Drawing the Sword Thanksgiving Giveaway!

Hi Everybody!

In celebration of my newly opened Etsy shop, and in honor of the Thanksgiving

holiday, I'm holding a giveaway!

Prizes include:

 

Hand-signed copy of my new sketchbook 

Set of (6) Christmas Cards

and

(1) Hand-signed Pilgrim Girl print 

Feel free to enter any of the listed ways!

Also, now until Nov. 30th you can get free shipping on any order of $15 or more in my Etsy Shop by using promo code:

THANKS2013

Good luck, Happy Thanksgiving, and thank you for your support!

-Will

Stormcrow - The Wanderer

Stormcrow (The Wanderer)

Pencil on bristol 8.5 x 11"

  

Gandalf has always been a fascinating character in Tolkien's work. At one point in the Rings trilogy (I believe it's The Two Towers) he is referred to as "Gandalf Stormcrow". It's meant as a derogatory term, suggesting that ill winds and bad tidings blow him to Rohan like a crow, croaking out warnings that Mordor is on the move. In Silmarillion we learn that Gandalf is an angelic being who has taken on the form of a man to help to fight for good in Middle Earth. While I don't always agree with Tolkien's world-view, I have found many excellent truths to surface while reading his books. In this case, my mind goes to this passage from the Holy Bible, Hebrews 13:2 -

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,

for thereby some have entertained

angels unawares."   

The ones who mocked Gandalf with this nick-name were soon shown their foolishness by the great wisdom and influence he could offer in time of trouble. The idea for this piece was to show Gandalf in his lonely wanderings, his only friends the crows who seem to mock his steps. But underneath we know that he is ready to bring help and hope to the people of Middle Earth, a true hero who will be influential in the War of the Ring.

______________________________

The original pencil drawing will be one of the first pieces to be available on my Etsy store when it launches, and I am considering making prints available as well. Stay tuned, I am aiming for a September launch of the store. At least that is the tentative goal. I'll be adding this to the gallery as well. 

-Will

New Drawing the Sword Business Cards!

"Does this mean I'm a professional now?!?"

 

Today the parcel man dropped (rather loudly, I might add) a pleasant surprise on my doorstep.

My new business cards! I've been wanting to show them to you all since I placed the order, but I figured that I should wait, and let them speak for themselves. And they look fabulous! The online card service I used was top-notch and fast. And the printing quality was excellent, as well as the affordability. If you're interested in getting some cards made up, give them a look; https://www.uprinting.com/.
It's a lot of fun to see your own artwork printed out at higher resolution (hmm, maybe that needs to happen more, more on that later!)

Anyway, I hope to be handing these out rather obnoxiously to everyone I meet and know. So hopefully I'll get to hand you one when I run into you at a con or on the street, or over a caramel macchiato! And of course I'll be including them in any orders I ship out in my hopefully-soon-to-be-opened Etsy Store! I'm still in the process of finding a reliable way of getting prints done and getting the store in working order. I'll also be doing straight-to-print illustrations, and if there is any particular illustration of mine that you like and would want a print of, be sure and let me know in the comments. I want to print stuff that you folks would like to have for your own, so be sure and put your two cents worth in.

Well, that's it for exciting weekend news, and I'll keep you all posted on more developments on the shop, as well as my latest drawing (which I can't wait to show you!!). Anyway, have a great weekend everyone!

-Will