Inktober 2020 days 6-10

Day 6: “Rodent”

Black ink drawing of a saddled squirrel at the edge of rocks, mounted by a tiny character wearing a helmet.

No mice or rats, and not even gerbils could rival with the itch to interpret a Moebius piece! And since the prompt that day was not giant lizard, I drew a giant squirrel mounted by a desert traveler, using a 0.05 mm black Graphik line maker from Derwent.

Day 7: “Fancy”

Black ink drawing of Audrey Hepburn wearing a flowery white dress and black high-heel shoes

Ah, the first prompt that was abstract. I don’t mind them too much but they are a bit of a challenge, giving me a “deer in headlights” feeling. So I looked in my library of saved images and searched something striking my fancy, ha ha. Audrey Hepburn in a fancy dress! I noticed that I drew her head too wide, or her body too small, but couldn’t correct it. Oh well. I used a 0.05 mm black Graphik line maker from Derwent and a black Brushpen by Pentel.

Day 8: “Teeth”

Black ink drawing of a screaming gorilla

I initially wanted to draw a laughing horse. Or the smiling shark of “Finding Nemo”. I settled for a roaring gorilla that I did in a few minutes, because I could block only little time, and used once again a 0.05 mm black Graphik line maker from Derwent.

Day 9: “Throw”

Black ink drawing of two judokas, one in black and the other in white. The one in white is throwing the other one to the ground.

I found a beautiful reference photo of judokas and quickly drew it, straight with ink like the others in the series, and botched the left arm of the judoka being thrown, as a result! I used again a 0.05 mm black Graphik line maker from Derwent, and filled the large black areas with the black Pentel Brushpen.

Day 10: “Hope”

Black ink drawing of a dandelion shedding its seeds in the wind, which turn into birds the farther they get from the flower.

Second abstract prompt! But this time there were several themes I considered: a message in a floating bottle, a plant growing out of dry caked desert soil, people of different races holding hands (although I had no idea how I was going to draw this). Finally I chose to draw dandelion seeds flying away as birds. It was more meaningful to me than the other themes, because a friend of mine once told me this was the tattoo her sister had gotten around the time her eldest daughter left home. Children are our hope.

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.