I’ve been wondering on how should I present my inktober works last 2021. This is the second time that I’ve completed inktober. The last time was around 2017 – and look at the way that blog post was designed. I had Inggo do that part, and I really didn’t feel like doing that again. So I’ve compiled my works into 3s this time. The prompt for 2021 was #artoberflowers by @shealeenlouise. I researched for reference photos a month before and used her 2020 prompt before she posted a 2021 version. So my works are a mix of both. And again, another picture heavy post ahead!

Peony, Buttercup, Foxglove.

Peony – The first drawing showed how I was experimenting and planning on how I want to do this inktober. I used lines to form the folds of the petals, and I also tried out hatches and cross hatching for the shades of the petals. I’m not really fond of this piece, but it is a good reminder that this is what it looks like whenever I’m doing something again.

Buttercup – Inktober and October in general is another excuse to bring out my markers again. 

Foxglove – This is the drawing that shows I’m getting used to my inks again. More hatches and 0.05 goodness. I used my college unipin markers for this

Above – Hellebore, Daffodil, Tulip | Below – Azalea, Primula, Sakura

Hellebore – With this piece, I’m experimenting on how I should render the petals. Should I focus on the petals? Shadows? What about contrast? Some things to think about when inking. 

Daffodil – The day that I made this piece was a good 0.05 thickness kind of day! From my hellebore work that showed the folds individually, this one showed the shadows of the folds for a softer look. I especially loved the lowest petal on the drawing.

Tulip – Pretty proud of this one! It took a lot of restraint to hatch shadows on the petals. Sometimes simplicity is the only thing that’s needed in a piece. ♥

Azalea – I didn’t write much on my instagram post about this one. I really liked the way I hatched the shadows on the petals, its similar to what I did on my daffodil drawing.

Primula – Getting tired of inking using unipins so I got out my freebie brush pen from @pennarr.ph when I ordered from them. I used it on the leaves and it made an amazing effect. 

Above – Anemone, Sunflower, Orchid | Below – Lilac, Forsythia, Crocus

Anemone – This was actually the first one I inked for inktober! I used my new brush pens creating the lineart and left it for a while to get started on the peony one. Pretty proud of the hatched petal folds! I was also practicing how to use my brush pens. I love the various line thickness that I can have with just one pen. Hatches are still 0.05 unipin and a lot of patience.

Sunflower – Also another happy piece! I used my brush pens for lineart, and the unipins for the hatch shadings.

Orchid – Feeling a bit guilty of not using my markers, I used them in this piece since I had the colors needed. Some warm greys, yellow, and green for a phalaenopsis orchid. Mental note that if I ever wanted to pursue markers in the future that I need to hoard more greens. In my IG note – I did this in markers because my hands were hurting from too much inking and hatching.

Lilac – This one took 3 days because we discovered Pokemon Unite lol. The start of distractions!

Forsythia – One of my attempts of lessening my hatches to help my hand recover. If you’ve noticed my works, I have a hard time doing minimal lines and go crazy on hatches. But sometimes simple is a bit better.

Crocus – I find it funny that after writing about wanting to help my hand recover, I went crazy with the hatches here. Oops.

Above – Magnolia, Hollyhock, Hyacinth | Below – Poppy, Iris, Dahlia

Magnolia – I would consider this one of my more simpler works lol. I really love the effect my brush pen did on this leaves. 

Hollyhock – But my heart is already set on intricate petal details. Because look at what I did on this! 

Hyacinth – Nothing much to say, even on IG. I wrote that I’m slowing down a bit – maybe due to work and IRL responsibilities? 

Poppy – Liking the subtle pure black shadows that I added after hatching everything. I feel that this is also one of the simpler ones.

Iris – In an attempt of lessening my hatches yet again, I used brush pens to create the line art and big hatches for shadows. Looks a bit messy but I like it a lot!

Dahlia – The petals with the streaky and spotty pattern was a challenge to ink this time! And I changed how I hatched the petals. Only in one direction but some parts are denser so it would imitate shadows. 

Above – Daisy, Rose, Fritillaria | Below – Hibiscus, Clematis, Begonia

Daisy and Rose – nothing much to say here except both were simple. I needed to rest my hands again.

Fritillaria – The reason for resting my hands was so I could go hatch crazy with this one. Who knew that there’s a flower that has this cute checkered pattern!? I love it.

Hibiscus – I was not really feeling this one when I was inking it. I found a really old marker pen and used it for shadows on some parts. After scanning and cleaning it up, I sorta like it?

Clematis – Hatch crazy again. I liked the left part of the petal where I made the shadow parts.

Begonia – I had this thought “Ballpens are INK too”. So I used my Titus pens for this.

Forget me not, Geranium, Pansy, Gardenia

Forgot me not – The REAL forget me not is blueish and fuzzy. Plumbago is mistaken as forget me not here in the Philippines and I could see why!

Geranium – I wanted to focus on the leaves. Its not really visible here, but I did pointism on the stems because someone was requesting it on Instagram lol

Pansy – This is similar to the way I hatched my dahlia piece. It felt a bit simpler to do!

Gardenia – One of my favorite flowers made with brush pens and unipins.

And that’s it! I learned a lot on this inktober run – my preferences, habits, and perseverance. I also learned that I love using brush pens! I bought some more as a reward to myself for completing this one lol. Looking at my IG page – it seems there’s not a lot left to talk about for now. We’ll see!