Walpurgistnacht (April 2020)

Last night was Walpurgis, also known as Walpurgistnacht. It’s a hoilday based in European tradition. It could be Catholic or Pagan, depending on how it’s celebrated. Walpurgistnacht, according to Wikipedia: ‘In Germany, Hexennacht (“Witches’ Night”), the night from 30 April to 1 May, is the night when witches are reputed to hold a large celebration on the Brocken and await the arrival of spring and is held on the same night as Saint Walpurgis Night (Sankt Walpurgisnacht).’ 

In honor of Walpurgistnacht, here’s an illustration. Hand drawn, pen and ink.

Walpurgistnacht. April 2020. Hand drawn by Michele Witchipoo. Pen and ink. 

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The World May 2019

Here’s something loosely based on the Rider-Waite/Pamela Coleman Smith tarot deck. Most tarot decks follow this system, unless one uses the Thoth/Crowley deck, or various oracles, gypsy cards, etc. Drawn in pencil and ink, colored in watercolor. Two types of watercolor was used. Shimmer/glitter and regular watercolor.

The scan, done at a low dpi didn’t do the illustration justice. Doesn’t show the details nor the depth of the colors. Below is a photo of the illustration itself:

Photo of The World illustration by Michele Witchipoo. Done May 2019. Pen, ink, watercolor. 

The other photo is a scan with the fore mentioned low dpi normally used for web and other devices.

Scan of The World, by Michele Witchipoo. May 2019. 

At this point, the only left for this illustration is a frame, for exhibiting. There could be the rare exception of selling the original. Once it’s framed, of course.

Inktober # 9 – Squeaky Being Precious!

Squeaky Squeakums, my female tuxedo cat has become my Inktober muse. Despite her quirky habit of stealing my art pens.

It must be some kind of hunting instinct. Many times she’s proudly meow as she carries one of my drawing pens in her mouth. Then as she claims herself victorious, she drops the pen on the floor. She’s also hid my pens inside slippers. It’s both annoying and cute. Annoying because it’s usually one of my good pens she swipes. Cute because I haven’t seen any other cat do this, and besides. Who can get mad at that face?

Continuing with the theme of Inktober 2018 prompts six, seven and eight is prompt number nine – precious. As always, Squeaky Squeakums is being precious. Even while she’s hording my precious art pens.

Inktober 2018 prompt # 9 – precious. Featuring Squeaky Squeakums. Drawn by Michele Witchipoo. Oct. 2018.

BTW – happy Caturday.

Inktober 2018 Sketch # 2

Continuing from the previous blog post. Here’s my Inktober sketch nummer zwei. Prompt number two was ‘tranquil.’ After finishing the sketch, I’d say the mood is more reflective that tranquil.

Inktober 2018 sketch # 2. Prompt: tranquil. Drawn by Michele Witchipoo, Oct. 2018.

I like this Inktober sketch # 2 more than the previous one. Watch out for Inktober 2018 sketch number three.

Inktober 2018 Sketch # 1

What has become an annual tradition among artists internationally is Inktober. Inktober is basically a monthly challenge, where the artist creates an ink sketch every day for the month of October. It doesn’t matter if it’s traditional ink, digital, or you create a sketch with a splash of watercolor. The point is to have the artist draw something everyday for that month. The website itself will explain more.

Inktober started introducing it’s prompts in 2016, but it’s not necessary to follow. The prompts are basically suggestions. Technically you can draw whatever you want, just as long as it’s ink. Again, either traditional or digital.

So here’s my first Inktober sketch. At first I was going with the Inktober prompt idea of ‘poisonous.’ The end result went into something else. Well, I suppose the subject matter might be considered ‘poisonous.’

Without further ado, here’s Inktober sketch number uno. That’s it for now. I’m getting tired. I’ve noticed that when I post on this blog while semi-sleepy, there’s a few typos the next day. Inktober # 2 should follow very shortly. There’s probably going to be a gap after Inktober # 3, due to this weekend being NYCC.

Inktober 2018 # 1 from Michele Witchipoo. Oct. 2018. Prompt: Poisonous.

September 2018 Commission

By now I would’ve had the latest Psycho Bunny sketch of the week posted. The artwork has been completed. Just haven’t had time to scan it. It’ll be on this blog very soon.

In the meantime, here’s a recent commission I did a few weeks ago. It was the second time working for this awesome client. The style was a change of pace in regards to my usual style. It’s a local rapper from Queens. As requested, I’m not telling who. (Was given permission to post the art) I was going through his Instagram account, but when I watched his promo videos from his YouTube channel, that’s when everything flowed.

Here’s the inked version before color:

Here’s the colored version.

The mediums used was pencil, pen, ink, watercolor and glitter watercolor. Again, the scan doesn’t really show the shimmer from the glitter watercolor very well. It looks better in person. The person who commission this was very happy with the final results.

I’m still taking commissions, so if you’re interested, discuss rates, etc., send me an email: Witchipoo@witchesbrewpress.net. Serious inquires only.

A Different Kind of Mermaid

 

In the past few years, mermaids have become more popular. For example, every year in Coney Island, Brooklyn, there’s The Mermaid Parade. Mermaids are usually depicted as romantic, feminine creatures. Many different cultures have their own mermaid versions. After doing some quick research the other day, I discovered that in British folklore, mermaids usually foretold death.

Authors such as Lewis Spence, and W.B. Yeats wrote about mermaids. You can check out other folklore here.

Once I read about these mermaids bringing bad omens, such as storms, dangerous distractions, shipwrecks, and such, that’s when I decided to take the beautiful image of a mermaid into another direction.

Have you heard that sleep is your enemy? In this case, being half asleep made me forget to scan my devil mermaid sketch before using watercolor.

Sketch of a devil mermaid in pen, before using glitter watercolor. Artist: Michele Witchipoo, June 2018.

The scan fails to show the effect of using glitter watercolor. Thinking about creating a custom frame and selling the original. Here’s the finished result.

Not a very good scan of this illustration. Devil Mermaid. Illustration, pen and glitter watercolor. Artist: Michele Witchipoo. June 2018.

Space Bat Woman Sketch Nov. 2015.

Got a chance to work on a new sketch. Pen and ink, Nov. 2015.

Space Bat Woman. Pen and ink drawing. Nov. 2015. Drawing by Michele Witchipoo.

Mother Russia Sketch Lottery

My first contribution to the Sketch Lottery blog for 2015. Mother Russia from the Kick-Ass comicbook and film.

Below is a pic of my Mother Russia sketch. It had been halfway done at this point. You can see the finished result on the Sketch Lottery site.

Mother Russia sketch halfway done. Drawn by Michele Witchipoo, Jan. 2015 for Sketch Lottery.

Link: Sketch Lottery

Coming To America – Sketch Lottery

What’s up with him?

Eddie Murphy’s eyes….on Sketch Lottery. Character of the week was Prince Akeem from the 80s film “Coming To America.” Sketch by Michele Witchipoo Nov. 2014

A week late, but the Sketch Lottery character was Prince Akeem from the 1988 film ‘Coming To America.’ For those who don’t know, comedian Eddie Murphy portrays Prince Akeem, a rich African prince in search of a bride. He goes to America to find the woman of his dreams, which lands him right in NYC boro of Queens.

As a side note. The scenes where Prince Akeem was working in McDowell’s were filmed on location at a local fast food restaurant. It was Wendy’s, located on Queens Boulevard, in Elmhurst, Queens. My mother used to pass by this Wendy’s during her work commute.

Years later, I moved to an area which wasn’t that far from Elmhurst. The Wendy’s location was still there. Unfortunately, that Wendy’s was known as one of the worse Wendy’s ever. In 2013, it was torn down. Below are a few online articles relating to the former business.

http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2013/05/coming-to-america-landmark-in-process.html

http://queens.brownstoner.com/2013/06/closing-bell-what-will-happen-to-elmhursts-old-wendys/

http://www.qchron.com/editions/central/what-s-in-store-for-former-wendy-s-lot/article_a814c458-4711-5dfb-9f45-7d6745ea9352.html

http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2013/06/14/queens-boulevard-loses-a-movie-icon-disguised-as-a-fast-food-joint/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/wendys-elmhurst

The sketch I did was based on the scene where Akeem and his personal assistant/best friend Sammi hit the club in search of a bride.

Not the best work I’ve done, but regardless. Enjoy my contribution on Sketch Lottery. Don’t forget to check out work by the other artists as well.

FYI – The film poster for ‘Coming To America’ was drawn by Drew Struzan.