Thursday, November 01, 2018

Summing up Inktober

My earlier post says most of it. I would add the selfie ring light was handy, it was a little quicker to get the photos into my computer. I suppose if I blogged from my phone I could be even faster. The blog is a good record for me. Next year I may remember to read it and see how things went. The biggest problem was my internal resistance to any outside pressure. While I draw almost every day I just don’t like to have a schedule or expectations. Toward the end of October I took an online class for drawing on the iPad which was a distraction. Since the second lesson on hatching I have been drawing some in Procreate, a drawing app.

I do feel burned out right now. And it wasn't horrible, just a little bit of pressure. Still, it's supposed to be fun, right? Next year I may do a drawing a week, working on it a little every day. Some people make drawings that span the month on one page. The second drawing by Jake Parker on this page may be an example. I can't find a lot of information.

Since I always like to have at least one image to illustrate blog posts, I'll leave with this digital drawing, done in Procreate with a tweaked 6B pencil tool. The proportions are not right, but I liked the effect.

4 comments:

eileen2000 said...

I like this sketch a lot. I agree about the pressure. It started to feel like just one more "should". I like your idea of doing one prolonged sketch. I think having some restriction like that would be helpful for me. Or maybe drawing the same image every day in different ways.

Judith Hoffman said...

Thanks Eileen, I'm so glad you like this one. That's a brilliant idea, drawing the same thing day after day. Trying out many different approaches. I wonder how long I could keep at it. (-:

Hilke said...

I think I understand what you are saying about pressure. I generally like to put this kind of pressure on. - It helps me to get done anything at all. That being said - you know I quit after just a few days on the first inktober I ever tried.
I imagine, as it is a pressure that's not on the whole year, but only for 1/12 of the year, it can be a good push for many who might otherwise postpone to the next day for ever. - But to each their own. After having mising inktober, I am currently considering a 30days, 30robots challenge of my own. Would you like to join? - No need to draw one every day :-)

Judith Hoffman said...

Hilke I have always envied people who do well under pressure. I tend to cave in and want a cup of tea. (-: Although in family situations, when someone is sick and needs care, etc, I do respond well. It's just the need to make my own art that seems fragile to me. From your blog posts it seems you also plug away at big projects and get those done, without immediate pressure. So you seem to combine both aspects well. I do think Inktober is a good push for many people - a way to get started and do what they wish they could. And maybe a way to build a habit. I was already drawing almost every evening, but I wasn't always taking photos and getting the images online. That extra step may have been the pressure. And I would have liked to have felt I could fool around with content and not need to have a finished drawing on a given day. The good part of this is that I have started working on some photo collages to draw from and feel more engaged with the content than I have for a long time. So maybe having someone imaginary say "hurry, hurry, do a drawing" has made me pull back in some sense and focus on a slower method of working.

I would love to see your "30 days, 30 robots" drawings. I hope you post some. I don't think I will join in, for me it might be 30 days, 30 drawings from collages or some such. But if I do some robot drawings I will definitely post them. Yours are so appealing, they make me want to do a few, and to do some more eraser carving too.