As is usually the case, this is the week where things start to go off the rails. I’m usually pretty consistent for the first week, but the novelty has worn off and now we’re on the grind. I am determined to make 31 ink illustrations by the end of the month, but there have been days where I didn’t manage to finish an illustration and therefore had to make up for it the next day. I will get better at this!!

Day 08:

“The Sun Prince”

©Amy Blicharz 2022

I don’t always plan out what I want to draw before I start working on the sketch. In this case, I decided to draw a portrait. As I was marking out where the head should be, it seemed a nice day to draw a crown, but I didn’t want it to be a stereotypical modern European crown. I wanted something simpler and older looking, forged out of metal alone without jewels or velvet. I thought a sun motif would be cool. Those bean-shaped protrusions on the side were supposed to be discs like a full moon, but viewed at an angle. Next, I had to decide the appearance of the figure. Since I was going with a sun/celestial objects theme, I decided a round, poofy afro would be a fitting hair choice. I went with a somewhat modern-looking uniform as a contrast to the more simplistic crown. I imagine he’s some kind of prince to a warrior culture.

Day 09:

“Girl and Fox”

©Amy Blicharz 2022

This is when the lack of motivation started to set in. I wanted to do something super simple and within my wheelhouse of usual subjects. I like foxes, I like wavy hair, and I like trees. As you can see, that’s like 90% of this drawing. I did look up reference photos of foxes just to make sure I remembered how to draw one. I really like how the tree branches and leaves turned out.

Day 10:

“Michael Almost Catches a Falling Star”

©Amy Blicharz 2022

So, I just finished reading How’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones for the 800th time. This is one of my favorite books since my childhood. I know a lot of people are more familiar with the film version directed by Hayao Miyazaki, so this might look a little different than what you would expect. In the book, Michael is the 15 year old apprentice to the wizard Howl. In the scene I’ve illustrated here, Michael is out in the marshes with the protagonist of the book, Sophie. They are attempting to catch a falling star for Michael to use in a spell.

“And there was the falling star. Sophie could see it, a little white descending flame shape a few yards beyond the dark movements that were Michael. The bright shape was coming down slowly now, and it looked as if Michael might catch it. [...] Sophie could see him outlined against the star’s light. The star was drifting level with Michael’s hands and only a step or so beyond. It was looking back at him nervously. How odd! Sophie thought. It was made of light, it lit up a white ring of grass and reeds and black pools round Michael, and yet it had big, anxious eyes peering backward at Michael, and a small, pointed face.”

- Diana Wynne Jones, Howl’s Moving Castle</

This section of the book really stuck in my imagination. One of Jones’ strengths is her ability to describe a scene simply but vividly. This book is high on my list of ones I might want to do a full series of illustrations for.

Thumbnail drawings ©Amy Blicharz 2022

In my drawing, we can’t see the star’s face because we’re looking at Michael’s. I also drew the star far closer to being caught than was implied in the text for dramatic effect. The lighting was the most fun aspect of this, though a bit challenging!

Day 11:

“Sunflowers”

©Amy Blicharz 2022

This was another where I decided to go with my strengths: wavy hair, simple dress, flowers. Sunflowers are such cheerful flowers! A few years ago, I took a trip to Hokkaido, Japan with some friends. We rented a car to drive across the island from Sapporo to Shiretoko in August. Along the way, we stopped next to this huge field of sunflowers. It was amazing! They stretched as far as the eye could see. That trip is such a good memory for me, so I’m channeling a bit of that in this image.

Thumbnail sketches ©Amy Blicharz 2022

Day 12:

“The Owl Keeper”

©Amy Blicharz 2022

To keep my motivation up, I went with another compositionally simple illustration featuring wavy hair and a bird! My original idea was to draw a kindly witch, but as I was sketching in the owl I realized how sharp its talons were and that it would be a good idea to wear some sort of protection, like a falconer. I looked up a reference for the owl, but the shoulder pad is my own design, so I hope it looks somewhat realistic!

Owls are such pretty birds, it was a lot of fun drawing this one.

Day 13:

“Tattoos”

©Amy Blicharz 2022

My one goal for this image was to draw tattoos. As I’ve been using the grey brush pen more this week, I’ve noticed that it would be a good tool for replicating the look of tattooed lines on skin for a black and white illustration. I wanted to try it out! I didn’t have a solid idea of what kind of tattoos she should have, but you can’t go wrong with dragons. (When I was a teenager, my dream was getting a dragon tattoo. As I’ve gotten older, the urge for such is not strong enough to balance out the pain and cost of a tattoo, but there’s still that part of me that likes the idea.)

On her left arm is a dragon, on her right arm is a phoenix. There are other smaller tattoos of various animals. In this image, you can see a bat and a mouse. Her story is that she can transform into the animals she has as tattoos.

Day 14:

“Wood Elf”

©Amy Blicharz 2022

Finishing up the week with another portrait! Also with curly hair…and there are trees in the background. What sort of accessories should wood elves have? I’m thinking leaves in their hair, pieces of wood, and wrist guards made of bark. I don’t actually know if bark would be good for making into wrist guards, so if that’s too crazy just think of them as made from leather.

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That’s all for Week Two! I’m happy that I finally got a scanner so I can show the illustrations more clearly than by taking photos!