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

September and October Sketch a Day Faves

It's time to get all caught up with my sketch a day so I've decided to make a favourites post combining the last two months. Just didn't feel right to completely ignore those months and plus there are some pieces that I like from the small selection I did. If you would like to know why I haven't been drawing you can check out my last blog post. With that being said let's waste no more time and jump right in.

I probably don't need to explain why this is in my favourites. But what I will say is that I'm finally at the place where I don't just feel sadness looking at it. I think it could be one of my favourites of the year.

I conciously chose to draw this photograph because it felt like it was in line with the previous Aly and AJ portraits. Because of there composition and style they feel like a series to me. The reason I love drawing portraits is because as you are drawing them you get to see life come into them and even with the simplest expressions you can create underlying emotion. I wouldn't be as bold to say that I achieve this everytime but that's always the goal. Even though my style is in the realm of realistic I don't always see it as important to make the drawing identical to the reference but as long as I feel like I get the expression right I feel pleased with the work. And with this one I think I did.

For some reason everytime I get my hands on pastels I draw scenery with a hint of creepiness to it. I don't mean to. It just happens. I like how loose they feel and most of all I like the colours. I've got much improvement to do with pastels but I like how I've begun. When drawing with pastels I get the same sort of feeling I got when painting as a child in playgroup. Instead of being focus on the finished piece, I'm more invested in the experience of using them.

This canvas commission came at an ideal time. I was getting lazy and since this idea was presented to me all I needed to do was paint it on the canvas. No challenges, just a pleasure to paint! If you're interested in a commission, information is up on both the pricing list and the terms and conditions.  

If you haven't listened to the Hamilton soundtrack, I advise you do!! A rap/rnb musical about the rise and fall of American president Alexander Hamilton doesn't exactly make much sense on paper but to listen to it is a different story. I had to draw the amazing Lin-Manuel Miranda behind the show. He such a talented and admirable person. I was inspired to draw him after of course listening to the musical but also watching BethBeRad's Rad Portraits youtube series where she draws people she admires in different mediums. I used dipping pens and ink for this one. I like the cross hatching effect with the ink since it reminds me of the kind of portraits you find on the dollar bill.

These last two pieces where done with ink and waterbrush pens. Even though I used the wrong paper for both, the deer piece was a pleasant surprise since I had zero clues if it would turn into anything presentable but I really like the effect the brush strokes make. And the daschund piece just makes me smile. Such a happy looking dog it's hard not to. For about 20mins Steph and Dom from Googlebox followed me because of it. Such fleeting success. 

So the aim for the end of this month is to have a full selection of pieces to choose favourites from for the next favourites post. And as I said in my last post I'm going to get cracking on painting some Christmas decorations the minute bonfire night is out of the way! 

The penultimate month has begun!

Hazel, xoxo