An Overdue Hello + Doll Project News

Well, again I have let my blog fall by the wayside...

Seeing as I am mostly caught up with things after the holidays, I will be opening commissions back up! For those of you who are already on the waitlist, I've begun sketching! For anyone interested in a custom work, please feel free to check out my commission page HERE!

On top of the usual ACEOs I've been making, I've also been working on repainting some dolls..though it is going very slowly! I did manage to complete one, a fox girl, but there are a few things about her that need to be fixed, so I am hesitant to post any pictures (but I will anyway). For one thing, I rerooted her hair, and I gave her too much! So, her head is always pulled back at a strange angle that looks quite uncomfortable.


oww, my neck!

For another thing, when I went to reattach her head to her body, the sealant I used on her face CRACKED and now she has little spiderwebs on her face :(


you're batting a thousand, Em

Also, she does not have a name yet, so I can't properly show her off until I address all these issues! But, her dress and shoes are super foxy! This is only my third repainted doll ever, and I am still very much learning tricks and such, but it is so much fun! I love that I can draw/paint, play with fibers, get some sewing in, maybe some sculpting...and in the end I have a cohesive work of art! Even though they take forever, and there is a whole bunch of trial and error involved, I truly love it! I'm also working on a sweet little clown doll, but she is in such early stages that photos would just frighten people!

I really *am* going to try a lot harder to update this blog regularly (trying for once a week, lol) this year. Even if I don't have anything finished, or anything truly exciting to share, I am pretty good at rambling about nothing, so I have no excuse other than laziness! (and that's just so lame)

ok, I'm off to watch some South Park before bed :D :D

xo!
Em
zombietoes.com
eBay
Zazzle shop

Sleeping Dragons, Orange Dragons, Feathered Dragons....an art post

Oh, it's art day! :D I have a handful this round, so let's get this started...
The latest illustration is rather whimsical; a doodle turned full blown illustration. Sleeping dragons under smokey dreams, turning to clouds, growing strange plants...

"Zees, Keys, and Bees" is an original mixed media illustration- inks, pencils, and acrylic paint on bristol. It measures 8.5" x 11", signed and titled on the back. "Zees, Keys, and Bees" is currently up for auction on eBay- please click the photo or the link below it to view the auction, more details and pictures, and perhaps even place a bid:


"Zees, Keys, and Bees" Original Dragon Illustration Keeping on the dragon theme, there are also two original ACEO illustrations of dragons up on eBay, along with others! You can see them all HERE and below are some photos:


"Tetra" cartoon dragon ACEO illustration


"Friends with Feathers" dragon ACEO illustration


"Night Birds" fantasy ACEO illustration

One more art- the ACEO prints of "Trees and Clouds" has been released- there is one up for auction on eBay (see the link below the photo):


"Trees and Clouds" fantasy 2 sided ACEO print

In other news, I am currently reworking the art gallery on my website, as well as adding a few new items to the web shop! There will be spring cleaning happening over the next few weeks, so I'm sure I will be auctioning off a bunch of older original illustrations and painting on eBay.
Fair warning- I may be slacking on the comic in the next few weeks, due to above mentioned activities...but we shall see :)

xo!
Em
zombietoes.com
Zazzle shop

Five Weasel

Heheheheheheheheheh I love this one.

xo!
Em
zombietoes.com

Red Dreams

I have some weird, weird dreams.

I *also* have some art up for auction on eBay: Art on eBay!
;)

xo!
Em
(and the website, of course): zombietoes.com

An Artist Q&A

(This is not a comic post, this is a "ramble" post)

It's been so long since I've *written* a blog post, I am not sure how to appropriately begin...so I'll just start talking.
About a week and a half ago, I received correspondence from Patience Brewster...Patience is an amazingly imaginative, well known illustrator. I first discovered her work about 10 years ago, when I acquired a little day planner with some of her fantasy art as a design motif. Immediately, I fell in love with her work. It's fantasy art, but...there is something so distinctly original and hilarious about her pictures. Something extra special for a weirdo to appreciate.

In essence, Patience has asked me to participate in sharing some stuff about my artist self. This is fitting, as whatever I do tend to share is not so much about my artist self, just all my other selves. So, here are five questions that I have been given to ponder on and answer:

1) As a child, do you recall a significant moment when you felt truly affected or inspired by any particular artwork or artist?
Well, does an obsession with Popeye count? I've always loved cartoons. In my early childhood I also recall a strong fondness for "In a Dark Dark Room" (I believe this particular version was a Scholastic publication, with very intense illustrations) and Stephen Gammell's wicked scary pictures in the Scary Stories books by Alvin Schwartz. Quentin Blake's work in the Roald Dahl books (ALL OF THEM!) Oh! And the art by Rien Poortvliet in the Gnomes book (written by Wil Huygen). Those are the ones that stand out most.

2) As an artist, what do you hope to convey with your work?
Humor. Silliness. Play. Laughing is my favorite thing in all the world, I love doing it, I love other people doing it, I love hearing it, I love causing it. Perhaps I subconsciously try to portray some sort of personal diagram of self acceptance. Life is not all good and sparkly, it can be ugly and pain-filled at times, or it can be any gray area of dangerous/fun/boring/delightful, etc...but man, there's always ALWAYS something to laugh at.

3) What memorable responses have you had to your work?

This was the most difficult of the five questions for me. Every response is a memorable one, honestly, as I don't get tons and tons. I take every sale as a compliment! Actually, here's a list of things that I consider to be huge compliments and/or great big hugs (in no particular order):
Tattoos of my work
commission requests
Repeat sales/ repeat customers
Word of mouth

Of course, I have encountered a low to moderate amount of negative feedback. Honestly, I take most of it as an issue of taste. We all have different cone and rod set ups for our eyeballs, we all have assorted life experiences which sway us in certain ways, we are all doing our own different life-things-and-stuff. I don't take a lot of it personally. I don't take it personally if someone doesn't like waffles, or roses, or rose-flavored waffles. To each their own!

4) What is your dream project?
There are so many. To generalize a bit, I'd love to work REALLY big. Mural big. Billboard big. BIG! A coloring book (somewhat in the works). Illustrating a book, or a board game (does this make me sound obsolete?)

5) What artists, of any medium, do you admire?
Jim Henson and Dr. Seuss - they make me laugh
Edward Gorey and Aubrey Beardsley - I love etchings and black and white line work. They are both bizarre and hilarious as well.
Bill Watterson. Gary Larson. Bill Amend.
Frances Hodgson Burnett. She wrote The Secret Garden. What I admire about her is her sheer love for writing- she was so poor at one time that she could not afford paper to write on, so she saved and used every old scrap- the backs of envelopes, inside of book covers, anything. That is perseverance. That is admirable.
Pretty much anyone that can play an instrument.

I want to take a moment to thank Patience Brewster for encouraging my participation in this Q&A. Imagine an artist that adores Christmas as much (or probably MORE) than I dislike Christmas...That is Patience! She has brought so many of her whimsical illustrations to life as Christmas ornaments, so please take a moment to check those out at this link, perhaps get a big head start on the holiday shopping:
https://www.patiencebrewster.com/ornaments
Of course, Patience has her own Artist Q&A blog post, at this link:
https://www.patiencebrewster.com/blog/qa/

I hope all of you who have stuck through this ramble have enjoyed reading! If you have any questions of your own that you'd like to ask me, I do welcome them! You may ask them here in the comments, or you can always send me an email at darklingem@gmail.com

xo!
Em
zombietoes.com
Zazzle shop
etsy shop
eBay

Cartoon Creatures- Narwhales and Dinosaurs!

Hihihihi!!! :D
So, it's art time again!! I hope you guys don't mind...I can really only tell from my blog view stats, but it seems you do not mind at all, and for this I am very gracious! See me bow to you and thank you with dorky smiles! I really enjoy creating these picture worlds and stories and characters, so...it's nice to know they are at least being seen :) Blah blahblah blah...anyhow, let me show you two new pieces!! Here is a small 5" x 7" acrylic painting - "Impaley Narwhalies" - see more at the link below the picture:


"Impaley Narwhalies" original cartoon art painting on etsy

Yeah, yeah, I know...ANOTHER sea creature painting?!!? I can't help myself. I'm pretty sure I have spent a fair amount of lifetimes in the ocean. It's one of my favorite places to take my mind and let it wander. A vacation of sorts. Hmmm...

Onto the next, then! This one went through a long stage of "OMG this looks like crap". Due to my stubborn nature, I just kept working on it until I could stand to look at it, and was not ashamed to put my name on it. Really, it was that bad! There are a few work in progress shots on my facebook page here: W.I.P.s

It is all finished now, and I've titled it "Prehistoric Parade", though...it is neither technically accurate on prehistoric life, nor is it in a parade-like fashion. Regardless, I am the artiste, and whatever I say is what is taken as word in my land, haha! In your face, reality! *Ahem* So, here is "Prehistoric Parade":


"Prehistoric Parade" original creature illustration on etsy

This one is an original 8.5" x 11" pen and ink illustration on bristol. Thought maybe I should be profeshunalllll for half a second ;)

I hope you have enjoyed my colorful monster-creature-dinosaur-animal art! I will have a new comic later this weekend, and I also will have a fox art post for you in the next week or so. Don't forget, it's Mother's Day on Sunday. Call your Mums.

xo!
Em

Your support is always very appreciated (meow)- zombietoes.etsy.com

Jeremy's Epic, Five Part Birthday Spectacular!

A conversation with one real life character:



And the resulting comic:



xo!
Em

Fun times with monsters: zombietoes.etsy.com

I am Jack's Tuesday

xo!
Em

I am Jack's Monday

This week I have decided to try something a bit different...I am going to post one comic a day! I will tell you that it's a bit of a cop-out, though, as it won't really start to make sense or be very funny until a few days in. Just fair warning. One joke spread over seven days. It's essentially a stylized look at my work week. The entire 'strip' is titled "I am Jack's all work and no play"...Here is Em's Monday:



Working on compiling a list of some other things (comic related, Emily related, art related, etc) to blather about here...If you have any suggestions, send me a message of some type. Email, text, smoke signals, whatevers.

xo!
Em

Getting some new 8" x 10" prints and other stuff listed in my zombietoes etsy shop!

New art, prints, + Public Appearance Info! (no comic, sorry)

Oh My GOSH YOU GUYS!! I am a total slacker. I have had this post in my head for over a week now, and am just now getting around to typing it up. I am not sure what has happened to me in the past few months, but it is becoming apparent that I am having issues with blog posting. I used to be so good about it, (talking here about my fantasy art blog- Darkling Treasures, back in the day). Perhaps it is the call of physical pen and paper that is louder than my keyboard now (this is not really a bad thing). So, anyway, I have a lot of crap to share. New art! New character overviews! New prints! And A public appearance too! Ahhh! Let me start with the art....

For fans of my FB page, this is not a new piece to you. But for those of you who are BUMS, you are seeing "Hal" for the first time! He is a hand pulled screen print that I made all on my own from one of my illustrations. I love him. LOVE! I've managed to get a batch of limited edition prints of Hal together (6 each of green and brown). You can get all the info and even get yourself a print at the link below the picture:


"Hal" owl screen prints

I also have most of the second batch of dorkling prints listed in my shop as well...see all the available comic stuff HERE: woo, STUFF!

There are a few new Character Overviews up- DShaw, Buddy, uhhh...Tron...uhhh, that might be it for the moment. I've only got a few more to post and then they will all be up! :D Check the page: Character Overview

NOW...Public Appearance announcement time! Yeah, so, if you know me at all, you KNOW I never get out in public. To be honest, it is extremely overwhelming for me. I know, I probably just need to do it more often and get used to it. But I really get freaked out. So sue me. However, I will have a table at the Paint & Pixel Festival in Northampton, MA this October!! A WHOLE TABLE!! And, I am bringing one of the characters from my strip with me (well, four, actually, if you count me, G, and B, but I don't). I will be bringing some originals, Ralphies, prints in assorted sizes, and other random things...Check out the awesome at one or all of their links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paintandpixelfestival
Website: http://paintandpixelfestival.com/

So, that's about all I have at the moment. I drew a bunch of silly animals today, and I have some other art that I really need to get to posting and sharing, so be on the (lazy) lookout for those! Mad love!

xo!
Em
Check out the latest monsters, lowbrow art, comic books, prints, and other weirdness: zombietoes.etsy.com