In celebration of “Inktober” – a yearly celebratory meme for the art of inking or inkers, falling within the illustration and comics crowd – I thought I would share some sketchbook stuff. I have always had a preference for ink and have thought that Inktober is a nice idea. As I was already going through a bunch of old sketchbooks, I thought I’d take some snaps and give you a smattering of crazed and lewd scribblings from yesteryear. Part 1 covers samples from 1989 through 1992. A period from the end of high school through moving from San Francisco to finish up my degree at Art Center College, in Pasadena, California.
I’ve always sketched in ink, with a preference for Uniball micro black (later also adding a Tombo black marker for deep blacks.) Working with a permanent line forces you to accept that mistakes are part of the process and opens up the drawing. And it stops you from getting too precious about sketchbooks. I carried a sketchbook with me everywhere from the mid-80s until about 2000.
The examples here are in chronological order. Some detailed notes about the drawings when you mouseover the thumbnail images.
- Merry Cary 2024 – The Twelve Days of Cary Grant - December 1, 2024
- The Longest Day - November 10, 2024
- Sweet Aphasia - June 10, 2024