INKtober, Day 23!

The Black Mass
9 x 12 quill pen / brush and ink on smooth bristol

Outlining with my pelican quill pen.

Paranoid inked with my crow quill pen.

The Black Mass is one of Paranoid's early hallucinations. It appears only a few times, but it's a fun thing to write - and especially draw. After inking Chestan and Fieran, I wanted to create a much looser piece. This was the perfect transition.

INKtober, Day 22!

Chestan and Fieran Crufts
9 x 12 pen and ink / brush and ink on smooth bristol

I go through lots of off sketches before I find workable versions.

Chestan and Fieran Crufts work together to rescue and shelter stray and abused pets in Brainsick. Their parents run a foster animal program in their home - but Mr. and Mrs. Crufts have been missing for a few months. Their names are pronounced "KESS'tin" and "FAY'rin."

Ches and Fey joined my core cast in early high school. They've undergone vast improvements in terms of their written lives: running the foster program, finishing their junior year of high school, and not knowing where their parents have gone to wear heavily on them both.

This is probably the best representation of these two I've drawn to date. Granted, I need to pick up figure drawing again, but I think their personalities show pretty well. Chestan is supposed to look like a film noir extra, whereas Fieran is colored like a carnival. (A colored version would show this much better, of course.) Ches doesn't smile much, but Fey can get him to half-smile every now and then. She's usually all smiles. Ches is tall, spidery, and angular; Fey is short, stocky, and rounded.

INKtober, Day 21!

Magical Shenanigans
6 x 8 technical pen on mixed media paper

This is what I draw when I ask friends "What should I draw for INKtober tonight?" (Courtesy Camille and Grace!)

INKtober, Day 20!

Rant and His Birds
9 x 12 pen and ink / brush and ink on smooth bristol

Tracing paper draft from January.

Revised draft using references to tie down shapes and details.

Pencil draft done in Staedtler Mars Lumograph HB.

I used five different nibs to ink this piece.

Rant is fun to write, but I don't draw him often enough. He's one of Brainsick's protagonists, along with Char the raven and Celeste the barn owl. Rant is an English emigrant of Greek descent, deemed "eccentric but harmless" by locals.

This is one of those pieces where I began happy with its progress, grew unsatisfied, and ended up happy with it again. None of my INKtober pieces is perfect, so there is no point in fretting over them. I hopped on the project to have fun and learn - and I'm still learning and having fun! I can't believe October is already ending in ten days.

I'll test colors on this piece in Photoshop at some point.

INKtober, Day 19!

Walter the Angry Hummingbird
9 x 12 brush and ink on smooth bristol

Walter popped into my head mid-way through college. He needs to be animated.

INKtober, Day 18!

Break or Bend: Lily vs. DECAY
9 x 12 technical pen on stipple paper

Sketchbook studies with the chorus to Assemblage 23's "Coward."
I love Decay's pose; it will be saved for a future piece.

Revised sketchbook study done in Col-Erase.

Lily's markings done with #00 Rapidograph.

Decay's markings scribbled in with #2 and #1 Rapidographs.

INKtober, Day 17!

Zouelram Ersphe
9 x 12 brush and ink on Canson Montval watercolor paper

Sketchbook page from Creatura 2 (December 8, 2011).

Quick studies created to push the pose.

Tracing paper draft from bottom-left of sketchbook page.

I used a mirror and my own hand as reference for this hand.

Zouelram Ersphe ("soul shepherd"), or Ersphe, is one of Uyné's siblings. Its task is to capture the souls of the wicked so that Uyné may devour them. Ersphe wears a mask in place of the face it lost the day Uyné was poisoned. Typical fantasy head-world shenanigans.

I haven't drawn Ersphe in ages; this was a fun piece! I will return at some point to add shadows, but until then - onward!

Another piece inked with the E85 brush: BRAINSICK: Jessie's pic, progress photos!

INKtober, Day 16!

Pack Invitation
9 x 12 pen and ink on smooth bristol

Sketchbook pages: November 7, 2012 (left) and October 16, 2013 (right).

I changed the position of Bobbin's tail for a better silhouette.

Inked with a Hunt 102 nib.

Bobbin Elwick and his wolf-dog, Griff, are encouraged to join a pack to better their chances of survival. Griff is a big girl, but Bobbin raised her from a pup and considers her his best friend. He will do anything to protect her, and vice versa.

I'm leaving this piece as lineart for the time being. I'll make tonal studies in Photoshop before venturing forth with shadows.