Magic
Tag: fantasy
Frankenstein – Belligerent Bride
Goodbye, Drawlloween.
It was over before we knew it, and the relief and heartache are still there in equal measure.
I, of course, was utterly pathetic at remembering where I had planned to share my spooky offerings so here is the collection of them all. I didn’t do each day, but I did a lot and I think I enjoyed it more because of that.
This month I’ll be focusing on writing and junk journalling. I have been very busy since the summer using some of my pressed flowers for vintage/floral collages and I’ll sling some of that on here soon.
Glampire
2 Glampire
Vampire Ku is that gaudy vampire of mine and has always been a flashy fellow. I’m learning the ways of digital art using procreate and I cannot explain how long this took to make, but no paper has been wasted! Digital is very tree friendly!
Caterpillar
The farmer had cut his crop. With singing hearts and shining eyes, we looked on in wonder. There was so much hay! Planning out our evenings adventure began in earnest. It was going to be so much fun! We felt so lucky to have a house on the edge of the estate – overlooking a farmer’s field that went on and on until it reached the tree line of the woods and the farmer’s cottage beyond. Such a wonderful playground – speaking to us in seasons – its colours changing with the crops.
It had been a hot day but also rainy, so we decided to wear our cagoules. The front pockets of those raincoats were amazing! Not only did they store the raincoat itself, but it was great for carrying sandwiches in, and once the sandwiches were eaten, we would fold them and compete for the star prize of “prestige” for the tidiest packet pocket. I think that’s what we used to call it, anyway.
Having met at the arranged time, just after tea, we climbed with well-practiced skill over the green mesh fence. It was about a metre high, but it was not in the slightest bit stable so choosing the right foothold and momentum to lift yourself over was quite important. The foothold needs to be not too high and not too low – swinging as the fence bent with our weight from a high foothold was terrifying but not being able to climb over from a low anchor would lead to scratches and possible failure.
We scrambled gracelessly over to the other side, landing on the furrowed edge, and stepped up on to the slightly higher flats of the field. It smelled delicious. Dry and grassy, yet hot and damp – earthy and humid and buzzing with insects and faint whispers of dust that had yet to settle after all the hectic harvesting.
Racing across the field, I was feeling slightly terrified. We were, after all, trespassers.
Our crime was immediately forgotten with the first hay fight of the summer. Racing and dancing, howling, flinging handfuls of hay at each other. We were positively wild!
The plan we had made to build hay hills, no… haystacks, was a success and we used them as trampolines and crash mats– catapulting and somersaulting with running jumps as terrifying human projectiles – practically screaming with laughter. I don’t think we’d ever tried this before, and probably never would again, (but we had planned to), on that fine and lovely day. Such fickle children living in a shining moment forgetting that tomorrow was another day. Having played until it started getting dark, the streetlamps flickering from across the field were now telling us it was time to go home. I didn’t want it to end and perhaps the others thought so too, judging by the bereft looks on their faces. It had been so much fun!
A little dishevelled, I was surprised when my return was not met with too much commentary, but the next day was a different matter. Somehow, I’d managed to bring a million caterpillars back in my raincoat. They were everywhere and causing all kinds of upset from the cupboard under the stairs where we hung our coats and kept the vegetable rack. It was initially received with humour but in the end, it became clear that I would be scolded all that morning when enough was most definitely enough. The thing is the caterpillar problem just would not even try to die down as a new caterpillar would rear its hairy head every other minute. It was as if that cupboard was haunted by caterpillars, and it became draining. My mother was huffing, and my older sister was puffing – deep down glad it wasn’t her who created such a drama for once. Because she often did, I can tell you! But it was worth it. I still remember the absolute joy for that haystack adventure and the caterpillars who came, too.
Published in Mom’s Favorite Reads
Drawing Imaginary Creatures
I think making imaginary creatures believable should come from things that work and are recognisable in the real world. Believable anatomy will make you think the creature could exist, or make you hope it exists, at least. I have tried making creatures up just from my head and they are never as believable as they are when I have done some forward planning. Even borrowing tiny snippets from something real can really add to your own freaky freak. I don’t think that approach is due to a terrible lack of imagination (at least I hope not), they are useful to help you make real the thing you already thought of.
A few years ago, I was participating in the Twitter Collective Animaloonies (a very silly art challenge to inflate creatures) and one month it was the turn of the elephant – an elephantloon. I always hesitated at just inflating them into balloons and often chose other whimsical ways to play. So, I went the way of the chimera, combining a jerboa with an elephant and insect wings. This work was ultimately used in a Twitter Art Exhibition (TAE) charity auction and seemed to be well liked, too!
My creation has since evolved and is now based on the body of a jerboa, an anteater’s snout, and a hummingbird moth wings.
I call it the humming pig. I named it before I discovered the hummingbird moth so I feel this is some sort of destiny, and that makes me happy. I like moths. I know some people don’t but since they are the cool and darker cousins of the butterfly, I’ll take it.
As you can see, my humming pigs are based on a number of real animals to help make it believable despite them not being real at all. I’ll just put it out there. All of them were fun to draw and explore, but Jerboas are ridiculously adorable. Those things are so cute it’s heart-breaking. I drooled over and drew many examples preparing this. Just for practice, you understand.
Sketching out the real animals helps us to learn more about them – such as their form and proportions, and the correct positioning of the limbs and wings. It also serves as a practice run for the animal they will eventually become. You can try out different angles and figure out what your imaginary creature is doing, and how it functions in the world it inhabits.
I looked at lots of different examples of each animal and considered how they would work together to make something believable. Some things were simply abandoned. Not just because they wouldn’t work, but because they just didn’t appeal to me. The anteater snout replaced the original elephant trunk, but it isn’t that prominent – and to be honest this is maybe a sign that the elements are blending successfully as I make something new. The original proboscis wasn’t there in my first attempts either, but I think the proboscis is important for my redesign since I eliminated the elephant trunk, the kids got to eat after all, and I wanted to make something that might actually survive.
My humming pigs will continue to evolve, and I look forward to continuing my project. I’ll be trying different animals as a way to take my humming pigs forward and expand their natural history. I plan to keep exploring and testing new ideas so I can build a world for them. I want to explore geographical considerations which would inspire distant cousins – humming pigs from different places, evolving in different climates and with different diets, all influencing the final creature.
There is a huge line of animals just waiting to be transformed!
It’s worth mentioning that looking at other artists is always helpful. I like to collect art books and I have a couple of really nice ones about imaginary creatures. So, here’s some recommendations:
Principles of Creature Design – Creating Imaginary Animals by Terryl Whitlatch, 2015, Design Studio Press
Mythical Beasts – An Artists Field Guide to Designing Fantasy Creatures, 2017, 3dtotal Publishing
Sketching from the Imagination – Creatures and Monster, 2019, 3dtotal Publishing
There’s an animal anatomy section in a magazine which is still available:
The Creative Masterclass Anatomy Essentials ImagineFX, Future Publishing.
TAE and Twitter:
https://www.twitterartexhibit.org/
Animaloon Collective (@Animaloonies) / Twitter
Links about me:
https://folksy.com/shops/PaynesGreyArtShop
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PaynesGreyArtShop
May Market
My Folksy theme this week is May Market
I have a stall on Facebooks Virtual May Market 2022 (Stall 20) which is super exciting as I’ve never done anything like this before! 🙂
Folksy is not as well-known as some arts and crafts platforms so it’s a big push for Folksy Sellers to get some visibility. Here’s what I shared from my shop listings this week!
Happy Folksy Friday!
Alison
Paynes Grey Art Shop – Illustrations on Folksy
Steampunk Ladybird
It’s been a month of ladybird creations for me as not only have I made some ladybird art for the Animaloon Collective over on Twitter, I also submitted another illustration and a story to the magazine I contribute to. This will be for the May 2022 edition so I will share soon enough.
For now here’s the artwork I made for the loony balloony balloon fest that occurs every second Tuesday of the month. As usual, I am loathe to inflate them. Instead they become airborne in all manner of whimsical ways. This time it’s steam!
This was inspired by ladybirds, steampunk dirigibles, and my work in progress ghost story.
Drawn with graphite and coloured pencils.
Mythical Creatures
It’s Folksy Friday and this week I made a Mythical Creatures board to showcase some of the things I have made.
I worked with mixed media as well as some very mixed inspiration!
I’m always inspired by fairy tales and folklore, and Asian art.
There’s an anime influence with the Amaimon mermaid (Blue Exorcist) and the Blue Golem (Laputa – Castle in the Sky – Studio Ghibli).
Some of these were made with acrylic or watercolour paint (I hate painting!), some with graphite and some with coloured pencils (I love drawing!).
I have cards, postcards (for notes or art cards) and some prints available.
Happy Folksy Friday!
Alison
Folksy Friday – Gothic
Hello! I’ve been busy setting up listings in my Folksy shop – Paynes Grey Art Shop.
I made my first Folksy Friday grid – the theme – Gothic!
My illustrations were made for Halloween and Drawlloween 2020/2021, and for a ghost story I am (always) writing.
You can find me on Folksy. There you will find ghosts, and witches, gothic puppets, and vampires, and pressed flower art.
All inspired by my love of Halloween, Asian art, and cute witches.
I drew these using pastels and pastel pencils and have cards, postcards and prints available.
Happy Folksy Friday!
Alison
paynes grey illustration 