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 10th year)! I’m posting daily on Instagram, and I’ll report in here on my blog periodically.
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| 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.
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