This was a fun and interesting way to stretch my creativity. I had some acrylic ink on hand, which is actually probably not as versatile as the sumi ink, and not as dark, but it still kind of worked. It dries VERY quickly, though.

7/14/19 - Ink Blot Creatures - image 1 - student project

I have an obsession with pens (especially colored ones), so I had plenty of those on hand too. And of course printer paper. I went through a few blots before finding the ones I liked well enough to work on.

My husband is writing a not-so-serious story involving aliens, so I made a couple of blots into creatures, inspired by the idea that maybe they could end up in his story. I used these to "warm up" a little, and did very little modification to the original ink blots. Just used what was there and added some small accents. Husband gave some input and has named them already. haha

7/14/19 - Ink Blot Creatures - image 2 - student project

The Hairy Horse-Rat of Harrington

7/14/19 - Ink Blot Creatures - image 3 - student project

Flob, the Frightful Flying Wooughhh

Then I got started on the real project. The initial blot:

7/14/19 - Ink Blot Creatures - image 4 - student project

I had a couple of ideas, and one of them involved turning those long lines at the bottom into legs. But I'd done minimal work to the previous blots, and I wanted to go bigger this time. So it became a beard. Which wasn't a big leap, considering the top of the blot and how it seemed to naturally have a mouth going already. So I did some light sketching...

7/14/19 - Ink Blot Creatures - image 5 - student project

... and I decided he needed ink blot hair, so I added a couple of small drops where I wanted the top of his head to be and worked those with the air can.

As I started inking in the lines, I decided to be brave and just draw the eyes in. Normally, even though the space where the eyes go is white and not black, I would still have practiced the eyes on another sheet and picked my two favorites to add in by cutting. But this guy's personality said he didn't need perfect eyes. So even though they're a bit rough around the edges, so is Dennis, so they fit.

7/14/19 - Ink Blot Creatures - image 6 - student project

Husband named the guy for me. Everyone, this is Dennis. Dennis has been watching his favorite sports team and they have done well. He's pretty excited about that. In fact, he's feeling rather triumphant. As are his majestic beard and hair. Dennis is not the kind of guy to emote in a wild fashion, but his smile, and every hair on his head, says it all. I can't help feeling happy for him.

7/14/19 - Ink Blot Creatures - image 7 - student project

Congrats, Dennis. And congrats Dennis' sports team... whoever you are.

Mandy Luhn

I want to learn all the things.

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