Inktober 2018: Week 1 recap
The first week of Inktober is finished. A quick recap of my first attempts and some thoughts.
“What are your disciplines?”
Tony Zhou’s fantastic series Every Frame A Painting did an episode on legendary animator Chuck Jones. One of the things discussed was that Jones was well-known for things he didn’t do – his disciplines, the challenges and restrictions you set for yourself.
While Jones was speaking of his animation and storytelling process as a whole, he does say that it’s a vital factor in drawing. And given that digital inking can make you lazy (creating art digitally is very forgiving), I decided that I’d set a couple of limitations to try and push myself a little:
- Two layers only – a pencil layer and an ink layer.
- No undo. Eraser? Sure – but no undo.
I justified number two to myself by remembering that when I was still doing traditional art, inking involved a lot of white ink, gelly rolls, and white out. And physically having to erase lines and areas does create a very different feeling, a tension, that gives the lines more importance. When I erase something, I am very conciously aware that I made a mistake and need to correct it. Just tapping undo saps all of that way – since things can re-done so easily, there is much less of a emphasis on being accurate.
Day 2: Tranquil
My first thought was to do serene landscape, but then I remembered a hate drawing landscapes. So a monk meditating, while a little boring, would be a lot more fun do draw. The drawing is also one of the most fantasical things I’ve ever done: it would be impossible to meditate with a kitty clawing it’s way up your back. I’m relatively satisfied with this, although if I had to do it again, probably use some lighter lines.
Day 4: Spell
I hate this. There are so many things wrong with it (the least of which is the incongruity of the focal point). I might do a re-draw later as I like the concept, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
Day 6: Drooling
I was stumped throughout most of the day. Drooling? Seriously? I considered drawing a xenomorph, but that seemed way too obvious. Sleeping person, mouth open? Homer thinking of doughnuts? As the day was coming to a close, I paniced, drew the Hulk roaring (I mean, he’s yelling all the time – there has to be some moisture coming out of his mouth), and called it a day. I actually think this came out okay. I hadn’t really drawn Dr. Banner since I was in elementary school and it was fun.
On to week two! If you want to see my art as it’s posted, follow me at www.instagram.com/rob.draws.stuff/