Misfortune Tellers

Posted on October 26, 2015 by drawesomeillus

One of the things I find interesting about existing as a creative being – and hearing about other people’s interpretation of being creative – is the concept of having an idea. Sometimes I feel it’s not that ‘I have an idea’ but ‘an idea has me’. It’s my duty then, to bring that idea into being. If this sounds a bit trippy – writer Elizabeth Gilbert has a nice way of explaining it in her Ted talk.

So, with inspiration in my heart, I created some Fortune Tellers last year – The U lti mate In Fortune Telling Technology. The idea wasn’t quite done with me and this year I’ve been sketching and painting and writing so that I can craft fortune tellers that are even more super awesome. As my new creations are being printed as we speak, it felt right to show you a sneak peek behind the scenes and show you my work in progress.

My fortune tellers have a macabre slant to them, so they became known as Misfortune Tellers. Within that, I’d written several themes, so you can discover your future in a variety of worlds. Whether mythical stories or horror flicks are your thing, I’ve got a grisly future for you.

Work In Progress

As I enjoy both writing and drawing, the path of a project will either start with written content or drawn sketches and doodles. It is my intention for both to come from a place of play and instinct. Expanding on the written themes. I wanted to create colour sections that suited each written theme. I’ve always liked the Day of the Dead aesthetic and as well as feeling the overall theme was relevant to my written misfortunes, the skulls I designed took inspiration from both the sugar skull decoration, and various aspects of the given theme.

Once I was happy with the designs, I traced them onto watercolour paper and inked them up. I prefer to use dip pen and ink to get the variations in the line. I love effect you can get with sticks (which I’ve used for past artworks) but they’re definitely less accurate. The skulls were quite small and detailed, so dip pen it was.

Once the ink was dry, I mixed up my colours and painted all the skulls of one colour in one go to keep the continuity between the themes. Then when that was done, I used a black(ish) ink to fill in the outside, making the skulls stand out against the background.

Scanning them and formatting them was the next step – where my paintings and written work were finally combined. Once saved, I sent them onto the printer and am currently waiting excitedly…

I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Watch this space for photos.

If you live in the Bristol UK area, I’ll be telling misfortunes at an exhibition opening for The Art Troupe, themed on Circus Splendour. It’s on Thursday 19th November at The Edwardian Cloakroom, come say hello, and get your misfortune told if you dare…

If you’re not about, then you can still join in the fun – visit my Drawesome page on Facebook and/or Twitter to get your misfortune told and be in with a chance to win yourself a pack of misfortune tellers!

There’s More To Carving A Pumpkin Than Carving

Posted on October 30, 2014 by drawesomeillus

So what do you do if you want to carve a squash but you’ve already eaten some of its delicious squashiness? We’re well and truly into squash season and since discovering that there is so much more to squash than the pumpkin offering you get in your average supermarket, I’m trying to cram as much of the glorious food group into my diet as possible. So upon deciding that I’d like to make a halloween blog post, I was confronted with my ‘Baby Bear’ squash with most of what would be its ‘face’, already sliced off…

Although to be honest the cavity looked like a gaping maw, so that gave me something to start with. I still had the seeds so thought I’d smoosh them into the flesh to make teeth. A word to the wise – it may be best to roast your squash seeds first. Trying to wedge seeds into the flesh is a bit like washing your hands with an especially slippery, freedom-leaping, bar of soap. Next, to the spices! Good ol’ cloves… They make perfect little black eyes… Et voila! Using ‘props’, I present one ‘not-carved’ squash.

Ghosty Gif

Posted on October 31, 2013 by drawesomeillus

Ah Halloween… Oh how I missed you! I am celebrating with sharing a gif I made of a floaty ghost. This is my second ever gif and I’m quite pleased with it – it’s part of a something longer, with more ghosts which I hope to be able to share with you in the near future. Meanwhile, have an awesome halloween!

Carved Pumpkin Character Design

Posted on November 8, 2012 by drawesomeillus

I love halloween, it’s definately my time of year – which is why I like to milk it as long as I can. Whilst everyone else has callously abandoned their pumpkins at the side of the road or given it more pie-based demise, I thought pumpkin carving would be a good basis for working on a little character design exercise.

I may have to use these as a template for next year, if you attempt any of the faces, I’d love to see your efforts.

Pink Kitten Dance School’s Halloween Horror Poster

Posted on September 3, 2012 by drawesomeillus

I love Halloween, I’m not sure of the exact pull but I’m drawn to the macarbe and darkly comic side of life which finds a welcome home in Halloween.

I’ve been involved with Pink Kitten for a couple years now and even have my own burlesque alter ego – namely Machete Rose, a necromorphous dancer. In almost every performance she’s done, her act ends with a death scene. This means that I’m particularly skilled at stage falls. I’m convinced this must have a use in ‘everyday life’, i.e fainting at opportune moments (say, in an effort to avoid answering awkward questions) or liven up boring situations (waiting rooms).

Halloween is on the horizon and Pink Kitten are readying the acts for their next student showcase. Such an awesome event needs an awesome poster – behold, my poster for the Cabaret of Halloween Horrors:

If you’re in the Bristol area, you can buy tickets here: Pink Kitten Dance School’s Cabaret of Halloween Horrors

If you’re lucky, you may even get to see me die. Or perform. Whichever you fancy.

I thought I’d add my sketch as I was developing the character/lighting:

Alice Cooper Coffin

Posted on October 31, 2011 by drawesomeillus

I had to create and decorate a coffin prop for an Alice Cooper dance performance I was in. This is my Alice Cooper inspired skull. I must admit, I’m pretty damn proud of it!

Pumpkin Appeal

Posted on October 31, 2011 by drawesomeillus

This year, do your pumpkin a favour and eat it. Hundreds of pumpkins are unceremoniously dumped at Halloween time, being left to rot in a seething pool of shame. Show your pumpkin some love via the gift of pumpkin soup/pie/curry/stew…

Drawesome Illustration

Illustration Design Whimsy

Tag Archives: halloween