Inktober 3rd installment

 Okay, now. So Inktober doesn't actually end until tomorrow. However I will confess that I have completed all of the Inktober 2022 sketches already because I knew that I was going to be away for this weekend, and so completed them all prior to leaving in Friday afternoon, to make sure that I did in fact complete it this time, since the previous time, 2028, I missed the last 2 or 3 days because I was going to Amsterdam. So, here's a reminder of the prompts:-

23) Booger

I mean, in all honesty, how do you deal with a propt like that? I really didn't want to draw a careful study of a booger in all its glory. Found the photograph of the young ape that his one is based on and it seemed to hit the spot, and was complex enough to keep me interested in drawing it.

24) Fairy

I typed 'fairy illustration' or something similar into google, and this was one of many imaged that appeared. I liked this one so chose to copy it. 

25) Tempting

This really was the first thing that occurred to me - a snake/serpent and apple combination. If you search images on the net as well there are many, many variations on this theme from which to choose, so you really aren't short on reference photographs.

26) Ego

As a Marvel film fan, the moment I saw the prompt Ego I thought of this one. I have to say I'm pretty damned pleased with the result - the eye on the left looks quite like Kurt Russell, but the one of the right looks extremely like Kurt Russell. Though I say it myself this is a nice little ink portrait.

27) Snack

It was more a case of any port in a storm with this prompt. I resolved myself to the fact that I wasn't going to find anything that fitted the prompt that really lit my candle, so I just set out to make the most faithful sketch that I can.

28) Camping

This is a copy to one of the original illustrations to Robert Baden-Powell's unfortunately titled "Scouting for boys". I do really like this kind of illustration from the first half of the 20th century. It's unfussy, and it's honest. 

29) Uh oh

I've since been informed that what I copied for this prompt is an illustration to M.R. James' "The Scrapbook of Canon Alberic" Fine by me. I just immediately liked the illustration the moment I found it, and knew that I would enjoy copying it. I did too.

 30)  Gear

My thoughts on this were to take the cogwheel meaning of the word, and to make some kind of clockwork animal. I found a photograph of this box, complete with 'clockwork' dragon, and it just seemed to fit.

31) Farm

Here we are, then. Number 31, and another copied illustration. The original was black pen, I think, but I fancied using sepia and it's not worked out too badly.

Yay - that's the first time I've completed Inktober, and looking back over the illustrations I don't think they're too bac either.

Inktober Part Two

 Right, so you remember in my last post I showed you my first 16 Inktober 2022 sketches? Here’s the next 7. First, here’s the prompt list again:-

Here we go: - 

17) Salty

This is based on the picture on an old cigarette packet. Players navy cut cigarettes. Now look – I don’t want to do anything that could ever be taken as promoting smoking. Which come to think of it is why I didn’t put the writing on it.  I just liked the picture and felt it fit the prompt.

18) Scrape

Just a cute picture of a kid who scraped his knee. I remember being forced to wear shorts in my early years. I don’t know if little kids in the UK were always forced to wear shorts in cold weather to toughen us up when I was growing up. Bordered on child cruelty in my opinion.

19) Ponytail. When I make the choice of what I’m going to sketch to fulfil the brief, what I tend to do is set my mind off on word association. With ponytail, the first thing which came to me was the great Italian footballer from the 1990s, Roberto Baggio, who was nicknamed the Divine Ponytail.

20) Bluff. Bluff made me think of poker, and the picture of dogs playing poker, featuring on a pub wall near you. I only copied some of the detail of it.

21) Bad dog. This is another one based on a model figure that I found on the net when I googled the words Bad Dog. I sketched this one while watching a Marvel film on the telly last Saturday night.

22) Heist. Okay – so Heist made me think of the word outlaw. This in turn made me think of the Clint Eastwood film “The Outlaw Josey Wales”. This is based on a still from the film.

Inktober 2022

It’s been a while, hasn’t it. I suppose that’s inevitable since I was on holiday from school when I last posted, and when you return to work, well, it can be difficult to find the time.

Yes, excuses, I know. Still, I have been taking part in #inktober 2022. If you haven’t encountered inktober before, it’s a challenge to produce (at least) one ink sketch a day throughout the month of October. There’s an official prompt list issued. This year’s is this one:-

So, as it’s the 16^th, and therefore half a day over half way, I thought I’d post the pictures I’ve sketched so far.

1)   I) Gargoyle

This is actually copied from a photograph of a figurine. There’s only one problem with it. I’m so pleased with it as a sketch that I couldn’t help thinking it would be difficult to maintain this standard of drawing for the rest of the month. Well, that was soon proven to be correct.

2)   2) Scurry

This is copied from a photograph. Yes, okay, the squirrel is leaping, not scurrying, but what the hell?

3)   3) Bat

Like the Gargoyle sketch, this was based on a photograph of a figurine. It’s a figurine of the DC supervillain Manbat, sometime adversary of Batman. Geddit?

4)   4) Scallop

This is not a subject I would have chosen to draw off my own volition. However it is what I would like to think of as a good exercise subject. Drawing is as much about the eye as the hand, and this is a really good test of observation, since you really need to look very carefully if you’re going to get anything like a accurate representation.

5)   5) Flame

I don’t know exactly what it says about me that my first thought for flame was the flaming helmet worn by Arthur Brown – of The Crazy World Of – fame – when performing his song “Fire”. But that’s what happened. After posting this one a client and friend asked to buy it. I wouldn’t charge him since it was drawn on scrap paper and is very small.

6)   6) Bouquet

Back to Alice in Wonderland and John Tenniel. The original of this, with the shrunken Alice in the garden of the talking flowers is not one of my favourite Tenniel illustrations but it seemed to fit. Using the sepia pen on this one was maybe a mistake as well, it just doesn’t work so well as the black ink does, in my opinion.

7)   7) Trip

Cheat alert. Pushed for time I dd not make an original sketch, and instead used this one I made earlier in the year. It depicts some of my favourite places in the City of Edinburgh and is currently available in my Etsy shop. 

8) 8) Match

Inspired by the retirement of the great Roger Federer. I liked it when I first sketched it, since then though I’ve gone off it a bit. Verdict – could do a bit better.

9)   9) Nest

These are ospreys, whose numbers in the UK are slowly increasing. I tried to keep the nest as simple as possible, and I tend to think that it’s one of my more effective Inktober 2022 sketches.

1 10) Crabby

What can I tell you? There’s nothing much more crabby than a crab, by definition, is there? I just google-imaged crab and used what came up to make this sketch. And this is definitely one of my favourite of this year’s sketches, because the approach I took to shading here works very nicely, I think.

11  11) Eagle

Cheat zone 2. I used the copy of the Tenniel griffin sketch I made earlier in the year. I love the original, I think I made a good copy of it – I dunno what else to tell you.

    12) Forget

Now, I had to play a little bit of word association here. My original though was to go with forget-me-not, which I might have done. Then it went – Forget – Forgetfulness – Lethe, River of Forgetfulness. I found a Gustave Dore engraving of Beatrice (probably) dunking Dante in the river in the Divine Comedy (I love the work, but there are precious few laughs in it for a comedy). I copied just the detail you see here.

1  13) Kind

I really just wanted a statement about kindness in an unexpected space. This is why I went pretty simple with this one. I didn’t overburden it with visual detail, so that the message comes through the more strongly.

1 14) Empty

The least successful sketch so far in my opinion. I came up with the idea of a smashed and empty piggy bank, google-imaged and found a photo. I copied it as well as I could, but let’s be honest, it hasn’t come off very well, has it.

1     15) Armadillo

One of the prompts that probably needs the last amount of interpretation. Again, google-imaged a photo and sketched it to the best of my ability. It hasn’t quite come off as well as I would have liked – the shading on the top of the shell should have been done better, if my skills were up to it.

1    16) Fowl

I decided to go for game fowl, in particular, a pheasant. Did you know that pheasants can run faster than any other bird in the UK? Apparently, their top speed is not much slower than Usain Bolt’s. I remember one of the buggers running into the side of my car a few years ago.

There it is - the first 16. I did try Inktober about four years ago and fell short by a couple of days. Here's hoping that I can go all the way this time.