Inktober is well under way! And I am having an absolute blast creating these traditional media drawings. There are some purists out there who think #inktober is most effective as a tool for growth if the artist restricts them self to ink alone and I actually agree.
HOWEVER.
Watercolor appears to be my latest and greatest fixation, so here I am.
BACK UP!
Hold on. Let me back up and give you a little more explanation. What is Inktober?
Inktober is an initiative created by Jake Parker, a ridiculously talented artist who I admire very much! The challenge is simple. Draw something with ink every day of October.
I have tried (unsuccessfully) at least twice to participate in #inktober, but I always get burned out pretty early on. I have never had a lot of confidence in my sketches or traditional/analog art, so it was pretty easy for me to get discouraged.
But #MerMay taught me something. It’s just for freaking fun. That’s it, guys. Why am I participating in these challenges? For fun. The bonus of personal artistic growth and maybe making one of you smile is just that. A bonus.
I completed #MerMay. I drew a mermaid every darn day of May. And I discovered some new medias along the way. So #inktober seemed the next step. And my momentum has not diminished at all. The month is half over!
Witchy Art Challenge
Another reason I found myself giving up on #inktober in previous years is that I struggled coming up with what to draw. Prompts are provided, but in the past they were too broad for me. MerMay helped me a lot in figuring out how to use prompts and I chose to use a different prompt list than the official JP Inktober list.
I have had the Witchy Art Challenge prompt list in my sketchbook for about a year and decided to finally do it with hopes of maybe getting some of this witchiness out of my system.
So, without further ado, here are my 2017 #inktober drawings 1-15.
You may notice that in the last three photos, I zoomed out considerably to show the entire sketchbook on my counter. I struggle with figuring out how to share my traditional drawings and I am not terribly satisfied with the way I have been photographing them. But showing a bit of my kitchen’s counter top and the wonderful light that comes through that window has made a huge difference!
This is also where I photograph my dolls. Nothing beats that kitchen sunshine.
I plan to do another round-up of my #inktober, hopefully with better pictures. But in the meantime, you can follow me on Instagram where I post the new drawings daily as well as progress images and videos on my instagram story.
As always, thank you for your support and readership. Happy October!!
Materials Used:
Canson XL Mix Media Paper
Pentel Pocket Brush
Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bombay India Ink
Schmincke Horadam Watercolors
Sakura Koi Field Watercolors
Copic Markers