INKtober 2016 - Week 1

I'm a pencil guy (pretty obvious, right?) but I've *always* been captivated by the look of ink. It's bold, vibrant, expressive, reminds me of childhood comics but... it's SO permanent. Make a mistake and you'd better start over or get creative at covering your mistakes!

I briefly flirted with the idea of participating in Jake Parker's INKtober in 2015 but a much needed holiday quashed my plans so I made a mental note (and set a reminder in my phone) to take part in 2016.

So here I am, 7 days in to INKtober 2016 and it's going surprisingly well. I'll admit, day 1 was a bit shaky and I started to doubt myself almost immediately. Had I bitten off more than I could chew? Somehow, I managed 60 days in a row back in 2014 when I was drawing a sketch card every day so my artistic endurance wasn't really the issue, it was my unfamiliarity with ink.

I quietly follow, and am inspired by on a daily basis, many prominent inky artists across social media - Marc Laming, Adam Hughes, and Will Terry to name but a few. Their processes fascinate me and because they all share work-in-progress (WIP) shots, it makes it a teensy bit easier to figure out how they do it.

To give myself a fighting chance, I've decided to work at A6 size, roughly 4" x 6". Any bigger than that and I'd get too bogged down in capturing all the detail. Following a recommendation from Holly Exley on Twitter, I plumped for Cass Art's 140lb, hot pressed, watercolour paper which is sturdy but has a smoother finish, taking ink really well without buckling or bleed.

​Pen-wise, I'm using a Pentel Pocket Brush. I've tried using it a couple of times in the past but been a little concerned my unsteady hand would result in a wildly wobbly line but with a little practice, I've found it easy to use and the brush tip allows for fantastic line variation with only a small change in pressure. Alongside that, I'm using a set of Derwent Graphik Line Makers which are wonderful to work with. Tip size ranges from 0.8-0.05 and they feel great. Plus a Copic Multiliner and Letraset ProMarker.

If you want to see all my INKtober pieces, follow my Instagram where I'm posting daily.

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