Drawlloween 2015!

First time taking on the challenge!
And I am thankful to say that I made it through. Didn't get shit-else done the whole month, but it was probably the most productive month in... Ever!
Usually I'm spending weeks on a single piece trying to get everything right. A bad trap to fall into. One I have to work on climbing out of. And I have to say that Drawlloween was helpful in that. Instead of agonizing over every line, you're forced to just slap something down. So it was a great exercise in not caring, just get it out and move on.
Never mind that I spent most of the time three or four days behind. But so what! All was completed on the 31st!
A++ Will do again next year.

Graphite / White ink

Red Ticonderoga Pencil / Brush Pen

Violet Ticonderoga Pencil / Zig Writer

Red Ticonderoga Pencil / Brush Pen / Crayons

Micron Pens / Dr. Martin Inks

Interested? Contact me

Red Ticonderoga Pencil / Brush Pen

Red Ticonderoga Pencil / Brush Pen / White Charcoal

Red Ticonderoga Pencil / No.2 Pencil / Brush Pen

Graphite / Dr. Martin Inks / Liquide Gold Ink

Available at tamisery.etsy.com

Violet Ticonderoga Pencil / Brush pen / crayons

Purple Crayon

Violet Ticonderoga Pencil / White Charcoal

Can you tell I was dry-heaving by this point. 

Graphite / White Charcoal

Red Ticonderoga Pencil / Brush Pen / White Charcoal / Copic Marker

Graphite

Graphite / White Charcoal

Graphite / Markers

Micron Pen / Markers / White Charcoal

Graphite / Markers / White Charcoal 

Color Pencil

Graphite / White Charcoal

Graphite / White Charcoal

Brush pen / Graphite / White Charcoal

Graphite / White Charcoal / Marker

Black cat... In the dark. 

Graphite / White Charcoal

Grandma always loved that old farm. After she passed away we took one of her mouth eaten dresses and gussied up that seasons scarecrow. It seemed like a humorous way to honor her. Seeing how she really enjoyed gazing out over those fields. After a while we noticed the pumpkin head began to shrivel into a peculiarly familiar shape.

Sorry, Arachnophobic. This is all you get.

Graphite

If you're a slow worker like me. I can't recommend this enough! In just the span of a month you'll notice a change. One forced out by the sheer repetition of upchucking something every night.
It reminds you that you only get better by doing. And doing alot. 

Learned something after a recent flea market scavenge.

Remember in the old silly symphonies (or was it Looney Toons) how Goofy (or was it Bugs?) would take out a pencil and give it a teasing lick before writing? When I was a kid, I always wondered why cartoon characters would lick the tips of their pencils. I asked my mom and she she had nothing for me. Eventually I settled on it simply being a gesture of initiating concentration.
But, could they have been using these pencils?

At our last Flea market scavenge I picked up this box of old pencils. Thought "Hey, cool. Old drafting pencils!" We once found a box of old dip pen nibs. Most of em are completely usable!
Plus, I think it was just $2 for a full unused box. So why not!
Got home and took a closer look.

Indelible copying pencil?... What does that mean. Quick to Google!
Blah blah... Used for making permanent signatures "ok, cool."... Blah blah... Turns purple when dampened "Wow, that'll be fun!"... Blady blah blah... Acne, lung problems "WHUT! What did I just buy a whole box of?!"

As Wiki has it...
Or, if you don't care zoom down to the bottom for an example sketch and video.

Copying pencil

A copying pencil, also indelible pencil, is pencil whose lead contains a dye. The lead is fabricated by adding a dry water-soluble permanent dye to powdered graphite—used in standard graphite pencils—before binding the mixture with clay.^[1][2]

Copying pencils were introduced in the 1870s, and were originally marketed for copying documents, especially for making permanent copies of a permanent original. This was achieved by creating a hand written document using a copying pencil, laying a moist tissue paper over the document and pressing down with a mechanical press. The water-soluble dye in the writing would be transferred in its mirror-image to the tissue paper, which could then be read in verso by holding it up to a light source.^[1] According to conservationist, Liz Dube, "By the 1870's, letter copying books became the ubiquitous copying tool for businesses. These volumes contained hundreds of leaves of thin tissue paper, often high quality Japanese papers, bound together for the purpose of bearing copies of outgoing correspondence and other business documents."^[1]

The most commonly used dye was aniline which produced a stain that was bright purple, mauve, or some color in between, depending upon the manufacturer. Since the aniline dye was poisonous to humans, many injuries and illness related to copying pencils were reported in the medical literature, especially in the late-19th- and early-20th centuries.^[2]

By the end of the 19th century, better copying methods had become available. Consequently, the copying pencil was being used as an indelible pencil, a precursor to the ball-point pen. When used dry, it left a slightly-purplish gray mark on paper, not dissimilar to a lead pencil's, but which could not be erased.^[1] When used wet, its tip moistened repeatedly by water or saliva, it produced a bright purple writing. The copying pencil served as a convenient substitute for the fountain-pen: it could be carried on one's person without need for ink or fear of leaks.^[1] Furthermore, for producing copies using carbon paper, copying pencils were considered superior to both ordinary pencils (whose writing in the original could be erased) and fountain-pens (whose nibs could not always withstand the pressure needed to produce the carbon-copy).^[1]

Copying pencils saw extended use in World War I in the completion of a wide range of paperwork. However, with the advent of refined ball-point pen technology in the 1930s, their use gradually died off in much of the world.^[1] They saw longer use in some places. In India, they were commonly used for writing addresses on registered mail parcels which were required by law to be wrapped in cloth. For writing an address on cloth, a moistened copying pencil was preferred to a pen, whose nib could easily get caught in the weave. In Italy, their use is still mandated by law for voting paper ballots in elections and referenda.^[3] During their heyday, copying pencils were also associated, across the world, with the image of a railway conductor, who famously carried one tucked behind an ear.

Health risks

Indelible pencils were the cause of significant health risks due to the presence of aniline dyes. Exposure to aniline dyes could lead to eczema, acne and carcinoma. Penetration of the pencil lead into the body commonly leads to severe and debilitating effects such as fever, anaemia, elevated white cell count, gastro-intestinal upset, kidney and liver damage, anorexia and necrosis of the tissue surrounding the wound. Such risks are not associated with ordinary graphite pencils. While these symptoms may appear after a couple of days they often develop only after weeks have passed since the injury was sustained. Surgery is required to remove the lead and the infected tissue and "the necrotizing action may be so severe and extensive amputation is necessary".^[4]

Ok great, I have a bunch of pencils I'm afraid to use... But they might be the answer to my childhood question. "Mama, Why does Goofy lick the end of his pencil before writing?"

The dye just swirls off the lead, filling the water drop.

Moon Crisis 2014 Progress

Inking is finished and block colors are down. From here... I'm not sure. Gotta decide on which render path to take.

Finished sketch

                           Finished Sketch...............Rough Pose & Character Work

This child has been dancing around in my head for a couple months now.

At first she appeared very far off in the distance. Pacing around the hazy edges of my consciousness. Gradually she started coming closer, more and more into focus each week. 

I'm still learning about her background and have a bit of it pieced together. Well, not so much her background but more so her situation. Kinda.
The things I don't know make up pretty long list. For instance: Why does her head float above her torso? I don't know that one yet. And what is she trying to do? I have my theories but I'm reserved to tell. Nine out of ten times an image looses it's power when the maker tells their meaning behind it. I'll see how well I can communicate what I know about her.
But I'm not sure how effectively I can tell her story in the paintings to come. If they ever come. There are a couple reoccurring themes she always has with her. Perhaps if I can display them properly to the viewer they can figure out just as much about her as I have.

I've just gotta do a bit of painting practice before I take her to the carved wood panel I have set aside.

For the heck of I did sparse inking with a pen holder and nib. I haven't touched a nib pen since... golly gee I guess way the F back in two-O-one (2001)
Totes out of practice. I got ink globs allover the place here. And shaky... you'd think I did this in an earthquake.
Although, In my older age (compared to the me in 2001) I now prefer a little shake and wonk to the lines. It lets you know something was indeed done by hand. It's a nice opposite to the easier perfection of a digital piece.
I'm not saying blood sweat and tears don't go into a digital illustration just as much as an anolog one. But it's certainly much easier to endlessly edit and correct on a computer than it is in life.
Bless you Ctrl+Z. Even when working in my sketchbook, my left hand twitches for your mercy.

Whats on my plate.

Generally, I've always got several projects going at one time. Most sit in thumb nail hell. while any active works constantly rotate. 

If I get stuck on one I shift gears to another. The idea is to keep things moving, to constantly be making progress on something. Even if I only eek out a couple lines at a time. And It does progress that way sometimes.

Especially now that time has become such a rare resource, thanks to a toddler.

Here's What I'm currently staring at night after night.

• Crowned Unicorn.
• Brian Froud custom MLP 
• Brain storming invite cards for Son's upcoming birthday.