A whimsical series of 4 magical forest themed pieces
For this series, I challenged myself to make 4 individual pieces. At this point, the most pieces I had done with a cohesive look had been 2, so tacking on 2 more felt like a reasonable, but still daunting challenge. These tree creatures started to take shape in my mind around the end of the summer. After finishing the initial piece, I was happy with how haunting the creature looked, but was also pleasantly surprised at how easily I could imagine the illustration being in a children's storybook. I felt that the coloring style I used could fit in well with a magical, storybook type of environment.
I knew I wanted to do more of these creatures, continuing to impart the whimsical, yet eerie feels that the initial humanoid tree had. From there I began trying to find inspiration in the trees I'd spot on my walks around the neighborhood. Before I knew it, my camera gallery was filling up with pictures of trees I'd find twisted into interesting shapes or adorned with beautifully patterned bark. These trees became the backstory of the next 3 pieces in the series.
This series was also a challenge as it required me to craft low-light, deep forest backgrounds which I wasn't used to. I also took to exploring how to draw more natural, free-flowing shapes such as those found in the bark and limbs of trees. I liked how the methodically detailed human faces of the creatures were juxtaposed with the softer, almost random look of the tree bodies they were nested in.
I find that each humanoid tree in this series has a different tale. Each face evokes quite a different emotion and you'll find spookiness sprinkled in a different way for each creature. As October comes to an end, I'll miss the spooky decorations I've taken such pleasure finding around the city, but if anything I'll have these trees to keep the spirit alive and well.