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!

Last colouring page for 2022.

Thursday is the day when I create a colouring template for Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans Facebook group. It’s also the last one of this calendar year.

I’ve created a mandala that has a definitely starry theme. There are many ways of picking the starry shapes out for sure. I thought that stars radiating outwards would signify light and hope and good things spreading out around the world, a world that needs so much good now.

Halloween Whimsy!

What is Halloween without a clutch of whimsical drunken party skulls along with some tentacles, eyeballs, pumpkins and so on? Click on this link to see my YouTube video about how I drew and added colour to this drawing.

I love Halloween; it’s one of the few celebrations in the year that don’t fill me with deep sadness and cause emotional distraught. And, of course, when it comes to me, cute and whimsical, smiley and pretty is my preferred style of illustration.

I thoroughly enjoyed drawing this design earlier today. My whimsical heart was filled with joy as I just a few of my favourite things. I’m sure there’s a song there…

“Hats upon skull-ies and batwings on potions,
mushrooms on bottles and bright orange pumpkins,
Some stripy tentacles with round eyeballs,
These are a few of my favourite things.”

Well, it doesn’t rhyme, but it’s a start!

So whatever you are doing today, however you are celebrating, or not, I wish you the very best!

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!

Colouring Page – 20 Oct 2022

This week’s colouring page for the Facebook group “Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans” is a Hallowe’en themed mandala. It combines two of my favourite things – mandalas and Hallowe’en!

This design has a whimsical feel, but that is one of my default settings! And adding colour to it makes me feel much happier about the design.

Coloring Page – 29 Sept ’22

I drew this colouring page for Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans Facebook group this morning. It definitely has a fair few autumnal motifs; however, any kind of colours could be used!

I’ve partly added colour to the design, mainly to highlight some trickier areas with lots of detail.

Template Thursyay!

Click this link to join Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans Facebook group.

Today is the last day of astronomical summer; tomorrow is the autumnal equinox, the first day of astronomical autumn. Autumn is my favourite time of year. I love the warm, balmy days and the cooler, snuggly evenings cwtched up under a warm blankie. The changing colours are glorious – nature in her fiery finery!

I’m hoping that the glories of autumn will entice me out from home a bit more often, camera in hand. I can hope. I’m still finding it hard to go out and about. But little by little, I am getting out a bit more, from time to time.

Anyhoo, today’s colouring page is an autumn-themed mandala. Now I know that for those south of the equator, spring is incoming for them, but Hallowe’en and Thanksgiving and other celebrations take place according to the calendar rather than the seasons. So though I’ve coloured this template in rich autumn tones, it could be coloured in any way you wish.

I love to draw mandalas, and this one was no exception, especially the cute, whimsical mushrooms and pumpkins! And not forgetting the acorns and oak leaves too. I even managed to sneak a few hearts in there. And of course, stars and moons, berries and botanicals are always most welcome!

Shrouded in Celestial Light WIP

Late afternoon yesterday, I was listening to my “Liked Songs” playlist on Spotify and “Shining Light” by Ash came on. The lyrics “Shrouded in Celestial Light” just stuck in my head, so hand-lettering had to be done, followed by some entangled art!

I wanted to put the letters of “shrouded” overlapping, cwtched close together as if they were covering and protecting each other, apart from that brave S at the front (which I may alter digitally when I’ve finished this off). And that is one of the meanings of shrouded – to be protected and/or covered.

Naturally, stars had to feature in the entangled artwork around the hand lettering. What better to represent “celestial”, though the flowers and plants and seeds are related in a roundabout way.

Our sun is the star nearest to us and the source of natural light. The moon is closer, but it doesn’t generate any light itself, the light we see from the moon is reflected sunlight. Anyhoo, most life, as we know it, on Earth depends on the sun’s energy to remain alive. Without photosynthesis in green plants, there’d be no food. Some living things can exist without any energy from the sun, but they are extremophiles and live around extreme habitats, such as the deep ocean volcanically driven ‘smokers’.

I’ve digressed and slipped into science teacher mode! The point is, that though flowers and plants and seeds don’t seem to have a link to celestial light, they do, as they depend on sunlight to produce food, which gives them the energy they need to live and grow and reproduce and so on. All of us here on the Earth are shrouded in celestial light!

I really wasn’t sure how this was going to work out without a definite frame for the words, but I think by placing clouds and drifts of other things around the lettering it kind of looks like a view through to the celestial night sky, perhaps, with a bit of fanciful whimsy.

Template Thursday! 02 Dec 2021

I finished drawing this Entangled-Doodleworlds template this morning (and videoed the process too).

It’s full of whimsy and cuteness, patterns and critters, plants and other items. I always enjoy drawing templates like this, ones that have little stories in them (or so I discovered yesterday while videoing!).

The nicest thing, however, is that there are lots of areas, so it’s easy to choose one place, one arch, one motif to colour if you don’t have much time or are just overwhelmed by the overall task. This way, you get the satisfaction of completing one part of the design – whether it be a tiny heart, or one of the little worlds under the arches.

I enjoyed adding colour to just a few sections today. It’s always a good thing for me to work with Clip Studio Paint regularly so I can become familiar with the tools, and to learn new ways of working with it.

I always look forward to seeing how people use colour to bring my templates to life.

Here’s today’s video. It’s over an hour long … just a little warning!

Template Thursday!

As October has progressed, my weekly coloring templates (or coloring pages if you prefer!) have grown increasingly spooky. All in a cute and whimsical way, of course! It is now only 10 days away from Hallowe’en after all!

I’m particularly fond of my potion bottles and the drunken party skulls. Colour really does bring the line drawing to life.

I fell quite ill yesterday afternoon, digestive issues once again. I’m feeling better this morning, but still a goodly way from being ticketty boo.

I’ve yet to sort out my sketchbook page for today’s tangle pattern for Inktober Tangles 2021. I’ll do that once I’ve finished the social media stuff and had a mug of tea.

Oh, this coloring template (page) is available to the members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. You’re more than welcome to join the group!