Where I want to go - 2 landscapes

I always have a feeling of wanting to escape to somewhere. A beautiful and interesting land where I can build a home and live freely. I'm not sure how realistic this fantasy is, I don't know where I would go, and I don't really have the means to do so. So instead I illustrate what those strange and wonderful places might look like if I could go there.

Triangle home in adventure landscape.

Cave home with veggie patch in adventure landscape.

These are largely inspired by my love for the Adventure Time series; a show which perfectly captures that illusive feeling of home, freedom, and adventure.

I want to achieve this feeling for myself one day, a real place where I can feel at home.


These illustrations were made using free software Firealpaca.

Prints are available in A4 & A3, e-mail Jodie at sleepyvoodle@gmail.com to make an order.

Spirits and Mortals 2020 - week 3 & 4

I'm still at it!

Week 3 'Pillow fort'

Be careful when messing around with summoning spells, you never know who, or what might show up...

Week 4 'Footprints'

Traversing the rainbow badlands is not a task to be taken lightly, especially whilst tracking a creature that can walk up walls.

Illustrated using free software Firealpaca <3 <3 <3

>>>Follow me on Insta<<<

Spirits and Mortals 2020! Week 1 & 2

I'm at it again! and this year I will complete the challenge!

Week 1 'The library'

Complete with a poltergeist specimen. Fanceh~ *glitter*

Week 2 'Cold rain'

The moral of this story is, don't steal stuff from wizards!


I'm off to start on week 3!!!

If you'd like to keep up on Insta, you can follow me!

Time sure does get away... Spirits and Mortals 2019.

It's been just over a year since my last post, aaand I'm a little ashamed about it.

My last post was the first drawing in what was supposed to be a weekly art prompt drawing challenge called Spirits and Mortals, started by JakeMorrisonArt on Instagram.
I started off pretty well, I was keeping up, having a great time doing the challenge, and I think it was really helping me improve in a lot of ways.

And then... and then I moved away with my girlfriend, and we didn't move just anywhere, we went hundreds of kilometers away, to live in a decrepit, off-grid house out in the Otways (a beautiful area in south-west Victoria). Great! What an adventure! and it was, for a while, but there were a few drawbacks, one of which was, I had NO PC!

Of course I couldn't keep up with the drawing challenge, and in the end I only got 9 of the 50 completed. : (

Good news is, I'm doing it again this year! But before I start posting about that, here are the drawings I completed for last year - 

Week 2 'Torch'

Week 3 'A bridge and stream'

Week 4 'Moonlight'

Week 5 'Hidden treasure'

Week 6 'Red cave'

Week 7 'Pond magic'

Week 8 'Geyser'

Week 9 'Dungeon entrance'

That was all for the 2019 challenge, I'm sure I can do better in 2020!

Totally go ahead and Follow me on Insta if you like. : )

Spirits and Mortals weekly art prompt. Week 1

Hey everyone~
 
A couple of weeks ago I decided to join in on the #spiritsandmortals art prompt created by one of my favorite artists on Instagram jakemorrisonart.

The basic idea is a word, or a few words for each week, which artists can interpret however they like and create something pertaining to the word/s for that week, inside the broad theme of 'spirits and mortals'. : )

I am slightly behind, still, but I will catch up! I'm working on week 2 at the moment, but here is my drawing for week one; 'a sweet boulder' -

and here are a couple of close-ups -

It worked out quite nicely, I'm quite happy with the atmosphere, and I hope you all like it too. c:

Character design - Backpack theme

You may be familiar with the Character Design Challenge on Facebook, well I did this drawing for last months theme 'Backpacker', but I didn't get it finished in time, so I didn't submit it. :I failment

The idea I had was based on myself and my doggo soulmate Jiji. She has bad legs, but I always want her with me, so strap her to a backpack why not!

Here's my drawing -

Appreciate your dog friends, they are the best. <3

Meditation - artwork + app recommendations

Meditation (version one)

As you may guess from the title, I have started meditation practice again after many years of neglecting my poor brain.
My mood can sometimes be unstable, and I have collected anger from lots of different sources, and this was starting to take a toll on my everyday life.
Since starting daily meditation there have been major improvements in my thoughts, mood, and reactions. Even after just a short time of daily sessions, I find I can cope in difficult situations much better, and my anxiety has greatly reduced. c:

Maybe it goes without saying, but I do highly recommend meditation practice for everyone, no matter if you have obvious troubles or not, it will benefit anyone~

The concept of meditation is very simple, however the practice is quite challenging, and requires... practice~ The idea is to relax, stand/sit/lay comfortably, clear your mind, and focus on your breath, when thoughts arise you must gently push them aside and return your focus to your breathing.

There are some useful apps which can help guide you as you learn, here are three I have been using:

1. Oak Meditation - This is my go-to app, it is simple, easy to use, and totally free. I do a breathing exercise and a 20+ minute 'mindful' meditation each day. This app has some good features and a nice design. This would be my first choice regardless of your experience level.

2. Relax Meditation - This app has many features, but most are locked unless you buy a monthly or lifetime subscription. My favorite feature is creating a soundscape which you can meditate to. Relax has a lovely design, and plenty of features, this is a great app if you want to try some different sounds and guided meditation sessions.

3. Head Space - A standout app that has a fresh modern feel, the design is fantastic, complete with some really cool artwork and animations, and plenty of features. This one is at the higher end of the price range, but it may be worth the investment if it works for you. I completed the 10 day introduction to meditation, however the first two apps work great for me, so I opted not to pay for this one.

One other app which I have only tried briefly is 'Insight Timer', it has a huge amount of content, much of which is free. This app is somewhat more complicated, but worth a look if you want more variety.

My personal preference is something simple and straight to the point, which is why I think Oak works so well for me. There are plenty of other meditation apps to try, if you have any recommendations please don't hesitate to leave a comment with your experience.

Meditation (version 2)

Art catch-ups

These are a few artworks I completed from last month, and a couple this month.
I have a few new ideas to work on, but I've been finding it difficult to sit at my computer from long stretches lately. *shrug*

Illustrative style -

^Reference this chart to figure me out. ;D

^'Good day~'. When things kinda jump out of the fridge at you.

^The papillon.

^Plant spirits having a secret chat on a window sill.

Painted style -

^Soul bonded. My little family.

^Inspired by the song 'I like giants' by Kimya Dawson.

^Camouflage 'mirror jacket'. One from my list of ideas.

That's the lot for now!
Check back for new posts soon~

30 Day Drawing Challenge - Days 1-3

I've never completed a 30DDC, but this time my girlfriend is doing the same one, and even if we don't managed to submit daily, we're still going to complete this list and do all 30!

I don't remember where I found it, but here's a look at the list we're working through currently -

We're trying to look at one at a time, so we don't know what's next. I think it's a good way to approach it, since we can focus on the one we're up to, and not get distracted thinking about one that's still a week away.

Here are my first three -

 Day 1 (above) - 'Something in flight'.
Me an my girl in a poorly made cardboard rocket on our way to somewhere awesome.

 Day 2 (above) - 'A character or scene from your favorite movie'.
Leeloo from The Fifth Element.

Day 3 (above) - 'Something you'd like to eat right now'.
The answer to that is always fresh Malaysian 'green bamboo' durian.

Hope you enjoy these.
Comments and critiques always welcome~

Art post: 'Hungry alien' + 'Portal' NSFW

Sometimes as an artist (or at least as someone who just loves drawing), certain ideas or themes enter your mind, and it's difficult to get them out unless you do as your brain is commanding, and draw it. That is certainly the case with these two artworks.
 
Hungry alien depicts an emaciated alien lost in a forest after recently arriving on Earth. After unintentionally scaring away a hunter who had shot a deer, the creature drags itself towards a piece left behind by the hunter. Whilst not a usual source of nourishment for the alien creature, it will allow her to survive a little bit longer on this unfamiliar planet. Just as she reaches the piece of deer, a stranger hiking in the woods stumbles upon the scene, unsure what to make of the situation, they stand in awe as the aliens attention is torn between a life saving meal and a strange new life form, which may potentially pose a new threat.

You can probably see pretty quickly that the aliens mouth somewhat resembles, 'lady bits', and that's the theme caught in my mind presently, as is even more evident in my next piece 'Portal'.

After spending a good deal of time and effort painting Hungry alien, and still having this particular idea in my mind, I wanted to do something illustrative that would be a bit more loose and free. It didn't take long to draw the line art and add all the crazy colours I wanted. It could be that as a gay artist Vaginas are something I want to include in my art from time to time, certainly not in a perverted way, I see them as natural and cute, like sassy flowers. I certainly hope this doesn't offend anyone, but I consider self expression to be very important, and it's not something I wish to hide.

So, I hope everyone finds something to appreciate about these artworks, I certainly had fun making them!

Art post: 'Goo unicorn' + 'Staring contest'

Hello everyone!

I'm on break from uni, so I've had lots of time for drawing, I have a few things to submit, starting with a couple I finished earlier this month, they're both personal works that I did for fun and practice.

I drew Goo unicorn using free drawing software Firealpaca. Also referred to as 'noodle leg' she's a suspicious female unicorn, always vigilantly watching for anyone who might be after her horn, or her mane/tail, all of which posses unique magical properties.

Staring contest was drawn using Photoshop, which I haven't used to draw anything from start to finish since I got Firealpaca, so it was great to brush up on some techniques I haven't used for a while. I did not plan this drawing at all, it developed as I was playing around with some different techniques.

I have some more artworks to submit, and even more in progress!
Hope you enjoy, feel free to comment below, and you can follow me on DeviantArt or Tumblr.

It started as a misheard comment...

Last week I was in bed with my girlfriend, we were play-fighting and sassing each other, and she says something that sounded like 'bag of poot'. I'm pretty sure that's not what she'd said, but I decided to quickly sketch a paper bag of poot anyway -

After posting it on DeviantArt a friend there popped the bag, resulting in a second sketch -

I don't have much time for drawing at the moment, it's almost end of semester at uni, so I have several assignments due, assignments that I should probably be working on now...

Enjoy your week everyone.

Native Australian animal illustrations

I drew these for a food web as a part of a uni assignment.
They're all native animals, how many species can you guess?...

Prism voodle attacks - Featuring Addi

A cavoodle would never actually attack anything, but if mine had magic powers I'd like to think she'd use them to protect me from evil.

I managed to miss uploading this one back when I finished it, so here it is -

I really struggled with the style on this piece, I did several versions before I settled on this one, which I'm pretty happy with, it has a paper cut-out aesthetic that I like.

This is little Addi my cavoodle friend who the drawing is based on.
I think she's my muse.

Look inside - Find your strength

Seems there's a couple of drawing I missed uploading here, this is one of them.
I made this to remind myself to keep going when things are difficult.
Life is tough, but find a reason to keep going & things will get better.

Keep fighting.

Spirit guardian of the forest

He is scanning for anything that may be a threat to the woods, or it's inhabitants...

I drew this using FireAlpaca. <it's free!

This one is another re-visit to a work I started & never finished from 2015.
Here is how I left it -

Pretty big difference right. : )
Hope you enjoy it!

Pointy particle

You know when you're just breathing, minding your own business when !BAM! You breath in some invisible pointy particle, then you cough like crazy, your eyes tear up, & you're ready to drink scalding water to make it stop...

I hate that.

Double-scaled Dragon

'Rubix' is a double scaled dragon, prized for their near indestructible hide for use as armor. The young girl, nicknamed 'Diesel' has bonded with the dangerous beast and decides to flee her home to save her friends life. Accompanied by her albino Raven 'Blossom', they will travel far across the tundra to new lands.

This is re-visit to an old sketch from 07/2010, which is now complete, 8 years later :0!!!!!
Here's a look at how it was left before I finished it -

  Hope you like it : )

Multi-eyed sea beast - It's still safe to swim

I love monsters in general, and sea monsters in particular <3
This guy is really harmless, more like a whale than a shark, he uses rows of gyrating teeth to plough through kelp forests to fill his multiple bellies.

'Wizard' character design

I was in class last week when I got the urge to come up with a character design for a wizard. Style-wise I was aiming for something like Adventure Time, I wanted to add lots of details, but also not go overboard with too many colours.

Here is the initial sketch -

This is the final version -