Inktober 2019

Inktober (according to me) - I paint with ink, 30-60 min a day, every day for a month.

The 2019 Inktober went ok, although the month was much more hectic than my usual October, as I was starting a new job. I was going to scan and post them then, but the drawings got lost somewhere in my drawing pile and I only found them while cleaning up in May 2020. My thanks goes to Astrid for letting me use her scanner, as I didn't have one at the moment.

Ink wasn't my favorite medium during the year, I was learning digital painting at the same time, so during the first week I got bored of ink and started using watercolors and gauche with black ink. As I was working with kids at the time, I was experimenting with styles and ideas for children's books, so the themes and styles are much more lighthearted and childish than the last year. It was a good experience and I hope you enjoy looking over them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Loose brush, tight lines, loose lines, dabs, dry brush, wet, wetter, dry, just lines....and that's about the moment I got very bored of ink and wanted to see what I could add with colors. I started slow and then it spiraled out of control. 

Keep in mind, I had tons of drawings and paintings in between these daily drawings, as well as kids' feedback on the characters and style.

And then I got my hands on some art books in a second hand shop, first some Goya, then some Bruegel... at this moment I was telling myself, as long as the base drawing is in ink as well as all dark areas, it's still Inktober for me (nervous laughter).

And then I got bored of classical art, again. The rest of the month I was trying out some ideas I've had for a long time, like the Minotaur and some other mythological themes as well as a portrait of a hamster I adopted, and slowing down on color on paper as I was getting ready to do a different exercise the next month.

By far of the four Inktobers by now, this was my least planned out and most experimental while keeping illustration as an end goal. I feel 2020, with its crazy ride till now will surely give a hectic schedule and fun themes to play with next October. Cheers

Inktober 2018

Inktober (2018) is to make one artwork a day with ink, every day during October. This year I did a month themed around illustrating skeletons, death and dance macabre.

I had simple rules, it had to be done in black ink without an under-drawing of any sorts, on the same paper and take 10-30 min max per drawing, although this doesn't mean I didn't scrap and produce half a month's worth of crumbled paper balls that flew around the room. The time constraint is the result of me being busy during the month, but it also allowed me to work faster and more freely than last year, to concentrate on the brush stroke rather than likeness, to simply play with ink.

I love ink, please enjoy my work.

Materials: India ink, brushes, water, paper A3 120 g/m².