Drawlloween Day 15: owl
I picked this awesome barred owl named Squam who used to reside in Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge until he passed recently of old age. Squam was rehabilitated from impact injuries that prevented him from being released back into the wild. He had a calm and agreeable temperament that made him ideal for the refuge’s educational programs.
Drawlloween Day 13: grave
Ode to all the stores I miss. There was something about doing laps in Blockbuster to find the right movie. It was an event unlike anything else.
Drawlloween Day 12: vampire
Now I really want some Bugles!
Drawlloween Day 11: bat
Fruit bats are some of the biggest alcoholics of the animal world! They have a high tolerance for all that fermented fruit.
There are a lot of spider babies in South Carolina, some not so cute. Thanks to my wife Erin for a little art direction and diaper naming!
Yokai are a class of supernatural monsters, spirits, & demons in Japanese folklore. I had to look it up and there were so many to choose from. I started drawing the woman with the super-long neck but it wasn’t working. A bunch of artists drew her and did an awesome job!
I picked a basan for its chicken-like qualities. Basan are very rare birds found only in the mountains of Ehime, on the island of Shikoku. They are roughly the size of a turkey, and shaped like a chicken. They are easily recognized by their brilliantly colored plumage and bright red comb, which appears like tongues of flame. Their most notable feature is their breath, which flows visibly from their mouth just as a dragon’s fire; however, the flame gives off no heat, nor does it ignite combustible material.
My second yokai sketch: 豆腐小僧 Little tofu boy. I started him earlier but wasn’t feeling it, then I went back and fixed him up.
Tōfu kozō are small yokai who closely resemble human children except for their large heads and clawed fingers and toes. They wear little boys’ kimonos and wide-brimmed hats — the typical outfit of a tōfu-selling young boy of the Edo period. They are usually depicted with two eyes, but in some illustrations they appear as having only one eye. They are usually found in urban areas in close proximity to people.
Drawlloween Day 10: lagoon (creature)
Why is that lagoon so black? It’s a matter of chemistry.
Our refrigerator used to make a tap tap tapping sound like someone playing a bucket drum at random times. No, it didn’t have an ice maker, just a regular old fridge. Then we moved and got a new refrigerator and it also makes the tapping sound. Again, no ice maker. What does it want from us but to eat all the food at once?
Thanks to my wife Erin for inspiration and ideas for these Drawlloween subjects!
It’s only day 6 and I’ve been having so much fun this Drawlloween! It’s inspiring seeing everyone’s artwork and I appreciate the support.
Drawlloween Day 3: cryptid
I’ll never forget the first time I saw the Jersey Devil. It was late fall of 1992, I was driving home on the AC Expressway in the early evening from a class at UArts when my junky car broke down near exit 17. Only rich people had car phones back then so I had to walk to Wawa a couple miles away to call my stepdad to help me out. As I approached the Wawa I saw a sketchy figure hanging out by a trash can under the yellow lights, it was the 13th child himself, being ignored by customers coming and going. He was asking people for cigarettes or change. I quickly ran in the store to avoid eye contact with him but as I was getting my coffee and cellophane-wrapped pre-cream-cheesed bagel, I thought that I should give him a dollar or two since I was a kindred spirit in need of help. When I came out of Wawa I handed him some change and he said, “Thanks, Boss!” Then he climbed into the driver’s seat of an idling teal Geo Metro with Pearl Jam blaring on the radio and drove off. I waved to him and then realized I didn’t have any change left to call my stepdad. That’s what you get for helping cryptids.