Inktober 2017 - done and dusted!

Favourites of the month

I did it! I actually managed to do all 31 ink drawings in the space of 31 days. I'm chuffed to bits to say the least. My decision to take part in inktober this year felt like all good decisions I've made in the past, where I don't think too much but instead just go with an instinctual feeling of I'm doing this. It's like my brain actively decides right then and there, not allowing myself time to back out or overthink - no wiggle room. It's a rare occurence since I'm of the over thinking variety, so when it does happen I'm genuinely taken aback.

At the beginning of October I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to finish inktober. My determination only waned in the middle of the month, when I was questioning whether I liked what I was making, and on the last day where due to scheduling I had to fit 3 drawings in the space of three hours. But when your that close to finish line, you're not going to let 3 small drawings stand in your way. I didn't even manage to do 31 drawings in a month in the whole of my sketch a day 2016, let alone inktober 2016 but yet something came over me this year. I put that down to last year being like a training/practice period, so I knew that I could manage an isolated month. It's not as daunting as a year.

Even though I didn't do much thinking beforehand, what I did allow myself to think about was using the prompt lists avaliable, such as the official list and mossery's (which in the end I didn't end up using). I also wrote some notes of possible ideas I could do if I couldn't think up something on the day and put together a sort of toolkit of Faber-Castell Pitt Artist pens, Winsor and Newton Promarkers, Liquid Indian ink with waterbrush pens and a trusty white gel pen. I didn't pressure myself to go crazy with coloured ink and most of the time I limited my colour palette, with a few expections. The nice thing about inktober is that it is the one time of year the monochrome palette is in full swing and in my opinion is easier to make look good.  

Last year's effort

In regards to self improvement, I didn't set myself any goals within the month, such as to improve on particular techniques, but I did find myself leaning towards cross hatching and really enjoyed experimenting with my waterbrush pens and masking tape. So that in itself was an unintentional improvement. And compared to last year's ink pieces I think you can see my progression in how I use ink.

The best part of Inktober is the community feeling of it all. I really enjoyed going through all the hashtags and seeing what everyone was coming up with and how different people would interpret the prompts if they where using them. However I had to make the conscious choice to only look at other people's work for a limited time and after doing my drawing for the day. Otherwise my ideas would just be clouded with drawings I had already seen. 

Here is a list of some of the artists I enjoyed following this month.

• @tingxart - I love ting's gouache work so when inktober came round and I began to see the ink pieces, I was blown away by the creativity. I especially love the original comic pages from the start of the month
• @uniquelab - I love the line work and the choice of coloured ink, the orange pieces being some faves of mine. Beautiful portraiture!
• @Oxanaviktorova - I really enjoy the square format and composition of the work. Plus all the pieces have a flow to them, if that makes any sense. In a way it feels like she's telling a story even when the pieces are related.
• @davidkohlver - his illustration style is so on point and the scary movie theme was so enjoyable to see on my feed everyday. 
• @myang18 - Madison Yang's style is so pretty. She makes everyday settings look so much more pleasing to the eye with her choice of colour. 
• @pentasticarts - I would describe joseph catimbang's inktober pieces as small but beautiful. Creativity in spades and I really loved how he interpreted the prompts.  
• @tania_samoshkina_art - the yellow and black theme made me so happy and the pieces where so fun to look at everyday!
• @leighellexson - her theme was cats and she used pink ink. Need I say more! 
• @sibylline_m - in love with everything she makes. 
• Minnie smalls on youtube - really felt she was coaching me through the whole month. Her theme of the month was houses and what haunts them!

All worth checking out!

I think that pretty much covers it all! It's been a fun inktober and I'll definitely continue working with ink but it might be a while until you see another drawing. Going to give myself a couple days break! Until next time! 

Hazel, xoxo

Weepah Way For Now Experience

My closest friends know that I used to be a hardcore Aly and AJ fan back in the day and if I'm honest with myself, I still am. So when I heard that their independent movie, Weepah Way For Now, that is loosely based on their lives, was coming to the Glasgow Film Festival I jumped at the chance to see it.

My overall thoughts of the movie was that it was surprisingly hilarious but on a note more relevant to this blog, just gorgeous to look at. The director Stephen Pierce Ringer is a talented photographer and directed both Leighton Meester's Heartstrings music video and Aly and AJ's (formerly 78Violet) Hothouse music video so I knew before seeing the film that I was going to love its look.

He did not disappoint. It has a dreamy, warm glow to it that just makes me want to paint and draw every scene. So as part of my sketch a day naturally I did a sketch to mark the occasion and thought nothing much of it once I uploaded it. 

Soon after uploading AJ commented on my post complimenting the drawing and as if it couldn't have got any better uploaded the picture to her Instagram account. As you can imagine I was freaking out! It's always nice to see your work recognised especially by people you admire yourself. Chances are this probably won't happen anytime soon again so I'm just going to bask in this glory and excitement in the meantime.