IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The 2024 OFFICIAL MASTER LIST: https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe

Monday, September 14, 2015

Themes That Rocked the Challenge - Elizabeth and My Little Pony Artwork

Today I welcome author and artist extraordinaire, Elizabeth Mueller! I’ve known her for many years and have seen her talented artwork. She really did something unique with it for this past Challenge.



Your theme was My Little Pony fan art – what made you choose that theme?

To be honest with you, I had already written 50% of the A to Z's posts (on writing) and scheduled them before April started. Being the hermit that I am, I had barely heard about a successful adult coloring book by a self-published artist, and I thought to myself, I can do that! I can draw just about anything, and people can color my art. Also, drawing takes less brain power and after having Babykins, my brain has been pretty mushy since.

Feeling a bit weird about where this was leading, because I typically keep my art low key, I asked my daughters what they thought about a My Little Pony fan art theme for the Challenge. I wanted to retest my skill in drawing horses (horses were my first drawing love). It turned out that they loved it, and volunteered to color them for me. You should've seen the amount of hours they dedicated!

How long did it take you to draw all those ponies?

Straight up? About three hours all squished together just to *draw* them. Not counting the coloring. Or researching A to Z worthy flower names. Or inventing the storyline. Or getting them printable worthy. (And the scheduling of the posts is a whole 'nother story.) Whew!

Which letter was the most difficult?

X was the most difficult! I searched each letter of the alphabet for flowers and then I'd comb down each one to see which sounded the best sounding name for the character. Xs didn't have much of a selection and we (yes, my daughters helped me, it was a labor of love!) had to do many searches on different sites.

Which flower was the easiest for visitors to guess?

There were many flower names that had a good number of correct guesses, but I'm thinking Zinnia won the race. I suppose that is a very popular flower.

Which flower was the most difficult for visitors to guess?

Adonis, Firethorn, and Knotweed are a tie--no one was able to guess those guys. Not very common flowers, are they?

You had a cool prize for those who made the most guesses, right or wrong – tell everyone about it.

As you said, my goal was to get as many friends to participate. Right or Wrong. It was a little party every day for us! I converted every one of the illustrations into coloring pages along with edited versions of the stories I had included in the blog posts. I did the illustration process backward: I pencil sketched them and then colored them for the Challenge before I had turned them into coloring pages. Turned out alright anyway, though.

What theme are you considering for next year?

That is something I'm still mulling over!

I bet it will be something good! Thanks again, Elizabeth.


Co-host Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh is the author of Amazon Best-Sellers CassaStar, CassaFire, CassaStorm, and Dragon of the Stars, and his blog can be found HERE

16 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Thanks again, Elizabeth!

nashvillecats2 said...

Great interview Alex, A joy to read.
Yvonne.

Debra Renée Byrd said...

That's really cool!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Alex and Elizabeth - what a clever idea. Gosh I'd love to be able to draw .. just let the brain creativity ride and not think about things. Fun adding flower names to the little ponies ... I imagine X would be troublesome ... Zinnia is a wonderful flower. Very clever - cheers Hilary

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I completely enjoyed Elizabeth's theme. I visited every day though I think I only got a handful of the names right.

Melissa Ann said...

A great idea and such beautiful artwork.

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Thank you Alex, it was fun!

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Thank you

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Thank you, Deborah!

Elizabeth Mueller said...

I learned a lot as well. Thank you, Hilary!

Elizabeth Mueller said...

It was so much fun with your guesses, too. Thank you for your participation!

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Aw, thanks, Melissa!

Stephen Tremp said...

Elizabeth, what an awesome theme! I'm sorry I missed your blog. My daughters will totally rock out to your artwork as they are always drawing My Little Ponies. .

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Aw!! Well, they're still available and if you're interested in the coloring pages for your cutie pies, I'm happy to send those to you! <3

Dr Genevive Angela said...

beautiful ! nice to see this art work..

cleemckenzie said...

I visited her a few times during the '15 Challenge. Her ponies were darned cute.