Inktober 2015 – Creativity unleashed! (week 2)

​We are well in to week 2 of Inktober, and I’m still having lots of fun! 

Pollen © Patricia Pinsk

Trees © Patricia Pinsk

Balloon ride © Patricia Pinsk

Leaf viens © Patricia Pinsk

Sea shell © Patricia Pinsk

 I think what makes Inktober a great experience is that it is the perfect blend of restriction (deadlines and ink medium) with freedom (can illustrate what you want, how you want). The freedom to illustrate along with a certain amount of restriction really helps with the creative thinking process. It’s about problem solving: how to create something with a limited amount of tools and time. As noted in Creative thinking skills, creativity is about allowing yourself to make mistakes, and to simply see where an idea can take you.
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 So ink in hand, I’ve been using the following techniques (on smooth Bristol paper):

• Drawing with a wet, sharpened wood stick (chop stick)
• Using blobs of ink with a paint brush
• Using white ink to overlay over the dark inks – working in layers
• Using a hairdryer, to blow the ink into certain patterns.
• Using fine tip markers to refine the illustrations

Throughout this whole process, I haven’t worried about the end result. Some of my pieces have “been filed under G”. However, those that have made it to the Inktober Hall of Fame are because of my trust in the process of experimentation with ink, water, and found tools. 

The Balloon Ride was submitted to Illustration Friday for the theme of Adventure;Leaf Viens was submitted for the theme of Whimsical.

If you liked this blog post, you may also like:

• Inktober 2015 - Playtime with ink
• How to turn a hurdle into a great creative experience

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