Inking Your Way in October - The Inktober Phenomenon!

Like they say “It’s that time of the year” when every illustrator in particular and every artist in general whether seasoned or the first-timer, prepares themselves to immerse in 31 days of drawings with pen and ink. Though I mention pen and ink which was how it was conceived in its beginning it has moved on to be more than just pen and ink. It has ‘stimulated’ artists’ across genres and mediums. Yes, I am speaking of Inktober as anyone too familiar with the art world routine would know. Though Inktober has its Official prompt list many artists take to their own versions including me.

According to Jake Parker, the Creator of Inktober:

“Every October, artists all over the world take on the Inktober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the entire month.

I created Inktober in 2009 as a challenge to improve my inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. It has since grown into a worldwide endeavor with thousands of artists taking on the challenge every year.

Anyone can do Inktober, just pick up a pen and start drawing.”

The Inktober website mentions the Rules and Prompts as:

1) Make a drawing in ink (you can do a pencil under-drawing if you want).

2) Post it on any social media account you want or just post it on your refrigerator. The point is to share your art with someone. :)

3) Hashtag it with #inktober and #inktober2019

4) Repeat

Note: you can do it daily, or go the half-marathon route and post every other day, or just do the 5K and post once a week. Whatever you decide, just be consistent with it. Inktober is about growing and improving and forming positive habits, so the more you’re consistent the better. That's it! Now go make something beautiful.

I can vouch for this myself since I have been taking part in Inktober, religiously, for the past 3 years and as anyone would know “Practice makes a man perfect.” It allows us to completely delve into the area(s) we would like to focus on. First year I took to Insects “Tiny, but Me!” I wanted to bring to notice the importance of tiny beings in this universe who have the right to life just like any of us. The second year I took to a much more intricate work of temple sculptures and I spent almost 4 to 5 hours over a drawing as I was trying to ‘learn’ by making a sketch on paper, transferring it to the sketchbook and then inking it. So this year I wanted something ‘light’ and I am making Cats – our feline friends -  all within 5 to 10 minutes and it is quite gripping and exciting to observe their expressions and working through the process.

Jake Parker, Illustrator and Creator of Inktober currently living in Utah 

says that like the last two years, Jake is planning on a large piece with 31 characters, only this year he’s developing his SkyHeart characters.

He started Inktober day 1 with ‘Wake’ who is the central character in his graphic novel SkyHeart.
He goes on to say: 

“I don’t know about the prompts for this project. I mostly knew what I wanted to draw going into this, but the prompts have inspired ideas for some characters...just out of order. Like, today’s prompt is “ring” and I have a character inspired by it, but I’m saving them for the end. Wake’s prompt is day 29: injured. But I wanted to draw him first. So I guess I’m doing the prompts out of order this year.”

Loish a.k.a Lois van baarle currently a freelance illustrator and animator located in Utrecht (the Netherlands) 

“I decided to create something really personal. When I saw the prompt, 'frail', the first thing I thought of was my cat Charlie, who passed away last November. I was so attached to her, and seeing her health decline so quickly was traumatizing. I only realized in hindsight that she had been growing weaker and weaker for a long time. The reality of losing her was such a difficult thing to process that I didn't even realize it was happening until she was very sick... Until her final days. This drawing is based on one of the last pictures taken of me and her before everything escalated. I miss her every day and dealing with her loss truly has not gotten any easier.” Loish on Day 8^th prompt.

Myriam Tillson is a Freelance Sculptor and Prosthetic Makeup Artist from London

She begins her day 1 with the prompt "ring" and says:

“As you may have noticed, I failed at "taking it easy" and went straight for the high-detail, wrist-annihilating, fine-liner design... Anyway. This was fun, and so it begins!”

She adds, “I inspired myself quite a bit from the incredible @willmurai for the plants and environment in this piece. His ink pieces are out of this world, and I want to practice textures and composition this month.”

Bobby Chiu co-founder of Imaginism Studios and the founder of Schoolism, a physical/digital art school for artists and illustrators. He has a lot of inspiring words to go with his ballpoint pen illustrations:

“The only REAL failures are the good chances that are never taken.”

“You can learn when doodling. That I agree. But when you draw to learn, you learn a lot more.”

On day 8 he says: “It's not like I'm 'married' to art. Art & I are one. It's more like we're conjoined twins like Kuato from Total Recall.”

On day 10 he says: "Inspiration can come at any time, ESPECIALLY if we’re constantly looking for it. These Inktober drawings have been quite special to me. I feel like there’ve been some new understandings for me of the capabilities of a simple ballpoint pen can be used, sharpened and polished. The idea for this came to me at 4:30am. Inspiration can come at any time, so in a way, this little critter is me awake when most people were asleep."

Annie Stegg Gerard, an artist from Northern Georgia and a Bachelor in arts says:

“I'm trying out a new vellum parchment paper that was recommended by the very talented @meredithdillmanart, and I'm in love!”⁠

She has been trying whimsical illustration and her goal is to create unique images that tell a story. Annie often draws inspiration from her life and incorporates her surroundings and environment like the Halloween themes, the full moon night and the pumpkin patch she visited during the weekend into her Inktober works.

Annie and Bobby have their own prompts while Loish and Myriam are adhering to the official ones on most days and move away on certain other. 

One can see that often artists are inspired by one another’s work and they learn more by observation and incorporating influences and inspiration from others. It is a way of enriching one’s own work practice.

The artists I have mentioned here are only a couple of seasoned artists but if you take a look at Instagram with the hashtags inktober, inktober2019, inktoberworld, etc. you are bound to meet a whole array of incredible artists who definitely leave you amazed and inspire to pick up your pen or pencil or paint or maybe an iPad. There are many artists who post their process as well both as time-lapse and process videos on Instagram and YouTube.

To conclude I would like to mention what Jake points out before the beginning of Inktober that Inktober is just a framework to get yourself to draw better and have some fun with your art. It is not a contest and the challenge is to see how much one can improve one’s art in a month, to inspire and be inspired. I love it when he says that there is no “Inktober police” going around shutting down people if they are not using ink or the official prompts and asks those self-declared police to keep such thoughts to themselves and use that energy to celebrate instead. 

Jake reinforces:
"While it's suggested to use real ink, keep things black and white, and use the official prompt list, the spirit of the challenge is very open to people being creative in what tools they use, how they use them, and what they create. If at any point the challenge gets too overwhelming and you aren’t having fun, pause for a day or two. Catch your breath, and just pick up where you left off.

In short: be nice, and have fun!"

Inktober website also offers a paid course on How to Ink.

Just 5 days left for this year's Inktober to get over and my next post will be on my Cats - this year's Inktober entries. Yes, that's what I am doing this year.

This is not a promotional post. This is the third year I am participating in Inktober and some of my friends were pretty interested to know what this is about. So this is meant for all those people who wanted to know about Inktober. So next year, be prepared friends to be part of the Inktober Fest!

Inktober information from Inktober Website.
Artists' quotes and images from Instagram. 
All rights reserved by the artists.

Embracing the DISTANT and the PERSONAL - a review

Distance is just a test of how far love can travel. – Unknown (and if I may add that is what makes it personal.)

When four creatives meet through art it’s a journey through the distance to the depth of each one’s soul to invoke what is personal and to grip the experience of belonging. It’s a matter of travelling both inward and outward, alike. Whether we wander in search of exotic locations and/or the mundane to capture what we perceive or whether we delve deep within and stir up an ocean of possibilities; it is at once distant and personal. Distance measures love; yes, love that which meets at every milestone and checks the parameters and squints to see where one has reached under the scorching daylight or the pelting rain tantrums and the most important question is - “Is there something for me to love here? Or maybe someone/something to love me back?” Each one undertakes a journey of one’s own and that’s not a choice. It’s a necessity, devoid of one’s control. One simply can’t choose inertia.

Besides, we are four individuals on our very personal creative journey with four varied mediums, techniques, themes and personalities that are quite distant and yet holding it to our bosom. There were 74 works in this exhibition. Our exhibition was inaugurated by the eminent Poet-Illustrator, Sri. Paul Kallanode. 

(L to R) Devidas Varma, Joby Ravindran, Paul Kallanode, Deepa Gopal, Devan Madangarly

Following in the alphabetical order, my i.e. Deepa Gopal’s protagonists enjoy detachment, solitude but they are rarely lonely. They are in a realm of their own, creating parallel worlds. My interest attempts to capture the burgeoning cosmos on one end to the deepest ocean depths on the other and everything in between and yet that which captivates me the most is perhaps the limitless mind in general and the inner workings of the feminine in particular. Myths, dreams, people and their tales, the emotions and the unbridled feelings kindle my creative juices. They are at once distant and yet personal. I like to couple some of my works with my own Haiku (Japanese poetic style) for the title. Acrylic and gouache with a hint of pen and inktense pencils were the mediums used there. The 35 works I displayed were a mix of series that I had been working on for the past couple of months. Along with the Solo girls (13 works) which were both referenced from my daughter and self, I also had my "Saga of the Nagas" (5 works) based on the myth and legends of the Sarppakkavu or the Sacred Snake Groves, Nocturne series (9 works) and landscapes (8 works) of places in and around Palakkad/Kerala.

Ring od Fireflies - Deepa Gopal 

from DISTANT and PERSONAL

Even in meditation, Devan Madangarly’s protagonists who happen to be teenage boys travel. They do not take a literal road trip though. They move to the core, the center, the essence of their being to invoke where they belong. They kindle doubts; doubts about dhyana (profound meditation) in an attempt to reveal themselves through their personal experiences. His protagonists are always solitary figures. The presence of waterbodies suggests continuum – even when it is static or flowing. Life and death is the main subject in his recent works and he uses the presence of a solitary crow in various stances that attributes to its symbolic representation. It was interesting to note a personal story about a crow that used to visit his ancestral home for a couple of years and would take biscuits only from his mother which it then went on to eat by dipping it in water, piece by piece. Watercolour (10 works), pen and ink (7 works), graphite (5 works) are some of the mediums he has used. There were 22 works of his in the exhibition.

Untitled - Devan Madangarly

from DISTANT and PERSONAL

Devidas Varma colours his wide canvas with the hues of nature seizing the epitome of beauty that nature is and his surroundings are. His journey is to apprehend and encapsulate the past glory of our Motherland while focussing on the magnificence and splendour of Palakkad to be specific. He takes on the role of a detached and distant observer who conceives and employs a personal narrative to a landscape; a setting that is inviting and open to all. The land, the green, the earth has more impact on him than anything else. It was a treat to watch his Attapadi works zooming in from a distance to a single house in three canvas. The viewers were taken back in time to an era before it had made technological advancement, before electricity. He has captured the essence of a bygone era of different factions of the society so well that it is definitely a treasure for future generations to study the lifestyle, architecture, the land and its layout etc.  All his 15 works were in acrylic.

Untitled - Devidas Varma (Attappadi landscape)

from DISTANT and PERSONAL

Joby Ravindran travels far and wide into his past and his surroundings whether that’s real and/or imaginary – into his childhood, history and dreams, etc. He is inspired by different things and themes and it’s his subject matter that determines the use of his medium which varies from watercolour and acrylic to gouache, charcoal and soft pastels. His recent works are inspired by his immediate surroundings as he is lucky enough to ogle the groovy landscape of coconuts where they mend and blend with the folks of the place like the fronds that synthesis into the braided hair of the women. There’s emotion at play when his women are often meditative and reflective, when he ventures into modes of relaxation through the odd windows peering into their ordinary lives and when he walks the quiet and distraught lanes of Bidding Street. There's a raw and rustic feel to his works which seems to emanate folklore of sorts. 12 works in charcoal and soft pastels were exhibited in the show. 

Let them relax - Joby Ravindran

from DISTANT and PERSONAL

A note about the audience:

All four of us were unanimous in our choice of Kozhikode for our exhibition. We wanted to try a new city and most importantly we wanted to experience the aesthetic hospitality that Kozhikode was so famous for. We were definitely not let down and they truly fulfilled their part of being the wonderful-kind-of-host. Each and every person who entered the Akademi had something to offer. They were not in a rush, they slowly approached each work, spent a handful of time observing, gathering, acknowledging, even rummaging at times, having conversations with us, interacting and finally leaving a mark of their own on our minds. It includes the Akademi staff as well. 
Thanks to the City! Gratitude!

Thanks to the fabulous media - print, visual and audio for supporting us and loving us the way you did. Again, Gratitude!

Poster of DISTANT and PERSONAL

Please Note:
In case anyone is interested in purchasing the works, please email at mail.huesnshades@gmail.com for the catalogue and the price.

8 ways to Title an Artwork

The artwork behind the title now adorns the home of Smt Vinodini Sathyapal

How do you title an artwork? 

These days I am in the midst of preparing for a show that is coming up next month and so I am not only engrossed in creating the works but also pondering on the apt titles for the same. I, for one, am not an advocate of “Untitled” which often point towards no-direction, lack of appreciation even culminating to not providing considerable thought to your own work (or else one needs to the blue-chip/elite artist to do so, just saying). It may sound a bit extreme but that is what I personally feel unless and until the work is so self-explanatory that it defies a title or maybe belittled/ shrunk/ compartmentalized by one.

Sometimes the titles pose themselves naturally even before I start to paint and at times I need to give it thorough thought.

So here are some ways (with some famous examples) you can come across a wonderful title:

1. The work itself suggests a title! Yes, it often does. The concept or what you are trying to paint/create often points toward a title, the obvious one.

Three Girls - 1935 - Amrita Sher-Gil

2. The names of the prominent colours used in the work.

Red Poppy No. V -1928- Georgia O' Keeffe

3. Suggestive/reminiscent of something/place etc.

Tuscany-1963-Helen Frankenthaler

4. Titles of literary works, movies or albums or even influenced by its authors.

Pére Ubu-1936- Dora Maar

Kara Walker on Toni Morrison

cover of The New Yorker-9 Aug 2019

5. Song lyrics or a line from your own poem even meander through aphorisms. I use my own Haiku as titles for many of my paintings. It makes it a bit long but then I like it!

It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue- 2018 -Bob Dylan

6. On feelings and emotions.

The Destruction of Life - 1974 - Louise Bourgeois

Misery – 1895 – Kathe Kollwitz

7. On historical events, day-to-day struggles and happenings, natural occurrences.

Salazar vomiting the homeland -1960 - Paula Rego

8. Series can have a single title, followed by a number or variations of the name. I have a series of 6 paintings called "Repercussions" but then each painting owns a Haiku of mine.

Infinity Net series - Yayoi Kusama 

Wave Returning- 2009 -Maggi Hambling

There are several personal ways in which you may go about selecting a title. This is just what I follow when I contemplate on it. Please do share your ideas in the comments.

Image courtesy: Google except for the title which is my own.

Art Exhibitions, Preparation and Practice

Often I take up some personal pet projects and try to work on it, that helps me to feel that I have done some work, worthwhile. It needn't be anything fancy, just something to get into my zone. Come to think of it, I have a lot of such projects in mind. Right now I am preparing for a group show that is coming up in September and is to take place in Lalithakala Akademi Gallery in Kozhikode (famous as City of Spices once upon a time), Kerala. It's quite near to Mananchira Square where you come across the sculpture of Musui as Terra-Fly by the eminent K S Radhakrishnan. People of Kozhikode are ardent fans of art and literature; the real connoisseurs, so I have heard! Shall share the pictures of my works when the exhibition opens up. Here's a teaser for now.

Girl with a Halo - Cropped detail

Acrylics, 2x2 feet 

Back when I was in Dubai in April, my daughter and I took a trip to Dubai Public Library nearby. We both found that it was a great way to unwind and get into our zone. It was quite satisfying if it had not been for the heat! This particular sketch was made there referencing a book, Pen and Ink Book by Desarae Lee. It's a wonderful keepsake and I do have it in my wishlist. 

PITT pens on Moleskine

So this illustration was carried forward into this painting of a buck and that led to the other two and "I see you" happened with gouache. You can see my other gouache works HERE. However, they aren't going to be included in my show though. These are done on Moleskine as a means to get into my full-fledged zone, to prep me up. It helps me to focus before going into my actual work.

 I see you-1

  I see you-2

 I see you-3

Finally, I would like to share the postcards I had sent to the New Hampshire Institute of Art's International Mail Art Exhibition, "Errors, Fakes and Oddities" held from 8 Mar to 14 April 2019 at Sharon Arts Center Exhibition Gallery in Peterborough, NH. Grateful to Murali Cheeroth for sharing the 'Call-For' which otherwise I would have not known. All the works can be found Here.

These were done on Indian postcards using Winsor and Newton acrylic inks and Pigmented drawing pens. The gold ink isn't that visible here though.

As usual, linking it to the Awesome ladies at PPF!