Inktober was started in 2009 by Jake Parker as a prompt to improve his inking skills and develop better drawing habits. Practise.

The rules he made are simple. An inked drawing each day, or whatever interval you set throughout October. That’s it. Creating a prompt for mindful repetition so as to get better at something.

This year I decided to have a go. I wanted to escape from my usual digital ways of working and the ever ready wonderful escape of the Command and Z keys. If only that undo was available in real life.

As an extra challenge I used hand made unsized paper with bits of plant in it. In comparison to digital (and even to watercolour board) this is like running over mountains in a rain-storm versus a running machine in a cosy gym – I now know.

Practise.

It’s practise. And in any practise making it difficult can make it more rewarding – if you’re overcoming the difficulties.

One interesting outcome I found is that I get two images. One when the paper is soaking wet (it acts like a sponge – and the washes spread over time – what fun :\’) And another, lighter image, when the paper dries.

Peeling wet paper off the scanner is another story.

I also decided not to be self judgemental. Otherwise the ever judging ‘fear of failure’ would sneakily undermine my resolve and at the end of a month I’d be wondering why I’d done so few.

So if you think some of the drawings are crap. Too bad.

Capitalism.

The desire by Monsanto to freely deploy its weed killer ‘Dicamba’ that only its patented and GM modified food plants are immune from. Who’s the biggest beneficiary – over time?

Refugees and Borders.

Australia has this Manus Island where refugees are not getting very good treatment . If you consider that Australia was once an island where the British didn’t give their exiled troublemakers a very good time either. One wonders about history and if borders only exist to give the powerful a ‘pond’ they can be big in rather than swim in the world with the rest of us. Eaten Fish is one of the refugees who is a focus for the issue.

The Pangolin.

I was asked by one of my students one day what my favourite animal was. I scrabbled for an unusual answer and out popped Pangolin.  Which has always fascinated me. However I didn’t know much about them so I looked them up. It is the most illegally trafficked mammal (now dead of course – easier to transport) of all endangered animals. On the endangered list.

This led me to the even more massive list of recently extinct and endangered animals around the world. And for long I chose the Gharial which has had enormous effort put in to save it but has had little effect. People (that’s us) still want what we want short term and see it more valuable than nature. Business accountants think on too – you never ever ever have taken all factors into your reckonings.

Cuttling My Dirk.

It was getting late on day 6 and I cheated by reworking an idea I had used for one of my Scottish Words ‘cuttling my dirk‘ and turned it into this ‘song of the sword and two fingers aria’.

An Oldie but Goldie.

An old one but a gold one for shy. There is a word prompt for each day of inktober, their use is strictly optional. I’m using them as you can see.