InkTober, Days 1 – 7

 

Inktober 10/1 - 10/7/23

Less ambitious than last year, InkTober is nonetheless focused and still fun: A nose a day with the added challenge of designing the sketches on a page spread. I finished the first spread, so it seemed like a good time to make a post here. Without much of a plan, I used various versions of Bic ballpoint pens for Days 1 through 7.

I’m already appreciating the nose more than I ever have, both as a facial feature and its anatomical structure (to draw, though I suppose I appreciate its anatomy every time I take a breath). I sometimes wonder if someone would recognize their own nose if the rest of their face were cropped out of an image (all sketches here were made from Earthsworld photos). Each nose is so unique that I think they would.

Without the context of the rest of the face, can you tell whether a nose belongs to a man or woman? Whether the owner is young or old? White, black, Asian?

The nose on the left belongs to a face so interesting that I sketched all of it
a couple days later (you'll see it eventually).

I had left the stamps as they were on April 26, 2021.

To give the page spreads a more cohesive appearance, I’m using my Shiny DIY Printing Kit to stamp the dates. Purchased for the 407 consecutive sketches in my pandemic hand series, the stamps still showed the date from my last use on April 26, 2021, when I ended the series. It felt nostalgic and even poignant to see the stamps again.

Happy birthday, Weather Bunny!

Speaking of nostalgia, last week I celebrated Weather Bunny’s seventh birthday. Her first prototype was an InkTober sketch on Oct. 5, 2016. She went through many iterations and organic changes until she became the character I eventually came to call Weather Bunny. Although some years may be less ambitious than others, InkTober always nudges my creative growth in some way. I look forward to seeing what happens by Oct. 31 this year.