Marie WheelerGhouls are kind of sad. Maybe I have too much empathy, but when you read about them in the Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, they seem nearly kindly and pitiful. They are at the bottom of the food chain.
Pickman’s Model is the first story in which we hear of the ghouls and they are described as, ‘seldom completely human, but often approached humanity in varying degree. Most of the bodies, while roughly bipedal, had a forward slumping, and a vaguely canine cast. The texture of the majority was a kind of unpleasant rubberiness.’
Seemingly, this is an easy draw. I mean, I know what a dog looks like and I know what a human looks like, so it would appear a slam dunk. Well, I hope for better luck next time.
The truth is, I never did much with figures or really anything that moves, including dogs. I have art training – from high school. I am coming back to this art thing late, and I get frustrated when I can’t make things happen or figure out techniques.
So I have choices to make. I can continue to be frustrated or I can do something about it, something more than compulsively watch YouTube art tutorials. If I want to get better faster, I will need to find someone to help me with the missing pieces, either online or in person. And I will.
Back to the ghouls. They’re not pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but nothing in this art journal fits the bill for even pleasing, so why not?
I used the typical orange marmalade and black soot distress ink mixture for the background wash and the inktense pencils for the coloration. As in the previous work, I used the distress marker in black soot for detail work.
So that’s it. It’s not the most fantastic, but it’s mine and once I figure out how to make things pop better, I will work on it some more.
That’s the key, not giving up when something frustrates you. Especially when it’s important.
