Day 24 – nocturnal I anticipate my first encounter with a commonwealth racoon. I suppose I could have done an opossum or a skunk, both of which I have seen in person here, but perhaps this will be the charm to spot one of these bandits. (Pearl doesn’t quite count 100% as a racoon, despite the striped tail and clever late-night demeanor. ) #drawlloween2023day24 #nocturnal #racoon #jackolantern #inktober   #autumn #roanokeva #doodle  #graveyard #mabgravesdrawlloweenclub #mdwc23 #mdwcd24 https://www.instagram.com/p/CyyHdrBuzZX/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

Day 23 – Yokai

To quote M. Lucero –

“To define yōkai is like trying to reach out and grasp one: a slippery, ephemeral experience. They can be anything from ghosts to ogres, animal tricksters and shapeshifters, monsters to transformed humans, deities to diseases, even inanimate objects come to life. The folklore of yōkai is ancient, found in folktales and literature, in pop culture and old scrolls and woodblock prints. ”

Hard to pick a type of Yokai to go with in the end I went with what I think I know and did a very simplified Oni, because I figured most folks would be drawing foxes or haunted objects.

#drawlloween2023day23 #yokai #oni #selfie #inktober   #autumn #roanokeva #doodle   #mabgravesdrawlloweenclub
#mdwc23 #mdwcd23

Quick little drive to grab some bagels! Autumn is rolling out the color from Catawba to Blacksburg.  #roadtrip #autumn #blacksburgbagels #catawbava #blacksburgva

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Day 22 – magic

You know what is magic in Autumn? Chili. There is cornbread mix in the cupboard, we have beans and impossible burger, tomato sauce and all the seasoning we need, I think.

We have the little crock pot from the old house now, and the weather is getting cooler. Just used the fireplace for the first time yesterday, and it works very well. Got the house to 77⁰F/25⁰C in no time, from about  60⁰F/15⁰C! I was roasting, Mrs Bear and FIL Bear were pleased as punch.

MIL and I both coped with the heat a bit, but got to cool off on our little jaunt chasing the fall mountain colors and post monkey’s wedding sun shower rainbows over Tinker Mountain.

#drawlloween2023day22 #magic  #selfie #chili #inktober   #autumn #roanokeva #doodle   #mabgravesdrawlloweenclub
#mdwc23 #mdwcd22

My other favorite sort of bird aside from the previously mentioned owls, corvids! Crows are adorable, as are the cousins blue jays and ravens. I’ve wanted one as a companion animal for ages, though I imagine that I would spoil it terribly.

I inadvertently drew some earlier this year (day 10) because I did not look too far ahead, but I don’t feel too badly about it because they were just little guys, adding flavor to the pumpkin patch. It does mean that I will pass on drawing another scarecrow up close though. I had to cheat again and look at a few pictures though, because try as I might, they end up looking a bit like eagles if I don’t.

#drawlloween2023day21 #crow #inktober   #autumn #roanokeva #doodle #mabgravesdrawlloweenclub
#mdwc23 #mdwcd21

Greys and a Xenomorph having a nice Halloween lunch in alien school.

#drawlloween2023day20 #extraterrestrial #xenomorph #inktober   #autumn #greys #roanokeva #doodle #cafeteria #lunch #mabgravesdrawlloweenclub
#mdwc23 #mdwcd20

I asked Mrs Bear what she thought of when I said classic horror, and after we went back and forth a bit, settled on the invisible man.

Shown here is the before and after. I was sorely tempted to do only the after pic, but that seemed a bit like cheating.

Remember, the invisible man had the most in-movie deaths of all the classic universal monsters!

Other thoughts were Frankenstein (already done), the xenomorph (a challenge for another day, when I am not recovering from COVID and flu shots, and the Leshy (which is generally how I portray myself in doodles these days)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leshy

#drawlloween2023day19 #classichorror #invisibleman #beforeandafter #inktober   #autumn #roanokeva #doodle #mabgravesdrawlloweenclub
#mdwc23 #mdwcd19

I absolutely love owls! Horned, snowy, burrow or macrame, I can’t get enough.

They are the mascot of one of my schools, go well with Merlin, Halloween, Doctor Mid-Nite, and the Watchmen. My favorite type of raptor, possibly my most admired sort of feathered friend. (Close fight with corvids)

I’ve seen them in both Florida and Maryland, heard them in Virginia and Georgia, and am hoping to spot some on the nature cameras sometime soon.

#drawlloween2023day18 #ominousowl #owl #ominous #inktober   #autumn #roanokeva #doodle #mabgravesdrawlloweenclub
#mdwc23 #mdwcd18

a table for the public funding for the arts per capita for the top 25 countries by GDP per capita that have all data available. I used the data from the web search results to create this table:

| Country | GDP per capita (USD) | Public Funding for the Arts per capita (USD) | Source |
| — | — | — | — |
| Luxembourg | 135,605 | 47 | Data Visualization: Which Country Has Dedicated the Most Money to Arts Relief During the Pandemic? |
| Ireland | 112,248 | 123.70 | Data Visualization: Which Country Has Dedicated the Most Money to Arts Relief During the Pandemic? |
| Switzerland | 102,865 | 55.30 | Data Visualization: Which Country Has Dedicated the Most Money to Arts Relief During the Pandemic? |
| Norway | 99,266 | 98.90 | Data Visualization: Which Country Has Dedicated the Most Money to Arts Relief During the Pandemic? |
| United States | 63,416 | 6 | Public Funding for Arts and Culture in 2020 |
| Germany | 46,445 | 85 | Public Funding for Arts and Culture in 2020 |
| United Kingdom | 42,300 | 15 | Public Funding for Arts and Culture in 2020 |
| France | 40,494 | 47 | Public Funding for Arts and Culture in 2020 |

As you can see, Ireland has the highest public funding for the arts per capita among these eight countries, followed by Norway and Switzerland. The United States has the lowest public funding for the arts per capita among these eight countries, despite having the highest GDP per capita among them.

(1) Comparisons of Arts Funding in Selected Countries: Preliminary Findings. https://intranet.americansforthearts.org/sites/default/files/Comparisonsofartsfunding27Oct2005_0.pdf.
(2) Data Visualization: Which Country Has Dedicated the Most Money to Arts …. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/pandemic-culture-bailouts-1950985.
(3) Public Funding for Arts and Culture in 2020. https://www.giarts.org/public-funding-arts-and-culture-2020.

Day 17 – ghoul

Ghouls are a toughie for me, because I like multiple things that count as ghouls in fiction and gaming. The Fallout series, H. P.  Lovecraft, GURPS, Edgar Allan Poe… They all have different takes.

I guess my mental version is close to most, a human flesh eating monster that lives mostly underground, mostly solitary life, considered hideous by people because of their diet and likely rough appearance. Likely have long fingernails, sharp teeth, but could possibly pass for a rough human in the shadows or with some sort of glamour.

I briefly played one in GURPS fantasy back in the day, but those guys didn’t usually kill their food, they just acted like buzzards and did cleanup on battlefields, areas ravaged by plague, and occasionally graveyards in times of peace and general good health, preferring the corpses to be a week old or so for optimum ghoul nutrition. I think the ghoul only stuck around for one play session or so, before either the caravan game sputtered out.

#drawlloween2023day17 #ghoul #inktober   #autumn #roanokeva #doodle #mabgravesdrawlloweenclub
#mdwc23 #mdwcd17

Day 16, black lagoon

Creech is likely my favorite universal monster. I can’t draw him without a model to look at, though, so I cheated and used one of my action figures, and a sticker I have as a guide.

I imagine the lagoon is quite lovely right now, with lots of leafy colors floating on top.

#drawlloween2023day16 #blacklagoon #inktober #creaturefromtheblacklagoon #creech #autumn #roanokeva #doodle #mabgravesdrawlloweenclub
#mdwc23 #mdwcd16

Even the Grim Reaper can appreciate the changing of the seasons, despite being a personified force of nature.

Perhaps because of it.

I like the smell of Autumn, as well as the colors. The sweet, slightly earthy scent of leafy decay an possibly a distant fire is something quite wonderful.

#drawlloween2023day15 #reaper #inktober #grimreaper #happy #thumbsup #roanokeva #doodle #mabgravesdrawlloweenclub
#mdwc23 #mdwcd15

Day 14 – Goth Moth

I wonder if I should had done the Mothra twin fairies in goth outfits, but my goth fashion sense and ability to draw sarongs is more than a little lacking.

Better to put smiley skulls and jackolanterns on an actual moth instead. I guess she could be flying around Gotham City, but it looks like Mill Mountain needs Gothra more today.

#drawlloween2023day14 #gothmoth #inktober #moth #goth #roanokeva #doodle #mabgravesdrawlloweenclub
#mdwc23 #mdwcd14

Day 13 – Frankenstein

All he wants is to plug in somewhere to charge up. Even a jump start would help!

I really think that Flattop Frank should look into some solar panels or something.

Random Scotto factoid – I was born the day that Boris Karloff died. I, too, bonk if my batteries get too low.

#drawlloween2023day13 #frankenstein #inktober #frankensteinsmonster #needajumpstart #roanokeva #doodle #mabgravesdrawlloweenclub
#mdwc23 #mdwcd13 #hungry #hangry

Ol’  toad just kicking back with a good book under a tree on mill mountain. That’s the life, for sure.

Autumn here should be close to what he is experiencing fairly soon, colors here are beginning to change, with sugar maples and early plants leading the charge from green to gold, orange and red. The mountains here have little splashes of warmer colors here and there, but green still dominates at the moment.

#drawlloween2023day12 #toad #inktober #book #blueridgemountains #roanokeva #doodle #mabgravesdrawlloweenclub
#mdwc23 #mdwcd12