Fishes in ink and watercolours. These little guys were really fun to do.

I like @Lee-White 's advice on calling the preliminary concept sketches "thinkings" instead of drawings. To add to that, I always disliked putting "thinkings" into a sketchbook because I can have up to 5 (sometimes more) pages worth of thumbnails and sketches for one concept. Often the sketches are ugly because I'm just focused on throwing the ideas onto paper. I ended up doing less sketchbook work in general because of this.

Now I use a folder-style clipboard stocked with copy paper for my "thinkings" and it works great for me. It's inexpensive, reloadable, portable and I don't have to worry about having a nice drawing. Plus, I like that the pages are super easy to scan (no binding to interfere) and that I don't have to store loads of sketchbooks with work that I mostly dislike.

If there are sketches that I do like, I cut and glue (or tape) them into my journal and call it a day.

All in all, a great episode. I tend to have a million and one ideas for an illustration and then at the end of the day, play it safe (probably too safe) because I doubt my ability to get my far-out-there ideas out onto the page. It's good to know that it's better to go more wild to begin with and be wrangled back in than to play it safe and end up with a boring illustration.

A sketch for mushroom village. A spirit-like lady releasing spores to the city-scape of mushrooms below. I am going to attempt to make it a night scene with lots of glowing spores and mushrooms. It will be a new technique for me. I am excited to start the process, but unsure of the outcome.

Re: Mushroom Village WIP

5 months late...but I finished the painting for June's contest "Mushroom Village" and figured I may as well share it. I procrastinated so hard on this one because I was scared of painting glow-y things at night and messing it up badly. But then I just went for it and actually learned a lot from the process. I'm glad I finished it...better late than never.

High up in the evertrees
The lady light does glow
She sets free seeds and moon-beam dreams
Onto the floor below.

For the September Monthly Challenge, I decided to go with:

Everyone was shocked to see her show up to school with the monster under her bed.

I wanted to show the girl riding in on her bed (cowgirl-style) while wrangling the monster underneath. The girl is having a grand ole time. The monster is a little tired but otherwise unphased. The teacher and other kids are (well) shocked, as per the prompt and mostly taking cover under the teacher's desk. Is this how the sketch is reading? Feedback welcome.

I had originally wanted the monster to be some type of scary unicorn, but decided to go with something more cartoony. I left the unicorn horn on him in this sketch but can modify/remove it if it isn't working.

I'm not a gambler, but I always see this superstition in the movies. When playing a game of chance with dice, the player will kiss or blow on the dice (or get a pretty lady to kiss or blow the dice) for good luck. Big money, big money, big money.

Second sketch with a few changes and some text below that will end up somewhere on the illustration (maybe).

High up in the evertrees
The lady light does glow
She sets free seeds and moon-beam dreams
Onto the floor below.

Holy Moly! Thank you for sharing. It's amazing to see how you've developed as an illustrator. Great stuff.

In the first image, the giant boy seems friendly in a neutral way. It's as though he was just wandering down the street and friendly greeting the people as he goes along his merry way.

In the second picture, it feel like the boy is menacing and could be up to no good. I think it's because of how the shadow falls over the people in a looming sort of way. If this is not the intent, perhaps it would feel less intimidating if the shadow fell onto the buildings instead of onto the people below.

In the third picture, it feels as if the boy is friendly in an excited/over-eager way. It's as though he is trying to get the little people to be his friends or come along with him on some grand adventure. It also seems like he is ready to jump up, whereas in the other two photos it seems like he is more grounded and just crouching down.

In my opinion, each could work. It just depends on what story you are trying to convey.

It is still July where I live (for 2 more hours anyways). I have been working on some technical skills this month. I am getting groovy with my figure drawing (at least 15 minutes per day). I am diligently building my ink mark-making reference sketchbook. I have also been exploring the world of digital illustration. It is a whole new, extraordinarily different world, but it's nice to challenge myself.

I have also been taking some SVS courses on the business side of things. Maybe I can start making money on my illustrations soon?!

The posted image is a digital sketch. I think it's a good start, but I have a lot to learn. My husband didn't appreciate the darkness of the subject but sometimes I just want to draw evil creatures and skeleton fish. Other times I draw flowers. Life is about balance, no?

@Neha-Rawat this is good to know. It didn't occur to me to rotate the screen instead of the tablet. I've been resting over the weekend (traditional art only). Its been a couple days and I can still feel the strain. I'll give it a few more days. Thanks.

@NessIllustration I think it may have something to do with having the drawing tablet in a fixed position. With traditional drawing, I swing and move the paper around a lot to get different angles. I'm also moving my arm and hand a lot. With digital, I'm in the same position the majority of the time. I've tried moving the tablet on angles as I draw, but my lines always go off in weird directions. My brain can't fathom that tablet to screen correlation with the tablet on an angle.

@Cayleen I've use my desk and chair for both traditional and digital, so I dont think it's either of those. The stylus pen maybe? I'm not sure. I've tried changing the pressure settings so that I dont have to push as hard, but I'm still getting fatigue in my hand and elbow. I drew with the stylus for a few hours straight yesterday and I'm still feeling it, especially in the elbow.

Maybe it's just that I'm not taking enough breaks. Whereas working traditionally, I'm forced to take breaks while the ink or watercolour layers dry.

@Cayleen isnt that interesting. What type of mediums did you use traditionally?

I also figured that there's no reason for her to be upset, so I changed her expression. I might also get rid of the Up, Up, Up speech bubble altogether now, since it doesn't really fit anymore.

Holy Moly! Thank you for sharing. It's amazing to see how you've developed as an illustrator. Great stuff.

I am just starting out with digital art using a Wacom Intuos Art tablet and the standard pen it comes with.

With traditional art, I can draw for hours at a time and I don't seem to get hand or arm strain.

After a couple hours of digital art, I can feel my hand and arm get fatigued? Is this a common thing with digital art? Or am I doing it wrong?

I ended up doing an entire re-draw on this one. I couldn't find a good reference photo online with the perspective I wanted, so I stood on the coffee table and got my son to model for me. He's such a good sport. Haha.

I also scaled down the toys using the head as a reference.

Ignore the scribbles. My daughter was helping me draw.

@Joe-Hanson-Tannous Haha. I meant the site literally wouldnt let me post or comment until my account was at least 5 minutes old. I should be good to go by now.

@NessIllustration yes. You're right. I'm going to study some similar perspectives and try again tomorrow.

I'm determined to get it.