Wednesday WrapUp Messy Holiday Mouse

stylized little brown mouse by a berry bush holding a red berry — on Flickr

Welcome!

Each Wednesday check this blog for a strategy, process, or reflection for illustration with the iPad app ProCreate. This Wednesday Wrap Up, I share a digital project for my Daily Doodle with my CLmooc friends through which I struggle with a style.

Inspiration

Thanks to Lisa Glanz new Messy Paintbox brush set and tutorial I continue my journey to find a style I like. One is this looser style for which I’ve already shared two holiday pieces and two practice ones:

stylized llama eating a decorated Christmas branch

stylized Rudolph with an evergreen limb and red ornament in his antlers standing wide-eyed in front of a Christmas tree of red ornaments.

Process

Today, I watched Lisa’s tutorial again to understand better how the brushes work, and I took notes on the brushes used in her lesson. Next I planned my little mouse piece and began sketching, coloring, and shading. From Lisa’s Messy Paintbox, I applied these brushes:

Brushes for the Mouse

Holiday Mouse Brushes

Sketch
Lisa’s Pencil – initial
Messy Sketcher— Linework
Messy Ink— add messiness
Sketchy Texturize — after coloring — to add scribble line work on top of all in same color as sketch in some spots

Color
Fill—Fat Gouache— dark color
Fill—Very Wet Brush— streaky, messy over dark
Transparent Grainy — patches of color — don’t lift for same color
Messy and Smudgy — details/lift pencil
Diluted messy paint for scruffy look
Palette knife — texture / color variation

Texturize
Charcoal texturized

Shadow
Large and Smudgy— multiply/lower opacity— below linework— add shadow; lower opacity to blend in

Background
Splotchy— block strokes— use diff colors

Replay

This is my take on the process– the replay [on Flickr] I think I’ve got the process down after this, my fifth practice piece.

Replay of illustration process

Try It!

Get into the holiday spirit and learn a new strategy or technique, then adapt to your own style and needs. As you can see, practice helps! And remember– we’re all learning– and learning and learning and learning!

Thanks to Lisa Glanz and her brushes with tutorials, I’m able to grow in my art process.