October 2021 - Inktober

OCT 2021

inktober

inktober

Table of Contents Inktober

Words and Illustrations by Zsuzsa Goodyer

Artists Block

Words and Illustrations by Indigo Branscombe

Inky Worlds

Words and Illustrations by Rachel Middleton

Sea Serpent

Illustration by Rachel Middleton

An Assortment of Illustrations Illustrations by Margarita Louka

An Assortment of Illustrations Illustrations by Abigail Winson

Cover and Endpapers: Zsuzsa Goodyer Editor: Anna Stone

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By: Zsuzsa Goodyer

Inktober In 2019 I was pregnant and I had Hyperemesis Gravidarum, sometimes referred to as HG, an extreme version of morning sickness that saw me throwing up around 50 times a day. I lost two stone (12.7kg) in two weeks. I arrived at hospital severely dehydrated and my organs were beginning shut-down procedures. As you can imagine, I wasn’t able to do much of anything. That’s when I decided to try Inktober for the first time. I decided to just try to draw a little each day and it brought me such joy.

I began painting the small pages of my sketchbook with chalk paint and experimenting with pens again. I rediscovered my love of art and concepts. This led me to apply to do an MA that I’m finishing now! It all started with Inktober.

If you’re doing inktober this year, just remember: - It’s for fun - You don’t need to complete it or do them all, don’t pressure yourself, see point above.

- You should enjoy it, you don’t need to be the best artist, and - Artists: you are not a brand, you can always experiment.

Illustrations By: Zsuzsa Goodyer

Illustrations By: Indigo Branscombe

By: Indigo Branscombe

Ink stops flowing across the page creativity is lost perhaps I need a better prompt

Artists Block

By: Rachel Middleton

Inky Worlds

With the inspiration and challenges we are given through this month, it can feel like there is a big pressure to create something clean, tidy and well refined with the ink medium.

Now that this trend has been going for several years, many artists will have perfected how to approach their materials and their prompts and ideas, which can make joining in for the first time very daunting. Sometimes what we lose in these challenges is the acceptance and honesty of messiness and experiments. There is a beauty in some of the supposed mistakes and accidents that we make in our creations.

If we keep up a constant state of perfection, it leaves no room for us to grow, and while we might think others would think we aren’t good enough, we may be pleasantly surprised that others enjoy seeing you grow.

This should be a time to explore ideas and come up with fun ideas no matter how silly they might seem. Creating your own worlds in ink can be a gateway from doodles to beginning a series of illustrations. Many of my inky creations have often started as thumbnails (small drawings the size of a thumbnail), and despite leaving them I find myself coming back to them and being inspired once more to build on those past ideas and experiments.

Without practicing with simple blobs of ink on paper, playing with water to reduce or increase opacity, I wouldn’t be able to create the effects

that I can now. While I might not always be able to recreate some effects perfectly, I have built up how to use ink in my own way. Perhaps experienced high class tutors would tut at me in the way I use ink, but that’s something you learn to ignore. The point of art, and being able to express yourself, is nothing without creating your own methods. If you’re not comfortable then it probably wont reflect what you want to create deep down.

These days I have become less pernickety about the detail of my work, while yes I feel I can be a perfectionist a lot of the time, I’ve begun to enjoy the simpler things of drawing and painting. Shapes have now become the first steps in my creations, being able to let the shape of a mountain or a hill, or a leaf flow without being overzealous with the need to be accurate gives me the freedom to see the potential in what I make. While none of us will ever be fully satisfied, due to our brains constantly wanting to improve, we can still have solace in the little worlds we create, and the experiments of the past. So let your brush or pen flow freely this month, don’t worry about the mistakes, and relish the little things that you enjoy, whether it’s the theme the shape, or the texture, there is always something to enjoy from creating, no matter how small the success.

Illustrations By: Rachel Middleton

Sea Serpent

Illustration (Above) By: Rachel Middleton

Sealife

Illustration (Right) By: Margarita Louka

Lights

Illustration By: Margarita Louka

Orbit

Illustration By: Margarita Louka

Out of this World Illustration By: Abigail Winson

That’s My Jam

Illustration By: Abigail Winson

Journey

Illustration By: Abigail Winson

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Copyright © 2021 by Zsuzsa Goodyer, Indigo Branscombe, Rachel Middleton, Margarita Louka, Abigail Winson, and Anna Stone.

All rights reserved.

This publication or any portion thereof may not be reproduced, copied, reprinted, reworked, redistributed, or used in any manner whatsoever without the explicit written permission of the copyright holders.