India ink on tissue paper. I had never used ink on this kind of paper before; I really liked the results! There are some folds and wrinkles on the paper that give the pattern some interesting details. The paper is also super absorbing, which plays nicely with the quantities of ink. Since it's very thin, there can easily be overlays between textures. And finally, when trying to use less ink (so that it wouldn't seep through and cause a big dot - the absorbing quality is nice, but it was also somewhat of a challenge!) I used very little ink on the lettering, causing a scratchy, dry look.
The idea for this portrait came to me when I was looking at a packaging of soap - it was very glossy and it looked like it could look like pearls. As well as the soap packaging, I used white ink mixed with acrylic paint (for opacity) on black paper.
For the last day of Inktober, I drew a pumpkin with black india ink on orange paper. I had never done an Inktober challenge before, and I really liked it! I'm definitely doing it next year, too. I got very good ideas for new projects, I played with different textures and colours, and I used a calligraphic pen to draw, which I had never done before and which I loved.
Back in May, I wanted to do the #mermaychallenge, an online event where artists draw and share their mermaid illustrations during the entire month of May. But I knew I had limited time, with everything happening that month (buying new home/moving/fixing up the old home to sell), and a fulltime job. I created Mer-Kat, a hybrid kitten/mermaid. I felt this was such a fun new character to explore. Life underwater with a feline-based personality.
