Month of Fear: Secrets

Every October there's an online challenge for artists called "Month of Fear." It's pretty simple: draw something related to the weekly prompt, then post it online using the hashtag #monthoffear . There's no winners or prize. Anyone can participate. It's just for personal motivation.

This week's prompt was "secrets."

Whenever I have the time to do a personal piece, I scroll through my Pinterest inspiration board and see if anything strikes my fancy. The board consists mostly of pretty women, interesting forests, flowing fabric and atmospheric lighting. That's what I like.

I found this stock photo from Awdi-stock on Deviantart:

I thought that a scene of someone half-concealed in shady bushes would be good for the "secrets" theme. I changed it to a man/woman in hooded cloak, and threw in a magical flame for good measure. Originally I had a cool, moonlit color scheme going on.

Then I threw a sepia-toned texture on top and set the layer properties to "color." I like both of the color schemes but I think the orange/grey one is a little creepier - maybe because those are Halloween colors. What do you guys think?

Sorry this blog post is a bit brief - I forgot to make in-process shots of this piece. Also, I am so, so tired right now.

If you're interested in Month of Fear, visit the official Month of Fear Tumblr to see some of the other pieces that people make, or just follow the #monthoffear hashtag on Twitter, Tumblr or Instagram. Next week's theme is "wicked." I don't think I'm going to have time to make a piece next week, sadly.

If you're feeling extra ambitious, there's another challenge thing going on this month called Inktober. The idea is to draw something in ink every day for the month of October. You can follow the official prompt list, or not, it doesn't matter, just tag your drawings with #inktober and #inktober2016.

If you're an illustrator, I'd highly recommend participating in online challenges like this. Not only is it a way to push yourself to create valuable personal work, but it can also help you feel connected to other artists online, and it can help you get new followers on social media.