I’m currently in hospital with this dreaded covid. Thankfully I brought my travel drawing supplies and iPad, so I’m ok.
At first I decided to just draw anything, which is not how I work, I like to have in mind what to draw, but one of the side effects of this thing I’m finding is my mind is a bit foggy.
It was really difficult, I spent quite a bit of time not even drawing a straight line, then I started to draw insects, cute bumblebees, but found a very thin line between cute and disturbing when I tried to put a stinger on my bee and well… not good and to be frank he looked rather sleazy. The more I tried to make it look like a stinger the more it looked like something else. I share it with you for the laughter but even the cute face turns a little sinister. Oh dear me, no!
Then I started drawing mice, then elements, just trees in a style of drawing I’m starting to really like. My thinking was maybe I can develop a little library of motifs I can just use between a series of drawing
One thing I didn’t want to do is pull up a load of Pinterest images and start looking at mice and what they looked like and in the end I came up with a little sketch I liked.
I quite liked that, and continued with my little watercolour kit to paint it in…
Finally I took it into Procreate and worked on it in there. They’ve just updated Procreate with a few little features and one makes saving your favourite brushes so much easier to do.
Anyway, after hours of working on it, it’s finished.
I really like it, don’t yet know what to do with it but I feel like I’m finding my style which is a good place to be. It reminds me of the usborne books from my childhood full of animals in clothes going about their normal business.
I also started singing the song about the mouse in a windmill, so next I want to look at Amsterdam and how a mouse in a windmill in Amsterdam might look.
I don’t know when you get to read this but this one is a fun experience I had staying with my dad in the hospital when he underwent spine surgery. Am sharing it – do read :)
https://appamprawns.wordpress.com/2021/12/07/funny-hospital-stays-with-my-father/
Thanks, I read it, your dad sounds like a great man with a great sense of humour. I think every hospital ward has people like the couple opposite. At the moment there’s no visitors allowed in hospital, so it’s just the patients.
Thank you for reading ;
I did have Covid but was home quarantined – so yeah I know the isolation and other struggles can also take a toll. Saying a prayer and wishing you a speedy recovery !!
Get well soon. You have a beautiful style. Looking forward to seeing more.
Thank you so much, I’m almost back to ‘normal’ now, but it’s forced me to make a few changes to my rather unhealthy lifestyle. Not a bad thing though.
I had a similar experience years ago. Then I remembered some advice I read. Treat yourself as someone in your care.
Hi Betty, I really liked your Procreate illustrations and your style is amazing! I have a little question: when drawing animal cartoons, how do you draw eyes? Look forward to seeing more posts!
All the best, Katherine.
P.S. Get well soon!
To be honest, I just draw them in with little thought. If I overthink the eyes I get in a mess. I like the drawing style of Lisa Glanz though and she has some great little YouTube videos that might show you how she does it.
Hi Betty, tharks for replying. Yes, I admire the style of Lisa as well. Thanks for the feedback!