Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which These Are Mostly Doodles/Concepts...

I have, as you may be aware, been plugging away at the art prompts from Kick In The Creatives' Creeptober list...

But the last couple weeks have been weird.

Last week, everything was all about my youngest sister's wedding, which, as I said on Tuesday, was PERFECT. It was marvelous and I hope the two of them have a wonderful marriage. It did mean that I was a bit wrapped up in the stresses of prep and then the tiredness of the following days (not that I cut a rug or anything, I'm just low-social, and having that many people around me was tiring in a very good way).

This week, you'd think I'd have less excuses to fall behind on art, but... somehow despite there not being anything going on, I still feel very tired and none of that is helped by me not being able to sleep. Yay.

Last night's lack of sleep had a reason, at least.

One of the massive horde of ladybugs that seem to be creeping into everyone's homes found its way into my bedroom, and instead of chilling on the ceiling or on a far wall like one of my spiders...

The big doofus was flying around like an idiot, smacking into walls, pinging off the metal shade to my bedside lamp, and most egregiously of all...

Landing. on. my face.

Ugh.

Nothing like waking up at 3am with little feet tapdancing on your nostril.

Creepy lil butthead.

Anyway, it's missing in action now, so there's every possibility that this headache I can't shake is from ingesting a toxic insect.

I'm mostly joking about eating the ladybug.

Because it really is nowhere to be found...

Anyway, after yesterday's rainstorms, today's gorgeous 65℉/18,3℃ weather with its broad blue sky and wondrously golden light and balmy winds is a treat. A treat that I enjoyed in owl pants and a tee with Putties from Power Rangers on it under the label "Jobbers". Also a yellow flannel shirt. While wielding sandpaper and scrubbing furiously at rocks.

Anywho, I did end up doing the art from the 14th to today, it's just.... kind of more conceptual than finished. And there are some pieces that I'd love to finish some day!

"SPELL"; pencil sketch; 2022

"MONSTER" pen sketch; 2022

"HORROR FILM"; marker sketch; 2022

Yes, Horror Film is flipped on its side. My camera was being very, very combative that day. And yes, it's based on "Halloween". I'd actually like to try this one again, because the idea of taking something that should be Orange and Red and Silver and making it in entirely pink/magenta tones is kinda calling to me. I'd try it in Krita, I think.

As for Monster, that thing is adorable, but I wouldn't want to meet it on a moonless night. And Spell has a lot of potential in a more graphic style - it might make a fun piece of flash some day.

"FESTIVAL"; marker sketch; 2022

Oh Festival... I want to redraw this some day as a proper engraving-style piece. It's supposed to look like a Halloween-themed Maypole being danced around by various monsters - a bat, a skeleton, a headless ghost, a minotaur, and maybe a cat? I would love to play with this concept some more!

"SCARY FACE" marker sketch; 2022

"GRAVEYARD"; pencil sketch; 2022

"GOBLIN/I LIKE ROCKS"; marker and pencil sketch; 2022

"PUNCH" marker & pencil sketch; 2022

"CLOWN"; marker sketch; 2022

"SILHOUETTE"; pencil; 2022

"TWILIGHT"; marker sketch; 2022

"FULL MOON" marker sketch; 2022

"THROUGH THE WINDOW"; marker sketch; 2022

"GOTH" marker and pencil; 2022

I am extremely happy with how both Goblin and Goth turned out. They're both self portraits, after a fashion. I buzzed my hair yesterday and honestly, it's not bad! I can't do makeup to save my life, though, and I haven't owned a pair of purple pants in years.

I'm also thrilled with Silhouette, which is a silhouette of a human skull! Graveyard is based on a still from Plan 9 From Outer Space, and Scary Face is supposed to be a Gengar from Pokemon, but... yeah, he be wonky.

Those are the prompts for the last 14 days! I should post again on Halloween as a General Halloween Blog so check back then to see the last few prompts:

• Costume
• Party
• Trick or Treat
• Something You're Afraid Of

If you'd like to have a say as to what each of those contain, feel free to shoot me a coffee over on Ko-Fi with a message saying which category you'd like to add and for which prompt. The prompts are above, the categories are

• Animal
• Vegetable
• Mineral
• Dedbert
• Location
• Geometric
• Word

I'm really looking forward to closing out this month, and I'm gonna have a good time finishing up!

How about you guys, any plans for Halloween?

And I hope you go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which I Have Pictures For You!

That's right - in spite of the fact that I accidentally chucked my pallet (oops - I'll have to get to work on that) and couldn't find any watercolor pencils to do undersketching in time, I have two new pictures for you!

"Fantasy Landscape"; Watercolor on paper; 2021

So first up, we have a "Fantasy Landscape" which I'm pretty happy with as random watercolor warmups go! This was made by randomly laying down colors until the whole page was finished, and then I let it dry. I'd like to try other, more abstract, works with water color so until my new pencils show up from the internet (because I still can't get a straight answer on whether or not the local art shop closed due to the pandemic...) that might be what I'm up to!

"Geostriping"; Bic Intensity Fineliner on watercolor paper; 2021

This is another idea I'm pretty happy with. Next time I try it, I'll use a bigger piece of paper, more colors, and a ruler, but as a first attempt, it's pretty solid! I love geometric designs and I adore these colors, so this was a lot of fun!

Now you're probably wondering why I'm suddenly all aflutter about watercolor pencils, and it's really quite simple:

I want to be able to draw things and then watercolor them in.

It's that simple. I just want to be able to take some water pens on the road and draw.

I'd love to be able to grab my bike and ride down to the waterfront, my art supplies in the little basket at the front with my water bottle and a sandwich... so that's my plan!

I also want to bring my little sketchbook and pencils for regular sketches - sometimes graphite it the way to go, after all!

Anyway, I just wanted to share some updates with y'all regarding the art struggles :)

Go Enjoy Something!!!

FC

Thursday Art Walk 308: The Sun Is A Liar

In Which The Sun Tells Lies

I got up with the sun this morning - a rare feat only occasionally accomplished either through insomnia or just poor quality sleep (which was the case last night). It was a beautiful sunrise - all pink and purple and bright - and then the sun itself appeared and took its place in the sky, shining brightly. The sun made a lot of promises when it got up this morning. It has kept none of them.

It's currently 23℉(-5℃), there's a breeze, and while the sun shines brightly... well... the ice is very slippery.

The Shadow would be alarmed.

So poor Dedbert, he took one tentative tap on the window to see if he'd be interested in going outside today, and... well...

"The Sun, She is a Liar"; washable marker and graphite on sketch paper; 2020

He's currently huddled in his nest, pretending it's not daylight.

I'm tempted to do the same, but I have dinner to make, a story to write, and a partner to team up with, so off I go, into the cold, cold day.

How's the weather out there, folks? Cold enough for ya?

Go Enjoy Something,
FC