It's now time for part two of my Inktober series, so let's begin.
The Official prompt list for Inktober:
Day #11 Eagle. I used this as another way for myself to practice drawing birds, since I've really wanted to get back into the habit of drawing them.
Day #12 Forget. I drew Oceana again, I had drawn her before last year for Inktober as well. The reason I associated her with the idea of forgetting, was because I wrote a song (which I will post later) that she sang called "Forget." Here is a sneak peek for it:
Smell the salty perfume of the ocean,
Forget your long-lasting devotion,
To the place you called “home,”
For to the ocean you are to roam.
Day #13 Kind. I took this to mean "one of a kind." So I decided to draw this character I came up with a while ago, who is a unicorn-girl in her unicorn form. She can switch back and forth between being a unicorn and a human. Here's the post where I first created her.
Day #14 Empty. Mediating came to mind, since the leader of the mediation I'm doing often talks about emptiness when it comes to meditation.
Day #15 Armadillo. I decided to take this literally and draw an Armadillo.
Day #16 Fowl. Similar to the one above, I drew a Guinea Fowl.
Day #17, Salty. My thought process for this one was that the sea was salty, therefore it would relate to pirates. In the end I drew Long John Silver from Treasure Island.
Day #18 Scrape. I didn't really interpret the prompt as written. Instead, I drew a handkerchief-- a scrap (instead of scrape) of fabric.
Day #19 Ponytail. I decided to draw Elm. This one is a mixture of ink and watercolor.
Day #20 Bluff. Given that my D&D character, Jinx is a rogue so obviously a liar, I decided to draw him for this prompt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which drawing is your favorite? What's your favorite classic novel?
Here is the second part of "My Art from Inktober 2021" series. This is my first year doing Inktober, and I had a lot fun drawing these.
Also, as a reminder, if you would like to get a question or questions in for part two of the Q&A for my novel, you can ask them here.
Other than that, let's get on to the post! As I said before in the previous post, this series will be divided up into segments of ten drawings per post, with eleven being the final one.
Here's the prompt list for this year's Inktober:
And here are more of my drawings from Inktober:
Day #11 Sour, I decided to draw a Sour Patch Kid candy along with several other candies (some you would probably get from Trick or Treating and others probably not).
Unlike the other drawings this one did not have a pencil sketch drawn under it, this was entirely done in makers.
Day #12 Stuck, I decided to draw Rapunzel stuck in her tower. I had several other ideas of what to draw for this prompt, but in the end I decided to draw Rapunzel.
Day #13 Roof, I drew a house in a silhouette, I decided to make the house look eerie.
Day #14 Tick, I decided to draw a list with tick marks, and I went the fantastical route making it a Fairy Tale knight's to-do list.
Day #15 Helmet, Here I drew the Greek god, Hermes. He has a very cool looking helmet and I thought that would be perfect for the prompt.
Day #16 Compass, I decided to draw something "piratey."
Day #17 Collide, I had an idea for a crossover of sorts between the characters Elm (left) and Oceana (right). (these characters are in the same world, just different stories unlike the crossover I drew in Using Polls to Create Art.) Oceana used to be a Naiad and knew Elm, they would practice singing together. Elm and Oceana would try and figure out where the magic of Elm's singing voice came from (since Elm doesn't know...yet), so they were friends, and then Oceana got cursed by the goddess Demeter and got turned into a siren.
Though it is very hard for them to meet each other again, with Oceana sinking ships and all, I thought it would be cool if their worlds collided reuniting the two of them.
Day #18 Moon, Here's a drawing of the Greek goddess Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and moon. I thought the prompt "Moon" was fitting for her. Also the character designs for Artemis and Hermes, are from my animation project Pandora's Box.
Day #19 Loop, I decided to do a yoga pose that reminded me of a "loop." Also the whole setting is based on a memory I had of doing yoga during winter in a warm yoga studio, where it was warm and cozy inside, and really cold outside. This felt really nice to me, so the drawing was based on that.
I also kept the color palette limited, and used mostly blues, grays, and browns. With a little bit of purple and gold, but not as much.
Day #20 Sprout, For this I was inspired by "Jack and the Beanstalk".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which drawing is your favorite? And what is your favorite yoga pose and/or Greek god/goddess?
“Nothing is more painful to the human mind than, after feelings have been worked up by a quick succession of events, the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which follows and deprives the soul of both hope and fear” — Mary Shelley, Frankenstein.
Hello everyone, so the reason why I have not been responding to comments or blogging, was due to the fact that I was in the middle of a tornado. Because of this I lost power and internet. The power came back after ten days but the internet was gone for three weeks. Everything and everyone was fine after the tornado, but it was still scary. I have been doing yoga and mediation so hopefully that will calm down the stress that I have been feeling and am still feeling. Yoga and mediation have been really helpful for me in that way many times before. So maybe in the midsts of all this chaos I will obtain inner peace.
If the fear of COVID-19 is making you stressed, or something else is, I recommend doing whatever calms you down. Also I have something included later in the post that might help.
My old camera before it broke
One of the things that happened during the tornado was that my camera got broken and the lens wouldn’t open. So I had to switch to a different camera (using the same memory card). The new camera has very odd dates. For example it labels new pictures as being from 1980, 1970, or 1979. (It doesn't know that it is 2020.) So, apparently it thinks this is the seventies or eighties. Maybe the camera reset to the start date for Epoch time, which is January 1st 1970 (equal to zero in Epoch time). Also it is a possibility that the camera will get to “negative dates” and I might be able to put it at a time longer ago than 1970. Since I am posting updates about the tornado, I had to mention it since I found it rather funny.
While dealing with no internet, I read some very neat books: Monkey, The Graveyard Book (graphic novel version, though I do intend to read the novel version soon), and the first book of the tetralogy The Journey to the West. This has been very inspiring for my own writing, given that the setting for the Silver Key has some asian influences.
(Image from GoodReads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/100237.Monkey)
The main character of the abridged version of The Journey to the West, called Monkey, is Sun Wukong (The Monkey King). He is a really light hearted and happy character, who desires to live forever. (And cheats death to do so, along with eating and taking several other things that made him immortal even though he is already immortal). I felt like he was a character I needed at the moment. He is an optimistic trickster who can shape-shift and wants to live forever, and kind of caused a little havoc. And, I felt like the book in general was one that I had been looking for in the Fantasy genre, for some time. It completely fit all the things I had been looking for. (Also the series it is one book longer than Lord of the Rings which is a bonus). Anyway, Monkey is a bright, happy, mischievous, character to read about when times are rough and sometimes sad. So it was a very uplifting book to read during this stressful time.
(Image from Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Graveyard-Book-Graphic-Novel/dp/0062194828)
As for The Graveyard Book, I loved that it focused on ghosts that were protecting the main character, and even I love that he had ghosts as adopted parents. It was a happy but sometimes bittersweet book. And I can’t wait to read the novel version of it, as the book was very comforting for a time like this. The novel will be fun to read, as I love Gaiman’s writing style.
I also should add that I missed making a post for my blog's anniversary, which was on March 9th. I really wanted to make one and now the date has passed. I do intend make one though, even though there is very little time left in March. I want to make two posts on both my blogs for their anniversaries, even if it is very belated or not even in the month of March.
In the future, hopefully after the epidemic of the coronavirus calms down, and when it would be sensible to visit a hospital, I hope to visit those who were harmed by the tornado in my area and the people who lost their belongings. I have a project going which is for those who were hit by natural disasters all over the world. I hope to give customized dolls to children (and maybe even teenagers) who lost their belongings due to the tornado. That’s why I am glad that I worked on the doll project and got dolls for it before the tornado. Because now once everything calms down I will be able to give dolls to people who really need them. If you want to know more about it, I am going to be posting updates on it onmy doll blog.
Though my house survived (even though it is a little damaged), it can be really sad to think about the people who lost their homes (and belongings) because of it. And even to think of the birds and squirrels who lost their trees, because several trees fell down during that time. Though I probably should mention on a happier note that two birds decided to make a nest in a grill that no longer works, which I find neat because now they are completely protected from rain and cats and other dangers. Because of the destruction it caused, I have a desire to help both people and animals who had their homes destroyed by the tornado whether it be through making things for them or even helping people emotionally through my creative work.
I was also stressed at different times, and instead of writing new posts I decided to edit and post things which had been written before COVID-19 became an issue and the tornado struck. Such as my post about editing my novel, and the new updated about page. (Also I just wanted to say, thank you to Kat for leaving such a sweet comment on the new about page, it really brightened my day).
For those who are feeling overwhelmed by COVID-19, or are dealing with COVID-19 and a natural disaster, I think mediation is good to do. I’ve suggested it to those around me and it’s helped (and I’d like to thank my yoga instructor for teaching it to me). Anyway, I thought why not put it out there, in case anyone needs it? Here it is:
Prema = Love, and you close your eyes and sit down somewhere and chant this out loud you can chant it about 3-10 times or more if needed.
Shanti = peace, and you can chant it as many times as the other one.
I feel like this is one of the most important ones as of right now, because the translation means “may all beings be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life contribute in some way to happiness and freedom for all.” I feel like this is something very important and needed at the moment. If you want something to follow for chanting along, I recommend this video:
You can do it on your own or you can do it with someone else. If mediation helps you (it doesn’t always work for everyone), I recommend doing it. It might help you calm down. It’s helped me. It really doesn’t matter what religion you are, or if you have no religion. Yoga and mediation can sometimes be really useful. And I know that for some, mediation and yoga are not accessible, so that is why I am putting this out here so that those who need it can find it.
I did manage to do some writing while having no power or internet (writing short stories and even editing one that I had written before, and animating in between). But at some points I still found it hard to focus. When we got power I did also manage to film a Shakespeare soliloquy (I won’t say which one it is, but all I can say is that it is from Romeo and Juliet, and that I play Romeo in it). I still need to film one more thing for it, but I have the most important part already filmed, which is Romeo’s part. It felt so good to play him and it made me feel so much better. But given that there is broken glass where I filmed, it might take a little cleaning before I can finish filming the last thing I need, edit it, upload it to YouTube, and post it on my blog. Once there is no broken glass I hope to film a contemporary monologue or monologues as well, when I find the props I need. And maybe I will even act out two scenes from Doctor Who or Star Trek, once I memorize the lines. This will also give me a chance to learn more green screen skills such as playing more than one character.
(Image from wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley#/media/File:RothwellMaryShelley.jpg)
What I try to keep in mind during this time is that Mary Shelley, the writer of Frankenstein didn’t give up or stop writing when the world felt like it was collapsing around her. She kept doing it, she kept on going. And if we can, I think we should all be a little like Mary Shelley and pour our sadness, fears, and anxieties into our creative work.
————————————————————————————— How about you? How are things going for you? Have you been reading any good books recently? If so then I would love to hear about it in the comments! :)
