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.

The End of Inktober!

I have lost track of how many I did, some days there were two or three drawings in my hand, others not so many. But I feel pretty confident it's at least 30. Every time I say I want more interesting content in my drawings, it doesn't happen. Inktober is the wrong environment for that - the emphasis is on speed and production. And I can't produce and also explore content. It sounds easy, but it's not for me.

A quick selfie. After I finished I realized the ceiling fan looks like a giant bow. Not my style.

From a photo taken in the Zymoglyphic museum.

And so I’m done. I may add to the evaluation in a few days. I can say I did it, but the question is, would I do it again?

Inktober

I'm nearing the end - a few more days.

My friend Karen on Sktchy. Black Pitt pen, Caput Mortem brush pen.

One of those days when I was unfocused and just doodling. Pitt pen.

Scribbling while watching a movie. Pitt pen. Can you tell I'm loosing steam? I hate to quit this close to the end.

From a photo on Sktchy. Pitt pen, white Posca.

Another from Sktchy, quick and easy.

This was an interesting photo - a collage of several images.

Another interesting photo. This particular security pattern is very hard to draw on. It has a strong diagonal that seems to accentuate the ink lines and make them hard to control.

Inktober early evaluation

I decided to take stock now, before the end of the month. I'm deciding what to prioritize and what I'd like to do in the remaining time. My notes went into my little sketch book. Yesterday I didn't draw, I wrote up my notes and then read for awhile. I wanted to take the pressure off, which also makes me want to draw. Today I did a drawing, trying to follow my "new" plan. I will also do a wrap up at the end of the month, but it will probably be short.

First the drawing:

Done as usual in my envelope sketch book. It's from a digital collage I made - my grandmother's silhouette and a skeleton. She was German, a lucky coincidence, since the envelope is from Germany. Done with a Pitt pen.

The first page of my notes - I won't bother you with all three, but here are the notes:
Pros: I have come this far, at least some kind of sketch every day. (Here I list the images I do like. My pages are numbered so easy to refer to.) I like most of the text pages - do more. I especially like drawings in my previous post of the figure and the face. The figure is painterly, and the face gets a little dreamy. The size is good - not intimidating. Cheap paper is good, although not really cheap in this case. (the notebook was made by BadBooks on Etsy, but I could make more myself)

Cons: Don't like all the drawings - some done too fast. Next year I need to consider doing fewer drawings and putting more time into each one. Tired of the small size and cheap paper - can't use my favorite ink pens, they bleed thru. (yes, I am contradicting myself) I'm tired of the pressure - have been gardening a lot, a bit short on time. (The weather has been perfect and I have done a lot in the front bed.)

Do More: Text pages. Daily comments, life in general. More like the (previous post - face) drawing - fine lines, minimal outline. Also more like (previous post - figure) drawing. More painterly. And more like Big Mouth (last image on linked page) - splats, small drawn texture in background, drawn from collage. Also more like double exposures (this post).

I think a wrap up at the end is useful, but checking in mid-month is also a good idea. If you have favorites, especially from this month, I'd love to know what they are. I hope you are getting some time in to draw. Try to not get discouraged if you are short on time. I have several friends who can't draw regularly. Just keep plugging away when you can.

A figure, a frog and a face

I realized haven't been posting in the same order on sktchy as I have here. I guess that doesn't matter - they are drawings in pen and ink.

October 18. This guy's face is long, but not quite that long. I had to scribble on the background with a white posca pen to cover the dark grey on the envelope. In the end I rather like this one. It's a little weird. I took his head into Procreate (drawing/painting app for iOS) and attached it to another body. I liked the size mis-match so left it that way. I also like the background doodles.

October 19. An awesome toad or frog from Sktchy. Pitt pen. My biggest complaint about Sktchy is that most people post the most boring selfies - looking straight forward, frontal lighting, grinning. But now and then there is some awesome interesting photo.

October 20. Another Sktchy drawing.

A doodled page, something I haven't really counted as a drawing. This was a dream, I woke feeling very frustrated about this. Done with a sepia Pitt pen. I like doing these pages of text now and then. I do figure it's still keeping the pen moving, and I am drawing shapes, as opposed to writing. I am still loving the torn envelopes, they have a nice irregularity. Getting tired of the smaller size. Getting tired of worrying about having a finished drawing every day. I had thought I would evaluate at the end of the month, but thing I'll take stock tonight, and again at the end.

This one was done with a black Pitt pen. I just thought I'd include these as part of the record. I do like doing this in my journals now and then. I don't record much about most days, am always trying to remember to add more.

So far, so good

I am sort of keeping up with Inktober this year. I did miss one day, but did two sketches the following day.

October 15. Experimenting a little with combining photos. I would like to be doing more content oriented drawings but realize it will take more time. I have been doing a lot of gardening, the weather is mild and rain will start soon. For a couple weeks Jim and I watched two episodes of The Good Place every evening. By the time evening comes around, I don't always have a lot of energy. So for now a quick drawing is good.

October 16. Done from a photo on Sktchy. This guy took a photo at the bank teller's drive up window. I like the composition very much.

October 17. This is from a photo of a friend on Sktchy. She's at a Yayoi Kusama exhibit, Infinity Mirror. I like this photo very much, another composition that appeals to me. I just realized I am a day behind, one drawing short. Better get to work.

Catching up - more Inktober

I have been drawing every day, just not keeping up with posting here. I'm trying to make drawing the top priority, instead of getting lost looking at other people's drawings.

October 7. This one was from a photo on Sktchy which was a mirrored image. Interesting challenge because I find exact symmetry hard. Most of the images are from photos on Sktchy. Not that there aren't a lot of interesting photos on the internet, but it is a nice place to go where you know people want you to draw from their photos.

October 8. I like the evil look in his eye, and the label seems to add a lot.

October 9. If you are looking at the dates you can see I am working ahead some days, falling behind on others.

October 10. Another where the stamps seem to add a lot to the image. This was a photo of a man with a plastic bird head. Other people interpreted him in a more realistic way, which is very effective. However this was a really quick solution. I am really enjoying this envelope sketch book and plan to make more.

October 11. I thought this profile would be an easy one, instead I spent a lot of time with the pencil sketch, trying to get all the relationships sort of accurate. Then I drew the basic shapes with a sepia Pitt pen in my left hand (I am left-handed) and a sanguine Pitt pen in my right. I finished the details with the sepia pen. I would like to get more sanguine in there.

October 12. I had brushed some hi-flow acrylic across this page, and used the mouth atomizer to add the spots. Then I drew on it. Maybe the grey acrylic is too strong. Or the image needs more contrast. Oddly enough this one inspired someone on Sktchy to make an envelope journal, so I was very pleased.

October 13. Looking thru my sktchy inspiration photos I noticed this guy's mouth was very much like the chicken's so I tried blending the two images. Not too successful in the beak area, but I like this one better than the next.

There are two for October 13 - they were done one after the other. I'm not showing you all my fails, but this one has something I like, something I don't like. This seems too polished to me, or maybe too cartoony? Something is wrong. I did the last two in the same evening, pretty quickly once I had the basic idea.

October 14. A friend sent me a link to Christophe Brunnquell on Instagram. I drew this inspired by his collage, especially the mouth.

I'm almost halfway thru the month. Pretty impressed with myself. I have regained my enthusiasm, am enjoying the quick sketches. After two weeks of doodling around I want to look more at content. Just reproducing an image isn't that interesting long term for me. Of course content is much harder to do. It's time to start on it! If you have any remarks about the drawings, or life in general, I'd love to hear them. I am always trying to improve in some areas - hatching, content, composition, finding inspiration. I am always open to thoughts.

I hope you are getting some drawings in this month, or writing or whatever creative thing you want in your life. For me it's always hard to find time, motivation and to break away from the pull of every day life. And, for me at least - I am so hooked by the news. One terrible thing after another. I am trying to not look at the news so often. It's probably better for my mental health.

Inktober - slow days

Feeling pretty down these days, and not inspired. It's fall here, the crisp weather and the turning leaves are usually invigorating. It's just been a sad fall. Sad summer for that matter. I have also somewhat lost my momentum. I remember this from last year, I started enthusiastic, but then lost interest. I don't like any kind of rules, so an "assignment" does not sit well with me. However I plan to keep plugging away. I was trying to explore personal imagery last year, and thought this year would be easier if I just did quick ink drawings, focusing on technique. And the ring light I mentioned in a previous post does help - I don't have to walk all over the house looking for good light, or take the time to scan each drawing.

October 5. I did this drawing twice - this is the second version. I was not happy with the first but wanted to have something for the day. There have been others that I considered fails that I haven't posted.

October 6. From a photo on Sktchy. I am enjoying this journal made of old envelopes, each page presents a different challenge.

Edit - I put the wrong month on these - November. Just changed that to be accurate.

Inktober 2018 October 3 and 4

The first three drawings are here. I did two for the first day, just because I could.

Above is the drawing for day 3. Ball point pen in my journal made from envelopes. Not done from a Sktchy photo, that's my niece.

And the drawing for day 4. Pilot pen with the ink they ship with the pen. It does bleed thru the envelopes a little. This is from a photo on Sktchy. I am not happy with this one, but am calling it good. I am in the mood for some distraction tonight, Jim and I are going to watch a few episodes of The Good Place. I have seen the first two seasons, but am watching them again with Jim since he hasn't seen them.

I hope you are finding time to draw a little. I would say even a quick rough sketch is good. It's surprising how ability to judge improves with practice. Not that I'm an expert on the subject, but I do see improvement in my drawings over the last few years. There are still plenty of duds, but some I am happy with too.

Inktober 2018 begins

I'm not sure if I will be able to draw every day, certainly won't be posting every day. But I am going to try to post every few days. The ring light I mentioned in a previous post is helpful, but I still like to take the photos into Lightroom, partly to give them tags so I can find things later.

These first three drawings were done from Sktchy, an iOS app. This one is a wax figure, kind of static looking in the photos, but pretty convincing. Done with a ballpoint pen in my journal made from old envelopes. It's fun to be challenged by whatever page comes up - some are security patterns which can be difficult to deal with. The small page size is a real plus.

This was done with a sepia Pitt pen, size S. Also a white Posca pen. This is a dear friend, I wanted to welcome her to Sktchy.

This last image was also done with a sepia Pitt pen. I loved this old lady's smile. The image to the left seems to be a photo of her when she was young. It was kind of blurry and faint, a little hard to see. I like the juxtaposition and wanted to include it.

How to get even light on a sketchbook page for photos

I often struggle with getting even light on a sketchbook page when I'm taking a photo. I usually go outside and use bright open shade. But it's not always day, or that bright. If I can't get a good photo, I scan the page, make adjustments on my computer, export the images and then mail it to my iPad to upload to Sktchy. I got this tip from Craig Houghton on Sktchy: use a selfie ring light. I tried this one from Amazon. It's rechargeable and has three light levels. I have no affiliation with Amazon or the ring light manufacturer, it just seemed like a good one, with good reviews.

To take the image above I had the light on the lowest setting - exposure is pretty good. I do think the mouth is a little overexposed. It's graphite and white Posca pen on an envelope with a security pattern, done in a junk journal mentioned in my previous post. Each image will enlarge, the pages are about 3.5 inches high.

To take the image above, same drawing, I had the light on the highest setting - it seems overexposed all over, the graphite is naturally a little glossy and I think the light reflects too much.

In the image above the light was on the lowest setting again. This is definitely closer to the original drawing than the following image.

And for this one it was on the highest setting.

This is a very low tech test - you would need to do a group of photos with different materials to get a good sense of what's going on. Still, to get a quick photo for Inktober, I think I will stick with the lower setting. It will allow me to take a quick photo with my phone and post to Sktchy instead of my old method.

Inktober sketchbook made of envelopes

Gearing up for Inktober, I got this little envelope book from badbooks on Etsy. The pages are envelopes and the cover is double thick cardboard. A friend calls it a junk journal. It arrived tied shut with string. I could make my own, but really wanted to see the security prints from England, or any other place for that matter. We only get mail from a few places, the bank, a few bills that can't be paid online. These are all different. It's very fun to draw in. Regular fountain pen ink (de Atramentis) bleeds, but Pitt pens are fine. The pages are small and not intimidating. I usually do two or three two-page spreads in an evening.

Above - drawn with sepia Pitt pen.

Above - 2b pencil. I am experimenting with drawing with straight lines. Another tip from Sktchy. I like the look of it.

Consider This - Inktober Questions

Some things to think about now if you want to do Inktober:

If you are going to scan your drawings to post online, choose a sketchbook that will fit on your scanner. If you like to work across the two pages, make it small enough to fit. You probably don't want to have to use software to stitch together two images every day. Get your pens in a row before the end of the month. Make sure you have refills or an extra of your favorite pen.

(Image: Red Prismacolor pencil and ink pen. This image has nothing to do with Inktober, but I can't stand to post without one. I have been enjoying this two-handed drawing technique. It makes me loosen up, I am not in charge of either hand. The photo is from Sktchy - I forgot to make a note of the source.)

Do you want a separate sketch book for the month? Or maybe 30 5 x 7 pieces of paper you love to draw on? Don't make them too large - that may be intimidating.

Consider, will you use the prompts provided? Do you want to go out and draw in public, will you use imagery from the internet? Do you want to set a goal - i.e. improve hatching, learn to use a brush pen? Or do you want to stick with a theme? None of these things are necessary, but might be fun or educational.

Should you set a time limit for yourself? It's not too hard to get 15 or 20 minutes every day to do a quick sketch. Diving in and spending an hour each day for the first week might be too much and you may burn out too fast. Do you want to sketch every day or only on weekends, or only on weekdays? I know the idea is to sketch every day, but if that's not possible, don't let that keep you from doing what you can. Even doing some days will help you to get where you want to be.

At the end of the month make notes for yourself. What worked well? Was a goal of 20 minutes a day too much? Did you wish for another kind of pen? Or different paper?

Gearing up for Inktober

I have decided to do Inktober again this year. The idea is to do an ink drawing every day of the month of October. Last year I did pretty well - I may have missed a few days, but did catch up in the end with extra drawings. For me there are no hard and fast rules - I will just do the best I can. To prepare I am thinking about pen and ink drawing, which I pretty much think about all the time. I am also considering the size of my sketchbook and materials.

The image above is from a class I just took on Sktchy with Joan Martin called Make Your Mark. Part of that class was drawing two handed. I find it makes my dominant (left) hand line very loose, which I like a lot. On the left is a sketch I did using two pens. I liked it so much I didn't want to draw and paint over it, so I scanned it, printed several copies and played with each one. After drawing her image Joan goes in with some hatching and then paint and other mark making tools. I haven't progressed that far.

Here I am experimenting with outlining value shapes. My goal has been to loosen up and to get better with hatching. Actually, I probably don't need to loosen up, many of my drawings are loose, but not quite where I want them to be. Perhaps they are too loose or not skilled enough. Maybe they need a little more structure, I'm not sure.

This last drawing was done with no pencil sketch, just fooling around. I think all of these approaches will play a part in my Inktober. I will also make a sketchbook with hot press watercolor paper that fits on my scanner. I don't want to have to stitch together pages if I have a two page spread. And a smaller size will be less intimidating.