Lazy InkTober

 

Painter John Singer Sargent once said that a portrait is “a likeness in which there is something wrong about the mouth.” Indeed, with all the portrait practice I’ve done with Earthsworld’s reference photos, I have definitely found the mouth to be challenging. If the head is turned even slightly, perspective and foreshortening complicate matters. Worthy of concentrated practice, the mouth seemed as good a theme as any for InkTober this year.

Despite that inherent challenge, I must admit that my primary motivation in choosing the theme was sheer laziness. As I did last year with noses (and ears for Pencilvember), using Earthsworld’s daily image posts makes finding a reference photo fast and easy. In fact, I upped my laziness game further this year by deciding I would sketch whatever mouth Earth posted that day – no scrolling required!

As for ink, I’ve been using Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens and acrylic markers so much lately that I’ve been missing good ol’ Bics. I may change it up later in the month, but for now, I’m just going with that basic of pens. Paper was a no-brainer: October screams for an orange Uglybook.

Happy InkTober to those who are participating (it’s my 10^th year)! I’m posting daily on Instagram, and I’ll report in here on my blog periodically.

Happy birthday, WB!

By the way, Oct. 5 was Weather Bunny’s eighth birthday! Although I don’t always remember to observe her birthday, it was during InkTober of 2016 that I first made the prototype sketch that would eventually evolve into the WB we know today. The organic way in which she developed is one of my best examples of how a creative challenge like InkTober can lead to unexpected and unplanned results – which makes them worth doing, even if the challenge itself might not feel productive.