Ogre/1

According to some popular tales, an ogre sometimes disguises himself as a little cute goat, so that a girl takes him on her knees or hugs him tenderly. But then the goat starts to grow and becomes heavier and heavier, until the cheat is uncovered.

Unfortunately in this drawing I haven't shown the girl, maybe I will do some time.

Ogre

Ogres don't need an explanation, they are well known everywhere. There are some local variants for ogres that I will probably show in future drawings, but this a tipical one.

The drawing was made with an effective technique, which I learned from my teacher in a life drawing class I attended three years ago.
First, the paper is prepared by smearing and rubbing some graphite powder with an old rag o something similar, until it gets a middle gray value and a textured appearence (my drawing has little texture, however).
After removing the graphite in excess (be careful, this could have some consequences on your room), you draw and make darker areas with pencils, while "lifting" lighter areas with a kneaded eraser. Graphite is quite reworkable, and the process can be repeated indefinitely (provided that the paper is good enough), as you would do with forgiving media such as oil, acrylic or digital.
The process is actually more similar to painting than drawing, I think, obviously much more tone- than line-oriented, although lines can be beautifully integrated in the image.

Anguane/2

Two more studies on the same subject of the previous post, I hope I'm getting a bit closer to my idea.

The frog-like eyes don't work, they look fake. I have to find better ways to express their amphibian nature.

Anguane

It's not a very productive period, anyway I have something left to show. She's a new creature from popular myth, taken from Dino Coltro's book Gnomi, anguane e basilischi, she's called anguana, and she's quite like a nymph mixed with a snake or an amphibian.
Anguanas live in the wood's waters, but sometimes marry men and have babies. They are good wives, but they will leave their families if their husbands make some sharp remark on their bodies; however, they will secretly keep on taking care of their babies.
Also, anguanas are known to do the washing perfectly in the rivers.

Here are some preliminary studies, and a more focused attempt.

I'm not really happy with these trials, I hope to make something more appealing sooner or later.

Creature

Who's that? Well, he's a... creature.

My original intention was a study of a nymph-like character, I will post some other drawings soon. This character turned out to be male, and not particulary "watery", so he's simply a different guy.

Done in gouache, which is really a wonderful medium (I'm starting to improve and learn some useful tricks). Unfortunately the matt, beautiful effect of this technique is hardly visible on photo.
The white paper has been tinted with diluted acrylic color.

And yes, I know, I always draw huge hands, I like them that way - although this is probably too much...

Flowers

So you go walking in the mountains with a sketchbook and a pencil, and you decide to draw some easy subject like flowers (they don't move, unlike birds and even cows).
Big clouds move fast in the sky, so the light on your subject changes every couple of minutes (and you alternately freeze and burn). When the sun hits on the white page, you are almost blinded by the reflection, and immediately after, when the sun is covered by a cloud, you see strange colored spots around you.
In order to gain the best point of view for that beautiful flower, you have to assume strange postures, and you occasionally sit on some thorny plant. Ants, spiders and bugs walk on you and under your clothes.
The wind is blowing, and turns the pages of your sketchbook.

So, is it worth the bother?

Of course it is, because it's so fun. And, incidentally, walking in some beautiful mountain landscape is one of my favourite activities, despite some minor annoyances.

As I'm lazy, here are the actual sketchbook pages, with no selection.

Back to ink

A couple of new ink drawings.

The first was made for a contest, but in the end I decided to submit a different drawing. It's about the local situation, so it's probably not worth explaining.

In the second one, I wanted the scene to be complicated and messy, and I guess I was successful... possibly a bit too successuful..   :)