Can you believe it's October already?
Anyway, today I'm gonna be drawing my very first Inktober piece.
For ink, I'm going to be using the rest of my
Dr Ph Martin Bombay India ink in the color black.
This ink is not as full as it once was.
So as a refill,
I bought this lifetime supply of Speedball ink.
I bought it on Amazon
[Mouth pop]
It came with a free leak, but it's fine.
I fixed it. Everything's good
I'm going to be drawing everything on this Bristol board
because I literally just googled,
"What paper should I use my inks on?"
and it was all like Bristol!
So I thought I'd give it a shot.
Last year, I did all my Inktober drawings in my illo sketchbook,
which worked, you know, surprisingly well,
but sketchbooks are meant for sketching
and they're a little cumbersome
and it's not that easy to like move them around
and when you're inking,
I think it helps a lot if you can move your paper.
I thought I'd try something different this year.
Let's do it. Day one. Let's get inking.
♪
So day one kind of carries a lot of weight, you know,
you've got that excitement that you're like
Oh, I have this huge journey ahead of me,
but also, you're worried that if you mess up the first one,
all the rest of your drawings are gonna just be equally
I tried a couple different things.
This first idea. I don't know. I wasn't a hundred percent
Again. This is day one.
I want it to be great!
So then I tried another idea,
but then this one just didn't fill the page.
I was using a very large piece of paper.
I usually draw a lot smaller,
I really like to work in like an A5 size.
This obviously is 9x12, (which is a lot bigger.)
I just wasn't taking advantage of that space
and it just made me feel kind of guilty.
So then we started the third sketch. [Laughs]
Don't be afraid to try multiple times.
Everybody does it.
This time, I decided to sit the character down,
if that makes any sense
because it would fill the page more horizontally,
even though it's obviously in portrait
and you'll also notice that I'm being extremely sketchy with it
Like I'm using circles for kneecaps and lines for legs
There's no need to add detail until you're very sure
that this is the route you want to take,
which is also a mistake I made with the first two.
I think I put a little bit too much detail into the face.
I redo the face multiple times in this new one,
until I get the one that I like the best and
I'm actually really happy with what I decided to go with
and I'm glad I didn't just settle with first.
As cute and happy as this character looks,
It didn't have the expression that I was looking for for this drawing
and this is the point where I fell in love with this drawing.
The curly hair.
I feel like I fall into a rut when it comes to hair
I end up drawing the exact same hairstyle
on every single character. [Laughs] All the time and
it occurred to me that I haven't drawn curly hair in a while
and the reason for that is because I kind of avoid it,
it makes me nervous.
I like to simplify hair into blocky shapes
and with curly hair,
I feel like it requires a lot more lines to make it look like
curly hair.
I decided not to keep putting it off.
I tried to break it down into simpler shapes.
it didn't need to be super complicated
and this is especially important for me in the sketching process
because illustrations are complicated,
sketches don't have to be.
Start simple and build from there.
Lately, most of my inspiration
has been coming from watching like fashion youtubers
and like just scrolling through Pinterest on outfits that
are "in style."
I thought I can just draw characters in all these outfits
that I want, right? [Laughs]
It might be obvious but I've been drawing
a lot of characters just because of the outfit.
The outfits is what inspired me
and I kind of just draw a bland character in them.
So that they don't distract too much from the outfit.
This outfit is supposed to be like a corduroy fitted dress.
button placket down the front and a little slit at the hip
and spaghetti straps. [Laughs, deep inhale]
I really want this outfit.
I want it in either like a burgundy
or like a deep SAP green in corduroy
[Sighs deeply]
It's fall! [Laughs]
This year is the first year that -
Oh, this is becoming just a fashion vlog. [Giggles]
This year is like the first year
that I've been experimenting with pastels.
I've always been like a navy, black, charcoal gray
kind of girl. a Actually last year I experimented.
This year I was like comfortable in the pastels.
But also I'm just feeling like I need to come home
to my dark colors.
So I'm excited for fall [Laughs]
and while I was falling in love with most of the sketch,
It made me realize the face just didn't really fit the mood
I was going for, so I erased the heck out of that thing
and we began drawing my second attempt at a face.
This time I turned the head a little bit to the left,
made it a little bit less forceful.
The first one was like looking directly at you,
and it was just like full face.
So I turned the head a little bit
so you can see the actual shape of her face.
I decided to give her a little bit of a turtleneck
that was like a half sleeve.
Is that what you call that?
I actually have no idea.
It's not a long sleeve. It's not 3/4. It's not a short sleeve,
it's like a...
Half sleeve
and at this point,
I kept bringing the shoulders higher and higher up
and it was giving off this really cute kind of like
innocent playful pose
But the way the head was looking didn't really fit that.
It was just like she's just looking that way
and her shoulders are scrunched up
That's just bad posture.
I decided to draw the third face third time is the charm,
isn't it?
I took the head
and I turned it down and under one of the shoulders
So she's kind of like baring her chin in her shoulder
and doing a little giggle.
And oh, I love it so much more.
I think she just looks adorable!
Then this point,
it's not like only filling up one stripe of the page,
But there's still a lot of space on either side
of this character like it doesn't fit a shape.
So I decided adding in these - [Laughs]
I don't know
I've seen other artists do this and it looks cool.
I started adding in these like leaves around her
I don't - I don't know. [Laughs]
So I went back and started working on the hair again
And I also added a necklace and gave her some accessories
like glasses on her head
and filled in the whole right side of the character
with some more of these like abstract, organic shapes.
One of them's a flower.
Can you tell which one?
I really liked the composition,
I wasn't 100% with the idea just because
it was a little bit more abstract than I usually go for.
I was really excited about the direction this sketch was going.
I was very happy with all the changes I had made.
So I just had to add in some final details to some of the areas
like the hands and the boots
because before I start adding in the ink,
I want to make sure I know exactly where I want to put the ink
Ink isn't necessarily the time I would suggest
that you take chances.
That's for when you have a pencil in your hand.
A few finishing touches
just to make sure it looked exactly the way I wanted it to.
Then I took my kneaded eraser,
This is Beluga
and I erased everything but not completely.
I made sure I left it a little bit visible.
So that I could obviously put ink where I wanted it.
I started in the top-left corner of the page,
that way I would have space to put my hand
without rubbing it in the wet ink.
This won't work a hundred percent of the time because
some shapes are a little bit more difficult to get
without turning the page, but it's a pretty good place to start.
So for this illustration the top left obviously was the hair,
which was pretty good because this was the part
I was very nervous about because
I wasn't sure if I could draw it
and actually make it look good. [Laughs]
I was nervous I was gonna mess it up
like I usually do with curly hair.
So by starting with this
and having it actually turn out pretty good,
I had this like confidence and then [Laughs]
I was like if that's the part I was worried about destroying
I can do anything!
[Deep inhale, sigh, laughs]
I want to just draw a little bit of attention to this necklace
I'm drawing.
I think it's a little inspired by like Luna Lovegood.
Then I also give her round glasses.
Like this was all subconscious,
I'm just trying as like an art historian
to understand my own illustration.
I don't know, it just gives me Luna Lovegood vibes,
but she's wearing the Harry Potter glasses.
This is not meant to be some kind of strange fan fiction.
Like it's Luna and Harry's child or something.
I don't ship that. [Laughs]
Just want to put that out there because it looks like I do.
This was just a spur-of-the-moment creativity,
letting my brain spew onto the paper.
Maybe my brain ships them, but I don't.
It's probably not that big a deal because
the necklace kind of gets hidden
when we start adding in color
and by color I mean different shades of black. [Giggles]
So the point of Inktober is to practice using inks
and to practice line work.
Which honestly I probably need. It's not my favorite step,
so I kind of like try to skip over it
and take shortcuts when I can.
So actually sitting down
and trying to ink this meaningfully and purposefully,
was very good for me.
I definitely found myself taking some shortcuts,
but for the most part, I wasn't thinking about,
"Oh what colors am I going to use?"
"Ooh, what else do I need to do with this drawing?"
because it's all about inking.
So I was thinking about tones
and I was thinking about contrast
and this is all part of the inking process
because there is no next step, you know.
So I made the lines thicker and bolder
where like there might be less light
or more shadows being cast and thin lines
where the lines aren't necessarily as important
and thicker lines where they are
and I almost got to the point where I forgot
that I don't really enjoy doing this. [Laughs]
Obviously, I would rather ink a drawing
than like go back to school for accounting or something.
I'm just saying, in the whole scale of art,
which is something I love and adore, it's not my favorite
because I'm very enthusiastic so when I don't like something
I like enthusiastically don't like it, but I don't hate it
Okay? [Laughs, deep inhale]
And if I say, I hate it,
I just mean in comparison to like
how sketching makes me feel.
once most of the ink was done on the character,
It was time to decide what I wanted to do.
I'm calling it the background.
You know how I said
"inking is not the time for experimenting."
Well, I threw that out the window today,
so don't listen to me.
[Tsss] I'm a hypocrite.
basically, I was like
I don't really like the sketch I have
so I'm just gonna start drawing in some twigs,
With a few random leaves
because I feel like that's more Fall themed
and Inktober, Fall, they go together.
They're like two peas in a pod.
So I just started adding in these things with no sketch.
[Nervous laugh]
I'm still like taken aback that I did this because
I was really happy with the way the sketch was looking
and to bet it all
on hoping this background doesn't look like poop?
That's so not like me.
I guess it's that confidence I was talking about earlier.
When the hair turned out good,
I got some confidence that I don't usually see,
so going in and doing this felt like nothing to me.
It was like
I can do it! [Laughs]
Which I wish that feeling on everyone. It's very rare,
so I'm glad I was able to take advantage of it I guess
but it wasn't all sunshine and roses
Um, you know how I said
"start top left so you don't put your hand in the wet ink."
Well...
[Sad music]
As Hannah Montana would say,
"Everybody makes mistakes."
Okay, so I think it adds a little charm to the piece.
[Deep inhale]
That might be my confidence speaking.
It looks pretty stupid. [Laughs]
Anyway, finished up my twigs, my random leaves,
then I decided to add in some leaves that were like falling
or had fallen to signify the coming of Fall.
Me trying to bring meaning to a random illustration
of a random girl.
That's not Luna and Harry's kid.
So, with that I was just about done with the ink.
So I signed it.
Waited did like four hours
because I want to make sure it was completely dry.
There was some heavier spots.
Anywhere you see here on the line art,
that's like a larger section of black
is like a thicker, wetter section of black.
Which means I have to wait longer for it to dry
and I love having those effects so it's worth it.
With a little editing magic,
It's fully erased and dried!
WOO!
I was so excited for inktober
and I've been wanting one of these for forever.
I bought this little flower shaped ink dish,
you can use for like watercolors or paints or anything
and like I'm always looking for a palette like this,
So I finally bought it because I thought it looked so cool
with like little layers of black ink in it.
[URGH]
I love that ink looks when you drop it in the water.
[Squeals]
I started did with what I thought would be like a nice light
Mid-tone and I colored in the tights
and it started a little too light.
So, I darkened it up a little bit
but I end up darkening up even more later on.
This is my first time ever like pre-mixing ink washes.
So it was definitely an experimental route
And so I moved over to like the darker color
and started coloring in the boots,
then I moved back to that light color and
Colored in her back leg
and I left a little too much water on my brush,
which caused some pretty interesting textures on her legs.
Which I think actually kind of helps it look like tights
because it looks like there's maybe some parts that are thinning
and I don't know it's just a fun texture
and actually play off that later on.
Then for the dress, to add contrast,
I wanted it to be darker than the tights.
So I went in and colored that in, gave it a simple wash.
Again, this time I think I added a little too much water.
I didn't dry the brush quite enough.
Yeah, just some things I'm learning
and trying to like make a mental note to myself.
[Laughs]
But anyway I ended up darkening up the dress a lot more,
which I'm very happy that I did.
Because I had diluted the ink,
it was drawing a lot faster than the line work was.
So I felt comfortable enough just coloring in
some of the things on the right side
like some of those twigs.
I just love the way the ink dries.
It gives this really fun texture,
but like when it's wet, it looks a little messy,
like you have no idea what you're doing
Which I don't but when it dries,
it looks so much more purposeful.
I love it.
While that was drying,
I turned the page
and started coloring in on the other side
and I also began coloring in the hair.
Now, I saw in my mind
the hair being like the darkest section,
maybe at least either darker or as dark as her boots.
So I started coloring that in. It was very nerve-wracking.
because it was just so dark and pigmented
but as it dried, it lightened.
So I ended up actually putting another layer
on top of that to make it even darker.
So, I don't know what I was worried about. [Laughs]
and then I wanted to experiment with textures, not just tones,
so I added stripes to her little like turtleneck...
Half sleeve [Laughs]
And then this is when the necklace kind of gets lost.
So maybe in the future, if I had drawn this,
I'd make the necklace even more of a statement necklace,
like huge because right now just gets swallowed up
by the rest of the illustration.
When I was drawing it,
I wanted it to kind of be like one of those character items
that gave the character more personality,
but obviously it just got lost
and then this part was really fun,
adding in the lines on her arm
because you curve them around the arm I don't know.
Stripes [Laughs]
Adding the stripes around her arm because
you get to curve them around the arm,
and then the shoulder, I don't know, I really had fun with that.
Then I took another dark tone
and started adding in some details,
like I colored in the laces on her little boots.
And then I also added a little bit of shading to her dress
'Cause it was flat and I love that flat look,
don't get me wrong, I love line work and flat colors,
but I thought a little bit of shading would go a long way
because she is supposed to be leaning forward a little bit
and I think I dropped the ball on that one with the sketch.
She's sat up very straight.
So I'm just gonna add just some wrinkles.
Just give the character a little bit more weight
and expression in motion to it
and then the moment I had been putting off
because I was very excited about it
But I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to go about it,
adding in the face blushies and colors and everything
Adding blush and little nose blush to characters
is like - I don't know, once I do that,
I'm just like, okay. I love them. It's done.
[Laughs]
So just because I was using ink that was no exception.
I started very simple
just by adding a little bit of tone on the eyes and the lips
and the cool thing about inks, these inks at least,
I think some don't do this, but
When they dry, you can't lift them again,
which means you can add another layer on top
and whenever I use watercolor,
one of my biggest problems
is that the watercolor will lift when I don't want it to
and I almost never want it to lift so.
So maybe I should stop trying with watercolor
and spend more time with inks.
I think these commentaries
and like talking through my process,
really helps me make decisions about life.
So anyway, after I let the face dry a little bit more,
I went in and started adding in blush.
I started very, very light. Being very soft with the strokes
and letting it blend outwards
so that there wasn't like a harsh circle for the cheeks.
I like it to be very soft and squish-able. [Laughs]
And I just slowly layered that up
until it was about as dark as I wanted.
It looked all right, the first one but nah, we can do better.
Then I took that same color
and added more shading to the rest of the body.
I think it just gives it a more 3D effect.
Not something I usually go for
but it was really really fun in the circumstances
and then my final step, [Laughs]
The same final step I use for just about any illustration,
in any medium. Is to take a white gel pen,
this one is the Sakura Decorese,
it's actually my personal fave, currently.
This thing was dried out at one point,
but now it's like good as new again.
It just took a little TLC [Huh]
But I just add little highlights here and there,
making different elements pop that I want to.
My personal favorite thing that I made pop. [Laughs]
If that is it.
But I added in strokes and like hair strands
all around the hair and it gave it -
Pardon the Harry Potter references,
but it gave it a bit of a Bellatrix Lestrange vibe.
Which I also love.
I'm quite happy with that decision. [Laughs]
You see how now after we're adding in the white,
it kind of just fixes some of the mistakes
with the contrast that I had before
like around the boots and the glasses and things like that
and then I couldn't help myself,
I added some contrasting stitching to the dress.
[Laughs]
You know, just making some more things pop because
when everything's gray-scale,
I feel like every little element shows through a little bit more.
So it's really fun to play with that.
Anyway, here's my first drawing of inktober 2019.
I don't really have plans to draw every single day for 2019.
I'll try.
So if you want to see how much I'm gonna keep up with that,
go check my Instagram.
I'll have it linked in the description.
That's where I'll be posting, if I can.
I had this huge grand scheme
for what I wanted Inktober to be this year
and I like started planning it over a month ago, but
Life got in the way
and I do not have time to tackle what I wanted to.
After creating this illustration, I just want to do more!
So I'm gonna have to try and find time to do a couple a week,
would be my goal, maybe one a day.
We'll see, maybe if I do them small, I could do one a day.
We'll find out. [Laughs]
Anyway, let me know if you'd like to see more inktober videos.
(I'm probably gonna do more Inktober videos)
Thank you guys for watching.
I'll see you guys all next week.
And I hope you have a delicious Inktober full of waffles.
BYE!
♪