Inktober 2016 – #30 Skeleton Girl

For the penultimate day of Inktober, the Drawlloween prompt was “Skulls and Skeletons” so I decided to draw a skeleton girl.  It had been a time since I splashed some red ink into my Inktober sketchbook so I decided to add a sort of silhouette and hair to the skeleton figure for added interest.  She reminds me a little of a mixed media piece I did for a Life Book lesson back in May.  She was drawn in a bit of a rush and I am confident there is not anatomical accuracy present in my drawing but, on a day that was manically busy, I did still manage to squeeze my Inktober drawing in.

Inktober 2016 – #28 Ghost

Today for Inktober I again followed the Drawlloween prompt which was “Ghosts A Go Go”.  I had already drawn a ghost a week ago in response to the prompt “Phantom” but I thought I could maybe draw a different sort of ghost this time.  Today is one of my manically busy days so it was handy to be able to draw something that was simple line work with my fountain pen.  That made producing a daily drawing manageable, feasible.

Inktober 2016 – #27 Cthulhu

It’s a quick fly-by post from me today as I am just home briefly from work before heading out to volunteer at my sons’ school.  I am pleased to report, however, that despite the hectic schedule today and still slowly recovering from my illness, I managed to produce today’s Inktober drawing.  I actually cannot believe I have managed to keep this going despite everything I have been juggling.  I am so glad I took the plunge to participate this year.  I turned to the Drawlloween prompt again today and it was “Call of C’Thursday”.  It is so funny to me that, despite the fact I don’t particularly have any fondness for the writings of Lovecraft, I seem to draw and paint Cthulhu frequently.  I painted one twice in my altered book last year and recently I shared that my 9 year old made a Sock Cthulhu for one of his brothers.  Apparently the Pict family cannot get enough of Cthulhu. (I didn’t erase my pencil sketch marks before taking the photo with my phone.  Oops.)

Inktober 2016 – #26 Critter

Today’s Drawlloween prompt was “They came from outerspace!” and I was immediately kicking myself that I had not glanced ahead at the prompts before drawing my Xenomorph.  So I had to think of another horror beastie from outer space for today’s Inktober drawing.  I did think of ‘The Thing’, it being one of my favourite horror movies, favourite movies even, of all time but I decided it would be too challenging to draw, especially in a brief gobbet of time.  Just as the kettle boiled, I had my idea: a critter!  ‘Critters’ is a B movie horror from the 1980s that spawned a few sequels.  It’s not top notch quality by any standards but it’s schlocky fun and the naughty aliens are a visually strong and memorable element.  So a critter it was.  This drawing was going pretty well I thought and then, for the first ever time, my fountain pen burped and left a big fat ink blob on the paper.  Grrr.  At least it wasn’t right in the middle of the drawing.  Still annoying though.

Inktober 2016 – #25 Zombie

For today’s Inktober drawing I got to scurry back to my subject comfort zone: zombies!  The Drawlloween prompt was “Entombed Tuesday” which could have been interpreted several ways but, of course, as a massive fan of zombies there was only one way I was determined to interpret it.  I realised, however, upon putting pen to paper, that it has been really quite some time since I last drew a human zombie.  Most of my zombie drawings are of zombie animals so it was fun to draw an undead human again, crawling and clambering out of his grave.  This quick drawing has reminded me how much I enjoy drawing zombies and how I should try to find more time to draw them.

Inktober 2016 – #24 Cyborg

Today’s Inktober drawing was a challenge.  The Drawlloween prompt was “Mechanical Monstrosity”.  I have never drawn a cyborg before.  I have that half-formed plan to draw myself as a bionic woman but I haven’t done so yet.  I am not very capable when it comes to drawing machines, whether vehicles or other man-made items, not remotely, so I felt somewhat intimidated by the idea of drawing a cyborg.  I almost steered clear and went off prompt but then my 9 year old told me I should draw a cyborg precisely because I have never tried before.  He was right, of course.  I am always encouraging them to be positive about challenging themselves and trying new things so I should apply the same ethos to myself.  So this morning I sat down with my mug of tea and drew my very first cyborg.  I hope I managed to fuse the organic and mechanical in a way that reads as “cyborg”.

Inktober 2016 – #22 Vampire Girl

It has been a busy day and I am still dealing with some nasty chest cold grot that has been waxing and waning for several weeks now so it looked like there was every chance I was going to have to skip a day of the Inktober challenge.  However, I got into my pyjamas and snuggly housecoat as soon as I got home today and put pen to paper.  Today’s Drawlloween prompt was “Bat-urday” so I decided on a vampire.  In order to avoid falling into the trap of drawing Bela Lugosi, I decided to draw a tweenage girl vampire and some bat companions.

Inktober 2016 – #21 Phantom

While yesterday’s Inktober drawing took me a good while, I had to keep today’s drawing short and simple.  The Drawlloween prompt was “Phantom Phriday” and at first I thought of drawing the Phantom of the Opera.  However, I painted the Lon Chaney version in my altered book last year and wanted to avoid simply replicating that but I could not think of an alternative version who would be freaky enough for my sketchbook.  So then I thought of a phantom as being a ghost and that seemed much easier and simpler to draw in a hurry this morning.  No filling in, just line work.  Job done and so far I am keeping up with this challenge to draw daily.

Inktober 2016 – #19 Witch

Today’s Drawlloween prompt is “Witchcraft Wednesday” and so it was a witch I drew in my Inktober sketchbook this morning.  I got all of the drawing done during my morning cup of tea but I had to grab a little extra time to get all of the filling in done.  I should have brushed the ink into the shapes but I just didn’t have the scope to do that this morning with kids and cats all over the place.  Instead I used my trusty Lamy Al-Star which took longer and leaves visible pen marks on the paper but at least is very flexible and portable.  If I was a witch I would cast a spell to give myself more than 24 hours in a day.

 

Inktober 2016 – #15 Drive-In Movie Creature Feature

For my 15th Inktober drawing, I again turned to the Drawlloween prompt which was “Drive-In Creature Feature”.  I immediately had a clear idea in my head of a couple sitting in a car watching the movie and having tentacles appear in the back seat and start wrapping around them.  I also thought compositionally that the windscreen of the car could frame the scene.  The drawing got pretty busy but I hope my idea translates well enough.