Inktober 2016 - Part 1

It's Inktober again! Here are my first 10 pictures from this year. I'm often tired from work so we're a little short on backgrounds so far, maybe I can make up the gap later in the month.

Day 1 - mapping pen : It's still not a good idea to take fruit from fairies, even ones who go to your school.

Day 2 - brush inking and ink wash : Spider's parents didn't do a great job of dealing with his seemingly ever-increasing psychic powers, but in their defence I don't think I'd handle this very well either.

Day 3 - cartridge pen : Vekh, if you keep saying things like "Oh Meruch, you're... so strong" he's going to start refusing to carry you. I made a bad choice of pen for this one, my cartridge pen ink looks very different to my other pens so I have to use it for the whole picture, and it took forever to fill in the black areas with such a fine nib!

Day 4 - brush pen : It's not a good day for Nettle. (This is probably the pen I should have used for the previous one.)

Day 5 - gel pen : Lena is dowsing for a lost object, probably her brother's house keys.

Day 6 - g-pen and markers : Psychics are generally more dangerous as children than as adults.

Day 7 - fineliners and grey pen : Isaac would make a good guardian angel for a goth child who likes things creepy, always assuming he is an angel.

Day 8 - g-pen : It says something about Spider's personality that he can be so happy about bending that one spoon when Nettle is levitating him, herself and probably half the house without even really trying. I think I've drawn a variation of this picture for the last 3 Inktobers in a row, it's probably fine as long as I keep using different pens, right?

Day 9 - ink and water : I've used surprisingly little ink and water so far this year. Louise likes the rain, but I've never tried to get a rain effect in this technique before so I don't know how happy she'll be with that view.

Day 10 - mapping pen : Lottie lives in a cold place, but her adoptive parents buy her lots of fashionable fur-trimmed coats.

Part 2, Part 3, Hallowe'en

Pokémon Series: #039 - 040

 It's the balloon pokémon, Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff! These little puffballs are probably most famous for singing, but that's hard to convey in a single still image so I decided to focus in their ability to inflate their bodies and float on the breeze.

I'd never noticed before, but all the pokémon that evolve using a Moon Stone are right next to each other in the pokédex. It's only Vulpix and Ninetales stopping them from being completely consecutive.

Jigglypuff has already been reserved by a dedicated fan of these little puffballs, but Wigglytuff is still for sale in my online shop!

Pokémon Series: #037 - 038

Here's another two favourites, Vulpix and Ninetales! They gave me a lot of trouble at more or less every stage, but I'm pleased with the finished paintings. I dithered for a long time about whether the flames should be blue or red, red would be more accurate to both the games and the cartoon, but they're clearly based on the Kitsune legend and 'foxfire' of that sort is blue. In the end I couldn't resist the more mystical look of the blue flames.

These ghostly little foxes are available to buy in my online shop!

Pokémon Series: #035 - 036

Here's some rare pokémon, Clefairy and Clefable! They're both the first nocturnal pokémon and the first fairy types I've reached in this challenge. Not that they were 'fairy' types back in gen 1, since it was introduced in... gen 3 I believe. They're normal types in the older games.

I discovered while looking up their traits for the pictures that Clefable can walk on water!

These cute little weirdos are available to buy in my online shop!

Pokémon Series: #032 - 034

Here's the other side of those poisonous bunnies, the male Nidoran line. I remember being torn as a child between the two. On one hand, the female line has my natural loyalty as a girl and they are blue, which I liked a good deal more than pink. On the other hand, the male Nidoran has much bigger, cuter ears and learns Horn Attack. But then again, Nidoking is much uglier than Nidoqueen. Nidorino is fine because he reminds me of a prehistoric hoofed predator. It's a dilemma.

The original miniatures are up for sale in my shop!

Fret

I recently got a job at the Barnes Library at the University of Birmingham, working in the evenings. It's incredibly quiet at this time of year, and much to my surprise I'm actually allowed to bring a book or draw to pass the time! I'm used to retail jobs where doing anything non-work-related is strictly verboten no matter how quiet the shop is.

So here's a nice pencil drawing of Fret, the product of sitting at the library counter with nothing much to do. (I'm sure it'll pick up in Autumn with the new intake though.)

I'd like to do a painting of Fret soon, now that I've worked out his design properly. I'm fairly often guilty of designing characters in colour, and then only drawing them in black and white.

Pokémon Series: #029 - 031

 How about some poison bunnies? I remember always being reluctant to evolve my Nidoran because I wanted it to stay cute and rabbit-like, but now I'm quite fond of Nidorina's design. Nidoqueen is a little confusing (I caught a rabbit and now it's a... dinosaur?) but she's pretty tough so I think we can get along.

These three miniatures are available to buy in my online shop!

Pokémon Series: #027 - 028

 Here's two of my favourites, and finally a blue version-exclusive, Sandshrew and Sandslash! Their move sets are a little boring in the game (I don't think they even learn any ground-type moves despite being ground-type pokémon, it's all Scratch and Slash and such) but I loved them anyway because they're like cute little armadillos with knives for hands. What's not to like?

These little ones are available to buy in my shop as usual!

Pokémon Series: #025 - 026

Oh gaw, Pikachu! It's only the mascot for the whole franchise and the no. 1 most recognisable pokémon, no pressure! I was quite relieved to have it out of the way! I always liked Raichu better as a child, but I hadn't realised how goofy its design is until I was looking up reference. It doesn't even have fingers, its arms are just little nubs, and its ears barely look like part of its body! I gave it a quick re-design to make it look more dignified.

These little ones are available in my online shop with the others!

Marker Doodles

Here's something different, old marker experiments! When I first got my marker set I struggled with the limited colour palette (it's only a set of 36), and did quite a few tests before I found a method I liked. I stumbled on these the other day because I was trying to draw Franz (the blonde covered in blood) and I needed reference. Much to my embarrassment, this is really the only picture I have of him that has a good likeness and I have to reference it every time if I want my drawing to look like him. I'm sorry Franz, I try.

Pokémon Series: #023 - 024

Ekans and Arbok are the first version-exclusive pokémon in this challenge! I liked them as a child because I liked snakes, but I never owned one because I had Pokémon Blue, and these two only appear in the wild in Pokémon Red. I suppose I could have traded with my friend who did have Red, but she lived all the way round the corner. Much too much like hard work.

The original miniatures are available to buy in my online shop, as usual!

Pokémon Series: #021 - 022

Ah, Spearow and Fearow. The scruffy and aggressive end of the gen 1 bird pokémon! Fearow was harder than I expected, but it was fun once I found the right bird to use for reference (I tried several but settled on a vulture). It's nice to do some 'rough terrain' pokémon as well.

The original miniatures are now up in my online shop as usual!

Pokémon Series: #019 - 020

Rat pokémon! I always liked Rattata and Raticate because I was very fond of rodents as a child. I especially loved Raticate because a rat the size of a dog was my ideal pet.

The original miniatures are up for sale in my online shop.

Pokémon series: #016 - 018

We've reached the first bird-types! They are also the creatures responsible for everyone my age thinking there's a D in 'pigeon'. I'm not joking about that, Pidgey confused a whole generation.

The original paintings are up for sale in my shop, along with my other pokémon miniatures so far.