SPECTREGRAPH inspo: acrylic ghoulie

I recently read SPECTREGRAPH by James Tynion IV and Christian Ward (lettering by Aditya Bidkar), and GOOD GAWD is it gorgeous!

Since I was nursing a cold the last few days, I finally cozied up and devoured it in one sitting. If you dig horror comics or haunted house stories, please check it out. I was struck by Ward's compositions and use of color, so I pulled out my M. Graham watercolors and acrylic inks and had fun. <3

Began with a wash of Phthalocyanine Blue watercolor with Reflex Rose acrylic ink. For fun, I mixed Reflex Yellow with Turquoise for a lovely green hue. Inks are Amsterdam and Daler-Rowney FW.

I've had my M. Graham watercolors since college. Their binder is honey; you can leave these paints on a palette for years and they will easily re-wet! This was a good reminder to USE THEM MORE OFTEN. They're challenging, but I need to challenge myself artistically. I feel like I hit a plateau ages ago. Life Happens and all that jazz, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't explore or experiment!

UV reactive colors are a BLAST. I'd like to invest in a UV flashlight down the road for artwork and rockhounding. :D

I touched up my painting with Fluorescent Pink and Yellow Posca paint pens. Super easy way to break up shapes and add visual contrast!

Honestly, I'd loved how this gradation turned out—but those chompers were screaming for more contrast. XD Voila!

11" x 15" watercolor and acrylic inks on watercolor paper

*inhales* THIS WAS FUN TO MAKE AND I MISS HAVING FUN MAKING ART!!

I've struggled to connect with my art since dropping it as a career path. Turns out that monetizing creative outlets is a good way to potentially kill them. It's a self-perpetuating rollercoaster. In 2021, I drew / wrote / scribbled 1,057 sketchbook pages across multiple sketchbooks; mostly Brainsick-related scenes, journal entries, and AU shenanigans. I thought I was enjoying myself, but I was terrified of 'losing' my skills! 

(I did enjoy much of it, and writing things down is one of the easiest ways to un-jumble my brain, but it did little to nothing to ease my anxiety.)

In recognizing my mental trifecta of ADHD, autism, and OCD, I've had to teach myself that it's okay if it takes me longer to create / feel UP TO creating than what I was force-fed during college. "DRAW EVERY DAY OR YOU'RE NOT A REAL ARTIST!!" is bullshit. My head worlds grow with me; they're living, breathing entities, and I don't have to publish them to feel like I've accomplished something. I may not fully understand my own characters until I hear a certain song, read a particular book, or even experience something in life that mirrors their fictional lives. 

The 20-Year Quest for Uyné's Color Palette

 Okay, okay--18 years, not 20. I've been drawing Uyné since 2006. I never thought it would take me so long to settle on its coloration! I gave it mandrill-like facial markings around 2010; the rest of its body was a mystery.

UNTIL NOW!! :D

Uyné's skin is covered in chromatophores; think chameleon or squid! It has a dense, translucent coat of fur, keeping color shifts visible. Its upper lip can fold over its jaw like a gelada baboon's.

 

The new and improved Uyné compared to last year's study.

Uyné's nicknames include The Mouth / Maw and The Devourer of Wrongful Souls; its full name, Uyné'Zhat-no-ej'Mophest, means "One Feared for its Mouth." With its newfound coloration, a new name sparked my imagination: The Sunsetter.

The Mouth takes no pride in its designation as Soul Devourer. Ages ago, it attacked and killed one of its siblings, maimed another; Tretzanis had poisoned it, thinking The Mouth could destroy all of its siblings. With the Faélbè--"The Five" lesser gods--gone, Tretzanis could assume power over his own siblings and sow chaos in their absence. He would have succeeded had Uyné not torn his throat.

Ezthlitofett--a vigilante--stepped in to stop The Mouth from harming anyone else. A lengthy chase and fierce battle ensued. Ez managed to strike The Mouth across the neck with his sword, negating the effects of Tretzanis' poison. As the poison wore off, Uyné, horrorstruck, beseeched Ez to kill it. Ez refused, talking the godling down instead.

With time, they become intimate. It's not a physical relationship until years later. Ez teaches Uyné the Common Tongue (like Esperanto or some kind of pidgin); Uyné offers Ez gentle paralytic bites to ease his chronic pain.

I love them. ;__;

Uyné shares an intimate relationship with Ezthlitofett. <3

(this is facing the right direction!)

I used my little Uyné puppet to keep its proportions consistent.

(this draft made from an older drawing)

Once these lovebirds are properly drafted, I wanna go to town with my markers. I had never attempted stippling with them until this color study! Chromatophores, here I come!!

It's nice to visit my fantasy babies again. Brainsick gets the bulk of my attention, but Fáèlborn is equally precious to me.

TL;DR lololol long time no post :U

2021 Goals and rearranging my work area! (SKETCHBOOKS)

2021 goals? CHECK. XD

I need a low-pressure way to share my sketchbooks again so I figured, WHY NOT ACTUALLY POST TO YOUR BLOG AGAIN, YOU DORK??

I rearranged my workspace shelving slightly to accommodate my current sketchbooks! (See also: updated corkboards yaaaay.) Sketchbooks were my refuge in 2020: I drew 686 pages across 18 sketchbooks!

My 2020 sketchbooks (eight total) are easily accessible, and I have six sketchbooks I'm doodling in daily or almost daily. I added a couple older sketchbooks I may still reference to the last letter tray (above).

To better organize my thoughts and story ideation, I keep separate sketchbooks for each story (namely Brainsick, Fáèlborn, and KriMauTai at this time--but almost exclusively Brainsick and its alternate universe, Count the Calm).

Collaging / decorating new sketchbook covers is one of my favorite past times. I'd ordered two Wonder & Weiss Create Collection sketchbooks from Ebay late last year after finding a couple in a local Ross sometime in 2019. W&W has no website that I can find, and the Ebay books were likely picked up from another secondhand store and sold at a markup--but I love them, so I fell for the bait. ;D

I will remove the covers from spiralbound sketchbooks to fully personalize them. They're easy to reassemble! This one is from December 1st, 2020:

With time, I added MORE STICKERS:

(front cover, back cover, inner front, inner back)

Pink skull by my friend, Ely (Spycyshark)
Space doggo by my friend, Sunny (The Acidic Slushie)
Strawberry cat by Crowlines
woodland critters from a cute sticker pack at Fred Meyer

Crystal fox sticker by Ely!

Headphones goblin by my friend Mike! (StickerSandwich)
Blue-tongued monster by my friend Merp! (MerplDerpl)

Granted, the paper in this particular sketchbook is not quite as sturdy, SO I've made it a sketchdump! LOTS of pages for quick, rough doodles that I can fix up in my mixed media sketchbook. Speaking of which!

Rat, moon, and another crystal fox by Spycyshark!

Space snake by Alum & Ink

Owl and datura by Black Sea Foam

Horned heart monster by StickerSandwich

Holographic monster by Kiriska

Constellation stickers by my friend Hannah (RoseBound Studio)

(Gorgeous holiday card by my bro Aki hangin' over my Surface)

I LOVE CANSON XL MIXED MEDIA SKETCHBOOKS. They're well-crafted and can weather a LOT of wet media applications!

The Book of Fonch is where I focus on my Count the Calm art. Camille said that "Book of Fonch" sounds like a cult BUT if it's a cult, it's like... a cult of loving yourself for who you are and cute found family shenanigans aaaand non-explicit asexual kink **wow** XD

Nightmute sticker by my friend N! (Nightmute)

Big Mood and AM PUPPY! by ButtsteakYUM!

WILD! by my friend Jen (Coffeehousedog)

Coffee Goblin by StickerSandwich (plus Heart Monster!)

Beanie fox by Spycyshark

Fat Cat Dragon by Spycyshark

Pupsicle by Coffeehousedog

Dork 4 Life by Michi Scribbles

Pink face washi tape by Commandurr14

Chubby unicorn by StickerSandwich

Green tiger sticker by Crowlines

Fat Cat Pants, Space Otter, and Chubby Chonken by Alum & Ink

Pride Possum and Slice of Life by Spycyshark

Wolf and bone by Nightmute

Cute and SPOOKY!! stickers by Commandurr14

SO TINY AND PRECIOUS <3
(by Commandurr14 / Lee Strawberry)

I... just REALLY LOVE STICKERS

I'll share some actual sketch pages here soonish! I WANT to share more of my sketchbook art; I just hate social media nowadays. I deactivated my Facebook account in November (after deliberating on it for years), and I share stories on IG but delete the app shortly after. I'll share more on IG eventually, but the break has been beneficial. 

I mostly share friends' art on Twitter, haha. :D

Here is a fat bird I found at Fred Meyer.

It reminds me of Fonch (AU Finch lolol)

I'm collecting Fonches at an alarming rate XD