Inktober: Days 1-3

Day 1: Poisonous – Foxglove

When starting this project, I had an idea of how I wanted to work, but it was not necessarily set in stone, as I have not worked solely with ink before. So, going into this first piece, I had planned to photocopy and enlarge the original sketch I had made for the prompt, then using a lightbox, I would transfer the design to paper. I had started by using loose ink to build up the tones and had planned to create the linework overtop once it had dried. This, however, is not what had happened, as when I was adding the washes of ink, I had ended up going too dark and could not blend it out properly, so decided to scrap that idea and try another method.

Because I am not used to working on large scale, especially traditionally (as I have mostly worked digitally in the past) I tried to start off small, by creating my linework with fine liners, using the original sketch as the base. Once the line work was done, I tried using water and a paintbrush as to bleed the ink, and shade with it. In some areas, I had not gotten the contrast that I desired, so had gone back in with more pen, drawing in more lines in the darker areas, then again, had added the water to darken the tones and blend it out.

As of the themes used with this character, as the original prompt was poisonous, I tried to create a pixie that would look somewhat suspicious. I like to think of her as an assassin type of character, one of which other pixies will potentially hire to kill off their enemies. The flower I had chosen for her theme was a foxglove, which is a poisonous plant that when digested can potentially cause problems with your heart or kidneys.

Day 2: Tranquil – Bonsai Tree

With the prompt tranquil, I wanted to incorporate a plant or flower that would relate or symbolise this theme, and it had made me think of bonsai trees. I believe it is often a peaceful process for people to take care of their bonsai trees, trimming leaves and caring for them in general. I see this character being a very wise and caring character who will always look after those around her.

After getting used to the process/method I would be using for this project, I had become more confident with it. Although it was still an experimental phase, I felt more confidence in having a better idea of what I would be doing.

I do like how this piece turned out, but if I were to change anything, I would possibly give her more shape with more branches on show. I do feel that how she looks now does hint at the type of pixie she is (meaning which plant she is based on) however it may have been better if there were more elements to suggest what she was.

Day 3: Roasted – Coffee Plant

From today’s prompt, ‘roast’, I instantly thought of coffee (probably due to my overall love and addiction for it) so I have searched and used images of the plant that it originates from, as reference for this pixie.

As I don’t believe there is much to this plant, other than the berries and the leaves, I have tried to incorporate both of these elements the best I can. So, I decided to position the leaves so that they’d almost form a type of hat, and had incorporated the berries around the pixies body, coming out through her hair, to look as if they were growing from her.

I do like this character as I see her as a mother type figure, one who cares for all but is a stern and strong pixie.

I believe in the future I will be taking these characters further and adapting their stories more as I feel I am already starting to form my stories about them, thinking how they would all potentially live together within one society.

I know it is only early days of this challenge, but I feel I have found my feet with the method I want to use, and I feel I am heading in the right direction in how I am taking the character, working with the original themes and incorporating the specific flowers into the pixies form. I am excited to see what else I will be creating in the days to come, and I’m excited to complete the challenge with all 31 pixies, being able to see them all together, and eventually compiling each of them into one zine.