New Sketches and Ink Drawings

Hello my dears, 

Last week was divided between me being ill and in bed, and going to a funeral, so suffice to say that I feel completely drained and out of steam this week.
But the sun is coming back out, the garden is starting to grow again, and I received a few incredibly sweet and supportive messages from a few of you, so I am building my energy stores back up and working on letting myself breathe and open back up to things.

I'm working on a lot of different floating parts right now, but one of my highest priority tasks is getting some art done for your physical rewards, and I'm pleased to say I'm nearly there. 

I managed to get a few good sketching sessions in before I feel ill last week, so the below drawings are the results of those. 

One thing I am determined to tackle this year is my toxic tendency to wallow in guilt and shame, feelings I apply to almost every action I do or do not do. It is slowly eating away at me, and I need to put a stop to it. 

What does that have to do with the below sketches you ask?

Well, one thing my inner critic likes to make me feel bad for, is staying within my comfort zone when I create. Revisiting similar angles, faces and themes, or resorting to them when lacking energy or motivation.
However, as I don't actually intellectually think there is anything wrong with doing so (unless used as a crutch, which I'd like to think I don't), and I have actual verifiable proof that it in fact helps me feel happier and more creatively inclined, I have made an effort to indulge in the imagery I felt excited to create, without giving in to the demon on my shoulder telling me I'm being lazy and uninspired.

And so here are some hollow portraits, because that's simply what I wanted to draw.

 I like the above concept a lot but something about the anatomy of the head has bothered me for a while but I couldn't put my finger on it. 

So I tweaked it a little (see image below) and I think I like it a little more in the edited version (it isn't polished, so you can still see the aberrations left behind by me warping and moving elements. I'll fix those later if I decide to keep this version for printing).

What do you think?

My second sketch (below) was based on a few very rough Daily Doodles from the last few weeks. I'm drawn to skulls at the moment, and have a few variations on this theme I'd like to explore in other sketches soon.

And then this last one (below) is an exploration of the concept I am diving into further for this month's video.

The more I worked on this idea of a buried skeleton, the more the concept of a series of paintings appeals to me.

You'll see what I mean in the video (I'll upload the sketches for all patrons also).

I unfortunately made the same mistake with this drawing as I did last year with the sand one ; I drew it blue which made what is supposed to be earth, look like water. Have I learned my lesson? Probably not. But I will try and be smarter next time T_T

Regardless, I enjoy the blue anyway, I find it a very soothing colour to draw and paint with and I thought it paired well with the peacefulness of the image and the soft edges of the drawing style.

And then finally, here are 2 daily doodles I really like and might turn into mini-prints for rewards. 

They'll be part of my next batch of Daily Doodles that will go up tomorrow!

Thank you for reading and I hope you are doing better than I am, haha. 

Much love to each and every one of you, 

M <3