Inktober 2019 Retrospective | Day 31: Pour

I'd mentioned that the pictures got better when I was almost done with the Inktober event. My photo-editing, and by extension, my photography, improved as well. So you know... For the two people who were still hanging around, they can appreciate it.

Certainly vying for my favorite piece. Though when I originally created the dot pattern, I thought it sort of ruined the picture, because it wasn't perfectly spaced or even that consistent in appearance. Looking at it a bit later, I'd decided it added to the charm, the hand-drawn charm, of the piece. Looking at it now, I think it's not as bad as I originally thought but it's not charming or whatever. It's just kinda there. In my mind, it is, in fact, an apron with polka dots that's lighter than their background. This representation is mainly for value contrast.

There is a very faint outline where the kid's legs should be. His shadow is partially hidden behind where his feet touch the ground. The intent is that he's being "revealed" in a sense, so there needs to be an indication of where he is. A subtle indication, but it has to be there. Otherwise, it would look like he's being poured out of the kettle as if he weren't there to begin with. Not only is there the leg outline and blocked shadow, there's ink running down one of the aforementioned legs and a dollop of ink on the opposite foot.

Kid was also meant to have freckles, but they would likely just clutter his face. There's still the ghost of the pencils just visible, but it wasn't inked. Now that I think about it, it would have echoed the polka dots on his mother's(?) apron. Plus, I've seen a lot of 50s illustrations of kids with freckles, so that would have been a more complete throwback. Wouldn't have been the best artistic choice for this piece, though.

This is begging for a digital remake. It'd be lovely with color holds and a limited color scheme. That being said, this here is one of the best traditional pieces I've ever done, I'm proud of it, and I'm happy to have had whoever's reading this along for this retrospective. 'Cause man, am I glad this thing is finished.

Thanks for reading~

#inktober #ink #retro