Looking back on Inktober 2016

I was determined to complete at least half the list, but I delivered only one weeks worth of pictures over a period of two weeks. The problem was that I didn't work on them during the weekends, but I should have tried. Another problem was, that each character required at least a two hours session of research and designing, but not every day allowed me the same amount of time to invest into that. One could make a variable list of characters, so that I could choose an easy character on busier days, and the harder characters on free days.

Although it might seem like a fail for this challenge, I still learned a few things about my skills and about the fantasy genre.

• I have a better idea of how heavy armor and leather equipment looks like. 
• Playing around with clothes patterns showed me that I really need a back log, like a vocabulary of patterns, constantly growing in order to be able to pull off quickly new types of fantasy armor.
• I need to absolutely train more drawing poses and bodies. This exercise typically gets least attention, but is the base element that decides whether you are master at your art or an amateur.

 Hope this little diary during inktober was interesting for you, and that you can pick out one or the the other tip for your next challenge.

Thanks for reading

Here is the overview of the pictures I managed for Inktober 2016.

Necromancer Gnom and Wizard Dwarf

Necromancer Gnom

I started researching on Warlock and read that they choose a patron and they make pacts to use the power. When I started drawing I took a very dark turn, imagining him summoning creatures, but I think that was a wrong take. The results shows that I draw a typical necromancer, somewhat creepy and surrounded by death. So day 11 is not a warlock, as promised in my list.

#day11 #inktober #inktober2016 @jakeparker @inktober #DnD #DnDclasses #necromancer #necromancergnom #gnom

Wizard Dwarf

I was very much looking forward to draw a female dwarf. It is rather easy to draw a male one, just give him lots of beard and plates, and so it was a challenge to figure out the right strong stature of a dwarf and give her the nice curves that she deserves. Also challenging was to keep her look strong, but not like a fighter, which I feel is a typical class for dwarfs due to their strength.

Dress

I brainstormed some dressing gown models trying to figure out which one looks feminine but not sexy. I didn't want to put her in a costume that you would expect on an elf, but she shouldn't be completely covered up, like a dwarf has nothing to show. With that I went for a generous cleavage. The pattern on the dress has of course to be celtic style.

#day12 #inktober #inktober2016 @jakeparker @inktober #DnD #DnDclasses #wizard #wizarddwarf #dwarf #femaledwarf

Inktober 2016 week 2

Viewing back on the first week I am satisfied with the artwork I have done. The organization, however, was not optimal and I am still missing the first three days. Keeping up with the list is going well. Some days I have to do more research than on the other days. There are classes which I feel comfortable with, mostly the ones with cloth and leather armor. All the heavy armor and weapon classes are totally out of my comfort zone and I have to learn a lot before I can even start with a sketch. The easier days do feel like having little breaks in between which keeps me motivated.

The list for the second quarter of Inktober is:

1. Ranger Elf (f)
2. Rouge Gnom (m)
3. Sorcerer Human (f)
4. Warlock Necromancer Gnom (m)
5. Wizzard Dwarf (f)
6. Shaman Half-orc (m)
7. Necromancer Warlock Halfling (f)

The first two ones were actually prepared on Monday. I have troubles to catch some free time during the weekend. It is a bit difficult to squeeze in drawing time, when all the other stuff that is piling up during the week (mundane housework) or visiting people finally gets some attention. I don't know yet how to fix this problem, and doing two pictures in a day is too much work with all the research included.

I have prepared a warlock gnome, but will probably jump over the sorcerer and continue directly with the wizard tomorrow.

Ranger Elf

Ranger are in nature by wind and weather, have a proficient knowledge of the animals and are skilled in surviving outdoors. I thought it would be cool to have a snowy scene so I can give her a cool fur coat. As an animal companion I gave her a badger.

Bags and pouches
I wanted to give the ranger lots of bags and pouches to carry on the belt, chest and back. The research for medieval bags was great and I found some really nice pieces I would even like to have myself. But at the end I did not have enough space to draw all of them, the picture is quite small. It would have probably also taken far too long.

#day8 #inktober #inktober2016 @jakeparker @inktober #DnD #DnDclasses #ranger #rangerelf #elf

Paladin Half-Ork

With the Paladin class for day 7, I got my second chance to make a metal armor, and it should be an epic one! Paladins are about aura of God, honor, and heroic fighters, and inspired by eagle, phoenix, and feathers. As a contrast this paladin is a half-orc, a creature with barbaric features of an orc, but figure and intelligence of a human.

Race
The ork is about 180-210 cm tall and bulky, however agile like a human. I researched for faces to find the best features. I think a stubby nose and some fine facial lines are the best mix.

 

Pose
There are many possible poses, all showing a proud and honorable paladin posing in front of the camera. I mean the painter. I found it a bit silly that all of them look like conqueror epic paintings, so I wanted one that looks calm and like standing guard. When I started with the sketch I decided to work out the complete body first, with all the muscles before designing the armor. None of the muscles will be seen, and I normally don't draw the full body as I always pity to have to erase everything again. But I really wanted to be sure that the body looks alright and the muscles take up the correct volume before drawing an epic armor, and that was more important.

Full body model of half-orc before armor

Armor
I researched more careful and longer than I did for the previous fighter (fighter dwarf in my blog), as I needed the information about the build up and appropriate pattern. Most difficult was to figure out how the joints (elbow and knee) are covered and protected, and still mobile. I collected a few examples through my research and copied them. Have a look for cauter, the elbow protector, there have been some really bizarre shapes around in past centuries.

A great collection is for example here:www.medievalwarfare

Plan for the armor of the paladin

 

What I learned from the previous ink drawings

In all of the previous drawings, I started with the face and head, and work down towards feet. And in all of them you can see the quality decreasing towards the feet. I was either getting tired, or uninterested, or the research was missing.

This time, I started designing all the "uninterested" parts first. I sketched the boots and the knees covers (poleyns) and invented a pattern to fit best for them. Then I moved on onto gauntlets and the cauter. For both I wanted the pattern to be phoenix inspired art-deco style with medieval elements.The sketching and researching took a good couple of hours.

When I started with the actual drawing, ( I had the sketch of head and full naked body now) I started with the part that isn't covered by anything. My idea was that the part that sticks out into the camera gets my first attention. Also, most probably the pattern is fully visible and I should be fresh and concentrated. So, I started with the gauntlets, then pauldron, then boots, and so on. Looking back I think that saved me from the mistake I did earlier, that I am too tired. I did the less detailed pieces last, when my energy was dropping. I kept the same order when I refined the sketch with a thicker pencil, and when i started the ink drawing with a fine liner.

final picture

#day7 #inktober #inktober2016 @jakeparker @inktober #DnD #DnDclasses #paladin #paladinhalforc #halforc

Monk Human

Day 6 is a female monk human and I really enjoyed this one. I have strong preferences and visions how a spiritual fighter should look like and that made it easier to choose a wardrobe and pose. I could have used this opportunity to develop a new style and get out of my comfort zone, but the list of classes repeats towards the end of Inktober, and I will use the chance later.

D&D description for weapons mentions a lot of martial art weapons (kama, nunchaku, sai, shuriken, siangha) and I would have picked up the nunchakus, but I decided for a meditative pose and gave her only a mystical role holder.

During my research for clothes I found that all D&D monks have an Asian touch, probably because christian monks are not know for fighting, and so I went in the same direction. I took elements I know from Mangas, which influenced my drawing style a lot when I was a teenager. It felt very comfortable to draw her, like revisiting an old school.

#day6 #inktober #inktober2016 @jakeparker @inktober #DnD #DnDclasses #monk #monkhuman #femalemonk

Fighter dwarf

Next on the list is a fighter dwarf and I started the work by researching for weapons and armor. The class is described to be able to handle all weapons, shields, and armors. On the one hand the full freedom to choose is nice, but because I am not very experienced with armor, I decided to do some simpler styles.

Armor
I prefer armor to look functional, and not only for show. This includes that the joints and binding has to make sense and that the shape is possible to be forged. Some research was quickly done and I decided for a scaled shoulder plate (gardbrace), a one piece chest piece (cuirass) with back piece, and pieces to protect the front waist and hips (faulds).

Pose
It should be an attack pose with an axe and I had to find out that there is not much reference on the internet. So, developing the right pose in the perspective I wanted took very long time. I found some  pictures and trained sketching them in order to understand the position of the arms and the view on the axe, and I have one of those wooden dolls with movable joints. However, bringing everything to dwarf size did not work out completely

Preparation for the inktober drawing. On the left hand side are some notes about the D&D class and a few scribbles of armor. On the right hand side is the study of the pose with the axe.

Altogether, it was pretty difficult to get the drawing correct and I will need more time to practice not only fighter poses, but especially different armor and weapons.

#day5 #inktober #inktober2016 @Jackeparker @inktober #DnD #DnDclasses #figher #fighterdwarf #dwarf

Inktober 2016 week 1

I am participating this year's Inktober challenge.

Last year was my first time and it was quite a struggle to come up with a new picture each day. I figured out it would be easier to have a prompt list this year and as I wanted to also use this time to grow my portfolio in a more serious fantasy direction, I decided to draw D&D classes.

The list for the first quarter is

1. Barbarian human (m) 
2. Bard halfling (f) 
3. Cleric human (m) 
4. Druid elf (f) 
5. Fighter dwarf (m) 
6. Monk human (f) 
7. Paladin half-orc (m)

As I am starting just today, I am jumping straight to number 4 and will catch up 1-3 during this week. This way I won't feel I can't catch up the delay, and the list number will fit with the date number.

Druid elf (f)

I find deer horns and fur very fitting for a class that is connected to nature, although I have my doubts about how animal friendly this really is. I just suppose the druid got it as presents from nature through his offerings and services. The armor is minor or missing, her having only bracer made of leather. This way she is lighter, but still has some basic protections. The weapons she carries are a sickle, a typical druid tool, and a hidden scimitar on her right hip. With avoiding armor and weapons showing her bag where she just placing some herbs, I am focusing on the gentle and pacific elements of the druids, like the teaching in herbal and medicine, and talking to showing her bag where she just placing some herbs.

#day4 #inktober #inktober2016 @Jackeparker @inktober #D&D #D&Dclasses #druid #druidelf #elf #femaleelf #femaledruid

Daily sketches

Good or bad? It is the balance. Sometimes you need to get into painting mode and sketching warms you up. Sometimes you need to finish that piece from yesterday and sketching is just a procastination. 

I have lots of unfinished pics because the energy goes into the outputting ideas process, and nothing remains for the phase where i would go into details and finish it off. I feel always like not gaving tome to go deeper into work. I am jumping around between my parttime jobs. 

The challenge with colours is a nice one, and it inspires me. The challenges with sketches tires me out. 

Hastags on Instagram - an exercise

I posted the advert image for the MAEZA magazine and prepared a lot of hashtags, and mentioned the artists from one of our articles. Hastaging and connecting to other people is one of the advices given by Sue Zimmerman, the instagram expert, and Ashely Aiko keeps telling me. I didn't really believe it, until I found that within half'n hour I had 15 likes, and growing, for this one advert image. It is not just the largest number so far, it is was incredibly fast! It is the hashtags! A fellow arist Johanna Fritz followed Sue's advise earlier when she started her new community and business Fritzi.Flock. She reach over 1k followers within one month. That sound brilliant!

About the hashtags - people with similar interest will more likely find your art when searching for new pictures and inspiration or people to follow. Instagram has a sort of newsfeed that is individualised to your interesstes. E.g. with #ink I got some tatooarts to see me, with #pencil I got people making portraits in pencil. With #illustration I got some companies, which is super important. And so on... it totally really depends on the community connected to a hashtag and I will research more on this to find the right # for the right audience.

About the linking artist via @ - With the magazine I feel more comfortable approach artists, because I have something to talk about. Linking the artist when writing an article about them makes totally sence for me and I want to keep doing this. I also like to link artist when they inspired me. This is a personal connection :-) and I will do a bit more of this. No more being shy! (Thank you Ashley for the advice <3 )

A conclusion on loosing likes on my FB and Instagram

I first build up a group of followers on facebook. I posted every two weeks and tried to show my best work. They liked it and were ready to klick on like for each one. 

Then i started Instagram, where i wanted to cultivate a constant output. But i was swept away by the amount of post from other people... So I posted anything, even unfinished sketches, just bcs all the other artist are posting sketches. But they had their propper art out there and people wanted to see the " before" art. 

It was pressure and feeling sorry for my facebook account, that i then started sending instagram updates to the facebook account. I thought, i should have consistent output on each platform, each platform should have the same pictures, so every follower is equal to each other. 

Well that backfired... These medias behave different which also depends on the type of followers you acquired in the first place. It depends on how YOU want to use the platforms. 

 I analyse

With my FB account, I started to show my friends what i do and wanted to get me used to interact with public. There were finished pictures and the people cared to read my little story around it. When the sketches started, they did not react. I can assume that either it is not wowing them, that it might be too often, or that they are simply waiting for the finished piece to come, but i did not do my job of delivering the finished picture.

 I wanted my instagrm account to be a stream of daily life as illustrator.  ideas. It should be a collection where i can look back each week and find out how much i did. This idea never got through... I never looked back, and was only counting the likes... I started sharing on facebook and thought the likes would fly to me. 

Facit: define how you want to use your account and stick to it. Make changes, if required and communicate it to your crowd. Very important: they don't have to like your stuff and it is courtesy and respect that you show for your readers by communicating with them. 

My Facit: first work then public. Always make sure you keep your high quality!

P.s. Looking how other, established arist do it, i found some ofthem  post exactely the same picture on aaaaall platforms. I didnt think about it deeper and followed their example. But they posted finished work, or pretty things, and moreover were consistent in quality, as well as consistent in the use of the platforms. I changed what i post, why i post and where i post.