Inktober 22 Through 25

I'm entering the final days of #Inktober.  I was thinking the other day that I'd be sad to see it go, when I reminded myself that I can keep drawing with just ink as long as I want!

Yay for sketchbooks and art!

Scribble #22 was a heck of a lot harder than I thought it would be when I said to myself, "hey, why not try drawing a chip clip?"  But I confess to feeling pride in this sketch.  I paid super close attention to the highlights on the plastic and I think that helped me capture the shape so it didn't just get lost in the single color.

And here's another example of the spiritual benefits of sketching:  I really was impressed with the chip clip's design.  I still am.  I have a bunch of these things around the house, but seriously, I had never looked at one up close and person to see how it worked.  I'm amazed that people figure this stuff out.  I don't have that kind of brain.

After the chip clip, drawing some quick portraits seemed easy!  Scribble #23 depicts some of my artist friends.

Some of my artist friends at an ink blot.  I was using a new dip pen and some new slick paper.  And I had more than one blot throughout the day.

The next day, for scribble #24, I used the same ink pen and ink on the same thin slick paper, but I wet the whole thing down with clear water first.  I just wanted to see what would happen, you know?

Frankly, what happened was kind of cool.  I had very little control over which way the ink actually went, what blotted and where.  But it made a fun, energetic picture of the woods behind my house.

For Inktober special #25, I decided to try drawing a short comic.  It depicts a colleague who occasionally comes to the Open Studio I'm a part of.  And am always so grateful for.  

You actually read it top to bottom, left to right, though it works both ways.

Anyhow, she was discouraged about some of her sketching attempts and actually said these things.  

Happily, though the comic ends there the story does not!  She brought her concerns to the table and met with tons of encouragement and empathy and shared stories!  Then we threw some basic art supplies at her, with some non-scary drawing ideas, and before we split for the day, she had completed a lovely abstract, her first watercolor, and had experienced a waterbrush pen for the first time.

This is why you come to a table.  This is a sort of communion, a feeding of each other.

I'm pleased with the comic, which I did in dip pen and got all kinds of blots all over because it captured an important moment for her as an artist that turned out better than it might have.

We must encourage each other all the time.