Peachtober 2023
What is #peachtober?
It’s an art challenge during October by Sha’an d’Anthes (also known as @furrylittlepeach) where creators follow a list of prompts to create illustrations.
My goal for this challenge was to be loose and playful with the pieces and embrace the imperfections that come along. I wanted to focus on having fun with the process and trying out new things. I used a combination of several different types of inks, paint, and pencils for a fun mixed-media effect!
These are some highlights of my work from the month! :)
DAY 19: Candle
I went into this piece pretty fast and loose, slapping a light layer of yellow where I wanted the glow of the candlelight to be, and then painted in the shadows with black ink. I wanted to piece to feel creepy, so I wanted to use pure black for the background, filling in the details with a black color pencil.
Being pretty nonchalant about this piece, I didn’t give any thought into the ghost and created a simple ghost-sheet ghost. The problem was, when I colored in the fox, I LOVED it! I love his pose, the yellow ink peaking through his blue suit, the orange and red of his fur contrasting against the green-blue of the ghost light on his back.
I went back to the drawing board. I needed a better ghost to go with this fox! some brainstorming later, I had the perfect solution, and simply photoshopped in an elderly English bulldog.
The Original
The Fix
The Final
DAY 15: Weather
This was the first piece where I considered layering different color inks below different areas of the piece to create more contrast. Inside the window, I used yellow to keep the room warm and cozy, while the outside world has a blue underlayer to convey the cold, stormy weather.
I used a combination of acrylic inks, markers, and grey pastels to be on top.
DAY 18: Snooze
A daily struggle, it’s hard to get up in the mornings when you’ve got a cat on top of you!
Playing with lighting in this piece was fun, adding a slight yellow wash where the light streams in from the window, and filling in the rest of the space with a grey-blue wash. I used different colored pencils and marker colors to emphasize the different colors between the light and dark areas.
DAY 21: Slingshot
When I was a kid, I used to think that a big enough slingshot could get me into space, so I created this piece based on that idea. I group of kids getting together to build a cardboard spaceship, ready to catapult to space!
I loved the idea behind this little gang so much, that I’ve created more illustrations with the four of them. I now lovingly refer to them as the “Scab Squad” since they’re a little group of rough-and-tumble neighborhood kids!
This piece was created by layering markers and colored pencils over blue and purple ink.
DAY 28: Chomp
Cleopatra is beautiful, but she is sharp and deadly as well.
I put a yellow ink wash on the whole page, and then added some red to the negative space, finally adding detail with markers and color pencil.
I think this piece looks simple, graphic and fun!
DAY 12: Nest
Took this prompt to mean something a little different, rather than a bird’s nest, I made a cozy nest at home! with blankets, pillows, tea, books, and a cat!
Keeping this piece loose and playful, I used blankets and curtains to frame the focal point, and ignoring perspective, I focused on the feeling of the composition.
DAY 17: Blush
Nothing gets my heart pumping like my beautiful little girl! I love her!!
A monochrome piece, pinky red, with a pink ink wash and layering red marker and color pencil on top!
DAY 20: Bulb
Do onions count as bulbs? I hope they do!
Little farmer cat finds mice stealing from her garden!
I laid a blue to yellow ink wash in the background to make a sky gradient, then I layered colored pencil and markers on top.