Hey guys!

I’ve got a ton going on this week, and one of those things is preparing to go to PAX East in Boston!! Longtime followers know in addition to birds, I love nerdy stuff and have had my eyeball on concept design (especially creatures) for a long time. I got the chance to do some design work for a coworker at the CLO who is programming his own games, and he gave me a ticket!!

I’m just going as a random person, but I’ll have fistfuls of business cards (like this one, minus the drawing of me being excited) to throw at fellow artists and game developers and anyone who makes eye contact with me for more than 0.73 seconds. 

If you’re by any chance going to be there, look for a tall redhead with broken glasses in a (sadly not hand-made) Star Trek: TNG science officer costume and say hi! If you mention you saw this, I’ll draw you a quick little beast on the back of the business card I give you. Chances are I will run into absolutely no one who saw this, but I like adding the thrill of possibility.

It’s my first time at a video game conference and I am PUMPED. And will I be at the panel entitled “Clucks and Clicks: Archaeology & Ethics of Chickens in Games” on Saturday at 11? You bet your tailfeathers I will be.

Hey followers at this now mostly-defunct blog, there’s creature stuff going on at the main blog!

“Take care not to wander into their lands, lest you meet their Keepers…” Hey guys! I made a Patreon. If you would like to support me, and see process, concepts, and other fun stuff related to Fantasy Birbs (better name under development), along with just other things I’m working on, head on over to the link below! :)

https://www.patreon.com/virginiagreene

Thanks so much!!!!

Important activity over at main blog!!!

Hey everyone! I’m excited to share with you a bird art project: Decembird!

Justine (the other Bartels Intern and astoundingly great bird/wildlife artist–website here) and I were discussing developing a little birdy challenge for ourselves in December, since Inktober was so much fun. It morphed into the challenge you see above, and we realized other bird-inclined artists (or people who want to get better at birds!) might enjoy it, too. You can use the prompt list if you like, but the important thing is to have 31 drawings of birds by the time 2017 rolls around.

Inspired by Jake Parker’s fantastic Inktober challenge, Decembird invites you have fun making birdy art and to grow as an artist. Tag your Decembirds with #Decembird and #decembird2016 if you want to take part!

I look forward to getting better at birds with you! :)

Hey bird folks, join in the fun!!

Hello, folks! Big ol’ Inktober Post in honor of Cyber Monday! Society6 is having a Cyber Monday sale, in which everything is 20% off EVERYTHING and has FREE SHIPPING until midnight tonight (Nov. 28)! No special code or link necessary! I also just added a bunch of Inktober 2016 pieces. Great gifts for art loving, bird-loving friends or family members (especially ones who like magic-wielding birds)!

Click below to go to my shop (or any of the amazing shops on Society6) to check out this awesome sale! https://society6.com/virginiagreene

Great deal until midnight!!!

Fantasy Birds Storytime! (voting closes 11/11 at noon!)

Whose story do you want to hear?

The Tsew Spellsinger (Cardinal Mage)

The Laughing Bomber

The Business Partners

She Who Wanders (Blue Jay in Snow)

Brumbadrum and the Soldier

Tell us a new story!

  pollcode.com free polls

For anyone who enjoyed the Inktober series and wants to see/read some more of them!

“When the snow falls and the sunlight fades, then shall we all become scavengers.”

#inktober #inktober2016 #ink #bluejay #macabre #blood #birdeatbirdworld #fantasybirds #birds #dark #desperation #illustration #art #backtothedippen

Many days ago reblarb!

“It was not the first time the vintner’s son-in-law had ended up there, and local passersby suspected it would not be the last.”

Yesterday’s inktober. I screwed up in about fifteen different ways and decided to just mess around with it a bit. The color is there to distract both myself and you from the mistakes.

Interestingly enough, wine is also responsible for how late this has been posted.

#inktober #inktober2016 #art #ink #bird #illustration #birdart #cedarwaxwing #drunk

From many an inktober ago!

“They had been best friends for as long as they could remember. They had been business partners for about 20 minutes–just long enough to buy the outfits.”

#inktober #inktober2016 #sumiink #ink #brushpen #birds #fantasybirds #storytelling #illustration #yikesimlate

This is from like a week ago--been too distracted to reblargh. Follow at main blog for up-to-date art!

“The Cartographer’s Widow”

#brushpen #americangoldfinch #hollow #grief #art #inktober2016 #inktober #birds #fantasybirds

The one time the brush pen did everything the way I asked it to

“Deedle was only a few weeks old, but his mother could tell he was destined for greatness. He was a very special boy.”

#inktober #inktober2016 #ink #brushpen #sketch #doodle #art #birds #fantasybirds

Been slow at reblogging these the last few days due to business!

“Rikriiki’s Flight Helm”

Quicker one today due to late hour and not much time earlier. This is all with a brush pen rather than the dip pen.

This is a concept helmet made mostly of leather, with a reinforced and sharpened bill region. Lots of other concepts in my sketchbook. I’ve been thinking a lot about how birds fight, and how those behaviors might influence their weaponry. I won’t get ahead of myself and spoil anything though. #bird #americanrobin #fantasybirds #inktober #inktober2016

From a couple of days ago!

“No one is sure when those two old hens decided to hate each other. The prevailing rumor is that a particularly enticing grub was encountered simultaneously from opposite directions.”

#inktober #inktober2016 #ink #birds #birders #browncreeper #whitebreastednuthatch #fantasy #fantasybirds #fantasyillustration #art #illustration

This one, as always, took way longer than anticipated! The joke for non-birdy people is that both species of bird glean tree trunks for insects, but white-breasted nuthatches move down the tree and brown creepers move up the tree.

“They say she tamed it by feeding it her own eggs.”

#inktober #inktober2016 #ink #monster #chipmunk #goldencrownedkinglet #bird #birdart #fantasy #fantasybirds

This one was really fun!! I had not really seen many chipmunks before moving north, and this place is just lousy with them. They’re cute, but they’re still mammals who like to eat birds when they can... 

“‘Fear not, madame–this bomb will absolutely strike the right target. You hired a gull for the job. We are renowned for our aim.’”

#inktober2016 #inktober #ink #gull #laughinggull #art #fantasy #fantasybirds

Yesterday’s inktober. Had to do this one quickly, still learned quite a bit though! Maybe I’ll try some new materials...

“Rikriiki clenched her bill as the tailor’s wife tutted, picked out the last row of stitches, and began them again. If the young knight had known what going to get a hole patched would involve, she would have just learned to sew herself.

She noticed the tailor scrutinizing her left Talon. The artificial claws gleamed in the faint daylight. They hadn’t seen battle yet, but by God’s feathers, they soon would. Her heart raced at the thought.

‘The stitching on these bracers is uneven,’ the tailor announced.

She’d had enough. 'The stitching doesn’t need to be even!’ she cried, raising her crest. "The blades need only be sharp, to spill the blood of our enemies!’

The tailor sniffed and picked up a needle. 'And that’s why you’re a soldier, not a seamstress. Hold still.’”

#inktober #inktober2016 #inktoberday4 #day4 #bird #fantasy #americanrobin #rubythroatedhummingbird #birdart #ink #fantasybirds #worldbuilding #storytelling

Reblargh to side blargh for relevance

“‘Who was that?’ 'He was once the Queen’s right wing. He would predict the future by listening to that snail shell of his.’ 'What happened?’ 'He started being wrong.’”

#inktober #inktober2016 #inktoberday3 #day3 #birdart #housesparrow #bird #ink #hasbeen #senility #prophet #worldbuilding

I’m enjoying this Inktober a lot so far...