Drawtober Art Challenge Series

Drawtober is an annual art challenge of six prompts set throughout the month of October. It began as a drawing challenge, but expanded to included all art mediums (excluding anything AI). The 2024 prompts were Vampire, Shapeshifter, Witch, Undead, Ghost, and Monster. The creations I came up with are...

Vampire Squid

Vampyroteuthis infernalis, or “vampire squid from hell,” is a gentle scavenger, collecting marine snow in the deep sea, and is actually not a squid! Its unique characteristics make it the lone member of the Vampyroteuthidae family.

In videos, you might see its large eyes glow blue, but they’re actually clear and are just reflecting our lights. The tips of their arms have light-producing organs that produce bright blue bioluminescence.

soft sculpture Vampire Squid by Taneko Says Hello soft sculpture Vampire Squid by Taneko Says Hello soft sculpture Vampire Squid by Taneko Says Hello soft sculpture Vampire Squid swimming on dark blue background // stop motion animation by Taneko Says Hello soft sculpture Vampire Squid by Taneko Says Hello soft sculpture Vampire Squid by Taneko Says Hello soft sculpture Vampire Squid by Taneko Says Hello soft sculpture Vampire Squid by Taneko Says Hello

Buttery Butterfly

One animal that shifts its shape and being is the butterfly—and one food that changes its shape is butter! I present to you a slightly melted literal butter-fly.

Butter Butterfly plush with dark floral wings by Taneko Says Hello Butter Butterfly plush with dark floral wings by Taneko Says Hello Butter Butterfly plush with dark floral wings by Taneko Says Hello

A Coven of Sandwich Witches

Seeking greater knowledge, in order to someday transcend from Tiny Toast Apprentices to glorious Sandwich Witches, five smol crafty carbs gathered to summon The Great Witch Queen. They followed the ritual, used the soft fluff, danced in harmony, and—behold! They succeeded! Her queenship’s witchyness was a splendor to marvel upon, from her perfect crust to her high quality fixin’s (it’s always what’s on the inside that counts). With a wave of her olive hampin—Sandwitches don’t have hair for hairpins, you know—they set off into the night to learn The Secrets of the Sandwitchcraft and get into at least a little magical mischief along the way.

Sandwich Witch and Tiny Toast plush toys by Taneko Says Hello plush toy Tiny Toast apprentice witches summoning The Great SandWitch // stop motion animation by Taneko Says Hello Sandwich Witch and Tiny Toast plush toys by Taneko Says Hello

Undead Jelly Donut

I’ve been thinking: the poke point of jelly filled donuts looks kinda like guts or brains…

plush toy of a zombie Undead Jelly Donut looking for jam brains by Taneko Says Hello detail of plush toy of a zombie Undead Jelly Donut looking for jam brains by Taneko Says Hello plush toy of a zombie Undead Jelly Donut looking for jam brains by Taneko Says Hello plush toy of a zombie Undead Jelly Donut looking for jam brains by Taneko Says Hello plush toy of a zombie Undead Jelly Donut looking for jam brains by Taneko Says Hello

Ghost Goat

The Ghost Goat says "baa" instead of "boo" but often you won't hear it at all because it prefers (after)life as a silent specter.

soft sculpture of a ghostly goat ghostie by Taneko Says Hello soft sculpture of a ghostly goat ghostie by Taneko Says Hello soft sculpture of a ghostly goat ghostie by Taneko Says Hello soft sculpture of a ghostly goat ghostie by Taneko Says Hello soft sculpture of a ghostly goat ghostie by Taneko Says Hello

Candy Corn Possum

Monsters are often thought of as strange or horrible creatures, typically ugly, which frightens people. I think monsters are misunderstood—it’s what people call creatures that are different or don’t fit the popular standard, that they don’t know much of so it scares them, like toothy (o)possums...and candy corn.

Candy Corn Possum plush toy by Taneko Says Hello Candy Corn Possum plush toy by Taneko Says Hello Candy Corn Possum plush toy by Taneko Says Hello

Thank you for checking out my Drawtober series!

Drawtober Art Challenge hand sewn creatures by Sophia Adalaine

I often struggle to stick to a themed structure of ideating, prototyping, and making a finished piece. I often get distracted or end up creating too much work for myself—at one point, I wanted to make a stop motion animation for each creature, but it is clearly already enough to go from start to finish creating a completely new art piece without adding that extra task on top. I wanted to do this art challenge for a few years now and I’m happy I reached my goal. I hope you enjoyed the end results too.