I don’t know if “Spooktember” is really as much of a thing as “Spooktober”, but after seeing some spooky haunted house drawings on YouTube, I wanted to join in. October goes fast, so why not start the spooky season a little early?
I haven’t done anything more on the current quilt project. Instead, I spent some time doodling…
The video I watched was of someone drawing a simple sketch of a spooky house in non-waterproof ink, then going over parts of the drawing with water. This causes the ink to smudge, blur, and spread, so it can be moved around with a brush, like a thin wash of paint.
I searched for images of spooky house drawings, found one I liked, then copied it pretty closely, in terms of the architecture of the house. (Since it’s just for me, why not?)
I drew the house with a cheap black ink pen that isn’t waterproof. However, when I went over the drawing with water and a paintbrush, it didn’t run as much as I would’ve expected, so I went back over parts of it with a thin wash of watercolor paint in “Moonglow”. I finished up with some spatters and a little white gouache for the ghosts and the glowing eyes of the whatever-it-is peeking out from one of the windows.
For the second haunted house, I started with another inspiration sketch sourced online. Originally, I was following it somewhat closely, but I soon veered off in my own direction. The inspiration drawing was intentionally, playfully wonky; mine looks more just like a kid who knows nothing about perspective drew it, but that’s okay.
After drawing in non-waterproof ink, I went over parts very lightly in water-soluble crayon, then activated it all with water. I added a few touches of watercolor to highlight certain features, such as the stonework on the house. The last step was adding the details of the ghosts, the owl, the eyes in the attic, and the white flowers/weeds in the overgrown garden.
This kind of thing is so much fun to do. If you were a kid who loved to draw and color—and you just haven’t for a long time, for whatever reason, like I hadn’t—really, it’s time to pick it back up again. It doesn’t matter what it turns out like. The process itself is so engrossing and fun! Everything else can just melt away for a while. It’s almost magical!
I think I’ll be doing more of this kind of thing, because I love how these turned out, lack of perspective and all.
More Watercolory Things
Not a fan of spooky stuff? I found a few older things I hadn’t scanned yet, so I’ll stick them here, too.
I think this was watercolor pencil, but I’m not sure. It could have been crayon, too…
Testing out some brown ink… I think this was burnt sienna, then a little salmon pink/orange and brown watercolor…
Similar colors and probably some of the same ink. But also markers and a white paint pen…
This last one’s just watercolor and black ink pen. I was trying out transparent layers for petals. I like this look, but I think it doesn’t come naturally to me. You probably need to be sparing with the paint and strategic in its placement.
And that’s all for this time!
