Inktober 2019: day 31 - mapping pen and ink wash

The Mirror Twins and their friend wish you a happy Hallowe’en! Be careful who you greet after dark.

I posted a terrible, late-night photo of this on twitter just to prove I finished it on time, because it was so close to midnight!

Inktober 2019: day 27 - fineliners and grey pens

I was handing out minicomics featuring Patience at MCM, so I thought she could join in Inktober too! She’s the last character I can think of for the ‘girls looking straight ahead’ set, so I’ll have to come up with something else to do on busy days next year.

Inktober 2019: day 26 - G-pen

Poppet’s friend found a smashed up breakfast bar, and it was far too big to eat alone.

This was much simpler in my head than it was to draw! Poppet and her friends are very easy to draw, but I didn’t factor in having to draw the breakfast bar and figure out how to position them all.

Inktober 2019: day 25 - ink and water

She emerged unharmed from a deadly house fire, and now when she touches objects they ignite.

This is the same girl from day 21, somewhat earlier in life. By the time she’s employed as a servant she’s learned to control whatever is happening to her, but at first she would leave charred footprints everywhere she went.

I was tabling at London MCM from the 25th to the 27th, so I tried to keep them simple for those three days.

Inktober 2019: day 20 - mapping pen

It’s not clear to anyone why Coda attracts so many butterflies.

I went for something simple again because I’m tabling at London MCM this weekend and I’m starting to panic a little bit!

Inktober 2019: day 18 - fineliners and ink wash

Jessie can summon lightning even on a clear day.

I spent a good 20 minutes just staring at my sketchbook drawing a total blank on ideas, so in the end I decided to extend the ‘girls looking straight forward’ set from last year. Maybe I’ll do a few more?

Inktober 2019: day 12 - brush inking and coloured ink

The way Nettle’s hair waves around when she uses her powers is a sign of poor control.

I wanted to practice using those rigger brushes a bit more, so I drew something pretty simple. They’re so hard to control! You can get more ink in them at once without losing the fine tip though.

Inktober 2019: day 9 - dip pen and ink wash

The Mirror Twins have spotted a potential new friend.

I’m getting really tired so I tried to keep this one simple, but it actually took longer than yesterday’s picture!

Inktober 2018 : Happy Hallowe'en!

Happy Hallowe’en! The Mirror Twins are looking for some new friends, if you’d like to join them.

No Tabitha this year! I had so many Tabitha pictures that I recently made them into a set of postcards, so I thought it was time to try something different. I don’t think I’ve ever tried ink wash over hatching like this before, so maybe this will be my next Hallowe’en tradition?

Inktober 2018 : Day 28 - fineliners and grey pen

Here’s a Sweetpea to match Coriander from day 3! I normally try to avoid doing so many dolly style pictures in a row, but I was too tired for anything more complicated. MCM has insane opening hours these days, it even opens at 9am on the Sunday! Opening before 10 o'clock on a Sunday is just unnatural.

Inktober 2018 : Day 27 - Pentel Pocket Brush and ink wash

One more for the ‘girls looking straight at the camera’ set! It was hard inking the Mirror Girl with such a thick pen, but it was one of the only ones I hadn’t used yet for this set.

You can tell I was at MCM this weekend because all the pictures become extremely simple.

Inktober 2018 : Day 23 - fineliners and felt tip pen

I usually try to avoid using the same medium two days in a row, but yesterday’s fineliners were plastic nibs and these are normal fibre nibs, so it’s okay, right?

I think I have one more character I can draw for this set, as long as I can think of another way to ink her.

Inktober 2018 : Day 22 - plastic nib fineliners

May-Lee has spent so long being told to do painful or uncomfortable things, she no longer thinks to stop herself getting wet or cold.

I had a long day at work, so I’m adding another one to my ‘oops I drew another girl looking straight ahead’ set. I wonder how many of these I can do before I run out of appropriate characters or different ways of inking?

Inktober 2018 : Day 20 - G-pen and brush pen

I did two pieces with this composition by accident, so I decided to keep going and make a set. I wonder how many more I can do before I run out of suitable characters?

Inktober 2018 : Day 18 - grey and black fude pen

I’m really pleased with this one, but I might re-draw it later. I made a couple of small mistakes that are bothering me more than usual because I’m so proud of the concept. It’s partly because I used my fude pen when I shouldn’t have, but I realised I could do the whole thing with just that one pen so I wanted to try it! Ah well, I can do another pass some other time.

Inktober 2018 : Day 16 - ink and water

Lena sometimes doesn't remember her prophesies if nobody was around to hear.

Inktober 2018 : Day 4 - G-pen (and brush pen)

(I used a brush pen to fill in the black areas.)

I have now come down with a horrible cold, so I thought the Mirror Twins would be nice and easy to draw, but I was sneezing so much that every line was a battle!

Inktober 2018 : Day 3 - fineliners and grey pens

I drew Sweetpea this way last year, so here is his best friend; Coriander! She belongs to a holly tree that grows right next to his oak, so they see each other every day. As an evergreen, her ear frills don't fall off like his do, but she does sometimes grow berries under them.

Inktober 2017 - Happy Hallowe'en!

Day 31 : brush inking and coloured ink

It's that time again! Tabitha and her coven are busily preparing for All Hallows Eve, when many spirits roam the village and magic is at its strongest.

In Tabitha's village some people still carve traditional turnip lanterns, while others have swapped to the new imported pumpkins, but this year her job is just to ensure they're all lit before sunset.

Happy Hallowe'en!

Part 1, Bonus Picture, Part 2, Part 3

Inktober 2017 - Part 3

Day 21 : fineliners and felt tip pens - Eventually the school agreed that Nettle should just sit out of P.E. lessons.

Day 22 : mapping pen and brush pen - "It followed us home, can we keep it?"

I was hoping for this one to have a more scary feel, but the Mirror Twins seem to be too cute and are taking away from the horror of the black dog. I'm pleased with the composition though.

Day 23 : G-pen - Tree fairies of his type don't usually venture very far from their home tree, so Sweetpea has never seen a sweet chestnut before.

Day 24 : brush inking and coloured ink - I regretted not using coloured ink for the flames on day 1 every time I opened the sketchbook, so I finally relented and did a new version of the same concept, this time with coloured ink.

Day 25 : cartridge pen - Lottie is fairly sure she shouldn't talk to the Crow Boy, but she doesn't really want him to leave either.

Day 26 : mapping pen - Sweetpea's ear frills, like the leaves on his tree, turn brown and fall off in Autumn. Also like the leaves on his tree, they tend not to go at the same time.

Day 27 : fineliners and grey pens - The next three were all done while helping Sammy at MCM! It's very hard to find time to do anything else while at a convention, so I feel quite proud of myself for not falling behind. While we were on a bus Sammy requested some more pictures of Poppet's friends, 'with a musical instrument', so here are the two we didn't see in the teacup picture earlier.

Day 28 : brush pen and ink wash - Louise's house also plays host to a slightly alarming type of house fairy called Lob-Lie-By-The-Fire. He looks a little more frightening than most house fairies, but he just wants to sit by your fire and help with the washing up.

I still can't quite believe I managed to do this one after spending 9 hours selling comics in a packed convention hall, and a further 45 minutes on a bus.

Day 29 : fineliners and felt tip pens - I caught con lurgy so this was one of the hardest ones to do all month, I felt dreadful while I was drawing it! It's also very hard to draw when one has to stop every 5 seconds to blow one's nose. Still, it looks pretty good I think.

Leilus has a lot of features he could choose as his 'I am a demon' warning sign, but the tongue is the obvious best choice because it can be hidden inside his mouth. The stereotypical spaded tail would probably be the worst.

Day 30 : ink and water - Well, it seems I finally ran out of steam and had to settle for one that I really wasn't happy with. I wanted to draw Nat one more time because it was the last day, but I was still ill and didn't have the brain power to get him on model or work out a good composition. I probably should have used a different pen too, but I'd hardly used ink and water at all! I should have been sensible and opted for something with less risk, but these are the lessons we learn in Inktober.

One of the reasons Nat keeps his hair so long is that it's usefully prehensile.

Just a Hallowe'en picture still to come!

Part 1, Bonus Picture, Part 2, Hallowe'en