INSECT INVASION! A Ballpoint Pen and White Charcoal Illustration Series
Honestly, I love bugs...
Well, maybe "love" is too strong of a word, but I really am fascinated by them. Many hours of my childhood were spent turning over rocks, or stepping stones, or looking under shrubs, and examining the microecosystems that would often be thriving under them. Beetles, ants, centipedes, spiders... whatever it was, I enjoyed getting a close look.
Maybe I was just so enthralled by the diversity of life. I think that's what it was. When you see other four-limbed mammals...dogs, goats, horses, etc...there is at least some relatable resemblance to humans. But bugs, man...they seem so alien. It really highlights the vast, beautiful biodiversity on this wonderful planet of ours.
They are also great for drawing!
Because they are so different, it seems like you can really draw anything you want and it will look cool.
Being a practiced portraiture artist, any time I draw a humanoid figure, I notice any little element that looks wrong (something I am getting better at not caring about, but still...), whereas when I draw something like an insect, it seems like anything goes!
In my introduction post, I mentioned that I only recently (about a year ago) began working with ballpoint pens. I had made a couple doodles in my sketchbook with them, aiming to allow a creature of my subconscious imagination to manifest onto the page, and it ended up looking like this giant cross between a fish and a fly. I thought it was awesome, so I busted out my (at the time) brand new toned tan drawing pad and set out to create more fantasy bugs.
For the first one, I spontaneously asked my girlfriend for a single word of inspiration. She said "pineapple!" And so, I drew a pineapple bug 😄
The person that is next to the bug was originally added because there was extra space on the page, and I wanted to balance it out. It ended up being the perfect addition, because, as I have come to see it now, it is a representation of myself, wandering in and around my imagination. The page is like my mind, and my mind is literally full of trippy little (or not so little) life forms.
We followed the same process for giant bug #2. This time, the inspiration word was "tree", which led to this bark- and vine-covered giant wasp.
Really, really happy with how the textures were rendered on this one.
That was the last one that I asked for inspiration for. From there, I just began drawing whatever the hell came to mind.
I plopped myself on top of a giant four-legged scorpion...
I drew this big wasp, which reminded me of a dragon (maybe because I was binging Game Of Thrones at the time...???) so I call it a "Giant Draco Wasp"...
I made a fun little animation of this one just this morning... I'll share it in an upcoming post! :)
I decided to play with a different perspective, and made the bug and the person stare at the viewer on this one...
In the midst of a boat-load of creepy Halloween-related posts on Instagram, I decided to turn one of them into a Zombie (and also play with some different surface markings/textures)...
And lastly, I tried to think outside-of-the-box and add some new elements to this one...
(I tried to think up a backstory to this one... like what sort of climate/environment it would live in... I can't for the life of me imagine where it would live haha)
Not scared
Do you notice the casual posture of the person in each drawing? That's intentional. Because I think these things are cool, not scary.
I have a lot of friends who disagree. They had (or still have) phobias of certain creepy crawlers. Makes sense, I guess... they can be pretty creepy. But at the same time, I don't understand it at all, because they have never terrified me. Well, I was kinda scared of spiders when I was young, but so long as they weren't crawling on me, I still enjoyed watching them.
What do you think?
Answer me this:
Are they "creepy crawlers" or "fascinating creatures"???
Which one is your favorite giant fantasy bug drawing??? I'm always curious to know which one people like the most.
✌️🤙🤘👍
Thanks for reading!
If you enjoyed this post, feel free to upvote and/or resteem it!
I hope you all find a lot of beauty in your world today. Shouldn't be too hard... it's everywhere you look!
By the way...
I share a lot of my current work on Instagram. Finished pieces get posted almost immediately, and I put a lot of work-in-progress pictures and videos up on my story. If that's something that interests you, you can find me by clicking this link:
I like the last one the most. It looks mysterious and broody, like not knowing where to go, so it could go and live everywhere and you stand next in an indefinite position, like wondering what to do with it:) It was fun for me to read this, thanks for sharing:)
Yes! Just standing there like "uhhhh, whatcha doin???"
I'm glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for the response. I honestly did not expect anybody to like that one the most (just based on the response I've received on other platforms) so it's a nice surprise :)