A Grand Day (Creepy Cute Style!)

Where has this monstrous mushroom been? And why has the raven accompanied him? The sun has set on the day, and the stars twinkle in an alien sky. Yet the mushroom has managed to acquire a cute heart balloon and a rainbow lollipop, and a bit of a sickly complexion too. Where in the galaxy have these companions been and what have they been up to?

I’m sure there’s a story to tell, but if there is, these unlikely companions are keeping it to themselves… for now. And if I know the tale, and I’m not saying I do, then I will have been sworn to secrecy too!

I could be accused of having too much fun with my creepy cuties (Kreepy Kuties?). Does that bother me? Not one tiny bit! I’m enjoying drawing, exploring a new kind of style to add to my toolbox, and just plain indulging myself in some creepy, crazy, cute, critter-y, klutzy monsters!

I finally turned to digital art to colour in my pen drawing. What a sigh of relief I gave as I did so. Yes, it’s fun to add colour with traditional media, to a degree in my case. But it’s so much more satisfying for me to add colour and texture digitally.

Traditional pen drawing on paper combined with the addition of digital colour makes it tradigital art!

Doodleworlds Colouring Page – 12 Jan 2023

This is my first colouring page of the year for Angela Porter’s Colouring Book Fans Facebook group. Last week, I was busy getting all the templates for Whimsical Houses done. I got them all done, but some changes have been requested for a couple. So before starting to do them, I thought I’d just take some time to create some art for fun.

Doodleworlds, my cute, kawaii, doodle-style art, fit the bill perfectly. It always makes me smile to draw drunken party skulls and tentacles, cute critters and monsters, stars and flowers, and more.

I’ve been a bit (to a lot) out of sorts over the past several days. I think I may know what is at the root of it. It’s all definitely a work in progress, though! Art, however, is always where I find solace and calm amid an emotional and mental storm.

I do know, however, that storms eventually run their course. The clouds that hide the sun disperse, and the sunshine, light and surety of mind and heart return. So, my posts and videos are likely to be a bit less frequent for a while longer. But I’ll find equilibrium again, as I always have done.

Oh, it’s nothing to worry about! I am fine, honestly! I just wanted to explain my continued sparseness of posts. All will be fine and well for sure.

Doodleworlds Colouring Page

This week’s colouring page is cute, whimsical and silly. It’s one in my Doodleworlds style. Although it has a kind of wintery, Christmassy kind of theme, Hallowe’en has to make an appearance too! After all, the mushrooms, monsters and drunken party skull would be most upset if they didn’t ‘art bomb’ the drawing!

It’s been a long time since I drew some Doodleworlds art, and I’m tad out of practice. But I think it’ll do.

If you’d like to print the colouring page, then you need to head over to the Facebook group called “Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans“. It’s available for free there.

Colouring Page – 3 November 2022

This week’s colouring page is a typically ‘Angela’ entangled one; it’s just what wanted to flow out of my pen today. And that most probably has a lot to say about what’s going on in my subconscious today. I’m well out of sorts for sure. I think I know what is causing it, but, like the weather, it will pass along.

Colouring Page – 28 October 2022

October is nearly at a close. So, this week’s colouring template for Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans Facebook group is my last Halloween-themed one for this year.

I absolutely love Halloween; it’s the only yearly celebration that isn’t filled with triggers for emotional upsets. If I could change the date of my birthday, it would be Halloween! It’s not the horror-filled aspects that grab me, it’s the fun and laughter I associate with this time of year.

I love creating whimsical art all year round, but changing the scary for cute is a lot of fun at Halloween. It makes me smile and fills my heart with joy. As far as I’m concerned, skulls and pumpkins, ravens and potions, ghosts and ghoulies and all the other wonderful things associated with Halloween are not just for Halloween!

“Thistle” – An Art Nouveau Inspired Drawing

I’ve spent some time over the last day or two looking at Art Nouveau flower designs. I was particularly fascinated by a thistle design.

This is my interpretation of the design drawn with Copic Multiliner SP pens (0.1, 0.25 and 0.5) on paper. Then, after scanning the drawing, I added colour digitally using Clip Studio Paint. So, this counts as ‘tradigital’ art!

I chose a simple colour palette; I was inspired by William Morris, the Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau. And, the colours are more mellow than is, perhaps, characteristic of my work.

The version on the left has just flat colours, no shade or highlight; I let the contour lines suggest volume. This is more true, I think, to the Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau.

To the version on the right, I added some shadows and highlights, but subtly for me. And even though they are subtle, they have a distinct effect, which surprised me.

These show just two of the many coloured backgrounds I tried out. This is why I love adding colour digitally! It’s so easy to try out different colour combinations, methods of adding colour, and so on.

Which version do you prefer?

I like them both, but I think the one on the right is my favourite; I like the stronger background colour which allows the flower to ‘pop’. I also think the subtle shadows and highlights do add a little something to it too.

Illustrated Journal Page “Heatwave” – WIP

This was fun to do, though it’s not quite finished yet.

It’s tradigital art. I started by drawing the design on dot grid paper, then completed the inking and colour and so on digitally.

I’ll finish adding colour when it’s a tad cooler! It truly is sweltering here, and I need to find my way to cooler parts of my home.

Template Thursyay! 11 Aug ’22

Click here to view today’s video where I draw the bottom right panel.

This week’s colouring page is a little different. It has four designs on it. Each one would look adorable when coloured and mounted on a blank or postcard card. They would make a lovely decoration for a bullet journal, journal or diary.

The template is available to Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans Facebook group members.

Illustrated Journal Page and Lettering Practice

Sunday morning (and Saturday evening, which was when this page was started) is the perfect time to practice my lettering, a quirky kind of illustrated journal page, and digital art practice.

I had intended to use just three, maybe four, basic colours for this page, but the vegetables threw me a tad!

I drew the page on paper with a fine Zig Mangaka Flexible pen. The Colour was added digitally after scanning the page. And I had a lot of fun as ideas clicked into place to add colour to the lettering.

Admittedly, some of the inking work is a tad clunky, but that could be fixed if I wanted to. It is a sketchbook page, and so perfection isn’t required. Giving myself permission to work with what I deem as less than perfect is an important lesson I’m trying to learn. Expressing myself in this wobbly, wonky, imperfect, quirky, eccentric, whimsical kind of way is a work in progress.

Oh, I’ll still draw detailed, intricate black and white pen designs. But I suspect I’ll do much more of this style of art. I have much to learn about it, using colour with no black lines, for instance. But I know it’s all a process, and I’ll get to where I need to be. I know that I’m really enjoying the combination of traditional ink drawing with digital colour – tradigital?

I’m not sure my Doodleworlds critters belong, but I just couldn’t resist popping them in to fill an awkward space!