Inktober... During Actual Inktober This TIme!
Hello, friends. Welcome back to the SketchBlog, where I don't really post sketches, I post finished work, lol. I know it has been a while since I last posted a blog post, but things have been a bit busy and wild.
In reference to posting sketches, I do post WIP typically on threads which you can follow me here below. Click to Link.
Here in the United States, we are on the Eve of a very important presidential election. I am writing this the day before the election, but this probably won't be posted until after it has already happened and the new President of the United States is announced. To be honest, I am quite nervous and I have my fingers crossed and am hoping for the best. I won't be mysterious about who I voted for. I voted for Harris and Walz. After reading Project 2025 and reading/watching The Handmaid's Tale, I have no desire for America to become a theocracy. I am all for Freedom of religion, and the freedom includes ALL religions, even the freedom of choosing not to subscribe to a religion. I am an agnostic (not an atheist, you may Google the difference) and the thought of a zealous Evangelical Christian Theocracy ruling over this country is terrifying, and that is understating it.
I understand that the Orange Raisin has time and time again tried to distance himself from Project 2025. However, so many of his cronies and close advisors are a part of its creation. Not to mention that the Orange Raisin couldn't tell the truth if his life depended on it, so am I likely to believe him when he says it has nothing to do with him?... The answer is no. I don't believe anything that he says.
Anyway, enough about American politics and the circus it entails. I just wanted to give you all a bookmark at where most Americans are right now... at home, nervously biting our nails worried about the future.
The current state of things, aside. Guess who decided to participate in Inktober again this year? My brain must have forgotten how frantic I was from the way it went 2 years ago, lol. For whatever reason, Inktober came around this year and my brain was like, "Wouldn't it be nice to participate in that this year." What was I even thinking? lol. jk. To be honest, this time around has gone far more smoothly than my first excursion into the Inktober Realm. I enjoyed it, even... Well, mostly I did. lol I did have a moment or two where I broke down and lost my mind... but that's expected with this art challenge. Again, I am astounded at artists that smoothly, calmly, and collectedly move through Inktober without the at-least-once obligatory freak-out moment.
Inktober has a tendency to take over my life during the month of October. I literally have no available "free time." I am always working on something for Inktober and that is literally all there is time for. I just don't know how other artists cannot only find the time but also turn out these amazing detailed time-intensive "one-day" ink drawings. My jaw literally drops when I see what some people can consistently crank out in "one day." Also, it's not even one day, because you have to balance time with work and other daily/weekly things. So, for me, I can devote maybe an hour or two daily on the week and 8-10 hours to it on the weekend. But otherwise, I think it's magic what others can accomplish with this challenge. This is slightly why the blog post for the HippoPunnimi has not been written or posted yet... That will come over this next week, so be on the lookout for that.
...Back to Inktober:
I had devised a plan for myself, and, for the most part, I stuck with that plan. I had decided that my plan of attack for Inktober this time would be based more on weekly as opposed to daily. Since I sketch in pencils first, then ink(which is literally double the work,) I thought I could sketch the prompts daily and then ink all 7 sketched illustrations on the weekend. I would then do my reference research for the next week of illustration sketches and, by the following Monday, start posting the previous week's illustrations. And the Circus Wheel turns over again and we start over with the next set of illustrations. I could successfully complete 62 Illustrations in one month without losing my mind (well without losing it daily) and only be 1 week behind everyone else; as opposed to finishing the next April as I had during the first year I attempted it.
So far, guess who was able to successfully stick to that plan? I actually finished inking the very last illustration (for LANDMARK) yesterday and considering where we are politically, I think that the illustration is rather fitting. I didn't mean for it to be, but there it is.
This year I followed along with the official Inktober word prompts. I thought they were ok and some of them yielded some interesting ideas. Some of the other ideas just ended up turning out "OK" in my opinion (but I am my worst critic so there you go.) I also thought that these prompt words seemed more suited for a focus group for a Bass Pro Commercial... but again, who am I to criticize the creatives at Inktober. I mean, you can read through them for yourself and see what I mean. I did try to take a "Spooky" spin on each of the prompts to make it more fun for me to illustrate them. I LOVE drawing Spooks, Ghosts, Ghouls, Monsters, and Goblins, so I tried to make the prompts fit my own Spooky Agenda. Let's take a look at each day, shall we?
DAY 01. Backpack.
Some of these ideas popped into my head instantly. Some took some work to devise. Backpack was one that came to me immediately. I knew that I wanted to create a "monster Backpack" but make it fun, cute, and friendly. Very much based on and akin to the "My Pet Monster" plush toys of the 80's. It was fun "taking apart" a modern backpack, visually, and putting it back together to create a monster out of it. I got to decide the answers to fun questions like What part will be the eyes? Where does the mouth go? How many eyes will it have? Where will the hair and the horns go? etc.
DAY 02. Discover.
Diving back into my childhood again... When I think of Discovery I think of National Geographic magazine. So I thought it would be fun if maybe the Yeti (Abominable Snowman) were to make their debut DISCOVERY on the cover of a magazine. This was a lot of fun to draw.
DAY 03. Boots.
The very first Broadway show I had seen was one of the final bows of Kinky Boots. I had always been a fan of Cindi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein. I loved how, in the musical, a scarlet red boot could express who you are as soon as you slipped it on. I had wondered, could these Kinky Boots be monsters also? Could I make them spooky with a Creature Feature transformation? The answer is "Yes!" I love these boots. I would totally rock them.
DAY 04. Exotic.
Once again, an idea that derived from the relics of childhood... I was once obsessed with a Chapter Book Series called Bunnicula about a pet rabbit that was actually a vampire and only the other house pets knew his secret and could protect their hoomans. My favorite book out of the series was The Celery Stalks at Midnight. I loved this idea that a vampire rabbit could bite a vegetable and transform it into a ghoul to do his bidding. So I was thinking about things that are/were considered exotic and in Colonial times the pineapple was considered quite an exotic treat. I thought, what if Bunnicula bit a pineapple instead. What kind of ghoul would it be? Where would it go? The answer to that, of course, is an EXOTIC vacation. I love this little tourist Pineapple Ghoul with his camera and Pineapples on his shirt.
DAY 05. Binoculars.
When I think of Binoculars I think of two things, mainly. Voyeurism and/or Investigation. What would a pair of binoculars go as for Halloween? A spy, of course. I decided to use the cliche of a "Groucho Marx" Disguise. I feel like many Halloween costumes need that punny bit of cliche flavor added to them. What a joy and much fun it was creating this little guy.
DAY 06. Trek.
The first thing I thought of when I saw the word prompt "Trek" was Trekkie. How fun would it be for an Alien to dress up as a Starship Officer from Star Trek? This guy looks like a lot of fun to hang out with at the party.
DAY 07. Passport.
I Illustrated a lot of travel during Inktober this year. This is where the prompts led me... or maybe I just feel the itch to travel. lol. Originally I was going to illustrate a literal passport for this one. However, I just felt that it would have not exactly worked out the way that I wanted it. Each location stamp would have to be cleverly and caringly designed and there just really wasn't time for something like that within the timeframe. So, I opted for plan B and I think I really enjoy this drawing more, anyway. How fun is this Dracula on vacation with is Hawaiian Bat shirt on and his Coffin-shaped luggage?
DAY 08. Hike.
I honestly made any excuse to use and illustrate Classic Monsters for these prompts. I thought, out of all the monsters, the WolfMan would enjoy a nice long HIKE the most. Nothing like a good midnight hike under a full moon. I caricatured the original WolfMan for this illustration. The 41 on his shirt is for the year that the film was originally released.
DAY 09. Sun.
I was thinking what the Sun would go as for Halloween and the answer was so obvious. They would go as the Moon. I styled this after vintage woodcut illustrations. I really like this idea of a Moon Masquerade mask for the Sun. I like how it slits their face down the center. Sunmetrical.
DAY 10. Nomadic.
I have often described my family and my childhood as similar to the roaming NOMADIC Gypsies. I do not have any blood relation, but because of the nature of my young life, I am fascinated with Romani culture both modern and antique. I absolutely LOVE the style and design of the traveling wagons. So, I decided to illustrate one. I based this one off of 3 or 4 different wagons. I cherry-picked the design elements I liked from each one to create this one.
DAY 11. Snacks.
When I think of SNACKS, I often think of Movie Snacks. I thought it would be a whimsical idea to have the snacks themselves parade the Red Carpet like the Movie Stars that they are. Each one is based on a celebrity. Can you guess who is who?
DAY 12. Remote.
We are ALWAYS looking for our Remote Controls. So it seems only fitting that a remote control would go as Where's Waldo for Halloween. I picked a Roku TV remote because so many people have this kind of TV and can relate to the remote for it. Speaking of, where did I put that REMOTE?
DAY 13. Horizon.
This one was a tricky one in regards to coming up with an idea for it. I finally came up with the idea of a Faux HORIZON that was created by Halloweenie kinds of things Like a cauldron full of bubbling potion for the ocean, a jack-o-lantern sunset ghostly sunrays. No ocean sunset landscape is complete without a paper boat to sail to the horizon.
DAY 14. Roam (NOT Rome).
So... I made a mistake in my dictation from the Inktober prompts. I jotted down Rome instead of jotting down Roam. I thought this prompt was a bit out of place but went with it nonetheless. I wanted to incorporate my cat Peanut Butter into this year's Inktober drawings and felt like this was a good opportunity. What if Peanut Butter went as a Roman Gladiator for Halloween? What would she look like... Pretty Baddass, I have to say. I wouldn't cross that cat's path, for sure. She was so fun to illustrate this way. I showed her the drawing... she went back to her nap. lol
DAY 15. Guidebook.
I have been SUPER EXCITED about the Beetlejuice sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and LOVED every minute of the movie. I thought this was a great prompt to incorporate my love for the movies. I loved showing Beetlejuice as a literal beetle marked like his suit. As always the Handbook for the Recently Deceased proves to be a guidebook that gets the living and the dead into a lot of trouble. Luckily our Ghost with the Most is ready to save the day.
DAY 16. Grungy.
Is the song playing in your head yet? I couldn't resist representing the definitive Grunge Rock Band in monster form for this prompt. It was so much fun to exaggerate many of their features and to either reduce or give them more eyes. I feel like this is what would happen if Nirvana and the Muppets had a love child.
DAY 17. Journal.
Another opportunity for me to include a Classic Monster. I wondered what a monster might write in their journal if they had one and if they journaled and the phrase "Dear DIE-ary" immediately popped into my head. Out of all the monsters I could have chosen for this illustration, I chose Frankenstein's Monster. I feel like they would be the most introspective and self-reflective out of the group. Frankenstein's Monster is just such a sensitive soul every time they are portrayed in film or television. I think they definitely kept a journal... At least that's how I'd write it.
DAY 18. Drive.
Who hasn't heard about the Kamakazi Taxi Cabs of New York City? My total inspiration for this was: "What if Benny the Cab (from Roger Rabbit) was mutated?" I also thought about that movie Monster Trucks with actual trucks that become monsters (which I never have watched, by the way. Idk, is it a good movie? Should I watch it?) Anyway, I thought the concept was fun and I am thrilled with how it turned out. There really are some toxic DRIVErs up here in NYC. Would you take a ride in this cab?
DAY 19. Ridge.
I was inspired by Greek Mythology with this one. I had originally thought of the Titans, the ones made of mountainous rock. But after a bit of research, I came across The Ourea. They were the spirit gods and goddesses of the mountains. They were the offspring of Gaia (Earth.) Each mountain was its own separate god/goddess. I really wanted to kind of have this somewhat obvious yet somewhat hidden face and arm/hand of an Ourea. I think this one turned out ok for what it was (a single-day drawing I did within an hour/hour and a half) To me, it feels rushed, even with the inkwork on it. I would love to revisit this idea and develop a full and better illustration of this concept; have more than one mountain god/goddess in the image.
DAY 20. Uncharted.
This illustration makes me smile every time I see it. It is probably my favorite of all the illustrations I made for Inktober this year. I was thinking about how to fit the Mummy into one of these word prompts when I was coming up with all the ideas for the drawings. The image of a mummy using his sarcophagus as a kayak or canoe to travel with made me laugh. I'm so amused by this image lol. I love the inkwork on this one and it's the balance of elements that could have become quite busy. Overall I think it is a success. I keep singing the Dave Mathews Band tune "Where Are You Going?" in my head when I see it. And where is he going? That's what I'd like to know. I'm the artist and I can't even tell you where he's going. Leave a comment below and tell me where you think he's going?
DAY 21. Rhinoceros.
I really dipped into my childhood this year for a lot of my inspiration for these spooky drawings, which is ironic. I was never allowed to go trick-or-treating as a child. Unfortunately, I missed that rite of passage. I was able to dress up in costumes for several years and my parents did send us to "fall" gatherings at church and once at our local mall, but that was the extent of my Halloween involvement. It's really why I like the holiday so much as an adult. Anyway, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were all the rage when I was a young boy. I loved the show. I loved the toys. I loved the movie (the first ones). I loved the arcade game. I was obsessed for a season or so with the characters. And who didn't love Beebop and Rocksteady, even if they were supposed to be the bad guys, but they were so terrible at being bad guys. They always bungled things up. I thought it would be fun to draw a more realistic (well as realistic as I wanted to get) rhinoceros dressed as Rocksteady. I can imagine there are few options for a rhinoceros to dress up as.
DAY 22. Camp.
This one is another one that I struggled with because of time constraints. I originally wanted to have a scene where monsters were camping, then that changed to Aliens camping because that seemed funnier to me. However, creating a really well-done camping scene would have taken more time than I had and it would have been a night scene with lots of nature and background elements to make it really work and that would have taken ages to draw and even longer to ink. I am shelving this idea for further development and will do what I originally set out to do a little later. Maybe this next year. It's in my Idea Journal (speaking of journaling.) However, this drawing is cute and I do like it. I had just originally planned more but had to scale back due to time.
DAY 23. Rust.
This was another idea that immediately came to me. I thought of how other nails might react to a rusted nail if they were all personified. Also making it Spooky Season, I thought that the rusted nail might be akin to a nail version of the Phantom of the Opera. Here he is belting his scared little heart out to his Screwstine.
DAY 24. Expedition.
Another fun idea that immediately came. A Lost Compass lol. What a mess that would be on safari. I enjoyed researching traditional safari attire, even though it's mostly covered by the map. That hat at least gives it the right time period and flavor it needs. I love how they are consulting the map. Again, this illustration begs the question: Where are you going? Comment down below where you think this compass is headed... it's obviously not North.
DAY 25. Scarecrow.
I kinda feel like this is my "throw-away" illustration as there really wasn't much time to consider/develop it. I just had to "do it! Do it! Do it!" That's Inktober for you. Some things really work out, some don't. Not that I think that this is a bad drawing. I just feel it's a little bland in comparison to the others. I'm a little disappointed with it. I really wanted to do more with the Scarecrow and his interaction with the crows. Yet again, though... scaling back for time considerations. I was obviously inspired by Tim Burton. This is actually my version of the Scarecrow from the opening scene in Burton's Sleepy Hallow. I think this may be another piece I work and and develop more this upcoming year. I'll have it ready to post by next Halloween.
DAY 26. Camera.
I LOVE this little guy! I thought it would be punny to create my idea of what a Victorian Selfie would be. It would be literally someone holding a Victorian picture frame around themselves as if they were about to either be painted like a portrait or photographed by this cute antique gentlemanly Victorian Camera.
DAY 27. Road.
This is another idea that took a while to come up with. I just kept thinking of just really boring ideas with winding roads going through them... Then I decided to think sideways and take my thoughts trek Off-Road and that is when this guy came to mind. I have always romanticized the idea of hitchhiking to follow my dreams in the big city. I thought it would be cute if a cactus was trying to hitchhike his way out of the desert and into the big city to chase his dreams with nothing but his packed cacti suitcase full of water.
DAY 28. Jumbo.
This is Jumbo (not Dumbo) the elephant. Jumbo the Circus Elephant was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and then transferred in 1865 to London Zoo in England. Despite public protest, Jumbo was sold to P. T. Barnum, who took him to the United States for exhibition in March 1882. The elephant's name spawned the common word "jumbo", meaning large in size. Jumbo's shoulder height has been estimated to have been 10 ft 7 in at the time of his death and was claimed to be about 13 ft 1 in by Barnum. I am showing Jumbo performing his circus ball routine as if he were Atlas.
DAY 29. Navigator.
Where are all my xennials that remember this delightful Disney Gem? I was so young when I saw Flight of the Navigator and I was hypnotized by it. I was 100% convinced it was real. The adventure of David and Trimaxion was awesome and enduring. "Max" was voiced by none other than Mr. PeeWee Herman himself, Paul Rubens. I'm kinda afraid to rewatch it as an adult because sometimes that ruins the magic. Does this film hold up watching it as an adult? You guys let me know. Anyway, I had fun dipping my ink pens into my past for this one.
DAY 30. Violin.
You can't have Inktober without some Victorian reverences... and MORE Vampire references. This is actually inspired by an idea for a book I plan to write/illustrate (I won't give away my title or my plot summary). It will have a violin-playing vampire. I was inspired by the work of Edward Gorey... because I am always inspired by the work of Edward Gorey. lol. This is a fun illustration and it's one of my favorites from the series this year. I really enjoyed playing with the proportions of the character's body and face.
DAY 31. Landmark.
Last but certainly not least is my one true love, Lady Liberty. The Statue of Liberty or Liberty Enlightening the World (as her official title) is my favorite landmark in America possibly the world. I LOVE what she represents and she is just a beautiful classical goddess of light and freedom. She represents everything that America can be and as long as her torch is burning, the American Dream can still be a real possibility for her citizens. I try to go see her at least once every year. I get very emotional every time. I thought it would be fun to dress her up for a rock concert for Halloween because at the end of the day, Liberty Rocks!
My overall experience with Inktober was definitely better than my first. I finished in a more reasonable time frame. I am happier with the experience this time around. I think I gleaned some interesting illustrations from it. So yeah, I would participate in it again... maybe not next year. lol. I think I need a break. Maybe Inktober can be an every-other-year thing for me, or maybe I turn it into a 1 illustration per week challenge for myself on the off year. So I can still participate somewhat every year but not to the full intensity of doing an illustration for it every day.
Once again, thank you for lending me your time (and "ear") to talk about the art I make and why I make it. I hope you all enjoyed the journey as much as I did. I look forward to sharing more of my new art journeys soon. There are more, I promise. Stay tuned.
Until next time, friends,
Keep dreaming, keep sketching, keep thinking, keep laughing, and most important of all, keep making art.
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