Beneath the Octopus' Skin: A Bloody Lady

Hello, dear Hivers! As i mentioned in my previous post, i decided to use the medium-sized sketchbook for fan art and this slightly larger one for more personal drawings. This sketchbook was the first one i made. I really like the paper; it's thicker, so i can use wet techniques without damaging the surface as much. I feel like it's been too long, i admit that this time i took a long time... Not necessarily because of the drawing, this week i had a lot of interruptions at home and i was also helping my sister with a college assignment, i felt like i would never finish this drawing, to be honest. For this session, i suddenly felt a creative urge to draw a kind of nocturnal, mystical, and hidden creature... Very appropriate for this coming month of October, well, i got a little ahead of myself.

I didn't have a clear idea of what i wanted to do, i just wanted to start drawing again in this larger sketchbook. I only have two drawings here, so i need to keep filling it up. I looked for references to inspire me, or rather to see hoods, listened to music to get into that energy, and started drawing my creature of the night. Suddenly, i felt a strong urge to draw an octopus. I have no idea why, honestly, i just wanted to satisfy my craving to draw one. First, I started tracing the lines with graphite and then with red to better appreciate the sketch in photos. From the beginning, I knew i would use red and black. I started by adding the red background with an alcohol marker.

From here, i had to make decisions. I planned to use a lot of black ink, and the initial idea was that it would be very dark, but then everything changed course. I used my drawing pens to outline and highlight some parts to make them darker. With this base, it would be much easier for me to continue with the color. Then i started with the skin using a sand-colored alcohol marker.

There are certain details, such as the bloodthirsty element, that i had already planned. I wanted this extravagant and mysterious creature to shed a few tears of blood when it removed its eyes, staining its clothes and hands... I wasn't planning on adding many colors, but then i imagined its bodice and crown as being golden, so with some trepidation and anxiety, i went ahead with that idea. Although it doesn't show up very well in the photo, i used yellow and orange ink pens for the gold color. I also used red ink for the hair. In the end, i modified these elements a little with color. I used watercolor for the blood, and admit that this part was one of the most relaxing at the beginning .

Painting is always a relaxing activity, unlike other techniques where the materials are not usually as fluid. For this drawing, i used watercolor as the base for most of the drawing. With this technique and the brush, i was able to cover larger areas, which i found relaxing. This was in contrast to when i did the red background with a marker, which was a bit frustrating, to be honest.

This color wasn't part of my plan, just as drawing an octopus wasn't part of my plan, but for some reason i can't explain, i felt the need to do so. This sea creature has always fascinated me, as has the entire marine kingdom in general. They are very mysterious and intelligent creatures. While researching the symbolism of this animal as a spirit animal, i discovered that it also represents the depth of emotions and the entire psychological aspect of a person. It is also associated with intelligence and is a transcendental symbol of great power and mysticism, transformation, regeneration, and self-sacrifice. It teaches us its enormous capacity to adapt to change and solve problems. This creature is very interesting. So i decided that this mysterious woman's cape would also be like the skin of an octopus, as if she were hiding under it, or perhaps it is another way in which this peculiar octopus manifests itself, she wraps herself in the same skin as her power animal.

And that's how these nocturnal creatures turned out... In the end, i added the finishing touches with colored pencils to improve all the textures a little, and with an acrylic marker i added some white lines to give it some light and highlight it a little more. In the background, i had fun and relaxed at the same time adding my beloved pointillism, then i also wanted to add a little more to the hood, and that was it. That's it for this post. I hope you liked it, and see you next time ;)