Tag: ink

Inktober 2022

~ Ari October ~ 1 Comment


To view all 31 illustrations, click here to visit the Google Drive folder!

Well folks, I did it. 31 illustrations in 31 days. Some took several days to complete, some of them I only spent a few minutes on. Either way, I got it done. Now I am exhausted and never want to look at another micron pen for the rest of my life! (Just kidding.) I’ve already complained enough about how hard this was in the previous post, so I will focus on the positives now.

I really did learn a lot from this challenge, and even walked away with more confidence in my abilities! The prompts helped me come up with ideas I never would have thought of on my own, and I got several illustrations I love out of the deal. Noticing which illustrations I enjoyed making the most was very enlightening, and I will definitely be using that knowledge going forward.

For the record, I got most of my references from Pexels and Unsplash. Some were also referenced from my own photos, (such as the shed,) and a few were referenced from my imagination or memories! Another thing I’ve learned from this challenge is just how important building a visual library through mileage is. The more you draw from seeing, the more you’ll be able to draw from muscle memory! I’ve found that I really like drawing my own memories.

While I’m really grateful that I finally completed Inktober for the first time, I’m not sure it’s something I’m going to do every year. By the time next October rolls around I’m sure I’ll be considering trying again, but I will be more willing to drop it if I feel it is doing me more harm than good.

If you have any questions or comments about any of the illustrations, please feel welcome to leave a comment! Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Waiting room doodles!

~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment

Since I’m nearing the end of my pregnancy, I’ve been having loads of doctor’s appointments. At this point it’s a weekly occurrence, so that means lots of time spent waiting in the waiting room, and then waiting in the office between being triaged and actually seeing the doctor. The best way to pass the time is to whip out my tiny sketcher and just doodle the minutes away!

Okay, I did it. I drew. Here’s #Inktober day 1: “Fish”

~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment
Edit: Broken image? I will fix this soon when I have some time

I’m quite rusty after a few weeks of not drawing, but something is better than nothing!
He’s based on a butterfish. I think they just look much like the quintessential fish to me.

I’m going to be doing all my inktober sketches in the same small sketchpad I’m bringing with me on my trip to Texas later this month, for consistency, and because the small format is less intimidating given I’m just now getting back into daily drawing.

I will probably continue to do small doodle-y things like this, nothing too fancy because I’d like to complete the monthly challenge for once and if I try to be too detailed every day it’s going to wear me out. Which is exactly what happened last year, lol.

I’m proud of myself for pushing through the very strong feelings of not wanting to draw and making this little guy. He’s cute.

Inktober 2019

~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment

Unfortunately I ended up giving up in the first week, but I’m still really happy with the illustrations that came of it.
I’m really excited to give it another go this year, probably trying to theme mandalas around the prompts! I haven’t done a themed mandala in a while because they’re more effort, but they are so much more interesting.
Whatever I decide to do, I do plan on at least participating to the best of my ability. Wouldn’t be right if I didn’t, being an artist under the name October and all 😉

Momdala

~ Ari October ~ 2 Comments
My mom works with kids so she collects a lot of coloring pages, so I decided to turn this one into a coloring page before coloring it myself.
The finished watercolor piece that is now hanging in my mom’s bedroom 🙂

This piece is from October 2019. I made it for my mom in celebration of her 22 years of sobriety on November 19th 2019 🙂 She loves burgundy and silver so I knew I had to incorporate those somehow. I used primarily watercolor but the silver was done with gel pen.

24 Steps

~ Ari October ~ 3 Comments
two black white and gold mandalas
two framed mandalas side by side.
My first works to ever be hung in a public establishment!

I owe my life to the 12 step programs. These mandalas were gifted to the recovery club where I began my journey to a new way of life without the use of recreational drugs.

My art cannot be divorced from my journey through addiction and recovery, which is one of the reasons I maintain anonymity by using the name Ari October.

I understand that AA and NA are not for everyone, but if you struggle with addiction yourself I hope you find something that does work for you so that you may lead a life free from compulsive addictive behavior!