This is a very belated update that I mentioned working on in a comic blog post last October (2017). The original plan was to post it up sometime late in November around my birthday. Unfortunately, November (and my birthday!) went by without a word from me. Since then, the amount of content included in the update has grown by quite a bit. I don’t really want this entry to get too lengthy though, so I’m splitting it up across 3 separate posts. This update is about my Inktober 2017 art, the shop, and the death of my poor cellphone: Phillip MK. V.
My shaky relationship with Inktober; until Inktober 2017 rolled around
In years prior, I saw plenty of other artists take part in Inktober, though I rarely participated myself. To be honest, I was always a little intimidated by the challenge. Pen and ink is my favorite medium; but the thought of making an ink drawing a day stressed me out. Not to say that I never tried at all, however. There were some years where I attempted it, but I’d usually fall short of my goals and give up. Moreover, I learned very little from my prior attempts, out of dissatisfaction with my output. This is particularly unfortunate as improving skill and developing positive drawing habits is one of the key goals of Inktober.
However, after tabling my first artist alleys ever last year, I was feeling great about my productivity levels this year. The confidence granted by doing those events emboldened me to give Inktober 2017 a try this time around. So I gave it a shot. For the first few days, I was mostly managing to keep up with the daily prompts. I did my best not to overthink my artwork. The results were… to be honest, a little dissatisfying. It was artwork typical of me scrambling to meet a super-tight deadline. As such, I began losing interest again.
It was about three days into Inktober when I began losing interest. I just wasn’t feeling it and considered moving on to something else…
Until I came across Pixel-Boy‘s own super cool Inktober 2017 illustrations.
I loved how each drawing felt like a little diorama of various moments in this world. A series of events that tell a little story when weaved together.
From beginning to end, Pixel-Boy’s drawings tell an epic tale in these postcard sized (I think) snapshots. And just as the story progresses, his approach to these illustrations changes and grows throughout the challenge. I felt like a spectator on a different journey of my own, watching his progress throughout inktober. I’m particularly fond of their style of mark-making and color-blocking in these drawings; especially in the later artwork.
Click here to view the full set!
They reminded me heavily of Katsuya Terada’s old Nintendo Power Legend of Zelda illustrations.
In college, I once sought to emulate and adapt certain elements of Katsuya Terada’s style into my own. Terada’s lines have a very slow, decisive feeling to them. His physical elements feel carefully thought out and rendered; and their relationships with time and gravity, delicately held in place. There’s nuance in the various ways he grasps the weight of each moment. At the same time, there’s a levity to his lines that let’s his drawings feel alive. As if these frozen scenes could thaw and continue moving at any moment. I particularly loved his use of solid color blocking in this series. His colors don’t overpower or take control of his art, but rather, supplement his already great linework. The illustration of Link facing off against Ganon is probably my all-time favorite from all of Katsuya Terada’s Zelda works. It encompasses so much of what I love about this series.
Click here to view more of Katsuya Terada’s work.
Big thanks to History of Hyrule who made so many of these works available online!
Abandoning structure and finding my niche
Around this time, my frustration as an artist reached a certain peak. The conventions drilled into me by my art education ran counter to my natural instincts as an artist. For years, I carried myself like a studio, earnestly following strict guidelines and arbitrary standards. As a result of my self-imposed pedantry, my work could often feel a little rigid or stiff. My growth stagnated. Though even growth itself eventually became a stagnating obstacle in my development. I was so obsessed with becoming a me yet to be, I forgot to be the best me today.
So I gave up on improvement. I stopped being a studio. Instead, I loosened up and let my imagination flow freely. I embraced being an individual with complete freedom of expression and creation. Without worrying too much about my past works, I scribbled away. Old and new inspirations intertwined, in my mind and on paper and screen.
It felt like I’d finally settled into a comfortable drawing style for myself.
At first, I began with random Mage Punk scenes, in a similar style as Terada and Pixel-Boy. Nevermind the story. Using only half a 5″x 8″ sketchbook page, they were meant to be small drawings that I could finish quickly. The smaller drawing area helped me keep a steady pace with the daily prompts without a big sacrifice in quality. A little over halfway through the challenge, however, I faltered as I wrestled with what to draw. I tried being more impulsive with my drawings, but ultimately succumbed to the overthinking.
Further than I expected to go, falling short of my Inktober 2017 goals.
Initially, the plan was to finish the pen and ink line art in October. Then, I would color them using mostly flat colors in that first few weeks of November before finally posting them. They were supposed to go up on my birthday! Alas, my drawings still proved to be a little too ambitious for me. Inktober’s daily deadlines and my own tight schedule made for a very tiring combination. The holidays wore me down to dust and I couldn’t work on much by the time the New Year arrived. In the end, I only managed to finish 17 of the 31 prompted drawings for the challenge. And I didn’t finish coloring them until the end of December.
So much for planning things out in advance.
Now Presenting:
Mage Punktober 2017
(In April)
The pieces for my Inktober 2017 series were all done by the end of December. During the season, I kept fairly active on Twitter and Instagram, posting the colored illustrations as I finished them. I basically let them sit a bit while I ironed out any kinks in the artwork that bugged me. I was already late to post them here, another month to stew couldn’t hurt. Then, last month, I finally posted them to the gallery page. It’s not as many as I’d hoped to make, but still far more than expected. Regardless, I was proud of my progress for the year.
Click here to view the rest of these drawings in the Gallery page!
Suddenly, November was gone and it’s now April 2018.
While my Inktober 2017 series sat in my drafts, I worked on some things in the earlier parts of 2018. The 18th year of the Third Millennium began with a few miscellaneous drawings here and there. Slowly getting back into the flow of drawing regularly. Wrapping up work on revisions for some already posted comic pages. Chipping away at my goals for the year has been slow going process, but everything’s going smoothly so far otherwise.
In February, I took some time off work to take product photos. In this case, mostly of the buttons I was selling at various cons last year. I set up a little shoot with some fabric, jars, and a book I made by hand long ago. It was basic; but cute! Started a little research, in prep for opening an online store.
It’s possible that I over value presentation a bit.
My phone died dead a few weeks ago.
Phillip Mk V (my phone) just shut off on me and wouldn’t turn back on. Just that suddenly. To make matters worse, I didn’t have my phone automatically backing photos up into a cloud. This means preparations for opening up the online shop are derailed until I take new product pics.
There were other tasks that needed work towards opening the shop. However, I was so disheartened by my loss that I started working on the website instead. Sometimes, often, it’s easier to just shut your brain off and work on the things that make you feel good.