Hello my loves and welcome back to my sketchbook.
A different sketchbook today!
This is the book I'll be doing my Inktober drawings in.
And here we are on Day 2.
I'm filming, editing and uploading this one today!
So, so far, I'm on track with this month-long challenge!
And we're continuing to try and keep up our regular drawing habit as normal, seeing what
we can do in our sketchbooks with an hour or less, but for the month of October, I'll
be using that time every day to see what I can do in ink!
Inktober of course, is the yearly art challenge created by the fantastic Jake Parker, where
artists- hobbyists, whoever you may be, we're all challenged to create a drawing every day
in ink.
Now as this challenge has become more popular and evolved, people really use it in a way
that suits them best, so some people work digitally, some people don't use ink at all
but rather challenge themselves to just do something different or to just draw every
day.
Some people don't draw every day.
Some people started drawing last month to give themselves a head start.
And I'm sure some people won't even have started yet.
There are rules, but there really aren't.
If you're challenging yourself and you're making art, you're doing it right as far as
I'm concerned.
That said, I am going the traditional route this year.
I plan on drawing every day, or thereabouts, I might have a couple of days where I do a
couple of drawings, in anticipation for days where I won't be able to do any.
I'm going to be using just this Bic biro here (other than the pencil sketches I do beforehand
and maybe a bit of shading with black pencil), and that's really it.
I'm working in this Hahnemeule sketchbook, the pages are about 5"x7" and I have a theme
that I'm working to, my own theme that I came up with about two days before the start of
the month.
I always like to work with a theme because it gives me a bit more momentum, idea-wise,
makes it easier to generate ideas for what I'll be drawing every day.
So my theme this year, is more of a title.
I though it wold be really fun to turn this little book into a bit of a guidebook.
I've been really into my indoor gardening recently, reading a lot about plants and tools
and all the other stuff that comes with it, so I thought it would be fun to combine that
with the spooky element of the month of October and make a book of 'Greenhouse Essentials
for Potion-Makers and Spell-Casters'.
So each drawing will be something that would be useful to use or grow in a supernatural
greenhouse.
I really like this idea.
It's just fun.
I had another idea going into the month that I'd prepped for, had an idea of each drawing
I'd do.. but it felt a bit too safe.
And on top of the usual challenge this year, as with every year, I wanted to use this month
as a way to work on another aspect of my art and my creative process.
And this time it's my imagination really, that I want to work on.
I want to be more creative, more of a story-teller, do something a bit more challenging for me
and invent things rather than draw things that already exist.
I'm scared, not gonna lie, because it's not something I've been great at in the past,
but I'm hopeful!
I think it'll be a really rewarding month for me if I can get through it, and hopefully
the start to something.
I also want to work on stylising my drawings a bit more, just working on my sketching in
general.
By learning how to make a simpler statement with my lines, which I sadly failed at with
this drawing you're watching now.
I really enjoyed my first drawing, it was near-enough spot-on for what I'd hoped for
style-wise and I just think it's a good drawing.
Today's drawing did turn out well, I don't dislike it- and I'm not being hard on myself,
so you don't have to tell me not to be- but I lost my way a bit, especially at the beginning,
it took me a while to remember what I was going for, a simpler, cleaner look.
Not perfect or minimal, just a bit more intentional.
Bit more refined.
That said, I think it's a good drawing, it goes well with the first one, and I'm hopeful
for the next to be as successful if not more-so.
This is a journey, I'm two-steps in, it's gonna take some time to really find my stride.
Now, I don't plan on filming these every day, I don't even plan on posting photos on Instagram
every day, despite trying to draw every day.
Just because, really.
I tried to think of a reason but honestly... just because!
I'll post pictures of them all, probably bundle them together every few days, so if you want
to see them, my Instagram is linked below.
But filming them...
I'm not sure if I'll film any more of these to be honest!
I'm trying to really pay attention when I'm drawing these, and that's hard to do when
I'm not moving my sketchbook as much as I normally would because I'm worried about whether
it's still in the frame or if it's moving around too much when I speed the footage up.
I want to be able to lean over and not worry about my head getting the way.
I don't know.
I love filming more casual, sketching videos, but this is a project I want to really put
100% into in terms of quality- striving for a finish I can really be proud of-, and that's
hard to do when 20% of me is focusing on filming.
We'll see.
Let me know if you guys have any thoughts or suggestions on that cos I'm open to hearing anything.
Speaking of hearing things, you probably can, but I really hope you can't hear my washing
machine on in the background. It's doing it' spin-cycle and I thought I'd be able
to get this voice-over done before it started, so I apologise for that!
I'm really excited for this month and the drawings I'll come out with.
I'm already loving the work that other people have been doing too, Instagram is such a joy
to scroll through every morning, just seeing all the different takes on this challenge,
and I'm really thrilled to be taking part for my third proper year in a row.
I just feel good about this, and I'm looking forward to immersing myself in it and getting
as much from it as I can.
I'd love to know how you guys are feeling about it all.
And hopefully I've answered any questions you might have had about my own Inktober plans
but do feel free to ask any more below.
The only other question I normally get is whether or not I'm using references, and this
time around I'm not using any references directly, since almost everything I'm drawing is made
up anyway, but I'll have a few pictures up to help me along the way, so for example today
I was pulling from maybe 4 different photos of mushrooms.
But yeah, that's all I've got to say about my Inktober and this Day 2 drawing.
I'm really looking forward to hearing from you all, finding out what you're up to.
I love the community aspect of this month, and the fact that it just seems to be growing
and growing.
Even if you're not taking part, it's fun to just make the most of all the fantastic ideas
and inspiration floating around.
So thank you so much for joining me today for this sketchbook session with a twist-
I hope you're feeling inspired to create a little something for yourselves too.
And I'll see you next week for the next one, bye!