natalieriess

[natalieriess]

These are deliberately very small and quick projects but I love an excuse to experiment with illustration more…it’s fun to try and get the ‘feel’ of a video game right without just copying/redrawing a screencap

Animal Well! a collaborative illustration from me & @natalieriess

I wasn't expecting any games to reach the highs of Tunic's puzzle solving any time soon, but this game proved me wrong. Nat even hid a little puzzle in the background for those that have played the game.

This one was a fun one to do, I busted out the nib pen for the foreground elements and then used a soft 8b pencil for the background. Nat did the coloring and the sketch as usual, I think you can tell she had a lot of fun drawing the disc shrine, haha.

#fanart #animal well #collab #illustration #video games

[natalieriess]

Cryptmaster! Another collaborative illustration from me & @natalieriess

It's rare for games writing to be genuinely funny to me, but Cryptmaster manages to do it, while being unlike anything else we've played. I had fun trying to recreate the look of the game, haha.

Natalie did the sketch and the shading on this one, while I just used good ol' pen and ink on this one. I was trying to match the hatching style of the game, though I dunno how successful I was here. I think once again Nat's sketch of the Cryptmaster was much funnier though. So it goes.

#cryptmaster #fanart #collab #video games #illustration

[natalieriess]

Crow Country! A collaborative illustration from me & @natalieriess

I don't play a lot of survival horror games but we both really liked this one. It was fun trying to recreate the retro vibes in our fanart.

Nat did the original sketch and the colors, while I did the final lineart. I used a black and a gray colored pencil instead of ink, and I'm happy with how soft and spooky the effect is. Unfortunately, Nat's original drawing of the crow mascot is much better than mine, I should've just left it as is.

#fanart #collab #illustration #crow country #video games

[natalieriess]

Hi! Really excited for the Warriors graphic novel. Have some questions: 1.) if all goes well, would you want to make comics of another Warriors series? 2.) Are you interested in reading past the first series of Warriors? 3.) What other children's book series would you want to make comics of if given the chance? Thank you! (Feel free to answer just 1 or even none of these. :) You guys rock!)

We can't really say about further Warriors books just yet! As for the rest of the books, Natalie is hopping between the super editions and the main series and telling me about them. She keeps telling me to read Tallstar's Revenge, haha.

I didn't read that much when I was a kid, I mostly read either Redwall or Sammy Keyes. Dungeon Critters is already my ideal version of Redwall though, but Sammy Keyes might be fun.

Nat: Hmm...I think Redwall's already been done, and I'd love to do a dragon book. Maybe Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles or Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon Trilogy...?

#ask

[natalieriess]

PREORDER SALE!!! If you were planning on picking up Warriors vol 1., BN is doing a promotional 25% discount until Friday for preorders!

Me and @smgoetter ‘s other upcoming release, Bitsy and Boozle Tell a Story, is also on BN preorder sale if you prefer something more educational fantasy meta-narrative flavored.

(Warriors comes out in July and Bitsy and Boozle comes out in September)

#barnes and noble #graphic novels #Bitsy and Boozle Tell a Story #Warriors Graphic Novel

[natalieriess]

A very late Staplegator (the mascot of STAPLE)…I had a great time this year, thanks everyone!!!

#illustration #sketch #STAPLE

[natalieriess]

(painted bg by me, characters by @smgoetter )

Dungeon Critters illo as a last minute print for STAPLE! Hopefully they get here in time 😅

I really wanted to try ink/digital characters on top of a traditional painting and I think this looks cool! Much more to explore here I think…

#Dungeon Critters #watercolor #digital #illustration

[natalieriess]

Finally remembered I can post these! Some design/process work from the enamel pin I designed for MICE last year.

I don’t get to make merch very often, and this was a lot of fun. It turned out so cool!

#illustration #MICE #enamel pins

[natalieriess]

i try not to post abut work on tumblr, but I saw your ask about dungeon critters sequels, and can say as a children's librarian, I hope your publisher knows that there are absolutely kids interested in more Dungeon Critters. We recently had to replace a copy because it was falling apart from use

Thank you for this ask, we love hearing from librarians! Since we've been able to do signings again, some readers have brought us similarly well-loved copies...it's a huge honor tbh

[natalieriess]

I know you and Natalie probably get the question that if there will be a sequel to dungeon critters, and I also know that in the current situation (or at least I think) you two aren’t planning on writing one. But, that left me wondering; did you guys ever think about writing a sequel, or even the plot of a sequel? Did you write the Dungeon Critters thinking it would be a series? Or- maybe what I’m trying to say is: Do YOU think there will be a sequel to Dungeon Critters in the future?

(Natalie helped with writing this, but we both talked about it a lot)

Thanks for writing in! Dungeon Critters is really, really special to us, and we’re both really happy that it continues to find its audience. In a perfect world, we’d be diligently working away on volume 4, and designing the Baron’s minivan that he would use in the climactic fight (I’m serious).

I don’t know how much inside baseball I’m allowed to give about the inner workings of publishing, but basically: we signed a contract to do the one Dungeon Critters book, with the hope that it would sell well and we would get to continue making more Dungeon Critters books. Once we wrapped up the first book we immediately wrote and pitched a sequel that we were really excited about, with lots of ideas for more. However, while our publisher did support Dungeon Critters, they weren’t interested in any sequels. But they did still want to work with us, at least!

Which is where The Bawk-Ness Monster comes in! While we were understandably crushed we couldn’t work on Dungeon Critters, a lot of heart and hard work went into pivoting to a new series. And I’m proud of the work we’ve done on it.

Working full-time, we don’t have the time or resources to draw and self-publish a graphic novel by ourselves, and even if we did, having a publisher gives it better reach, especially ones for kids and young adults. We think there’s hope that eventually :01 might be interested in a sequel for Dungeon Critters, which is why we haven’t posted the old summary and concept art online yet. We’re currently reworking it a bit as well, along with some other ideas…we just have to wait and hope for the best.

All that being said, selfishly, hearing from people who read and liked Dungeon Critters helps us keep that hope. It’s niche and weird and doesn’t explain itself and the most purely self-indulgent and fun thing we could have made. Even if we never get to make another one, knowing someone found it and it spoke to them is really precious to us. Thank you again for asking.

Please know that no one are bigger fans of Dungeon Critters than we are, and we are keeping these characters close to our hearts. 

(Also, (in response to the other message) thank you for the game recommendation! We enjoyed Hades very much when it came out a few years ago hehe. Our current gaming update is that Sara is a normal amount of hours into Balatro and Natalie is looking forward to the new Stardew update.)

[natalieriess]

I NEED you to know that at least a portion of the warriors fandom is Thrilled by your Silverstream design Thank you for making her buff. The age of skinny Silverstream is over.....

Thanks! I’m really glad you like her!

[natalieriess]

New Warrior Cats Graphic Novel designs!!

[natalieriess]

Hourly Comics Day, part 4

#hourly comics day 2024 #hourly comics day

[natalieriess]

Hourly Comics Day, part 3

#hourly comics day #hourly comics day 2024

[natalieriess]

Hourly Comics Day, part 2

#hourly comics day #hourly comics day 2024

[natalieriess]

Hourly Comic Day 2024, part 1

#hourly comic day #hourly comic day 2024

[natalieriess]

hi! your artwork for the warriors graphic novel looks STUNNING!!!! i was curious if either you or your wife happened to be warrior cats fans before getting hired for the job. its very easy to say with just the sneak peaks that this is the most "labor of love" media the warriors franchise has officially gotten in YEARS, so i was curious if either of you happened to be fans beforehand!

Thanks! We’ve been working on this project for a few years now and it’s really nice to finally be able to talk about it and see readers’ reactions. The excitement is…really exciting! Aaa! ^w^

I read a LOT of talking animal fiction growing up, and have fond memories of reading series 1 and I think about half of series 2 from the library as a kid. I remember Yellowfang, Sandstorm and Cloudtail being my favorites (still true, although many cats have grown on me a lot since drawing the book and reading/listening to the audiobooks more recently).

#warriors graphic novel