inktober 2019 Archives - Page 2 of 2

Inktober Unleashed: Embracing the Energy of Spontaneous Inking

Bait and Trap ink illustration by Ralph Contreras

The Art of Letting Loose: Finding Inspiration on Inktober day 3

So I really struggled with Inktober’s third day prompt of Bait. I think it actually shows in the inking too. I had no real idea what I wanted to ink. Then it came to me, if there’s bait then that equals a trap. So I illustrated a box trap with a bushel of carrots as the bait.

I went straight into the inking with this illustration, no pencil sketch to start with. I think you can tell with the unevenness of the line work. But I think that really worked for this ink drawing. There’s an energy that I would have lost if I had over worked it. I used a Pentel brush pen and I feel it created really nice organic ink strokes.

I really wanted to focus on the composition of shadows and light in this illustration. The the box is bright with light against a very dark background. Then the inside of the box is also dark with a deep shadow. I tried to use the rope as an eye leading element to the bushel of carrots bait.

Even though I originally had a hard time with the prompt concept of Bait, I had fun just letting loose on this illustration. You can really see and feel the energy in the brush strokes on the background and in the box. I’ll need to remember to bring this energy to my future ink illustrations.

Robot Revolution: Unplugged and Unleashed for Inktober’s Mindless

Mindless Android Ink Illustration by Ralph Contreras

Mindless and Mighty: Inking an Android to Life for Inktober Day 2

Here’s my second inking for this year’s Inktober. The prompt was “Mindless”. I had a few ideas of what I could draw. A crazy person or maybe someone lobotomized. But I liked the idea of illustrating a robot or android with the top of its head coming off. Showing that there’s no traditional brain, just tubes, and wires.

Unlike my previous Inktober illustration, I did start with a pencil drawing instead of going straight to inks. Just to get a general idea of what I wanted the android to look like, I drew a quick sketch of the head. I inked over the pencil sketch with my new LePen Technical Drawing Pen I picked up at Blicks art store for this year’s Inktober. The pen gave nice control that let me ink with steady contour lines. I also tried to add some hatching and solid black areas to give the illustration some depth.

Video of Ralph Contreras inking Illustration

I had fun with this illustration and who doesn’t enjoy drawing robots? I also embedded a video of me doing the final inks of my “Mindless” Android.

Inking the Flames: My Johnny Cash Inspired Ink Illustration

Ring of Fire Ink Illustration by Ralph Contreras

Brushing Life into Flames and Faces: Inktober Day 1

Here’s my first inking for this year’s inktober. The prompt is “Ring” and I knew exactly what I wanted to illustrate when I read that. I was inspired to do an ink drawing of Johnny Cash’s song “Ring of Fire”.

For this Inktober illustration, I went straight to inking, with no pencil sketch to start off with. This is a bit of a challenge for me because I usually like to start with a pencil sketch. I used a small brush and India ink, I wanted organic flowing lines. When I ink with a pen or nib my illustrations can look stiff sometimes. And I wanted to capture the movement and feel of the flames, I felt a brush would help there.

I inked a face inside an engulfing ring of fire. There are deep shadows and highlights from the flames cast across the face. The face was supposed to be Johnny Cash, but it kinda looks like a young Jack Kirby to me, lol.

I also used my Exacto knife to scratch off some parts that I messed up. It’s the first time I’ve done this. I’ve seen other inkers fix or add details this way, so I gave it a try here. I’m really happy with this first Inktober illustration and I like that it kinda looks like a woodcut print too.