Draw and Chill
Growing up as a kid I'd always be creating my own monsters, mutants and robot characters. Now, as an adult, whenever I have a few free hours to draw something, I often turn to my 'Monsters and Mutants' sketchbook to see what I can come up with. The aim isn't to create anything glossy and polished like a lot of my typical digital work. Instead, it's just about having fun and seeing what ends up on the page.
Most of the time I'll just start drawing random shapes and a creature seems to emerge from the page. Occasionally I'll have an idea to begin with. It might be to re-work one of my childhood drawings, or I'll use something from a film, or game as a starting point.
To be honest, I never intended to share any of these. Whenever there's an intention to show off my work it creates an added pressure to try harder or even be more self critical. That's not the point of this sketch book. It's all about drawing to relax and have fun with it. If you're an artist or creator, perhaps it's worth also considering the idea that just because you made a thing, it doesn't have to get posted online. It's quite freeing. But if you decide at a later date to share what you do with the world, there's no harm in that either.
Pen and Ink
For some reason I decided to stick with black and white pen drawings for these. Each image starts off as a pencil sketch. I use my trusty Pentel mechanical pencil with a 2B lead. After I've got the basic gist down, I take over with a Zig Manga Ka Flexible pen. I use Fine for the lines and Medium for larger areas of black. Occasionally I'll use black Kuretake Fudegokochi Brush Pen. Although the Fudegokochi pens have a nice flow of ink, sometimes they can over-flow and spill out a bit too much. I've quit using them as I don't want to wait for ink to be drying. I've recently bought a set of white Gel pens, which I expected to use on these, but not had too much opportunity soo far. These are all drawn in an A5 Molskine sketchbook:
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More creatures to come...
I'm just over two thirds through my sketchbook so far. I intend on finishing it, even if it takes another year or two! If you're interested in commission me to draw you a creature of your own like the above, let me know. Otherwise, I'll continue to rely on what my crazy mind can come up with :)
