| Elfwood Sketches |
| Elfwood is a great site with many sketches done by aspiring artists. It is a Swedish site with 100,000 fantasy sketches and 8,500 fantasy stories. The site is http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/ elfwood.html To go to the site, just click on the logo below or |
| Here is a sample sketch from Elfwood. Most of the sketches are done by ordinary people with an interest in this sort of thing. |
| the link to the right. |
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| The sketch above has a surrealistic quality that M.C. Escher might have appreciated. Are those tree trunks or giant chicken legs? The Elfwood site is worth a look for just these kinds of treasures. You never know where you next idea will come from. Trees can have marvelous, fantasy-inducing qualities; their twisted shapes and various forms can provide some unique subject matter. |
| Elfwood also has some drawings that might help an artist perfect his ability to draw the human form as shown in the picture below. |
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| The scene above is somewhat cartoon-like, but it does give an artist a good idea of how to portray the human form and motion. A graphic artist might paint this type of scene for an advertising campaign or a product package. There are many pictures on Elfwwod where the artist was less successful, and that is worth seeing, as well. Try to notice how not to do it. |
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| The music is "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond. |
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| Tayledras Forest Guard (C) copyright by Anna Yudovin |
| The picture above is also from the Elfwood site. It is a digital photograph that has been enhanced and added to. Anna said she got the idea from "The Last Herald Mage" series written by Mercedes Lackey who writes about a clan of "Forest People" called the Tayledras. This could also be a Cro-Magnon boy who has just seen an alien spaccraft land. The aliens might be planning to abduct the boy. A story idea? Perhaps. The Elfwood site is a good place to let your mind wander. |