Author: koalie

Inktober 2020 days 1-5

It’s the fifth year in a row I’m doing Inktober. Rules are simple: A different prompt every day. Use ink. Enjoy. Learn new techniques, or not.

Some choose to not use any prompt. I prefer to, because I would not know what to draw most days. Some create their own prompts, or follow different thematic prompts. I prefer to stick to those proposed by Inktober creator Jake Parker because I find it easier.

I was ambivalent at first and nearly did not participate this year, but the day before, Virginie G. nudged me and another artist she follows, and I sensed she needed not to be alone doing it. I was in.

It’s the second year I’ve been using some of the supplies from my monthly Sketchbox subscription, except the Pentel Brushpen, which I have had for decades. Without further ado, here are the first five:

Day 1: “Fish”

Cartoon drawing of a little blond girl dressed in pink standing on a fish and surrounded by lost of other fish looking at her.

Studio Ghibli inspired piece. Done using a sepia ink drawing pen from Kuretake Zig, and Uni Emott pens in pink-red and yellow.

Day 2: “Wisp”

Black and grey ink drawing of the Disney movie character Hades smiling and burning.

A Disney character: Hades. I used a grey ink cartoonist brush pen from Kuretake Zig, and my beloved black ink Brushpen by Pentel.

Day 3: “Bulky”

Black and sepia ink drawing of an elephant sitting on a boulder

Awkward big baby elephant sitting on a rock. I used a fine brush dipped in walnut ink, and a Pentel black ink Brushpen.

Day 4: “Radio”

Black ink drawing of a vintage radio

The prompt didn’t inspire my very much. I looked for radio images in DuckDuckGo and copied the first vintage radio I found, using a 0.05 mm black ink Graphik line maker from Derwent.

Day 5: “Blade”

Black ink drawing of two skates shaving ice

My first thought of course was to draw a samurai. I love samurais! I’ve drawn dozens of them but never drew ice skates before. Using negative space for the cloud of ice was a challenge and it would have been much better in graphite, pencil or charcoal. But it’s neither graphitober, penciltober nor charcoaltober. It’s Inktober, so I used a 0.05 mm black ink Graphik line maker from Derwent, and a Pentel Brushpen to fill the larger black areas.

List-basing the next 8 months

A few minutes are all that is left of August. Then we’ll pivot into September and for me it’s the beginning of the meh months, which span about 8 months.

But there are three more weeks of summer and that’s what makes September the easiest of the meh months \o/

In order to look forward to them, I am thinking of approaching them with lists of things I want to do.

One of the lists I need to make first is that of the things or activities that bring me joy and satisfaction. Because these don’t make themselves obvious at the times I need them the most!

Another is about the things I will need to do (outside of work, that is, where I am all set with TODOs, reminders, actions, issues, one-on-ones, weekly meetings, fortnightly ones, etc.)

I feel I might need a third list, but I don’t know yet if it’s right, or if it is a subset from list number two. But it’s an important piece and perhaps that’s what warrants a specific list: one area I read want to dig in is keeping imposter’s syndrome at bay and learning to enjoy where I’m at. Here’s what I mean:

1) one has skills without necessarily realising it, and 2) one may not know how to enjoy the place they’re at when they are right where they’ve worked hard to be.

Screenshot of the fitness app showing the illustration for a new move goal

How do you get to name those skills as personal assets? How do you bask in their glory (without becoming a pompous infatuated egomaniac)? And what list to you build for this journey?

Red moon rising

Today marks the 133rd consecutive day I’ve been exercising \o/

Every night I do 2 to 3 activities, usually running, walking, and core training or yoga.

I ran exactly 90 times. At the moment I spend an average of 1h45 per week exercising, and run 14 kilometers per week on average.

Tonight I ran 7K (my longest run) at 7:03 minutes / km.

And on the walk back, I saw the red moon rising and was spellbound:

Night shot of the white masts of sailboats reflected in water
Night shot of the big round red moon rising and casting a ray of orange light on the otherwise greenish sea
Night shot by the sea where a big round red moon is rising and casting a ray of orange light on the otherwise greenish sea

The moon, which was full three days ago, rose on the horizon on the Mediterranean shortly before midnight and it was a sight to behold! Bright red with a halo, and casting a fiery light on the water.

A bitter pill to swallow

Illustration of a sad person at a desk

I was prepared for that meeting where a man said the same things I said. But I wasn’t prepared to hear that in spite of being the project manager, I would need to be trained if I were to act as interface with people on this project. It’s not like I hadn’t been interfacing so far, and the group needed a different kind of interfacing. So I’ve been wearing my cranky pants for a couple of days. There’s a large dent in my motivation as a result, and an even bigger dent in my sense of worth.