Hello, dears!
Welcome back to another Art Lab post! Today I’m going to be showing you my drawings for Inktober 2018. Inktober is a challenge to draw one pen or ink drawing each day for the month of October. You’re supposed to follow the “official prompts” which I’ll show you in a bit, and then share your art with others.
I’ve never done this challenge before, although I’d heard of it, but one of my lovely readers asked if I was doing it, so I decided to try it! I’m glad I did. 😀 Even though I didn’t strictly follow the rules (it was close to the middle of October before I had time to start), I did use all the prompts and drew something every day when possible. 🙂 Here’s the prompt list:
Art Inspiration:
I usually tried to do something somewhat creative with the prompts and not use the first idea that came to my head. Some of my art turned out splendid, while other pieces I wish I could tear out of my sketchbook. XD Buuuut I suppose I’ll show you all of them anyway, as a reminder that to make good art, you have to make some bad art too. 😉
Alright, Day #1! I couldn’t decide whether to draw a poisonous mushroom or a black widow spider, so I drew both. 😉 I didn’t realize I had any colored inks other than gold ink until after I had “finished” the drawing, so I just added some random purple afterward.
For Day #2, I discovered I DID have colored inks! Do brush pens count? Because that’s what I used. If they don’t count… well, I didn’t use color for most of the pieces after this. Anyway, I drew a lake with trees around it/in it for the prompt “tranquil.” It was a nice idea, but with the bright colors and different sizes and directions of lines, it didn’t turn out very peaceful after all. XD
I like this one! Since it’s fall, I decided to draw roasted pumpkin seeds with a cut pumpkin in the background.
Ooh, this is one of my favorites – maybe even my favorite! The prompt was “spell,” so I took that two ways – one as in “magic spell” and the other as in “spell a word.” I wrote sentences from the chapter in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe called “The Spell Begins to Break,” forming them into the outline of snow melting from a flower as winter is defeated. It took rather a while to write so many tiny letters, but it was worth it. 🙂
I figured since I’ve already drawn a detailed chicken (here’s a print of it), I’d go for more of a cartoon style this time. That hen is one skilled balancer, eh?
For the prompt “drooling,” I thought about Anna from Frozen – remember that scene before the coronation? But I didn’t have internet access for days 2-12 (I drew them in one day to catch up) and I didn’t trust myself to draw it without a reference. XD So I used a picture from a dog breeds book to draw a St. Bernard.
How could I go through Inktober without drawing an eye, right? XD I attempted to draw an exhausted eye, and it sort of worked. It also kind of looks unimpressed, heh heh.
It was hard to pick an idea for the prompt “star” since there are so many beautiful things to draw with stars! I could have done a watercolor night sky illustration… but watercolors aren’t ink. Instead, I drew the Milky Way pouring into the Big Dipper. 🙂
This one was HARD! I drew a baby for the prompt “precious” – referring to both the baby and human life in general, born and unborn. Since I didn’t have internet, I took a picture of myself holding a lens bag so I could get the hands right. XD I didn’t exactly get the hands right, but it DID help. WHY ARE HANDS SO HARD??
Ooh, I really like this one! For the prompt, “flowing,” I drew a girl with flowing hair and a flowing dress standing in a flowing stream. 🙂
“Cruel” is a hard prompt, isn’t it? My cousin likes to doodle faces like the one on the left, so I took inspiration from her and made a Hitler-like face glaring cruelly at a little boy. O.o To accentuate the difference, I drew Hitler Guy with sharp, angular lines, and the boy with soft, curvy lines.
Ugh, this is one of my least favorites. It’s so scribbly and poorly drawn, but ANYWAY.
I quite like this one, though! It took a while. This castle is very well-guarded with I believe five knights in shining armor and many crocodiles swimming around the moat. Also a sturdy stone wall, a drawbridge, and iron bars across windows and doors. The kingdom should stay safe for years! XD I’m not the great at coming up with buildings, so I’m happy with how this one turned out!
I didn’t want to draw a boring, circular clock, so I drew a boring, circular clock in a clock tower. Eh. *shrugs* At least I drew patterns on the roof.
UGH I DO NOT LIKE THIS ONE. It’s hard when you don’t have a reference other than your own fingers! (After the internet came back on, I decided to try and draw without it for the rest of Inktober, to make it more of a challenge.) I drew a weak, falling-apart rope, and a hand not strong enough to hold on any longer. I guess the hand isn’t terrible, but I had to add extra lines to make the shape right since I couldn’t erase, and then add more lines to make those stand out less, and it just got really muddled.
This was inspired by some envelope art I did, which I’m sure will come up in a later post. I love mountains! ❤ These are more like lumps of rock, but oh well. They’re angular. 😉
I didn’t want to draw any gross swollen eyes or fingers or toes or something, so I drew the swollen-looking leaves of a succulent being watered by a rather swollen end of a watering can. XD
I forgot a prompt here, so I had to divide this page in half to add it in, since I had already written out the rest of the prompts in the sketchbook. I thought about doing a ship in a bottle or a world in a bottle, but decided that was kind of unoriginal, so I went with fireflies. 🙂 I used my gold ink to make them “shine.”
How do you like your marshmallows? Straight out of the bag? Lightly browned? Perfectly toasted? BURNT TO A CRISP? Apparently this person prefers the last option…
Something with glass is the obvious choice for “breakable.” So I didn’t draw glass. 😉 I drew someone breaking a Hershey bar (maybe to go with the scorched marshmallow). The hands are improved, I think, although they’re rather out of proportion, with short, stubby fingers. All the same, I think this turned out alright.
This one is confusing, I know. I got confused myself many times while trying to draw it. The girl is drawing her arm which is drawing a card from the pile, and the person drawing the girl is erasing some errant lines. And then, of course, I drew all of it. PHEW.
I really wanted to draw a diamond for “precious,” but decided to save it for this prompt. Diamonds are so fun to draw! The ring is just a scribble, but ah well.
I first thought about a pig in the mud for this prompt; therefore I discarded that idea and drew a girl jumping in a mud puddle. Isn’t she cute? I’d like to draw more people in this style eventually.
I first thought about a knife chopping vegetables, and I kind of wish I drew that. But nope, I drew a guy (or girl) chopping down a tree. THE HANDS. WHY CAN’T I DRAW HANDS? *facepalm* This is where I really needed a reference picture because I could NOT, for the life of me, imagine how people hold axe handles! -_-
For “prickly,” I knew right away I wanted to draw a hedgehog, and this time I went with it. Hedgehogs are just too cute to pass up. 😉
OKAY I APOLOGIZE – THIS IS UTTERLY TERRIBLE. This is by far my least favorite. *hides* It would have helped so much to simply make a pencil sketch first, but I didn’t do that for a bunch of these drawings (again, more of a challenge!) and decided not to here either. THAT WAS A MISTAKE. I was going to draw two people stretching/bending to make a heart, but when that didn’t work, I kind of just drew random lines and eventually just gave up. *shudders*
This one is a tiny bit more acceptable. A bit. I puzzled over how to draw thunder without lightning accompanying it (because then the lightning would be the focus, not the thunder), and ended up shading some of the clouds and attempting to make the tree blowing in the winds of the storm. Eh.
Ooh, I do really like this one, though! I like this style of drawing. (That’s my problem – I like so many different styles of drawing that I haven’t really found MY style, since I draw in, like, 234875 different ways! XD) I am aware that this is pretty unoriginal, but I couldn’t think of many other options…
This one is simple, but I like it. For the prompt, “double,” I drew a double-yolk egg cracked into a bowl. And… yep. That’s that. XD
Jolt was a hard prompt too. (I think verbs are just hard in general.) I decided to draw a cow shocked by a jolt of electricity from an electric fence. 😛 The cow is, heh, cute… but not very cow-like. You’d think I could do better than that having lived on a dairy farm for most of my life, but as we already established, I HAVE TROUBLE DRAWING WITHOUT A REFERENCE SOMETIMES. :’D Ohhhh dear.
I was going to say, “and ending on a pie note,” as in “high note,” but this is more like a mediocre note, so… You are (sort of) spared a terrible pun. AHEM. For the final prompt, “slice,” I gave in and did what came to mind – a piece of pumpkin pie. The dots on the side of the pie took forever. *wipes brow*
And that’s all, folks! I hope you enjoyed seeing my interpretations of the 2018 Inktober prompts and listening to my mainly disparaging comments. XD Please don’t take them too seriously, though. I know sometimes it’s discouraging (“well if THAT’S bad, what about MY art?”). That’s happened to me as well. But don’t worry! #1, most of the time we’re our own worst critic (cliche, I know), and you’re not as bad off as you think. #2, I was annoyed at some drawings simply because I know I could have done better. However, it was still a fun challenge and it showed me that I REALLY NEED TO WORK ON HANDS, and also that a reference picture is often invaluable. 🙂
Before you go, I’d love to hear – have you ever done Inktober? Which of my drawings were your favorite? And what would you have drawn for one of the prompts?
Thanks so much for reading, dears, and please have a lovely day!
***Allison***
P. S. GUESS WHAT? I got to stay at Aria‘s house last weekend, and we had a BLAST. I’ll post more about that soon, but until then, we’re taking questions for a BFF Q&A! Leave us however many questions you want in the comments below, and we’ll answer them in another post. (Of course we reserve the right to refuse questions.) Also, Aria took a new profile picture for me while I was there, which you can see on my blog sidebar! I’m still trying to get used to short hair, heh heh. Okay, I’d better stop now. Until next week! ❤
Allison Marie 
Really neat! You are very talented Allison. Have you considered illustrating children’s story books?
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Aww, thank you so much! You know, I have been thinking about that recently but I don’t really know how to get started. I think it would be great fun, though! Perhaps I’ll look into it further. 🙂
Thanks for the comment!
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I love your art! 😀 My favorites were for the prompts flowing, exhausted, and spell. 🙂
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Thanks so much! Ooh, I like those too. 🙂
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My uncle did Inktober this year and last year. I really liked drawing #24 and drawing #13. You are a really good artist!
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Really? That’s so neat! It’s a fun challenge. Aww, thank you! 😀
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I loved the cute cartoon girl jumping in the mud, as well as the cow being shocked by the electric fence- Haha! 🙂 You were really creative during Inktober! I did something a little similar instead of Inktober, except I chose to draw various things inspired by where I live. Great post!
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Heee hee, thank you! XD Those were fun. Well thanks! I tried. 😛 Ooh, that sounds really neat! Thanks again for the comment, dear. 🙂
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These are all really nice! I especially like the “spell” one, the “star” one, the “draw” one, and basically everything! xD
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Thanks so much! Ha ha, aww, thank you! ❤
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I loved looking at your journal. That must have been fun. I was only a participant for a couple of days. Planning to show up next Inktober much earlier!
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I’m glad you enjoyed it! It WAS a lot of fun. I hope you get to do a full round of it next year! 🙂
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Your doodles and Illustrations are awesome. Do you know John P. Weiss’s blog and Math With Bad Drawings? I love their work too.
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Aww, thanks! No, I’ve never heard of them – but now I’ll have to check it out! 😀
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Okay. Tell me what you think 🙂
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They were neat! I especially liked John P. Weiss’ cartoons. 🙂
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Me too, I love his cartoons.
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You are very clever
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Aww, well thanks. 😉
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I don’t blame you for your critical comments of your art, Allison, because I do the same thing, even if I like my artworks. 😉 That said, I really enjoyed reading this post and seeing all your creative ink drawings. Overall, they’re quite good, and I really admire your dedication to the Inktober challenge. I really like the “spell” one, because it’s so different and the lines are so soft and airy. 🙂 Also, I love the “drooling” picture of the dog. It’s simple but adorable, as well. 🙂 I have more favorites, such as the marshmallow one and the chocolate breaking drawing. Also, I like the “jolt” picture, because of the way you drew the cow–the cow looks funny, silly, and cute to me.
That’s awesome that you were able to spend some time at Aria’s house! I’m looking forward to pictures from your trip. Also, your new haircut is very pretty. 🙂
I’m pretty bad at thinking of questions, but here are a few:
What is your favorite part about photography?
Do you have any tips for running a business/online shop?
What is one thing you really want to learn how to do?
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Ha ha, well thank you for your understanding. It’s kind of hard NOT to, isn’t it? XD Anyway, I’m really glad you liked the post! Thank you so much for telling me your favorites, and I’m glad you liked the cow. XD
YES, it was so much fun! Aww, thank you. ❤ And YAY, those are great questions! Thank you so much for the lovely long comment, dear!
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Beautiful artwork!!! I would love to do Inktober next year. I have friends who did it this year, and I would’ve loved to do it but ahhh no time D: I love the muddy picture, it kind of looks like the illustrations from the Mysterious Benedict Society! And ur cow is so cute ❤ I love them all-even the ones you messed up ehehe cause I'm not an amazing drawer so they're all better than mine xD
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Why thank you! You should – it’s so fun! But yeah, ha ha, I understand about the “no time” problem. XD Ahhh, really? Thanks so much! That’s actually what I thought about the mud picture too, and I love the MBS illustrations! Heh heh, THANK YOUUUUU, and thanks for the lovely comment!
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Aaaaawe! I’m glad I could have been of help to you!!! :3 I did Inktober, but I wasn’t able to do a few prompts so I’m trying to get that done. Something that helped me with Inktober was, I got myself a bootle of ink at the art store, I put it on a plastic plater, and added water to make different shades of grey! So its kinda like watercolor, but for me I kinda liked it grey. 😉
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Hee hee, you sure were! I’m so glad you asked me about it! Oh dear, I understand that. Hopefully you can get them all completed! Ooh, that’s a GREAT idea! Maybe I’ll have to do that next year. 🙂
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Ahem, I men’t to say BOTTLE, not BOOTLE. Lol! ;D
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HA HA, no problem. XD
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I love your drawings, my favourite is the picture of the girl jumping in the puddle!
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Aww, thanks! That’s one of my favorites too. 🙂
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Cool!! I’ve been working on some art my self!! but still, it’s not as good as yours!!!!
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Thanks, Maria! Ooh, really? Yay, keep it up! Isn’t art so fun? ❤
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Yes!! Wanna see my pics??? your welcome!
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Sure I do! 😀
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Okay!! I’ll email them too you soon. 😉
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Yay! 😀
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Ooh, your hair is so pretty!
All those are art pieces are neat! 😀
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Aww, thank you, Hannah!
And thanks again! 😀
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Ooh, I LIKE THEM ALL. Especially the calf, double, and breakable. Oh, and the girl jumping in the mud. So cute! Anyway, you did splendidly. I certainly can’t draw anything without a reference. XD
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THANK YOUUUUUU. Well thanks, dear. And ha ha, IT IS HARD. INDEED.
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Allison, if you could find the time, it would be fun if you could make a short story about your dragons, Merlin and Violet. I’d really enjoy that.
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Ooh, that’s a neat idea! Thanks for the suggestion, dear. I’ll see what I can do. 🙂
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All of your drawings are soooo good! Even though I’m not much of an artist, I might do some of these for fun! And I love your new haircut, it suits you so well. 🙂
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Aww, thank you! Yes, you totally should! It’s a lot of fun. 🙂 And thanks so much! ❤ ❤
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I started Inktober this year but never finished. I think I did the first 6 or 7 days, but then got busy with my three little ones. Maybe next year…??? My favorite of yours was “precious” of the hands holding the baby. Loved the perspective and the idea behind it. That’s the stage I’m in right now so it is relatable! Thanks for sharing!
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Good for you for starting! But oh dear, I know. It’s so hard to find the time, isn’t it? Aww, I’m so glad you liked that piece. Thank you for commenting! 😀
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These are amazing!!!! You are so good at drawing. I wish I could draw like that. I really love the day 4 – the spell one. It’s so detailed. I love. I also love the stars one. They’re all so pretty ❤
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Ahhh, thank you! I love that one too. ❤ Thanks again, dear!
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These drawings are so cool!! The castle, the clock tower, and the milky-way/big dipper pictures were definitely my favorites. I used to draw a ton and hands were one of THE hardest parts, along with the heads. I was always drawing stories so the same people would be repeated on different pages, but usually the only way a person could tell that the creatures were the people from the other page were by their outfits, lol. XP
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Ahh, thanks! YES, I totally agree! Ha ha, yeah… I used to do that too. Except maybe the hair was different. XD
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These are so good. I am planning to start working in pen and ink.
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Aww, thanks! I hope you enjoy pen and ink! 🙂
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This looks great! Wish I’d known about it before October!
Loved your art!
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It’s a great challenge! Maybe you can do it next year? Thanks so much!
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