Inktober2018day12-Whale. I’m using inktober to explore and improve my techniques. This time I wanted to try using more crosshatching. I’m happy with the result. Also, at first I had nothing for the whale prompt but it’s rewarding when you push through the dead space and a concept or idea comes to my head that I can be excited with.
Practice in crosshatching and drawing skulls in black ink pen, its not perfect but we are getting there folks!
Also, special thanks to fellow doodle addict ❀Misti❀ for her awesome crosshatching tutorial, girl you are awesome!
Some more practice with crosshatch shading and the proportions are a bit off. I also somehow made the left side of the bottle fat and it drives me nuts. ヘ（。□°）ヘ Other than that I think it came out ok.
An article/rant/annotation to an illustration. A #Hackney bar and its flies.
This picture is not as sad and blue as it might at first seem, I promise.
It is early in the week and the pub becomes the territory of the most outspoken drinkers. Raised somewhere between Churchill and Harold MacMillan, a night such as this is time for them to spin out a yarn of nostalgic fantasy. Encouraged by the lack of a crowd and with space to fill, statements start to fly.
In the opening rounds the barman athletically hits back with factual blocks and reality-check haymakers; statistics and personal experiences are given. Two histories cross examined, one where 1982 means Thatcher and the Falklands, the other renders Reagan and the AIDS crisis. Stoicism and national pride vs mental health and realism.
In the latter rounds the barman is fatigued, swaying on the backbar, glasses begin to stack up as form begins to drop. The older men seem stronger than ever.
The barflies come in close now, they scrutinise his generations work ethic and make wild political comments on poverty, immigrants and the minimum wage.
The barman is close to sheer bloody despair, he maintains his defence and focuses on breathing while maintaining his professional stance.
But at the end of the night the barman knows HE will ring that bell, they will politely leave and they will return again in a week and maybe, just maybe there will be a change, common ground or maybe at least polite silence.
But what these interactions have given despite the salt in the eye is community and an exchange between generations, culture and class of those participating. No home is ever straight forward, no relative without their good and bad traits and in a world where we often slide into echo chambers online or in our physical environments, the pub is still a place where society is family, face to face, pint to pint. Or maybe it's just a room with alcohol on tap?
More practice. So difficult to get over that learning hump lol. I feel like I am riding my bike up a hill and I'm struggling lol. However, I REALLY want to learn this art form.
Ah yes, another hand. I never really realized how expressive hands can be, and I've been drawing them a lot more recently. (I swear I won't only draw hands.) This week has been quite the experience and has made me step back and look at certain things. (Who knew physics could be a metaphor for life?) Anyway, hope everyone is doing well, have a great weekend/week.
Crosshatching was used to build up the shadows. It's probably my favourite drawing technique. Works best with pen and ink. This is the cover image for one of my children's picture books.
