Going Batty Over Ink

10/27/15 ink (sketched from photo)

It’s Halloween – know what that means? That we have to go back to the store because we’ve already eaten all the Snickers bars? Yes! I mean, no! It means it’s the last day of Inktober!

In general, I’m not a huge fan of the types of sketching/art journaling challenges that require making sketches based on subject matter or themes. But I do like the kinds that are based on quantity, such as NaNoDrawMo (at least 50 sketches during the month of November), which I participated in last year and the year before, too.

I also enjoy a challenge based on regular daily practice, such as Inktober. As a first-time participant, I didn’t think Inktober would be too challenging for me, since I sketch daily anyway and use ink in almost every sketch. Giving myself the additional challenge of using ink only upped the ante a bit. I did break my own rule by adding colored pencils a couple of times, but that was before I smacked myself upside the head during a proverbial V-8 moment when I realized I could be using all the many, many pens and colored inks I own! Then Inktober really got fun.

10/28/15 ink

I’ve probably learned more from this challenge than most I’ve participated in. The occasion prompted me to express appreciation for my favorite art tool, the fountain pen, and how it has helped me be more expressive with drawing. Inktober also gave me an opportunity to try my hand at hatching again (the bat, the bananas and the frogs I posted in my Pilot Waverly review) – something I’ve been wanting to get back to ever since my ink-drawing class at Gage last spring.

If I want to emphasize ink over other media while in the field, it means carrying around more pens and ink-filled waterbrushes than I usually do, but I actually sketch faster when I don’t have to take out and mix watercolors. Inktober reinforced the thought I’ve had for quite a while that when I use a variety of media that are expeditious on the fly, sketching is easier and faster – probably the single-most important factor for travel sketching.  

10/11/15 inks

I have Inktober to thank for all of that.

How about you? If you participated in Inktober, how did you like it?

You can see all 31 of my daily Inktober sketches in my Flickr album and in my Instagram feed.

#InkTober2017 Final Review: Lessons Learned

10/22/17

Happy Halloween and happy end of InkTober! Are you sad that it’s over – or relieved?

As I mentioned in my second trimester review, I began InkTober this year with a bit of trepidation about being able to keep up with daily ink sketches while also working on my time-consuming graphite class exercises. But on most days it was a relief to go out and do small, quick sketches from life for InkTober instead of labor-intensive graphite drawings from photos.

On some busy days, though, I admit that I wanted to skip it (and once I almost forgot until fairly late in the day) – but I didn’t. I have often told people who say they don’t have time to sketch that it doesn’t have to be a huge time commitment, so I decided I would simply practice what I preach. Except for one I did at the Funko sketch outing, none of my InkTober sketches took more than 15 minutes to make.

10/24/17

While it’s not part of Jake Parker’s original InkTober initiative, as long as I’m participating in the project, I like to give myself a personal goal. I didn’t stick with ballpoint pen for the whole month as I had originally planned, but I did stay with the second part of my goal: to practice my hatching skills. That, too, was tempting to skip. Without InkTober, I regularly make small brush pen sketches in Field Notes notebooks, so it would have been easy to fall back on a familiar tool and habit. But except for a couple of sketches, I managed to include at least some hatching. As the month went on, hatching became easier. I started to really appreciate how effective hatching can be in economically showing the direction of a curved surface.

The most surprising outcome of InkTober 2017 is that I unintentionally developed a bit of a theme: cars! Although they are no longer the sketching nemesis they used to be, and they appear frequently enough in my day-to-day urban sketches even without InkTober, cars and I have never been on friendly terms. On busy days, though, I often found myself squeezing in a quick sketch between errands or appointments, so it was easiest to draw whatever car was parked nearby. Interestingly, cars turned out to be ideal for hatching practice: They’re made of curving, hard surfaces with lots of challenging, irregular shadows! Since I typically would not choose to sketch ordinary cars on the street as primary sketching subjects, I got some much-needed practice. 

10/25/17

Overall, despite the challenges, I had a great InkTober (see all my sketches from the month in this Flickr album)! How about you?

10/23/17

10/31/17

10/26/17

10/21/17

10/27/17

10/29/17

10/28/17

10/30/17

Hatch Job (#InkTober2017 First Trimester Review)

10/11/17 Maple Leaf neighborhood

I’m so fickle.

I just got through saying you wouldn’t see my toned book again until our autumn weather turned gray. Although we’ve had showers this week, we have also been getting sunshine – if you catch it quickly before it darts behind clouds again. I saw my chance this afternoon, so I was on my way out the door to look for an InkTober sketch. That’s when I had a “duh” moment: If all I’m doing is hatching with dark ink, why not used toned paper? I had been doing all my InkTober sketches in a yellow Field Notes, but I think I like toned paper better for this. And 11 days into it, I’m finally starting to get into the hatching groove.

Since today is the 11^th, we’re one-third of the way through InkTober, so it’s a good day for a trimester review. My goal was to work on my hatching skills, and I chose ballpoint ink because it’s a medium I’ve been fascinated with when I’ve seen the work of others, and I wanted to give it a solid try. A few days into it, though, I was already in trouble. The Uni Jetstream 4 & 1 four-color ballpoint that I’d been using has very fine points, and they looked so pale on the page. In addition, I’ve gotten so used to fountain pens and brush pens – both of which require very little pressure – that I’d forgotten how much pressure ballpoint requires. By the end of week one, I was so annoyed that I didn’t think I’d make it through InkTober if I stayed with ballpoint.

I didn’t quit, though – I just switched to fountain pen, and I kept my goal of working on hatching, which I can do with any medium. It feels much better to have a familiar fude back in my hand. I realized that using a new medium while also trying a new sketching technique was probably biting off too much for one InkTober.

Shown below are days 2 – 10. I’m putting all my InkTober sketches in this Flickr album. 

How’s your InkTober going?

10/2/17

10/3/17

10/4/17

10/5/17

10/6/17

10/7/17

10/8/17

10/9/17

10/10/17

#InkTober2016: DIY Coloring Book

10/1/16 ink

I’ve jumped on the “adult coloring book” bandwagon – in a DIY way! For InkTober this year, I’ve decided to make small, coloring book-style drawings using black ink only. One of these days, I might even color them, but for InkTober 2016, I’ll be happy if I just get the drawings done.

Initiated by Jake Parker in 2009, InkTober is an annual challenge to make one ink drawing a day during the month of October. Last year I heard about InkTober only days before it began and then impulsively decided to commit to participating on Oct. 1. As you can see from the sketches that resulted (I put them all in an InkTober 2015 Flickr album), my efforts were all over the map – no consistency in subject, materials or format. Nothing wrong with that (and I might revert to that freestyle method by mid-month – we’ll see!), but this year I thought I’d give myself the added challenge of a consistent format. As in actual coloring books, the subject matter will probably vary, but I’m keeping the sketches small by using a Field Notes pocket notebook. I won’t limit myself to urban sketches, either – some might be from photos, still lifes, imaginary, abstract – who knows!

I probably won’t blog about all my InkTober sketches, but you can follow my participation on Instagram and Flickr. It’s not too late to join me! The InkTober site offers daily prompts (such as “fast” or “battle”) if they are helpful to you. I don’t do well with prompts, especially when they are abstract concepts, but using the prompts is optional. Pick up a pen and go for it!

#InkTober2019 Final Check-in: Goal Accomplished Sluggishly

After an enthusiastic beginning looking forward to becoming reacquainted with my favorite fountain pens, then an uninspired first week and still foundering by the third week, I finished InkTober 2019 with a dull thud, relieved that it was over. I may have gotten 31 sketches done (I didn’t count, but I was probably close), but most were uninspired and nothing different from what I usually do when I have a pen in my hand. I did enjoy using my trusty Sailor Naginata Fude de Mannen again, which I had neglected since I started focusing on graphite and colored pencils. But I had no creative breakthroughs or interesting experiments.

I shouldn’t say I had no interesting experiments: My Platinum with a music nib surprised me during life drawing by being so much fun. On Monday I used it again for the two-minute poses, and again I was pleased by its flow and fluidity. I also enjoy that a fountain pen seems to fly in the face of the age-old tradition of life drawing with a big chunk of charcoal. I plan to continue getting regular fountain pen fixes at life drawing. In fact, it’s a nice counterpoint to all the dry media I typical use there.

So I accomplished my InkTober goal after all: By reacquainting myself with a couple of my favorite fountain pens, I discovered a way to use them that I hadn’t explored before.

One more thing I learned (or re-learned) from InkTober is how useful it is to make value studies. Several times during the month, I made a thumbnail value study first in ink only, then sketched the same scene again in full color. But the thumbnail wasn't just a token InkTober sketch; it reminded me to pay attention to the values -- and that's always a useful thing to remember.

Shown here are the InkTober sketches from the last week of the month (other InkTober sketches done on location were already shown in the posts on those subjects). See my Flickr album for all the sketches from InkTober 2019.

I also started using this Uni Pin this month... I like
it a lot, and it may be my favorite brush pen.

#InkTober2016: Lessons Learned

10/31/16 brush pen, colored pencil

It’s Oct. 31, and that means it’s Halloween – but more important, it’s the last day of InkTober!

Last year I began InkTober without a theme or plan, but I ended up learning a few things anyway. This year I limited my materials and format, which was helpful, but I gave myself the added challenge of trying to draw more from imagination. InkTober definitely became more fun when a theme finally emerged, and I didn’t have to pull a completely new idea out of my head each day.

Paradoxically, it also became more challenging, because a rabbit reporting the weather could get boring fast! Coming up with a new single-image visual idea for a character every day is not easy. If I’ve gained anything from InkTober, it is a greater appreciation for daily newspaper cartoonists, who have to do it year-round, not just the 31 days of October.

10/26/16

After seeing the adventures of Weather Bunny, a few of my Facebook and Instagram followers suggested that I could try my hand at cartooning. I can’t see that happening – I love drawing from life too much to devote time to developing visual fictional characters. But I’m pleased that InkTober gave me an opportunity to discover what can happen when I challenge myself with something new and different.

And yet there’s nothing new and different about it at all. The little cartoons I’ve been doing this month are very similar to the kinds I used to make so easily and regularly when I was a kid. I remember writing and drawing entire stapled-together books of characters and their stories that I had created. Somehow during the next five decades, I lost that ability. I’m grateful that it took only a month to get it back.

10/27/16

For me, this is what the creative process is all about. (See all of my InkTober sketches in my Flickr album.)

How about you? Was InkTober a fun challenge? What did you learn? And are you relieved that it’s over? 

InkTober Finale

 

This year’s InkTober has been so much fun! While most of my reference photos were pets I had drawn previously with colored pencils as fundraiser commissions, a few were new, like Roz and Nemo. When friends saw me posting the portraits on Facebook, they shared photos of their pets, and I later surprised them. Nothing makes people smile like seeing sketches of their own dogs and cats.

This InkTober may have been a first in at least one way: I used the same Pentel Pocket Brush Pen for the entire 31 days, and I used a white Sakura Gelly Roll for highlights on all but one day. I thought I would use my Sailor Naginata to help with detail more than once or twice, but I didn’t. It wasn’t my intention to be so consistent, but the more I used the brush pen and Gelly Roll pairing (see below), the more I liked them for what I wanted to practice during the month: Fast (15 minutes or less), expressive portraits.

An InkTober first: Same pens all month.

Over time, I found myself becoming more accurate without measuring or blocking (the time-consuming part of the more realistic drawings I had done before). After 31 days, I now feel confident that I can offer this portrait style for commissions and make them in a timely way that also feels satisfying to me. InkTober mission accomplished!

As I always am on Oct. 31, I’m relieved that InkTober is over, even as I enjoyed every day of it. As much as I’d like to take a break from themed challenges, we all know what’s next – Pencilvember! 

The last few years when my InkTober themes were based on human faces,
I always ended with a selfie. This year I ended with a less common pet:
Timmy, the bearded dragon, who is decked out in a bow tie for his parents' wedding!

#InkTober2019 Check-in: Still Flailing

10/21/19

InkTober continues to be a struggle this year on a number of levels. First was my initial choice of an old Moleskine sketchbook to use with a fountain pen. My early tests seemed fine, but the more I used my juicy Sailor fude, the more I regretted that choice as the paper feathered and bled. After the first week, I switched to my ever-faithful Field Notes Sweet Tooth, which can stand up to any pen I’ve used it it, including that juicy Sailor.

My only personal goal was to get reacquainted with fountain pens, which I had mostly forsaken for pencils the past couple years. But even on that front, I strayed occasionally, dabbling in some borrowed watercolor brush pens and my usual brush markers. I fell back on all my usual techniques and subject matter, which annoyed me greatly, because I knew I wouldn’t learn anything from them. My only satisfying InkTober day was when I used a fountain pen at life drawing and discovered a new way to do short poses.

10/19/19

I started wondering if I should have given myself a more challenging goal. Last year when I focused on ballpoint and stayed with it all month, I was pleased with my progress and gained an appreciation for that low-cost tool. In 2016 I focused on working from imagination, which was a very difficult goal for me, but sticking with it resulted in the birth of Weather Bunny (who continues to report on the weather to this day). Maybe I should have challenged myself by using the official InkTober prompts or picking a theme . . .

Feeling annoyed and frustrated, I gave myself a break while I was traveling in California and skipped InkTober altogether. When I got back, I pulled out the A5-size Shizen Design notebook containing multi-colored pages that I had so much fun with last year. Although the paper is too thin to take fountain pen ink without bleeding through, it doesn’t feather at all, and I don’t mind using only one side of the page. As I well know from all the Sweet Tooth books I’ve filled, something about colored pages makes line drawings easier to do, especially when I can add highlights with white ink. And on Monday I even followed the official prompt for the day, “Treasure,” and sketched an old teapot that used to be my mom’s (top of post).

So that’s where I am now . . . still mostly unfocused but determined to finish out the month.

Not everything about InkTober has been frustrating: Before I left for California, I attended a fun and free InkTober event sponsored by ArtSnacks at my local Artist & Craftsman Supply store. Participants received an InkTober tote bag and other goodies, including snacks, and played with inky art supplies. Cake makes everything better.

Gifts from ArtSnacks

Check out the cakes with the ArtSnacks logo!

10/8/19

10/10/19

10/11/19

10/13/19

10/18/19

10/18/19

10/18/19

10/19/19