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March
This is the first piece I created. I made a reel about it on Instagram, but the gist is that I wanted to create a piece inspired by a bookmark I made of Whitebeard during Mermay.
Thing is, I didn't want to draw Whitebeard exactly, but I wanted to capture his vibe—big man with a fancy moustache and flowing blonde hair.
Going into this, I also knew that I wanted to have fun with text. I like this font called Scriptina Pro by CheapProFonts on DaFont. It's big, bold, swoopy loops complement his swirling hair perfectly. When I actually render this, I want to have strands of hair weave in and out of the text.
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March // Poseidon |
Inspired by that bookmark, I wanted to replicate the composition of a big man suspended in space, relaxed and poised. Initially, I thought it would be fun to draw a kelp forest as the background again, where the swaying kelp frames the subject to emphasise his large size compared to familiar-ish natural elements.
However, the canvas size isn't very suitable for a composition like that. Kelp is long and vertical, while the calendar size is squat and horizontal. Besides, the subject himself takes up too much space. It's not practical to include a detailed background plus text if I want this calendar to be usable.
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| An alternative view of his hair. I didn't like how all his hair is bunched to one side. It looks unnatural. I have since changed it so the parting is more well-spread. |
It's hypothetical for now, but I'm thinking of a beachy scene for the colours. The subject rests on the seabed, as water crashes in and out slowly. A faint, golden sunlight ripples on his chest, giving a much-needed contrast to an overall turquoise-coloured piece.
Instead of kelp, I'm going to draw ships drifting in and out, flowing over his hair. I also want him to be half-submerged in water, where his chest and the upper portion of his stomach are suntanning, while the rest of him will be submerged in shallow blue water. Again, he's so large that the shallower end of the ocean is essentially his bed.
While I didn't know it at the time, this is the piece that sets the creative direction moving forward. I want every page to feature a big man, whose size is emphasised by their surrounding landscape.
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April
Isn't this font gorgeous? It's called Albrega Changes, created by 177Studio. It's a chunky font with a slight whimsical twist, with the occasional curl. It's serious and solid, but with a playful twist.
It matches my subject's serious expression, while also complimenting the way his hair and moustache curl at the ends. Plus, it helps me cover up bits of his shoulder that I'm not very confident in.
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| April // The Gathering Spot Among Elasmosaurus |
At any rate, I was inspired by dinosaurs. I got dinosaur stickers at the illustration fair I went to and figured, why not draw them? I mean, I don't want to run out of ideas, and I have never explored dinosaurs as a motif before. Plus, as there were lots of wonderful images of dinosaurs on Pinterest.
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| Illustration made by William Stout |
Originally, I wanted to depict a tropical rainforest scene lush with large leaves and foliage. In the middle of that scene, rests a large merman sitting idly in a pool of water, large and tired, surrounded by big dinosaurs like the T-rex. The illustration above is close to what I'm imagining.
I liked the idea, but it was too similar to an earlier piece I had done for a seperate project. Besides, I didn't want to be repetitive, so I searched around for an alternative idea and I found it on Twitter of all things.
Someone on Twitter posted pictures of this old man from Castlevania with the hilarious caption—just because the wrapper is crumpled, it doesn't mean the candy isn't sweet.
At any rate, I thought the old man was handsome with long white hair, bushy facial hair and wrinkles. He has a haggard look to him. If it weren't for his build and elegant outfit, I'd think he's homeless, and there's an appeal to it. I decided that he will be my muse for now, especially since he looks older than Poseidon.
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| At the time, it could've worked but I wanted to try something else. |
Hmm...
Yes, yes, I agree my art style at the time wasn't working as well as it should, but it was a good, earnest attempt. I liked the angular jaw, his bushy eyebrows and even the elegant hair.
However, I didn't like his beard, the angle of the face also didn't match the pose, and I struggled with proportions. His head always looked too big, or his body too skinny. It just didn't work. I kept saying, 'oh I'll draw a skinny body type for once' but then I didn't like it. Hence, I had to move on and redraw him.
I decided to turn his head to the side like the original reference picture, and I liked it more. I also cut his hair, fearing the long hair would be too repetitive if done consecutively. I worry about this but I insist on having a long moustache anyway. Ideally, I should get rid of that too...
For reference, I looked at one of my favourite artists Burning_Nipple on Twitter. I love how they draw Roger, and so I referenced his his messy, short haircut. I think it looks better.
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| I sent this ask in!! I'm so honoured they replied me!! |
Last notes before I move on, I love the way I drew his back. It has so much texture and form. For now, I won't clean the sketchy lines up too much. It'll be cool to depict a subject with wrinkles on his body, a sign of strength and ageing.
I suppose if I could critique this, I'd like to have more landscaping elements like little islands and rocks, rather than have the dinosaurs simply float around. It'll be more dynamic that way. Also, the dinosaurs featured here are called Elasmosaurus—what a name, right?
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December
I may or may not change the font for the header for this one, but I see the appeal.
It's called Fashion Mode, made by Nirmana Visual. It exudes elegance with its uniform height and overall thin lines. It vaguely reminds me of the icy setting this piece is located in, so that's why I haven't been very enthusiastic in finding a replacement.
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| December // Slow-moving Ice Water |
Even if not the most technically impressive, I adore this iteration. I like that the subject is casually leaning back against some mountains, half-submerged in icy-cold water. He gazes at the sky above.
This only came about after failing once, and you'll see it below. I thought the subject was cute when I first drew him. Now, though, he makes me uncomfortable. Perhaps it's just me superficially saying he's not very attractive.
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| My scrapped iteration |
The pose almost worked. If I tweaked the perspective on the mountains, it could work as a prince staring up at the reader for forgiveness. Plus, his face is almost handsome. I liked the way I did his eyes, the way his iris isn't very clearly defined. He looked blind, and that's an idea I want to experiment with when I start rendering.
Looking at it, I wonder if this piece is enough compared to the other pages. I made peace with it eventually.
Since December is the end of the year, I think it'll be cool if this piece is relatively not so ambitious. It indicates peace, an end to a very stunning collection and an expectation for the future ahead.
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| A more human representation. I almost went with this... Maybe next time. |
On that note, you might notice the weird shading on his back. I wanted to make clear that he's a narwhal. A narwhal's back is darker in colour, compared to its paler belly. It'll be clearer when I start colouring, but that was my intention with the textures for now. The colour scheme would be a white wintry landscape, with a burst of sunlight bouncing off the side of his flowing hair, contrasted by his darker skin on the back.
I originally wanted to include body hair like a bear here. I like the mix of subtle noise-like textures and hair indicated by quickly-drawn lines. It feels real and solid, especially compared to the faded and smooth texture of the ice surrounding him.
He's undeniably handsome, but it doesn't get that magical, otherworldly vibe I get from the version I ultimately went for. He feels too human for a piece that's supposed to be supernatural.
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June
Also, in case it's not clear, I'm not going to talk about these spreads in any consecutive order. I hope this doesn't upset anyone.
At any rate, June is Pride Month. It feels like a special occasion in my head, so I figured it'll be fun to try something new. Instead of a big merman, why not just a big man, with smaller mermen?
I had a few ideas before settling, so bear with me as I deliberately stall revealing the final spread. You'll see why. It's quite special.
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| Draft 1 |
If I were drawing this for fun, I might've pursued this composition further. His wet, curly hair is giving a handsome male lead in a cheesy romance novel. I sense the potential of fine stubble along his jaw. His smile is peaceful and romantic. In short, he's a good-looking man.
Yet, I must scratch this idea because the text doesn't fit properly. If I made him smaller to give the text more space, it would feel like I'm compressing him, which doesn't feel natural. Back to the drawing board!
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| Draft 2 |
Better. At least there's more room for text.
I experimented with drawing the back view, saving this casual, lounging sideways for a different illustration. I liked the image of large shoulders tapering down to a sharp waist and smooth hips.
The subject here encapsulates what I'm going for. Dare I say, it's my best attempt at drawing the ever-elusive back-view. I can almost feel the warmth of his shoulders. Yes, his hips might be too wide, but it's still a pleasing shape. I also liked how gentle his face looked.
Looking back, it's not ugly per se, just maybe not the kind of composition I want to stamp my name on. I like the idea of a merman as big as cliffs. More specifically, a big man rising from the ocean to greet a small human lover. I'm saving that for a future drawing. For now, I want to refine this idea.
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| June // Peach Season |
As of penning this blogpost, this is my favourite spread. In the front, we have the figure of a curvy, muscular man smiling pleasantly at a crowd of mermen admiring him. They'll be small, compared to him, and it'll be fun to entertain the idea of a human man with lots of lover-mermen.
For his back, I was inspired by the opening shots of Sabrina Carpenter's Espresso music video where the director's name is written on a golden back, almost stamped on a red, sun-burnt skin.
That explains the odd-looking typography there. I meant it when I said I wanted to be more experimental with the layouts. For the font, I literally typed 'summer' into Dafont and came across this lovely font called Summer Script by Xerographer Fonts.
It's this handwritten, slightly scratchy cursive font, as if someone wrote with a dip pen. When I traced it, I subconsciously rounded off the edges, so it might not be very obvious, especially when I warped it to make it bend around his back. However, I like it a lot. It's charming and suits the romantic atmosphere I'm going for.
Speaking of layouts and typography, I appreciate that the dates look like they fit into the illustration, occupying the shape of the pond in the distance. I wonder if I can maintain this level of excellence.
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Some last words
These are just the first four pieces. There are eight more to go, and I'll share them with you in due course once I've finished.
For now, I have two illustrations in mind.
For May, I'm thinking of a summer scene full of flowers, inspired by Chungha's Play and Red Velvet's Cosmic. A figure will emerge from a refreshing pool of water as sunlight shines on them. I wonder if the colour palette will be too repetitive, but let me handle that when I actually start work on it.
For the spooky month of October, I want to incorporate bioluminescence from deep-sea creatures into the composition. This is something that'll be interesting to try printing—stark black shadows with neon colours for lights. I want my subject to be a little freaky but still endearing and attractive.
Some interesting ideas in the KIVs, so let's see how far I can take this in another update.
Thanks for reading!
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