Rainbow Art Journal – Gay Mothman

I am excited by the fact of only having a few pages left in this Rainbow Art Journal. I feel like I have been pootling around in this particular art journal for so many years. Too many years. I have completed countless other art journals and art projects within that time frame but this one was malingering because I kept putting it back down as many times as I picked it up. I made it one of my goals for this Summer to just power through and almost exclusively work in this art journal so that I could finally complete it and file it away. I, therefore, feel a sense of achievement already that there are only a few pages left. I have decided that these final pages should be dedicated to all of the colours combined. Rainbows to the finish line.

This illustration is another Draw This In Your Style challenge. This one is based on an original character created by a very young artist named Myla. One of her characters is Gay Mothman who just makes me smile every time she shares artwork featuring him. I love cryptids and his rainbow garb suited my needs for this particular section of my art journal so I thought I would – as the challenge suggests – draw him in my style. After working in neutrals for a while, it was so much fun to splash all of those colours around.

Rainbow Art Journal – Dapper Bigfoot

I find cryptids interesting and I enjoy drawing them. It has been a while since I drew any so I thought I would draw Bigfoot. I could have drawn the scruffy, feral Bigfoot who skulks around the forest but I thought it would be fun to draw Bigfoot dressed up and with a bit of personal grooming. I unfortunately made him a bit bug-eyed and should have resolved that eye shape before going in with the ink. Otherwise I am pretty happy with this drawing.

This illustration is another attempt at using gouache. I am still using it like watercolour, very diluted, so I probably need to get braver about using it at a thicker texture. Even diluted, however, I am finding that the chalky quality to the paint means I am losing some of the detail of my ink work unless I go back over the paint after it has dried. I don’t know whether that approach will work over thicker paint, however. Maybe those of you with experience with gouache can help me find that happy balance with the medium.

Abominable Snowman

It is only January and I am already so over Winter.  I like to be warm and cosy.  I dislike shovelling.  My kids have not and will not have a full week of school this month thanks to snow days, early dismissals, and late arrivals.  While I love spending time with my kids, it has been pretty disruptive and we are a family who does better with routine.  Winter is the price I pay for getting to enjoy the other seasons of the year.  Alas, it is too early for me to even start searching out the first signs of Spring.

Anyway, thoughts of snow, ice, and winter chill inspired my most recent art journal page.  Technically it is a response to the Art Journal Adventure prompt which was the letter A.  I had already been thinking about creating an illustration of a Yeti so I am just labelling him as the Abominable Snowman to fulfil the prompt.  I love monsters and mythology and cryptids so I always enjoy drawing them.  This yeti is inspired by a painting I did in my altered book of monsters a couple of years ago.  That painting was just the face but this time I drew the whole body.