Adopting this title from the characters in childhood comic Casper the Friendly Ghost, only this time in kawaii form! Halloween is approaching soon, and we got a week to go. Time now to get creative for some spooky artwork! It was actually purely by chance that I came up with this sketch. Initially intended to be an experiment using my pastel-toned colored pencils, it ended up as a simple Halloween-themed drawing on black paper featuring a pumpkin, ghost and bunny-ghost!
Colored Paper Experiment
Recently, I purchased a box of 50 Holbein Artists’ Colored Pencils which came in 50 different pastel tones. Yes just pastel-tones! These colors are just amazing, and I do like incorporating them in my colored pencil drawings as I love bright vivid shades. Besides, I already possess Holbein’s pencils in other shades as well and am quite happy with the quality because they are pleasantly smooth to color with and come out on paper so beautifully.
A few drawings have already been done with these pencils but only on white paper, and I naturally wanted to try them on other types of papers too. First I tried toned tan paper, then toned grey paper, both by Strathmore’s and hence professional artist’s quality. Neither unfortunately turned out as I had hoped, as seen below. Although the pencils do give out a lot of color, and although I piled more on, it simply didn’t work. Perhaps they’d work better with chalky mediums like pastel sticks/pencils, but pencils are just too waxy. Oh well, no need to waste anymore time!
Black is Best
And now I went for black paper! I started doodling a bit on my black paper sketchbook by Art Gecko. Of course that worked best. The contrast between the two are so extreme that the pastel shades pop out beautifully, even more than on white paper! It gives a stunning blackboard effect, reminiscent of my schoodays. And away I sketched, starting with the moon, then the stars. I then decided to draw the ghost first followed by the bunny then the pumpkin. To balance the composition better, I included some fallen leaves in different colors. A variety of shades were used and blended. The result is amazing, given how much color these pencils yield even without having to use much or press hard. And here it is!
Although it started as an experiment, I thought it would be an idea to continue and make a cute sketch out if it! Black paper ought to be used more often especially with shades of pastel. It is amazing how something as quick and simply sketched can give such an eye-catching effect especially for a spooky theme like Halloween. Even after Halloween, I shall definitely be sketching more with this combination!
My Kawaii Quarter 