Inktober: It's a Wrap!

I'm going to let you peek into me Inktober sketchbook today, as the month is wrapping up. I have enjoyed the challenge more this year than in the two years past that I took part. It has not been a good month for me, with many personal challenges to face, so I think the daily sketching has been a bit of an escape route, or maybe a meditation. At any rate, I think it was a good thing to do this year.

These are not necessarily in order. The Inktober prompts are below each sketch.

Ship

Squeak

Blind

Fall

Found (as in, found passion)

Trail (this is the Labyrinth at Ghost Ranch)

Climb

United

This is the last prompt, for tomorrow, Halloween Day.

Mask

Here is the 'story' that I will post with it:

Grandma and I were mighty tired of the wolf and his wiley ways,

so we got a mask and set out to change the rules of the game he plays. 

No longer will Mr BB Wolf play us for the fool: 

its time he learns a new fact of life: we Girls Rule!

Inktober, Still!

I confess that I look forward to Inktober every year. It makes me hone my skills with ink, which used to be a very scary medium for me. This year, I am trying to use a brush pen more: even less control and more 'messy!' I am a bit of a control; freak when it comes to creating, and I really dislike messes! I won't use ink (or pastels) in the studio, as I'm afraid I'll end up with them all over the yarn and tapestries that live there. That's how messy I am. So I make those messes elsewhere, and test my sweet husband's tolerance level.

I don't 'commit' to doing a sketch every day of Inktober, but this year I have somehow managed to do one every day so far.  Here are some of this week's sketches and the prompts that inspired them.

Shy

Screech

This sketch was done from a video taken from a camera in the owl box in our yard. This is one of the Western Screech Owls that hang out in our neighborhood.

Run

 This is one of my grandsons, running cross country.

Teeming

Fierce

Mysterious

I kind of have an Inktober routine now! I sketch the outlines and ink in shadows in the evening, then give it a chance to really dry before adding color the next morning. Then I post them on Instagram and Sktchy - both apps which are very encouraging to artists. Most of the inspiration I use is from Sktchy photos, which are there for artists to use. Here are the steps for one of the sketches above:

Inktober, and tapestry tears

These are the last things I wove into the Graffiti Tapestry, which is now off the loom. They speak of things I cannot yet speak of, without tears of my own.

I am a believer of using creativity, rather than alcohol or drugs, to help heal. So this month is "Inktober" and I am trying to work my way through my sadness and frustration. To participate in Inktober, you are supposed to follow a prompt and do an ink sketch each day in the month. As in the past two years, I am sketching when I can, and following the props if I want to. In other words, I will not let myself feel stressed by 'supposed to's.'

So far, I actually HAVE sketched each day, and have used the prompts. I won't share all my sketches here, though I usually post them on Instagram. The sketch above was for Day 2, the prompt being 'divided.' I chose to sketch Superman/Clark Kent, because he 'divided' his time between making news and reporting it. (Lately, my heroes have been the ones reporting, rather than the ones making the news. Just saying...)

Day 3 was yesterday, and the prompt was 'poison.' Every Harry Potter fan knows that poison is to be found on Knockturn Alley!

Today's prompt was 'underwater.' So here's today's obvious sketch.

I have an empty loom. I need to clean my studio, and rewarp, and begin to weave again. Weaving is what I do.