inktober – Page 5 – coralie's contemplations in markup

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”

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.

Art: inktober2019

I had a blast this month! I am pleased with almost all of the pieces I drew. I really like ink, turns out. Here’s a gallery of all of the drawings and the prompt list is at the bottom.

Grey and white ink drawing of the silhouette of a boxer in a ring. The open artbook is on a wooden table next to a red 'frixion' red ballpoint pen, a white ink brushphen, a bottle of black ink and two brushes resting on black water in a plastic cup. — Day 1 – Ring

Black ink drawing with thin parallel lines representing the Great Wave Off Kanagawa by Hokusai — Day 1 – Ring

Inktober 2019 Days 26-31

I’m doing Inktober again in my small sketchbook Canson art book universal (14×21 cm / 4×6 in), in which I used half pages every day.

Day 26: “Dark”

Highly contrasted black and grey drawing of a man walking at the end of a wooden plank pier toward a flock of birds in a lighter spot in the otherwise dark sky.

Dark is back! In this piece a man wanders at the end of a wooden pier, toward a source of light among the darkness and the fog, where a flock of birds seem to gravitate. I used and blended my grey ink brush pen from Kuretake and black ink Pentel Brushpen, and black 0.05 mm Uni Pin pen.

Day 27: “Coat”

Black and grey ink drawing of a Caucasian-Japanese mixed-race woman wearing a flowery coat over her kimono. Her hair is done in the traditional Japanese fashion. There is a grey background.

Japanese inspired piece, it had been a while (no) I draw a woman wearing a coat adorned with flowers, her hair made traditionally like geishas. I used a grey ink brush pen from Kuretake for the background and shading, and a 0.05 mm black Uni Pin pen.

Day 28: “Ride”

Black, grey and blue drawing of a young girl mounted on a buffalo. She wears a flower over her ear and a summer dress. She's barefoot.

Going not too far from Japan, this is a Vietnamese scene: a dreamy-looking young woman is riding a buffalo. I used the grey ink brush pen from Kuretake, green ink brush pen by Sketchbox and indigo ink Cambio brush pen by Kuretake. The outline was done with a 0.05 mm black Uni Pin pen. I really like how it came out.

Day 29: “Injured”

Black and grey ink drawing of two sword warriors fighting each other. One's sword is through the other warrior's body.

And we’re back in medieval Japan with two sword fighters in action, one transpercing the other. I started with my black Pentel Brushpen for broad strokes to give movement, and then for finer detail, and added grey ink using a brush pen from Kuretake. It took me merely a few minutes.

Day 30: “Catch”

Highly contrasted black and grey drawing of a young boy jumping with legs wide apart. He wears a baseball mitt over his right hand and a cap over his head.

Other than the kid’s face, I am very happy with this piece. Little boy jumping, mitt in hand, and legs spread wide apart. I used a grey ink brush pen from Kuretake and black ink Pentel Brushpen. The outline was done using a 0.05 mm black Uni Pin pen.

Day 31: “Ripe”

Simple grey ink drawing of two peaches. One is cut in half and the other half is cut in half.

After “Tasty”, the second abstract prompt of the month is “Ripe”. Someone over at Inktober 2019 headquarters really was hungry! I drew peaches. The minimal drawing focused (badly) on shading using dots and some hatching. I used a black 0.05 mm Uni Pin pen.

Inktober 2019 Days 21-25

I’m doing Inktober again in my small sketchbook Canson art book universal (14×21 cm / 4×6 in), in which I used half pages every day.

Day 21: “Treasure”

Lots of black and grey for this drawing of a pirate diving to fetch a treasure. He's bare chest, wears short trousers and a red belt. The treasure is an open treasure chest. Not far is the broken front of a ship with prow figure. The pens I used are visible next to the open artbook.

Another piece I absolutely loved doing! Underwater scene showing a pirate diving and reaching out toward a wooden box full of gold on the ocean bed, a sunken ship in the background, the hull of his rowing boat underneath the surface, and light beams. I used a grey ink brush pen from Kuretake and black ink Pentel Brushpen, and a Slim Frixion pen in red for his belt.

Day 22: “Ghost”

Black and grey ink drawing of a sad woman sitting in front of a mirror and looking down. In the reflection only there is a man standing behind her and looking at her, his comforting hands on her shoulders.

Another favourite! I drew a sad woman in front of a mirror and the ghost of her husband appears behind her in her reflection, standing right behind her, his hands on her shoulders, looking at her lovingly. I used a grey ink brush pen from Kuretake and outlined with a 0.05 mm black Uni Pin pen.

Day 23: “Ancient”

Black and grey drawing of an Egyptian marble statue against a black backdrop.

This is Antinous as Osiris. When he drowned in the Nile at the age of 20, he was raised to the status of God by emperor Hadrian, his lover. I used a grey ink brush pen from Kuretake, black ink Pentel Brushpen to fill the background, and a 0.05 mm black Uni pin pen for the outline.

Day 24: “Dizzy”

Highly contrasted black and grey drawing of a man progressing along a cliff, on narrow wooden planks and holding a chain. There are trees behind him and other mountains in the background.

So far, I have been really happy with this series and I loved doing this piece too. It’s a man progressing along a cliff, on narrow wooden planks and holding a chain. I used a grey ink brush pen from Kuretake and black ink Pentel Brushpen, both of which I blended in places, and outlined using a black 0.05 mm Uni Pin pen.

Day 25: “Tasty”

Very simple drawing in sepia ink of a tea pot, a bowl and spoon, dim sum and chopsticks, a plate of gyoza and a small cup.

I very much dislike the abstract prompts! What a horrendous piece: a meal of dim sum, gyoza, soup and tea. I used a sepia line maker.