@xin-li I am a native English speaker and I would consider those tracks in the snow. They are so pretty. I'm looking forward to seeing your entry!

@SFischer Hahaha. I think you'd be in good company with other SVS'ers on that list.

@JennyJones It would be very funny to see them all illustrated together. You have quite an eclectic list. Is it for one project?

@chrisaakins great list! I was curious about what would pop for the 1920's grandma, so I did a quick search myself. There's a lot of goodies in there.

@TessaW such a creepy list...but tis the season. Victorian style couches...too funny!

@NessIllustration I'm interested to see how the boom box fits in with the other items in the project. It sounds like a fun one!

Just for fun.

What are some really bizarre topics/words that you have googled/searched for lately while looking for illustration ideas/references?

I was thinking about this tonight as I was googling "places where desolate people go" to get inspiration for an illustration I am working on. I sincerely hope no one ever looks through my browser history.

Any funny ads pop up because of recent web searches?

@Shara-Mills good idea! A lower POV would also give a better view of the kids under the desk. I was having trouble with that. Thanks for the suggestion.

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 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.