Mosslike | Gemma Hazen

Category: foggy blog

  • My Latest Goal: Do More Portrait Art (again)

    My Latest Goal: Do More Portrait Art (again)

    So I need to make more stuff. Lol. Story of my life. Coming out of yet another rut. Or I could characterize it as a trough before a great crest. Right, isn’t that more of a growth mindset? So, I’m here to say, I’ll be making more portraits.

    Here is the most recent example from my sketchbook. I posted the progress video on:

    Instagram

    TikTok

    @m0sslike

    #shelleyduvall #ink #portrait #inkdrawing #art

    ♬ Stuck In The Middle – Tai Verdes

    This rough portrait took me about 25 minutes. From pencil sketch all the way til I ruined it with extra ink. Luckily I took photos and ended the videos before that happened.

    Sometimes, I’ll be grabbing inspiration for future portraits from the Sktchy / Museum app as usual. In that app, a ton of people post their images. They hope someone will use that image for portrait practice! I love the images that are clear with high contrast!

    I think I’ll also be doing celebrity portraits. I hate doing this because I don’t have specific rights to the photos I use as reference. BUT, in the past, using a popular celebrity image drives up the likes & follows. Comment if you’d like to see any of your favorite celebrities painted! 🖤

    I enjoy making portraits. I always think, people, pets, & plants. So much character and observation.

    If you’ve made it this far in my post – I’m also still open to practice with your photos (pets are cool too)! Email me @ Gemma@mosslike.com 🖤 If I like the photo you send me, I’ll do a free practice portrait of it. Thanks for reading!

  • Things I made for Drawlloween 2024

    Things I made for Drawlloween 2024

    I enjoyed participating in Mab’s Drawlloween Club once again this year. It’s an annual event that provides drawing prompts for each day in October, hosted by Mab Graves. I also tried to do most of the art in ink so I could use the Inktober hastag as well. Here’s a sort of summary of what I made 8)))

    Day 1 | If I Were a Shapeshifter…

    🖤 I drew my version of Mo’o – A Hawaiian lizard-like spirit who can shapeshift from beautiful maiden to water dragon or even house gecko. They are often found lurking in local pools and waterways. I like to imagine this Mo’o in a flower filled plunge pool at the bottom of a waterfall.

    Day 2 | (Young) Frankenstein

    Day 3 | Vampire

    You guys … I lost the likeness of this #Vampire so badly … This one was a struggle…

    Day 4 | Faun (Mr. Tumnus)

    Another little 5″x7″ ink art 🖤 I’m happy for prompts so I don’t have to waste time thinking about who/what/why to draw

    Day 5 | (Worst) Witch

    I painted a little Worst Witch aka Fairuza Balk 🖤🖤🖤 I’m pretty proud of how it came out! This movie was one of my FAVES growing up along with everything else she was in. Tim Curry bonus!

    Day 6 | (Aloha) Bones

    Day 7 | Alien

    I chose to draw this Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle for today’s Alien prompt. CRB are alien to our Hawaiian islands, damaging swaths of coconut trees, leaving death in their wake. I made it look cute tho cuz bugs are rad where they belong 😉

    Day 8 | Grimm

    I chose to draw the tall oak that held ‘the MOON’ before everyone gets greedy in this Grimm tale.

    Day 9 | Goblin

    It’s Gizmo! and Stripe! and 3 random faces from the Museum app that are definitely NOT goblins. Is a gremlin even a goblin? Time to go be a beach goblin 👹

    Day 10 | Black Lagoon

    Day 11 | Siren

    Stay a while and listen.

    Day 12 | Reaper

    Made a fun little digital guy today! 🖤💀🖤 He looks happy to be out collecting for the Halloween season 🎃

    Reaper Holographic Sticker

    Day 13 | Yokai (Ninmenju in bloom)

    Ninmenju is a strange old tree that bears flowers and fruits that resemble human heads.

    Ninmenju T-Shirt

    Day 14 | Undead

    This Undead Cutie isn’t quite finished but my time is up … for drawing today 💀 Perhaps I’ll add even more undead to it another time 🥀 Also we don’t have to talk about why the one leg hasn’t decomposed… /shrug

    Day 15 | Haunted Forest

    I really like looking at everyone’s drawings of haunted/enchanted forests. I yearn to be able to create a really dreamy, misty feel in my arts. Not there yet 😞 Have to practice more. But, I will say that this mixed media piece is better than the forests I’ve drawn before so I guess I’m getting somewhere 👻

    I think that’s my favorite bit about the October drawing challenges – it forces me to work on things I wish I was better at.

    Day 16  | Moon 🌙

    Also included Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)

    Day 20 | Cat Creature

    Tatzelwurm

    Day 21 | Green Lady

    One of my favorite places is the Wahiawa Botanical Gardens. So much shade and color!

    There is a rumor that the Green Lady haunts this Garden, looking for children to steal. Not gonna lie, the bridge there freaks me out and we’ve heard strange drums echoing from down the stairs in the deeper parts.

    We still take the kids there all the time and tell creepy stories 👍🏼🤣😀

    Day 22 | Botanical Beast

    🖤 One version of a Hawaiian legend describes the volcano goddess Pele’s love for a great warrior named ‘Ohi’a. But, ‘Ohi’a was in love with Lehua, and refused Pele’s offer of marriage. Pele was furious and turned the handsome warrior into a twisted tree. The gods take pity on a heartbroken Lehua, and return her to ‘Ohi’a as a flower. The legend says that if you pick a Lehua blossom from an ‘Ohi’a tree, it will rain. The separated lovers are crying once again.💔🖤

    Day 24 | Goth Moth

    I was trying to make black lace – it’s got sort of a paisley bandana feel to it. I still like it.

    Day 28 | Dragon

    My daughter was born in the year of the Black Water Dragon. These are a fave to imagine and draw. 🖤

    Day 30 | Ghost