I recently participated in a Secret Santa swap (yes, way after Christmas because everyone’s busy during that time!) of DIY items. It took me a long time to figure out what to make, but I knew the recipient had some interest in cephalopod themes and decided to attempt a tentacle map. I wasn’t sure it would work, but I would try.
I hadn’t really drawn tentacles going in, so the first thing I did was a quick Google image search to remind myself what they really look like, and see how other artists translated them into drawings. I did some sketches:
I liked the format of the design in the middle so I went with that. I sketched it out at 5″x7″:
then started drawing in parts with pen. It was complicated to figure out how much the map should be the background texture and how much it should curve around the figure. I wanted the tentacles to be apparent but not glaring.
Then I colored it in with very diluted acrylic (I usually use watercolor but I had none on hand)
I think it came out okay! The colors could be more different, and the design could be even more graphic, but overall it seems to work.