Crows & Ravens - Inktober 2016

I'm drawing ravens and crows through the whole month of October, as part of the official INKTOBER challenge. Follow me over at Instagram where I'm posting at least every-other-day. (Today, for instance, I did two drawings back-to-back to catch up. Wow, my hands are getting tired!)

Each drawing is drawn on very sturdy 5x7" bristol paper, using either Sakura pigma micron, Pentel pocket brush pen, and/or actual an brush or nib with india ink. And occasionally white ink for accents.

During the month, I've been slowly learning more about ravens by reading some of the books written by Bernd Heinrich, a UVM professor emeritus in biology. I've also found great slow-motion videos showing crows landing and taking off, crows eating, and all sorts of other interesting slices-of-life.

Inktober #1. I had a crazy busy schedule on the 1st of October, so this was drawn on the 2nd.

You can also find all the drawings posted on my Sweet Enemy Art facebook page

Cards & Chariots

Happy New Year!  I posted a few cards on Etsy today, including the lovely Inktober postcard set featuring the first ten drawings from the challenge.

Taking advantage of some quiet time, I've been painting a series of women and their chariots.  These are all done in Acryla Gouache on cradled 5"x7" wood panels.
You can see my works-in-progress over on Instagram but here's a sneak peek of the three I'm currently working on.

Mid-way stage on three "Chariot" paintings. 

Inktober and a SALE!

From left to right:  October 5th, 4th, and 6th.  I liked this arrangement, so it's available as a print.

I can hardly believe it:  I finished Inktober 2014 and only had to do two catchup days.  I did my best to work on other projects at the same time, but ultimately the small scale of these drawings (4"x6") made them very entrancing.  And portable, too!

So now that I have 31 drawings, all the same size, all the same theme: HAUNTED CLOTHING, I'm hoping to do something with them.  A book is one possibility, and since they're the perfect size, I'm also looking into printing sets of high-quality-artsy-deluxe postcards.  These should arrive in time for holiday shows, which are coming up very quickly!

For the moment, I'm uploading a small selection onto my print site and having fun making them available as T-shirts and mugs in addition to the usual print on paper.  And here's a good reason to check them out right now:  Society6 is having an Artist promotion sale through November 9th, so to get $5 off any of my printed art there AND free shipping, just follow this link:
http://society6.com/kristinrichland?promo=VG3GX4X7MQYG

Sale ends November 9th, 2014 at midnight Pacific time!

And the same group is printed on a mug!
(I like these mugs)

I let the images flow one into the other here

This mug needs some tea...

Ink it up

Two more days until 24 Hour Comics begins.  Before that, there's a "Buckaroo Banzai" 30th anniversary showing to attend, followed by a night of murderous mayhem (artistically speaking) at the annual Art of Horror opening.

And because my plate was simply not full enough, I am trying to squeak in the Inktober challenge to boot!  Read about the challenge here on his site, and browse through his artwork.  Wow, he can handle the ink.

Last year, for my first attempt at the challenge, I went with photos of people I found online (a mix of friends & celebrities.)  I didn't quite complete the challenge, sort of fizzled at about 14 or 15 (and only posted up to #12.)
This year my goal is to draw a different "Mode de Monstre" piece each day.  Size will be 4" x 6" and they'll remain black & white for now.

So without further ado, I present my Inktober #1 for 2014:

#Inktober day 1, Ink on paper, 4" x 6" ©2014 Kristin Richland

Just about destroyed that old 005 Micron with this drawing! 

Inktober x 4, I mean x5 (whoops! Edited to add #Inktober #8!)

Well, once again my apologies to those whose portraits may not have turned out as well as I'd have liked... I only drew ya 'cause I thought you looked good!  And some of you are famous actors so you'll probably not see this anyways.  So, cheers.

#Inktober #8

#Inktober #9

#Inktober #10

#Inktober #11

#Inktober #12

Inktober 6 & Inktober 7 double-whammy-post

I've been having slight technical hiccups, so please pardon the image quality of my two latest #Inktober drawings.  

#Inktober 7  it's Rick! 

#Inktober 6 it's Lorraine in costume!

Still working the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, though as you can see in #6, I sometimes get carried away with shading and then I try to soften it but do exactly the reverse.  Lorriane was not blushing!  Oh well. This is good exercise.
I'm fairly pleased with Rick's portrait, though of course scale is off.  Barbara Lang took the photo a few years back, she was a wonderful photographer, artist and bon vivant.  Love this image she caught of the boy.

I spent most of the day today on the couch, feeling wonderfully sloth-like.  Got lots of napping in, though it has thrown off my sleep schedule a bit.  There were a few small accomplishments involving laundry, chickens, and uploading images for work.  I won't bore you.

There we have it, a week of ink drawings.  Let's see what the next seven days brings.

Inktober #5!

Alright, I'm caught up!  Apologies in advance to my friends who have become unwitting subjects in this endeavor.  If it's on Facebook, I'm considering it fair game.

Here we have a memento from my friend's 12th birthday party.  The kind where it's technically a sleepover, but you never actually sleep.  Parents loved us.

Wow, I just realized the photo I referenced is 25 years old.  If you wondered what I looked like at 12, that's me at the top.

Inktober #4

Got a little heavy-handed with the shading, but here's a quickie of my friend Justin Atherton.  He's a BIG guy, and I wish I'd done more foreshortening, but I'm not too displeased with this little sketch.  

Justin & I on the last day of Art Hop 2012.  Photo by Jme Wheeler, 2012  

Inktober #3

Inktober #3!  Done on the 5th of October, because life gets in the way.  It's based on a photo from the amazing, astounding Art of Horror reception I attended last night.  This girl and her friend dressed up as two StrangeDolls (made by my friend Beth Robinson.)  Truly, a wonderful homage!

You can see the original image here, photo by Stephen Mease.

Inktober: first two days

INKTOBER

#Inktober 02 A happy guy to offset a crummy day!

Alright.

I'm doing it!  An ink drawing a day, for the 31 days of October.  Started by the awesome Mr. Jake Parker, Inktober is one of those challenges that seem so simple at the beginning.  Just like 24 Hour Comics Day.  We'll see how I fare.

Here are the rules, if you want to join in.  I'm also posting these drawings on my Sweet Enemy Art FB page.

I've decided to draw people from photos or video stills.  First up, I was watching Annie Lennox music videos and damn, her face is arresting!  So I've challenged myself to attempt a face-a-day.  The cards I'm drawing on are by Canson, from their Fanboy Comic & Manga series, and the pen is my favorite Pentel Pocket Brush.  Here we go!

#Inktober 01  An attempt at Annie Lennox.  meh.