Imaginary Creature

Sometimes it is fun to just play with character.  Creating these creatures moves us into magical and mystical space.  The image that forms in your head, has a story.  Letting that story come to you, through thought, before you ever put your hand to canvas, will help you develop an imaginary character.  There is the physical, the intellectual, emotional and spiritual realm of your character.  Can you find it?  Sit with it.

It does not matter the medium, whether you draw it first, but try not to have a figure in front of you (a photo, magazine page, book page, etc.)  and let this come directly from that creative space within.  

If you struggle right at the beginning, you can do something in the background to get you going.  Sometimes just smear, scrape, print, swirl, anything colorful, to get a background going.  Then, spend some time with the background and an image ought to start showing up within the swirls and mark making.  This is intuitive work and really a fun exercise in allowing your Muse to find your subject(s).

Even going to pintrest or such and looking for ideas, is good, if you are stuck.  You make, even one you are almost copying, work for you, and make it personal and not a copy, is how you might treat that image you saw.  

There is no end to substrates you can use.  Just begin with some quiet time to let the image appear however it appears to you.

Then draw, paint, spray, dribble, daub, until your character comes to life.  Paint without a plan.  Just let it happen.  

And, I began this with a quick charcoal sketch to get down what I saw in my head.

I decided to use my India inks for color.

I decided, suddenly, to do an ink blot, like we used to do in elementary art class. I folded the mixed media paper in half, carefully, not making a sharp fold.

I then, drizzled inks of different colors on to the unfolded paper, spritzed it with a bit of water, and pressed it lightly together.

as I unfolded it.. voila, the shapes were there.

 

As you see, I thought I would have horns, but no, it became long ears.  I used a bit of titanium white to shape the character up a bit clearer.

  

I turned to my calligraphy pens to define the character.

 

Slowly I moved in with bits of acrylic colors to make more definition. 

  

I love him, and I do have the story emerging.  I will probably write it in a card for grandkids. (** or better yet, let them each write a story about it and share it with me!  ah hah!)

©Carol Desjarlais 3.5.20