I've recently begun down a different road artistically. Inspired by several of my elementary students, I have begun a series of little monsters as a fun diversion from my I normally thing. And I have definitely been having fun with them. It's such a connection to my childhood, and with Halloween just around the corner, they're timing is apropos.
As a kid, I loved Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. Actually, I still love it. I admired Sendak's illustrations so much, especially the Wild Things. As a teenager, I spent a lot of time copying characters from the daily comics, and I even went so far as to develop my own cartoon and comic characters.
But monsters and characters were something that I abandoned as I got more into drawing from observation wanting to make my drawings as realistic and naturalistic as possible. But it's good to let go, and have some fun with my art.
I first sketched these little guys on some drawing paper working out their shape and details. I then redrew them onto some Strathmore mixed media paper, and used my paint markers filled with Golden High Flow Acrylic to paint them. Each of these is 4in by 6in, and I'm hoping to put them up for sale on the JFJ website soon.
I really like how they turned out, and I am looking forward to making more. Let me know what you think of them.