The Lord of the Rings Small Print / November's Riso Subscription Print (Patreon)

Hello again! Popping in to let you know that the small version of the Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring print is finished and ready to ship to patrons who paid on Nov 1st! Please make sure your addresses are updated in the patreon app, they'll be sent out shortly!

This piece was so funny for me, I realized halfway through sketching it that I haven't really drawn *BOYS* like...MEN???? in prints in so long...at least not a bunch of dudes all together! I'm usually drawing women to give them more space in fantasy (outside of sexy stuff). But since this is a tribute to one of my all time favorites, they sadly couldn't all be women...although I did think about doing a gender bend. I feel like my mission is to make art that looks like 'what if Lord of the Rings was all women...and Muppets' sometimes and making a tribute piece to the source material felt great (next stop Labyrinth). 

It's 3am in Japan! I'm in so much trouble with my body right now. 

I truly loved drawing this piece, even though it was a little scary adding masculine features. like bEARDS, how do those things work anyway? Sharp chin?! Big head?! I had to be patient with myself as I was figuring out *shapes* again. 

Gimli's beard is perfect. Colors and all. I think the blue line looks especially good under that 100% yellow and 75% pink. 

Why is Boromir's hair so bouncy. 

I really liked how the Evenstar came out next to Aragorn's dark clothes. There's no Riso color there- just the paper, and it's so luminescent! 

I loved being able to rewatch the Fellowship and listen to the books with more care to detail while drawing this. I would scrub through scenes to find the right costume angle and linger, marveling at the costume design or the thoughtful performances instead of working. I must've rewatched the Fellowship 3 times through scrubbing back and forth and then just letting it play in random spots until I needed another scene's angle. 

When Lord of the Rings first came out I was NOT allowed to see it (swords and stuff was strictly not allowed in my house)...but I was able to find the Robert Inglis audiobooks at my library, which would lull me to sleep (listen for his wonderful rolling R's), and I had gotten my hands on the movie soundtrack, which I played while doing anything- so I had *felt* like I'd seen it. When I actually first saw the movie I don't remember feeling anything other than awe...and I remember thinking...I have to go download pictures of Aragorn and Arwen from the bridge scene as soon as I get home. 

I brought those pictures to school with me in a binder behind my English worksheets and used them as motivation to get through the day.

I didn't like Legolas as much as everyone else did lmao... he's ok now though, I guess I get it. 

Printing this print was mostly painless. When I first printed it the blues were extremely dark, so I just lightened them up and we were in business! doubling the line art usually does the trick to make the drawing stand out, so I lowered the opacity on the blue group layer and doubled the line layer for my final print. 

$35+ tiers for November's print package will include a little 'Deep Forest' print I made for a Giant Robot show in early November. I'll also be including the little 'I Love Riso' sticker!

December's Print Sneak Peek!

And I’ve finished the next print so I’ll share it here for you as a little sneak peek! For December’s print I’ll send out the small book dragon I made for Thought Bubble... I’m thinking of calling ‘Secret Refuge’ or maybe ‘Ancient Refuge’? And for the $35+ tier I’ll send the RAZ fest riso poster, the little what is Riso card and a tiny winter print I don't currently have a photo of but will share soon!

More soon!! xx Nat