INKtober Day 31: The Final Horn Sounds (INKtober Showcase

Well my friends, another INKtober is in the books!

This isn't the most spectacular finish to a whole month of daily drawings (and if anything, 

it emphasizes the amount of practice I need in drawing both equestrian and human anatomy), but I

wanted to say thank you so very much for all the support and appreciation I've received this month. 

All of your comments and "likes" and feedback mean so much to me.

I'd like to offer this short showcase of all the drawings I created over the past month as my way

of showing my appreciation for you. November is going to hold some exciting new 

things for me to share with you, so I'm looking forward to jumping into more projects

and new and exciting things!

Enjoy:

INKtober Day 30: Walrus Joins the Navy

Walruses were born for the Navy life. They have no trouble adjusting to life onboard a ship,

it's just fitting into the sailor's uniform that gives them trouble.

Otherwise, being a Navy SEAL is a great job for a Walrus.

(you see what I did there?)

INKtober Day 29: The Teensy Weensy Bit Sadistic Spider

Will the fly escape?

(Probably not)

INKtober Day 28: Special Delivery

This bee is serious about getting the mail through.

Okay, this is all for today - if you haven't caught on already, I got way behind again on Inktober, and I was playing catchup. I'll have the rest up tomorrow, along with the LAST DRAWING and hopefully a video showcase of all the drawings this month. See you soon!

INKtober Day 27: Mr. Tumnis of Narnia

Mr. Tumnis of Narnia.

INKtober Day 26: Girl & Dog

Today's drawing, in which you learn not to draw legs like Will does.

Seriously kids, don't do it. It will get you into trouble.

INKtober Day 25: Golden Eagle

INKtober Day 24: Dwarf Cookout!

When the autumn nights get colder, the best way to spend the evening is around a campfire with people you love cooking good food.

This Dwarf and the bear cub he adopted always welcome a hearty meal. The only downside is there

is only one drumstick between the two of them. You can be sure there will be a 

bit of a tussle to decide who gets the biggest piece!

INKtober Day 23: The Chimney Sweep

If upon a blustery autumn's eve The Chimney Sweep should float to your door and knock,

don't let him in. He will cause mischief beyond your wildest imagination.

Ignore him, and eventually he'll float over to visit your neighbor, who won't have learned

anything about The Chimney Sweep (because he doesn't read this blog like you do!) who will wreak

havoc where ever he pleases.

INKtober Day 22: Mrs. Ant's World Famous Pies

Mrs. Ant is know far and wide for her exceptional pie-making skills, which she obtained

by sampling pies for years on picnic blankets throughout the meadow. Displayed

here are custard, cherry, pumpkin and apple (her personal favorite).

INKtober Day 21: Dr. Wooly Caterpillar

When it comes time to make his house calls, each of Dr. Caterpillar's legs want to go at a 

different speed, causing him much frustration and sometimes making him late.

INKtober Day 20: Mr. Grasshopper & Mr. Beetle

Mr. Grasshopper & Mr. Beetle relax and catch up on the latest news underneath

an obliging toadstool.

INKtober Day 19: Hedgehog & Bug

Okay, this one almost feels like cheating it's so simple. Sort of ran out of steam on it.

Also, I needed to catch up so...

#INKtober Day 18: Feirce Orc

Welcome to Orthanc! Now please leave.

Don't laugh, you would be cranky too if you had to work for a jerk like Saruman.

Speaking of which, I saw the new Hobbit trailer in front of 'Gravity' this afternoon! It looks like it's 

going to be a really good movie - it appears as though things are going to get 

a little more complex in the second installment, which is good in my opinion.

And Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug is going to be fantastic.

'Til next time folks!

INKtober Day 17: General Brutus of the Mastodon Marines

After receiving a commission in the Continental Drift army, Mr. Brutus went on to forge a 

distinguished career for himself as a General. It soon became clear that when fighting

Smilodon Guerrilla forces, there were few as skilled as General Brutus of the Mastodon Marines.

INKtober Day 16: Pumpkin Gnome

I like drawing this little gnome guy. I may watercolor it soon, but I just didn't have the time

to do a good job with it today.

INKtober Day 15: Ugly Dragon

Not really sure what happened here, I knew that I hadn't drawn a dragon yet for Inktober, 

so I did. But things got a little crazy. 

You can bet that he isn't one of the good guys.

INKtober Day 14: Her Royal Majesty the Queen

When Her Majesty the Queen commands, you'd better obey.

(My apologies again for the strange image quality on some of these... I don't understand

why some images are showing up grainy and blurry and others aren't?

It seems no matter the resolution I save as, it still happens).

INKtober Day 13: Royal Guard

Life on the Calormene/Archenland border frontier is not easy, but being in the pay of the Tisroc's Royal Guard is a good way for a Narnian Dwarf to learn the secrets of the Calormenes,

in order to better inform The High Kings and Queens in Cair Paravel of enemy movements.

INKtober Day 12: Mr. Tortoise in His Sunday Best

Well, I've missed 4 days of Inktober (is it more? I don't really know!) So I'm trying to make up for it.

I drew this one on Sunday, but it really was supposed to be Saturday's drawing. I have some more

drawings in the works, but they're going to have to wait until tomorrow. 

Sorry about all the crazy confusion!

Mr. Tortoise always wears his Sunday best when he goes out to call on his neighbors. He is particularly proud of the blue feather in his fedora and his yellow necktie, which was 

lovingly sent to him by his grandmother Gertrude some years back.

INKtober Day 11: Elf

Today's Drawing: An Elf! 

This may or may not be a Legolas from The Lord of the Rings.

INKtober Day 10: Chobo the Warrior Tabby (Spera Fan Art)

Chobo the Warrior Tabby is also a character from Spera. He's a treasure hunting, no-nonsense cat.

He's one of my favorite characters from the comic, and it was a lot of fun drawing and painting him.

INKtober Day 9: Yonder (Spera Fan Art)

So, this is the second thing I've drawn for Inktober this year that is on fire. I'm okay with that.

This is Yonder from the webcomic Spera, which you can find here. I enjoy reading it periodically and I really enjoy the diverse set of artistic styles and sensibilities that the project brings to the table.

I've wanted to do some Spera fanart for some time, so Inktober seemed like a great chance to make it happen.

INKtober Day 8: Hipster Cat

"Hipster Cat"

*NOTE: Drawing the Sword is unaffiliated with Starbucks, Inc., and does not condone the consumption

of Pumpkin Spice Lattés or any beverage containing pumpkin flavoring

of any kind. The views expressed here belong solely to the cat.

Viewer discretion is advised. 

INKtober Day 7: Reepicheep

Reepicheep!

I decided that I should do a more lively rendition of Reepicheep from the Narnia books.

I used the same design from the image on my blog header, but added the eyepatch to make him seem a bit tougher. Hope it doesn't make him look too much like a pirate. 

What do you think?

Also, no watercolor today, I may color him digitally + watercolor later...

More tomorrow!

INKtober Day 6: Bison

Bison are magnificent animals. And they're really nice to draw.

The color was really fun on this one. I enjoyed sneaking in reds and greens into the fur, just to play around and see what type of effect it would give. I've really enjoyed experimenting with watercolor on this project. Hoping it'll start filtering through to my more serious work.

INKtober Day 5: The Stone Troll (excerpt) by J.R.R. Tolkien

"The Stone Troll" - an excerpt from the poem by J.R.R. Tolkien

I really enjoy the more obscure writings of Tolkien, and this is one of them. I'd like to do more illustrations based on these works, I think it's an overlooked opportunity for illustrators who gravitate more toward the epic tales of The Silmarillion, LOTR, and Hobbit (which are all fabulous).

No watercolors today - I want to wait and paint it when I have a bit more time. 

More tomorrow!

INKtober Day 4: Chivalry

 Chivalry isn't dead! But it might be about to get stung.

I like this one - it was a lot of fun to draw & paint.

More tomorrow!

INKtober Day 3: Phoenix

Inktober Day 3: Phoenix

Trying to experiment more with the watercolor side. This one got a little crazy. Also, all this wet on wet that I do is just deforming my paper. I need to practice more (and get less lazy) with making sure my surfaces won't buckle.

INKtober Day 2: Triceratops

 

Today's drawing is a dinosaur - triceratops, to be exact. Honestly, he looks like he would be more at home on the Barney show (although I doubt Barney would condone the smoking of tobacco). But what had at first hoped to be a rusty red, quickly turned into a mediocre pinkish-salmon color and my meager watercolor skills were exhausted beyond their capacity. That combined with the fact that Barney had appeared suddenly and had begun singing the "I Love You" song quickly put an end to my efforts at creating a worth-while piece of art.

Also, some of you may be wondering what materials I'm using for these drawings/paintings.

Here's a quick list:

Arches Hot Pressed 140-lb Watercolor Paper

Prismacolor Non-photo blue Pencil for underdrawing

Pentel Pocket brush pen (black)

Watercolors (all kinds, but Winsor-Newton, mostly)

More tomorrow!

 

 

INKtober Day 1: English Robin

Happy INKtober! To start off this month right, here's an English robin for you. Top is ink on hot pressed Arches watercolor paper, and on the bottom I added some quick watercolor washes. Hope you like!