Drawcember: Week 1
Yuki-Onna, Japanese snow vampire
Drawcember got off to a good start this week! It’s been an action packed week around here, and I’ll probably miss a few days in December, since it’s turning out to be a much busier month for me than October (Pinktober) was, but so far I’ve managed to find the time to draw something every day.
Day 1: The Snow Queen
One of my goals was to rediscover my colored pencils, which has actually been a lot more fun than I remembered.
I find it easier to draw quickly with colored pencils than with ink, because you can use a lighter touch. But I have “cheated” a bit and used some pens this week to get more coverage than pencils can achieve, like in the shadows of the drawing below.
Day 2: Hades and Persephone
Inspired by the series of, ahem, mythologically themed romance novels I’ve been reading by Scarlett S. Clair, I thought I’d try throwing a male deity into the mix for a change. Men are so much harder to draw than women, at least for me.
But that’s probably just because I’ve been drawing women almost exclusively since I was old enough to grasp a crayon in my little hands. The only time I drew men was in my college life drawing classes. I definitely need a model or a reference image to get the proportions even mostly right.
Medium vs. message
One of the things I love about colored pencils is how much easier it is to blend colors, especially skin tones. You can also layer them, a bit anyway, before they start to look muddy. With pens, you have to commit to one color at a time, or get really good at wielding them with a light touch.
What I don’t like about colored pencils is the way that especially darker colors always look so textured. It’s nearly impossible to achieve smooth coverage or truly deep shadows with colored pencils, especially on cheap dollar store paper like I’m using for these quick daily challenges. Ultra smooth paper is much better for colored pencils to reduce that textured effect.
Charcoal is another story altogether… It’s very easy to get super dark shadows if you’re willing to work at it, but it’s prohibitively messy, especially for small drawing projects like this. I loved using charcoal in art school, though, when our teacher had us using huge 36x48 inch paper to complete our weekly assignments.
Day 3. Sedna
Sedna is the Inuit goddess of the sea, worshiped by hunters and fishermen who depend on her for their livelihood. It’s such an interesting myth and character, I keep returning to draw her in different styles.
She’s both a benevolent provider of sustenance and a vengeful deity capable of withholding marine resources if displeased. Her myth emphasizes the delicate balance between humanity and nature, stressing the need for respect and harmony with the environment.
I especially like the way the tattoos turned out in this one. I used a fine line ink pen for those and the hair, pencils for the skin and coral-inspired crown, another pen for the background.
Day 4. Yuki-onna
The “Snow Woman” of Japanese mythology is sometimes described as a vampire who feeds on the blood of living children. Beautiful and otherworldly, she appears on cold, stormy nights, gliding effortlessly over the snow.
Some tales depict her as malevolent, while in others she is simply the restless spirit of a woman who died in a blizzard, or the grieving mother of a child lost to the cold.
While pitiable, she’s an undeniably dangerous creature, whose sadness can turn malevolent and violent towards those unfortunate enough to cross her path.
Day 5. Red Sonja
This one started out as something totally different, but as soon as I gave her red hair and a chain mail bikini, I realized I was drawing Red Sonja, an old favorite from my comic book collecting days.
Day 6. Winter Sun
While I didn’t choose to go with the traditional “Drawcember” prompts, mine are mostly winter themed. I’m also basically winging it and deciding what to draw on the day.
It looks like I’ll have a lot less free time starting in January, now that I’ll be starting a new contract (YAY!), so I’m glad I decided to do another drawing challenge this month.
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