Approaching Inktober + Traditional Inking and Other Things
- GenreChowderStudios
- Sep 23, 2017
- 4 min read
This'll be the first Inktober I've been able to participate in, God willing. So to get ready, I bought some new supplies, chiefly things for highlights, and tested them out.
The tools at hand are as follows: Sakura ink pens (black and red), a white gel pen, a white charcoal pencil, a Copic marker, and a Prismacolor Premier marker. (That last one is basically a cheaper alternative to Copics.) I did a few more things on this page, but these were the more interesting tests. Mainly did these to learn/remind myself how all these things interact with each other and how I may use them during Inktober.
How I've missed this. I haven't a camera, so I can't record much traditional work without one of those. Plus I have no place to perch a phone or iPad to record. But I would certainly love to do traditional inking on camera. Inking with a pen to paper is just delightful. And as far as I'm concerned, I'm so much better at traditional than digital. Aggghhhh... Should I get a proper camera and tripod or a place to put my iPad, I would love to incorporate traditional drawings into the video content I produce.
In reference to Inktober, its founder, as well as many participants, make lists for themselves. Prompts for what they're doing each day. I might do that myself. Not all of the "official" prompts interest me, but a lot of them do. And I certainly don't want to come up with a whole 31 on my own. Appropriating a handful of them and setting them up with some of my own creation sounds like a more fun venture than going full throttle in a singular direction. Hopefully, I'll come up with one, and then maybe I can share it.
Oh yeah, I changed Jay's hair. I feel like I subconsciously prefer the old one, but there was a problem with it I just couldn't shake. It was deceptively complicated. Not overly so, but more than you'd think. The biggest gripe I had was that I could never figure out how her bangs worked from different angles. Moreover, she is Black British (apparently, it's not Afro-British like I thought it was, unless it also is...), so I wanted to give her afro-textured hair. I really like this one, though. It's more appropriate to her design of friendly circles, and it's so much faster, easier, and more fun to draw. I kept those cinnabon hair things over her ears. They're just too Jay to drop.
In other news~
One thing I've more or less neglected, as I'm sure many cartoonists have early on, is background design. More specifically, props, backdrops, and such. The place where I put my characters, despite being one of the most important element for setting the atmosphere of the story, is hardly in development. During this quasi-break, I want to begin to remedy this.
I've been collecting prop sketches and illustrations on Pinterest for some time. The same with mid-century cartoon backgrounds. Not only do I simply find them aesthetically pleasing, they are quite similar to what I want for my own work. They are well worth the time for studying. In addition, the different factions are based on different eras of 20th century Americana, so a radio in one faction won't look the same in the other ones. The same can be said for the color schemes. Hopefully, I will have the chance to share my progress. It's often more helpful to see someone's works in progress than to just see the finished product.
Here's the "Prop Sketches" board, which may or may not have some prop illustrations in there, but whatever.
And here's the "Cartoon Background" board. Lovely retro stuff.
In even more other news~
I've been wanting to give my social medias a face lift for quite a bit. Not the color scheme, that's fine. I mean newer avatars, banners, and the like. I'm probably better off using recent art and maybe some stuff I'm working on. My initial worry was (and is) that any banner would be too busy. And if it were not too busy, I'd have a picture I liked but wasn't online yet, and then someone would see it in a banner but not any of my videos and think "What the heck? Liar!" Yes, kind of stupid, but you'd be amazed at the stupid things that go through your head when you want to change a public thing.
Also in the other news~
A day or so ago, I ordered a new art desk thing. One of those easel things that can be adjusted so you can draw at an angle. Then I hope to get a desk to set it on. I'd love to have them by the start of Inktober. Either way, hopefully, I'll be able to improve my output and physical health (to a degree) when I'm able to sit with proper posture at a proper desk. My back will thank me in the future.
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