Monica McFawn

Art

monicamcfawn

Bing and Kite greet each other on a snowy day. To

Bing and Kite greet each other on a snowy day. To avoid doom/stress scrolling, I set myself a new task: draw animals I don’t know well without googling any reference pics. Let them turn out inaccurate and silly, that’s the fun of it. This is what my brain thought a platypus looked like 🤣What unusual animals should I try next? #illustrationartists #scbwiillustrators #platypus #duckart #duckbill #markerart #inaccurateart #imaginationvsreality #shinhantouchmarkers #prismatic

Seasons Greetings from Rudolf the Rednose Snaildee

Seasons Greetings from Rudolf the Rednose Snaildeer! #seasonsgreetings #happyholidays #wintery #snailart #rudolph #rudolphtherednosedreindeer #markerart #papercrafts #snowflakes❄️

I drew Dotti the Otter on a day I received a reje

I drew Dotti the Otter on a day I received a rejection from an artistic opportunity. Just like the crow from a few posts back, Dotti ended up looking cheerful even though I felt anything but when I drew her. I think it’s interesting that my visual art seems less an outlet for my emotions than a counterbalance. Or perhaps it’s just because ✨otters✨ They are seriously fascinating. Did you know they have skin pockets in their arm pits where they carry food and rocks (to crack open mollusks)? I carry my wallet in my armpit often so I relate. Follow @friendsseaotters for more delightful otter facts (plus great videos and captions) and opportunities to help endangered otters and their habitats. #seaotter #scbwiillustrators #scbwimichigan #wildlifeconservation #seamammals #marinemammals #rejectionisredirection

They stole Georgia from her but they won’t the s

They stole Georgia from her but they won’t the steal the country💙❤️🇺🇸 Thank you Stacey Abrams. #election2020 #electionday #staceyabrams #bidenharris2020

Allow me to distract you with a snail discovery. 🐌🤩🎉#waitforit #snailsofinstagram #moosnail #newspecies

Just a quick drawing of That Woman from Michigan,

Just a quick drawing of That Woman from Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, on this voting day. Vote for a world where women leaders can do their jobs without threats of violence. Vote for a world where humane, humble, evidence-based leadership is valued over vitriol, violence and grandstanding. Vote for healing, vote for hope, VOTE. 💙🗳💙🌎💙#election2020 #biggretch #bidenharris2020 #bluewave2020 #governorwhitmer #voteblue2020 #thatwomanfrommichigan #wegotthis

And here’s Dada, another gorgeous Snailelphant o

And here’s Dada, another gorgeous Snailelphant out for a stroll 😻 #snailart #surrealart #magical #elephantart #spiral #picturebookillustration #snailshell #childrensbookillustration #scbwiillustrators

Say hello to Rene the Snailephant 🙂 I’ve been m

Say hello to Rene the Snailephant :) I’ve been making snail-mash up creatures when I’ve been stressed (so there are more where she came from.) She makes me happy 🤩 #snailart #elephantlove #elephant🐘 #paperart #cutpaper #photography #lakesuperior #markerart #childrensbookillustration #scbwiillustrators #picturebookillustration

Meet Demon on the Davenport™️ Halloween’s an

Meet Demon on the Davenport™️ Halloween’s answer to Elf on a Shelf,i.e. something I made while missing Halloween season from The Before Times. Kinda cute, huh? 🎃😈👻 #quarentinehalloween #halloween #demononthedavenport #inventinghashtags #friendlydemon #demonicamcfawn #halloween2020 #elfontheshelf

A little drawing I made several weeks ago. One of

A little drawing I made several weeks ago. One of my goals after attending the #scbwisummerspectacular is to draw more people (and not just faces). I’m going to call her Claudette. What do you think she’s thinking here? 🤔 #illustrationartists #drawingoftheday #selftaught #zigcleancolorrealbrush #zigcleancolor

“My story is hopeful. It leads one to be optimis

“My story is hopeful. It leads one to be optimistic about the future. What’s the difference between a bookkeeper in the garment district and a Supreme Court justice? One generation.” Thank you Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. For the work. For the hope. #ruthbaderginsburg #justiceginsburg #mayhermemorybeablessing #mayhermemorybearevolution

Portrait I made of Fritz, my friends @ssaschris an

Portrait I made of Fritz, my friends @ssaschris and @bryanpazyk gorgeous dog. It was challenging to get his unique markings just right, but I’m pretty happy with the result. #dogportrait #petportraitartist #petportrait #zigckeancolorrealbrush #bicoloreyes #illustrationoftheday #dogsofinstagram #touchmarkers #copicmarkers

Gracine the Toad disappeared after I cut her out a

Gracine the Toad disappeared after I cut her out and posed her in a bouquet (swipe left to see the last sighting of her). Seems to happen increasingly since Covid began...whether that’s because I’m more stressed and absent minded or because my drawings are becoming sentient, I just can’t say. Either way, I wish Gracine the best and hope to see her again one day ❤️🐸 #paperanimals #paperanimalsinaction #toadlove #toadart #toad #coviddiaries #ifyoulovesomethingletitgo #quarantinelife #markerartist #sentientart #sentientbeings

Three Belugas—Spindle, Lucinda and Gage—wish y

Three Belugas—Spindle, Lucinda and Gage—wish you a Labor Day free from work. Belugas are highly expressive, cooperative and playful. They can swim backwards and change the shape of their heads by blowing air around the sinuses. Also known as the Sea Canary for their varied and ever evolving vocalizations, Belugas have even been known to copy human speech. A captive Beluga named Noc mimicked the word “out” and tricked a diver into leaving his tank (since the diver thought a person was telling them to leave). Be like Noc and don’t be afraid to set boundaries for your piece of mind. ❤️🐳 #labordayweekend #happylaborday #belugawhale #belugaart #whaleart #touchmarkers #markerart #worksonpaper #seacanary #personalboundaries #worklifebalance

Ribbon the Frog, ready to leap into Monday. Can’

Ribbon the Frog, ready to leap into Monday. Can’t say I feel the same—omnipresent Covid, the state of the world and Eragon’s injury have left me feeling exhausted and run down. I’m pretty sure that’s a common feeling right now for a lot of people. Drawing Ribbon made me happy though; I have a feeling I’ll be drawing a lot more frogs and toads because I love their origami-like form. #frogart #zigcleancolor #copicmarkers #touchmarkers #colorpop #artoftheday #coviddiaries #quarentinelife #womeninillustration #scbwiillustrators #frogdrawing

A young Joey O’Hara offers a baby carrot to Fabl

A young Joey O’Hara offers a baby carrot to Fable, a venerable frog. Fable turns away; an amphibian of his vintage deserves a grown tuber./ I’ve been practicing drawing people to widen my skill set for potential comics etc. I drew this without thinking and came up with the caption afterwards. People who have known me over the last 25 years might recognize the name O’Hara. In high school, I named all my fictional characters O’Hara (why is lost to the sands of time), and I’d also use the name for any hypothetical person I was referring to (instead of doe or smith). Later, Joey O’Hara became a heavy presence in my classrooms, serving as an example of how a DropBox folder should be set up and occasionally making cameos and appearances in PowerPoints and handouts. The name O’Hara even appears in my book Bright Shards of Someplace Else...and now here, we finally have a glimpse of O’Hara as a child. If quarantine’s done nothing else, it’s helped me reconnect with old imaginary friends😉#imaginaryfriend #frogfriday #frogart #childrensbookillustration #girlswhodraw #scbwiillustrators #scbwisummerspec #markerart #babycarrot🥕 #carrotlove

Happy National Dog Day from Whimper and Snort! #na

Happy National Dog Day from Whimper and Snort! #nationaldogday #dogart #doggo #goodpuppers #inkdrawing #zipcleancolourrealbrush

Orion the Crow speaks for herself ✨#markerart #z

Orion the Crow speaks for herself ✨#markerart #zigcleancolor #crowart #crow #illustrationartists #artoftheday #paperart #drawingoftheday #birdart

Portrait I made of my cousin’s sweet beagle, Tom

Portrait I made of my cousin’s sweet beagle, Tommy, who recently passed away. #petportrait #lossofapet #beagle #pointalism #touchmarkers #metallicmarkers

Prism the Pink Mosaic Snake (made up species fyi)

Prism the Pink Mosaic Snake (made up species fyi) coils around her perch. I made this a couple weeks ago and kept photographing it (see my stories) but couldn’t settle on the best photo. I finally went with this one just to stop being perfectionist. Speaking of perfectionist, I had my first professional critique of my artwork on Monday as part of the #scbwisummerspectacular . I received praise for my inventiveness and use of color, but they also shared that I could use some work on making my larger scenes clearer and less chaotic. What was funny to me was how familiar the critique felt...it felt so much like when I was a writer in my early 20’s, obsessed with the line level and language, but lacking some ability on the plot and structure level. I feel that micro to macro way I learned as a writer (from language obsessed poet to structure obsessed screenwriter) is being echoed in the way I’m making art—staring small with intricate color and detail than expanding into scenes and larger compositions. Also like my early 20s? My difficulty in handling critique. I found it hard to hear any criticism of my art, even though it was truly helpful. As a writer, I hardly care about criticism anymore, but as an artist I’m as righteous and sensitive as a I was as a teen. I found this both weird and comforting. Weird, because I thought I’d outgrown that. Comforting, because if I care this much about art despite the pandemic and all the stress then I count myself as lucky. #constructivecriticism #artcritique #creativeprocess #creativegrowth #scbwiillustrators #scbwisummerspec #childrensbookillustration #snakeart #snake #coiledsnake

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