Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a great Halloween celebration and had fun with different types of creative costumes. Halloween isn't celebrated on a large scale here in Malaysia so I didn't get a costume. However, I did paint an artwork in this theme. I really had a lot of fun making this piece because it is an original idea of myself and I did everything from scratch. I did look for some inspiration on Pinterest but eventually I came up with my version of a Halloween themed art.
Just so you know, this is the same image as the cover photo, except it is before cropping. I cropped it to give a nice finish on the edges so the cover looks good on the thumbnail.
Tools and Materials
- A sketchbook page
- A HB pencil to sketch
- A dust free eraser
- Oil pastels
- A Ruler to scrape mistakes
- A black colour pencil
- Tissue
The Process
This is the first sketch that I did. I know it is not perfect but it was just a basic sketch and gave me a rough idea on where everything goes. Aherm, take a look at the cat. I guess I have to fix this. My brother had a look at it and asked me if I drew a devil -_- I told him it was a cat and he said it resembled the devil due to the pointed ears.
I erased many parts and made some adjustments. Can you believe it, I think I erased almost everything and redraw the entire thing! I drew a more natural looking cat this time, added more pumpkins and drew a witch silhouette as well.
I started with yellow first to make highlights on the pumpkin before any other colour so I don't end up messing the parts that were supposed to be light.
Next, I added some orange to all the pumpkins and created shadows. At least now they look edible and more pleasant to the eyes right? I placed multiple pumpkins here and there, all scattered randomly but with a reasonable amount of distance from each other so they look balanced from an art perspective.
Then, I added some green stalks on all the pumpkins. I also coloured the tree with multiple shades. I actually only had two brown shades and I used other colours such as red and yellow for more shades.
This is before blending the colours I added to the ground. I used many shades of green to create a gradient effect.
This is after blending all the beautiful greens together. Now it looks so much better, without all the white gaps right? I also added some yellow all around the pumpkins, sort of like a transition colour so the green doesn't mix with the orange and make brown, which will look out of place. The subtle tint of yellow helped to prevent that.
I was wondering what colour to use for the background. I did a small Eenie Meenie Minie in my head and it landed on purple. The good thing is purple is also a colour associated with Halloween. So, I picked the darkest shade of purple I have for the bottom part of the background.
Then, I added a lighter shade of purple to the middle section. I was wondering what else I could add for the top part of the background and considered using pink. However, I thought pink might make the artwork a little too 'fun' and take away the Halloween vibes. Hence, I used this maroon.
I was done with the background and it was time to move on to the subjects, which are the cat and the witch flying on her broomstick. Oh, I also still have to moon to colour.
Here's another image which I snapped because I thought it looks cool when the artwork was positioned in this way.
I am not sure if it is noticeable but I went back to the tree and added some yellow highlights at the edge of the trunk and on top of the branches.
I coloured the moon using a few shades of yellow, one being creamy yellow and the other being regular yellow. I also used mustard yellow and some white.
Phew, done with the moon!
I was so confused what colour to use for the cat and black alone seemed to be too dull for something alive. So, I picked a green, blue and white as well.
I started with the blue and green, green being the highlight.
I used black as the main colour but I blended it a lot with the blue so it the cat has some dimensions and look alive.
Finally, it was time for the witch. I first coloured it using a black oil pastel but realized that I can't make precise shaping with it. Therefore, I just coloured it in the middle like this.
Then. I used a black colour pencil and coloured the rest of the witch silhouette. I managed to draw around her properly which I wouldn't have been able to do if I used an oil pastel stick because it would have messed her up.
This is the final outcome of my work. I was so happy when I was done because I enjoyed getting my hands 'dirty' after a long time. It was also fun to experiment with different colours and create something just for the fun of it. I would have posted this a earlier but I am going on a vacation tomorrow and had to make some preparations for it. I am done with it and just need to get a good night sleep for the long journey tomorrow.
Thank you for dropping by. Now I need to eat my dinner as I am so hungry and it is already late :D Have a great day ahead xx