Hey there creative folks and friends
Here is my original character I designed as my entry to the Character design mini series contest frostfall founders of our contest host,
Lore:
Glowmi is one of the original residents who helped set up the Luminary Sanctuary’s lighting system back when Frostfall Village is dark and gloomy. Her job is basically night patrol and maintenance. She is checking lantern fuel, clearing frost buildup, and keeping the place from going dark when temps dip too low. Her moth sidekick is Tivvi who is trained to scout ahead and signal her when a lamp has gone out, making them a super reliable duo during rough winter nights.
Here is how I made my character
I fill my canvas with all the colors which I think would work with my concept
When the colors seem right I will immediately scratch the colors off until an image is formed. If you have read my previous posts I am using once again the Forest Folk characters I designed earlier. They are festival lovers they wear out of this world costumes and love fireworks. I think my original characters would fit the Waylight Keeper character
The image above is not a line drawing although it may look like it. There is a black background layer under the colors so when I scratch off the black background becomes like a line drawing that is how scratch art is
The brief says there is a sidekick or a companion in the form of a moth so I added Tivvi right away before I forget. I could not just add whatever detail I missed, once a layer has been scratched off it is very difficult to undo it once saved.
Tivvi the moth is also wearing a mask which is a mandatory detail for my forest folk characters. Glowmi is holding a lamp staff and later I will add some bells as prescribed in the contest brief. I think She needs wings to match the moth character.
Here you can see what I mean by scratching off and not using line drawing. As I go along the shapes are starting to form and soon all the areas with no design details will be scratched off and thus reveal the final drawing
I think filling the blank canvas with lots of details makes the art sing rather than ending with a sea of black background with little details.
After an hour or so, the drawing is almost finished. The design revealed after hours of scratching. You can scratch off details you do not like or if you are already tired skip those details that are too time consuming to make if you prefer. In this case I can lessen the stars or remove the trees entirely.
I started to refine the shapes on this stage. Glowmi is becoming shapely and her wings with finer details. I enjoyed doing the swirls on the sky. They could be aurora light or snow storm. The lines are finer and care is needed to avoid scratching other important areas. Fingers sore but happy
It may seem that nothing changed here but if you look closer on Glowmi's coat I scratched more areas giving the folds of the garment and the fringes of the neck area more shadow. The more you can scratch off the better
At this point I am not confident if I can still define the bottom area with more details like snow or greenery. It is taking longer than expected and my fingers tired. So I decided to take a break had coffee and bread
See the new details? there is a path with snow and a little greenery on the left and on the right I managed to add more plants. I wish I could have further defined Glowmi and Tivvi but at this point I am all good. Now time for the easiest task that is to add highlights.
My light source is the lamp staff so you can tell which areas of the drawing would take that light like Glowmi and Tivvi's faces and that swirl above. Finally done and can now post it on Draw A Day community as my contest entry.
Thank you for reading hope you enjoyed and I also encourage you to join this contest.
Scratch art, as the name suggests, involves etching or scratching away a surface to uncover a hidden image or design. It's an excellent avenue for experimenting with various colors and textures. Plus, it's a remarkably calming and therapeutic activity.
Before you head off, I'd love to express my gratitude for your support. If you enjoyed this piece, please show your appreciation by clicking the heart button. Let's continue to revel in the wonders of art together.
Sending you all my creative vibes.