Let Us Go Then, You and I, When the Evening is Spread Out Against the Sky

Welcome back to our occasional update of what's happening around the THC Studios!

• We've officially begun work on the next installment of the Shroud of the Avatar: New Beginnings comic miniseries! Join us at www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations to keep up with all the behind-the-scenes and sneak peek material.  

  

  Portion of the double-spread, watercolor title page for the next issue. 

• Congratulations to Tapestry of Ages Games for The Dark Unknown: A Quest for Art's successful Kickstarter campaign (Check out the project here http://www.darkunknown.org/ )! We're well underway working on the art for the final half of the manual, but here is the final piece from the first half, the Bestiary: "Elder Dragon." 

  

  Art by Indi Martin
  (c)2016 Tortoise & Hare Creations/Tapestry of Ages Games

• Another congratulations goes out to Recap Band for their successful Kickstarter for Pronoia, the follow-up album to one of my favorites, Neon Milk. I ended up being a stretch goal on the campaign, so I'll be doing the cover and an interior piece for their album starting in May! Check out their music here: http://www.recapband.com/ 
• New Fan Art Print! With work keeping me pretty busy, I haven't had a lot of time for personal projects, but I was really struck by Jon Bernthal's take on the Punisher, so this one got done. :) Available for purchase here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/273251534/the-punisher-by-indi-martin 

  

  "The Punisher" - by Indi Martin

  
  
• Upcoming Appearances! 
• Tidewater Comicon - 5/21-22 - VA Beach, VA
• HOBLOTH - 6/1-6/5 (Private Event) - Austin, TX 
• SciFi in the Valley - 6/10-12 - Altoona, PA
• SoonerCon - 6/24-26 - Norman, OK
• GeoWoodstock XIV - 7/3 - Denver, CO
• BookFest PA - 7/16 - State College, PA
• Popcomiganza - 7/23 - Dunkirk, MD

Title Quote from T.S. Eliot's "The LoveSong of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Fear Not the Dead, Pool Your Thoughts to Love Instead

Welcome back to our occasional, and not-generally-scheduled update of what's going on around the THC studios!

• Valentine's Day Sale! You have until 2/14 to get 25% off anything in the Etsy store! Click HERE to shop, use code LOVE16 when checking out - no minimum purchase! 
  
• FREE VALENTINE'S DAY CARDS! Last year, I did a fun Valentine's Day bonus for our Patrons (Join us! Get cool stuff!), and this year, I've chosen the best of them and created a free, downloadable, printable sheet of Valentine's Day cards. While you're there, consider becoming a supporter for as little as $1 a month, it makes a huge difference, and you can show your support and reap the benefits! Click HERE to get the full-size version. 
  
• Will's superheroine comic, Morel, has officially launched its own webpage - www.morelcomic.com - check it out! 
  
• Commissions have been flowing in! Check out Indi's Commission Page to get on the list! Watercolor commissions have been hot, get signed up for a truly one-of-a-kind, frameable artpiece to call your own. (Pictured here: a camera-phone pic of the 18x24 "Sylph" cover art, from the upcoming Sylph video game.) 
  
• 2016 Tour Poster! We've got most of our shows lined up for 2016, so take a peek and see when we'll be in your neck of the woods! 
  

2015: By the Numbers

Welcome back to THC's occasional update of what's going on around the studios. It's December, and we're fast coming up on another click of Earth's odometer, so I thought I'd take a moment for retrospection before we slide into 2016.

2015 was a hell of a year. Let's do this by the numbers:

17: Number of conventions THC attended this year as artists/vendors. That's pretty far down from 2014's 38 - we'll be finding a happy medium between those two numbers for next year, I'm sure!

321: Number of posts on our Patreon page. MOST of those posts are patron-only exclusives, like works-in-progress pictures, full .psd files, high-res, watermark-free files, sneak-peeks, and Patron-exclusive stock art. We launched the Patreon officially on 1/15 of this year, and it's been a wild ride already!

63: Number of watercolors completed this year (that I have scans of - there were probably at least that amount that got discarded). Here's a collage of some of my favorites:

426: Number of pages in the final release of Into Dreams: A Gina Harwood novel, which was released on June 11, 2015. 

74: Number of commissioned paintings or drawings completed this year (not counting a few at conventions). Again with the collage, though this will probably be the last one, as they're surprisingly time-consuming. 

8: Stock Art pieces released to the Patrons after introducing the concept late 3rd Quarter. 

7: New Fan Art prints in the entirety of 2015 - Crowley, Charlie Bradbury, Arya Stark, Xena, Tyrion Lannister, Seven and Four. I've got one underway and I'm looking to expand this number a bit in 2016 - I wanted to cut back, not cut out fan art altogether! 

3: Other Milestones I couldn't figure out a way to fit into the "Numbers" theme. In addition to all of this, we also created and released Shroud of the Avatar: New Beginnings - our first (but not last) foray into officially licensed comics. We also created and released the Geocaching Pinup set and the MD Expansion of GoCache to commemorate GeoWoodstock XIII, held ten miles from where we live. :) 

2015 was the 4th year since Tortoise & Hare Creations took its first shaky breath, but it's been - by far - the busiest. THANK YOU for being here with us, and I hope you're just as excited as we are to see what Year 5 brings to THC!

Remember, Remember...

Welcome back to THC's occasional update of what's happening in the studios. Here's what's new and on the horizon here for us! If you like what you see, come and join us at www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations - don't miss out on one more month of our exclusives!

• "Autonomy" - Thank you to everyone who attended the opening of my watercolor show at the Fine Arts Company, and congratulations to the new owners of original art! The show continues at the Garland Groh location until early December, and then for a few weeks at their new Valley Mall location. Stop in and check it out if you're in the Hagerstown, MD area!

• 

  "Tang" - Indi Martin, 2015 - Watercolor

• Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday SAVINGS!!!! Clear out your holiday shopping list by taking 25% off ALL prints - now until December 1st! Use code THCROCKS when checking out of our Etsy store! https://www.etsy.com/shop/TortoiseHareCreate 

  

  ENDS DEC 1ST! Don't miss out!

• New Patron-exclusive stock art available now! "Tree Village," #2 in the Fantasy Buildings series comes free to all Patrons of any level with a non-watermarked high-res .jpg, the original .psd file, and a license allowing them to use the image in any one project. Join now and get access to all kinds of stuff! https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations 

  

  "Tree Village" - Indi Martin, 2015 - Wacom in CS6
• Commission MADNESS! This season has been the busiest EVER for commissions, so if you've been looking to get some work done, check out my rates and example pieces for each (as well as the current estimated start date for work): http://indigowarrior.deviantart.com/journal/Artist-Bio-and-Rates-528468095 

  

  "Flora & Lightning" - Indi Martin, 2015 - Watercolor on Board. Painted for N. Glasscock

We're finishing up our schedule for 2016, watch this space in the next update to find out where we'll be in the coming months! :)

Bittersweet October - Mellow, Messy, Leaf-Kicking, Perfect Pause Between Opposing Miseries

Welcome back to THC's occasional update of what's happening in the studios. Here's what's new and on the horizon here for us! If you like what you see, come and join us at www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations - don't miss out on one more month of our exclusives!

• 3rd Quarter Wrapup video - congratulations to Joshua L. for winning the Dissolution layout page, the limited Dean/Sam vinyl stickers, and the very rare Flip the Bird card! The 4th quarter is going to be a VERY GOOD quarter to be a patron of THC - join NOW and don't miss out on the rewards! www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations
• Commissions are open! Get on the list and check out the examples to determine which rate you need: indigowarrior.deviantart.com/journal

Commission painted for Bad Yoga Tribe (c)2015

• The Patrons have voted! This quarter's stock art theme is Fantasy Buildings - and YOU WANT THESE! They're (likely) all going to be fully painted, and are FREE to use for any of our patrons - at ANY level! 
  
• Watercolor show at the Fine Arts Company in Hagerstown, MD is creeping closer!  November 14th is the Meet & Greet - mark your calendars! 
  
• Changes to our Upcoming Appearances
• CANCELLATION: Going Caching - Rome, GA - unfortunately, THC will not be present at this amazing Renaissance-themed event. We hope to catch you next year!
• 10/30-11/1 - AnimeUSA, Washington, DC
• 11/14 - Meet the Artist, Fine Arts Company, Hagerstown, MD
• 11/22-11/23 - VA Comicon, Richmond, VA

Thanks for checking in! See you at our Patreon page - www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations

Title Quote by Carol Bishop Hipps

September Days

Welcome back to THC's occasional update of what's happening in the studios. Here's what's new and on the horizon here for us! If you like what you see, come and join us at www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations - don't miss out on one more month of our exclusives!

• Crowley - With Crowley, the planned four-piece Supernatural set (Dean, Sam, Cas & Crowley) is now COMPLETE! Prints are available here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/245653826/crowley-supernatural-series?ref=listings_manager_grid or get the FULL Supernatural set at a discount here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/245653704/bundle-full-supernatural-set-four-prints?ref=listings_manager_grid   
  
• Full time-lapse greyscale-to-color video - see how Indi's most popular paintings are created start-to-finish, and get a view of Charlie (Felicia Day) from Supernatural to boot! Subscribe to our channel to see all of our video projects: https://www.youtube.com/user/Tortoiseharecreation
  
• Stock Art! More stock is being uploaded weekly at our DriveThruRPG site - if you need art for anything, check out what we've got: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/8677/Tortoise-amp-Hare-Creations 
  
• New Patreon Stock Art Bonus! Every quarter, our patron will be given SIX new pieces of stock art that they own and can use for any project - the quarter will have a theme, and all six pieces will be part of that theme. This month's theme is the lovely horse, so I'll be drawing anything from the humble pack mule to a frightful Nightmare. These are FREE to all of our patrons! Check out the first one and sign up to join us today! https://www.patreon.com/posts/stock-art-pack-1-3255910 
  
• Commissions are currently open - get on the list today! http://indigowarrior.deviantart.com/journal/  This is Altrar the Ancient, painted by commission for Realmwares.com 
  
• Appearances - Updated our 2015 "We Create Dwarf Planets" tour poster for the remainder of 2015 - we run specials at all conventions and festivals, come out and see us if we're in your neck of the woods! 
  

August is the Sunday of Summer

Welcome back to THC's occasional update of what's happening in the studios. Here's what's new and on the horizon here for us!

• Stock Art! Lots of titles have been added to the stock art section, including a bunch of floating pencils that will add depth to your game or campaign - check it out! Running a sale until the end of the month - all items are only $2.95, and come with alteration rights to make your project shine. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/8677/Tortoise-amp-Hare-Creations 
  
• Arya Stark is finished and available for sale! https://www.etsy.com/listing/241216315/arya-stark-game-of-thrones-series 
  
• November is coming fast! Preparing a large series of new watercolors for the show at the Fine Arts Company in Hagerstown - mark your calendars now, the meet & greet will be November 14th from 6-8pm! 
  
• And definitely check out our Patreon to see an INCREDIBLE amount of art that isn't available anywhere else, like this piece, created for ENWorld's July issue. The Patrons get access to a lot of behind the scenes material, so come aboard and join us on our voyage! - https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations?ty=h 
  
• Commissions are still open! Currently booked until the end of August, but secure your spot now - my DA journal is kept up-to-date with my current rates and waitlist: http://indigowarrior.deviantart.com/journal/Artist-Bio-and-Rates-528468095 Get work like this piece, entirely in watercolor & ink (with hand-drawn lace): 
  
• And finally, all three Gina Harwood novels are now packaged on Etsy (for signed copies) here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/244518536/the-gina-harwood-series-signed-cycle-one or available in standard paper back or Kindle copies here: http://www.amazon.com/Indi-Martin/e/B00D6O29QA/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1 
  

• Upcoming Appearances 
• 9/11/15: 2015 Metro Event (Geocaching), New Jersey 
• 9/25/15: Baltimore ComicCon (3 day), Baltimore, MD
• 10/15/15: Going Caching (Geocaching), Rome, GA
• 10/30/15: AnimeUSA (3 day), Washington, DC
• 11/14/15: Fine Arts Company (Meet & Greet), Hagerstown, MD
• 11/22/15: VA Comicon (2 day), Richmond, VA

A massive thank you to our patrons and commissioners - we couldn't do this without you! 

The Dog Days of Summer

Welcome back to THC's occasional update of what's happening in the studios. Here's what's new and on the horizon here for us!

• Stock Art is Now For Sale! I'm slowly uploading all of my personally-owned pieces for stock art at DriveThru RPG - are you working on a game that you feel would benefit from some art to get your players engaged? Check out the library - it's literally growing every day, and you can use/alter/modify the art to fit your project.

  

  "The Watcher" - available for use at http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/8677/Tortoise-amp-Hare-Creations

• "Space Paladin" - 2015, painted for the June edition of TrailSeeker magazine/ENWorld. Check out the WIPs at our Patreon page! This will eventually be added to our Stock Art page. 
  
• Fan Art - Arya Stark - IN PROGRESS! See the WIPs as they develop over at https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations 
  
• GeoPunk Podcast - are you a Geocacher? Make sure you check out Will's GeoPunk podcast series playlist on our YouTube channel!
  
  
• While you're on our YouTube, check out the short tutorial I made for creating believable shiny scale mail on a black and white piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43ji-9fTnKo
  
  
  
• The Weeping Seven, Blake Blackstone's SotA-Community project, has been released with six new original pieces of art by me! Definitely check it out!
  

Lots of things happening behind the scenes that we can't QUITE share yet... for more information check out our Patreon page for all the haps!

Stars are Exploding, and Rainbows are Everywhere

What a fabulous time! Massive leaps forward in equality, and FIREWORKS! - really, I can think of no two things I love more. Welcome to the THC Update for June/July!

• Watercolors!
• I've been doing a lot of watercolor lately, both because I've been dying to get back to it, and in preparation for a November gallery show in Hagerstown! (And because I can shotgun Supernatural while I'm painting ;)) Prints are not yet available, but I'll post as soon as they are!

  

  Check out Indi's Deviant Art for more: indigowarrior.deviantart.com

• Also, we're working on improving our method of making watercolor glazes with naturally collected pigments, and have made a quick How-To video on the process. 
• Also, I've begun fulfilling some commissions in watercolors, so if you have an idea for one you'd like, check out my rates here: http://indigowarrior.deviantart.com/journal/ 
  
• Morel! Normally Morel gets it's own monthly entry, but this month, it get's included in the BIG update. Inclusiveness. :) Check out either the posts tagged "Morel" or Tortoise & Hare Creations' Instagram/Tumblr or Twitter pages to catch up on the story!
  
• Into Dreams! The first reviews are coming in, and they've been overwhelmingly positive. Be the first on your block to get into the series, and get well ahead of the curve! 

  

  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z214KXK?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

• Patreon! The second quarter's rewards just got sent out, and there were some GOOD ones, including the last proof of Into Dreams, signed over to winner Eric H.! There are nearly 200 entries in the patron feed - most are patron-exclusive. We have some exceptional plans for our patrons in the coming quarters, and you will not want to be on the outside looking in - JOIN TODAY! 

  

  https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations?ty=h

Upcoming Appearances!

If you're in Pennsylvania, make your way out to State College, PA next Saturday, July 11, for BookFest! We'll be there with bells on, and a stack of novels (as well as comics, and art!)

Into Dreams - It's Here! It's Finally Here!

It's here. It's finally here.

This was the largest literary undertaking I've ever attempted, and I cannot be prouder of the outcome. I've been on pins and needles since I sent in the final for today, and I'm so excited for people to discover the story. Link is below in the press release! - Indi

===============================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: INTO DREAMS, third novel in the Gina Harwood Series, to be released TODAY, JUNE 11, 2015!


Tying up the first arc, this final book in the trilogy has answers that you have been waiting for. Available on Kindle or in paperback: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1511472952


Synopsis: Picking up directly after Descending, the third novel in the series sees the Unit fragmented and fighting against an incomprehensible foe. Gina Harwood discovers that there are worlds beyond their own, and struggles to survive in the Dreamlands while tracking her fallen partner, Morgan. Charlie Parker leads the remaining agents on a chase to find a killer, only to find that perhaps something larger - and much, much darker - is pulling his strings. Into Dreams is the final novel in the first trilogy of the Gina Harwood Series, following Behind the Veil and Descending.

What is so rare as a day in June?

Here again, our occasional update on the goings-on inside THC!

• Into Dreams - A Gina Harwood Novel - Release Date is JUNE 11th!
  
• Synopsis: Picking up directly after Descending, the third novel in the series sees the Unit fragmented and fighting against an incomprehensible foe. Gina Harwood discovers that there are worlds beyond their own, and struggles to survive in the Dreamlands while tracking her fallen partner, Morgan. Charlie Parker leads the remaining agents on a chase to find a killer, only to find that perhaps something larger - and much, much darker - is pulling his strings. 
• You have ONE DAY! to get into the Goodreads giveaway for one of two advance, signed copies of Into Dreams - it's free to enter! Click here to try your luck - entries end June 5th at 11:59pm EST. 
• All of the Geocaching pinups are now available online! Spring through Winter, and they arrange to match the colors of the original geocaching logo. 
  
• New piece for the Dark Unknown bestiary has been released - meet the Giant Snake. She's very protective of her nest. Go here for more information on The Dark Unknown! See the works in progress for this piece (and many others) in our patron feed at www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations 
  
• GeoWoodstock was a BLAST!! While we're well out of the special GWXIII giveaway cards for the event, we still have a few GeoWoodstock XIII expansion packs still available. This six-card addition celebrates caching in Maryland, and can be easily shuffled in or out of the core deck thanks to the GWXIII logo in each corner. Order yours while you can - these are limited and will NOT be reprinted!
  
• Do you love geocaching events? Are you going to be in the Maryland area the weekend of August 23rd, and have access to a boat? Do you want to go on an adventurous quest on the high seas of the Potomac River and try to find the lost treasure? Then you may just want to check out the Pirates of the Potomac event for this year... it's going to be something special!
  

As always, thanks for checking us out! If you want to see more, check out our very robust Patron feed over at www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations!