Tiger - SOLD
2.5x3.5 inches
Watercolor

Tiger Sun - ~~for sale on Ebay~~ SOLD
2.5x3.5 inches
Watercolor & Acrylic

The Collector

2010-02-05T13:40:00.001-08:00

The Collector
medium: Watercolor and Acrylic
size: 3.75 x 5 inches

This painting was accepted to the Minneapolis Institute of Art's Foot in the Door 4 exhibit and should be on display Feb 19 to June 13 2010. It's a great opportunity for art style that might never be considered for a museum show. I remember seeing the last show 10 years ago when I was a student. There were all kinds of interesting works.

Hibiscus Fairy

2010-01-24T20:14:00.001-08:00

My latest painting (actually finished the first week of Jan actually, along with another) - A brightly colored Hibiscus Fairy with a cute calico cat. I'd like to think fairies have their own miniature kitties, because I'd sure have one if I was a fairy.

Hibiscus Fairy
size: 5x7 inches
medium: ink, watercolor

The original painting is ~~for auction here.~~ SOLD

Valentines Queen of Hearts art

2010-01-21T13:44:00.001-08:00

The painting sold before I was able to post it here, but I've made her available on t-shirts, cards and more just in time for Valentines day. I personally think the tote bags are really cute.

Create personalized gifts at Zazzle.

ACEO Mermaid Dancer

2010-01-13T17:07:00.001-08:00

Mermaid Dancer ACEO
2.5×3.5 inch original watercolor

The painting ~~is for auction on ebay here.~~ SOLD

ACEO Poppy Mermaid

2010-01-13T17:03:00.001-08:00

Poppy Mermaid
2.5x3.5 inch original watercolor

The painting is ~~for auction on ebay here.~~ SOLD

Website design and new prints

2010-01-10T16:53:00.001-08:00

Website redesign is done and new prints are added:

Midnight Magic
Dancer
Athena
Autumn Tea Time 5x7 & ACEO
Red Panda 5x7 & ACEO
Slavic GirlACEO
Slavic Girl 2 5x7 & ACEO
Steampunk Doll 5x7
Interrupted ACEO
Wood Fairy ACEO
Flower Fairy ACEO
Dark Fairy ACEO
Water Element ACEO
Victorian Angel ACEO

website design is slow

2010-01-06T18:03:00.001-08:00

New prints will have to wait until my new websbite design is finished. I started before Christmas, but there was so much going on the end of the December that it hasn't been finished yet. Not mention, css is pretty confusing for a visual person.

I should be done soon, and will have a bunch of new prints to add. Meanwhile I have 4 new works in progress inked and ready to paint.

Midnight Magic

2009-12-17T19:13:00.001-08:00

This painting started as a sketch way back in 2006. The idea stayed pretty much the same, with the addition of with some better perspective knowledge. And of course, she resembles my own cat.

Midnight Magic
medium: Watercolor and acrylic

Prints will most likely be available after the new year.

Athena

2009-12-13T20:26:00.001-08:00

Athena
8x10 watercolor Dec 2009

Athena was commissioned at a convention this fall. The description was simple, with just the owl and aegis (her breastplate with medusa). I used olive trees in the background, since it said the olive tree was Athena's gift to the city of Athens.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T00:00:00.001-08:00

I'm having an After Thanksgiving Sale from Nov 27-Dec 2. All orders over $15 are 20% off. Use the coupon code NOVDISC09 when you check out, and click recalculate to apply the discount. This discount is only good on http://www.meredithdillman.com/

Site has been updated with new bookmarks and pocket mirrors.

Discounts on t-shirts, tote bags and other items are available in my zazzle shop Friday only by using the coupon code ZAZZLEFRIDAY
The Fantasy and Fairy Art of Meredith Dillman

Small Book Illustrations and new necklaces

2009-11-17T16:56:00.001-08:00

I just added a bunch of original paintings from my book to my Etsy shop. All of them are priced under $40-85 and are matted to fit standard frame sizes: Originals on Etsy

Dark Fairy
Flower Fairy
Water Elemental
Wood Fairy

Medieval Costume Fairy
Nature Costume Fairy
Modern Costume Goth Fairy

Pixie and Bluebird
Fairy Mushroom House

I also have several styles of necklaces available now. I only have a couple of each of the dog tags, so when they're gone they're gone. I most likely won't be able to make them again: View Necklaces

ACEOs, Dancer + WIP

2009-11-17T16:41:00.001-08:00

Dancer
5.5x10 inch watercolor and acrylic painting
The original is for sale here: http://www.meredithdillman.com/catalog.php?item=339

People were asking that I post more works in progress. I only saved one one scan from when I was painting it. You can see the difference between that and the ink I posted originally.

And, the ACEOs below are already sold.

Slavic Girl # 2 was commissioned

Autumn Tea Time

Dancer WIP

2009-10-06T12:31:00.001-07:00

This drawing was inspired by belly dancer costumes. I decided to try out inking the outlines with colored inks. I don't know how it will work out or if it might be useful for background elements.

3 aceo paintings

2009-09-15T21:52:00.001-07:00

These are all up for sale on Etsy:
Slavic Girl - Red Panda - Fae girl (interrupted)

Fleur d'Amour

2009-09-02T18:50:00.001-07:00

8x10 watercolor and acrylic painting
Prints available

This was inspired by an older painting from 2003, that I wanted to revisit:

Japanese Obon Festival photos

2009-08-29T11:10:00.001-07:00

Or the local fake version of the Japanese Buddhist lantern festival to honor one's ancestors that St. Paul puts on every year. The lanterns are supposed to symbolize the spirits returning to the land of the dead. It doesn't have a lot of meaning how we do it, but the lanterns are still pretty.

recent photos butterflies

2009-07-31T17:07:00.001-07:00

Taken at the butterfly house in the local Zoo. Unfortunately I'm not lucky enough to find these in real life.

a simple berry tart or galette

2009-07-12T13:00:00.001-07:00

First, I am not a baking expert. Second, I don't generally pay attention to measurements for anything other than ingredients that effect chemistry in baking. I had a package of strawberries and blueberries left over from last week, got a small bag of cherries and black raspberries from family and a container of wild mulberries I picked.

Strawberries - aprox 1/2 pint
Black Raspberries - aprox 1 cup
Bluberries - aprox 1/2 pint
Mulberries - aprox 1 cup
Cherries - around 10

First, I chopped up the strawberries and add them to the bowl with the raspberries and blueberries. Then removed the stems from the mulberries (not really important since you can still eat them) and pitted the cherries.

1/4 cup white flour
1/2 cup sugar

In order from greatest to least amount:
cinnamon
nutmeg
ginger
allspice

Next I combined these ingredients, added them to the fruit mixture and mixed well. I didn't measure the spices. I just added what I liked. I put the berries in the fridge while I make a crust.

I decided to use this recipe (1 1/4 flour, 1 stick butter/margarine, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp sugar, 4 tsp ice water) for my crust, substituting margarine for butter and added about 1 tsp Chinese almond powder.

I don't have a food processor, so I cut the butter in the old fashioned way until crumbly. Then packed the dough together, split into two pieces, flattened, wrapped up and put in the fridge for 30 min.

Rolled out each ball of dough. It doesn't matter if it's round in this case.

I covered two pie pans in aluminum foil since there is a good chance of leaking filling. Lay the crust down and scoop half of the filling into the middle and fold up the sides. Then I folded the foil over the top.

Pre-heat oven to 400-450 (again I was guessing here and turned the temp up halfway through) and bake for 15-25 min. Fold back the aluminum foil halfway through so the top will get brown but not burnt.

Yum!

Alice doodle and new charms

2009-06-29T19:33:00.001-07:00

from tegaki

-and, new cel phone charms on etsy that I drew the last couple days. I want to make a button set but I need at least two more images:
Maneki Neko
Koi fish

Saturday I decided I'd try drawing my own manga "screentones" to use digitally. That way I can save time yet still have something handmade that looks how I might ink it anyway. Filled two pages with cross hatches so far.

Victorian Vixen is finished

2009-06-21T13:37:00.001-07:00

Victorian Vixen
5x7 painting - ink, watercolor and acrylic

Limited edition prints and the original are both available.

Jade aceo

2009-06-10T20:08:00.001-07:00

Jade

size: 2.5x3.5 inches
Original for sale on etsy

I also have cel phone charms available on etsy again, with prettier straps than before :)

Jade ACEO WIP

2009-06-02T14:59:00.001-07:00

I wanted to include this in the original gemstone/birthstone set I painted, but I hated the first two attempts.

new buttons

2009-05-30T12:48:00.001-07:00

I finally listed the rest of my shiny new 2.25 inch buttons on Etsy (there are a couple more but my photos were dark and I've misplaced my camera cable).

Click here to see them all!

Victorian Fox WIP 2

2009-05-21T17:57:00.001-07:00

The image on the right was step 3. I flipped my scan and was able to trace the other side of the border. I tightened up a lot of the lines in the skirt and added the lace design to the parasol before inking and then sketched in a background. Step 4 is a digital thumbnail used to choose colors I will paint with (I don't always do this).

Victorian Fox WIP

2009-05-20T17:16:00.001-07:00

On the right is my thumbnail sketch which was only a couple inches high. I scanned it, adjusted the contrast and then printed it out the size the want to paint. I use that as reference when I draw the final drawing that will be painted. On the left is the current stage I am at. I will print this out mirrored and use it to draw the other side of the border so it ends up symmetrical.

Red Panda

2009-05-14T18:38:00.001-07:00

• Original for sale on Etsy

One small problem with ending up known as a "fairy artist" is that people keep asking me to paint more fairies, when sometimes all I really want to do is draw cute pandas. Here's the first one. There may be more.

Photo time

2009-05-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

Local fans dress up for Free Comic Book Day:

Interesting leaves:

toned Fae drawing 2

2009-04-26T20:38:00.001-07:00

Pen and ink on canson paper

The Original is for sale on Etsy

Two ink drawings

2009-04-21T18:03:00.001-07:00

Geisha drawing

Original for sale on etsy

Moon Kitsune drawing

Original for sale on etsy

Theft warning

2009-04-16T20:45:00.001-07:00

These are from an an ebay shop in China. They are not licensed and were probably taken from a book the painting was in. Since it's older, it is no longer in my galleries. I took care of having those listings deleted, but please let me know if you see them anywhere else in the future.

sketches April 16

2009-04-16T20:41:00.001-07:00

New art & updates

2009-04-02T22:40:00.001-07:00

These paintings have been finished for a while, and now I'm finally getting to posting them. I'm really proud of the dragon. The acrylic over watercolor really worked well for it. I don't think I would have been able to do the same with watercolor. Yay for progress!

Wishing on a Star
Limited Edition prints available here

Darkwings II
prints available here

Sky Dancer
prints available here

New prints added to site:
Wishing on a Star
Darkwings II
Sky Dancer
Undine
Forest Unicorn
Fairy Gossip
Other products:
Longcat and Fox magnet sets

3-26 doodles b&w and rain

2009-03-26T23:00:00.001-07:00

crows, green, blue

2009-03-21T01:57:00.001-07:00

What do a call something that's not a sketch and not what I consider a finished piece? A speed painting?

This is currently nameless a character for a story inspired by this aceo painting: The Crow Bride, which I'd like to do something with someday.

self portrait (sort of) sketch

2009-03-19T10:28:00.001-07:00

Although the point was more drawing the skirt.

Tegaki for St. Patty's day

2009-03-17T17:25:00.001-07:00

Two Vocaloid fanart sketches from this weekend:

Purple thumbnail sketch and character from "The Golden One" painting.

Kimono sketch

2009-03-16T13:19:00.001-07:00

お絵かき and Sketches

2009-03-12T20:28:00.001-07:00

I joined tegaki-e yesterday so I have a place to doodle. I'll be posting some of them once in a while. Tegaki-e is more basic than most oekaki boards and doesn't allow layers or any complicated tools, so it's difficult to make finished art.

猫

めぐりねルカ

きものを着た少女

Undine Spell

2009-02-22T13:43:00.001-08:00

Size: 5.5x10
medium: watercolor w/ acrylic

I'm proud of this one. I am figuring out new techniques and it is so much closer to the pre-raphaelite look I wish I could do most of the time. The original is not for sale at the moment because I think it's going on display in gallery.

In other news, books have been ordered and I should have them next week. I am not sure how long it's going to take me to pack them all.

Endangered children's books

2009-02-13T12:33:00.001-08:00

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act went into effect on Feb 10th. You may have noticed the lack of children's clothing, toys and books in your local thrift store. Handcrafters, and libraries are just a couple of the unintended victims of this law prompted by lead in mass-produced imported toys.

The American Library Association has been lobbying for months to exempt books with little effect. Last Friday the CPSC posted a guideline saying they would not go after anyone selling children's books printed after 1985. Commissioner Thomas Moore is on record saying pre-1985 children's library books should be sequestered (PDF) until more scientific studies on lead content are done.

While the new guideline makes me feel better about the prospects of printing books it does not for the books that inspired me to do art as a child (and still do).

Unfortunately several reports of thrift stores and used book stores tossing out or boxing up pre-1985 children's books have surfaced.

The books I have pictured as well as the 4 more Errol Le Cains I ordered Sunday night are safe because I will love and treasure them. I hope there are other book lovers that would never think of throwing out a vintage book. Unfortunately there are people who are more scared by liability than destruction of books.

If you love books please write to Congress and ask them to exempt books and libraries from the CPSIA law (H.R 4040) so that children and adults who grew up with these books can continue to enjoy them. Disregarding much of the 20th century's creative output because it was intended for children is a horrible thing.

For more information:
Posts from the ALA: www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1601
www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1713

Walter Olson:
overlawyered.com/2009/02/cpsia-and-vintage-books/
city-journal.org/2009/eon0212wo.html

Publisher's Weekly:
www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6634559.html
www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6635759.html

Contact Congress:
writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Fairy Queen and another drawing

2009-02-05T19:45:00.001-08:00

ACEO: Faery Queen
medium: watercolor and acrylic
Original for sale on Etsy

Drawing #2 Moonlit Escape
medium: ink, acrylic ink
Original for sale on Etsy

Watercolor Made Easy: Fairies & Fantasy

2009-02-05T10:23:00.001-08:00

Finally I am ready to take pre-orders of the book I spent half of 2008 illustrating. It features walkthroughs for 12 paintings as well as pages on techniques and ideas for painting fairies and backgrounds.

I'm taking pre-orders for signed copies on my website. I will also include a mini of the cover art. The release date is March 1, but I may be able to get them from the publisher earlier.

Pre-order link

Airships ACEO

2009-02-03T11:54:00.001-08:00

Sold before I had a chance to post it here. This is my first try with acrylics since 2005.

DSC06481

2009-01-31T22:14:00.001-08:00

DSC06481
Originally uploaded by uminomamori

New Drawing

2009-01-30T18:38:00.001-08:00

medium: Pen and Ink
size 5x6 inch

The original is for sale on Etsy

Painter Dulac and writer Beauclerk dressed in traditional Japanese attire, 1930s

2009-01-15T21:15:00.001-08:00

Painter Dulac and writer Beauclerk dressed in traditional Japanese attire, 1930s
Originally uploaded by Gatochy

I really have to be amused that Edmund Dulac appears to be cosplaying here :)

Watercolor help

2009-01-10T14:54:00.001-08:00

I posted a very quick and simple watercolor "tutorial" on devianart. It's not a walkthrough, just some tips on different techniques.

http://kyrn.deviantart.com/art/watercolor-basic-techniques-108662384

Updates

2009-01-07T19:05:00.001-08:00

Just did some site updating. Most of the art has been posted before but I have added some new prints or new sizes to some of the prints. It's always nice to be able to have them printed large.

New images available:
Birthstones poster print featuring all 12 illustrations
Steampunk Fairy drawing print

11x14 prints are now available of
Gears and Glass
Natural Magic
Throne of Ravens

New products on Etsy:
Various buttons and magnet sets
Cel phone charms

Also, I joined twitter.

Last painting of 2008

2008-12-31T14:47:00.001-08:00

Ring of Seasons
6x8 watercolor
Original for sale on etsy

Thank You notes featuring this design are available in my etsy shop.

Year in Review

2008-12-31T13:14:00.001-08:00

Since everyone else is doing it. I had to think for a while to come up with anything I accomplished, but maybe there actually is something there. Usually I don't feel as if I have done much.

Accomplishments

• Survived until my 30th birthday (today)

• Finished 12+ paintings for my first book from a major publisher: "Watercolour Made Easy: Fairies And Fantasy" which come out in February.

• Was a vendor at a good size craft show for the first time in years and did surprisingly well considering we had snow in May and no heating.

• Self published my webcomic in an actual professionally printed book form.

• Finished around 65 paintings total

• Reached 500 sales on Etsy.

• Completely my first digital painting since 2003.

• Learned offering commissions in Artist Alley isn't so bad. • Re-designed my website to the first original design since it's birth.

• Received an award from an art show

• Sold an original at Dragon Con

• Was featured in Art Scene International

• Fixed some bad licensing choices to the best of my ability.

• Got a bike and actually used it a bit.

• Realized my art is not good enough if I want to accomplish the illustration goals I'd originally had years ago and future projects I would like to do and determined things I would like to improve. Somewhere I got stuck being a "fairy artist" because it was easier to do things that I knew I could sell rather than work on improving things which were not immediately marketable. I have finally reached a point where I can look at something not completely beautiful and think it might actually be fun to paint.

Goals

• Be more organized.

• Draw more comics and improve them because I am horribly out of practice.

• Sketch more often just for the purpose of improving, not only when planning a painting (I've made a good start at this because I filled as many pages in a month as I did all summer).

• Work on sketching expressions, animals, kids, movement, proportions, buildings etc. Remember to sketch from a basic skeleton rather than starting with the head. Try not to center compositions.

• Paint some ideas from my long list of painting ideas

• Try to start on one of the themed illustration lists

• Complete another painting with water soluble oils.

• Try to get more illustration jobs.

• Go to Cartoonist Conspiracy meetings.

Winter comes

2008-12-08T22:37:00.001-08:00

Personally, I am not a fan of snow. I hate shoveling and scraping the car, and getting the car stuck in it. Plus I think people who go ice fishing have got to be crazy.

In other news, there is a syndication of this blog available on livejournal.

Rose Fairy

2008-12-03T19:24:00.001-08:00

Rose Fairy
3x5 watercolor
For sale on Etsy

Looking for Art Books

2008-11-25T01:03:00.000-08:00

I've been a little unhappy with some bad habits in my work and need to simply start sketching more for practice. I am jealous of people who went to animation school. So tonight I thought that I would try to find a nice animation book that would help me with movement. The only problem is that 90% of the animation/fantasy/comic drawing books at B&N are now Christopher Hart books. This is unfortunately since most of them are the same book with slightly different art (yes it irks me that they continue to publish them). I only found one actual animation book, which I think I will pick up later. I don't have any intention of animating but I think it would help with drawing.

There's really no reason I should be doing more illustration since I'm seeing children's books with the quality of art I am capable of. I just need get myself to believe I can.

So what I did find with what I was looking for was book 4 and 5 from the How to Draw Manga series Ultimate Manga Lessons. Most of the older books don't have a lot of useful information on how to apply techniques to your art rather than just copying poses in the books. There's some later books that go into detail about inking and specific techniques that are better though.

I also saw a new John Howe Book on dragons and and a Licensing book that I thought looked pretty helpful. Other than the author's idea that self publishing prints is more difficult than using a publisher (Fantasy and comic genre art is different than the market for, say Terry Redlin and Thomas Kinkaide), there's lot of information that no one tells new artists such as actual %s for different products (believe me, I was sure this was somehow secret information for a long time).

And some sketches:

These were preliminary sketches for my Christmas card design this year:

Sketches for a future painting and some critters:

Also,

- Saw Bolt (in 3d) this weekend. It was awesome. That got me interested in checking out future Disney movies The Princess and the Frog, Rupunzel (I love the concept art but how are they going to do this with the main character stuck in a tower the entire time?), and King of the Elves
- I discovered Emma - A Victorian Romance season 2 is out and Netflix has it. Yay! :)

Quarry Park in October

2008-11-20T17:13:00.000-08:00

2009 Calendar and updates

2008-11-11T19:20:00.000-08:00

I posted my 12 month 2009 Calendar at deviantart, at zazzle or cafepress. It features 14 images from the last year or so. It's was a little too late to do a print run this year but the quality from Deviantart's prints is quite nice.

My new website design is done and live now. I added a few new products while I was at it.

Site updates:
- Lotus Fairy ACEO
- Card sets featuring two Christmas images and anime fairies
- 21 new keychains. I've had these for years but haven't had them on my site before.

An Award!

2008-11-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

I received an award from Anime Weekend Atlanta, which is actually only the 2nd art show award I've had. The first one was in 2003.

A recent commission based on the story of Undine by Friedrich Heinrich Karl La Motte-Fouqué. There is a part with a storm and the waters rage through the forest.

Gears and Glass is a painting inspired by gothic lolita and steampunk fashion.

I plan on offering prints of this but have not gotten around to it yet. I've been redesigning my websites and am almost done. They are looking good but there are a few things to fix still.