In the month of October, i worked through Inktober 2020 using oil pastels. I have recently rekindled my love for the medium of oil pastels and have been practicing drawing with them. I love the way the oil pastels allow you to blend and create highlights and shadows and I am in love with the way they work. Inktober is a list of prompts, one each day, that was made for graphic artists. I am doing the Inktober 2020 list created by Likrot (@likrotable). Below is the 2020 list I'm working through.
I decided to do Inktober this year, my first time doing it, because it gave me a purpose. When doing art outside of school, I struggle with art block and a lack of motivation. Inktober gives me a prompt for each day, so I have something to base my art off of. This helps because when I get a prompt it's easier for me to be creative around that and brainstorm ideas based on the prompt. Inktober also helps me with my lack of motivation. I have to do an art work for each day of the month and if I fall behind, that is more work for me. This encourages me to get one day each day, filling my sketchbook and giving me more experience. Below are photos of my Inktober drawings and brief explanations for each.
Inktober #1 - Nose Bleed
I decided to draw a portrait of a girl with a bloody broken nose. The prompt was nose bleed but I wanted to do more than just a nose bleed so I decided to draw a girl with a broken nose. I made her skin tone shades of pinks and purples and then her hair shade of light blue to create contrast. I made her eyes white, with no pupils, to add a touch of horror and uniqueness. I wish that I exaggerated the broken nose more but it was hard to do that and add more detail with the pastels. Overall, you get the sense of it being a broken nose but I wish it was more detailed.
Inktober #2 - Spiral
For this prompt, there were many different ways I could of gone about it but I decided to depict something struggling with addiction. Alcoholism is a difficult disease that so many people today struggle with. For this prompt, I drew some one "spiraling" and going down a dark hole with alcohol. I drew a beer near the front of the page, with a hand gripping it tight. The person has their head down in a manner that suggests they are sad and struggling. The bubbles above symbolism how drunk they are which I got from the cartoon characters that when drunk have those little bubbles.
Inktober #3 - Werewolf
This was a pretty straight forward design, which was nice. I simply drew two werewolf claws coming from different ends of the paper. I used this prompt to work on drawing texture with the oil pastels while still keeping the shading. For the claws, I shaded the grey near the bottom and white on the top more blended to make it look smooth and shiny. The fur on the claws was dark brown hear the outline and a lighter shade of brown near the middle, with hints of dark blue. I used the oil pastels in a sharp motion to create a fur texture.
Inktober #4 - Lobotomy
This prompt was also straight forward. I drew an eye being peeled open with pliers as if the lobotomy is about to begin. I used this prompt as practice with drawing a realistic eye. I really admire my shading with the inner corners of the eye with the pinks and reds and the ability to draw the eyelid and the metal pliers as if they are really going inside the eye and holding the lids.
Inktober #5 - Hidden
I decided with this prompt to draw something less gruesome and scary and go with something more wholesome and sweet. I decided to raw someone hiding behind a coffee cup. I searched up what I was looking for and luckily was able to find a girl posing behind a coffee cup she was holding. I decided to give the girl a scarf and mittens that would make the viewer think of winter and the feeling of cozy that plays with the coffee. I had the person's hands and part of her forehead be pink and purple shades so it contrasted against the blue clothes and white and grey cup. I really admire the shading of the cup, the design of the hat and it's shading, and the drawing of the hands. This prompt helped me practice drawing hands with oil pastels, which can be tricky because you can't get very detailed.
Inktober #6 - Sick
Unfortunately, this was my last work for this series because I began to get overwhelmed with school and it got forgotten. For this prompt I decided to play with the color red. I associate the color red with sickness because I tend to turn that color when I feel really sick or overheated when I have the flu. My design is a head with a thermometer in their mouth, indicating that they are very over-heated. The red in the cheeks and eyes helps the viewer indicate that the head in my design is sick. The eyebrows and curves in the eye make the head seem to have an upset or sad emotion, which most people feel when they get sick. The blue and white in the background are meant to contrast against the warm tones in the head. The play and contrast of colors makes it pleasing to the eye and the reason why this is one of my favorite pieces from this series.
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