In the Shade of Octopus

Is that a ambiguous enough title for you? Nothing too complicated, I assure you. I was tempted to say something along the lines of Eight Shades of Octopus, to get your attention, but that was a bit silly really. Some of you will guess that I have been working on a new t-shirt, for my Octopus/Kraken series. If not, read my post Wibbly, Wobbly, Octopussy t-shirty stuff. #1 was a chestbuster Kraken, #2 was Deep Sea Ballooning. But what for #3?

Ideas sometimes flow easily, sometimes not. So, I put my thinking cap on. What shapes can octopi form and for what functions can they be of service? This series has a steampunk/ Victorian feel, so nothing too modern but something that is practical. What else but a Victorian woman having a picnic? She would not want to damage her delicate skin, so would need her parasol. Yep, the shade refers to that of an umbrella or parasol...

#1 had browns and orange/yellow/ #2 had red/yellow/brown;I wanted different colours, this time around. Blue/purple/greys? I had seen some pictures of live octopi with gorgeous, almost luminescent rings. That was something I wanted to create. The original drawing was pencilled and then inked with my nib. After scanning, I added colours via GIMP.

I decided to use this as an experiment on trying to learn to make layers of colours, on the computer. Firstly I coloured the woman, then coloured the octopus in shades of blue. I then created a second layer and coloured just the octopus, this time in purples. Once I worked out how to add the two layers together, I lined them up with the blue layer underneath the main picture. I used the eraser, to 'draw' circles on the octopus for a multi-coloured effect.

Voila! In the Shade of Octopus- protection for the skin and ready to carry all essentials! Available on Redbubble.

I am planning some more artwork, along the Victorian/steampunk styling, so am off to do some more doodling.

What sort of steampunk images are people interested in? People, mechanicals? Let me know what sort of things you are interested in.