Crystal (she/her)

Fort Collins Comic Con is this weekend! Come see me and other local artists Aug 16 - 17 at the Ft. Collins Senior Center.
I got my newest project, a weapons booklet styled after video game manuals. I'm really proud of it!
Also, this will probably be my last con for the foreseeable future.

Working at projects still! My weapon booklet is in final proofing and some other projects are in the works. If you'd like to see them in person, I will be debuting them for Fort Collins Comic Con on Aug 16 and 17!
Tickets are on sale now with guests announcements coming!
fococomiccon.com/tickets/

A brown tabby cats lays on a carpet floor near a coffee table with items on it.

Been working on my weapon booklet. The scope grew a bit but has more focus now. Hope to have a good mockup by the end of the week with most of the major details worked in.
Until then, have a picture of my boi Calcifer doing a long boi lay on the floor tonight.

Rough first draft mockup of NES instruction booklet sized manuel with my 2023 Weapontember inked weapons inside.

Rough first draft mockup of NES instruction booklet sized manuel with my 2023 Weapontember inked weapons inside. First round of weapon layouts and stats.

Rough first draft mockup of NES instruction booklet sized manuel with my 2023 Weapontember inked weapons inside. First round of weapon layouts.

Rough first draft mockup of NES instruction booklet sized manuel with my 2023 Weapontember inked weapons inside. Second round rough draft with stat and weapon layout changes and written world building on magic system and weapon type stat blocks.

Making art has been really hard for me so far this year. Not sure what I'm wanting so it's been hard to do anything.
I am trying to keep the bit of joy alive though I am finding in my newest art book project.
Hope to have the complete version by FCCC.
Weapons in a NES booklet.
#wip #weapontember

A purple pencil study of the eyes of a certain Pale Elf. :p

Been just treading along here. Did get good news today that I got accepted to Fort Collins Comic Con! It's a favorite show of mine, so happy to be back. Looks like I got some art planning to do for August now.

I guess in the meantime, have a a peek at a recent study. :)

I didn't go to Moonrise Tower until it was the last thing in the zone, cause I'm like "the big bad is there, don't go!" And everyone is very dead. :/ Will get over there sooner now!

This was us on our solo playthrough by accident too! Going to make up for it in our co-op playthrough!

A colored version of the sword of stars, based on Howl's Moving Castle, movie version. The blade and hilt are painted in yellow and oranged while the center star burst motif of the guard is painted in radiating outwards colors of white, blue, magenta/pink and orange.

A close up of the star burst guard and hilt.

A close up of the blade and the falling star trail on it.

As I said in previous posts, here is one colored version of the swords; Stars.
It's painted on cold-press watercolor paper with Kuretake watercolors; a good change up from gouache.
I like this one, but still debating about a dark background behind the star.
#swordtember2024 #swordart #color #art

Thanks! I really like doing this challenge every year :)
Going to be posting the colored versions of a few that I've done from this particular set!

An ancient style of sword that has a patina and is rusting away. Based on a historical sword type. The blade and hilt are one material while the guard is disenigrating and has only a few pieces.

Last sword! Day 30: Ancient. I looked up swords held in museums for this one, and for some reason I did not make notes on which sword type this blade is. I was good with my notes except on this one. Just wanted a blade that has a patina and is rusting away. #swordtember2024 #swordart #inkart #art

A fantasy sword that is more ceremonial than fighting worthy. It has a very long hilt with a flower on the pommel. The guard is very decorative leaves. There are three rings along the blade, two on the side and one across the blade. Two ribbons are woven in between the three rings and around the blade.

A close up on the hilt and guard.

Another close up of the guard and the rings and the ribbons.

Almost at the end! Day 29: ceremony/ritual. Another decorative sword from my story. This one is used during weddings in the Highlands. The couple wraps a ribbon each through the rings and they pull them taunt. If they don't cut, the marriage is blessed. #swordtember2024 #swordart #inkart #art

A fantasy sword that is made for ceremonies and not for fighting. It is carved from wood and had elaborate details. The hilt guard is covered in a leaf motif, while the hilt is hollow with a glass pane with seeds behind it. The guard is made of furling out ferns and at the cross section is a leaf and blossom motif before descending down the wooden blade with a criss-crossing detail pattern.

A close up of the hilt and guard.

A close up of the blade.

Cruising along here with day 28: royal. This is a ceremonial sword and would be useless in combat, hence the very decorative nature of it. It is from a story of mine, used in a kingdom of trees and lush places. Maybe some day I'll share more about the story. #swordtember2024 #swordart #inkart #art

A fantasy sword based off the bleeding heart flower. The hilt is based off the stem, while the extra large guard is the flower itself, and the bottom part of the flower has been extended to make the length of the blade.

A close up of the hilt and guard of the bleeding heart flower.

In the home stretch here for sword posts. Day 27: Floral. Always love an excuse to draw florals, so this sword is based on a bleeding heart flower. It worked out really well, as the flower is the guard and extending part of it as the blade was all I needed. #swordtember2024 #swordart #inkart #art

A fantasy sword made of ocean water in the shape of a wave. It is large and has a shape based on a saber and/or scimitar.

A close up of the hilt made of a small ocean wave and water reflections

A close up of the blade in the shape of a cresting wave.

Day 26: Ocean/water. Was thinking of making the blade of this sword in the shape of a cresting wave to lean into the ocean/water part and not focus on things in the ocean. I used my pocket brush pen for this one again to keep the lines organic/flowing feeling. #swordtember2024 #swordart #inkart #art

A fantasy talwar sword crafted of high detail metal work and jewels like a Fabergé egg. Has a lot of repeating patterns that are reminiscent of leaves and ferns.

A close up of the hilt and guard details of this sword.

A close up of the detail of the end of the blade of this sword.

Got busy the last few days, so here is Day 25: Jeweled. Another favorite of mine of this series. Based on a talwar sword. I looked up Fabergé eggs for this, as they are highly detailed and bejeweled, a perfect fit. Can't wait to share the colored version. #swordtember2024 #swordart #inkart #art

A fantasy sword based off of vampires and bats. The hilt has a curvy shape set with gemstones. The guard is a pair of bat wings. The blade is made of a long tooth-like blade that has several other small versions growing to replace the longest and broken one.

A close up of the hilt and guard plus the shorter teeth-like blades in various lengths.

Day 24: Sinister. This one was a head scratcher. My thoughts went to vampires and bats and decided to play in that motif. This is a magic living sword, in that the blade is grown in a material like teeth enamel, and is replaced over time. #swordtember2024 #swordart #inkart #art

A fantasy sword with a wide blade and a wide guard and a hilt. It is one continuous piece of metal with a textured wrap on the hilt. There is a strong white and black contrast and some texture details.

A close up on the details of the guard and hilt.

Day 23: Guardian. Challenged myself on this one to primarily use my brush pen, which I did, outside of the squiggle texture details. I wanted a sword that felt broad, thick, and kinda heavy. Something that is protective like a guardian. Feel like I did okay. #swordtember2024 #swordart #inkart #art

A fantasy sword made from a dragon's tooth. The tooth roots are the handle which has a metal guard on one side. The tooth has a natural serrated edge on one side and a sharpened blade on the other.

A close up of the handle and guard.

A close up of the tooth blade.

Day 22: Dragonslayer. This sword is a large dragon tooth that has been sharpened into a blade. I based the tooth partially on komodo dragon teeth, as they have a natural serrated edge on their teeth. A versatile weapon with two cutting edges. #swordtember2024 #swordart #inkart #art

Glad to see that I'm not the only one excited for it!

A fantasy sword designed from the features of a firefly. The hilt and guard are the body and the wings, while the blade is two pronged and a few gemstones are set throughout.

A close up of the hilt and guard designed from a firefly.

Making our way along to day 21: Glowing. Had a firefly in mind for this one and did pretty well I feel incorporating the firefly's body into the sword design. I really had fun with this one and like the look and the two pronged blade. #swordtember2024 #swordart #inkart #art

A picture of an array of swords laid out in a fan like pattern. There is a set of sabers, a set of broadswords, and a set of stiletto daggers.

A close up on the swords from picture one.

A close up of the swords from picture one

Continuing on with day 20: multiple or many. Did this as a challenge to myself to see how many swords I could draw and make them look similar between each other and play with different ones. Helped me appreciate the saber a bit more. #swordtember2024 #swordart #inkart #art

Really love the perspective and atmosphere of this piece!

A fantasy sword based of a zweihander. It has an extra long hilt and wide guard, on which a pair of scales dangles from the end of each side of the guard. There is a blindfold wrapped around the upper hilt, to harken to the justice is blind statue.

A close up of the hilt, guard, scales, and blindfold of the sword.

Getting back into the saddle to finish posting these swords!
Day 19: Justice Thought of the justice statue and such and combined the scales with the sword. Based it off a zweihander, a huge crowd control sword. I like the look of this one. #swordtember2024 #swordart #inkart #art

Thank you everyone who stopped by my table at COAF this past weekend! I had a wonderful time again and look forward to next year!

Now to have a recovery day and just a little work by paying my sales taxes.

Well, I got off the waitlist on Wednesday and tabled yesterday so I'm already set up but if you need a hand, I'm more than happy to help!

See you there as I got off the waitlist and am also tabling there this weekend!

I really like the atmosphere of this one! I really feel like there is a story going on between these two :)

Got off the wait list for Colorado Anime Fest this weekend! I'm excited to be able to table. Looking forward to seeing others there :)
#coloradoanimefest2025

A fantasy sword carved out of wood. It has an oak leaf for the hold and an acorn top for the guard. The blade has a strong grain texture. It is sharpened on one side only.

Close up of the hilt made to look like an oak leaf and acorn cap. Has a lot of line texture.

Close up of the blade and wood texture of it.

Prompt for day 18 was nature inspired. I often think of natural materials like wood, so I wanted oak trees to be the inspiration. It got an oak leaf hilt and the acorn guard. I also wanted to have a bit more line texture and not just solid blacks for this one. #swordtember2024 #swordart #inkart #art

I like this one a lot!