Drawvember 2020 days 6-10

This year for Drawvember, I compiled my own list of prompts, to ensure that I wasn’t going to use “not inspired” as an excuse for skipping days. Drawing actually brings me joy and satisfaction, and as it’s in rather short supply at this time of year for me, I have much at stake.

I picked words that appealed to me, rather randomly, without any clear idea how I was going to develop each prompt. So far, I’m having fun.

Day 6: “Prey”

Black ink drawing of a lioness feasting on the neck of a zebra

A lioness caught a zebra.

Sketchliner Extra Fine 01 by Montana and black ink Pentel Brushpen.

Other than its ear, the zebra has no outline.

Day 7: “Pyramid”

Coloured pencil drawing of three pyramids at sunset

What made me think it was a good idea to get my Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils? Probably I thought I was using ink too much? I think I ought to stick to ink!

I also used Sketchbox watercolor pencils for the sky, because they came in pretty shades of pinks, orange and purples, but I did not wet them.

This took me way longer than anything else I have done recently and the result is terrible.

Day 8: “Crane”

Black, grey and red ink drawing of a Japanese crane

Back to ink \o/

Cranes are a familiar subject.

Oddly I wasn’t too sure how to draw it —what position, which background if any, how many of them? I opted for a portion of one.

I used my light grey and geranium red Brush Writers from Kuretake, and my black ink Brushpen by Pentel.

Day 9: “Diving”

Grey ink drawing of a bird diving down a cliff toward water that seems to be quite far below

White bird diving from a cliff toward the ocean.

I wanted to learn how to draw rocks. I need to properly learn how to, because this wasn’t it.

I used my black Sketchliner Extra Fine 01 by Montana and Light Grey Brush Writer by Kuretake.

Day 10: “Pounce”

Grey and black ink drawing of a cat with very dilated pupils, ready to pounce.

Cat ready to pounce, pupils dilated to the maximum.

I used a black Sketchliner Extra Fine 01 by Montana and Light Grey Brush Writer by Kuretake, and the black ink Brushpen by Pentel to reinforce dark areas.

Drawvember 2020 days 1-5

This year for Drawvember, I compiled my own list of prompts, to ensure that I wasn’t going to use “not inspired” as an excuse for skipping days. Drawing actually brings me joy and satisfaction, and as it’s in rather short supply at this time of year for me, I have much at stake.

I picked words that appealed to me, rather randomly, without any clear idea how I was going to develop each prompt. So far, I’m having fun.

Day 1: “Dragon”

Indigo ink drawing with grey ink shadow of a dragon with big eyes

This is Toothless from the movie “How to train your dragon”, which is a family favourite. This served as a rehearsal of sort for my kid’s 13th birthday card which I will draw in a few weeks: he has requested a Toothless themed card.

I used my indigo ink Cambio Tambien brush pen from Kuretake. One limitation is that so much ink flows from that pen that the rather small format of my sketchbook does not allow for optimal spread of the ink, including more nuances, and I regret that I didn’t draw it bigger on the page because I could have gotten thinner lines.

Day 2: “Robot”

Grey and black ink drawing of a robot in the position of the Rodin sculpture The Thinker

Meh. I botched the head, the face, the hatching.

This is a robot in the pose of The Thinker by Auguste Rodin.

One thing I liked, which I developed further a couple days after: using my finger to smudge the grey ink from my Brush Writer to achieve an interesting effect in the contoured background.

Day 3: “Fur”

Pencil drawing of a fluffy cat

This is my cat Jack, and I used a photo of her as reference. She has the fluffiest tail!

I used pencils only, a medium I very seldom use, so I was very tempted after a while to erase everything and pick up an ink pen. Also, it was the first time I attempted to draw fur. The trick is to manage the shadows and contrast that bring out the light on the hair. I can only improve 🙂

Day 4: “Cherub”

Grey ink drawing of a child angel

My favourite so far!

I used the technique I discovered while drawing the background of the robot Thinker: finger-smudging. I used my light grey Brush Writer by Kuretake and smudged small strokes until achieving the desired shading effect.

Day 5: “Carnival”

Black, grey and red ink drawing of two costumed characters wearing white face masks and red headdresses in the foreground and a gondola and church from Venice in the background.

I have been to Venice, Italy, but never during the Carnival. I am fascinated by the costumes and masks. Here are a couple of rather evil-looking women wearing white masks and red head scarves over dark gowns, with the canal in the background, a moored gondola and the Duomo.

I used my Geranium Red Brush Writer by Kuretake, a grey felt tip pen, black ink 0.05 mm Graphik line maker from Derwent and Light Grey Brush Writer by Kuretake.

Announcing my Drawvember 2020

Now that Inktober just finished, I am hanging on to my drawing tools for Drawvember!

My friend Virginie G. and her friend Anaïs B. seem interested in joining me \o/ I have enjoyed their October drawings and am looking forward to their November ones! I would find it fun if other people joined too ٩(^ᴗ^)۶

Last year I did six series of 5 drawings on a given theme or technique and I really liked it, but this year I compiled a list of prompts, and will use any medium or technique I like.

Any medium, any technique! Let me know @koalie if you join my Drawvember 2020!

  • Dragon
  • Robot
  • Fur
  • Cherub
  • Carnival
  • Prey
  • Pyramid
  • Crane
  • Diving
  • Pounce
  • Buccaneer
  • Altitude
  • Shipwreck
  • Zebra
  • Drums
  • Cougar
  • Boat
  • Planet
  • Sullen
  • Jellyfish
  • Monkey
  • Angel
  • Vanquish
  • Depth
  • Villain
  • Lipstick
  • Cliff
  • Pure
  • Elf
  • Tower

Here is the prompt list in light or dark:

Art: inktober2020

This year again, I had a blast this month! I am pleased with almost all of the pieces I drew. I really like ink, turns out. I have the distinct impression that I have improved last year and this year.

The tools I used are: Kuretake Brush Writer (light grey), water brush pen, Pentel Brushpen (black), mechanical pencil, white Posca 0.7 mm, black 0.05 mm Graphik line maker from Derwent.

Here’s a gallery of all of the drawings and the prompt list is at the bottom.

prompt list for Inktober 2020
Inktober 2020 prompt list