monstalexa
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monstalexa.bsky.social
monstalexa
@monstalexa.bsky.social
130 followers 520 following 12 posts
artist (monsters, spirits, nature!) 🌿🌲🌘🦇 returning to art!
she/her | very shy | survivor of breast-cancer 💪
www.instagram.com/monstalexa
🚫no AI/NFT. thank you!
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monstalexa.bsky.social
[Posting old artwork 😊]
Some more digital drawings/illustrations done during #MonsterMarch a few years back.
The challenge was a nice opportunity to work with a wider variety of subjects!
I'd really like to do more fantasy illustration creatures in the future, maybe also in color again, too!
Digital illustration in greyscale. Mostly drawn in very light, sketchy style line-art depicting a human-like figure sitting in a boat seemingly hand-carved from wood. The boat is on calm water, maybe a lake. The figure has their hands on a spear, almost leaning on the spear. Behind the figure are two wooden buckets of fish they have caught. This being has somewhat elongated limbs and is simply clothed in a sort of worn-out tunic with a belt around the waist, securing the garment. The figure has long pointy ears and a somewhat curious expression; they are looking in the direction of the "camera". Their face is almost like a classical grey alien but with a much smaller overall head and smaller eyes that are somewhat wide apart. This being seems calm, maybe a little caught off-guard, and is just going about their evening. Digital illustration in greyscale showing a mermaid on a narrow part of the beach that stretches out toward the ocean. In the background another similar narrow hill of the beach stretches out into the ocean. The mermaid has a saltwater crocodile tail and is resting with their back to the "camera". In front of the mermaid is small fire surrounded by some small and medium sized stones. The mermaid is resting their arm on the sand. Between their arm and their body, there is a piece of half-eaten crab laying on the sand. The mermaid's long and somewhat wavy dark hair flows out behind them, carried seemingly by a breeze. The mermaid is slightly turning their glance, over their shoulder, to the "camera". This mermaid seems calm or relaxed; another mysterious being simply going about their evening or night. In the more distant background, more of the beach or shoreline fades onto the horizon and darkness. There is a hint of light rain, perhaps, in that foggy distance. Digital illustration in greyscale. Very loose and sketchy line-art style showing a pale, thin quadrupedal being running toward the "camera" and away from a seemingly abandoned graveyard area. The being has a somewhat bat-like face and ears; a blend of human and bat. Maybe a vampire? The being has sparse hair on their head and jawline. Their mouth is wide open, showing very sharp and long fangs. The being's eyes are large and almost completely dark. Its nose is almost like a seal's nostrils. In this being's running cycle/position, it's evident they have three toes on their feet. In this pose, the lower arms and hands are outside of the frame.
November 30, 2024 at 5:21 PM
monstalexa.bsky.social
[ posting old artwork 😊 ]
A few years back I tried my hand at #MonsterMarch, so the last two drawings here are from that! Felt like a wonderful way to challenge myself to draw a wider variety of subjects!
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First piece is from me trying a style/atmosphere I wanted to start doing my digital work in!
Digital drawing/illustration in black and white, or greyscale. Mostly sketching style line-art depicting a human figure with an animal head that seems both deer and goat. Style is mostly realistic. The figure is holding a candle-holder in one hand while the other hand is below the candle holder, as if concerned wax may drop from the candle holder. Light emanates from the candle in the candle holder. The background is reminiscent of a watercolor wash and mostly flat, though there are variations in values that could hint at depth. The figure is clothed in a tattered garment similar to a tunic. There is some light shadow on the garment, cast by the light of the candle. Digital illustration in greyscale. The composition of the artwork opens up from a walkway in the immediate foreground that leads into a wooded area, a hiking trail. This trail has steps that lead in almost a spiral to the center of the composition where, in the only brightly lit area of the image, stands a figure. The figure is an abnormally tall barn owl. We understand that it is abnormally tall because it's standing next to a tall hiking trail sign. The barn owl also has somewhat elongated limbs. It's turning it's head to face the "camera" with big solid black eyes. It's wings are somewhat open, somewhat closed, and moving away from the body; as if in the process of either closing or opening its wings. Many tall trees are all around. Some are behind the "camera" casting a shadow across the foreground. Many more trees are behind the owl in the distant background, hinting at a densely forested area if one follows the trail. Where the owl is standing, the trail seemingly drops off down a hill into the darkness. Digital illustration in greyscale. Mostly sketchy style line-art depicting a unicorn galloping out of a foggy area. The unicorn is running toward the "camera" and seemingly veering around a medium sized tree with many branches already sprouted from the trunk area. Most the leaves have fallen from this tree. The unicorn is almost faintly glowing in the night/darkness.
November 30, 2024 at 4:15 PM
monstalexa.bsky.social
[ Posting some old artwork! 😊 ]
These may be old creature/monster drawings, but the kind of art I'm working on getting back to doing!
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Been working on adapting to some things in life-- and working on returning to art in a healthy and sustainable way; making a lot of healing progress lately!
Image of a scanned, off-white sketchbook page showing a werewolf drawn in graphite with a lot of sketchy style line-art; with a combination of some hatching, some blending for shadow on the figure. The werewolf is shown from the knees up in a pose that seems like it was walking and turned its attention to the "camera". There is a hint of fog around the werewolf, hence seeing only from the knees up. The arms are slightly swinging out from the body and the hands are a mix of human and wolf with large claws. The face of the werewolf is seemingly a mix of wolf, human, great-ape, and sabre-toothed cat (having somewhat large incisors). It has a hyena-like mane and neck, very large canine style ears, and a snarling but almost shocked expression with its mouth slightly open, showing many of the teeth. Image of a scanned off-white sketchbook page with a drawing in graphite on it. The drawing is mostly line-art with some hatching for shadows. The drawing depicts another creature or monster. The creature is seemingly a were-boar; part human, part wild boar. It is shown partially in profile and full body with a hint of a nature area on the ground around it, with small hills that have grass and rocks on the hills. The were-boar has a kind of action or defense stance with legs planted firmly on the ground in a wide stance. Arms and hands are held away from the body in this firm defense kind of stance. The head is completely in profile and seemingly roaring with the mouth wide open. The head and face is almost entirely a wild boar without many human elements in the design. The neck and all down the spine of the creature has a kind of long fur. The body is somewhat bulky and muscular, as are the arms and legs.
November 28, 2024 at 3:42 PM
monstalexa.bsky.social
🌿 Adventures Sketchbook 🌿 ~ part 2
Continuation of landscape drawings, mostly in ink, and meant to help me get comfortable with the medium!
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Except for the last drawing-- these specific studies were drawn, later (at home), after photos I'd snapped as reference whilst hiking/adventuring around!
Photograph showing an A5 sketchbook at an angle, sitting on a plain white table in natural lighting, and with an ink brush-pen in the foreground. The sketchbook is worn with time and use, being taken to many places. Some pieces of beige recycled paper stick out from the sketchbook. These are made into extra pages as mid-tone paper. The aforementioned sketchbook is now open and showing a page in it. This is a sketchbook page of a monochromatic ink and watercolor brush pen drawing. The scene is set in the mountains, the Italian alps. The foreground is dark, showing a flow of water and hint of raindrops on it. A hill region is in the midground, stretching through banks of fog or mist, toward a tall mountain in the background and middle of the composition. This mountain is mostly depicted with grey watercolor brush pen. The hills leading up to the mountain have some pine trees which seem tiny in comparison to the mountain. Another sketchbook page. This drawing is only in ink. A shadowy image showing a place in the middle of the forest of many pine trees. There is a small hill leading up the foreground. A natural, rocky path descends down the incline, around some trees in the foreground. In the mid-ground, there is somewhat of a clearing with a circle of stones, seemingly once used for campfire. Cast shadows stretch across the mid-ground and across the old campfire area. In the background there are many fallen trees or tree branches, maybe washed down the mountain in previous torrential rains. Sketchbook page. Pencil drawing, the only on-location drawing in this series. The scene is a dirt and rock road in the mountains of the Italian alps. Down the road there is a classic mountain style house on the right with some bushes next to it, one is hydrangea. On the left, all along the roadside, there are many bushes and trees. Into the mid-ground, a pole stands on the left, linking a wire from the foreground to the house on the right and onward to other poles going into the background. At the end of the road, in the middle of the drawing, there is a tall healthy tree. Going off into the background, to the right, there are pine trees and in the distant background there is a hint of mountaintops.
November 11, 2024 at 9:41 PM
monstalexa.bsky.social
🌿 Adventures Sketchbook 🌿 ~ part 1
Some landscape drawings/studies from my sketchbook that I like to bring along on trips to various places!
These specific studies were drawn, later (at either hotel or home), after photos I'd snapped as reference whilst hiking/adventuring around!
A selection of photos showing sketchbook pages of monochromatic ink drawings of nature; forests, wooded areas, mountains. The photos of the sketchbook itself show wear and tear from being taken to many places. There are pieces if recycled paper sticking out from the sketchbook too. This paper is used as extra pages or if the artist wants to use a mid-tone paper to draw on. Sketchbook page showing a black and white drawing in ink. The drawing depicts a scene of a path through the woods, a hiking trail. Sunlight shines through the trees, the scene isn't very dark overall but long shadows are cast by the trees, directing attention across the page toward the hiking trail. A few trees ahead lean over, almost making a portal/doorway farther ahead on the hiking trail. Another sketchbook page is shown here. The drawing is in black and white ink again, depicting a forest scene and a hiking trail, with many tree roots crossing said trail, that ascends up a hill right in front of the adventurer. This scene is a little more in shadow, almost all over the page, save for the area at the top of this small hill which exits the woods. In this lighter area, there is a handmade gate and fence, made from wood and wire interchangeably. It's evident that the wood of this gate and fence is worn with time and weather. Another sketchbook page is shown. This page is both black and white and greyscale, in ink and grey watercolor marker. A pathway is depicted with a wooden fence on the adventurer's right side and, on the left side, a hill ascending into a forested area. At the end of the path there is a large pine tree on the right side and the path seemingly ends, descending slightly to an open area in the background that hints at hills and a mountain in the distance.
November 10, 2024 at 10:13 AM