The final post for this year! I’m finishing this series off with another digital style that echos traditional media I have done in the past — this one’s linocut. I used to do a lot of printmaking, but it is now too hard for my hands to carve very much. It occurred to me that I could “carve” away colour with an eraser tool in Procreate, and get a very similar look, with the bonus of being able to swap colours around until I was happy with them. Many of the linocuts I used to do had hand-colouring, usually watercolour and this “faux-lino” style mimics that concept as well.
The Wren started this all off when I was asked to do a spot illustration for a friend’s album insert. The album was of traditional songs, and I thought this style would complement the material well.The Numbat was a Zooly Weekly prompt. I had never heard of this lovely creature before, as with many of the prompts — it’s alway fun learning about new animals! I left a lot of “chatter” in the background (the random looking lines that result from incomplete carving on a physical linocut) for liveliness.The Raccoon — we get a lot of these guys hanging out in the huge cherry tree in our backyard. They’re a treat to watch, especially the babies each spring. The background of this one looks more like silkscreen, but I’m not being a purist here!The Octopus — What can I say, I just love drawing these guys. I found trying to render the various textures while still sticking to the style a challenge, as I tend to get too fiddly with details. But I think I got there eventually! The Fire Snail – The markings of this snail lent themselves perfectly to this technique! These snails are huge, and really exist in Malaysia.The Belted Kingfisher always seems to look like it just got out of bed. If you had to dive for your breakfast, you probably would too!The Horseshoe Crab was another challenging one, with its odd contours and angles. I finally gave up trying to “carve” the sand, and just painted it with a splatter tool instead. I like the contrast.
That wraps up 2023! May the changing of the year find you happy in whatever space you are in, whether celebrating wildly or getting a good night’s sleep, and may the New Year dawn full of hope and renewed energy!
Karen Gillmore Art 
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