A Quick Note

In a previous entry I wrote I talked about how I, as an artist, criticized myself too harshly, which lead to me being unable to commit to deadlines. The biggest example I used was my recent attempt at the popular art challenge called 'Inktober', and how I didn't meet any of the goals I set out for myself. In this post, i want to show off what I was able to achieve, and how I am taking steps to improve not only my skill set but my ability to commit to my art as a whole.
(to avoid page stretching, I am posting smaller images with links to the final sized pieces below them)

My Inktober Journey

Day 1: Angel Uno
https://kittehfaye.deviantart.com/art/Inktober-2017-Day-1-Angel-Uno-707477747

I went about "Inktober" in a slightly unusual way. Instead of using the provided 'prompt list' that is normally created by the mind who started the challenge, I sought a way to make my own prompts. I explain more about my process in my Youtube Video labeled "An Intro Into Inktober" (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy7bBA_VcjFeVYi-I92snAQ/videos) but the basic idea was that I randomized a list of characters from movies, anime, and games, and a list of costumes.

Day 3: Rapunzel Cosplaying Ahri
https://kittehfaye.deviantart.com/art/Inktober-2017-Day-3-Rapunzel-cosplaying-Ahri-707811270

The first piece I did I primarily used a black Prismacolor brush pen, which was my first time using it, and I found that I really enjoyed it. Instead of one uniform line thickness, I was able to vary line weight to give the piece more depth. One the third day, I decided to start adding some color using thin tip Sharpie markers and some metallic gel pens. Admittedly, I went a little overboard with the coloring, and used the experience to help better the rest of my pieces.

Day 4: Kayn Flower
https://kittehfaye.deviantart.com/art/Inktober-2017-Day-4-Kayn-Flower-708073888

Day 4 is when things took a very interesting turn. I decided to drop the fine line pens in favor of a Speedball dip pen and Higgins Black magic ink, and In almost instantly fell in love with the inking process. The depth of the black of the lines, the ability to vary my line thickness as well as get super thin lines, and the fact that I could use the ink watered down to make gray tones with a brush completely changed how I went about the rest of the challenge. With this new found inspiration, I decided to further increase my art by drawing some background in my next piece.

Day 5: Witchy Harley Quinn
https://kittehfaye.deviantart.com/art/Inktober-2017-Day-5-Witchy-Harley-Quinn-708187521

I had a thumbnail sketch done, was incredibly excited to do more, and as you can see I basically chickened out. I had started drawing in the background using a nonphoto blue pencil, but I just couldn't get the composition to look right, so in the end I dropped the background and just focused on the details of the character. Personally, Day 5 was and is still my favorite piece.
Day 6 is when everything went bad.

Day 6: Popstar Zoro
https://kittehfaye.deviantart.com/art/Inktober-2017-Piece-6-Popstar-Zoro-710623987

The piece I label "Day 6" was actually done around October 18th. No matter what I did while working on this piece, I struggled. The pose, the idea, the line art; none of it was coming together how I wanted it to. It took me almost 2 weeks to finally get a pose I liked, solidify it, and draw it up properly. What I finally had looked good, but it was paling next to the previous piece. With less than 2 weeks left of October, I told myself I would at least get 10 pieces done by the end of it.

Day 9: Basketball Player Yotsugi
https://kittehfaye.deviantart.com/art/Inktober-2017-Piece-9-Basketball-Player-Yotsugi-712742573

Day 9 was done on October 30th, and it was my final piece. I'm still to this day sitting on the footage I recorded for it, and as a piece it is one of the most simple ones in my Inktober collection.

Moving Forward

So now what will I do? Well, originally I had planned to create content regularly for my Youtube Channel throughout November, and then start a new project in December. However, the failure of my Inktober project weighed down on me quite a bit, and I stopped really doing anything for the entire month of November. December started and my planned project, which was going to be 'Digital December' where I did a digital art piece each day, was pretty much completely abandoned. That was, of course, until I visited a forum based site I frequent and joined up with a group of users who were giving out free holiday art.

I signed up for the holiday event fully prepared to give out traditional pencil sketches, but the memory of my planned project prompted me to try something new. I signed up for a streaming site called Picarto, popped open Paint Tool Sai, and now my 'Digital December' project is blooming in a completely different way.

I've only streamed once, but I found that I can both stream and record at the same time, which both provides real time entertainment as well as content for my Youtube. I have also signed up for a "100 Days of Art" event that is to start January 8th. I will most likely be taking a more casual approach to the challenge, but signing up and participating in these art endeavors with other users has really spurred me into making more art, trying new things, and wanting to be punctual in my work.

If you're interested in my art, check out my Deviantart where I post all my work https://kittehfaye.deviantart.com

I will also be regularly streaming art on my new Picarto Channel https://picarto.tv/KittehDoesArt

I'll post on Twitter when I am streaming https://twitter.com/KittehFaye

And my streamed content will be turned into speedpaints for my Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy7bBA_VcjFeVYi-I92snAQ