sketchbook #4 (2018-2019)

[eye_of_toad]

This is one of my favorite sketchbooks despite the fact that I don't think it was even intended as a sketchbook. I think it's supposed to be a journal maybe? I bought it in a Celtic-themed gift shop that didn't have any art supplies so it definitely had journal vibes at the time. And it was SO PRETTY that it was one of those things that just sat there and never got used because I didn't want to ruin it. (I don't save journals long term because I am inevitably overcome by the cringe so I knew if I wrote anything in it, I'd end up destroying it eventually.) In 2018, I finally decided to give Inktober a try after years of watching others talk about it. And I realized this was the perfect "sketchbook" to do it in. (This ended up being not only my first Inktober, but the only such challenge I have actually completed.

Here's the cover from different angles to try and convey the pretty shimmer of the embossed cover:



It even had beautiful endpaper.


You can see why it was so intimidating to make that first mark.



I desperately wanted to love this Pentel Pocket Brush Pen because I'd seen so many other artists gushing about how great it was. Every now and then I still dig it out and it does have the advantage of being very quick. If I want to loosely scribble something out, it goes much faster than those sketches where I get it into my head that I need to crosshatch every little detail with tiny lines. But ... I just never got the hang of it. I can't do anything neat and controlled with a brush so it's always sloppy (and in a way that is very much not deliberate so I can't even hide behind "it's just my style"). Oddly, I never really fell in love with the micron fineliners either. At any rate, this was mainly a lot of testing of new art supplies in anticipation of Inktober.


Trying out ideas for "star" and "spell" ahead of time.


Also experimented with ink and dip pens, but ended up mixing-and-matching a lot of different media. I love the look artists get when they specialize in a specific style and media and really master it and yet I can never make up my mind what I want to do so I'm mediocre in dozens of things instead of getting good at any one thing. I started out fully intending to have this be black-ink-only and then thought about black-and-purple, before very quickly surrendering to any and all colors. So day one of Inktober, I actually did TWO drawings just because I couldn't make up my mind.


So here's part of the thing I hate about these monthly drawing challenges and the thing I wish I had remembered before I decided to do one again in sketchbook 14. (I already hate, hate, hate sketchbook #14 and while there are reasons related to the sketchbook itself, another main reason is that I got it into my head that I was going to do one of these challenges and to "motivate" myself I pre-filled all the prompt names. I don't mean I made a list, I pre-wrote the NAMES of all the prompts on the pages in giant letters so those pages are kind of ruined if I don't draw something that at least slightly relates to the prompt. And then I was instantly unmotivated to so anything, so now it's almost a year later and I've only filled up a handful of pages.) Ahem ... here's the thing I hate about these monthly drawing challenges, you not only have to draw something every day, but there's this social pressure to be clever with the prompts. And I was all-in on this first attempt. For "Tranquil" I thought of the "Sea of Tranquility" on the moon and I was so proud of myself. But durking Inktober a gazillion other people are all drawing the same prompts, having the same "unique" ideas, and then executing the idea ten times better. I embrace the "don't compare yourself to other artists" advice, but it's hard to maintain that when a planet full of talented people are all doing roughly the same thing at the same time.


Another day of making extra work for myself because I couldn't decide between purple and black and wasn't happy with my first attempt. (I also started to regret that I couldn't stick to a theme, because I ended up doing a lot of dragons and it would have been cool if I could have thought up a way to incorporate dragons into all of the drawings, but ... hey, just glad I actually finished this at all.)




My favorite is of course just a nonsense doodle that I spent comparatively little time on.



I've always been weirdly fond of these faux-industrial doodles. I never have any idea what these are even supposed to be.



More art spam will follow, but I have errands to take care of now.

Comments

[amberdreams]

Oh I share your feelings on these challenges! That pressure to be clever with interpreting the prompts (as if the world will be scrutinising our inputs LOL), the pressure to produce something presentable at all, what media to use - yep, been there, done that. I've largely stopped trying to do these challenges any more - if I do anything I'd rather play in a more intimate forum like drawesome than something global like Inktober. Not that I end up doing those either!
I really like your purple versions, by the way! And well done for working so hard and finishing that whole month's worth. Whatever you think of the individual pieces, it is a great achievement!

blue or purple? black AND purple!

[eye_of_toad]

Looking back at this, I'm surprised I did do more black and purple drawings in this book (there will be a handful).

Yeah, I have to swear off future daily-art challenges. They hit so many of my worst issues: comparing myself to others, anxiety about deciding the "right" subject and media, fear of failure, procrastination and the self-loathing that goes with falling behind schedule. So much unnecessary stress.

[senmut]

oh pretty!

sketchbook 4

[eye_of_toad]

Thanks!