Money tree!

This is not your average money tree - since it specifically sprout Sterling Pound! 
Oh well, it is Scrooge's tree though... 

For this piece, I used Muji brush pens, Buncho colour pencils and colour gel pens. And Koi's Woody Brown brush pen! 

--- Escape to Christmas Past

His wish was granted!

I should have posted this together with his famous last words, but I would have lost the element of surprise. 

Scrooge got more than he asked for when humbugs literally appeared as bugs! Used Koi brush pen on the humbug and a combination of Buncho pencils and Faber-castell pens on the wings. The baby humbugs are my favourites! 


--- Escape to Christmas Past

His Famous Last Words?

I am taking these words as Scrooge's famous last words. Very Dickensian and Victorian phrase. 

Used Faber-castell pens, Muji brush pens and some colour gel pens.

--- Escape to Christmas Past 

And I present *drumrolls*

Ladies and gentlemen, we present our main character .... Scrooge! 

okay, so i think the green ribbons are a tad unsuitable but i started with the green before coloring the rest... but i think it turned out nicely.

Using Buncho colour pencils, Faber-Castell colour pens and some colour gel pens. 

--- Escape to Christmas Past

Introducing the main characters!

As the post title goes... introducing our main characters! 
For this introduction, I used Faber-castell pens, colour gel pens and Buncho pencils. 

--- Escape to Christmas Past

And the story begins...

Once upon a time... the first house which I have coloured so far. It may not be as Victorian as I have wanted it to be but I think the house looks grand. 

For this piece I used Faber-castell pens and some colour gel pens. 

--- Escape to Christmas Past

Let the Christmas adventure begins!

Tis the Christmas season! Good tidings to everyone!

Kicking off the best time of the year (though there is no snow for me.. sob sob) with Escape to Christmas Past book by Good Wives and Warriors (turned out to be the joint venture name of two women illustrators). 

Used Faber-Castell colour pens, colour gel pens (Zebra, Pilot) for the first page. 

Stay tune for more!

Under the sea

Life under the sea! Specifically coral reef with a Nemo! 

Used Unicorn colour pens (very good!), some colour gel pens and Muji colour pens for this piece. 

--- Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom

The Handsome Cockerel

It just so happened that I took some initial photos of the colouring progress and hence I have included them here. This is by far, the most near to the natural colours of an animal that I have coloured. Of course, I kept a picture of a cockerel as reference.

The grey areas are supposed to be white but I have the habit of leaving no white space so... grey is used instead. For this handsome pirce, I used Faber-castell pens and Pentel pencils.

If I am a fan of cockerel, I would have considered framing this up!

--- Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom

Owl on the hunt!

I was tempted to name this owl as Hedwig, but it is not a white owl. 
My personal favourite thus far!
Used Faber Castell pens, colour gel pens and a bit of Pentel colour pencils.

--- Millie Marotta's the Animal Kingdom

The Moth Family

This is the first piece using only Pentel colour pencils. I still prefer watercolour pencils. Nevertheless, this piece has a softer touch and still looks good.

1 rainbow moth = 1 red/yellow/orange moth + 1 blue/purple moth + 1 green moth. 

--- Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom

The Swirling Leaves

I am pretty proud of this piece. I think it turns out wonderfully. Initially, I didn't like the drawing in its uncoloured condition. I think it was rather dull. Nevertheless, once I started on it, the drawing just came to live! And I think I managed to follow the colour spectrum as best as I could. 
Funny how one managed to learn something from colouring - perspectives matter! and... Spot the beetle! 

Used Faber Castel pens and Luna watercolour pencils.

--- Johanna Basford's The Enchanted Forest

The Mini Hot Air Balloon

I called this the mini hot air balloon since this is from the complimentary mini version of the Enchanted Forest. Used colour gel pens only. Dedicated to my soon to be travel buddy. 

The Striking Dragonfly

I posted this picture at my FB page and I think most of my friends like dragonfly since this picture received the most likes. 
Used Luna watercolour pencils and Faber Castell pens. 

--- Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom

Now - for some black forest!

After many colourful adventures, I decided to utilise the black and grey colours for this piece. Using Luna watercolour pencils, Faber Castell pens and a bit of colour gel pens, we have a black forest! Well, it will be too dull if I don't include other colours, hence I included some darker colours here like, purple, blue and green i.e. their darker shades. And the results - a goth-like forest!
It was a good experimentation with darker colours. More to come! 

--- Johanna Basford's The Enchanted Forest

The Enchanted birds?

Used a combination of Luna watercolour pencils, Faber Castell pens and a bit of colour gel pens. It does look a tad too colourful. In fact, the purple-pink leaves are an overkill, but I didn't strategise the colours, so there.... 


--- Johanna Basford's The Enchanted Forest

The Hidden Object

I was puzzled at the nature of the hidden object in this drawing. Can't say that I really get it.. it shall remain mysterious then. 

Used a combination of Luna watercolour pencils, Faber Castell pens and colour gel pens. I like the top part... 

--- Johanna Basford's The Enchanted Forest

The Rabbits Secret Hideout!

The title says it all - to me, this piece looks like two rabbits having their rendezvous in their secret hideout, Although, my sis pointed out to me that their hideout was discovered by the butterfly! I like the seemingly frosty blue colours at the bottom. 

Used combination of Luna watercolour pencils, Faber Castell pens and colour gel pens. 

--- Johanna Basford's the Enchanted Forest 

The Cool Hedgehog

I was tempted to call this piece the enchanted hedgehog (everything is enchanted in the enchanted forest - duh!). I settled with the cool hedgehog instead. It looks cool.. which I dedicated it to my big sis.. By the way, there is no Chinese zodiac known as the year of the hedgehog, in case anyone is wondering (refer to my previous post). 

For this piece, I have also used a combination of Luna watercolour pencils, Faber Castell pens and a bit of the colour gel pens. 

--- Johanna Basford's The Enchanted Forest

The Enchanted Rabbit

So... it is not really a good name but I will settle for the enchanted rabbit. I dedicated this rabbit to my brother, whose Chinese zodiac is the year of the rabbit... not like I believe in zodiacs.. just for the fun of it, I guess.

For this rabbit, I used a combination of colour gel pens, Faber Castell pens and Luna watercolour pencils. Love its fluorescent-like tail! 

--- Johanna Basford's the enchanted forest

Moving towards the Enchanted Forest

For this two-paged colouring, I used a combination of Luna watercolour pencils, Faber Castell pens and a tiny touch of gel colour pens. 

And it is called moving towards the enchanted forest as the normalcy of the colours for a typical forest turns to... abnormal shades... 

--- Johanna Basford's The Enchanted Forest 

The Enchanted Compass

The title is a no-brainer.. since i think this is the only compass in this book, it is probably safe to call it as the enchanted compass. Used Luna watercolour pencils and a bit of Faber Castell pens for the outlines. Love the autumn part. 

--- Johanna Basford's The Enchanted Forest

The Hippy Creatures!

Printed these out from a website.. The hippy one is actually the dolphin rather than the butterfly. Used Faber Castell pens for both pieces. 

The Gigantic Flowers

I almost want to name this post as the enchanted flowers.. but t will be all too common. So gigantic flowers should be apt since the flowers are bigger than the two birds... Used Luna watercolour pencils and Faber Castell pens for the outlining. Added some alien plants for the enchanted theme... 

--- Johanna Basford's The Enchanted Forest

The Enchanted Stag

This one is definitely not my personal best. Coloured using Luna watercolour pencils and a bit of Faber Castell pens. The results: the stag looked a bit bloody.. oops.. but its antlers are majestic.. 

--- Johanna Basford's The Enchanted Forest

The Enchanted Gargoyles

This is my first masterpiece using only Luna Watercolour Pencils. The results - bright, vibrant colours! Not to mention, more effort required since colouring takes up a lot of muscle work... The colours look symmetrical but they are not if one looks properly... 


----- Johanna Basford's The Enchanted Forest

Gardens and more gardens!

Well, it is no secret that the following colourings are from the infamous Secret Garden... just that these are in the form of card size, which are pretty good to gift as card (obviously!). Since Christmas is around the corner, I turned some of them to Christmas cards... well, one has to improvise... Note that I have given each colourings their own names... 

1. The Secret Green House

Used colour gel pens and a bit of Faber Castell pens for the above piece. Turned it into Christmas card for a German couple (my sister's in-laws)...

2. The Secret Shed

Used colour gel pens and a bit of Faber Castell pens for the above piece. Turned it into a birthday card for my dear friend...


3. The Secret Wishing Well

Originally I named it - The Living Water Well.. i changed it to secret since I am on the Secret theme... Used colour gel pens and a bit of Faber Castell pens for the above piece. Turned it into an encouragement card for a new-found friend...

4. The Secret Love Birds

Oops.. I admit it is a tad cheesy.. but I cannot think of other name for this.. their beaks are "kissing".. LOL.. Used colour gel pens and a bit of Faber Castell pens for the above piece. Turned it into Christmas card for a German couple (my sister's in-laws)...

5. The Secret Hangout Tree

I called this hangout since there are 5 birds (if not mistaken), hanging out on this tree.. LOL. Used colour gel pens and a bit of Faber Castell pens for the above piece. Turned it into an encouragement card for a new-found friend...

6. The Secret Psychedelic Flowers 

I think this is my personal favourite.. since I heavily used the colour gel pens as it was my first time using the pens.. The results was the neon effects! Used colour gel pens and a bit of Faber Castell pens for the above piece. Turned it into an encouragement card for a fellow Anglophile...

7. The Secret Butterflies Spot

Used colour gel pens and a bit of Faber Castell pens for the above piece. 

8. The Secret Blooming Ring

Used colour gel pens and a bit of Faber Castell pens for the above piece. No idea who I should give this to yet.. i like the simple design..

9. The Secret Peacock

Used Faber Castell pens for the above piece. Turned it into a Diwali card for Indian colleagues...

10. The Secret Owl

Used colour gel pens and Faber Castell pens for the above piece. Turned it into a card to my dearest sister... who personally requested for this owl. 

11. The Secret Watering Can

Used colour gel pens for the above piece. Turned it into a Christmas card for my lovely sister and family...Personally like this one the best!

12. The Secret Fellowship of the Flowers

Used colour gel pens and a bit of Faber Castell pens for the above piece. Turned it into a Diwali card for a friend...

13. The Secret Flower-Power Mandela 

Used colour gel pens and a bit of Faber Castell pens for the above piece. Turned it into a Diwali card for a friend...

Parakeet?

I am not sure whether this bird is a parakeet, and hence the question mark on the title. I would like to think of it as a parakeet though.. it reminds me of the parakeet that my neighbour had once. I tried to emulate its colors as best as I could. As for the branch, I got kinda lazy... hehe

Anyway, this piece is completed using Faber castell pens and Pentel's color pencils. P/s: non watercolour pencils seem to take up more of my energy. 

--- Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom

The Understated Moth

This piece is completed using plastic crayons which I bought from Daiso (most items sold less than MYR5.30) Japanese shop. 

The results was less than satisfactory but nevertheless one could not deny there is a simplistic beauty in the lightness of the colours. Hence, we have ... the Understated Moth!

--Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom

Mr Fox bids goodnight!

This piece is completed using by using Faber Castell pens, some colour gel pens and a bit of Pentel's colour pencils.

Took quite some time to finish it... so which part of Mr Fox do you like? I personally prefer his tail... 

--Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom

For the sake of white space or just being lazy?

Done by using faber castell pens. 
I think this is the first time that I do not colour the white space i.e. the space within the flowers or leaves. So, I might be lazy but it has been rather fun, less time consuming and easy to complete!

--Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom

Bandit faced Raccoon?

this is a bandit faced raccoon using only black, 3 shades of grey faber castell connector pens and black and silver gel pens. outcome: i think it looks like a bear rather than a raccoon!

--Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom