I’ve skipped doing the Inktober drawing exercises the last couple of years. But I decided to get back into it this year. Part of it was that I’ve just been wanting to do artwork of any sort, but hadn’t applied myself to it.
Although there is usually an “official Prompt List” for Inktober, in the past I’ve ignored it. But this year, I thought it would be interesting to answer that challenge. I was planning to try some abstract type pieces in any case, so the possibility of seeing what I would do for some of the prompts intrigued me.
In addition to those plans, I also decided to do this year’s drawing on paper plates. Now, that choice was partly guided by budget: getting a fresh pad of drawing paper would cost a bit. But also, the appeal of a drawing surface that was something other than a rectangle snagged me. So I bought a package of paper plates. I quickly discovered that the front side of the plates was too slick to take the ink, so I’m doing the drawings on the back side.
Inktober #1 – “Ring”
Mostly I focused on roundness for this one, as if I were stuck halfway between sound and shape.
It turned out very abstract, at least in my mind. But I like the composition.
Inktober #2 – “Mindless”
The prompt for Day 2, was “Mindless.” The question was whether I was going to take that as being “without brain,” or an inanimate object, or just being without focus. I decided to opt for the third concept there.
The effect of using a round “work space” for this one was that the profile could possibly face any direction. She could be looking up, or down, or to the left… (or upside down looking to the right). But I wanted her to be looking up. The wandering thoughts drift downward from her brain (referenced by the small cap of brain-folds).
Inktober #3 – “Bait”
The “Bait” prompt nudged me toward a more representational drawing. But I still didn’t want to go the total distance down that path. Rather than draw a realistic fish zeroing in on the bait dropped into the space, I went for swarms of “fish-shapes” circling in on the worm. I was amused that the fish-shapes ended up looking like a bunch of Pepperidge Farms Goldfish set loose.
This turned out rather whimsical. I’m content with that.
Inktober #4 – “Freeze”
Too many winters in my youth (in Michigan) included hands feeling frozen, for various reasons (forgotten gloves, mittens that had gotten damp and then frozen again, going bare-handed). So the prompt “freeze” made me think of hands.
So that’s the beginning of the 2019 Inktober. I mean to try to keep up with the daily exercise, but I’ll probably post the pieces here every few days instead of every day.
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