Inktober 2019: day 30 - gel pens

There was also just time enough for one more Sweetpea! He really wants to show you how lovely he tree’s Autumn leaves and acorns are.

Inktober 2019: day 26 - G-pen

Poppet’s friend found a smashed up breakfast bar, and it was far too big to eat alone.

This was much simpler in my head than it was to draw! Poppet and her friends are very easy to draw, but I didn’t factor in having to draw the breakfast bar and figure out how to position them all.

Inktober 2019: day 25 - ink and water

She emerged unharmed from a deadly house fire, and now when she touches objects they ignite.

This is the same girl from day 21, somewhat earlier in life. By the time she’s employed as a servant she’s learned to control whatever is happening to her, but at first she would leave charred footprints everywhere she went.

I was tabling at London MCM from the 25th to the 27th, so I tried to keep them simple for those three days.

Inktober 2019: day 24 - ink and water

This isn’t quite as dangerous as it looks.

This one was originally going to have a dramatic background, but I was travelling to London with a suitcase I could barely lift, so this was all I could manage. I think I might re-draw it; it might be interesting to have a true comparison between what I had in my head and what I was actually able to do within the limits of the challenge.

Inktober 2019: day 22 - gel pen

Sweetpea and some of his friends are comparing the Autumn fruits of their trees.

I was trying to keep this one simple because I was starting to get very tired, but I put in too many characters and props! It wasn't hard exactly, but it was time consuming.

Inktober 2019: day 21 - ink and water

She knows she’s supposed to use matches to light the fires.

This is another character who hasn’t really appeared before. You might see her again before the month is over.

Inktober 2019: day 20 - mapping pen

It’s not clear to anyone why Coda attracts so many butterflies.

I went for something simple again because I’m tabling at London MCM this weekend and I’m starting to panic a little bit!

Inktober 2019: day 19 - brush inking and coloured ink

If they fall down without time to prepare, they don’t come out right.

Inktober 2019: day 18 - fineliners and ink wash

Jessie can summon lightning even on a clear day.

I spent a good 20 minutes just staring at my sketchbook drawing a total blank on ideas, so in the end I decided to extend the ‘girls looking straight forward’ set from last year. Maybe I’ll do a few more?

Inktober 2019: day 17 - Pentel pocket brush and felt tips

His whispers blend right in with your own thoughts, until you can’t tell the difference.

Inktober 2019: day 10 - G-pen

Sweetpea is trying on a new hat, but I don’t think it’s going to stay on over his hair. Maybe he’ll have better luck once the other ear frill drops.

I promise I drew this on the day, I just ran out of time and/or energy to scan it! I keep coming up with ideas that I know will take too long, but then I can’t bring myself to go with a weaker idea so I end up having to finish it at night. I know Sweetpea well enough that I didn't have to think too hard about this one, but there is a certain irreducible length of time it takes to do all that cross-hatching.

(If you know your nuts and seeds you can work out how big he is by that hat.)

Mermay 2019

If you follow me on twitter or instagram you'll know I attempted the Mermay challenge this year! The idea is to draw a mermaid every day during the month of May, not unlike Inktober but with the subject chosen for you instead of the medium. Here are all 31 of my completed mermaids!

I tried my best, but I wasn't quite able to finish these inside May. I fell behind a couple of times and had 3 mermaids left to do in June. I also spent more than one day on the last one, since it was already late.

Since the medium isn't restricted in this challenge I did a lot of experimenting with techniques I might not normally use, mostly colouring with a set of cheap novelty pencils (2, 19, 21, 24 and 27) and trying to paint with water-soluble felt tips (8, 13, 14, 23 and 25). I don't know if the felt tips are ever going to look quite the way I want them to, but I was pleasantly surprised by the kind of results I could get out of the cheap pencils with a little patience. (They don't scan very well though, there isn't enough pigment.)

I'll be printing these in a little zine now that they're all done, so please look out for that!

4 Fantasy Eyes

I realised I had just enough pages left in what has become my 'eyeball sketchbook' to do two more sets of four eyes, so here's four fantasy characters for one of them. An angel, a demon and two fairies.

Previous sets include some horrible eye deformations, and four sci-fi characters.

Inktober 2018 : Day 29 - Pentel Pocket Brush

As Hallowe’en approaches it gets harder for Leilus to hide his unnatural features, but in this age of contacts, acrylics and prosthetic makeup he can still hide in plain sight if he chooses his outings carefully.

This was originally going to have spot colour, but I ended up having to do it at work where I didn’t have any of my coloured pens, so it became a game of ‘how much flat black can I put on this before it becomes an unreadable mess’. The answer was 'quite a lot'!

Inktober 2018 : Day 28 - fineliners and grey pen

Here’s a Sweetpea to match Coriander from day 3! I normally try to avoid doing so many dolly style pictures in a row, but I was too tired for anything more complicated. MCM has insane opening hours these days, it even opens at 9am on the Sunday! Opening before 10 o'clock on a Sunday is just unnatural.