inktober 2017
this was my first inktober, done in 2017. for the second one dated 2019 click here
about inktober
I became aware of inktober in September 2017 through instagram.
It is the brainchild of one Jake Parker and you can read all about it here.
It was a discipline thing – much easier to jump to the whip if someone else is cracking it. I decided to weave all the prompts together to illustrate a single story. I believed it would do me good. It did.
I followed the official prompt list – lots of people seem to make a thing of not doing so, but in my not-very-humble-opinion unless you are a true genius-fine-artist-crazy-guy it kinda misses the point.
01 - swift
02 - divided
03 - poison
What? Plot twist already, and we’re only on day three!
But can you trust a monkey?
04 - under-water
. . . Well, that seems to have worked out ok then.
A small boat rows away from the ship while sharks circle and a hermit crab inspects a new addition to the sea floor.
05 - long
Tum ti tum . . . . . !
I used a cartoon format to show the passage of time.
The rain frame was a direct homage-ripoff-plagiarism of a contemporary instagram post by Skottie Young.
06 - sword
Well: What-in-heck-is-that and where-did-it-come-from-so-sudden?
07 - shy
Well he seems to have survived. But out of the frying pan and into . . .
08 - crooked
In which she reveals to her new found friend the product of her practical skills and he practices the gentle art of diplomacy . . .
09 - screech
I captioned this:
Thank you @jakeparker for this brutal discipline – scares the stuffing out of me every day. Yesterday the idea of drawing a startled parrot would have been way outside my comfort zone, and today I have not the faintest idea what he has just seen, but I can guess it must be Gigantic . . . The adventure continues
10 - gigantic
Simple drawing today cos I’m worn out and falling asleep. . . . Dragon with four wings and four eyes cuz why the heck not?
11 - run
Sometimes it’s just a no-brainer. You gotta be like can’t chat right now – gotta grab the monkey and dash – gotta dragon on our tail.
12 - shattered
Now I know what’s going on here cos I wrote the story – but my missus says it’s a bit obscure. So . . . this is the same scene as day 11 but from a different angle and the “shattered” component of today’s relates back to day 8 (crooked) while that treasure chest on the left made previous appearances on days 5 and 7. . . . and (spoiler alert) it will appear again if this month doesn’t kill me first. All clear now? . .
13 - teeming
All safe and cosy then . . The adventure takes a comfort break.
14 - fierce
Meanwhile. . . You know, some poisons don’t actually kill people they just make them sick. Then later they recover just nastier than ever and you wish that your monkey had done the job properly in the first place. The people in this picture want their treasure back and they propose to use force if necessary.
15 - myster-ious
Was going to be an outline only but couldn’t resist the temptation to experiment with light from the glowing ball. So this is a scribblepic.
No mystery in the use of standard fugitive-location fifth generation balltech with “superglow” gui (TM) The mystery is why someone with all that power can’t control nosehair and facial warts. Maybe she doesn’t want to.
Anyway this service doesn’t come cheap, sir. .
16 - fat
Fat the cat and Slim the toad look on with bemusement as the client pays for the “Fugitive Location” service. Why ever did he not request the much cheaper “Lost Treasure Location” service?
17 - graceful
Salty Seaspray. Sailing looks so graceful. Haha. I have to giggle cos I just thought about what’s gonna happen next to these guys . . . Or maybe it won’t. Wingin’ it y’know? Soppy airbrish colours anyway.
18 - filthy
Oh dear. Two days behind schedule now and total creative block. What shall I draw for “filthy”? I wondered – the galley in the ship? The dragon’s lair? The witch’s fingernails? No says Tania – draw a one eyed minion in a jacuzzi. . . . Please forgive me. Really I have no idea what’s going on in this picture – I only drew it, Ok?
19 - cloud
The lesson here is <Don’t pay navigator witch’s fees with glass diamonds and fool’s gold> If you do, it will end in tears and most likely fire and brimstone too.
And the new fact for today is <Yes dragons DO leave smoke trails> I don’t know the exact physics but here’s the proof.
20 - deep
Fortunately, he was possessed of a deep singing voice and a long repertoire to save his companion from boredom during the long lonely evenings. This voice was somewhere between a rich baritone and a full bass.
Unfortunately it was neither one nor the other.
Fortunately his attraction for her had nothing whatsoever to do with song recital.
21 - furious
Babe, just let it go. You know it was only one fee and you already did the dragon thing.
22 - trail
I have done pushing cart along forest trail and dragon leaving smoketrail already in this series. So I took trail to meant “hunt” for this one. .
Don’t you love that bit in the story when the dippy blonde starts to kill cute furry animals? And that cliché about the hunter being the hunted? .
No? Oh well. . . . a girl’s got to eat
23 - juicy
Actually you don’t get much juice out of a toad, however fat the toad and however hard you wring it. .
This is a flashback to how she procured one of the essential ingredients for the spell that precipitated the event illustrated on day 19. It’s a good job this is a flashback too because if I were to show you what she’s doing now you’d find it rather disturbing. .
By the way no toads were harmed here. They say that toads really rather enjoy this ritual. The same can’t be said of the pirates
24 - blind
As the servitor brought a cup of warm milk to Commander g’Larr*gh on the starship bridge, the Commander took relief from a difficult week in pondering his collection of soft furnishings. The window blinds gave him special joy as he remembered a joke his daughter had told him once. .
25 - ship
She experienced a moment of irrational fear as she thought she heard a twig snap in the forest behind her, but she was brave. What could possibly go wrong, now she had Mr Midshipman to protect her?
..
Incidentally, no dragons were harmed here. Commander g’Larr*gh had set his weapon to “stun”, wishing only to collect enough dragon tummy button fluff to refill one of his favourite cushions. ..
Same can’t be said of the rabbit. ..
26 - squeak
Heres a Pulp Fiction light effect moment I have been looking forward to all month. – –
erm Sqeak could be the hinges or squeals of joy, or a random mouse just out of shot.
I was going to have our hero holding an oil can, but it seemed to raise two many questions so I let him get his rocks off after his rabbit supper and an evening of lock picking.
27 - climb
A before-work quickie cos I gotta do three today and two tomorrow to catch up.
Life on the island wasn’t all song and dance and scoffing rabbit pie – there was “climbing trees and waving at passing ships” to be done and such tasks don’t do themselves. –
28 - fall
She was so so lucky to have such a strong and talented companion to look after her and to wave his shirt at passing ships (whatever that was all about) – lucky too that she had honed her “catching falling people” and “the fireman’s lift” skillsets.
29 - united
This is really quick stuff for me cos I’m gonna finish late but gotta finish within two days before I fly to be with @the.travelling.twins in Bangkok this weekend.
30 - found
Rescued by His Majesty’s Fleet hurrah. Proud to deliver the treasure back to the crown (and looking forward to a just reward) Careful with that chest my jolly boys . . Farewell my dear – so happy to have been able to add a little cheer to your miserable existence.
31 - mask
A token of His Majesty’s gratitude in acknowlegement of our hero’s part in the recovery of the treasure. . . . She pondered a while, reaching out to scratch Fluffy’s chin with her toenail. He never gave her the chance to tell him about this lovely place. He always seemed to be so busy. No time to ask or to listen. Anyway. Life goes on . .
The Mask was there on day 2 – I stuck it in at that time with some vague idea of continuity in mind.
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inktober 2017
I became aware of inktober in September 2017 through instagram.
It is the brainchild of one Jake Parker and you can read all about it here.
It was a discipline thing – much easier to jump to the whip if someone else is cracking it. I decided to weave all the prompts together to illustrate a single story. I believed it would do me good. It did.
I followed the official prompt list – lots of people seem to make a thing of not doing so, but in my not-very-humble-opinion, unless you are a true genius-fine artist-crazy guy it kinda misses the point.
