On the last day of September I heard that #inktober was starting the very next day. I'd vaguely been aware of this last year, but too late, and too impossible anyway: I'm awfully slow, and really bad at coming up with ideas... So obviously this was going to be hard, but that's a good reason to jump in and do it, isn't it?
It's now over halfway through the month and I've very nearly kept up daily, after falling behind by as much as three days in the starting week. These are the first fifteen. Doing this sure does makes one think...
1) Hey, this is waaay more drawing than I usually manage and I can actually do it!
2) It's no good just putting any old thing on paper for the sake of posting something, anything, on time. Though of course nothing wrong with simple - that can be the hardest and the best! Something I've yet to achieve.
3) In the spirit of the originator's purpose of learning to draw better, it seems right to try things that might not work, different techniques and tools, deliberately experimenting with ways I don't usually draw: straight to ink with no pencilling, only brush with no outline, in public...
4) However, knowing that I've got to then post the output starts to inhibit me, and I have to overcome that fear of making bad art. Nothing to say one couldn't start one over, I guess, but then would I ever finish? Part of this for me is a desire to suppress perfectionism, which always holds me back.
5) But looking at others' work at the hashtag can be quite intimidating! A lot of incredibly detailed, complex, amazing artwork out there. The idea is to take inspiration, not to compare.
6) I think I am getting quicker at this. Not necessarily a result of inktober itself, but I'm noticing that I'm not as slow as I used to be. Who would have thought it - practice works!
Perhaps there will be more learnings by the end, on 31 October. And I wonder if I will miss it when it's over.
1) Hey, this is waaay more drawing than I usually manage and I can actually do it!
2) It's no good just putting any old thing on paper for the sake of posting something, anything, on time. Though of course nothing wrong with simple - that can be the hardest and the best! Something I've yet to achieve.
3) In the spirit of the originator's purpose of learning to draw better, it seems right to try things that might not work, different techniques and tools, deliberately experimenting with ways I don't usually draw: straight to ink with no pencilling, only brush with no outline, in public...
4) However, knowing that I've got to then post the output starts to inhibit me, and I have to overcome that fear of making bad art. Nothing to say one couldn't start one over, I guess, but then would I ever finish? Part of this for me is a desire to suppress perfectionism, which always holds me back.
5) But looking at others' work at the hashtag can be quite intimidating! A lot of incredibly detailed, complex, amazing artwork out there. The idea is to take inspiration, not to compare.
6) I think I am getting quicker at this. Not necessarily a result of inktober itself, but I'm noticing that I'm not as slow as I used to be. Who would have thought it - practice works!
Perhaps there will be more learnings by the end, on 31 October. And I wonder if I will miss it when it's over.
