Purple character with nerd glasses – watercolor drawing

This charming purple monster has the most stylish nerd glasses you’ll ever see. Smart and friendly, it is always ready to start a deep conversation about the nature of the universe. Or the specifics of the chemical bond. Or how to make the perfect french fries. This watercolor drawing makes me smile when I see it, and here is the story behind the creation of this weird lovable creature.

Cute monster with nerdy glasses - drawing in ink and purple watercolor. Drawn by Boriana Giormova, Sofia, Bulgaria

The birth of a monster

I love purple color. And this monster started as a big spot of purple with undifferentiated shape. The spot then reminded me of a creature so I added legs. Three, so they could support its massive head. Then there arose the need for ink. With black and white ink I created its lovely smile with big teeth and expressive eyes. Added quirky nerd glasses that instantly gave him a personality and a touch of geeky charm. It also just had to have ears. If just only for the reason that the glasses should stay on something.

Embracing the cuteness

What makes me love this monster is its utter cuteness. Despite its weird and abstract appearance, there’s something undeniably adorable about the creature. It’s playful and friendly and just very, very nice. Look at him, his good nature is its biggest weapon.

Watercolor and ink – a favorite combo

While watercolor creates a beautiful wash of colors, ink allows adding of details and definition to the artwork. So in the case of this drawing, ink is what actually transforms the spot into a creature.

Original drawing

Check out a photo the original artwork on my drawing pad. No background, just the creature. Notice the texture of the sheets. It’s nice so I’ve left some of it in the digitalized image.

photo of original watercolor and ink drawing of the nerdy creature

Goodies with the monster

I’ve added art prints and products with this cute character to my Redbubble store. Check out some of them:

spiral notebook with this adorable creature
purple iphone case with the nerdy monster
customizable black t-shirt with this creature

See more of my character art here.

Find me on Instagram here and on Pinterest here.

Crafting Cuteness: Orange Monster Figurine

Have you ever stumbled upon something so adorable it instantly brought a smile to your face?  This monster does exactly this. For me, at least. Inspired by a polymer clay online course, I wanted to recreate one of my characters but from air-dry clay instead. And this is the result:

cute orange monster clay figurine with big eyes, fun eyelashes and a smile with big teeth showing with its hands wide open, ready for a hug. crafted by Boriana Giormova, Sofia, Bulgaria

The original artwork after which I created this little creature pushes the good mood button for me every time I see it. Plus, it looked relatively easy for a first time try with air-dry clay. Check it out:

cute creature original artwork in yellow and orange

Step by step making of the monster

I initially created a skeleton from wire and crumbled aluminum foil. Then I slapped the clay around the skeleton and loosely shaped the form. It became one big thick ugly lump. Fixed the creases in the clay with fingers and then let it dry for a couple of days.

making of the toy. first steps - a lump of monster-shaped air-dry clay over a wire skeleton and crumbled aluminum foil.

Then I sanded with 150 grit sandpaper. A lot. A real big fat lot. Then sanded consecutively with 180, 250 and 320 grit. Until I got to this:

shape after initial sanding

Now it was time for the details – eyes, mouth, teeth. Used my dremel-like tool for this and carved them. These were my first steps in carving with this type of device, too. This is what I managed to do:

figurine with carved eyes and mouth

I had to stop carving at some point so I did. Then – a failed attempt at spraying with acrylic paint. I was eager to see it in color and sprayed too much and too fast on one spot of the poor monster. Notice the ugly drip of the paint on the right side of the photo under the eye:

failed attempt of spray painting the sculpture

Sooo, I sanded again. Then spray painted again, this time more carefully, from longer distance. A number of coats along with changing the direction of spraying. Then I let it dry.

At this time a great fear arose. I had to make holes for its tiny lovely eyelashes. Procrastinated some days then I said to myself “Finally I’ll make it shitty anyway” and drilled the holes. Not beautifully, of course, and my darling suffering monster now had a battle scar.

sculpture with holes in the eyes for the eyelashes

With this, a ton of pressure alleviated and I continued to make the eyelashes themselves. Shaped clay around pre-cut parts of a wooden toothpick. Let them dry. Then I painted the details with a white acrylic marker and one of the alcohol ink markers which my daughter uses frequently. She happened to have this lovely shade of purple which I thought was just right for my creature. Lastly I sprayed it with UV-resistant matte varnish and it was ready.

ready figurine
orange monster toy held in hand

Finally, a little video to see the creature in all its splendor before I broke it:

Yes, I managed to break it a very short time after it was ready. I tried to 3D scan it (quite unsuccessfully) in order to make 3D prints but it fell on one side and one of the eyes broke near the base. It is not a huge problem because the eye is easily put again on the wire. Now the creature has a removable eye.

This adorable fellow somehow manages to always be in a good mood. So it stands on my desk and enjoys me whenever I look at it.

But perhaps the most rewarding aspect of this project was the journey itself. Through trial and error, I learned valuable lessons – about working with clay but mostly about the beauty of imperfection. Crafting this cute monster figurine was like magic for me – I made one of my drawings come to life.

So, if you ever find yourself in need of a pick-me-up, why not try sculpting with clay? Air-dry clay is the cheapest alternative, it’s non-toxic and it smells nice. And the process is really rewarding.

See more of my clay creations.

Find me on Instagram here and on Pinterest here.

Spooky Trippy Eye Flower Drawing In Blue

Today I present another one of my eye designs. Drawn in ink and watercolor and just as delightfully odd as these pictures come to my mind usually. It is another weird flower with blue petals and, of course, an eye in the center, staring right at you. Well, actually me, because I’m the person who looks most often at it.

Weird spooky eye artwork in shades of blue depicting a flower with blue petals with decorative elements and a weird yellowish-green eye in the center of them. Drawn in ink and watercolor by Boriana Giormova, Sofia, Bulgaria

The whole vibe is eerie and dark. The flower stands out against this dark blue background like it’s popping out of a dream. It looks as if it has to tell you something important which you don’t know but it won’t do it.

Check out the original drawing:

photo of original watercolor and ink drawing of the creepy eye artwork

And the loose sketches of similar eyes which precede it:

photo of sketches of this trippy artwork

And here some fun products with this whimsigoth eye design from my Redbubble art store:

Mousepad with weird eye flowers artwork
Spiral notebook with this creepy floral design
All over printed t-shirt with this whimsigoth floral eye

Basically, this drawing isn’t just a pretty image and maybe it is not very pretty at all. But it’s something you feel. Well, weird and wonderful – this should be my favorite phrase.

See more of my eye art here.

Find me on Instagram here and on Pinterest here.

Organic chemistry design with benzene molecule pattern

I have a keen interest in organic chemistry and I’m fascinated by the shapes atomic orbitals so this benzene molecule design started just as a doodle. It represents the hexagonal shape of the molecule, the shapes of the p-orbitals and the delocalized pi-bond between them which makes the molecule very stable. Drew it in ink, then added color with blue and purple watercolor pencils. Looking at the drawing, I imagined it would look cool as a pattern, so I created one with it. Here it is:

Benzene molecule pattern depicting hexagonal molecules drawn in black ink and blue and purple watercolor. Created by Boriana Giormova, Sofia, Bulgaria

You can see the original artwork here on my drawing pad accompanied by another drawing of a molecule (of methane) accompanied by my favorite Science bobblehead from the video game Fallout 3 (one of my all time favorite games which had me so immersed in itself that I experienced sudden glimpses of the game environment mixed into reality for a while).

Original drawing of benzene molecule, methane molecule and atomic orbitals in ink and watercolor pencils

Benzene is one of the most important compounds in organic chemistry. It is very stable due to the delocalized bond which according to the resonance theory belongs to all carbon atoms at the same time. This structure is a building block for all aromatic compounds, too. And most of all, I have to admit, it is quite fun to draw.

Back to the design. I’ve added prints, tees, phone cases, blankets and more with it to my Redbubble store. Here’s how the molecules pattern looks on some of the products:

Large desk mat with a pattern of molecules
Zip pouch with organic chemistry design

This chemistry design was created some time around 2018.

I started making jewelry with my art just recently and created a necklace, earrings and a ring with this molecule, too. They’re available at my Etsy shop.

Necklace with benzene molecule art
necklace with this benzene molecule design
Organic chemistry earrings
organic chemistry earrings
Benzene ring with artistically drawn molecule
benzene ring

So, enough with this design. Thanks for looking!

See more of my chemistry designs here.

Find me on Instagram here and on Pinterest here.

Blue snowflakes pattern based on watercolor drawings

Snowflakes have always fascinated me. Beautiful geometric designs created by the greatest artist that could exist – nature. As it is winter now, I want to present one of my snow inspired designs. It features three lovely snowflake types with uneven shapes loosely drawn in blue watercolor. Made a pattern design with them by tiling an imaginary triangle with the flakes at the place of its points. Here is the finished pattern:

Blue snowflakes pattern created from watercolor drawings of snowflakes with three different shapes. Created by Boriana Giormova, Sofia, Bulgaria
Blue watercolor snowflakes pattern

And here are the original watercolor drawings of these frost-inspired creations:

Photo of the snowflakes on my drawing pad with textured paper

You can see how this pattern looks on different surfaces below, shown on some of the products which I’ve created with it at my Redbubble artist store:

blanket with blue snowflakes pattern
dog with a pet bandana with this winter pattern of watercolor snowflakes

Thanks for looking. Enjoy winter while there is snow!

See more of my pattern designs here.

Find me on Instagram here and on Pinterest here.

Witchy woman alchemy digital painting

Today I present one of my more elaborate artworks which evolved from an Ex Libris which I created for myself for a design class. It is a bit of a mystical art on the fringe of alchemy featuring a witchy woman, a flask with a single huge benzene molecule represented with the standard hexagon with delocalized bond which transform into evil plant monsters with sharp teeth. Drew this image in Procreate, which is my favorite app for freestyle drawing.

Digital artwork depicting a witchy woman half naked in shades of red and black holding a flask with benzene molecule which transforms into a flower monster. The woman’s eyes are hidden by a bandage. Drawn by Boriana Giormova, Sofia, Bulgaria

I didn’t know what is an Ex Libris until I had been given this assignment. The word comes from latin and means ‘from the books (or library)’. Ex Libris served to mark the books and documents of the owner and usually was a symbol connected with or representing this person somehow. This type of graphic is also known as a bookplate.

And here is my original illustration for my own Ex Libris drawn in ink:

Ink drawn Ex Libris of a woman holding a flask with benzene molecule and plant monsters coming out of it in black and white

As you see, the image evolved quite a bit in the digital artwork. Actually, looking at it now, I have to admit that I like more the flask and the benzene molecule in the original ink drawing.

Some quite blunt symbolism here, nothing very clever or elaborate. Flask and a molecule – because I have a deep interest in chemistry (and I have studied with pleasure a lot of its different aspects in medical university). And then some weird evil plants because these are my favorite type of plants to draw. Plain, abstract and with teeth, of course. The female figure is based on me but I drew her with short hair in a style which I like but I have never has it as a haircut. She does not see and she does not need to. This is a bit of an exageration – she represents myself and I live half of my live in my own imagination hence the idea. Drew some fabric wrapping the woman and flowing around her because I saw that Ex Libris images frequently included such elements and it was useful as a placeholder for writing the text on it, too. When I drew the image digitally I used another favorite tool of mine – the red and black color combo which adds drama and somehow resonates with me.

So, if you want to buy art prints, phone cases and some obscure other products with this weird science girl, you can do it at my Redbubble shop by clicking on the phone case below:

Iphone case with this witchy woman artwork
Phone cases and more with this witchy woman

Thanks for taking the time to read about this very personal artwork of mine.

See more of my weird women artworks here

Find me on Instagram here and on Pinterest here.

Quirky snowflake in shades of blue

It is winter now but I don’t feel wintery at all. Weather seems more like in autumn or early spring. Anyway, it’s just about the time to present this digital artwork of mine. I did it in Procreate some time ago. It features a lovely snowflake with fun details and dots in a dreamy blue palette against a textured snowy background. This frosty object looks like a mandala, too. The varying shades of blue, from the palest icy tones to deeper, richer hues, evoke a sense of tranquility and cold beauty. The endings of this weird snowflake are a bit hairy which adds to it a bit unusual look and some quirkiness, and thus offer a fresh perspective on this winter symbol.

canvas print with this quirky snowflake with shades of blue which you can buy at Redbubble. Drawn by Boriana Giormova, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Canvas print with this funny snowflake. Buy it at my Redbubble store.

There are more products with this winter artwork at my Redbubble artist store like pillows, T-shirts, coasters and whatsoever. Check them out here.

Thanks for looking!

See more of my winter artworks here.

Find me on Instagram here and on Pinterest here.

Funny Art: When Stinky Shoes Grow Flowers

High heels and bright flowers mix in a surprising way. Something in my mind seems to have snapped strangely so here this weird artwork appears.

Check out this shiny blue high heel shoe, the kind you might wear to a fancy party. But a stench so horrifying lives in it that it has taken up a material form and, well, it just so happens to be the form of bright orange flowers.

Digital painting of a blue high heel shoe with strange orange-red flowers emerging out of it. drawn by Boriana Giormova, Sofia , Bulgaria

I started drawing this illustration as a practice drawing of high heels so the shoe close to realistically. As usually, the art took some unexpected way for me so the techniques are mixed – the flowers are abstract, not nearly a bit realistic.

Art prints and other stuff with this crazy combo are available at my Redbubble store here.

High heels and bright flowers might seem like a strange mix, but in they have merged themselves in this odd artwork anyway. Have fun.

See more of my art here.

Find me on Instagram here and on Pinterest here.

Sketches of weird female characters

Here are some recent sketches of weird female characters’ portraits which share a touch of lovely surreal and otherworldly eeriness. Heheh, can you believe I generated this phrase all by myself? But I really did. I guess I can learn from AI, too. Now check out all the beautiful words ChatGPT 4 wrote about my images! Read until end to see my lamish prompt.

The Rose Maiden

In shades of muted green and violet, the first character appears as if plucked from a dream. Her hair is a mesmerizing cascade of delicate petals, and thorns adorn her neck like nature’s jewelry. She embodies the enigmatic allure of a rose, both beautiful and fierce, a symbol of love and strength intertwined. ( I especially love this phrase: “nature’s jewelry” – magical! )

Drawing of a female face which looks like a rose in muted green and violet colors with hair made of petals and thorns on her neck.

Mother Nature’s Embrace

The second character takes us deep into the heart of the natural world. With hair composed of lush, verdant leaves and a crown of plants encircling her, she embodies the spirit of Mother Nature herself. The purple, green, and yellow hues radiate life and vitality, reminding us of the beauty and abundance of the Earth. (This paragraph I altered a bit because the AI fantasized about something very different than my drawing.)

Drawing of a female face which looks like a rose in muted green and violet colors with hair made of petals and thorns on her neck.

The Psychedelic Visionary

Lastly, we encounter a character that seems to have sprung from the depths of a psychedelic trance. Her head is a blazing fire of orange, radiating energy and intrigue. The presence of a third eye on her forehead hints at an otherworldly wisdom, making her appear like an extraterrestrial being with secrets of the cosmos. (This is so cool, too! Like an avid reader, I can’t help but appreciate the magic in this paragraph.)

Psychedelic trippy image of a weird yellow woman with fiery orange head and a third eye on her forehead looking like an otherworldly alien.

The AI-generated conclusion:

These sketches challenge our perceptions and invite us to embrace the weird and wonderful. They remind us that art has the power to transcend boundaries, ignite our imagination, and take us on a journey to uncharted realms. Each of these characters is a testament to the limitless possibilities of creativity and the magic that can be found in the unexpected. (And now this thing with the “testament” – I really hate it. ChatGPT loooves to put it everywhere. I left these words here just because it is so very curious what the AI gets to.)

Ta-da! Behold my lame original prompt:

Generate a short blog post about my Sketches of weird female characters titled like this. Only head portraits are drawn. One girl looks like a rose in muted green and violet colors with hair made of petals and thorns on her neck. The second is Mother Nature – with green leaves hair and plants making a circle around her in vibrant purple, green and yellow colors. The last is a psychedelic trippy image of a weird yellow woman with fiery orange hair and a third eye on her forehead looking like an otherworldly alien.

– Boriana Giormova trying to explain her art to ChatGPT

I hope you find this post at least a bit interesting and amusing to read. I want to make a difference from the boring words that I usually write about my art because I do not feel good about them. And I do not want to write about art at all, I just want to create it. But to argue with AI or to marvel at it – now this is fun! And thanks to all the brilliant unnamed people from whose writings ChatGPT has drawn its eloquence! There just should be a way for current AI’s to credit sources.

See more of my weird women art here.

Find me on Instagram here and on Pinterest here.

Dynamic Floral Abstract Art in Red and Black

Today I want to present an artwork of mine with a vivid red background, with striking black, grey, and white elements that form a dynamic floral shape with striped petals. The petals, with their stripes, give a sense of movement and energy, as if the flowers are swaying in a gentle breeze. And the red, associated with passion and energy, which is one of my most favorite colors, creates a strong visual impact.

abstract digital artwork in red, grey and black depicting floral shape with striped petal in alternating light grey and dark grey striped petals against plain vibrant red background. Drawn in Procreate by Boriana Giormova, Sofia, Bulgaria

Many words when I actually want to say one simple thing: Drawing these shapes is very pleasant and I love to use the color scheme. Only this matters when drawing stuff like this. The other words are mainly for search engines if that matters at all. I just want to present my art in my own place.

I have actually no idea why people would buy stuff with this image, but this has happened, and it always makes me extremely happy. And they buy the artwork on T-Shirts contrary to what I supposed – pillows, art prints and tapestries. Here are links to the products, if you are interested. At my Redbubble store:

Canvas art print
mousepad
customizable t-shirt

Thanks for taking the time to view and read this nonsense.

Check out some weird artworks with this red and black color combo here

Find me on Instagram here and on Pinterest here.