Inktober 2024, Day 1: Backpack

It is okay to be rusty! I have another 30 days of Inktober to polish the rust off my artsy skills. Yes, hello! I will do my best to do all the prompts again this year. We shall see if my endurance will prevail or if I flop like a loser.

Nope! I am determined. Let’s go!

So, I do not know if the same person comes up with the prompts every year, but what the heck is up with prompts this year?! Usually, they seem a bit more random than what we have going for us this year. Like, sure! I try to think out of the box about what to create for most of the prompts, add a twist, and not take the evident route anyway. But okay!

And I went the obvious route with the first prompt - Backpack! Haha! I am already contradicting myself, brilliant! Oh well! My backpack at least has a pet plant! We see people walking their pet puppies and kitties, but what about a pet plant?! They also would like some fresh air and sunlight from time to time.

Anyway, it was a back-and-forth between I like where this is going and Aaaaa, am I fucking this up?! So, yeah. I feel very rusty, lacking confidence here, at the start, especially since I have not done much art stuff this year apart from drawing from references for practice and helping to paint a sign for a wedding. What the hell have I been up to? Yeah. Other life-like stuff, I guess.

But up there, you have progress photos of the process. What tools did I use this time? I recently acquired some inks from Winsor & Newton and Liquitex. In this piece, I used - 957 cobalt, 968 peat brown, and 971 violet from Winsor & Newton; jet black, emerald, and purple Diamine drawing & calligraphy ink; yellow orange azo and red oxide acrylic ink by Liquitex. I used a black Pigma brush pen, Pigma micron 05, and a white Sakura Gelly Roll pen for linework and finer details.

My first impression of the new inks was that Winsor & Newton inks are much lighter in pigmentation yet buildable, and Liquitex acrylic inks are very pigmented. I like both but prefer Liquitex because it is similar to Diamine inks.

_{Eh! It is pretty cute. What do you think?}

Another thing I would like to mention is that - either I do not know how to use washi tape properly, or it is expected that the paper will rip when removing it. I hate it! I hate that it damages the paper. Does anyone have some tips for me? Maybe it is not meant for all types of paper? I do not know. Meow! I paid 3 euros for washi tape from an art supply store, to be a bit disappointed. I am trying hard to get past it, but my inner perfectionist is yelling at me.