This week was rough, y’all! Not because of anything bad, so don’t worry! We just had family stay with us for a few days. They had some work that needed doing inside of their house, and Covid-19 takes about 3-4 days to completely die on surfaces and in the air. So, my art time took a backseat. Which, honestly, was probably a good thing. Most Octobers, I’m too busy with shows and festivals to really spend time with family and friends. It was a good mental break, but my hands itched to make more art.

I’m still following my friend and cover artist Lynne Hansen‘s 31 Days of Art 2020 challenge in lieu of Inktober, but I still am mentally calling it Inktober. Old habits really do die hard.

Day 4: Curious

I didn’t have a lot of time this day, but I always think of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland when I think of curiosity. It’s just sort of ingrained. So, I took the notion of peeking into a keyhole. Originally, I wanted to draw a lot of creepy demonic things on the other side just out of the viewer’s perception in the dark edges, but I ran out of time. I’m not sure if it’s a better choice to finish a piece quickly just to get it done or to skip the piece and take my time with it.

Day 5: Corrosion

I took my time with this one! I wanted the face melting off the bone and muscle, with the bloody meat underneath revealed. I didn’t have a reference for this one, but it was nice to get away and do something creepy gory. This is one I may redo eventually do get more of those gross, juicy details.

Day 6: Absorb

This one is probably my second favorite of the whole week (and that’s saying something, as you’ll see further down). I looked at a number of photos of elegant women sitting down and witch hats in jaunty, low angles. Honestly, I love this piece. It has a quiet calm that is so lacking in the world right now.

It was something I cleaned up later and turned into a small set of 2′ round holographic stickers. They’re in my Etsy store now, but there are only 10 available. Prints are coming soon.

Day 7: Regret

This is one I didn’t have time for and had to rush. My nephew wanted to watch The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), and so I drew this siting on the couch while Gandalf confronted Saruman. The idea of summoning a demon and regretting it immediately was fun to portray with a limited color palette — just what supplies I could reach.

Day 8: Eviscerate

I haven’t gotten around to this one yet, and it’s frustrating. But, I’m planning to get to it later. Maybe even after October is over.

Day 9: Badass

Another witch, this one male. I didn’t get a chance to color this one like I did the female witch above. I want to color and clean him up digitally for another sticker. But for now, this is just the line art. I wanted the moon phases behind him and a combination of roses and crystals to show his interest in love magic.

Day 10: Spiders

This prompt was so much fun! I love drawing creepy spiders because they really, really freak me out in real life. I was nearly bitten by a brown recluse one year while setting up Halloween decorations, I have had spiders in my hair, I’ve accidentally walked through giant spider webs, and the house I currently live in was wall-to-wall wolf spiders and their webs when we bought it. I hate spiders, but I appreciate their beauty as well.

This piece was inspired partially by The Mist (2007) and partially by the time I had to check the utilities in front of our house and they were full of black widow spiders.

The original is available by request. Prints coming soon.

Overall

I feel like I really am seeing improvement this week! I look back at previous October art challenges and realize my composition and faces are so much better. It’s really cool to see that progress visually. I also feel good having completed 2 really viable pieces. One is still in the works, and the others are rough ideas, but I see massive progress already. This is why, year after year, I continue with these challenges. They push me creatively, and they also serve as a good benchmark for gauging my own progress as an artist.

Check out my thoughts on Week 1 of my 31 Days of Art 2020 challenge here.