Meet the Scribblings! My kind of quirky, creepy, cute fellows!
The Scribblings is my working name for the wide community of fellows that are appearing in this style of art. That title may change, though …it’s not set in stone yet!
This one I really liked this until I added the greyish blue crosshatching background. I used softer colours that are still vintage. But, I think the background colour has detracted from them – too dark, too textured, both? I don’t know.
I do know, however, that I could kick myself for not scanning the drawing in before starting to add colour!
I know I want to add some shadow around them. Maybe I’ll see if I can lighten or remove the background digitally at some point too.
What I do know is that I have a few more characters to add to my “bestiary” to work with in different ways.
Even though I’m not fond of the background at all, the characters still make me smile. The softer colours have also entranced me too.
I’m delighted with this artwork/illustration. I love the colours, the silly, creepy, cute characters, and the whimsical nature of the design. There was a smile on my face, a giggle on my lips and joy in my heart as I gradually brought the characters to life. The joy also came from the sensuous pleasure of working entirely with traditional media.
I hope I’m gradually getting to grips with using crosshatching and textural patterns to add shadows to the designs. There’s a way to go before I work out all the intricacies and the way I like to do this, but I’m quite happy with it for now.
To add colour, I used Chameleon Color Tones and Color Tops alcohol markers, with a couple of Winsor and Newton Promarkers in places. The Chameleons worked really well for me. Also, I remembered to use tip-to-tip blending so I could fade the colours out with the Promarkers, too.
Today, I very much needed some time to work quietly in an artistic manner. I’ve burned myself out through too much ‘peopling’ in the past couple of weeks. I’d nearly recovered, but an encounter with scammers threw me into total emotional overwhelm yesterday and I now need a few days to recover. Well, at least I will after I phone my bank again tomorrow to start the fraud investigation.
I love to draw and create. My creepy cute critters are currently my favourite thing to do. They’ve followed on from the colouring book I finished at the beginning of this month – “Haunted”, which is due to be released towards the end of October 2024.
Actually, as I think about it, I was playing around with silly creepy creatures about a year and a half ago, but put them to one side for a while.
Of course, the artwork above was entirely for my own pleasure and exploration of how I’d like to create these critters. I already know that some, if not all of them, will be featured in their own artwork, perhaps with a story to tell or some lore about them. I wonder what kinds of things that will be. I don’t know for now, but I trust my imagination will come out in words too. That won’t be now, however. I’m now tired for today and need to prepare for bed, for me and my creepy weirdies to rest and sleep and to dream up some joyful tales. And names. They definitely need names!
Another daily creepy cute critter. Well, almost daily. I’ll explain more in a moment, first to this lovely bunch of pals, or not lovely, depending on your interpretation.
I’m not sure what the possible story is or what stories are here. But that’s part of the fun. I suspect we’ll each see what makes sense to us, given where we are at any particular moment. I feel the tall one is having an aww shucks moment, especially as the ears are blushing (not the cheeks!). Is it a celebration? Or surprised someone would think of them, and the little one is rolling their eyes… again! Is tall always blue in colour, or is it a sign of their low mood and the others have thought to cheer them up?
But, of course, that is just one interpretation. It’s fun to muse about what’s going on for sure.
‘Puter Probs…
I’ve been missing from blog posts, social media and YouTube for a few days thanks to some computer problems. But all seems to be fine now, and I have a shiny new laptop that will function as a backup for digital art should my main computer have problems again. I have no idea what went wrong, but I went into full flap and panic mode. Or, an enormous flap and panic mode as I was already overwhelmed with a second deadline looming at the end of this week. The only problem with the new one is the pen on the screen is not as good as my main puter. So, I see a drawing tablet in the future, just in case…
I still have a lot of anxiety left over from this flap and panic, which is tiring me out. But that will fade. Tea will definitely help this morning! As will some art just for art’s sake too.
What’s going on here, then? Some of my cuties caught in action… Sometimes we all need the help of a friend to dispel the emotional storm clouds that gather. This little, cute, pink critter seems to be spreading lots of love and a helping hand and I’m sure he’d be happy if he made you smile too!
Tradigital art – drawn with a ‘hard’ Tombow Fudenosuke pen on SeaWhite of Brighton All Media paper and colour added digitally in Clip Studio Paint.
I’m getting into the habit of starting my day with some creepy cute monster cartoon-like art. All just for fun, of course…for now.
As it is getting to be my preferred method, the design was drawn with pen on paper and colour was added digitally in Clip Studio Paint. That makes it tradigital art!
There always seems to be a story hidden in these little drawings. Where in the seemingly barren land have they been to collect such treasures? Is that a flower? A hat? An upside-down mushroom with some herby leaves? And what about the heart? Is it a gemstone, a pillow, or some wondrous fruit? And what is the little one hiding behind his back? Or maybe they’ve not been out collecting, but these are prizes won in some competition. Or, perhaps the story behind this drawing is completely different.
For now, only these two know for sure. But maybe they’ll share their tale with me at some point!
I’m having way too much fun with these small, funny, cutely creepy drawings. They are a lovely way for me to do some warm-up art and express my inner child. And possibly some probably other stuff too.
The drawings make me smile, especially when I add colour, and they come to life as if by magic. To be honest, when they’re just black-and-white line art they look .. bare, childish even. But the colour … well. That’s the magic that breathes life into them.
I’m sure there’s a story to be told with these … but not tonight! However, I do think I’m probably the purple one!
Art is the Adventure 