[idea sketch] Some spooky doodle

After sketching them, I became completely captivated by the beauty of these fish 💙 They started out as sketches for a Halloween concept (since they’re called "devils"), but in the end, the result turned out to have absolutely nothing to do with anything spooky! 😂

Genus Paraplesiops (Fishes of Australia)

This site was a great resource—it has a really well-organized collection of Australian fish!

Everything is perfectly detailed, with excellent descriptions and size information. 🙏

I’ve seen pictures of these fish a few times, but this is the first time I’ve really looked into them. They are a protected species in Australia, and their names—which include cardinal directions—reflect the different regions across Australia where they can be found.

Alison blue devil is unique in that the males and females look different from each other.

Southern Blue Devil, each one has a distinct, individual pattern on its gills. (I came across an interesting article while researching them.) : Where to dive in South Australia to see blue devil fish ) - So, when I drew them, I made the patterns around the gill area slightly different each time. - Heart shape, star shape, teardrop shape (Now, if you scroll back up and take another look at the finished drawing, you’ll see what I mean!)

In the end, I only illustrated the Southern Blue Devils, but I had originally intended to draw all five types.

Since their names include cardinal directions—north, south, east, and west—I felt a certain pressure to arrange the fish in that specific order! 😂

This is the initial rough sketch. It includes notes that only I can understand—rough jottings regarding size, color, and body shape.

The red line indicates the direction of the body. I wanted to depict five types of "devil fish" swimming together, with a vibe like this.

Blue Devil - A fish endemic to Southern Australia

I was watching some videos and became particularly fascinated by the Southern blue devil. The glowing blue color while swimming is truly mystical—it’s as if there are a thousand tiny stars inside their bodies.

I decided that focusing on just one type of fish would be the best way to capture its blue color and shimmer. Other fish might have patches of white or yellow—which are certainly beautiful, too—but...

The specific, fleeting image I had in mind looked something like this!

These fish live together in caves, ranging from small juveniles to mature adults.

That space must feel like it’s filled with shimmering stars—a mysterious, cosmic realm brimming with blue starlight. 😌

I draw this while imagining that sense of the unknown underwater.

WIP GIF

The rectangular outline indicates the area of ​​the image that will ultimately be cropped.

I used blue for most of the picture, with yellow (and little red) added only as an accent for the eyes.

This helps to draw focus to the fish’s face.

- This illustration contains many objects that bright twinkling stars, which makes it rather complex. However, since the human eye perceives color first, this will help ensure the fish’s face remains clearly visible.

I was concerned that people might mistake this for just an imaginary blue fish, so I included its scientific name as well. Now it’s clear that they were drawn based on real-life fish- One of my art goal is to share the wonder of fish with people, so this is important.

For editing purposes, I drew some extra margin space that doesn’t appear in the final uploaded image. So these two little fish were actually cropped out of the final version. (This is an intended action.) While it might have been better to take a more relaxed approach for these parts, I found it too difficult to just draw fish half-heartedly—so I ended up pouring just as much affection into them as the rest. It’s great that I can show them here ☺️

I also plan to update this as a coloring page :D

Thank you!