For this month’s Featured Student post we will be featuring six students that participated in Inktober 2019! Let’s start by getting to know a little bit about each of them:
Mandy Schlundt (Meta Illu)
Instagram: @mandy.schlundt
Behance: mandyschlundt
Number of years you have participated in Inktober: One year. Last year I gave it a try, but due to travelling in the beginning of October, and no working conditions at home, I gave it up.
Short description of your Inktober project from this year: Using ink, a pen and a brush, I tried to draw a broad range of sceneries, objects and characters to get me back in shape.
Li Xin
Website: www.lixin.no
Instagram: @lixin.illustration
Number of years you have participated in Inktober: 2 years
Short description of your Inktober project from this year: My goal was to experiment with ink wash. I draw and paint digitally most of the time. Picking up a Chinese calligraphy brush and experiment with ink wash seems to be very much fitting with the spirit of Inktober.
Aleksey Nisenboym
Website: Alekseyillustration.com
Instagram: @artofaleksey
Number of years you have participated in Inktober: 2 years
Short description of your Inktober project from this year: During my Inktober project for this year I wanted to make it themed, fantasy, and humorous. So I settled on including gnomes in every piece.
Braden Hallett
Instagram: @bradenhallett
Number of years you have participated in Inktober: 2 years
Short description of your Inktober project from this year: Sci-fi kids building racing contraptions out of spare parts, broken robots, and absolutely no safety regulations.
Cassandra Canady
Website: clcanadyarts.wixsite.com/artwork
Instagram: @clcanadyarts
Number of years you have participated in Inktober: 2 years
Short description of your Inktober project from this year: For my second year participating in Inktober I decided to follow a theme. My chosen theme was cats, each prompt had to involve felines in some way.
Tom Shannon
Website: tomshannonillustration.com
Instagram: @theartoftomshannon
Number of years you have participated in Inktober: 3 years
Short description of your Inktober project from this year: My Inktober project was a tools and techniques challenge. Tools: Winsor & Newton series 7 kolinsky sable watercolor brush (round #1), Sumi Ink 60 and Strathmore 300 series bristol board. Technique: ink and brush. This was my first time using a brush exclusively. I loved the workflow and the painterly line quality. There is something magical that happens when the brush hits the paper and black ink feels slightly out of control. Happy accidents galore.
Now that we have learned a little about each student, here is what they have to say about the Inktober challenge:
Did you do any prep work prior to Inktober? Or did you wing it?
Mandy - I made some notes for some of the prompts in September. I ended up using less then half of them, and improvised the rest. I usually thought about the prompts on a walk with the dogs and came up with something.
Xin - I did some prep work by practicing inking together with a group of fellow artists at SVS forum throughout September. It was then I found a Chinese calligraphy brush from my dusty art supply drawer to practice controlling line weight. Then I discovered it was very fun to work with ink wash. So I kept experimenting with that Chinese calligraphy brush to see what kind of marks I can make.
Aleksey - Yes. I subscribe to Jake Parker’s mailing list so I got it in August. I made a note of each Inktober prompt and ideas for each one, then during September I drew out most of my ideas in pencil and got a head start in a few pieces before October.
Braden - I prepped by running through How To Ink 2.0 at SVS. I made sure to take the entire month of September to try and kinda make sure that I had enough time to practice the lessons.
Tom - I researched various inking tools/materials before choosing the brush and bristol board approach.
What did you learn from doing this year's Inktober challenge?
Mandy - I learned that I was able to do it, even being tough. I learned how long I took for such pieces because I tracked my time. I improved my inking skills, refreshed my knowledge in composition, drawing organics, anatomy and perspective, among others. For me, Inktober got me back to my drawing desk, basically, after a break of many years.
Xin - First, a piece of blank watercolor paper is not that scary. Second, keep experimenting with the use of water when working with a wet medium. I need to think of water like a painting tool, much like brushes themselves.
Aleksey - I learned my preferred inking tool is the hunt 102 nib and speedball ink. I also learned Inktober has a huge community of artists that support one another. Make friends!
Braden - Would you like the very long list? There were a couple of big take-aways I got from Inktober, I suppose. First, for me at least, was that the inked drawing is only really as good as the sketch. I found that the more groundwork I did the better the final product was (surprising, I know, right?) Second was that having a process for inking seems to be just as important for having a process for painting. I used to kinda just start adding lines in whatever order I wanted, but I now I have some steps to follow.
Cassandra - To think outside of the box, and come up with creative ways to interpret each given prompt.
Tom - I decided I prefer traditional inking over digital. The digital workflow has many wonderful advantages, but in terms of fine art, it falls short. To test my theory, I made a digital copy of each prompt. The digital results looked good, very closely aligned with the traditional version, but it was missing that all important “x-factor” quality. The computer can not capture the artistic nuances and details that is “me”. I guess I learned, don’t mess with Mother Nature:-)
What aspects of the challenge do you think you handled well? What aspects needed work?
Mandy - I handled well to really draw every day, even with all my kids around. This was the greatest challenge! I am quite satisfied with the overall outcome. I would have liked to have more time for some of the pieces. Some I would have drawn a second time. What I didn't manage well was to keep the spontaneity of my sketches and transfer them to the ready inked works. Probably this is something that comes with experience and practice ...? As everything?
Aleksey - I handled the prep work and scheduling well. I think I could have benefited more taking a bit more time to work on the concepts and the thumbnails.
Braden - Honestly enough this year it just kinda worked out! Last year I had a really REALLY hard time because the concept involved a narrative that I needed to follow (didn't work) whereas this year I had a much more open ended concept.
Cassandra - I stuck to the prompts, and completed the challenge even when facing a bit of burn out and time constraints due to freelance work deadlines. Had I planned ahead I could have created more interesting and aesthetically pleasing works. Some days I played catch up and just drew something simple to finish the prompt, and it shows.
Tom - I felt pretty comfortable with the brush. I’m not a master by any means, but I didn’t feel completely lost. As an effective visual storyteller, I’m not there yet! I have a lot to learn. An awesome rendering is pointless without a good story.
Would you do anything differently next time?
Mandy - I would like to pick a topic, or character, or object, or maybe even a story. Some red thread that runs through all of the Inktober pieces. And I would like to loosen up my linework.
Xin - I will keep making ink wash paintings as I enjoyed this medium very much. I might plan more on the theme/story for next year's Inktober. I might also consider painting with colored ink.
Aleksey - Next time I might deviate from the official prompts and instead of doing it all in a single sketchbook, I would do it on separate pieces of bristol paper so I can frame them after! I would challenge myself a bit more and try to combine several prompts in order to make larger pieces.
Braden - I think I'll have some sketches lined up. I'll have more prep-work done. I may also do some research and see about switching up my inking style for the month!
Cassandra - Plan and sketch ideas out ahead of time, then complete it all in traditional inks.
Tom - Next time, I would like to focus on a concept or theme running alongside the prompts.