This one has been on my to-do list since I began the Animal Guides series, and I had struggled with how to present a creature who is known for camouflage.
I decided to use the deep sea as cover, and draw her in a “dark” color, but with lots of light bouncing off of her.
And then: tentacles. They are kind of a visceral thing. Some people adore them, others are off-put or even triggered! I chose to smooth out the tentacles and not apply suckers. I may try this with suckers later on, but right now, I feel like this was the right call.
As usual, I started with an illustrator comp, which I then sized out, traced onto wood cutouts, and painted. They are available for purchase.