Owl Hour

Weekly Instagram Livestreams [Now Ended]

Every Thursday between 7-8pm DST, I hosted a free Instagram livestream where I drew, painted, and took on challenges both silly and serious while chatting about my creative process and bantering about dumb stuff with my partner and other guests.

I’ve since retired this project, but I have over 50 hour-long episodes to watch on my IGTV at your leisure. A perfect opportunity to binge-watch! Make a coffee and crack open your sketchbook while catching up on the fun.

Complete list of episodes below.

Episode 50: Identity Theft is Not a Joke Jim, or Middlemorphs

In which Andrea Sun of @stamp_stitcher joins me for the final episode of Owl Hour!! …well, for now. Will probably have some more in the future, but nothing regularly scheduled for a while as I prep for my second book release, “The Found Book of Losst”.

The challenge for this episode was in the spirit of the 90s book/tv series “Animorphs”. We had to combine a famous actor & an animal and then illustrate the “middlemorph”, ie. the halfway point between human and animal that you’d see on the covers. As you can imagine, they turned out hella cursed. We did:

1. Zooey Deschanel + rabbit, aka Zooey Descharabbit
2. Rainn Wilson + Macaroni Penguin, aka Rainn Winguin. Or Dwenguin Schrute.

Episode 49: Planimals, or Plant Animal Mashups

Okay so sadly the full episode of this was lost because Instagram was like “you have low battery!” and closed the stream without even giving me the option to post the recording soooo you just get the money shots of the finished products instead (not a bad trade off I guess).

So basically I rolled two dice, one to choose a plant and one to choose an animal, and I had to make illustrations of them mushed up together. We got:

1. Wombanana (wombat + banana)
2. Flernmingo (flamingo + fern)
3. Cornwhal (narwhal + corn)
4. Baobxlotl (axolotl + baobab)

Episode 48: Dinosaurs in Clothes

In which my sister @robynkatrinabarnes joins me to draw dinosaurs in clothes! I rolled a die and picked some fashion periods:

1. 60s
2. Early 2000s
3. 70s

And we even had time to do a wildcard prompt as choice, so Robyn went with Renaissance and I did Victorian.

Lots of fun and some very cute dinosaurs!

Episode 47: Who’s That Pokémon?!

In which Max reads out mystery Pokédex entries and I have to draw the Pokémon based on its descriptions.

We got:
1. Swablu
2. Pignite
3. Seismitoad

Episode 46: Aussie Borbs [Explicit]

In which Max joins be as I roll a d20 to pick a bunch of different Australian birds and make a random composition of them!

There’s also a lot of gushing about how much I love birds, debates about the genetic relationship between theropods and sauropods, and a confession about how I always say cactuses instead of cacti. Enjoy!

Episode 45: Owl Hour ep. 45: Tomayto Tomahto

In which @robynkatrinabarnes and I draw different tomato cultivar names as characters!

Episode 44: Let’s Grow Mould Together, aka Bun Puns

In which I roll a die to choose a baked-good related pun and paint a whopping 5 pictures over the hour! Enjoy 🥖🍞🥐

Episode 43: Millions & Millions & Millions of Cats

In which I paint our three cats, Brian, Boba, and Mystique, and together with Max share stories of these weird furry roommates.

Bonus I share stories from everyone’s cats who were live in the chat too! A wonderful way to make use of all those pics I take of our little danger pompoms (my phone is like 50% cats 50% garden)

Results from Episode 43: Millions & Millions & Millions of Cats

Episode 42: Wage Slaves, ie. Career Bots ft. Tremendous Tales

In which Christopher Olson of @tremendoustales joins me for an hour of whimsical robots! I rolled a die to pick a job/career, and then we each drew a robot based on how we imagined it would be designed for such a task (we ended up doubling the jobs on 2 of them because hey! Why not? Plus robots can multitask better than we can). We got:

1. A marine biologist
2. A novelist chauffeur
3. A thespian horticulturalist

Make sure to check out Olson’s work! He’s an amazing artist whose work is a delightful mix of sci-fi creatures and machines that look like they were cranked out of the pulp magazines of the 50s.

Here’s the URL to his Etsy shop: https://etsy.me/36FcC8I

Hope you enjoy the episode! 🤖

Episode 41: Moonlighting with the Sailor Scouts, a DTIYS Challenge

In which @robynkatrinabarnes and I do studies of Sailor Moon in a “Draw This In Your Style” challenge.

I drew backgrounds in a similar way to my travel sketches while Robyn, having studied theatre, drew the costume designs of the characters.

Lots of fun chats about childhood arose - including many secrets such as Robyn’s deer phase, our first attempts at writing novels, and my flaccid forays into telling knock-knock jokes. Enjoy!

Results from Episode 41: Moonlighting with the Sailor Scouts, a DTIYS Challenge

Episode 40: St-Jean Baptiste, Dep Beer Perks, and a Rant on Modern

In which @robynkatrinabarnes and I draw scenes from Montreal in celebration of la Fête Nationale, talk about what it feels like to be Quebecers, and share the best and worst things about this potholed province our hearts call home.

Episode 39: Weird Skeletons, Suicide Tusks, & the Ribless Rob-beters

In which I paint the skeletons of the North Sulawesi/Buru Babirusa & the Surinam Horned Frog snd share all manner of interesting facts about them.

I also talked about the amazing podcast @ologies that you should definitely listen to if you’re interested in knowing more about the professions of various studies that end in -ology, from palaeontology to cosmology to fearology.

Episode 38: Mystery Animals II, or The Colour of the Squamation

In which @robynkatrinabarnes joins me as @terranon reads out mystery animals by their often obtuse Wikipedia entry descriptions and we attempt to draw them. We had the:

1. The Lowland Streaked Tenrec (Madagascar)
2. The Pink Fairy Armadillo (Argentina)
3. The Red-Lipped Batfish (Galapagos)

We also learned that the colour of the squamation of the red-lipped batfish is shagreen-like.

Episode 37: Food is the Father, You Are the Mother

In which I draw random objects as food items and we talk way too much about poop 💩

Was so focused on work at the studio today that I almost forgot about Owl Hour altogether! As a result, this ended up being a much more casual, low-key episode. Hope it feels like hanging out with friends!

Episode 36: Once Upon a Galaxy, or A tribute to Futuropods

In which my mom @studiobee_art joins me in putting a sci-fi twist on classic fairy tales 🚀🧚‍♀️

She does Little Red Riding Hood and I did The Goose Girl and we chatted about our process and my mom’s children’s book Cynta the Santasaurus!

Result of my Moebius-inspired fairy tale retelling of “The Goose Girl” from Episode 36: Once Upon a Galaxy, or A Tribute to Futuropods

Episode 35: Cow-Pixie Stoners, or Urban Fantasy Frenzy

In which I roll a d8 to choose a mundane urban location and then populate it with fantasy creatures.

We got:
1. A carnivore Ent & burnt-out dwarf employee at Subway, aka “Subfootpath”
2. A crestfallen dragon trying to win back their hoard at the casino
3. Some terrifying stoner cow-pixies at the Montreal Tam-Tams

Give it a watch and listen to Max and I banter about relationship advice, stovetops, knives, and mediums!

Episode 34: A Dip into Dinotopia, or A Study of Colour and Light

In which I do a study of @jamesgurneyart ’s techniques from his Dinotopia book.
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This was my favourite illustration of his growing up, so it felt like the perfect one to practice how he renders colour and light to create such impressionistic illusions of form 🦖
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Hope you enjoy! Final version coming soon.
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Materials: Pebeo gouache

Episode 33: Don’t Hate, Just Vaccinate!

In which @robynkatrinabarnes and I create illustrations to promote positive vibes towards getting vaxxed up against the ‘Rona!

Really good chats in this one and super fun drawings by the end ✨

Episode 32: Famous Movies as Famous Movements, or “Two could have fit?

In which I roll two d8s to choose a famous movie scene & art movement and render them together. We got:

1. Lord of the Rings + Fauvism
2. E.T. + Impressionism
3. Titanic + Abstract Expressionism

Episode 31: Somewhere Grover the Rainbow

In which I grit my teeth and bear my hatred for Muppets as I take on Max’s challenge idea: to illustrate Muppets cosplaying as pop culture characters.

We did Big Bird as Sailor Moon, Grover as Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, and Gonzo the Great as Spock.

I hope you enjoy this as much as Max did 😂 Also if you want those fridge magnets...I will grudgingly acquiesce so comment below...

Episode 30: All Sci-Fi in a Day, ft. Robyn & Max

For this Owl Hour, @robynkatrinabarnes joined Max and I in designing a book cover for the short story “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury.

To make our illustrations, we explored the elements of design common to vintage sci-fi book covers and discussed how we chose which details to zero in on.

Max also read the story aloud to us as we worked, and afterwards we unpacked the meaning of the work and its surprising relevancy to modern day.

This might be my new favourite Owl Hour episode, so absolutely give it a watch! Final results to be posted soon 🪐

Episode 29: The Kookaroo & Co.

In which I roll a d8 to determine which griffin mashups to draw! Max and I brainstormed which animals would go best together in advance, so the combos weren’t totally random, but beyond that I had no idea how they’d turn out. Big surprise: very silly

Episode 28: Drawing Cartoons From Memory and Fighting About Cheating

In which Max joins me as we face off trying to draw cartoons from memory and Max and I argue about the rules because we didn’t agree on them first.

We have He Man, Lady Rainicorn, Ren & Stimpy, Pikachu, TinTin, Hank Hill, Olaf, Beevis & Butthead, Gudetama, Pumba, Arthur, The Beast, Lana Kane, Eve, Wilma Flintstone, and Yugioh - or their rough and often horrific approximations instead. You’re welcome ✨

Episode 27: Titty Grapes and Big Pussies ft. Robyn & Max (Explicit)

In which Max joins me as co-host again and @robynkatrinabarnes guest stars to take up the drawing challenge of Men Writing Women! ✨

The subreddit r/menwritingwomen is a place where anyone can submit the egregious descriptions they find in literature wherein men have attempted to write about the Mysterious Female.

Visual shenanigans ensue and many big pussies are illustrated herein! If you hadn’t guessed already, this episode is VERY NSFW 💋

Episode 26: Studying the Study, or An Exploration of Colour

In which I talk about the process of doing a study by observing Clarence Gagnon’s colour palette.

There are loads of different ways and reasons to do a study, but it all comes down to the question “What do you want to learn?”

If you’re trying to learn how to render a particular subject, study that object in all its forms, angles, and colours. If you’re trying to learn a technique, find a master and attempt to imitate that technique in their work as closely as possible.

In this case, I chose to explore Clarence Gagnon’s colour palette because I admire how he captured the Quebec landscape. It was very challenging, but I’ve already learned so much from the brief hour I spent on this livestream.

Episode 25: Perfectly Eldritch Cats

In which Max describes various cats generated by a computer imaging system and I attempt to illustrate them.

Based off the Twitter account @normalcatpics and inspired by @drawfeeshow ‘s drawing challenge of the same premise (highly recommended you check them out ✨)

Episode 24: Animals in Clothes Part 2, or Forked Tongues & Treachery

In which I roll a die to match animals to different clothes at random. I also made Max lose his s*** because I gave two of the animals forked tongues. He’s still not talking to me.

The animals in clothes were:
1. An elephant in socks & sandals
2. A giraffe in flight attendant uniform
3. A dachshund in a suit of armour

Results of Episode 24: Animals in Clothes Part 2, or Forked Tongues and Treachery

Episode 23: If Objects Were Skeletons, or the Circumcised Serving Fish (Explicit)

In which Max joins me in the shenanigans of rolling a d12 to determine which common household object we would turn into a monster.

This prompt is based on my Peachtober Day 29 illustration “fossil”, wherein I drew a fossilized bicycle and a palaeontologist’s imaginative (but misinformed) interpretation of what it must have looked like when it was a living creature.

Episode 22: Drawing Deceptively Difficult Things From Memory ft. Max

In which Max and I face off in a drawing challenge wherein we only have our pencils, memories, and biting wit to aid us. The list:

1. Bicycle
2. Dashboard
3. Ear
4. Front-facing foot
5. Horse
6. Airplane
7. Smile with teeth
8. Scissors
9. Eiffel Tower
10. Twelve Sided Dice
11. Sewing machine
12. Piano Keyboard
13. Guitar
14. Drumset
15. Flute
16. Trebble Clef
17. Gun
18. Hand
19. Sneakers
20. Camera
21. Cowboy Hat
22. Fire
23. The World map
24. Maple Leaf
25. The Other Eye (draw one eye and then the other)
26. Car
27. Turn Table
28. PS4 Controller
29. Hairbrush
30. Roast Chicken

Watch the episode to see how well we nailed fire - and botched maps of the world.

Episode 21: Indignantly Festive Animals

In which I draw animals that have been subjected to Christmas costumes by their keenly merry humans.

Episode 20: Millions of Cats (and Colours)

In which I talk about my colour techniques in choosing bright palettes and surrealist tonal combos.

Episode 19: Vegemiku and Alternate Reality

In which Max revealed a surprise prompt that involved creating alternative reality Hatsune Miku’s (the Japanese Vocaloid popstar) based on changing the first letter of the alphabet.

We had Vamptsune Miku, Kangtsune Miku, and Gatsune Miku and it was a wild ride.

Episode 18: Mystery Dinosaurs & Hockey Stick Rat

In which Max describes 3 mystery palaeontological animals and becomes increasingly perturbed and agitated by my blatant disregard of those descriptions.

Theme prompted by the release of 31 Palaeo Pals, my first book!

A result of Episode 18: Mystery Dinosaurs and Hockey Stick Rat

Episode 17: Naturhistorisches and Some Boy

In which I talk about how to make a pastiche-style composition in your sketchbook to capture the spirit of a memory.

The challenge: find 5-10 photos from a day, event, or trip, and then combine them into a composition.

Tips: start with either your largest components or the ones you’re sure you want to use. Choose smaller ones to fill in the gaps.

It’s a good strategy to also choose a visual variety to create a more “full” image: something to show the context (landscape, architecture, large objects, etc), something to show the main event (people, animals, medium objects, etc), and something to show the details (flowers, textures, small objects).

Episode 16: Bin Chickens & Composition

In which I draw some ibises using some photos I took at the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens.

You don’t always get your ideal shot when snapping a photo, so illustration can bridge that gap between your vision and your raw materials.

Episode 15: Rhino Shower [Explicit]

NSFW: Nudity, drug references, and surrealist content ahead.

In which Max reads out some weird phrases from r/brandnewsentence and I interpret them with liberal gusto.

Episode 14: The Hole in the Sky (Peachtober Day 31)

In which I paint the FINAL DAY of Peachtober!! Can’t believe I made it without ever missing or being late for a day.

Thanks for joining me through this monstrous adventure. Take a look at the finished post (coming soon) for the story of this day’s prompt: “Moon”

Episode 13: Cartons of Complimentary Hot Dogs ft. Robyn [Explicit]

In which my sister who is a costume designer & artist joins me for the Peachtober prompt for Day 23: “carton”.

We have a fierce competition over who’s better and Max cameos to offer complimentary hot dogs to the winner.

This one’s got a lot of spicy content so maybe avoid if you’ve got kids ;)

Episode 12: Lilypad (Peachtober Day 17)

In which I paint Day 17 of @furrylittlepeach ‘s prompt from her Peachtober challenge: “Lilypad”.

I had too much hubris and thought I could knock this piece off really fast - but totally underestimated the amount of time it needed to dry. So I sketched out Day 18 too and brainstormed for “Cool” and “Moon”, which I’ve been struggling with ideas for.

Episode 11: Pet (Peachtober Day 10)

In which I transform Max’s goofy cat Brian into a monster!

Prompt is from @furrylittlepeach ‘s Peachtober prompt list: Day 10 “Pet”.

Episode 10: Bridge (Peachtober Day 3)

In which I illustrate my interpretation of @furrylittlepeach ‘s prompt for #Peachtober20 Day 3: Bridge.

Still experimenting with watercolours & pencil crayons and feeling shaky with my execution! So nice to talk to you all though and hear your support, advice, and experience with trying new things.

Episode 9: Fiery Hair and Brimstone

In which we use whothefuckismydndcharacter.com to randomly generate character prompts. Inspiration abounds as we bring these oddballs to life!

1. A bossy gnome barbarian from a seaside town who has terrible hay fever
2. A rowdy tiefling bard with an impure bloodline who parties hard (way too hard)
3. A half-elf warlock from Black Oak who’s never cut their hair

Episode 8: Hooks and Other Horrors ft. Marie Santos

In which we paint mystery Dungeons & Dragons creatures described by Max!
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1. Displacer Beast
2. Aboleth
3. Hook Horror
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I was joined by special guest artist @msantosart who challenged herself by using a different medium and trying this totally new subject!

Episode 7: Male Euthanasia and the Soft-Shelled Mantis [Explicit]

In which Max joins me again for a drawing challenge and we roll a d20 to make abominable chimera animals. And also talk a lot about a lot of edgy subjects. Listen at your own risk ;)

The prompts included:

1. A praying mantis + soft-shelled turtle (soft-shelled mantis)
2. A kiwi + scorpion (sciwi)
3. A wallaby + jellyfish + moose (the eldritch jackalope)

A result of Episode 7: Male Euthanasia and the Soft-Shelled Mantis